RP:A Roving Band of Ruffians

This is a Warrior's Guild RP.

Part of the Dissonance Theory Arc

Summary: Quintessa requests the aid of Kasyr to help her deal with some bandits in Chartsend, a real backwoods location. Taking advantage of the remoteness of the area, Quintessa arrives early to have a secret meeting with Magik away from the prying eyes of the Sage Forest to tell him about Xicotl and her Theory of Dissonance. Shocked and angered, the Last Lyastri agrees to help her however he can. Then Kasyr arrives and they mess up some bandit leader. Intimidated by the couple, Quintessa convinces the remaining four to work for her in Vailkrin. All in all it was a productive day.

“A Roving Band of Ruffians” (Hunt Details)
Rank: E
Suggested complexity: One to two RP sessions, either with a partner or via solo writing
Location: One to two RP sessions, either with a partner or via solo writing
Immediate Reward: 1500 gold
Description: Some ne’er-do-wells have been attacking merchant caravans en route to Chartsend. Scouts report a group of five, led by a black-bearded human male nicknamed “The Fiend.” Use whatever methods are at your disposal to kill these small-time crooks or convince them to leave.

The Slippery Eel

If you want to meet local people this is the place to be. Everyone from the lowest field hand to the e Tenebris themselves frequent the inn. Smoked eels hang from the ceiling, their preparation a closely guarded local secret, something to do with the dark, warm places they are cured. You are most likely to find friendly wenches serving drinks, keen to earn the extra gold. There's a jovial air to the inn apart from the darkest corner where a group of men, who look like smugglers, talk quietly, heads together. Two off-duty guardsmen occasionally glance at them from their seats at the bar. A door lies at the back of the inn. This leads to a large square with buildings running off it and a sandy track winding South. A battered board gives some messages posted about the local area.

Quintessa Dragana stands idly before the message board in The Slippery Eel, her mismatched eyes trailing over the old, dusty notes that still remained pinned to the wooden surface here. It seemed like Chartsend, much like Venturil, had not recovered fully after the saurian onslaught a few months ago. Quintessa thinks back fondly of the friends she had made and things she'd learned during the Razurath war. The west would soon forget about the strange dinosaur-like race, but the genocide that the young changeling helped commit would remain in her memories for some time. But the world had moved on and Quintessa moved along with it. The Mage's Guild fell into inactivity once again without a strong leader to push them so Quintessa looked elsewhere for her kicks. Vailkrin offered much delight, but the vampire houses wanted her dead so she kept to the Dark Forest for a while until she needed to fund her research and then the prospect of collecting bounties lead her to Lionel O'Conner and the Warrior's Guild. The hex blade chuckles to herself, reflecting on what she had accomplished in the last six months. A year ago she was nothing- a vagrant orphan with a knife and a few magic tricks, and now? Now Quintessa was a fully fledged mage and swordswoman and she commanded House Dragana in Larewen's absence. She had defeated every challenger and assassin that had come her way and she felt as though she could not fail. Even at only seventeen name days, the odd girl was a force to be reckoned with. Where would she be in another year? As she dusts off a note left by a woman named 'Pilar' talking about an item called the 'Jar of Vakmatharas' she softly hums as daydreams fill her head.

Magik very rarely found himself at the Slippery Eel. Countless fights, beheadings, random squabbles with Mesthak, finding love, and making enemies had made Kelay Tavern his second home. The Last Lyastri politely declined a drink from the barkeep as soon as he entered the room. Fiery eyes barely visible as a thick shadow concealed his features under a hood. He scans the tavern, seeing no one familiar until his gaze reaches the board. Finally, a friend. The elf makes his way towards Quintessa before collapsing into a chair closeby. "Down with House Dragana," he simply says as he turns his head to the side, hiding a smirk.

Quintessa recognized Magik's voice, so when her pale blue and golden hazel eyes peer over at him her own amused smirk tugs at the corner of her mouth, exposing a couple of her sharp teeth. "That's funny," the hex blade says as she slowly pivots to face him, her inactive invisibly cloak wrapped tightly around her. "I'd say 'Down with the Lyastri' but it seems like there aren't any left." Quintessa grins as she moves to take a seat with him, her sylphlike hand tussling the the short, black hair on her head as she lowers her hood. "I take it the Unseen Hand finally delivered my message? I couldn't think of many other reasons why you'd venture beyond your usual hole-in-the-wall to find me here. I don't know if they give you usual reports but a lot of things have been happening lately."

