RP:Frail Voices, Biased Choices

From HollowWiki

Part of the Thy Kingdom Come Arc



Summary: Alex confronts a group of frost giants and loses control of his voice during the encounter leading to him injuring their leader and landing the bard in big trouble. (credit to Aira for playing the Frost Giants)


Middle of Town

Alex is standing at the base of the towering statue with his eyes cast up in admiration of the piece, particularly the perfectly carved warhammer gripped tightly in the giant's hands. The man's fingers fiddle with the machine heads of a large upright double bass resting on it's shining metal end pin in preparation to fill the quiet center of town with music on this rather boring gray Frostmaw morning.


A group of giants were standing near the base of the statue as well, engrossed in their own conversation. At first it seemed innocuous enough, but then one leaned over to his friend, and dropped his voice to a conspiratorial tone. "Did yeh hear about Balder? Got shot, he did!" The other gasped audibly, his eyes growing large and round. "He didn't! Who would be stupid enough to do that?" The original giant tsked and shook his head, his large hands balling to fists at the thought. "Some dirty elven woman! Shot him with her bow!" As the sound of a bass being played picked up, the small group huddled closer together and continued to talk of Balder.


Alex continued fine tuning the instrument, stopping to pluck at the strings every few seconds to check it's pitch. His attention had turned from the statue to his work though it was only his sight, his ears perking up at the 'whispering', if that's what you could call it, of the giants. "Balder" he mutters to himself trying to remember where he'd heard that name before, it soon clicked that they spoke of Balgruuf Gunvaldsson's son and the detail of him being shot by a 'dirty' elf elicited a snort and smile from the bard as he jerked his hand free from the bass to cover his mouth trying to stop himself from laughing. He quickly pulls the blue bandanna around his neck up to cover his nose and lips in an attempt to hide his humor though it was unlikely that the damage had not already been done, he goes about playing the bass and making damn sure to keep his eyes off of the giants.


Alex's snort and subsequent chuckle had not gone unnoticed by the plotting group of giants for they all turned to look at the bard with disdain in their eyes. The continued to glare for a few moments, opting to ignore the suspected disrespect for right now. The giant who had just gleaned the news of Balder's injury shook his head. "If yeh ask me, Satoshi was way outta line allowing them to come in the first place!" The others bobbed their heads in agreement before he continued. "And then Hildegarde siding with them during the war? I tell yeh, what good did that do us?" The original giant almost growled at the mention of the Silver. "She's good and dead now. Balgruuf will make a much better leader if yeh ask me. And he'll be sure to get rid of the elven scum that are taking over our home, starting with that blonde one that shot his son!" The others immediately began to cheer their agreement.


Alex was relieved that the giants decided to ignore his scoff but the smile on his face fades as quickly as it had come when the giants are heard praising Hildegarde's death, a feeling of fire begins boiling in his gut as he ceases playing and jerks the bandanna down from around his face before twirling around to face the giants with his voice raised high enough so they could hear him plain as day, "And what would you have done then? Left the elves to die out east? Satoshi was a kind soul who offered refuge to those who needed it and Hildegarde continued her gracious behavior. Neither of them were afraid of a fight but it sounds to me like Balgruuf would lead with fear and ignorance, hiding from battle and turning his back to any who aren't of giant blood... Just like a true coward." The bard's ears are burning and his pale complexion quickly gains some color as the lump in his throat becomes harder to swallow with the adrenaline, why would he challenge the giants? The gears in his mind are turning faster now. Did they say a blonde elf shot Balder? It couldn't be... Could it? No... She's not -that- damn stupid.


The giants were momentarily stunned into silence at Alex's outburst. Slowly, they began to encircle the bard, appearing menacing and cracking their knuckles threateningly. The apparent leader of this particular group stepped forward and stared Alex down, his face twisting in anger at the bard's words of loyalty towards Satoshi and Hildegarde and his distaste for Balgruuf. "Satoshi was the weak one for allowing that filth into our city. And that dragon only made things worse by joining the war effort! Tell me, Bard," he sneered the title, "what business do yeh or anyone else have in a giant's town?" The man grabbed Alex by the jacket and leaned down so his face was mere inches away. "Balgruuf will be the best thing to happen to Frostmaw in a long time. He's gonna bring this city back to the giants and destroy anybody who gets in his way." The other giants murmured their agreements, cheering on the idea of Balgruuf's rulership and what it would mean for them.


