Endless Gravestones Claymore RP

[Elcura]

(Posted Image)

The city of Prosper always stood tall and proud against the harshest of the desert's winds. This fortress was built years ago by travelling mercenaries and merchants looking for a safe place to trade and rest. Eventually, the city grew and became a hub for the rich looking to get richer, the poor hoping to score big, and the tricky hoping to trick.

Despite excellent living conditions, the town is rift with liars, cheats and undesirables. But in this town, money controls everything. With money, power and love will follow. There is nothing one can't acquire with the right amount of money. There is no man too virtuous to not be bought and sold.

There are exceptions to this rule though. Those with power can take money, and those with charm are given it. Casinos and illegal gambling are rampant here, but if you play the house right, there is a fortune to be made.

North of the town the Organisation had camped in order to spy on this town. Their orders were vague, and there was little more to them than being told to wait at a specific location. Alexei and Meredith, the blood-crazed duo both waited patiently for their handler to arrive. But handlers had no responsibility to simple warriors, they could show up whenever they pleased. The fire was warm and some what mesmerizing.

From a distance, Ines could see a faint light glowing hovering on the horizon. She clearly felt the presence of Alexei and Meredith, whether she knew them well enough to approach was another matter entirely, but they had not sensed her, or had any clue on her location. In this desert, she could feel the presence of one more warrior. A familiar feeling, this was the Blood-Hound, Arngrim. Ines could not tell if Arngrim had located her yet, but he was heading to the camp site, and would arrive in an hour or so.

OOC: Introduction time, this is an opportunity to gather together, talk, discuss what you want with each other, what the mission might entail and how you might obtain, etc. You're all free to post continually until you're ready to move on. When you're ready, just mention it in your post and once everyone is ready, I will post. No need to rush this part, make me believe what you want to do, and imagine how you might do it.

[SharpSword13]

Meredith and Alexei both awaited by the campsite... Meredith for one, was unsure exactly why they needed the two of them for a simple espionage task.

"Boring...", she commented in a very teen girlish manner, kicking a stone in the sand, "...I wanna kill something..."

With nothing else to do, she examined the area around her through her almost 3Km's Yoki Detection senses...

"Interesting Yoki...", she remarked, a faint smirk on her face, "I know i've seen it somewhere before..."

The Yoki she was reading was strong enough that she suspected the warrior in question to be a Single Digit... But the difference in power between the two blood thirsty warriors and an SD was considerable; that fact alone ruled out several options...

"They don't send single digits together with us for a simple scouting mission... Whatever it is we're fighting must be strong...", she commented to herself, showing great delight at the prospect of killing a powerful foe, "And probably not easy to detect, or they'd just send the Single Digit alone..."

Of course, at this point, thanks to her training, her Calm, Rational mind was completely in control; yet she retained the Psychotic demeanor from her Emotional side, to hide that very fact...

This post has been edited by SharpSword13 on Jul 4 2011, 11:06 PM

[Krypticy]

Alexei was just sitting, poking at the fire with his sword while Meredith rambled on. He wasn't actually paying attention, only catching fragments of the conversation.

"Stronger people coming our way. Hurray..." He said ironicaly. "If this gets any more boring I'll fucking die..."

He pressed his left hand against the sword making a small incision until a few drops of blood started running down his blade.

"I just wanna make them bleed. Cut them up... cleave them... spill their guts..." He said with a smile. "Oh how, it will be marvelous, the screams and moans of mindnumbing pain. Doesn't it sound lovely?"

He pressed his palm harder against the blade until it was almost halfway through his hand. He removed his hand and started to drop his blood onto the floor. The blood started eating at the floor, creating a small hole.

"I just hope they don't make us wait to long or we might have to make some fun for ourselves while we wait." He said licking his lips.

He ran his hand down his blade coating it with blood.

"What do you say love? Wanna get down and dirty while we're the only ones around?" He said with a threatning smile.

[SharpSword13]

Meredith answered Alexei with a "seriously?" eye roll. Her own emotional side hated this guy for some reason, and would most likely have taken up the offer and in that case wouldn't hold anything back. However, her rational side saw interest in Alexei staying alive, but saw no interest in doing anything else with him...

"Sweetie... You do not interest me the least bit.", there was a hint of mockery in her usual smirk, "I doubt even tearing you apart could work me up..."