Magik decides to keep his hood up as he turns to meet Quintessa, "Atleast being Lyastri is a blood-right." Oof. All was said in jest of course as he offers a wink. He sits upright and slightly nods, "They were brief with their message but I like to hear things right from the source. I did hear of your first victory in the latest tournament. Well done." He pauses only for a short moment before continuing, black eyes occasionally scanning the general area for anyone not keeping their ears to themselves, "You've been busy. Busy is good. I've been, well, busy as well. Back and forth between Lithrydel and Sylo Alari when I'm feeling up to it." The flare in his eyes was burning a bit more energetic than normal. His sickness slowly coming to an end, in a good way. The worst has yet to come though, of course.

Quintessa winces at Magik's banter but she seems jovial enough. That quick temper that the changeling had was at least under her control these days. Quintessa was thinking up a way to respond but Magik distracted her with the mention of her victory and her smug smirk she had became a legitimate smile. "Oh, thanks." She was still a little impish about getting compliments, "Mathollak was a fellow worshipper of Delisha, a death knight even, but that day our Dark Lady stood in my corner. I've still a ways to go though. I might have to go up against Master Kasyr in the next round." The hex blade notes Magik's mention of a place she's never heard of before, this Sylo Alari, before she commits it to memory and waves over the barmaid. "You must have missed the earthquakes then," Quintessa says, her smile fading away. "The Sage has unknowingly been the host of strange cultists that worship a false god called Xicotl. I've been researching them for a while and I'm certain they are the cause." Quintessa knew much more about it than she let on but she didn't want to feed Magik too much information about it at once. Her mismatched eyes flicker up to look into those of her mentor. "You're looking better, by the way. Still feeling... er... undead?"

Magik softly smiled under his hood, letting the changeling enjoy her victory just a bit more. Normally he would have some encouraging words for her future battles, but her talk of the earthquakes and cultists in Sage, a neutral territory, set him beside himself for a moment. He slowly lowers his hood from his head. His dark hair is messy but doesn't look as dry and fragile. He has just a bit more color to his face than a normal vampire would. His playful demeanor is gone. People running rampant and stirring up trouble in the forest is something that he does not tolerate. "I'm feeling well enough to want to know more about these cultists." The fire in his eyes now an enferno although he manages to keep his cool.

Quintessa tells the bar maid to bring a bottle of dark rum over and hands her a few coins for the trouble. "I thought you might be interested to know." Once the barmaid came back Quintessa takes the bottle and begins to fill her pocket flask with the amber fluid. "So, this has been an endeavor funded by the Warrior's Guild. After recruiting Kasyr and myself, Lionel has been using us to gather these large rune-stones that seem to be connected to the cult." Quintessa shakes her head. "I'm not sure if 'cult' is the right word. There people are thralls, controlled by this Xicotl somehow from far beneath the surface of the earth. Soon there'll be an expedition into some caves we found to see if the leads I found were correct."

Magik barely blinks as he listens to Tessa's words. Runes. Lionel. Xicotl. Caves. "As usual, use the Unseen. Mayhaps we can get one of them close to these thrall if we can. I'll keep my eyes and ears open as well. Also, maybe someone expendable to scout these caves first, someone who won't be missed, just incase. They can collect payment from me if they deliver you a full report." That was a little cold, eh?

Kasyr 's appearance isn't really heralded by anything. Whilst Chartsend may be relatively far removed from the land, it's managed to do a relatively decent job of maintaining a sense of order- being occupied by a group of murderous slaver/swallower lizard folk who saw fit to take their orders from a walking candycane. It's why the Kensai sees fit to meander into the tavern sporting little more than casual black trousers, a navy blue shirt, and a sleeveless black vest. And the scarf, of course- whose windy wriggling somehow manages to keep it just elusive enough that it doesn't get caught in the door, or entangled with a patron. Though, maybe it's a little weird that it keeps wriggling after the door shuts behind the Kensai. He takes in the sights for a few moments, including the barcounter where he'd essentially wasted away for a few years, before his attention settles onto Quintessa and Magik, and he offers a small wave. "Hey."

