[center][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/b3RmLjExNi5mZjAwMDAuUm1sMlpRLjA/allowing-freedom-demo.regular.webp[/img][/center]

[color=red][b]Time:[/b][/color] Early Morning / Early Afternoon
[color=red][b]Location:[/b][/color] Roshmi City / The Nest
[color=red][b]"Interactions":[/b][/color] Scathael [@Apex Sunburn], Aerilyn [@Alivefalling], Mari [@princess], and Thraash [@funnyguy]
[color=red][b]Mentions:[/b][/color] Mister Luum [@FunnyGuy], Bardulf [@Lava Alckon], Rue [@Potter], Bowyn [@Helo], Zeva [@Pink Khione] and Brigitte [@Tae]
[hr]

Earlier that morning, Five had secluded himself within one of Roshmi's many alleyways. The sun had yet to arise at this time, and the city was bathed in natural darkness, save for the central city blocks and neighborhoods, partially illuminated by rows of street lamps of varying sizes and properties. While confining inside the narrow lane settled between two inns, Five set to work maintaining his body, specifically his right arm, which he had noticed for some time wasn't optimally performing to his needs. He had just arrived in Roshmi City a few hours ago. He would undoubtedly be unable to see a specialist to perform a quality examination and tune-up this late at night. Granted, some individuals claimed to achieve the same service at any time, yet those same 'professionals' were either unknown to the greater populace or simply resided within the poorer districts of Roshmi. Five concluded it wouldn't be worth his time or money to humor any speck of honesty these independent businesses might have boasted, and he wasn't at all desperate to undergo serious repairs. 

Yet the concerns about his wellbeing were mounting. 

Five had not sought professional upkeep work for him for weeks, and the funds to arrange such services were drying up. Perhaps another reason Five wasn't too keen on taking up long-haul tasks, such as the one he had opted to pursue. Many methods were used to track targeted individuals. However, specialized skill sets, spells, and gadgets were typically crucial in narrowing down a bounty's route and location. Five certainly had no way to pick up on the aroma or stench of someone or something, and his hulking profile made him stand out in thinly populated areas with little cover. So, the problems with his dwindling capital resulted from paying off informants and witnesses willing to divulge any information, including the whereabouts of the Dragonborn, Thraash, and the Light Elf, Mari. Some asked for little coin, others had to be enticed into making a bargain. And then there were a few Five simply roughed up to obtain the information he needed. As it turns out, threatening to rip someone's arms off was an excellent motivator to gain compliance. Though at times during this annoying and costly process, Five nearly decided, out of rare impatience, to go after the troublesome pair early, but logic dictated he consolidate the facts necessary to produce a cleaner picture that illustrated their locality. Those puzzle pieces of intelligence eventually came to light. Now, Five was sure that today would be his big payday.

Time passed, and proper morning came with the sun rising over the horizon. Roshmi grew brighter with the sun's radiance and louder as its citizens and business owners bled into the streets, anticipating the markets soon to open. Several clicks sounded off as Five reattached his right arm back to his body. Bringing the recently repaired limb to his faceplate, Five's three burning eyes moved with rapid efficiency, judging the quality and effectiveness of his efforts. From bicep to fingers, his arm came alive, twisting and turning like a violent serpent. Five's right hand, in particular, seemed to mirror that of a maw of teeth, unraveling from a hammer-like fist into an open palm armed with five individual talons for fingers. Five had his weaponized limb undergo its unnatural and aggressive motions for another minute until he was satisfied with its performance. He would need it and the rest of his body to be in the best shape if he was going to subdue two criminal bounties, be them in cuffs or body bags.

