Walking the mean streets (GM Trinity please)

[Hannas Darkblade]

Timestamp:

Kuras: Cycle 2: Ioannes: Summer: Era X
Late afternoon

Hannas Darkblade walked the cobbled streets of his adopted home of Narim, his thoughts troubled. Hannas was a tall, broad shouldered man in his forties. He had built something of a stomach that no amount of training seemed able to remove and at first glance he looked like a gone to seed mercenary, of the type that could be found in any bar in the Empire. However, there was something in Darkblades demeanor that generally made people give him a second glance, and that was usually enough to convince them that this was not a man it would be wise to underestimate. For one, he moved with the fluid grace that belied his size. Secondly there was the coldness of his lined face and the ice blue of his eyes, that made even the most hardened Bravo pause. It had been said by those under Darkblades command, during his long military service, that Hannas Darkblade moved like a wolf among dogs, and the description seemed to those who knew him to be fair.

Despite the fact that he walked in order to think, his gaze constantly swept around him, looking for any sign of trouble, or anyone who might be passing too close. At his side was a longsword, the hilt well cared for but worn. His hand rested on it at all times.

A number of issues troubled the old soldier. The first was that his savings that he had accumulated during his years of service to the Empire was slowly dwindling, and although he was far from poor, his money would not last him forever. Second was the matter of The Darkblade. The sword at his side had been in his family for generations, and when he had inherited it, it had possessed a unique enchantment which caused it to absorb magic. Lesser spells simply failed when cast at the swords bearer, while stronger enchantments were severely weakned by the Darkblades presence. However, the swords enchantment had shattered when the Aethergem had shattered, and since that time it had simply been a well made sword. However the thought that Hannas would pass the sword on to a new owner in a lesser state than he had inherited it rankled with Hannas, and he felt that he should make the effort to find a way to restore the blade. To do less would be to dishonour his ancestors.

As he considered what should be done next, and reached the conclusion that he must find both gainful employment and make serious efforts to restore his blade, Hannas was largely unaware that the streets that he strode through were not those of his area of the city, and that the old soldier did not exactly blend in, here in the mean streets of dowtown Narim.

[Trinity]

The suns were starting to dim in the sky, but light was still very apparent. As Hannas walked along, he was regarded like any other citizen for awhile. No one seemed to notice him half the time, others nodded when their eyes would accidently make contact. However, what Darkblade was not totally aware of was where he was heading..

The Bottom of the Sea.
It was an interesting place, really. Those that were not as well off usually wound up in the run down houses around this area of town. The actual residential area began somewhere near the Marnier's Box and Outhouse, extending back from a branch off of the Shvakkim Road towards the housing. People could be seen outside more often than not because of this though. After all, when there was nothing to be sought inside a run down house, the outdoors provided a slight comfort.. so to speak. Anyway.

While Hannas was walking, he somehow wound up in this area of town, and sure enough, saw the people outside their homes. Some were chatting, some drinking, others smoking old pipes or cigars.. or something makeshift, it wasn't easy to tell. Their clothes were tattered and torn. They, unlike the rest of the town he'd recently been walking through, watched him like hawks or possibly vultures. Their eyes hungered after him as he went, recognizing his foreign presence -- it was obvious that the man did not belong in that area of town. They didn't know why he was there, but they were desperate enough to watch him carefully. Some scrawny men seemed to shift as he walked past them, and Hannas could hear them get to their feet behind him. They made sure to be careful about him noticing them, and stayed far enough behind him to be out of his vision. If he spun around, they stopped and looked away. Though, the middle-aged man could feel them following him, watching him, contemplating. Hannas also did not seem to be the only person that had wandered astray. Up ahead, a woman that was clothed in a rich emerald robe with a backpack on one of her arms turned a corner and then looked about her for a second, stepping off to the right

Boots clicked off on the cobblestone towards the right. They took a few quick steps, then sounded as if they were back peddling a bit and stopped for a few moments. They continued after a moment's time, a bit faster. Voices came from the same way the woman had turned. Overhead, a seagull cawed and spun back towards the seaward area (which wasn't actually too far, to be honest.).. That only helped distort the voices more.
Before Hannas had really realized where he was, it seemed that he'd wound up in a part of town he'd not been in.. or didn't belong in. Sadly, he was not the only one who had taken notice that this was probably not where he normally belonged, either, considering the men that kept following after him every now and then...

