The Boar's Beard

[Altario Shialt-eck-Gorrin]

It was after sundown when Brem returned from his errands, and he entered the Boar's Beard carrying a large rolled up hide that rattled and clanked as he dropped it to the floor in the corner.  The noise brought the attention of a few people, but most here were used to much more out of the ordinary goings on.  At the Beard, out of the ordinary was ordinary.

Getting the items he had needed had proved more bothersome than he had expected.  He hadn't counted on Dahlen asking so many questions.  But, without giving away too much information, he had managed to acquire the items.  Now to find his partner.  He looked about the bar but could not see the woman he had talked to earlier.  He began to chew on his bottom lip, wondering what he should do now.

This was not good. It had to be tonight.  That was what the gods had told him.  If he was to save the Remusian people, it had to be tonight.  Desperate now,  he walked over the bar, where he face the entire room, the few strangers in the crowd, the local fishermen and drunks, and the waitresses and prostitutes.

"Excuse me.  Everyone, I need a moment of your time."  He held his arms aloft, trying to get everyone's attention.

From behind the bar, Brem could hear the voice of the inn's owner, a fat, ugly looking women, calling at him to shut his mouth.  "'ey, now.  'nuff of that now.  My patron's don't need no preachin' to, you.  Go on, git yerself outta me bar."

Brem shook his head and called out to the crowd.  "I am not here to preach to you, though the gods have brought me here.  I have been given a mission."

"Sit down!"  yelled out one patron, while another grabbed a hold of one of the prostitutes, pulling her roughly to him, "'twasn't the gods that brought me, mate!"

Brem ignored them.  "Listen to me.  I need volunteers to come with me.  I need men not afraid to work.  I'll be willing to pay."  Brem noticed that the eyebrows of a few of the men were raised by the offer of payment.  This encouraged him further.  "Yes.  Gold.  A premium payment for a nights work."

"What kind of mission, eh?  I don't need to be fightin' no orcs," a voice called out from the crowd.

Brem smiled.  "No orcs, my friend.  The soldiers are here to do the fighting."

A few of the men stood and approached him.  Brem felt a relief wash over him.  He had some men, now to go and do the work of the gods.  After tonight, he would forever be remembered as the saviour of the Remusian people.

[Ori Amnan]

Orí had stayed around the tavern for quite some time but the man who wanted her for a job didn't return well after sunset. She was nearly giving up and was nearly decided to go elsewhere and look for something that'd help her get out of the city when the man finally returned. He was burdened by a heavy load and didn't look left and right, not seeing here in the shadows of the street.  With her fur coat around her shoulders she blended well into any shady environment.

She packed up to follow when he entered the tavern, but as he disappeared she decided to wait a while longer. He let her wait so she would let him wait. He shouldn't be too sure about expecting her waiting patiently for his attention.

After some five minutes she decided to go in. As she slipped into the inn she saw the old man standing in the center of the room giving some sort of speech. It seemed like he was trying to rally some other people to his cause. Orí swallowed an angry snarl. She obviously was expendable. She really had to watch out in whatever he expected her doing! She silently waited in a dark corner so he still couldn't see her and waited.

When he ended his speech and some men stood up with expectations written all over their faces Ori walked behind him.

"So you have ... friends?"

She asked pointing to the men?

"What my work?"

she asked insistently, her exotic demeanor lending much weight to her words where there actually was just someone trying to curl away from all the people.

[Altario Shialt-eck-Gorrin]

Brem was a bit relieved to see the woman from before emerge from the crowd.  He had not seen her arrive, and wasn't sure if she had been here all along or not.  He would still need her, as the men who were volunteering to help him now were good for the grunt work, he needed someone a bit more adapted to more deadlier training.

He smiled at her.  "Yes, I need you still.  You will be in charge of these fine gentlemen."

"I'll not take orders from a woman!  An elf too!  That's just too much."

Brem swung his heavy face around to look at the speaker.  "Hold your tongue!  You will, by Phoblit!  Or you'll not be sharing in the riches that the rest of these men will be taking tonight.  Do I make myself clear?"

The man who had voiced his objections visibly shrank from the attack from the religious man.  He grumbled under his breath, but he nodded his agreement.

