A Visit to The Floating Dragon

A Visit to The Floating Dragon

Postby highawaywoman » Thu Jan 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Gaming hells drew out the very worst in living beings. Ailova didn't care to frequent such dives, but she knew that here in this locale she'd find what she needed. A loose tongue was necessary to spread the word that a bandit was looking to assemble a crew for a particular line of work - highway banditry. It was her specialty, it's what she'd stick to in this new place. No murdering, no kidnapping, just simple clean highway robbery.

A reluctant looking bruiser blocked her entrance into the place, his wide paw thrust out for payment in return for entry. A quick flash of silver exchanged between them and Ailova was beckoned inside.

Gloria certainly hadn't lied about the place. It was filled to the brim with carousing ne'er-do-wells; some jockeyed for position at the various gaming tables, others plied drink and compliments to willing women of dubious reputation. Aye, this place was perfect. Booted feet quickly carried her to the bar and Ailova flagged down a harried looking barmaid.

"Whiskey, leave the bottle." Mossy green eyes surveyed a few of the denizens closest to her at the bar and she chose one in particular. It was a chap of slight build, with tattered clothes and a slim looking purse. He had one good eye that surveyed her bottle hungrily - the other sported a black patch.

"Care for a drink?" The highwaywoman asked, snagging a glass and pouring a large measure before receiving an answer.

"Little old and homely to be a workin' girl." The ruffian replied, grabbing the drink before she could change her mind.

"Not that sort of workin' girl." The first bottle went down easy between the two thieves. With the second he talked even more and she found he was a small-time cat-burglar. He was of no use to her, but he assured her he'd help to secure her a crew - for a price.

"Just spread the word. Have them send word here with you and then I'll meet them if they are workable." There was no way she'd completely trust the sot that she'd learned was named Blort, but he was all she had at the ready. For now.

In a few hours a rumor was spread that work was to be found for a ready body with quick mind and steady seat. Personages afflicted with morals need not apply.
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Re: A Visit to The Floating Dragon

Postby Rance » Fri Jan 23, 2015 12:18 pm

I never really liked all the bullshit associated with business.

That being said, work is work, and if you expect to breathe, you should expect to eat. If you expect to eat, then you're best served selling yourself to the highest bidder. A handful of coin can make you the richest man in the world in a room full of lost souls, so I took to the Floating Dragon for my usual fare: a helping of half-cooked beans and a porridge-with-honey. I ate like a king because I had two shillings more in my pocket than most anyone else. I'd just finished scraping the bottom of the wooden bowl with my fingers when I saw someone I recognized.

I bought a drink for some one-eye named Blort. I bought another. And another. I knew him in passing from the wharves, enough to know Blort wasn't his real name, and enough to know he had lips looser than a threepence alley-girl when you lubricate him with a few mugs of booze. Fellows like Blort serve a purpose. When day-work isn't suiting you, he can usually set you up with some night-work. Just depends on his predilection for what he likes to call charity. And whether or not he's wearing the patch on his right eye or the left.

It was a right-eye night.

The note was simple; I gave him the shillings, asked if he might be willing to get it to the woman he called Old and Homely.

And because business is bullshit, you don't smear it in the city streets; you do it somewhere else.

ACROSS FROM THE DOCKS
ACROSS THE EAST MAVOIIR RIVER
IN SOUTHBANK COMMONS
AT HIGHMOON
TOMORROW

My favorite spot to meet.

And it just so happened to be the best place I knew to toss a body in the drink.
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Re: A Visit to The Floating Dragon

Postby highawaywoman » Sat Jan 24, 2015 7:33 am

"Southback commons?" Ailova looked up from the note, tossing it into the hearth once she'd memorized the contents. "That sounds bloody feckin' suspicious. Ye know this cove?"

"Yes, he's not a bad fellow. Not much of a talker, but he buys a drink when it's needed." Blort blinked his good eye innocently, watching the gaunt frame of Ailova take down another bottle of whiskey. The amount of liquor he'd watched her consume would kill most men of greater weight, but she barely seemed affected by the drink.

"Wasn't that on yer right eye when I first saw ye?" The highwaywoman's brow wrinkled up even more as she tried to exactly remember the placing of the grimy square. "I could've swo--"

"No matter! Now, for my payment?" Scummy digits were thrust in front of her and Ailova batted them away as she would a horsefly.