She made a shooing gesture with her hand, as she stabbed her sword on the ground and sat down.

"Go play with yourself now...", she spoke, returning to her thoughts...

[Xenotime]

~Inés~

Ah Prosper... This was the finest city Inés found ever since Fasdal. The girl had many different approaches to complete her quest and now she was going to begin the foundation of another branch of her plans. Inés was aware that changing the world required more than a strong sword arm or innocent ideals. In her appreciation of human society the girl wanted to play by the success of the system created by humans. She wanted influence and power to shape human society and for this she would need money first.

Up until today Inés had earned a sizeable amount of gold from selling her paintings to a point that she had several places where she hid the earnings she couldn’t carry around. Inés wanted to enlarge the travelling artist to a fully fledged business. Prosper was a place where money talked so her hope was in that people wouldn’t mind a hybrid. Perhaps her presence would be welcomed considering she could save them a lot of money by dealing with yoma for cheaper prices. Such a beginning could support her starting with a small gallery, then perhaps finally to an art school.

Deep inside, under the aim to financially support her ambitions was the desire to heal the wrongs of Prosper. After all the world could be changed by the ideals spread in schools. Education was Inés’ best weapon against other factions, considering most of Organization’s power came from the ignorance of people...

But first I have to confirm if Prosper is suitable for all my dreams to prosper... I can’t have myself bogged in filth. /sigh

Thinking of filth, Inés scanned the area for yoki as she headed for the city. She sensed Alexei and Meredith, which could pose a problem. The girl well knew the messy jobs of those two blood crazed psychopaths. They could potentially give a bad reputation for hybrids, assuming hybrids had a reasonable reputation in Prosper. Then another yoki, which raised a problem of personal security. Arngrim would be here with two non-sentimental warriors only for yoma hunting. She didn’t sense another yoki in city so far so it was highly possible that she was the target. Or there was someone in Prosper using suppression pill.

In both cases Inés had to use the city to take refuge and hide from potential hunters. She had to use every skill she learned in her life as a renegade to avoid Arngrim. Or maybe she’d had to isolate Arngrim, but Inés was unsure of his reaction after their meeting at Cornelia’s cottage. This could end good or bad...

It is possible that he might be able act properly with others with him. Private conversation might be needed. /gg

Either way she’d have to evolve her abilities in stealth. Arngrim was a focused tracker so avoiding his attention with the usual ‘natural behaviour’ would probably fail. Both her body and her yoki had to be hidden from him and the warriors with him. She had learned how to move without making a sound. She learned the secrets of making yoki leaks less detectable through frequency alteration. And as last resort she'd have to remove the threat with the element of surprise. She'd most probably have one chance, hence she had to make that one count. Now all she had to do was coordinate all these simultaneously.

Actions: Inés will head to Prosper and will try to enter the city. If inside Inés will mix around the crowd and act as if she’s a regular traveller. She’ll observe the city and plan her actions accordingly. (Inés is ready to proceed.)

Skills: Wind Essence, FSE (OBS Mode), Absence

This post has been edited by Xenotime on Jul 5 2011, 06:57 AM

[Elcura]

Ines approached the gates to the city, expecting to walk in naturally. However, Prosper didn't hire guards who weren't curious, obnoxious and downright hard to deal with. She approached two men on guard duty, who were eager to stop Ines from progressing.

"Hold it there Missy, what business do you have with the free-city of Prosper?" asked the first guard.
"We will also have to perform a mandatory check of your being and personal belongings. We don't welcome smugglers and unsavoury types here," said the second guard. The first guard gave him an 'Oh, really?' look before turning back to Ines.
"Well? Will you submit to a search of your being and questioning to your purpose here? If not, there'll be no refuge for you here, witch," said the second guard.
"She's a witch?"
"Well, she ain't normal, that's for sure."
"Understood, sir!"

The first guard tensed up and Ines could feel him focusing on her. Getting through the main gate would be troublesome, as Ines could see many patrolling guards within the actual city, and if warned they would all swarm her for sure. However, Ines did over-hear a comment made by one of the parameter patrol guards.

"Area secure," he said, sighing. "Time for a break soon, wonder if Sergio has the cards..."