Brem looked at the rest of them.  "Any more of you swine have a problem with following a woman?"  He waited, but there were no objections.  "Good.  Now you there, the one who spoke, you can go grab that sack I placed by the door.  You get to carry our tools.  Now, everyone outside."   He didn't need anymore trouble with this drunken lot.  The sooner they were put to work, the better off they would be.  And the elf's job was to keep them motivated to work when their booze finally wore off them.

[Arianna Kalias]

I. Hate. The. Cold. A spiteful glare crossed the elfess's face as she dragged her tired legs through the deserted street, a pale and frozen hand clutching the rope tied to the bridle of the grey horse behind her. It reared its head softly when she stumbled in a gap in the uneven road, pulling her backwards and causing her to land roughly on the ground. She glared up at the horse and gently slapped its chest. “That was not helpful,” she growled, untangling herself from the long material of her coat and the rope that had wound its way around both her wrist and neck.

She stood, slouched and trembling, and untied the rope from the horse's leather bridle. Quickly she slung the rope over her shoulder, moved to the mare's side and was perched on its back with only three simple movements. Wondering why she had even bothered to walk instead of riding, she urged the animal forward and into a fast trot in the direction of the Boars Beard. The dark colour of her clothing, her hair and her eyes gave Arianna the appearance of a shadow. A shadow with blue in its hair and skin which is currently the colour of snow. Some shadow.

A small flash of red suddenly brought a horrified whinny from the horse, and it reared back onto its hind legs. The woman struggled to keep a firm hold of the horse's reins and her feet in the stirrups, and cried out for the horse to steady. Once the animal had firmly placed all four hooves on the hard ground, the elfess dismounted and was immediately at its front. She traced her hand up and down its nose whilst her alarmed eyes searched for the source of the horse's alarm. Her dark hues fell over a fox which was curling its tail around the ankles of a man clad entirely in black, who trying to stay hidden in the shadows and was failing badly.

“I would appreciate it greatly if you kept that animal out from under my horse's hooves. I wouldn't much like being thrown from its back when the ground is so cold.” Arianna stopped running her hand along the mare's nose and re-tied the rope onto the bridle. Ah, she thought, That's why.

[Ori Amnan]

With ever declining temper Ori had once again the feeling that this human was blowing her off. He still had not presented any convincing reason why a human would seek the help of an elf he didn't even know. To her this all smelled an aweful lot like a set up where a stranger might stumble into some traps and entanglements a native might know to avoid. That he now had hired a whole bunch of drunkards only added to the danger she sensed about this job. She obviously couldn't pass the possibility that all those humans were in on something and wanted the elf to take the blame.

One of the drunken men started to complain loudly, obviously about her involvement which drove Ori's anger up a bit. Even if they are not all in on it this could get ugly. She quietly loosened the hidden hunting dagger in its sheath barely containing her usually short fuse. This was no time to lose one's temper but if this man wouldn't shut it he'd have to deal with a stomach wound, job be damned.

But before her patience got tested any more the priest put the man back in his place. Ori acknowledged with some satisfaction how easy he had done so. Now came the more difficult place. She better had this guy put in place as well. As he hushed the men out of the tavern and walking through the door she followed him quietly. As he just passed the door she smoothly closed in on him, draw her knife and rammed it firmly into the wooden door frame blocking his path.

"You too sneaky, human. You better have metal and no foul tricks. Me part better good, rrh'shrlek."
she hissed close by his ear. And whispering even closer to his ear.
"Me no like surprises, sly man. You me get trouble, I be you trouble. No end nice. Very red end. No one happy people."

She did not wait for his response, but forcefully pulled the knife out of the wood and put it back into its hidden sheath. She gave a nasty glare to the men and took up a self confident posture a few steps away from the group. Close enough to beat the next insolent bastard and far enough to leg it should they try something together. While she kept and eye out for this group she noticed some person with a horse off in the distance, but otherwise there's none else around.