[Hannas Darkblade]

As Hannas realised his position, he wondered how he had come to be here. Such lack of caution was unusual in Hannas Darkblade. The thought occured to him that he might have come here out of some subconscious desire for danger, the chance to feel alive in a way that he had not since his retirement. Or perhaps he was just getting old....

Either way he faced something of a dilemma. On his own account he was relatively unconcerned. It was not far to the seaward area, and if he quickened his pace he could reach it quite quickly. He did not fear the men who followed. Should they attempt an attack before we could make his escape, then he felt the sudden violent death of two or three of them might well scatter the others. He wondered if any of them recognised the man who was once the Thane of Narim. The man who had annihalated some of the more powerful streetgangs when they became too overconfident. He hoped not, as such recognition would be unlikely to help, in his current position.

So he could make his escape, but then there was the woman. He was well aware that she could well be bait in a trap. But she could also be an innocent walking into a world of trouble.

There was no real choice for a man like Hannas. He was already following in the womans footsteps. He kept on eye in the general direction of the fast footsteps, whilst maintaining a general awareness of the movement of those around him. His hand rested comfortably on the hilt of his sword, and his thumb loosened the blade in its scabbard.

He picked up pace as he moved to the rescue of a damsel, or into the middle of trap. As he followed where the woman had gone it occured to him that his life was in danger, that he could be killed, for the first time since his retirement. The thought made him smile. The smile was cold and predatory, and the look in Hannas Darkblades eyes was such to make most sane men run back to the safe bosoms of their families......

[Trinity]

Ah, the name of Hannas Darkblade was a name that Narim had forgotten long before. The elders of Narim, desendants from both houses that still created horrid turmoil over the city in every which way... Even they had forgotten his name. The face of Hannas Darkblade was.. a mere memory to the older Narimites and a curious one to the new. He wasn't in the histories, he wasn't in the stories.. Aternia, Hannas really was not anywhere to be honest. It seemed that Adam du'Galle, Michum du'Galle.. and whoever else might have come up after him had done a bang up job of covering his existance up.

As Hannas tore around the corner, the people that had been sort of stalking along behind him suddenly gave up. Not out of fear, out of shock. They hadn't expected someone to just tear off like that. A few though Hannas might have been afraid, while the rest just watched on in dumbfoundment. Around the corner, he found the woman and about four men. Two had her wrists and were hastily working on tying them together. Another had a piece of cloth they were using to gag her with while the fourth rummaged through her belongings and took anything of value. A few crowns rolled to the floor as he dropped them on the cobblestone by accident, thanks to his grubby fingers. All four of them looked up in time to see Hannas wheel around the corner with that frightening, cold and predatory look on his face. Needless to say, they started to run -- but then the one who must have been the leader yelled at them to stop.

"Calm down boys, calm down. Its just another one of your do-gooder hero types come to rid our 'filth' from the slums." He pulled out a sabre, and then walked around to the left of the woman, holding it to her throat. "Well, let me tell you what Mister do-gooder. We're not the filth of this part of town. We own this part. Like Ol' du'Galle owns the good parts of town. The Watch can't control us, neither can that pansy du'Galle, an' neither can yew. We are the law in the Bottom of the Sea. So yew can dew us a favor and bugger off, before this little lady gets herself hurt."

The woman was writhing in the grasp, and looking at the sabre that was at her neck in fear. Her eyes were wide, and she looked to be a middle aged Elf that was obviously either lost in this part of town or just insanely stupid. Why else would someone wander into this part of town? Maybe, like Hannas, she just wasn't thinking. Law of this part of town, yeah right. Okay, well, they had a point. The City Watch had a tendency to try and avoid dealing with the Bottom of the Sea for some reason. Just too much gang activity, probably. Who knew. The important part was that this innocent lady was not only getting robbed, but now had a blade at her throat and well, was obviously hoping Hannas wasn't going to do anything stupid.. because that meant lights out for the lady.

[Hannas Darkblade]

Hannas smiled, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword like a caress. The smile rested on his lips but came nowhere near his eyes. They held only a cold contempt for the men in front of him. He met the gaze of each in turn before resting his cold cold gaze on the man with the sabre.

"You can, of course, kill the woman" said Hannas, after a moments pause. "That would be easy. She's helpless, after all. A perfect target for men like you...."

His smile widened, a far from reassuring sight. "But I am not helpless and the instant she dies... you die. First you" he pointed at the man with the sabre. "then the rest of you."

His gaze did not leave the leaders eyes. He wanted the man to be absolutely sure that he was not bluffing. Death or much worse already faced the woman on the floor, and he would not leave her to these scum. If they chose to kill her, then he would have no hesitation in killing all of them. If he had time he would make sure the leaders death was painful and slow.