-----

Back at camp, the hybrids were getting restless. The only noise they could hear was the crackling of their slowly dying fire place. Meredith bowed her head slightly, looking away from the fire for only a moment when Arngrim appeared from the darkness. This got her back on alert status, with even Alexei taking notice.

"Strange, I kinda expected you two to be having sex. Maybe I took my time unnecessarily. Well, you can't make the most out of every opportunity. Some girls are just like that, right Alexei?" said Arngrim, nudging Alexei. "Nothing? You guys are real sticklers, huh? I suppose that's for the best. Moving on then, the reason we've been called here is to find a renegade that's hidden in the city of Prosper. Now, normally I could handle this on my own... but, well. Uhh, I might have a tiny-weeny problem with gambling. The last time I was here I barely managed to leave with my dick intact. So you two are in-charge of uhh, keeping the bank intact."

Arngrim scratched his chin and look up, away from Alexei and Meredith. He was embarrassed to say the least.

"Oh, I need you guys to keep a Tight Heavy Lid on this, OK? Tight. Heavy. Lid. THL. Got it? In exchange, I suppose I can teach you some stuff," said Arngrim, now looking at the pair again.

-----

OOC: If you want to learn a guard's patrol pattern, you have to observe him them in your post. Distance in general is irrelevant, focus more on timing and action.

Map:
Red - Meredith
Purple - Alexei
Pink - Ines
Green - Arngrim
White - Guards

Attached Image (Click thumbnail to expand)

[SharpSword13]

As she thought, Meredith had met the Single Digit before... He was nº6, Bloodhound Arngrim. This meant the prey in question was highly talented in hiding, seeing as how they brought out the big guns right from the start...

"With HIM?! Eeeew....", she commented, pointing back at Alexei, disgust clear on her face, before throwin her hair back and returning to a look of disregard, "Soooo not my type..."

Upon hearing the leader's comment about the gambling issues, she couldn't help giving another eye roll. However, the deal he offered sounded more than fair enough; considering she had very little interest in anything that didn't involve, or relate to in some way, to killing and maiming things... Still keeping up the teenage girl demeanor, she made a zipping gesture over her mouth...

"My lips are sealed..."

She wondered how to best go about this task... If there's a Renegade hiding, he or she is probably supressing his Yoki. They'd need to search for him the old fashioned way. There a lot of stuff regarding that subject that could be learned from Arngrim. But she'd also need to rely on her actual eyesight more than anyting... In the meantime, she awaited, ready for Arngrim's order.


[ACTION]
Perk: Skilled Yoki Tracking
Skill: Long Range Yoki Tracking

Even if it is probably useless, Meredith will attempt to get another detailled long range reading, doing a sweep of the entire area.
Afterwards she'll focus on examining the pattern of the guards' patrolling (those that she can see)

This post has been edited by SharpSword13 on Jul 5 2011, 12:20 PM

[Krypticy]

"Well you're no fun..." He said stabing his sword next.

Alexei felt a presence drawing near them. Once he did get to them, Alexei was unimpressed. He seemed far too laid back and way too goofy to actually take a mission seriously, after rambling on about irrelevant things he offered to teach then in exchange for their silence. Alexei couldn't care less about a SD reputation, nor would he gain anything from making him look bad.

"Whatever..." He said. "But this better be worth my time..."

The soulcrushing boredom around that campsite was starting to get to him, there was probably not a single living thing around them for a couple of kilometres, at least not anything he could kill.

"So, what's your excuse for being this late?" He asked irronicaly. "Appart from trying to do a brother a favor, if that's what you mean..."

[Xenotime]

~Inés~

Inés had expected this much. She had nothing to hide from the guards. If they were going to not let her in due to her sword, books, or paintings then she had nothing to do in this city. Inés also overheard a guard saying it was near break time. The girl wondered if Sergio was one of these guards. Asking directly would be rude and suspicious. Perhaps if she mixed it in the conversation? Inés smiled, ready to cooperate with the guards. She’ll follow the guards if they take her to an inspection room of sorts.

”Of course Sir. /thanks I’m here to rent a place and open an art gallery if things go well. And by the way, I’m a human-yoma hybrid, not a witch. /dum One of your co-workers is looking for a Sergio for cards to play in break time. You know him? Anyway let’s finish this inspection right away. I have quite an inventory. I’d appreciate if you could tell me of outlawed goods in Prosper, so an unfortunate mistake won’t lead to smuggling. Such offences can be fined right? ^^”

Case 1: If the guards take notice of the closing break time and perform a simple inspection or just leave, Inés will let them do it. If the guards get the bribing imply, she’ll hand out appropriate amount of cash in secrecy. She’ll then enter the city if there are no other complications.