Donning his cloak, Five took the time to ensure his armored frame was concealed by the black and thick fabric as best as he could. A giant Warforged walking in broad daylight was enough to draw many eyes toward his direction. The most he could do to obstruct his appearance was to resemble a cloaked and hooded humanoid, perhaps an orc or a large demi-human. This didn't stop pedestrians from noticing, though they were less inclined to take heed of him with his cloak thrown on. Thus far, his ruse had kept him out of trouble at the expense of him looking like a weirdo. Five would see it as a fair trade overall. He eventually exited the alleyway and into the street. With a more extensive crowd present, his disguise was enough to blend in that much better. For a few minutes, Five continued his advance through the street, which shallowly sloped into a downward incline leading to the city's entrance. Before he could take that route, Five peeled away and headed toward an elevated part of the sidewalk, which formed into a small public spot overlooking a portion of the city. Stopping at the marble palisade, his three eyes twitched and scanned the main road leading away from the entrance and the multiple streets that would branch off. If the information he gathered was corrected, the light elf and the dragonborn would be passing by and making their way to the lower-class sector of Roshmi. More than likely to hit up a vexing bar called the Nest. With an admittedly uneven timetable fabricated from these accumulated facts, Five anticipated his quarry would arrive from one of the intersecting streets. From there, he would simply tail them until the time was right to pounce.

Five's eyes were set to work identifying everyone traveling down the multiple streets he could oversee at an inhuman rate. Some individuals looked similar to his targets, but he could make out their subtle physical features. If, by chance, someone was using a spell or a disguise ring to mask their appearance, for instance, Five would most certainly pick up on spectral signatures such methods would naturally produce. Though he couldn't see past the façade clearly, the user's aura would give away their general profile and shape, which was enough for him to work with to catch a bounty should they pull such a trick. While Five patiently observed his surroundings, something caught the attention of one of his eyes. A strange surge of familiarity suddenly occurred to him. Turning slightly towards Roshmi's main entrance, Five offered another of his optics to the disturbance. At the same time, his last eye remained glued to the roads. The odd instance that struck him at first glance appeared to originate from a group of adventurers. Enhancing his vision, the faces of these new subjects of interest appeared closer to him than where they actually were. 

A registry script had then echoed through his artificial mind, [color=red][i]((REPORTING: ONE DEMI-HUMAN -- FEMALE, ONE LIGHT ELF -- FEMALE, TWO WINTER FAE -- MALE AND FEMALE RESPECTIVELY... LASTLY, TWO UNIDENTIFIED ENTITIES -- ASSUMED MALE RESPRECTIVEY... ADDENDUM: ENTITY ONE CLASSIFIED AS UNKNOWN SPECIES -- DISGUISE RING USE DETECTED ON ENTITY TWO'S PERSON... CORRECTION: CLASSIFYING ENTITY TWO AS LIGHT ELF BASED ON DETETED SIGNATURE...)).[/i][/color]

For Five, time superficially stopped as he began processing the information from his optics. The figure wearing a cloak and armed with a halberd was an unusual sight. Compared to the fairies and the elves in his company, the man lacked the knife-ear trait Five was so used to seeing. And the individual's aura seemed off somehow. Something Five couldn't recognize immediately. Curious but inconsequential. The light elf wearing the disguise ring was another oddity, and the Warforged could only imagine the purpose they had in using the device. He wasn't worth the time figuring out. His fixation however landed on the two fairies. He had seen them before, yet somehow not in person. Five recollected his recent memories and discovered the reasoning behind the flash of familiarity that had caught his attention.

[color=red][i]((IDENTITIES OF WINTER FAE VERIFIED: MALE MARKED AS BOWYN ELMWOOD -- CONFIRMED 'WANTED'. FEMALE MARKED AS RUE BRIAR -- CONFIRMED 'WANTED')).[/i][/color]