Quintessa nods her head at Magik, "Yes, the Unseen..." Already being a member of a shadow network had been a boon to the hex blade and she had called upon the Unseen Hand to aid her a few times she hit dead ends tracking people or things down. She was about the ask how many spies she could take with her into the caves but her words remain in her mind as the door to the tavern opens. Mismatched eyes of blue and hazel light up when she spots Kasyr and she smiles a big, cheesy grin at him before waving him down. "Hey," she replies before lifting her bottle of rum, "Care to join us?" Quintessa swished the liquid around a little to make that satisfying splashing sound inside. "I'm glad you showed up here," she continues, "There have been a group of bandits causing trouble in the area led by a human called 'The Fiend'. They shouldn't be any trouble but the extra muscle would much appreciated." The changeling wasn't sure if Kasyr kept track of the mark hunts offered by the Warrior's Guild, but she always brought them to his attention anyway. After the last hunt they did together she was looking forward to working with the Kensai a little more.

Magik 's rarely seen serious tone remained as the Kensai caught his attention. First, he answered Quintessa, "One for each. No names as per usual but there's a short ambitious girl amongst us that can blend in and if need-be, hide. She should have no problem making her way in with the cultists, thrall, whatever. And I just had a thought. Perfect man for the cave exploration. An ally of the Unseen. There's a poor merchant in Cenril. He looks useless but tell him D'Chath has a job for him." The Lyastri shifts his focus to Kas finally, "Kasyr. Fancy seeing you out this way. Have a seat."

Kasyr sidles up next to Quintessa, a good-humoured expression on his face. The enthusiasm she managed to carry for this gig was infectious, and far be it from him to mention his awareness of the current woes of the Chartsend folks. "By muscle, you mean manslaughter, right?" Though, perhaps the changeling would be a better walking expression of it- she certainly puts the laughter in it. "Mm? Oh." Yes, there's a Magik there, Kasyr- maybe you should stop getting distracted with weird side tangents. "Yes, it is a bit out of the way, isn't it? Are you here as Quintessas hired help, ou quoi-ce-soit, or is this other business?" Kasyr, for his part, is already getting a mildly distant look in his eyes, the sort of thing that generally accompanies how best to plot out a series of unfortunate endings.

Quintessa nods her head at Magik, happy for the added assistance in this whole Xicotl issue. Placing the bottle down with a -clink- "Thank you, Magik. You know how important it is for the Sage to remain a refuge. What would Lithrydel be like without Kelay Tavern?" Quintessa scoffs at the idea before tilting her head at Kasyr. "Sure, you might have to get your hands dirty, but we might be able to avoid killing these thugs. I don't want to resort to manslaughter just yet," The changeling can't say this with a straight face, knowing how that must sound coming from her of all people. "I am serious though. And Magik?" Quintessa pulls a clove cigarette out from one of her cloak pockets and snaps her fingers to light it, "Magik is here for a different reason but I figured it would be a good idea to get both of these things taken care of at the same time. I told him about the weird plant-god, Xicotl, that has been brainwashing elves and naturally he doesn't like the sound of it." Quintessa chuckles, "I mean, who likes hearing about the next realm-threatening abomination that's poked its ugly head out?"

Magik tilts his head, "Plant god? You left that part out." He scoffs. "I dare it to make an appearance now. Sounds like it could be dealt with easily but I'm sure it'll be quite the task, especially if runes are being sought. Anyhow. Later tonight I'll head to the troubled area to put my ear to the ground. I'll try to not cause too much trouble just yet. I don't want to interfere with anyone's plans." And he didn't want to get into a scuffle with the way he's starting to feel. Burning down the forest isn't what needs to happen, yet. He shifts his form to get a little more comfortable in his seat, folding and resting his hands ontop of his head. He asks the two before him, "Any other news?"

Kasyr gives Quintessa an appraising look, though his expression is a bit more neutral now. This -does- after all, turn it from a milk run that was all but guaranteed to be over with within the first five minutes to something a bit more nebulous. "Okay, considering you're usually the first who'd suggest, 'let's expedite this proceedings . . . permanently' - je veut." A hand comes up to pinch the bridge of his nose, before he resumes, "I'd like to know what's your plan, exactement." Towards Magik, there's a far cheekier response reserved, "Comes once every 800 odd years. Prophesized evil is usually one of the worst variants." Is he being serious? Maybe. It's ridiculous when it's framed in that context, but somehow, still quite true.