Case 2: If the guards are honest people and are just doing their duty, Inés will open Pandora’s box, which happened to be her backpack. It was an item that never got damaged, when lost always found its master, it could hold many times the amount of objects than its size suggested, and it held many more secrets that should not see day light... The girl first unwrapped the larger items tied to the backpack, like her claymore, portable tent, and easel. She’ll then begin showing each and every possession she had with great enthusiasm.

”Here it is; a claymore, two daggers, a smoke bomb... a canvas, easel, dyes, brushes, pencils, thinner, palette, palette knife, oil,...., a book on fluid mechanics, another about oxidation-reduction reactions, oh this is zoology, now this a fascinating book about celestial objects.... an apple pie left from yesterday, some leftover cheesecake... maps of west coast and finally this is a compass given to me by Leonard, former librarian of Toriro. You heard of him perhaps /?”

Skills: Wind Essence, FSE (OBS Mode, Hyper Audition), Absence
Perks: Artist, Scientist

This post has been edited by Xenotime on Jul 5 2011, 02:13 PM

[Elcura]

The guards had indeed opted to search Ines's belongings. Her questioning wasn't very subtle, which put the guards on alert.

"Sergio's break time is none of your concern. You there!" shouted the second guard, beckoning to one of the guards working the city. The guard ran over dutifully. "Tell Sergio his break has been cancelled."

The guard saluted and ran back into the city.

"Well then, let's see what you have," said the second guard. The first politely approached Ines and gestured to her backpack. Ines unpacked everything, excluding the kitchen sink while cheerfully explaining.

"Holy shit, you carry all that on you?" said the first guard, utterly surprised. "I dunno if you want to open a gallery or rob one. Sir, can we really let her in?"

The second guard laughed, and suddenly stopped.

"Of course not. Look at her, I haven't seen such a scum bag before. I'll have to confiscate your belongings if you want to enter the city. In order to wield a weapon or have these... chemicals... you'll need to get a city permit which allows you to carry such objects. If you don't have a permit, you'll leave your stuff here until you get one. Understood?" said the second guard.

Ines could hear the heartbeats of the men in front of her. The first guard's heart was beating faster than the second guard, who was relatively calm with a heartbeat just slightly above normal for a man in his condition.

"Are we confiscating her food too? I'm pretty sure you don't need a permit to eat, sir," said the first guard.
"What? You don't like cheese cake or apple pie?"
"Err, no sir, I love them. But uhh--"
"Well that's settled then. The pie and cake will also do."

Ines could feel Yoki movement to the north. It seemed as if the group was coming, Arngrim included...

-----

Meanwhile, Arngrim was sitting practically alone in a crowd of people. He simply scoffed at Alexei's comment.

"My friend, you need to get laid. The first thing we do when we enter town is get you a hooker. I know a great one in this city, I'll hooker you up, no problem," said Arngrim, tossing Alexei a single gold coin.

"So, tell me what you guys want. It's hardly a deal if I don't know your end of it," said Arngrim.

Meredith was scouting, and all she could see was a patrolling guard walking along the road leading north towards the group. However, being on higher ground, he didn't notice Meredith looking. The young warrior was soon interrupted by Arngrim picking her up by the scruff of her neck.

"And what exactly do you think you're doing? Scouting? You do realize we're supposed to be here, right? Don't worry about it," Arngrim dropped the young warrior and retrieved his sword. A single swing of Arngrim's sword as it was holstered on his back was all that was needed to put out the fire.

"Let's go," said Arngrim, walking south towards the city gate. "You better tell me what it is you want, because we might not get another chance to talk later. Speak up or shut up, ladies."

[SharpSword13]

Arngrim didn't seem to agree with her trying to figure out the guard's patrol patterns. It was mostly useless and not really necessary at this point to resist; so even if it pissed off her emotional side, Meredith waited until the towering warrior put her down.

"Whatever...", she answered, shrugging, "I don't really care..."

