GF: Search for Morli (Mod please)

[Norin Beldwhig]

Norin had not forgotten, he clearly remembered. Morli, that name haunted him, annoyed him, gnaved at his very essence and existence. He had to find him. Morli ran, Norin charged but there was a dwarf. The dwarf hit him, hit him hard. The dracon was wounded, the rest of the Veldar were overwhelmed and suddenly... there were no more dwarves, no more Morli. The outlaw had to be stopped. He had to be brought to trial. It was not fair and Norin wanted his revenge.

The dwarf woke up. He was lying in his bunkbed. It was before dawn in the beginning of the month of Junctior in the Season of Autumn, of Era I of the Celestine Mandate (Current Pattern)
Era X Post Fractum in the Age of the Darkening, the Mageocracy of Julos the Mad. The others in the room were still sleeping, some were making a lot of noise. Norin couldn't sleep, he had to find Morli, the dwarf Morli. He got up and dressed quietly. Then he brought the rest of his equipment outside in the hall where he put it on. This way, he wouldn't wake his comrades. Once he was clad he left, he went straight to the dinninghall. He knew that there was no-one but he sought anyway. He was unable to get any food for the hall was closed and locked. There were nobody around except those who were out during the night and were coming in along with the night patrol guards who ensured the security of the compound.

Norin decided to make his way to Omally's Tavern but even the tavern was closed at this time. Dawn had broken and the sun was rising and it was no wonder the tavern was closed. Omally had to sleep sometime and it seemed that he slept during the morning. Norin gazed at the tavern wondering what he was going to do. He decided to do what he always did, he strolled through the streets of Zerdargia at dawn with nowhere to go and nothing to do.

As he strode through the streets he figured out a way to find and capture Morli. He needed to get into his circle of outlaws. Norin had to go undercover. He returned to the compound where the rest of the Elite was eating breakfast and thus, Norin joined them. After having eaten, he headed to take a bath and then prepare himself for his new role as outlaw. He dressed in his casual clothes and brought nothing more than his axe by his side, his personal axe with no symbol of the Veldar Elite.

Finally, Norin headed out and into the city of Zerdargia where he sought crime, not to fight it but to join it. He went into the darkest pits of the city and sought the most evil people hoping to get a trace of the dwarf Morli.

OOC: Continuation of Jacques pursues a dracon's revenge

[Adder]

Zerdargia was by any account a civilised city, something that was not surprising given its mainly dwarfen population. Long lived and with ties that lasted generations it was rare for any dwarf to fall foul of misfortune or dark doings without his fellow clan and family noticing and taking action.

Yet even so, it was possible for dwarfes were far from perfect and sometimes their taking of insult and long lasting grudges got out of hand. Despite the front they put on for the other races, they were as prone to error as anyone else. The distinction was that once the error was commited it could be very hard to forgive, and over the patterns it had created an underworld of renegade dwarfs. These dwarfs merged seamlessly into the dark underbelly of the city, and the whisper on the street was that they had formed a dark brotherhood of their own. Rumour also spoke that of connections between these dwarfs and the dwarfs of more upstanding nature, but also members of more extremist leanings.

But how to make an entrance into this? Now that was a more interesting question and one that surely vexed Norin. An upstanding dwarf if there ever was one, but what did he know besides rumour of the underbelly of Zerdargia. It would be interesting to see how he made his approach.

[Norin Beldwhig]

The dreams that haunted Norin were proof of the long lasting grudges that the dwarfs held. The way that the name of Morli gnaved and annoyed Norin also showed that there was no way that Norin could just accept the insult, forgive Morli and move on. This entire feud was not only between Norin and Morli for many dwarfs held such grudges against their own kinsmen, not because of personal matters, but because of lawful and unlawful matters. Many dwarfs had insulted other dwarfs of more upstanding nature while those of upstanding nature has also insulted the lower dwarfs. The grudges that came with these insults created a rift in dwarf society although many clans are still not involved and live out their lives and generations in peace with all other dwarfs. Yet, between Norin and Morli was a feud, the same feud that had forced many dwarfs to join a dark brotherhood of their own. These dwarfs were not evil, they just opposed the law and the upstanding dwarfs of Zerdargia.