Quintessa shakes her head at Magik, "Nothing I can think of besides the Drow being their usual awful selves and Vailkrin being a pain in my neck. I'm going to try getting Lanlan removed from the Guild due to his intimate relationship with a woman who has tried killing both Kasyr and myself. He's a liability." She flicks her ashes to the side before continuing. "But if you want to help me take down House Nasar I'm going to be making moves soon. I've let them think I'm not going to retaliate long enough." Quintessa gives a devious grin to Kasyr, "And that's where the bandits come in. So this Fiend guy- he's probably the toughest one among them. We could probably kill him and his goons will cower. Or, we can make him a better offer. Merchant caravans are peanuts. I can offer them targets owned by House Nasar and pay them a premium for any goods they need fenced. I figured we can try convincing them first and if things go sour you can show 'The Fiend' who 'Daedrias' Blade' is. Savvy?"

Magik smirks as he speaks quietly to both, "Gods and prophecies come and go. This one shall do the same. Hopefully it's dealt with quickly. I'd hate to see my favorite archery range in Sage get destroyed somehow. Same with Houses. Let's see which comes into fruition moreso. I would prefer my focus to be more with the issue in Sage. As for Lanlan.." The elf just shakes his head, "The Mage's Tower has no need for such antics, me being a Veneficus or not. The Guild is for learning and mastering our abilities and magics. Such hostility is not what the Guild needs. Especially now."

Kasyr can't help but turn his attention towards Quintessa at that juncture, a look of legitimate interest, and maybe a little bit of concern, crossing his features, "What -are- the proceedings for putting someone on trial, quand-meme? Et I'd be rather curious to know what happens to the research et aides of a member that's evicted?" If only because the kensai's been plotting on borrowing some elements along with Odhranos Aide- and finding out whether they'd be defaulted to the guild, or the owner certainly helps to solidify whether he needs to hasten his efforts. "Anyways- so when were you thinking we go hunting for your bandits-to-be?"

Quintessa shrugs, "I'm not sure. Magister Daath scolded me about the bounty I put out and told me that Lanlan and Gevurah are beneath me." She smirks at this, "And I can't help but agree, but this is a distraction. I'd like to wrap up this bandit issue one way or another." Quintessa drops her cigarette butt to the ground and crushes it under a spiked-heel. "The bandits are camped in the outskirts. I tracked them down already but I wanted help with my plan so I waited for you." The mismatched eyes of the changeling flicker back to Magik before she stands. "I guess this is farewell? Unless you want to tag along..."

Magik politely declines the offer, "I'm going to head home to gather some things then out to the forest. You two be careful out there." With that, his disappears into a thick plume of black smoke.

Magik disappears with a magical aura surrounding him.

Kasyr offhandedly waves away the smoke, his nose crinkling up at the aftermath. For a moment, he looks at the aftermath with a distinct air of distaste, before he simply shakes his head and turns to follow after the changeling, "On y va, then." Because, to be frank, whilst Kasyr might be wistfully hoping to get a drink or two in him, he's managed to be relatively sober. Mostly due to all the travelling involved, but so it goes. "So, what, let you do the talking, do a little bit of intimidation, et if things go poorly, a little bit of evisceration? Sounds good."

Quintessa also waves away the black smoke as she fixes the clasp on her cloak. "That's exactly what I was thinking. We'll stroll up into their camp, have a few words with them, let them know what they are dealing with, and then make them an offer they can't refuse." Quintessa snatches up her bottle and takes a long drink before heading to the door with it. "Follow me, I'll take us right to them." By now the winter sun had set and the dark, cold air blew bitterly against them as they started down the caravan trails. This was where the ne’er-do-wells originally began to assault and waylay trade wagons en route to Chartsend. It was a pretty nice set up until Vailkrin's most fearsome duo came into town looking for them. "Okay, that should be their campfire," the changeling says, pointing the way ahead. Even in the distance the five bandits could be seen in or around their shelters haphazardly put together from smashed caravan bits and other supplies that couldn't be eaten or imbibed. There he was, 'The Fiend' standing at an impressive 6'8 with wild hair and an unkempt beard. He was going on about the next hit they were going to make. It was going to be the big one, the one that would put them in the big time crime scene. "This is about to be a crime scene alright." Quintessa couldn't help but say as they stood right outside the camp, and it was loud enough that the group of bandits heard her. "Wha's dat?" The Fiend asks, reaching down to lift his massive great-axe and loft it to rest on her shoulder. "O-pair o' lil girls lost in da woods?" He stomps over to look down upon them and Quintessa grips her katana instinctively. "What do you two want?"

