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Post by Malcolm Selder on May 28, 2011 21:33:44 GMT -5
So yeah this is totally open for all the people around. :3
Nope. Definitely not as good as his own bar.
Malcolm glared into his mug as though a stern look would scare it into tasting more like ale and less like rat piss. He certainly wouldn’t be restocking the Dragon’s Keep from here, even temporarily. Tiaelde’s booze tasted awful as well, if he recalled correctly. He hadn’t tried anything from Riyer’s tavern, but if it was anything like the rest of them it wouldn’t even be worth the trip. He’d just have to wait until he could find something worth drinking. Staying off Cados’s streets for a while would be a good idea, anyway. Issilt was a nice town, if you ignored the fact that their tavern served horrid drinks. He would have taken a seat at the bar, but a little extra thinking had convinced him that giving the bartender a death-glare would get him kicked out a bit too quickly, especially since he planned to stay a night or two.
For now, he could revel in knowing that everyone’s bar but his own was absolutely terrible.
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Post by Lumikki Piirka on May 29, 2011 15:35:50 GMT -5
Lumi dragged herself into the tavern, hardly managing to shut the door behind her before she nearly collapsed in the nearest empty chair. She had traveled nonstop from Cados to Issilt, carrying Zoshi's body all the way to the quieter city. She spared little expense for the paladin's grave, having bought scrap materials and... borrowing the tools necessary to build a coffin. After spending so much time in the presence of one, she felt she could at least do something close to its craftsmanship. Her first coffin was a little better than shoddy, but Zoshi fit in it, with her sword and shield.
The werecat dug as far as she could, until she finally estimated the hole to be six feet. Before saying her final goodbye and carefully maneuvering the coffin in without too much jostling, she found the pendant with Zoshi's family crest, which she took, swapping their necklaces with each other. After refilling the hole, she had taken the spare materials and fashioned a cross, which she nailed into the ground at the head of the grave. If she could have written 'Here lies Zoshi, who fell defending Cados', she would have. She might have been able to get someone else to write it for her, but it wouldn't feel right. So, she promised herself, she'd learn how to read and write, just so she could write on Zoshi's cross.
So here she was in As the Dove Flies, physically and emotionally exhausted. And also dreading, since Joachim's coffin was lost in the battle. She fiddled with the eagle pendant, looking up when a tavern wench came over and mumbling an order for cider.
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Post by Tobias Lysand on May 29, 2011 15:46:14 GMT -5
Cados had fallen.
No expression marked the face of the hooded rider, who rode upon a steed stolen from a guard who was no longer on this earth. He wouldn't do this normally, but he figured that having it in his possession was better than letting the vampires have it. The horse's hoofs beat against the ground, a rhythmic pounding in his ears.
Banez was dead.
He had to be. There was no other option. He could not fool himself by pretending that the vampires would keep him alive for some foul purpose... Even if they did, he was better off dead. After all, there would be no rescue coming. Not when he was so weak.
Lysand found that he was devoid of emotion as he thought of the guard captain and his home. It seemed that he was able to repair his wall and shove everything behind it. He didn't feel anything... He didn't need to feel anything. ...
That was a lie.
He wanted to scream, but something held him back. Something told him to save his emotions for a later time. He dismounted his horse and tethered it outside the tavern. Keeping his hood up, he made his way inside, pressing a palm against the wall to keep himself upright as he suddenly felt a tremble working through him.
How long until the vampires came to destroy this place too?
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Post by Malcolm Selder on May 29, 2011 23:02:33 GMT -5
Malcolm had switched from silent complaints to people-watching–and a good thing, too! Just as he did, a familiar face stumbled in through the door. Lumi’s bright-red hair was hard to forget, almost as much so as the coffin. Which...wasn’t there. Malcolm tilted his head to the side and leaned back for a better look. Maybe she actually had thrown it to volcanic gods of fire rain.
