[color=a0410d][h1]Jerod Staudinger[/h1][/color]

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[color=a0410d]"As I said, gladiator, lead by example!"[/color] Wrenching the silver blade out of the dying Gladiator, he watched the Varjans falter and seem to stumble without the guidance and reassurance of their oh so invincible leader. Terrible way to lead, the sellsword considered with disdain, if an army is so readily bested because its head was lost, it should not bring about an air of its mightiest leaders fight at the front. Turning away, he quickly went to assist the Princeling who had loaned him his sword, ducking forward to carve a bloody path through the breaking warriors. Once they started routing, he scanned and saw his sword, the rapier laying near where the Gladiator had lost his own swords, and grabbed it before running after the rest of the retreating group, knowing damn well he would have to give the silver sword back to the princeling once things had calmed down.

Once they found themselves well and truly clear of what was going on in the pass, Jerod looked over those present as the chatter began. The Elibean princeling wanted to go try and talk his parents out of declaring war on the Dwarves, the Askr royalty intended to head home and try to prevent war declarations from their country, several others wanted to try and track down the root cause of this, and the Merchant was going to, unsurprisingly, profit off the war. While his business sense told him to go with Anna, and as much as he hated to admit it, he had business in Elibe. His family would be getting involved, and the last thing he really needed was to cross paths with them out in the world as it tore itself apart in war, oh no, if he was going to find himself dealing with them again, it would be on his terms. First though, he returned the silver sword to the Askr prince who had loaned it to him. [color=a0410d]"Thanks for the loaner, even if you would be better served carrying two shields and just fighting with those."[/color]

A joke, but with that Jerod turned and approached the Elibean Prince Jarde, arms resting on his hips as he spoke to him plainly. [color=a0410d]"If your going back to Elibe to convince them not to go to war, you'll need help that knows how that place works. I've got...some people that owe me money in Elibe, so I can cut you a discount on my sword arm this time. Folks owing me money and dying before paying is bad for business, after all. Believe it or not, I'm familiar enough with how the royalty acts in Elibe I can lend a hand there, all part of the services I offer in this case."[/color] Not like he would be getting any Dwarven coin at this point, he silently lamented, but he presented his case to the Prince, and hoped that he wouldn't be recognized as a Staudinger, not yet. Burn that bridge later, the fewer prying ears that can leak that information back home, the better.

[@PaulHaynek]