"Not yet, Blort. I meet him and if he's all that ye say he is - then ye get yer blunt."


*****************************************************************************************************************

It wasn't like her to go and meet someone by herself, but she had reasoned herself into believing that by taking her mare, Bruiser, she wasn't truly alone. Skewed logic from a well-brewed mind.

Bruiser rejoiced in the outing, giving several hard bucks before settling down and cantering slowly down the lanes that would lead her to the Southback Commons. Ailova didn't keep shoes on her horses during the winter. A proven horsewoman, she'd learned quickly that shoes were useless in the ice and snow. All it garnered was slow going. Bruiser easily slowed to a jog as they crossed the bridge into the Commons. A frisson of fear snaked down her spine as she rode into the open area. It was nerve-wracking being so displayed.

"Alright, ye blighter. I'm here. Now where be ye?" The words came causally, but the mare beneath her felt the brigand's uneasiness and danced a jig as the two waited.
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Re: A Visit to The Floating Dragon

Postby Rance » Sun Jan 25, 2015 4:06 pm

With winter hanging as heavy as lead in the clouds, nobody ever frequented Southbank Commons. From here, you could still see the hot, orange glow of the streetlamps burning in town, the winking window-eyes of squat buildings flickering with the dull light of late-night candles. Myrkentown was calm this time of night. A sleeping animal. You'd never guess at a glance the history it had (I'd not been here long enough to know that history through anything but stories and drunken tales), but I supposed that was its charm.

Come here for the wharf-work, the cargo-hauling, the anonymity. Leave with scars from things hiding in the shadows.

The figure on the horse was a black smear against the gray night. Its hooves clapped and clomped over the wooden bridge, then padded and rustled in the brittle grasses. Was that her? The contact? Old and Homely, as Blort had called her?

Alright, ye blighter. I'm here. Now where be ye?

Smooth steps. I took smooth steps, confident steps, because the right kind of predator knows, instinctively knows, when you're serious about a threat. I didn't say anything threatening as I emerged from beneath the cover of a leafless, winter-beaten tree, because you don't have to actually say anything when you're staring from behind the shaft of a crossbow. I squeezed the squared butt into the soft meat of my shoulder and leveled the point toward her. When I spoke, I threw my voice. The taut, drawn-back string of the crossbow peeled back the corner of my cowl. From this distance and angle, maybe she didn't see that my finger wasn't inside the release.

Crossbow's still a crossbow, right?

"Down off the horse, love," I barked. "This happens calmly, and without a mess. If you are who I think you are, you'll understand the importance of discretion, formality, and caution, especially with the Crown's soldiers in town."

One breath. Two.

"How can I be sure you're not Constabulary?"
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Re: A Visit to The Floating Dragon

Postby highawaywoman » Mon Jan 26, 2015 4:04 am

Bruiser, more then her rider, seemed most unsettled by the crossbow being pointed in their direction. The mare tossed her head, half-rearing on her hind-legs in reply to such an affront. Ailova turned the horse's body away from the dark figure that stood resolutely before them. It was best not to point the mare directly at him, in her training in highway banditry - such a signal was telling Bruiser to charge him.

"If'n ye put the nasty gut-rocket down, it'll make it easier to dismount." The highwaywoman easily called back, amusement only lightly tainting her words. While a younger and rasher bandit might've reacted crossly, Ailova understood the other's caution. It did a bit to tell her he wasn't the constabulary.

"She's a right bitch when weapons be aimed, I'm sure ye understand." Ailova held up both hands in the dark, "I think ye'll find ye outarm by a bit. Now, ye put it down and I dismount. All nice like."

He's a human. The voice and shadow resembled that of a mortal. Well, there was one positive mark in his favor.

"I'll trust ye to know I'm not constabulary or any other such maggot upoun the rotting ass of this little burg. Try as ye might, that might be more of an insult than your pointed weapon." Keep talking. If Blort was indeed telling the truth - then this man couldn't be that bad, aye? Of course, that meant trusting a bloke whom she swore wore his eye-patch on opposite sides.
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Re: A Visit to The Floating Dragon

Postby Rance » Mon Jan 26, 2015 11:57 am

"Nasty gut-rocket," I repeated, lowering the crossbow down against my ribs. "Keep talking like that, you'll hurt its feelings."