Norin had a problem. He would be able to fight crime all his life but right at this moment he wanted nothing more than to capture Morli and get rid of the grudge he held against him. He would bring Morli to justice somehow. He would have to trick Morli to get him to justice and it would probably not be easy. It was an early dawn of autumn and a mist soon rose that shrouded the suns of Telath, making the empty city of Zerdargia look grim and desolate. Norin had never seen the city this way but he knew that life would soon spring out. He passed some of the other Veldar guards and knew that the town was awakening.

Norin walked through the city of Zerdargia pondering how he was going to capture Morli until it hit him. Morli was probably part of this dark brotherhood and even if he wasn't then the brotherhood would probably know a few things about Morli. Norin needed to infiltrate this circle of outlaws, he needed to go undercover. The early dawn had indeed inspired.

Once he had eaten breakfast at the compound and prepared himself he headed out and into the city of Zerdargia where he sought crime, not to fight it but to join it. He went into the darkest pits of the city and sought the most evil people hoping to get a trace of the dwarf Morli. At first, Norin just wandered through these dark alleys but as he do so he sought evil and terrible men, hopefully a dark tavern or the like, something that would lead him to an audience with dwarf thugs.

OOC: Cool, I just learned something new about Zerdargia.

[Adder]

For anyone who knew the city well, it wasn't hard to know where the darker parts of the city were, even those that a casual visitor to the city would never find.

Some parts of the city were an overdeveloped rat warren of narrow and dark alleyways, and in places the underground parts of the buildings had been linked by a tunnel network.

The town watch tried to keep on top of these areas, but the locals had their own systems of justice and only in force did the Veldar ever come here.

So, it was that Norin headed up into Dead End district of the city, a large area of low price housing. Despite it's reputation, some of it was perfectly fine, but other areas... weren't.

One such area was where Norin eventually ended up, where dark shapes scuttled through alleyways and generally there was more activity here than elsewhere. In the parts of the city where Norin had been before, the city was just waking up, here it was just going to sleep.

A blast of noise drew Norins attention to a door that slammed shut on what appeared to be an old warehouse building. The sound of a bar in full swing was shut off by the closing door, but a waft of stale beer soon spread out into the air around it.

[Norin Beldwhig]

"Excellent." Norin said to himself and headed towards the warehouse. He had been in the slums of Zerdargia before and had never really liked it. He had tried to avoid it, just as he had been told to avoid the Hidden City in Primus Gaudeo when he was little, or at least younger. Now, he was heading into the heart of the dark society of Zerdargia. He made his way over to the warehouse, trying to figure out what people called this place. Then, as he came near the door he tried to make his way into the stale beer smelling underground tavern. He hoped he would find information and not run into Morli himself.

As he came into the tavern he didn't halt to look around. Instead, he tried to make his way over to a table in a dark corner. He had already decided to purchase an ale if anybody asked him what he wanted. Or else, he would just sit in the darkness looking at the tavern, looking at the people and what they were doing, occasionally trying to eavesdrop on them.

[Norin Beldwhig]

Norin spent most of the brightening eavesdropping on people.

At first, he stayed out of sight and thus avoided having to pay for any inconvenience. At least, that's what he thought in the beginning. He didn't want to attract attention to himself in any way, especially when he eavesdropped on people he knew could probably kill him before he got on his feet.

After a few hours, he was getting both thirsty and hungry. He hadn't heard anything concerning Morli or the events that had drawn him into this tavern. He decided to get something to drink and something to eat. He needed a break from eavesdropping on dangerous people. Unfortunately, Norin had chosen a good dark corner. It didn't seem he could get any attention at all. Worst of all, two very rude and strong dwarfs had just recently sat down near him, and they were talking. Norin decided to wait and listen. The dwarfs were talking about the Veldar Elite. They seemed to loathe them and they also believed that if they could get just one of those "uptight arrogant grunts" down here, they would make sure that he never left the bar alive. Norin's heart jumped. He decided not to take any chances. He realised then that he was surrounded by people who would kill him immediately if they ever learned about his true identity. Thus, Norin made himself comfortable and listened to the stories that the dwarfs had to tell to each other.

It must have been a few hours past midday when the dwarfs left. They seemed to have business collecting some prize that they had "rightfully" earned. Norin didn't care. He was extremely hungry and thirsty. This place was really creeping him out and he hadn't heard anything concerning Morli at all. He left the tavern very disappointed. At least his mind was at rest. He had tried, and that seemed to have laid the concept of Morli at rest. Norin was at peace with himself yet again, and thus he returned to the life he was used to.

OOC: Just a post to finish off this old grandfathered thread.