The handler had told her they'd be spying on the city, but if the Team leader had other ideas, she wouldn't be held liable if anything didn't go according to plan. As such, she couldn't care less.

"I'm a pretty good tracker, but i focus on Yoki alone...", she thought, "I need to become better at it by learning physical tracking."

And Meredith knew she couldn't ask for a better teacher regarding that subject...

"Word is, you're the man to teach me to become a better tracker, without relying on Yoki...", answered Meredith, as they headed south towards the city.

[Krypticy]

Alexei delibratly grabbed the gold coin with is still bloody hand to melt it away. Their leader's attitude was really getting on his nerves, they didn't nned any puns are lame jokes, nor did they need some idiot more concerned about women than the task at hand.

"You should really start to get this back on track. We've been both sitting here for far to long." He said getting up putting his sword back.

He healed up his hand and cleaned the leftover blood against a rock.

"I hardly think you'll be able to help me with whatever, all I want is an excuse to cut loose and some body bags that need filling. If could find me any of those things, I'd be deeply apreciated."

Since he appeared to be moving out, Alexei followed him.

[Xenotime]

~Inés~

Calling her scumbag... How on earth their mothers raised them? And they were trying to take her food by abusing their authority. They could have asked for it and she’d gladly share, but no...

Inés didn’t like the idea of leaving her belongings in a place where they could be lost. The paints weren’t an issue, but her sword was problematic. Oh well she’d get more personal with these guards if something happened to her sword. Arngrim was closing in, she had to enter the city before that happened. She just had to bite her tongue...

”I’m sure you are proud of yourselves as honourable guards of this great city. You can have them. At least tell me where do I get this permit from, since you’re ‘confiscating’ my rations as well.”

When asked for Inés will hand over her sword and daggers along with her dyes, and the food. If the guards speak or do something else Inés will listen and act accordingly. Once they are done Inés will get into the city without wasting time.

Skills: Wind Essence, FSE (OBS Mode, Hyper Audition)

[Elcura]

"Simple Missy, you just head towards the golden court, speak to the officials there and they'll tell you how to get your permits," said the second guard. The first looked at him, but said nothing. Ines accepted and hastily moved into the city, leaving her stuff behind. Still capable of hearing the guards, Ines moved quickly while listening.

"Day or night, a sucker's a sucker, haha!" said the second guard as Ines entered the archways that led towards tunnels into the city.
"Sir... you really shouldn't lie about the permits... what if the archduke hears?" said the first guard.

-----

Arngrim looked at Alexei and wiped his palm across his face. "Am I going to have to get you neutered? Be a good boy and be quiet. Maybe I'll give you a treat."

Arngrim laughed, despite Alexei's stand-offish attitude, Arngrim liked him, more or less. Meredith was the same, but quite a bit more personable, when she wasn't acting like a child or a blood-crazed maniac. The young girl asked Arngrim a question as the group walked towards Prosper.

"Tracking, huh? Sure, I can teach you that. That's easy. Seems almost unfair a trade, but essentially the basics of tracking are that you're looking for evidence of a person, rather than an actual person. You see the footprints in the sand? That's the most obvious kind of evidence a person can leave behind. But there's also other things to look out for. The key to being a good tracker is knowing when things are off. A person will disturb nature, and that's what we look for when finding a person. This is easier in the woods than in a city of course," said Arngrim, almost automatically like he didn't have to think about it.

Soon the group arrived at the main gate and were confronted by the two gate guards at the entrance.

"Hold there! What business do you-- Arngrim? Hey man, good to see you again," said the second guard.
"Hey Hoyt, how's it going," said Arngrim, he looked at the first guard. "Who's the newbie?"

Hoyt laughed and slapped the first guard on the back.

"Him? He's nobody. What brings you to Prosper, Arngrim? More gambling and whorin'?" said Hoyt. Arngrim laughed sheepishly, and reached into his pocket and pulled out a pouch, presumably full of gold coins. "Fantastic, you have a good time you hear. I'll remember I didn't see nothin' when you come running out with no clothes again."
"Hah, I will end you, Hoyt," said Arngrim, embarrassed. He looked over to see a bunch of odd materials, including a claymore. "Who does this belong too?"
"That? Some weird hybrid girl. Tall, pink hair, gullible," replied Hoyt.
"Lemme guess, permits?"
"Permits."
"No shit. You mind if I take this," said Arngrim, picking up Ines's sword. "So, Ines is here, huh? She sure gets around."
"No worries, what's mine is yours, for a price."
"Yeah yeah, let's go."

