A New Mark is a Blessed Thing

A New Mark is a Blessed Thing

Postby highawaywoman » Tue Jun 30, 2015 5:13 am

"'ave ye a bi' 'o spare fer a form'r soldier?" A scratchy hoarse voice interrupted the bleary thoughts of Blort. He scowled, his beard rustling up in indignation over being interrupted while drinking his morning ale.

"Fuck off, beggar. I have no time, nor the coin to spare on the likes of you!" His hand raised to strike back the beggar, but it stilled as the floppy bedraggled hat raised just a bit giving him a view of the eyes and straw-colored head beneath.

"'Tis moos' unkoind 'o stroike the downtrodden." A ready smile lightened the muddy features of the bandit. This time her smile did not flash with brilliant golden teeth. She had them blackened, hiding one of her physical attributes that was mayhap the most recognizable.

"You are serious then? 'Tis a bad idea, I tell you. That guard of his? Mean. And driven. And unlike you? She don't drink like a dockworker." Blort snorted and downed his ale, his voice a mere whisper since he'd realized this was no beggar before him. "And you are workin' this job alone? Damn, even you have to admit this is all a massive risk." Blort's chubby digit reached out to poke her in her nonexistent chest, "Lost your partner, aye? He buggered off for greener pastures? More flowering fields?"

Ailova flinched at the mention of a dockworker and then former partner, but she shrugged with all the blase indifference she could muster. "Ain't scar'd." She snatched at the finger, bending it back painfully as she bent her head to whisper, "Ye mention 'im again? I'll break this and moore."

"Fuckin' shite! That hurts!" His voice raised an octave and she bent it just a tad more before releasing him.

"Noow, qui' feckin' aboou'. 'ell me wot ye said ye'd been able 'o gath'r froom gossip mongers." Ailova very badly wanted a drink, but while dressed in mismatched beggar garb, dirtied and reeking of manure - she'd never be served. And she couldn't take a drink within the Floating Dragon from her flask, lest it cast suspicion on her cover.

"He's as rich as they come. Owns a bunch of gem mines. Made his fortune from them and then his family is old and has loaded coffers." Blort rubbed his finger, casting a more wary eye on the highwaywoman, "He is here to live out his days in comfort and excitement. Heard Myrken Wood was the kingdom to see it all and enjoy such at will. His guard is mean and well-trained in military arms. She is at his side at all fucking times."

"Gems, ye say?" Ailova's face brightened a bit with the information that kept coming from Blort. "And where has he set-up residence? Is he renting rooms?"

"Nah, fuckin' nob went and bought himself a house on Beauregard St. Can't miss it. It's close to the Market square and he switched out the front door - it is now a rich and deep purple - with a stained glass window at the crown of the door."

"Feckin' garish. Alroight then, that'll be enoough fer noow." A hand pressed under the bartop and slid a few golden sovereigns into Blort's hand. The action was done under cover and away from any possible curious on-lookers.

"Where you goin' now?"

"I am aboou' 'o go beggin' on Beauregard St. See if the newest denizen is aboou' or leaves or gooes anywhere. No oone notices the poor - do they?"

With that, the brigand shuffled and stumbled out of the gaming hell. Some of the patrons, irritated by the beggar's smell and presence cuffed her shoulder or pushed her sharply in the back as she left - to hasten her progress to the door. Instead of being angry at the manhandling? Ailova was relieved! If blackguards like this believed her get-up? Then it was surely a good enough cover to begin the casing of Stane.
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Re: A New Mark is a Blessed Thing

Postby Antichthon » Tue Jun 30, 2015 6:46 am

Stane's house was fine but not extravagant, which seemed to be the theme of the man. It was a particularly green home, covered in decorative vines and attended by hedges. A small porch faced Beauregard street, and a half-dozen flowering plants grew from the overhang. The carriage and horses must have been kept in a stable elsewhere, because they weren't to be seen. On the side of the house was what might have been intended as a pen or a garden, but held neither.

It was foreign, but it was an altar, that much was obvious. four pedestals surrounded a pillar, all of it under a short roof. The central pillar held an ash-filled urn, while the smaller pedestals each held a pot, and in each pot was a living thing. That the contents were alive was all that could be known for certain, as the black, hemispherical things could have been anything from plants, to fungi, to something else entirely. There was a mat on one side of the central pillar, and the whole altar was just about large enough for one person to kneel comfortably.

The house itself was solidly built, designed with the myriad of dangers of Myrkenwood in mind. The front door was heavy with many locks, while the windows each had a crosshatching of iron bars behind them. Through the windows could be seen a dining room, a kitchen, a sitting room and a bedroom, and judging by the dimensions of the house, there were probably one or two more rooms that couldn't be seen from outside. A hatch on the kitchen floor must have led to a cellar.

It was midday, and Stane was sleeping in the sitting room. In the kitchen, his guard, Marley, was helping a servant. Despite being in the safety of a home that was effectively a miniature fortress, she still wore her strange armor, glossy and black. The servant was the only other person in the house, at least by appearances. If Ailova was observant, she'd see that while the servant smiled whenever she met Marley's gaze, she otherwise looked very uncomfortable to be in her presence.