A deep static growl that would come from a hungry and anxious predator emanated from Five. Before him were two wanted criminals with bounties on their heads. Combined, they would be enough to pay for a complete tune-up and repair to his chassis. They were right there, his for the taking. The Warforged presently had the advantage. He wasn't spotted yet. With a quick leap and a swing of his sword, the party of adventurers wouldn't know what hit them. The initial strike would undoubtedly catch them off guard, and the follow-up strikes he would commit would take them down quickly. Forget Thraash and Mari! Take these two instead; they're right there! Yet Five rejected the urge to pounce. Logic quickly settled in and erased the desperate tension. Indeed, he could attack, but to do so out in the open? Near the entrance where the city guard would be stationed? Where civilians and local businesses were uncomfortably close to him, and a massive sword being swung about? Any offense he undertook would incur many risks he would rather avoid. He would draw too much attention, and any miscalculated swings that caused property damage or, worse, injuries to the non-combatants around him would reflect poorly on him as a bounty hunter. Being a Warforged on top of that made the circumstances even more awkward. He had no desire to get involved with the authorities, especially the Dark Elf variety. What spectacularly rotten luck.

A brief jet of steam shot out from a few of his external facial vents, the only way Five could visibly convey his displeasure. The situation and the conditions at present were not in his favor. Five observed his potential prey for a few more seconds before retreating from view the moment their wandering gazes could meet his own. With a click, the chemical fogger built within him came alive. It loaded a vial containing a white substance into its ignition chamber. A small thick mist shot out from the vents that made up his 'mouth'. In an instant, whatever visage of him that could be seen from the city entrance had vanished behind the artificial shroud. He was still annoyed about fate, apparently taunting him with unreachable riches. Five resumed his search as he repositioned himself atop the scenic viewpoint.

It was only another hour later until Five's eyes caught a glimpse of his true quarry, followed by another registry report manifesting through his consciousness, [color=red][i]((TARGETS ACQUIRED: BOUNTIES MARKED AS MARI AND THRASH FERNO HEADING EASTWARD -- CALCULATED ROUTE ALIGNED WITH LOCATION OF ESTABLISHMENT IDENTIFIED AS "THE NEST")).[/i][/color]

[color=red][b]<<INITIATING HUNT.>>[/b][/color] Five hissed.

[hr]

Five knew he would be trailing about a couple miles of architecture and apartments behind Thraash and Mari and had no visual of them for some time. There was even the chance they might not even be heading to The Nest and instead have gone to a different location altogether. Of course, that was always the risk of tracking prey; they could betray expectations at a moment's notice, whether they meant to or not. It was a fact he had long since accepted, and he could only but trust the intel he had gathered and go from there. Despite the apparent distance between him and his objective, the Warforgeds' natural cruising stride eventually allowed him to arrive in half the time it took his targets to get there. Five quickly scanned the surrounding slums and determined no pedestrians were present. Good. With what he had planned to capture the draconic demi-human and the light elf, he didn't want to involve other civilians besides the bar's patrons, whom he had already accepted as likely casualties to his upcoming ploy. They were criminals, after all. Who would miss them? His gaze was set on the bar itself, and his eyes glowed brighter. His vision shifted and pierced through the walls, making the interior visible to him. He could see the many people within the building eating, drinking heavily, smoking a number of toxic substances... 

And there they were. Thraash and Mari talking up a storm, gaining the patrons' undivided attention. 

Five made his way around the back of the establishment, though, only to find that the alleyway was unkempt with filth, rats, and sediment from other structures littering the backway. He would have frowned in disgust if he had anything resembling a mouth. With a quiet groan, Five worked his way through the muck, careful not to make any loud noise that could bring him unwanted attention. Funnily enough, with how rowdy the two were, he likely had little to worry about. Nevertheless, he prided himself in practicing surgical proficiency, and he certainly wasn't going to stop now or anytime soon. 

The Warforged cleared the debris and found themselves staring at the backdoor to the bar. Next to the door were rows of trash cans filled to the brim with waste. And next to them was a Dark Elf who appeared to be in a narcotic-induced trance as their eyes stared unconsciously into the sky. It was evident to Five that the man was clearly on another planet as he took no notice of the hulking machine standing directly before him. Five paid the drug abuser no mind and glanced back toward the bar's main room and saw that the pair were still there. However, their attention now was fixated on a presumably drunken rabbit demi-human. Now, he only had to wait for the right moment to strike. Though the wellbeing of the bar-goers hardly concerned him, he preferred to keep the eventual confrontation between himself and Thraash and Mari. Five was confident in taking down these two criminals by himself should a fight erupt. Yet he knew from the intelligence he had gathered that they were strong and capable in their own right. Regardless of what he thought of them, he knew he had to take the pair seriously. Tipping the odds in his favor then would be beneficial in the grand scheme of things. He planned to wait out their venture of food and drink. Once they began to leave, he would launch his ambush, shrouding the area in a mist and incapacitating the two of them before they could plan a defensive response. All he had to do now was simply wait... 