Arngrim continued to walk into the city, Meredith and Alexei followed.

"Alright, we gotta find a renegade by the name of Gloria. They could be anywhere in this city, so ask around. Meredith, find some high ground and look around for anything suspicious, Alexei will take this level and question people about Gloria, while I'll uhh... do something else. Meet back here in an hour," said Arngrim, soon walking off.

-----

Ines was already mingled in with the crowd at the market place, she didn't expect anyone to find her here. But that's she saw it, a dark figure towering over most people, but funnily enough, not over Ines. Arngrim was approaching her gradually, and would soon be next to her.



Attached Image (Click thumbnail to expand)

[SharpSword13]

The moment Arngrim began giving the basic explanation regarding tracking enemies, Meredith knew he was indeed the best teacher... His answer was automatic, obviously his expertise on the subject was great indeed. She paid attention, as they walked towards the city. Some of what he said was something that she used to know as a human, but forgot once she became a Claymore, as tracking by Yoki became her default method.

"Hmm...", she thought to herself, already making mental plans on the best way to track their target in a busy city.

At this point, she was so used to relying on her Yoki senses that she might have made the mistake of trying detect her target directly, as she would through Yoki, through normal means... But before she could question Arngrim further, they came across the guards. The Single Digit's disregard towards scouting the patrols immediately made sense... It seemed they all knew each other well.

"That will make things easier...", a smile of psychotic joy appeared momentarily on her face again, "This way, i can focus on the hunting and the killing..."

Arngrim picked up a sword, the insignia of which Meredith didn't recognize, which apparently belonged to another hybrid... Probably a renegade... Plus she didn't knew any Organization warrior who'd part with his or her sword so willingly... The team leader immediately assigned the first order of business.

"On it...", Meredith answered.

Immediately she looked around town from where she stood. Any point tall enough that she could see clearly from the gate would easily do the trick, but the ideal would be as taller, and hopefully as closer to the center of the city as possible...


[ACTIONS]

After finding the most suitable location, Meredith will head towards it, and begin climbing it as quickly and inconspicuously as possible...

This post has been edited by SharpSword13 on Jul 7 2011, 06:24 PM

[Krypticy]

Arngrim's attitude was getting on Alexei's nerve. He was far too laid back ann not serious enough. Although, he knew he probably wouldn't be sticking around for too long, since they were infiltrating a city a group was easier to spot doing something suspcious rather than just one. Once they approached the main gate Arngrim seemed to know one of the guards. They acted almost like old friends, apart from the bribe. Alexei found that interesting, even though Arngrim wasn't acting like a Claymore they got into the city no questions asked, no problems.

"Not a bad idea, adapting to the situation at hand. Maybe I can put that use while scouting around." He thought as they parted.

As he walked about looking for a pub or a bar or something of the sort, he started working on his own expression. He tried to put on a more friendly face, rather than a murderous glare.

Actions

Alexei will look for a local meeting point, just like a bar or a pub. He'll go in and try out his new attitude on the bartender or anyone that seems to own the place. If that fails at first he'll throw in Arngrim's name, since he apears to have somewhat of a reputation in the town. If the bartender does recognize Arngrim but asks for a bribe in exange for information he'll just add that to Arngrim's tab. If that fails he'll simply move onto the next.

He'll always be keeping an eye on any shaddy meeting points, prioritizing those over normal ones.

(Perk attempt: False Honesty)

[Xenotime]

~Inés~

Inés had decided that the guards were one of the bad side of Prosper. The girl was trying to find the Golden Court and the Archduke, hoping that he would be not support his corrupt guards, especially low ranked ones such as those at the gate. She could have returned to the gate after overhearing the guards, but this was about finding out if the city was suitable for opening a gallery. So seeing how the officials act against such things would be essential in her evaluation.

As she wandered the streets to find where the Golden Court Inés noticed Arngrim coming towards her. She couldn’t resist without a weapon and running away would only make her look guilty of something... Well with all her innocence Inés considered her desertion from the Organization not a crime at all... Best way was direct confrontation. Inés smiled to meet a friend, at least it was like that at Cornelia’s cottage. Inés had no idea if Arngrim would be professional today or not. The girl waved a her hand above the crowd to draw his attention.