As midday wore on, Marley moved to the sitting room and took up position beside Stane. The servant left the house, basket under one arm, and started heading down the street.
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Re: A New Mark is a Blessed Thing

Postby highawaywoman » Tue Jun 30, 2015 12:44 pm

The house was easy enough to find. The greenery almost overran the expanse of the city-dwellers home. Passersby ignored the vagrant who stumbled and slumped against a nearby home across Beauregard St. He was nothing new and sadly, nothing remarkable in their city. Occasionally, he took a nip from a gourd, but he didn't appear overly drunk, the floppy and well-worn hat obscured features which made most assume that he must be asleep. A skinny drunk beggar? Nothing much to note there.

However, the bandit noticed everything. She watched carefully, occasionally sucking in a breath as she caught glances of the black-clad form of Marley and her charge. That bitch would have to go.

When the servant came out of the well-locked house and turned to Market square, Ailova straightened and made to follow. The mud on her face, the clothes, the hat - everything about her bespoke of man that was down on his luck.

"'ave a cooin 'o spare, ma'am? Tha' be a noice hoouse ye work fer - though the lady knoight seem a bit ferocious." The voice was haggard, hoarse and several octaves lower than her normal. "She seems 'o be a dark clooud ov'r yon shooulder in yer duties."

A sympathetic smile lightened the beggar's features as he/she stepped to the side to allow the servant plenty of room to pass or run from her/him if she should wish.

"My sist'r woorks fer a great 'ouse. Poor thing works eighteen hours out o' the day, with nary a penny 'o scrape by with a' the end."
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Re: A New Mark is a Blessed Thing

Postby Antichthon » Tue Jun 30, 2015 2:59 pm

The servant had a plain face, but her reddish-brown hair was noticeable, and attractive. She tensed at the vagrant's voice; she seemed fairly high-strung in general. "Ah, no," she said, turning to face him. "I don't have any anything." To spare, she meant. she was going shopping, so she must have had some coin on her. She did offer the vagrant a weak smile, and though she clearly wanted to move on with her day and away from the downtrodden and dangerous-looking man, she listened when he continued.

Though what the vagrant had to say only made her tense more. Had he been watching her through the window? Could he get any creepier? "She only wanted to help," she said, her voice almost a whisper. "She's just...she's just from very far away, and does things differently."

He stepped aside, which relieved her greatly. She would have briskly walked away, but his comment about his sister struck a chord in her. "She shouldn't put up with that."
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Re: A New Mark is a Blessed Thing

Postby highawaywoman » Wed Jul 01, 2015 3:45 am

Easy. Ailova sensed that her abrupt interruption of the maid's path to the market was unsettling to the woman. And who wouldn't it unsettle? After all, if one was a native of Myrken? Any sort of evil could lurk in the corners. However, the vagrant before the girl was obviously human, from the stooped back to the angular and dirty face that offered a small smile that showed only rotten teeth. No fangs. No glowing eyes. Just a human that had seen a hard road.

"She shouldn't put up with that."

"Aye, ye are roigh', but woork is woork, aye? She be grateful fer the joob." The beggar kept a respectful distance, but seemed inclined to be chatty. Most probably because not many talked to the beggars and poor.

"It be amazin' tha' a grand man and 'is guard come doown froom af'r to set up in Myrken Town, aye? Do ye think they need 'elp in the stables? Or tendin' 'o 'em greeneries? I'd woork fer pennies. And sleep ooutsoide." It as a long shot, but if she tried to pose herself as being a man lookin' for work, her shot was better at softening the maid to her side.

"I foough' in Derry. Had me skull bash'd a bit - but I am soound enoough fer woork. 'Tis hard fer soldiers 'o foind woork aft'r the wars. Soo many o' us and all needin' joobs."
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Re: A New Mark is a Blessed Thing

Postby Antichthon » Wed Jul 01, 2015 6:40 am

The servant was still unnerved that the vagrant had been watching her through the window, but he'd given her space, and she did feel a twang of pity for the man. It was the fear of ending up like him that motivated many in Myrkenwood to put up with the most terrible of jobs.

It had been a mistake to not ignore the beggar. Now he was talkative, and the servant didn't have the strength or the heart to tell him off. He asked about work and the servant said, "I take care of the house. He said he doesn't want any more servants." She was unhappy about that. Work was always easier when you had someone you could talk to helping you. "I don't know about the stables. But, you can ask, if you want. I need to go." She had work to do, after all. She started to walk away.
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Re: A New Mark is a Blessed Thing

Postby highawaywoman » Thu Jul 02, 2015 1:55 pm

The bandit let the maid walk away. Forcing her to stay with more conversation was not going to gain her any sort of benefit. Besides, Ailova had gained more information with their short conversation. Stane only had the two women as his paid servants. The guard and the maid. What sort of nob only kept two employees?

Instead of idling about Beauregard Street for a longer spell - which might only bring curious look to her - she left.

And very quickly made her way back to the tavern. Stane hardly left the house. He was old. Despite the presence of Marley? This truly shouldn't be a hard job.

Famous last words.
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