"You have her money. You have her valuables and you can keep them, I have no interest. But I will leave with her." he stated, absolute sureity in his voice. "In what state depends on whether the pleasure of ending her life is worth all of your lives." As he spoke, he drew his blade slightly, to give the men a look at the his steel. The sword was a longsword, with hand and a half hilt. The blade was a dark blue, inscribed along its length with silver runes. Once the blade had been a powerful magical artifact, but its magic had shattered when the Aethergem shattered. But they weren't to know that. And Hannas had often found the sight of the blade was often enough to sap the courage from those who already had little to spare.

"Please understand, I am NO do-gooder" he continued with utter conviction, his voice calm, deep and relaxed "I have killed more men in my life then any one of you can count, and I have forgotten most of their faces. I would very quickly forget yours."

"Now make your choice. Live or die. Go in peace with your new riches.... or watch your blood pool on these cobbles in your dying seconds....."

[Trinity]

Well, that made the men falter in their haughty attitudes a bit. The others lowered their weapons, turned tail and fled, calling after them that the other guy could fight his own battles, they weren't going to die that brightening. The last remaining ruffian, having seen that his chances of a good outcome had just plummetted to about, oh, nothing, lowered his sabre and shoved the woman forward, stuffing his pockets down so that the things he'd taken did not fall out.
"Meh, if yewr so intent on avengin her if we off'd'ah, I figura yeh can take her."

And well, it was quite obvious that he didn't have as much control of this situation as he wished, because he then turned tail and ran away from the scene as fast as he could. The woman, who had almost taken a spill to the cobblestones beneath her dusted herself off and wringed at her right wrist for a moment, looking back behind her and shaking her head.
"What a bunch of scumbags." She muttered, and then redirected her attention to Hannas. She was a half elf, and quite aged for one at that. Her face contorted at the sight of the man and she tilted her slightly-pointy-eared head to the side.
"Noble thing of you to do, really but ah.. Not really the normalest thing for a person to do in Narim -- and in the Bottom of the Sea! Goodness, I cannot believe I'd wandered into this part of town. Silly me." She gave a shrug and then curtsied, bowing her head slightly.

"I feel as if I've seen you before. Do you frequent here often?" The woman, who actually happened to have the first name of Irene, seriously had a slippery memory. Thus, she had indeed seen Hannas -- she was around when he'd been in power in the Sherian, or at least Narim. Either or, whichever. But sadly, she only recognized his face. It was a number of patterns before, and that was likely why her mind had misplaced exactly who this was. The slippery memory fiasco definately did not come from her mother's side of the family, though. They were a line of humans that extended back into the very first eras of Narim's prominence, and were actually pretty important. Too bad that her father happened to be the one that carried the er.. Absent Minded Professor gene. If only she'd known right off the bad, though! It just was not every brightening a former Thane or Governor ran into the bad part of town and saved an absent-minded woman, then was it?

[Hannas Darkblade]

Hannas watched the last man run with a certain amount of satisfaction. It would have given him little pleasure to kill the men, since none of them appeared to offer much of a challenge. The sword master who had taught him during his early days in the Guard had called that 'the sword of no sword', or the ability to win a fight without ever having to draw your blade. Of course he had always found that it helped to mean every single word!

Once all the thugs were out of sight, he turned his attention to the woman. Hannas smiled at her, and this time the smile was a gentle one. For all that Hannas had a tendancy to be cold and, frankly, rather arrogant he had always felt a sense of duty to those who were unable to defend themselves. And he did admire her courage. Many women, much younger, would have been wrecks after such an ordeal. "Noble?" he replied softly "Perhaps... or perhaps just the right thing to do, in the circumstances. Besides, it was not myself that was in harms way. They really posed little thread. Scum like that rarely do..."

He paused and looked around, scanning his surroundings for any further threats. "However, might I suggest that we continue our conversation as we walk out of here. There are other predators at the bottom of the sea, and they might not be as easily scared off." The big human offered his left arm politely, leaving his sword arm free. "Shall we depart this place?"

"I don't come here often, by the way." he continued in answer to her question. "I just wandered here by mistake, too taken with my own thoughts. The name is Hannas Darkblade, and I don't believe we have met..."