For lack of anything better to do, he rose from his own table and, carrying the shoddy ale for appearance’s sake, strolled across the room to sit across from Lumi. “Hey there. Lumi, right?” he asked, faking a smile (because she didn’t look to be in the mood for a real smile). “Did you come here from a volcano or Cados? I’d heard there was a battle there.” Over her shoulder, someone else walked in, someone in a dark hood who didn’t even have the strength to stand right. “That’s probably where he’s from,” Malcolm mumbled, half to himself.
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Post by Lumikki Piirka on May 30, 2011 3:52:46 GMT -5
Lumi looked up when she noticed someone approaching. It wouldn't be very dignified to cry now, would it? She remembered his face from Cados, the bartender from the Dragon's Keep. Malcom? She'd just go with that and see if she was corrected. Needless to say, she was too distracted with reigning herself in and with the other smells around her to pick up on Malcom's vampiric scent. "Yeah. You escaped from Cados too? Or just had a perfectly timed vacation..." she added jokingly, although she couldn't muster the humor in her voice. Urf... "Sorry... I just had to bury a friend."
When Malcom pointed out the other man, Lumi looked back at the hooded figure. Well, if they were all going to be huddled refugees, they might as well act like it. She gestured for the man to join the table, glancing back when her cider was delivered, which she took and immediately drank. It tasted sour, but after burying Zoshi, everything probably would have tasted sour.
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Post by Tobias Lysand on May 30, 2011 13:20:04 GMT -5
Lysand closed his eyes for a brief moment, taking a breath. How long had it been since Cados fell? Not that long, but it felt like forever. He opened his eyes to see that he was being beckoned to. What? Why would anyone be calling him over? Didn't they know-
He cut his thoughts off before he could add the 'who he was.' The answer was no. More importantly, his old title meant nothing. He was no longer the head advisor. He probably wasn't even a lord. He probably still had his land, but for how long?
He made his way to the table and sat down. He hesitated a moment before he lowered his hood. "... Good day. You.... were from Cados perhaps?" He recognized the bartender at any rate.
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Post by Malcolm Selder on May 30, 2011 18:24:37 GMT -5
Malcolm waved at the hooded refugee. A table full of people from Cados...Well, he might get a first-hand account of how things had went, at least. Behind the hood lay another face he knew he’d seen: the gentlemen who’d been with the huge guy, the big vampire Valmar had brought in. Strange coincidence.
“Yes, I left the city a while ago,” he said, answering both questions at once. “Made a big sale and, between that and rumors of an army gathering, I figured I would leave.” He tapped his fingers on the table, gaze flickering between the other two. “Both of you must have been around for the actual fight. Lumi, was it that coffin you buried or someone else?”
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Post by Lumikki Piirka on May 31, 2011 22:34:29 GMT -5
"Good move. Cados must be wasted now. It was a full on siege by the time I left," she said to Malcom. She took another pull of her cider, looking at the hooded man, er... not so hooded anymore. He was rather pale. Well, so was Malcom, but this man looked pale in a sheltered sort of way. Probably a noble, but it wasn't as if class mattered anymore. "From Cados, yeah..." she answered him before her gaze traveled to Malcom when he asked after her coffin. "It was someone else. I had to leave the coffin behind to carry her." The last sentence was strained, as if in distress.
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Post by Tobias Lysand on Jun 1, 2011 13:30:12 GMT -5
Lysand's face remained in its impassive mask as Malcolm spoke. No, he wasn't around for the actual fighting. He wasn't useful enough for that. He did not share this however, gaze instead focusing on the table as the red head spoke, sounding like she was distressed. He looked up and paused for a moment in thought before he said, "At least you were able to put your friend to rest and know of their fate."
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Post by Malcolm Selder on Jun 1, 2011 19:20:52 GMT -5
Huh. Well, last he’d seen it, the coffin had been occupied. If Lumi was lucky, maybe none of the vampires would bother trying to commandeer it. Then she’d only have to worry about all the soldiers who might pilfer a casket. The hood-man had the right idea: friends were better than coffins in most cases. “I agree,” Malcolm said, managing to put a tinge of kindness in his voice, the one practiced from serving drinks for decades, “most people would put a friend over a coffin, anyways.”