I didn't have any interest in pissing off the mare she was riding. People are predictable enough, but animals? You could never get too much truth out of those big, wild eyes, and something as quick to run from you just might turn around and gore you. Horns or not, being trampled wasn't really my aim for the night. On her suggestion, I pulled the heavy piece up and leaned it across my shoulder. The motion and stance was meant to give me that devil-may-care look, but lever-drawn crossbows aren't little things: my whole back creaked and my shoulder snarled in protest. I probably looked more like a cripple with a wine-keg tossed across his back. But an act's an act.

I looked over the ridge of my nose at her. "Dismount, then. Just know that the river," I jerked my chin toward the crease of the East Mavoiir a few hundred paces away, "probably makes short work of bodies, especially lying ones. It'll sweep you out to Silver Lake without a second thought."

So here we were, then. Shadows doing business. Might as well get to the business.

"Heard you were looking for some some muscle. Maybe some brains," I said. "I've got a lot more of the former and a tiny bit of the latter."

But first things first.

"You think it's smart to work," I asked honestly, "with ten centuries of troops in Myrkentown?"
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Re: A Visit to The Floating Dragon

Postby highawaywoman » Mon Jan 26, 2015 12:24 pm

"Doubt I could succeed in hurtin' that ones' feelins. And you seem quite at the ready with your threats - makes a social call much less--" In a fluid movement, Ailova's right leg was swung over the rump of the black and white mare. A few seconds later both booted feet were on the ground and the two came closer to their reticent companion. "Much less social." Upon closer appraisal mayhap she didn't seem that old - but in an age where women were spinsters if not married by twenty - Ailova was indeed old.

"Ten centuries are bett'r odds to face then twenty." A tart reply was given, as she pushed up her hat-brim to get a better look at that one in front of her. "'Tis not anything of consequence to them - as long as we are smart. And quick."

"I'm sure Blort told ye of me great age? One doesn't get so long in the tooth in this profession if they don't be quick." A bare hand offered the other a flask, "Ye do ride, aye? Yer of no use to me if ye can't sit a horse. And tis better if ye drink."

The mare beside her bared her teeth and let out a long nicker of displeasure at the idleness she presently was forced into. The highwaywoman rubbed the muzzle of the snorting beast, ignoring the bared teeth that grazed her shoulder.

"I don't trust those who don't imbibe."
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Re: A Visit to The Floating Dragon

Postby Rance » Wed Jan 28, 2015 11:40 am

"Your age? He might have mentioned something."

I'd be a damn inhospitable host if I didn't accept the offered flask. I eyed her horse for a minute longer -- if he'd any fingers, I would have asked him to sign a contract guaranteeing my continued long-term relationship with my limbs -- and then tossed my crossbow onto the grass. A few steps closer, I drew back the cowl. Can't imagine I wasn't much to look at. I've seen myself in mirror-glass a few times, and the image is mostly unremarkable: Dull hair, dim eyes, divot in my chin.

This close, though, I let my attention start at her boots and crawl their way up. She had a rough, hard-ridden look to her, the kind of poise you grow in gutters and fistfights. I snatched the flask, poured a quick splash on my glove-tip, licked it--

"I wouldn't kick you out of bed. With age comes experience, they say. Or recklessness. Just depends on which you value more." I tried to read the taste burning on my tongue. Booze? Something else? "I'll let you worry about the soldiers. Depending, of course, on what kind of work you have in mind. Quick I can do. Smart, I'll leave up to you."
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Re: A Visit to The Floating Dragon

Postby highawaywoman » Thu Jan 29, 2015 7:52 am

"Now that the pleasantries 'ave been exchanged--" Ailova pushed the brim of her battered hat upwards, taking stock of his appearance much like he'd done with her, "We can get to business."

The highwaywoman's own face was never much of a concern to her - the looking glass revealed only additional blemishes to her already wayward person. Her nose had been broken a few times and it was hard not to notice the numerous golden teeth that flashed brilliant in her smile. Thankfully, one didn't need to worry over their mug when involved in highway banditry. That golden smile broke again as he tentatively tasted the whiskey on his fingertip. It was a delicate gesture that proved the man was cautious and not daft. Mayhap, Blort had found her at least one decent prospect.

"God's teeth, man! I wouldn't kill you with poisonin' - that's a woman's weapon." She reached out for the flask with an exasperated look, "And a waste of whiskey."