Kasyr is pretty casual about the way that he lopes after Quintessa, because even though he's eschewed his fur-trimmed jacket fo this venture, there's something reassuring about the biting chill of the winter breeze right now. He wasn't in frostmaw. He puffs out a small cloud of mist in front of himself, appreciating the sight, only for Quintessa's pointing to center him back into the situation at hand. "Right, okay." There's a brief moment where the swordsman steps away from the changeling, both wordlessly and with a surprising lack fo noise due to the curious grace he carries- but he's back quick enough, wielding what may as well be a plank. Seemingly without minding the situation, even as Quintessas remark draws over the 'fiendish' leader of the bandits."Enchantee. I'd ask if you're blind, or just dumb, but I think your mother must have been the former, if she didn't strangle you in the cradle." Kasyr manages to keep an astoundingly sincere looking expression on his face as he pops off with this, a talent well practiced while working as a diplomat. What's more, the lazy way he's plucked a scalpel from his vest, and is rather casually carving off chunks off wood from the plank makes it altogether uncanny. ...Really, it's a bit of entropic magic doing all the work, since the scalpel's definitely not made for this kind of labour, but shhh.

Quintessa || The other four bandits around the fire all chuckle or jeer at the exchange as the leader practically bristles with anger. "Wha did you say you lil-" Quintessa clears her throat, interrupting the large man. She was starting to think that 'The Fiend' wouldn't have a place under her employ after all. "Okay listen up! This is what's going to happen-" The bandits all fall quiet as the changeling raises her voice. "We're going to kill your boss here and then you all are going to work for us. Got it?" The silence that follows is staggering as they are stare at Quintessa, the cold wind howling in the background before The Fiend begins to laugh loudly at her. The rest of the bandits start laughing with him and Quintessa cannot contain the fury that grows in her heart. With a low growl the hex blade dashes forward, bringing the two-inch spike of her heel down directly on the large, bear of a man's foot. The steel spike easily penetrates through his boot and into his foot, and the loud laughing becomes a pained bellowing instead. "You lil bi-" The Fiend is quick to sling his massive axe from his shoulder around to come crushing downward at Quintessa, but the unarmored girl easily sidesteps the attack. The Bellowing Fiend's axe sinks into the earth right next to her and the hex blade reacts with an attack of her own. "Haul yn byrstio!" she says as she draws her sword, a bright light emanating from her blade as she swings it in the direction of his face. The Fiend is too large to avoid Quintessa's magic, and the ray of scorching sunlight hits him in the eyes, blinding him temporarily. As the large man stumbles backwards, screaming, his gang stares in horror. "Do it now, Kas!" The changeling calls to the Kensai. This was the perfect opening for a devastating combo.