[Altario Shialt-eck-Gorrin]

Leaving the Boar's Beard, Brem smiled as he saw how the elf woman had intimidated the man who had objected to following her lead.  Good, he had chosen correctly.  He had hoped that she could hold her own, and keep these men in line.  The men he had picked, he knew were going to be feckless fools, and they could not be counted on, once the hard work had started.  He alone did not have the imposing authority needed to keep them in line.  She did.

Catching her eye, Brem nodded his approval to her.  Yes, she was brought here by the gods as a tool to save the people of Remusia.  Praise the gods!

His head snapped about at the sound of his name being called.  He looked down the street to where a young man and woman were embraced.  The man was yelling at him, asking him where he was going.  Brem's lips pursed together.  He couldn't very well say where.  He tried to figure out who the man was but, although the young man's face was somewhat familiar, he couldn't put a name to it.  When the man suggested the temple, Brem smiled and nodded.  That seemed like the best answer.  Would attract less interest or suspicion that way.

Immediately, that plan fell apart when the young man palmed the young woman onto them.  Another foreigner, by the look of her dress.  And no warrior, like the elf with him, and not nearly big or strong enough to work hard enough to make herself useful, to where they were going.  He was about to refuse, to try and come up with some excuse why he couldn't take the girl, but the man was already ushering the girl toward Brem and his group.

Silently he cursed under his breath.  Oh well, it was too late now.  He would take her.  He forced a smile onto his portly face. "Come with us, my dear.  We need to make a stop first, before we get to the temple.  So, your name is Val, then?"

Brem shot the elf a look that implied she should pay careful attention to this newcomer.  He didn't need anyone upsetting the will of the gods.

[Ori Amnan]

Ori stood a little apart from the human group and fiddled around with her equipment in a bored manner. While appearing absentminded she tried to not only keep the men but also her contractor under watchful eye. As someone down the road yelled something she had her hand back on the dagger in no time, but she eased down when the man addressed the priest, a young woman in tow. Not following their talk it became quickly apparent that the old man was slightly overwhelmed by the situation which clearly was not part of his plan.

This might be good. If he is so easily thrown off guard, he was less likely to have experience in betrayals and lies. More importantly if his whole plan is about something that gets her into trouble it should be easier to get out of it.

The priest desperately gave her several looks, all kinda begging her to pay attention to these newcomers. As Ori still had no clue what her definite job was all about she just gave him a neutral affirmation that she was indeed paying attention. He seemed pretty worried about the woman that had been shoved into his care, but from Ori's impression there was little dangerous about her. Too small, too soft, too weak. If the old man expected to be murdered he should have better told her that he needed that kind of protection.

[Vallari O'Neil]

Just like that, he laid the news on her like she knew that he would. It was no surprise, really. But, yet, she couldn't help but feel disappointed about the verdict. Of course, regardless of her opinion on the matter of whether or not she felt that she could brave the possibly very dangerous situation that they were going to be climbing into so swiftly, she was going to respect his decision. Instead of boarding a ship- even though she had decided that she greatly disliked traveling by ship at all- where she would undoubtedly become sea-sick, she was going to stay here.

The kiss had caught her off guard, despite the fact that it seemed like just the thing to do next. In hindsight, she really should have seen it coming. It was so warm and welcoming too, especially with his arms wrapped around her so comfortably. She wanted nothing more than for the kiss to go on forever, and maybe progress into other things. When they did part, she tried hard not to let her surprise show in her eyes, or her indecision of what to do next. A moment passed between them and she held her tongue, not saying the things she wanted to say. How rare was that for her to do? She had nothing else to say to him.

All too soon, she was in front of a new man and Denrykmar out of reach, boarding the ship that she was worried he wouldn't come back on- if it came back at all. Though she tried to feel hopeful, she was upset by his departure, especially as she looked up at Brem and his companion. When the man asked her of her name, she simply nodded to him and kept quiet. The petite artist found herself in a rather unhappy mood and didn't quite feel like speaking with anyone, really, at any length.

Her head was beginning to hurt, along with her chest, from all this worry that was accumulating inside of her head. A small hand found itself at her belt, fingers plunged inside of a little pouch for a scant second before producing one little Miyu bean. She inspected the bean for a moment, as if inspecting it, before popping it into her mouth and swallowing it.

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