”Mister Arngrim! /hiya ”

IIf Inés sees her sword on Arngrim when he comes next to her, she’ll reply.

”Oh thank you Sir! /thanks I was going to complain those guards to the Archduke. :angry: Do you know where this Golden Court is /? I am really reconsidering opening an art gallery here... /sigh So what brings you and Meredith and Alexei here?”

Inés will look around while waiting for Arngrim’s answer. She’ll listen to him carefully and will act accordingly.

Skills: Wind Essence

This post has been edited by Xenotime on Jul 8 2011, 10:02 AM

[Elcura]

Meredith looked for the high ground. The area was basically a long, wide street with the highest walls around. But to the east was the Sapphire Avenue Exchange, a street market place that sold all sorts of items.

"Get your Highland Berries here! 5 bronze per bunch!
"Lumber tools, hatchets, scythes, boots, we got them all here!"

Meredith listened to the chatter and noise, but heard nothing interesting concerning her case. It looked like certain merchants were beckoning Meredith to come over, but she ignored them for now. Meredith could see that if she wanted, she could talk to them merchants and perhaps buy stuff.

But apart from shopping, the Exchange offered the best view around. Heading past the Exchange, Meredith quietly climbed on the roof and found a suitable place to watch from. She could see all the way down the main road, the Quicksands, and a few outer areas. However, Meredith could clearly see this wasn't the best vantage point. But she did get a clue as to what she would have to do to find it.

The upper levels of Prosper were heavily guarded. Meredith could see a few patrols around, and watched their patterns long enough to get a good idea of what they did.

Skill Development:
Eagel Eye (Variable) - A basic observation technique.
+10 Physical Observation

-----

Alexei decided to try and gather information at the local tavern. He simply walked forward from the main gates and up some stairs to find a large open arch with a sign on it. It was clearly a tavern from the inside. Drunken men slapping women on the behind, girls giggling as their boyfriends slip gold into their purses and drunken singing. The people were of a questionable calibre, but the place itself was nicely decorated, with lots of fine furniture.

Alexei walked towards the bar and sat down. Trying his best to be nice, Alexei called over the bartender and asked about a woman named Gloria.

"Sorry son, don't know many women named that, never mind a hybrid," said the bartender. "Arngrim you say? Why, I haven't heard that name in quite some time. Bastard still owes me money."

The bartender gave Alexei a disapproving look, and with that he decided to slink away before the bartender asked Alexei to cover Arngrim's tab for him. With that failing, Alexei walked around the Quicksands a bit more before a group of girls approached him.

(Posted Image)

"H-hello mi'lord. A-are you Ser Arngrim's squire by any chance. I-I have a message from my master," the girl skittishly walked up to Alexei and whispered in his ear. "To Ser Arngrim, I present this girl as a gift, do with her as you please."

The girl stepped back. She was embarrassed to say the least, but as she looked up a smile formed on her gentle face. Alexei was taken back a bit, more or less by the way the girl had introduced herself.

"If you wish, we may go some place private and consummate the contract? After all, I'm Ser Arngrim's escort, and with that, yours too," said the escort girl. "Oh! My name is Melfina, nice to meet you."

Perk Development:
False Honesty (Basic) - By pretending to be honest, Alexei has discovered that people like him more when he's nice.
+2 CHR when pretending to be nice. +5 CHR when genuinely being kind.

-----

Ines greeted Arngrim normally, as if the two had planned the meet. But Arngrim knew Ines well enough to not take her lightly. As he got closer his eyes got wider and wider. As soon as he was next to her, he actually had to look up at the girl.

"Wh-wh-wh-wha-when..." stuttered Arngrim in disbelief. He cleared his throat and composed himself. "Ahem, well... Ines, it's good to see you again."

Arngrim handed over Ines her sword, a friendly gesture if there ever was one.