[Trinity]

Indeed, taking their conversation out of this.. well, for lack of better terminology, dump, sounded like a very good idea. There were no other threats at the present time, but who knew when another problem could surface? In surroundings like these, it was always a good idea to get out to.. safer ground, shall we say, before having idle banter. The woman indicated that yes, this was indeed a good suggestion from Hannas and led the way back out rather quickly, anxious to get away from any other foul predator-istic people that lurked within the place that was dubbed 'The Bottom of the Sea'.

When they had finally made it out of there, and surfaced back into the main ways of Narim, or rather, the Shvakkim, the woman turned and led him onwards a little more, finding it safe to talk for the moment.
"Well, perhaps my mind is just playing tricks on me, then. After all, it must be doing that if I am able to wander into the clean opposite side of town, yes?" She waved a hand back towards the more.. upperclass district of Narim, where many larger houses stood. Well upkept, neat and filled with the sort of people that generally went along with all those crowns, the area was revered as sort of a snobby area -- but she didn't seem to quite fit that bill. And yes, there was a reason for that, too.
"Seems I just can't find my way back to the Caperio Mansion this brightening. Ah well, not like they're too strict about such things or anything."
Pausing in her step the woman turned around and sighed, shaking her head. "Perhaps that is where I know you from? Have you visited there, possibly on business? Ah, forgive me for not introducing myself sooner, by the way. I am Azaryna Neroith.. and I'd be.. as they say, a worker for the great House Caperio."

It was worth note that the Caperios obviously paid Azaryna well. She was wearing a dress that flared out into a bell-like shape from her waist out, along with gloves and boots. The dress itself was a tope-creame like color, and the gloves matched it well. Her hair was done up in a bun high on her head, while a few strands were flung down out of the rest due to the rather recent scuffle. It was a simple, yet quite nice outfit for someone who had to work for a rich house in order to get by in life. Didn't seem like Miss Neroith needed to 'get by', though, honestly. They paid well indeed, and well, as right they should. Such should be if they can afford to pay others to do the work that commonfolk usually do on their own. Perhaps that was why the Caperios (along with the Selestines, really) were always thought of as slightly snobbish. Ah well.

[Hannas Darkblade]

As the woman introduced herself Hannas bowed slightly, and replied. "As I said, Hannas Darkblade, at your service." He looked for a moment towards the upper class area of the city. For all that his time in the service of the Empire had left him well off, he was not rich and it had been a while since he had visited the great houses of the nobles. He wondered, with a flicker of humour, whether he would be as welcome as he once was. He doubted it. With his blunt manner and dislike of frivolity, he had never been a particularly popular Thane with the nobles. Which was fine with Hannas, as he prefered the company of the common folk better anyway.

"Its possible that we have met at the home of your employer, although it has been some time since I have had business there." he replied, turning back to Azaryna. "Though regardless of whether we have met before I am glad to have made your aquaintance now."

He regarded the elf for a moment, attempting to evaluate her state of mind and physical condition after her ordeal. It had to be said, she seemed little affected by her recent brush with death. Nevertheless, she had lost her valuables and nearly her life, and so Hannas was ill inclined to leave her wander.

"I wonder, Ma'am." he said kindly, but without condescention, his penetrating blue eyes somewhat softer than was the norm "whether you might permit me to escort you to Caperio Mansion? You have been through quite an ordeal, and I would feel better knowing you had arrived home safely..."

[Trinity]

OOC: Sorry about how late this is. My life's been hectic lately. ><

Azaryna thought about this for a moment. Take him back to the mansion? What if he had other intentions? Such an intimidating man could be a potential thug or robber!.. But, well, Hannas didn't look like one to be honest. Perhaps he really was just a nice middle aged man.
"That... that would be nice of you, Mr. Darkblade. Please, I would feel safer myself and of a more sound mind if you would go back with me. I surely hope that they will understand why I am so late. Ah.. You can vouche for me there." She noted, as if she'd almost near forgot.

Without a second word, Azaryna turned on her heels and began to walk back off towards the upperclass portions of town. It was a long walk as of yet, which Neroith made sure to mention as she pointed in the general vicinity of the Mansion they were heading towards. She was of course, in the lead, but decided it was better to walk and speak to ease the nerves and make her a bit more comfortable with Hannas rather then draw out the silence and continue her paranoia that he was not what he appeared.

"But anyhow, it is quite a few minutes yet until we'll be in the proper portion of town.. I was out on errand, you understand. Wrong part of town I know, but I must have wandered along with my mind... Look at that, going off on a tangent again. No wonder I wind up in situations like these, I lose track of my point!.. Er.. ah, yes.. So why don't you tell me a bit about yourself as we walk? Surely someone was courageous and apparently an elder resident of Narim such as yourself has a few things of interest to his person..." Either that or well, Hannas was just some boring old coot that liked to try and act like a soldier slightly too much. Which very much could be true, but breaking the ice and getting a bit more comfortable with your travel partner (even if it was just across town they were walking) was always a better idea. Had to agree on that, right?