He shifted focus to the once-hooded man. Definitely familiar, but Malcolm couldn’t place a name. “You’ll have to forgive me, but I haven’t got your name. I’m Malcolm, from the Dragon’s Keep,” he said. He almost asked what had happened to him, but there was a worn, distant sort of look about the guy. Probably had a deep story of grand sorrow. They could work into that; might be easier to talk about if the guy drank a bit and settled down. “Did you want anything to drink? I can’t recommend the ale here, but...” He trailed off, not sure whether he’d know anything here to recommend. “...Well, Lumi seems to be enjoying the cider. We can call over a bartender.”
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Post by Lumikki Piirka on Jun 1, 2011 23:30:29 GMT -5
"The coffin wasn't that important," she said, mostly to herself. Of course Zoshi was more important than that stupid vampire, but it was still unnerving to know that it was out there without someone to look after it. And enjoying cider... That was assuming that Lumi was enjoying anything right now, but she didn't say anything to correct that. Maybe if they pretended to be happy, they would. ...Fat chance.
She looked at the nobleman when he looked on the brightside. Or... actually, from his point of view, she realized, it was despair. "I don't know... if I didn't know what happened to them, I could at least keep going in the hope that they managed to hole themselves up somewhere." Ignorance was bliss...
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Post by Tobias Lysand on Jun 2, 2011 13:30:24 GMT -5
"My name is Tobias Lysand." Lysand allowed his gaze to fix on the wall for a few moments. "I used to be the advisor to the king." When asked if he wanted to drink, he hesitated. "I would... prefer wine," he decided. He lowered a hand to allow his finger to trace the wood grain. His eyes moved to focus on Lumi as she spoke. Think they holed up somewhere... That wasn't possible for him to think that. If Banez thought the prince was in danger, he wouldn't just hide. He shook his head, not remarking on that point.
"I wonder what happens now," he said quietly. "Now they have Cados... What comes next?"
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Post by Malcolm Selder on Jun 2, 2011 20:12:57 GMT -5
The former advisor? Well, looks like the battle hadn’t been coordinated enough to catch everyone. He might be interesting company (or at least more polite than his usual acquaintances). Malcolm nodded and waved to a barmaid, who motioned that she’d be a moment.
But as to the future... “Well, that’s a good question,” Malcolm answered. And damned if it wasn’t; he wasn’t deep enough in the planning to know if the vampires even had a plan. “I suppose it depends on whether they want a haven in the world. They can’t kill everyone, though. There’s the, uh, food supply issue for that.”
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Post by Lumikki Piirka on Jun 3, 2011 4:14:07 GMT -5
Advisor to the king? Well, that was definitely a hefty title. She couldn't imagine what the vampires might have done to him, if they didn't give him the mercy of a quick death. "You're lucky you weren't caught," she said. Maybe it was misfortune to him, though. He didn't seem reassured by the vague hope that his friends could still be alive. Realist points of view sucked....
At the question of what happens next, Lumi shook her head, "We can talk about what the vampires will do as much as we like, but what do we do next? Do we take the next boat off the continent before they send soldiers to block the ports, or do we try to fight back?"
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Post by Tobias Lysand on Jun 3, 2011 16:23:36 GMT -5
"It's ridiculous and they were foolish to do what they did," Lysand spat with ore ferocity than he meant to allow. "It is impossible to maintain a population of vampires. The more they feed on, the less people there are, and the more vampires. Eventually, they'll have no one else to eat. They've only sped up their own demise by killing countless soldiers that can no longer be used as food. If they had any brains at all, they'd be thinning their on ranks, not adding to them." His palms pressed against the table and he looked away, forcing his face back to its usual state of neutrality. "Lucky? I suppose I am. But they might as well have caught me. What do I have left to live for? My country, my position, any chance of accomplishing anything is gone. I doubt I could retake my title in a neighboring country." His hands folded. "I cannot fight either. I am far too weak for that. So. I suppose that means I'm just here to wait until the end."
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