"I guess you can tell by this I'm not here for you today. I don't exactly like my job, so it's not like I'm looking for brownie points to bring in every renegade I see. In exchange for this, why don't you help me out. I'm looking for a renegade called Gloria. She's a dangerous person, so if you find her, tell me. Or kill her, either one is good with me. Oh, a little note for you, those guards scammed you. The Archduke won't do anything about it, not worth his time. If you want your stuff back, you'll have to buy it back or take it back," said Arngrim. He turned around and started to walk in the other direction. "If you need me, for advice or information, I'll be at the Platinum Mirage. If you're serious about the gallery, try Eshtaime's Aesthetics. Oh, and I don't control the actions of my colleagues, but try not to kill them."

With a flick of his wrist, Arngrim walked off towards the Platinum Mirage, leaving Ines with her thoughts and more importantly, her sword. Though in this setting, her sword stuck out like a sore thumb. This was especially obvious watching Arngrim walk away - though the man himself wasn't exactly trying to be hidden.

[Krypticy]

Alexei's trip to the tavern proved wothless at most, he only found out that Arngrim probably had tabs all around town, which didn't make him exactly a wanted costumer unless he was carring cash. At elast he got to try out new ways of comunications which proved to be somewhat usefull. Before he could figure out his next move he was aproached by girl who offered her "services". Despite the inicial shock he'd gotten used to Arngrim's reputation, carrying around his name would be worth while around tugs, whores and conmen, which was prefect since if they were looking for someone who was underground those were the people he wanted to talk to. He decided to keep up the act of being somewhat of a good guy, at elast until he got to someone who would need some presuasion. He repressed his disgust over being nice to someone he could cleave in two without the help of his sword and put on a warm smile.

"I'm sorry sweatie, but a think Arngrim would be mad if I took on what he paid for. But tell you what, if you help me, I might be able to help you find him. Plus, you're not exactly my type of woman."

He had no intention of actaully helping her, but whoever sent her probably knew Arngrim, which meant he or she wasn't exactly someone with strong legal ideas or hard moral fibers, just the kind of person he wanted to talk to.

"But, if you can take me to whoever sent you I'm pretty sure he'll show up eventually."

Alexei wasn't exactly sure if just asking nicely would work, but he had the upper hand. If she had already been paid for, she'd probably have to do what he told her to. And if needed he could just order her to take him to whoever was pulling the strings.

Actions:
Perk: False honesty

If the initial request doesn't pass Alexei will mention the part that she'd been pay for like so: "Well then, maybe we can strike an arangement. You don't seem like the kind of girl that enjoys going around with random men, so tell you what. If you take me to whoever sent you I can just say you did what you came for and everyone will be happy. Sounds good?"

If she genuinly doesn't know the location of whoever sent her he'll ask if she knows anyone who does, still trying to sound like a nice fellow.

If the girl proves to be completly useless, he'll just go back to his original unpleasent self and say: "You better count you're blesings, cause if you were anywhere near my type I'd probably kill you after I was done with you." Afterwards we'll start looking fir shadier meeting points.

[SharpSword13]

She had little time for vendors and such other very human activities... The warriors mind lay elsewhere... She climbed the nearest roof she could find that apperared to be the best vantage pointed...

"This one is defenitely not it...", was her first thought upon standing on the roof.

She looked around, and two things became clear: This was by far not the best vantage point, and moving around the rooftops unnoticed would prove to be a real bother.
Now that she noticed it (and actually needed it), her basic eyesight had improved dramatically ever since she became a hybrid... If she focused on something, that change was even clearer... Movement was easier to spot, but virtually, anything was easy to spot if she concentrated on it. She'd need to get more used to basic eyesight, and she'd be able to hone it to all new heights...

"Time to get moving...", she thought, getting ready to find a better vantage point.


[ACTIONS]
Skill: Eagle eye

1- Meredith will look around for the most favorable vantage point. Afterwards, she'll look around for a viable path between here and there, tracking the pattern of each guard's patrol, as well as possible hiding spots (such as chimneys) in case she gets spotted, or if she needs to hide a KO'd guard.

2- After she has detected a good spot and picked out all the guards between the two places, she'll time it so that the guards aren't looking her way, and get moving, taking the shortest possible path, jumping over rooftops if it proves necessary.

3- She'll move as fast as possible, but slowing down if she might enter a guard's field of vision, or if the noise of her running could alert them, keeping an eye on those hiding places in case she's spotted.
If she sucessfully reaches the vantage point, she'll crouch, and discreedly look over the entire town, and sweep the whole area for anything out the ordinary or downright suspicious, like an Eagle looking for prey...