Alex suddenly finds himself to be the coward while the gang of giants circle him, his gaze bouncing around to each of them before settling on the leader who hoists him up forcing him to drop his bass to the cobbled ground with a thud despite trying to hang on to it and fight gravity. Face to face with the behemoth his face twists into an expression of disgust due to some seriously rancid breath and collaboration with the fear he felt sinking into his heart, yet the bard manages to put on a face of defiance and stares back at his foe. "Frostmaw is a place of democracy and fairness, not tyranny through dictatorship. Lady Silver will return to restore peace to our land, you can believe that." Would she? Alex had heard rumors of Hildegarde's resurrection but the entire idea seemed like a fable at this point, perhaps he was holding on to a false idea that would never come to fruition but he would always deny such until a bitter end. "Balgruuf Gunvaldsson was a great warrior and there is no denying what he has done for -our- land but ignorant, blatant racism will be his downfall! The same for you! Under his rule Frostmaw would isolate itself from the world and become nothing more than a has been!" Gritting his teeth and biting his tongue to keep from spitting in the giant's face, Alex's iced blue eyes have never seemed so distraught as his frustration rises, he wouldn't give them a reason.


The giant who held Alex snarled at the bard's words, shaking him slightly for good measure. "The Silver has been our downfall for some time and Balgruuf will make sure to restore Frostmaw to its glory!" He practically yelled as the others closed in around them. "Hildegarde is dead, Bard. She is gone and your hope is futile. Now is the time for a new Frostmaw!" The giant threw Alex down in frustration moving to the bass that had collapsed to the ground in the initial scuffle. Grasping it by the neck, he slammed the instrument into the base of the statue, causing those present to have shards of wood rained down upon them. Picking up a particularly sharp piece he narrowed his eyes as he pointed the makeshift weapon at Alex. "And now I'm going to teach you a lesson about respect, elf sympathizer!" And with that he moved to thrust the sharp shard in Alex's direction.


Alex felt like he was talking to brick wall with this dim witted thug and those suspicions are quickly reinforced as he is shaken like some rag doll and then tossed to the ground causing his body to slam hard against the cobble. While writhing in pain his beautiful bass is turned into nothing more than fire wood forcing him to use his hand to cover his head from the rain of splinters and then quickly pick himself up. He jerks his head from side to side looking through the giant's legs for some sort of witness that could help, but to his dismay the middle of town was still nearly deserted. Turning back just in time to see the shank being thrust towards him the bard rolls, quite pitifully, to the side as his bones ache and pop and his ankle shoots a sharp pain his leg hinting to a sprain. "Stop!" he cries out trying to back away only to run into the foot of one of the giants who nudges him back into the center of them all, "Please!" he cries out again in distress barely able to hear his own voice from the cheering of the instigating crowd. The shank is thrust toward Alex again, he squeezes his eyes shut and screams as loudly as he can "STOP!" The boom following his voice deafening as a shock wave is launched directly ahead to knock the aggressor onto his arse causing his head to slam against the base of the statue. This sends the bard into a full blown panic as he opens his eyes and sees the damage, eagerly he looks from giant to giant with his knees weak and shaking violently and they go wide eyed in surprise.


Two guards were approaching to take duty in the square when a booming voice caused them to share a weary look and the sprinted ahead. Skidding to a halt before the the scene, their eyes widen to a fallen giant, surrounded by his gang and attempting to help him up. Also visible is the bard amongst the shattered pieces of his instrument. The guard is quick thinking, though, surging forward to grasp Alex around the bicep (perhaps harder than was necessary) and yanking him from the circle. The other guard moved towards the injured giant and nodded his head. "Yeh'll be fine, just a cut," he tried to reassure the menacing group and temper their anger. The guard who held Alex immediately began to march him away, his own face twisted up in an unreadable expression. Once they had walked several paces away from the scuffle he pursed his lips and spoke out of the corner of his mouth quietly. "Are you crazy, boy? Instigating those giants like that?"


Alex felt another wave of relief that was destined to be short lived as he spotted the guards, surely they had seen what had happened, right? It was only a matter of seconds before the bard was being hoisted off in the grip of a guard and all hope for the truth being heard faded from his mind. It was without doubt that the group of giants were busy telling the other guard 'their' side of the story which would paint Alex as a villain so he figured his best bet was to at least try and convince the guard of his innocence, "It's not what it looks like! They ganged up on me! I don't know what happened, honest!"


The guard's grip doubled in Alex's arm as she moved fast, scoffing at Alex's story. Even if he did believe him, what did I matter. "You think Balgruuf is going to care who started it, boy? This isn't Hildegarde's Frostmaw anymore! He is going to defend the giants no matter what!" He spat, his nails digging into Alex's jacket as they walked even faster. "I'm taking you to the fort, to Leone. She'll know what to do with you. I daresay if I bring you to the prison myself they'll only find you and rip you to shreds."


Alex tightened his lips and gritted his teeth at the ignorance of the guard, how could he say that this was Balgruuf's Frostmaw!? Wait, Leone? The Councilwoman? Ahh... s***. Alex decides to keep his mouth shut the rest of the way and is left wondering if he should have just done that in the first place.