"Reckless, well, aye. I s'ppose anyone in my occupation could be called such." And with those words she come back to answer his question, deciding in that second that he'd do just fine.

"Highway robbery. On the roads, quick and clean. Ye up for it? Equal shares all around."
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Re: A Visit to The Floating Dragon

Postby Rance » Sat Jan 31, 2015 4:27 am

Before I surrendered the flask to her, I thumbed its cork and took a swig. The vapors burned in the back of my nose. No need letting a woman know I wasn't a man, after all. My senses screamed at the whiskey. I tossed the flask back at her. What she said about poisoning got me to laugh, at least -- and fake as it might have been, I gave it some body to make it more convincing. "I don't give a rat's ass how you choose to kill me, as long as you don't," I said. "Woman's weapon or not, dead's still dead, poison or otherwise, and I'm tragically attached to breathing. It's a habit I prefer not to shake any time soon.

"But business indeed. Robbing from roadside?" Now I was interested. The woman talked in coins and shares; she knew that in the end, I didn't give much of a shit about making new friends or surrounding myself with powerful associates. A man with a fat purse of coin can do exactly that with some clever applications of silver and copper, after all.

I lowered my voice so that if there were ears in the trees, they wouldn't hear. I angled my chin toward the East Mavoiir and started striding toward it. The river was a black scar in the night, crackling and laughing, reeking sour and strong of Myrkentown's rancid run-off. If the Crown had mages, wizards, practitioners of some sort who wanted to scry or listen in at this distance, the running water would play hell with their little tricks, break up the energies or whatever the hell they called them. Motes. Spells. Rituals. Bullshit.

I squatted in the riverbank. My boots sunk into foam and mud. I glanced over my shoulder at her.

"Quick and clean," I agreed. "But you damn well better black those teeth of yours. You smile wrong, and every sword-and-shield this side of the border will recognize that gold."
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Re: A Visit to The Floating Dragon

Postby highawaywoman » Sat Jan 31, 2015 9:09 am

After he drank, Ailova herself took a deep sip. To her, this sealed the bargain. Whiskey was as necessasry to her as water to others, but she doubted this one had the thirst like she did - which was good. She'd seen others with the thirst and they'd made the worst sort of compatriots. Not with this one. The way he'd swallowed and the slight watering from his peep-holes told her he wasn't afflicted.

Ailova laughed softly at his own retort, but before she could continue with the ribbing - he'd already made to the muddy banks of the dank river. Bruiser stomped her hooves, not wishing to get closer to the wicked waters. The horsewoman clucked under her tongue to the horse, following the other. In her early days of banditry she'd been much more rash, forgetting to look, think, anticipate. Obviously, this chap had also learned those important lessons of survival in a world where mad things lived in every realm.

"It's my specialty. I'm good at it. You hit fast, don't argue with the goods, and leave fast." Ailova made to squat down next to him, her voice had been a hoarse whisper since they'd starting talking of their business. "I have an extra horse, ye can ride him. We blacken the horses, wear hoods, and aye, I be blackin' me grinders when it be time to work."

He was smart.

"I've met and found a few goods already that'd be ripe dancing partners. Especially one in particular."

If he could ride as well as he plotted, she was one big step closer to getting back on the roads.

"Me name's Ailova."
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Re: A Visit to The Floating Dragon

Postby Rance » Sat Jan 31, 2015 7:15 pm

"You've either got really high hopes or some extremely solid plans in mind," I said. "Fast, I like. Minimal effort -- and bloodshed -- I like even more. I'm not fond of needing to bleed a fellow or a lass like a fuckin' pig to get to the coins."

I didn't adhere to any kind of special honor code or what-have-you; rather, I'd come to recognize over the past few years that the success of a theft of a robbery was directly relative to how little blood was lost. Tumultuous place like Myrken Wood could give two shits less about the occasional bit of money changing hands at knife-point unless that knife had a habit of leaving slit throats or disemboweled corpses in its wake.

I squinted against the pale moonlight and glanced over at her. The woman had her head screwed on well enough. Not too many indicators of mistake that I could see: her face wasn't a map of scars, and her skin didn't wear the yellow veil of an opium abuser. She was hale, mostly, and fire-hot confident. I hadn't anything against women, for the most part, so working for one -- no, alongside one -- didn't seem like such a bad deal. Beats tossing stacks on the docks or braiding ropes for anchor-knots.