Kasyr s' overall approach to the steady disintegration of communication (which he certainly helped along) doesn't overly change when the hostilities break out, as he rather demurely observes the unsheathing of the axe, and Quintessa's altogether adept job at gaining the mans attention. It's probably a good thing his preperations required little more than coroding something for his hand to hold onto, and shearing out a pair of angled inclines on the upper portion of the plank- to make the worlds blockiest and shoddiest wooden sword. Suffice to say, Kasyr doesn't have much time to do more than that by the time the blaze of light erupts in the night sky, so he works with what he has on hand, "En garde?" Whilst some of the bandits also found themselves suddenly blind from night ceding to day, the few that were spared of that plight find themselves watching the display with a mixture of incredulousness, and a fair bit of raucous laughter. A fact which seems to good on their boss, whose scream begins ever more tinged with a burdgeoning rage. Kasyr, for his part, doesn't stop to think- instead delving into that raw element force he's attuned to. Even as it begins to devour the flesh along the back of his right hand, he can feel it empowering his body, and imbuing the blade he's wielding. Okay. Sure. It is, in fact, a shoddy effigy, but just for that moment, it manages to serve it's purpose, turning what would have been an ineffectual lunge into a rib shattering thrust which sends The Fiend sprawling backwards head over heels, a worldless cry of outrage and agony echoing from his lungs, before it's replacing by a horrendous gurgling as blood begins to fill the void where oxygen once was. The Kensai, for his part, is left holding the oh-so-shabby hilt of what he'd made, a few errant splinters now settled into the back of his hand. "Tada? So, coup de gras, or mercy? Because I think we could probably take a smoke break, et wait for him to bleed to death." Kasyr turns to one of the other bandits, scanning for some sort of reaction. Unfortunately, he picked one of the still blind ones, but the less blind ones seem about equally unsure of what just happened.

Quintessa grins as flecks of the Fiend's blood spatter upon her face. She loved watching Kasyr kill things. The way he moved, like it was just a mundane task to disintegrate his own flesh to electrically propel a scalpel through somebody's body. The changeling's wicked cackling echoes through the cold, night air before she walks up next to the gurgling giant of a human and stabs her sword through his hand before it reaches his axe again. He's helpless to stop his lungs from flooding with blood and he couldn't even retaliate anymore. Soon he'd be worm food. "Listen up, scumbags. The Fiend is no more. This whole operation you have here in Chartsend is over- But I've got a better opportunity for you; Vailkrin. Instead of legit merchant caravans, you'll be hitting black market supply lines and selling the goods to House Dragana. You'll do this or end up like your friend here." Quintessa twists her blade and the man tries to scream in vain. "Do I make myself clear?" The bandits all look at each other (at least the ones that could still see) and they seem unsure what to do. They were no match for Kasyr and Quintessa and they knew it. "Fine," speaks up The Fiend's Lieutenant, "We agree and you'll let us live?" The changeling grins darkly at him, her sharp teeth gleaming in the light of the camp fire. "I'm offering you a better gig than the one you had out here. If you are dumb enough to refuse I'll kill you on general principle."

Kasyr wiggles his no-longer-a-sword at one of the bandits, before offhandedly hucking it over to the guy. The bandit, a well traveled redhead named Rogen, has managed to enjoy a fairly uneventful but enjoyable career banditing asofar- and part of that is due to an abundance of caution, the same trait which now has him backstepping away with a surprising amount of speed from the possibly hazardous object. The Kensai doesn't really notice this, though, since as Quintessa debates with the Lieutenant, he's marching over towwrds The Fiend if only to he can stomp on the mans broken in chest and expedite the gorey process of his passing. Better safe than sorry, when dealing with desperate individuals on their last legs. "I'm pretty sure you'd have killed them for the inconvenience, if there wasn't work to do. Chartsend really es the ..well, not the middle of nowhere. But tu know."

Quintessa snickers at Kasyr's words. "Yeah, I probably would. I never even heard of Chartsend before the Razurath war. If I have to come back out here looking for you lot-" The changeling gives a sadistic look at the remaining bandits as Kasyr finishes off the big one. "I'll make it really painful." Suddenly the darkness swirling around Quintessa's aura disappears and she pulls her sword from his hand, a cheery disposition replacing her intimidating one. "I'm so glad we had this talk!" After a quick cleaning of her katana's edge on her robes she returns it to its sheath and smiles at Kasyr. "Hey, Master, you ready to head back? I've got lots of work to do in Xalious." This whole mission had been entertaining but it wasn't as productive as figuring out this Xicotl issue.

Kasyr very casually plants his hands into his pockets and steps out of the ruined cavern that is the Fiends chest. There's a long moment where he just sits there wiping his feet off on the ground and looking wholly unconcerned with all the bandits present, before he cants his head over towards the changeling. "On y va, then? I don't really have much else to do here. Et I don't think they're feeling inclined to give me more to do." With that said, he starts to saunter off in the direction that would be xalious-ward, a rueful grin on his face, "I should probably catch up on some work, that you might find interessant, en fait." Which is to say, those bandits are already falling beneath the Kensais notice.