[Hannas Darkblade]

Hannas smiled at Azaryna's retreating back and wondered how the woman had managed to survive as long as she had in a town like Narim. Perhaps they didnt let her out often... However, he felt responsible for her safety and so hurried slightly to catch up. Since she appeared to want to take the lead Hannas was happy to let her. And if she appeared a little nervous of his presence, well he could understand that. Especially in the circumstances.

"You want to know about me?" he asked, rhetorically, after listening to the older womans ramblings. He thought for a moment before replying. Hannas did not really enjoy talking about himself, but since a refusal might offend he attempted to think of an appropriate, accurate but not too detailed account of his life of late.

"A good number of years ago" he began "I was posted to Narim. I was a member of the Imperial Legions at the time, and it was the time that the Dark Alliance was attacking Sherian and other provinces with seeming impunity. After the battle of Sherian, and the Xet incident, I decided that the time had come to retire. Since I had grown fond of Narim I decided to settle here. Which is where I have lived since."

"However" he added wryly "retirement is not as interesting as it might be. And so I have been thinking about my future. Which is what I was doing when I wandered into the bottom of the sea..."

[Trinity]

Oooh, so he was quite the resident. Seemed everyone had a story to tell, and Hannas' was.. well, slightly more interesting than the rest. A soldier that had been through the Dark Alliance times and the Xet battles, wow. Azaryna's eyes fluttered as she showed her concealed shock. It was also a slight relief that this guy she was walking with was an ex-military man. They were known for being pretty upstanding and such. She sighed and turned down another street. This one had a steady incline to it and the houses were becoming more and more spaced out.
As they finally came upon the house, Azaryna paused and nodded towards it.
"There it is," She murmered, "Caperio Mansion."

The Mansion was nothing to scoff at. It was the two story equivelent to a rather expensive house. The land around it was quite obviously theirs, sprawling in its own way and containing a rather extensive garden that lined the walkway on both sides. An archway made of dark slate and containing a small gate and accompanied by a wall to enclose the property was what they met first. Azaryna's delicate hands quickly let them in. It apparently was left unlocked during the brightening.
The house itself was made of a light gray stone, and the tall, broad windows were draped with heavy curtains, currently drawn back to let the sunrays through. A few ornately designed figurines set in the front areas, particularily of some sort of large wild cat haunched over and on the prowl. They set on either edge of the porch that was encasing the door. A dark red oak that held a window that mimicked the door's arched shape barred their passage once more.

The Elf maid's hands found her key and she opened up the door too, peeking her head inside before swinging it fully open and waving him along. Another one of the Mansion's workers gave her an odd stare after seeing Hannas. Azaryna just smiled, nodded vigorously and made an audiable response..
"Yes! Looks familiar, doesn't he! I swore he'd been here before.. Perhaps one of the Misters will recognize him, yes? Is one of them free? I should like to explain myself and introduce them to the man that saved me from a bad situation." The man didn't speak, just nodded and pointed a steady finger to their right, into another room. Azaryna held up a hand and asked that Hannas waited as she disappeared into the room she'd been pointed in the direction of.

[Hannas Darkblade]

Hannas walked companionably alongside Azaryna as they made their way towards the Mansion, and if the elven woman spoke no more then that suited Hannas. He was happy in silence, and far preferred it to small talk. As they approached the Mansion itself Hannas gave it due regard, but was not overly impressed. Evidently the family had money, and probably influence, but they were not he only ones in Narim and probably not the richest or most powerful. In fact, as he recalled, the multitude of noble families were one of Narims biggest problems, if one were Thane! He doubted that they got along any better now than they had in his time.

Once inside Hannas nodded to Azaryna's request and waited as she had asked. The moment he had entered this place, his gaze had swept around, taking in entrances and exits, guards and placed where someone might hide. Hannas was fairly sure he had not made any enemies within the Caperio family but it didnt harm to be careful. Besides, whether he had or not, one could never be sure how a situation might pan out, and Hannas liked to be careful. Being careful, together with a talent for bursts of controlled violence, were what had often kept him with his skin intact.

And so Hannas waited, standing relaxed but still, acknowledging anyone who acknowledged him, but otherwise staying as still as a hawk in the braches of a tree and just as alert...