I stood. I scraped my palms off on my trousers and thrust my hand out to her.

"Ailova," I said. "I'm Elias. And I'd be damned privileged to join in on that dance."

We could toss euphemisms around all night long if we wanted.

"Who, exactly, do you have in mind?"
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Re: A Visit to The Floating Dragon

Postby highawaywoman » Sun Feb 01, 2015 4:48 am

"Likewise, mate. I've no desire to be pig-stickin' anyone. Blood-lust be not one of me vices." The highwaywoman replied quickly, relieved that this one wasn't possessed with grandiose visions of mayhem. One tended not to work long when possessed with such a drive.

Ailova glanced over as he paused in his musings, surprised as he thrust his hand out to her, "A pleasure, Elias, to be sure." Again she grinned, clasping his hand with a firm shake.

The blonde brigand had never worked with another woman on the roads. Men were easier to work with, in her mind. They didn't weep and most of them had a drive to match her own. And they weren't as likely to flit off at the first sign of danger. The mare behind her pushed her in the back of the head, irritated with her mistress whom was crouched down next to the future highwayman. With a grunt she pushed the horse's head away, looking up to the town as his next and mayhap most important question came.

"The tax-collector. The Lord Steward. He has some bodyguards, aye, but they strike me as green lads. His carriage is heavy, he's immense, and his horse is two steps away from the knackers. We won't hurt the bugger, just relieve him of some blunt." She paused, taking another deep drink from her flask, before offering it to her new partner. "He stays quite a bit at the Broken Dagger and he's very friendly. Too friendly. Have ye met 'im?"
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Re: A Visit to The Floating Dragon

Postby Rance » Sun Feb 01, 2015 7:14 am

"The Lord Steward?" I asked, jerking my head back. "Are you mad?"

Maybe I had been too quick to make positive assumptions on the part of her character or her capacity for logic.

"No, I've never met him," I finally said, snatching the flask back from her hand. This time I drank longer and harder, squeezed the booze between the slits of my teeth. "For all intents and purposes, he's a fine mark. In theory," I muttered. "But Lord Steward, Ailova. You might as well thumb your nose at King Chedwry himself, for all it's worth. He's no mere tax-collector; he's acting governor and ambassador to the King. So if you're interested in fighting off ten centuries of men in steel and mail? Yes, by all means..."

Another swig. And another. Because this was the kind of crap you needed alcohol to process.

"By all means, let's knock over his carriage. There's no way that could somehow turn itself into a filthy mess or result in our consequential new role as--" I cut my hand through the air and wiggled my fingers, trying to catch the right words out of the darkness, "--lovely skin-ornaments hanging from one of the tougher trees on the outside of town."

I tossed the flask back to her, perhaps with more force than I intended.

"Blort didn't tell me you were looking for someone to commit Goddamn suicide alongside."
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Re: A Visit to The Floating Dragon

Postby highawaywoman » Sun Feb 01, 2015 8:45 am

"Nine hells, Elias! I didn't know the bloated toad be some sort of higher-up nob!" And while this information had taken some of the luster out of the notion of robbing the Lord Steward - it hadn't completely wiped the notion from her wayward mind.

Ailova grinned as Elias sputtered and fussed over the idea, washing it down with several more gulps of whiskey, "Mayhap ye don't have the bullocks necessary for the job? No shame in that, not many do." There ye go, insult his manhood. That always works.

"He travels about pretty freely and lightly, considering his high and mighty position in this place. But, if'n ye have some other bright ideas? Please share 'em." Ailova wasn't opposed to changing marks. As a highway bandit, one had to be flexible.

"Shite, man, we'll swing from the gibbet either way if we are caught. Won't matter who we rob, the consequences are the same." It sounded reasonable to her, but then she'd been involved in highway banditry for a decade or more. She'd spent a long time rationalizing her day-job. When Elias tossed the flask, she easily caught it with her right hand. She stood and the horse behind her snorted again and bared her teeth at the man.

"Bruiser don't be likin' yer tone overmuch. She's sensitive." She took up the reins, shrugging off her disappointment easily. If'n Elias thought her mad, he surely wasn't the first to remark so, "Now, I understand yer lack of interest. Keep this to yerself. And I'll bid ye a good night."

With that Ailova made to climb atop her mare, sliding her left booted foot into the stirrup.
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