[color=a187be]"WHO THE FUCK DARED TO POUR WATER ON ME?!?!"[/color]

Or so he thought.

Five was immediately taken aback by the demi-human's retaliatory roar, followed by the swing of their mighty hammer, which obliterated the table she initially wasted away on and knocked both Mari and Thraash flat on their rears. One of his eyes quickly shot to the great hammer within the girl's grasp. It was a powerful weapon from what he could gauge. Still, his unraveling vision instantly found that the large weapon she wielded was fitted with a shockwave enhancement. Such a powerful modification explained the destruction she caused a moment ago. That was going to be a problem. The situation had now changed, seemingly for the worse. Five was still determining how Thraash or Mari would react to this unexpected dilemma. He observed the great hammer wielder closely, taking in her stance and demeanor, which had radically shifted from the deathly stupor she exuded previously. She was amped up for a fight; there was no doubt about it. Five hissed and steamed in irritation. Who was that girl with the hammer anyway? Another bounty hunter? A mercenary? He didn't enjoy the idea of another individual cashing in the heads of two bounties he had planned more than a month for to capture himself. Whether that was her intent or to start a brawl for the hell of it, what Five did know was that she had just become competition. 

And Five wasn't about to share the reward.

Plan B it was then. Raiding the establishment wasn't his first and preferred idea, but his hands were now tied with the developing scene. Five reached for his greatsword and pulled the weapon from its magnetic mounting. With the sword in his right hand, Five decided to turn the weapon into a makeshift lance. He needed to enter the bar quickly, and the door didn't accommodate his massive profile. So, he would need to pull off some demolition work. His right palm then split open, revealing a circular chamber threaded and filled with rotating gears. He manipulated the sword's grip within his hand so his four fingers were now clenching both sides of the weapon's crossguard. The sword's grip was pulled into the chamber and locked into place, with the right thumb folding and sealing over his fingers. With several internal clicks, his right hand and the entire greatsword began to rotate and swiftly picked up speed. The rotation of the blade increased further, and within seconds, a subtle drone emanated as the sword spun and cut through the air. With his left hand, he braced his lance-arm and took a stance to eventually launch himself into the door. Mechanical motors and servos built into his legs and thighs clicked into position, and pistons accumulated dangerous pressure. Steam jetted out from all over his body, preparing to transform himself into a Warforged-sized ballista bolt. 

After a few more clicks and clangs sounded off, he was ready.

"What are you...?" a tired and unbalanced query unexpectedly came from the high-in-the-sky dark elf.

One of Five's red eyes glared at the elf, [color=red][b]<<GO BACK TO YOUR PLANET>>[/b][/color]

The dark elf stared at him for a moment longer and leaned against the bar's exterior again, "...okay."

Not wanting to waste another moment longer, Five initiated his attack. In an instant, his body suddenly shot forward with a bang. Steam violently propelled him at a neck-break velocity, sending him into the doorway where his sword effortlessly drilled through and blew it apart, along with the rest of the doorframe and the wall too. The bar's inhabitants would have heard the destruction exploding from behind the establishment. However, they would have had little time to comprehend the dark, hazy mass that dozed towards them. Those furthest away would have seen a steam-shrouded entity with crimson eyes and a single massive horn charging in. Though Five was precise. He planned his vector of attack ahead of time, and his form swiftly carried him past the patrons and beelined directly at the demi-human girl and Thraashi and Mari. All three would have seen him by now and noted the giant spinning sword threatening to crash between them.