[center][h3][color=firebrick]Calder Blood-Mouth[/color][/h3][/center]

Calder sat on a bear fur rug next to the fire in a warm and comfortable tavern. The book Night Falls on Sentinel by the author Boali in his lap and his longsword sharing the namesake laid out in front of him. A pitcher of quickly warming mead sitting next to that. For a pirate he had never been much of a drinker. The smell of baking bread wafting out of the small tavern kitchen filled his nose and made his stomach growl. He had very little coin at the moment but one must always eat. Especially those with as vigorous lives as those lead by warriors. He was about to get up and go see the barmaid about buying something to eat when an Imperial man sat down on the rug next to him, leaning forward and warming his hands in the heat of the fire. He smirked and nodded at the book in Calders lap.

“A Nord that enjoys a good read? You’re a rarity my friend.” The Imperial spoke cheerfully, his voice soft and refined. He certainly wasn’t from the waterfront.

Calder raised an eyebrow at him, a slight frown on his face. “If it makes you feel any better I can also throw a punch that’ll leave a cave bear dreaming.”

“Oh... “ The Imperial said simply, the shadow of sadness crossing his face. “I fear I have offended you. I apologize, it was rude of me to insinuate your people are all of a kind.”

Calder let out an involuntary sigh, rubbing some of the tension out of his forehead with his thumbs. “Don’t worry about it. It’s been a long day and I’m in a bit of a mood because I wasn’t able to find work… We all make assumptions sometimes. I’m Calder Blood-Mouth, originally of the Imperial City.” He spoke softly, holding out his hand.

The Imperial shook it, a smile back on his face. “My name is Castomo Platius. Pleased to make your acquaintance Calder. I take it from how well armed and armored you are that you are a sell-sword, correct?”

Calder nodded.

“In that case you’re in luck. I was supposed to meet my cousin back in Kvatch, he has been working on a farm some distance west of Skingrad and was supposed to set up a deal with the owner of the land for me to buy some of their crop. I own a couple of farms myself you see, one of which is outside of Anvil. Unfortunately its crop went bad and I fear if I don’t replace it somehow I’ll lose some of my customers for good. One must be reliable when it comes to food after all. His not showing up has me worried however, these are turbulent times. If you would be willing to accompany me to the farm come morning light I would pay you for it. There might not actually be anything wrong but I’m wealthy enough to purchase some ease when I desire it.”

“I’d be more than happy to Castomo. Thank you for the job opportunity. Since I have work in the morning now though I should get something to eat and grab what sleep I can. We’ll talk more on the way?” Calder said, half smiling.

“Indeed. I’ll see you bright and early.”

[hr]

Calder didn’t regret taking Castomo up on his offer, he was in serious need of coin and this seemed to be a pretty easy way to earn some but by the nine divines did the man love to talk. By the time they’d even gotten somewhat close to where the farm was supposed to be he knew more about his Imperial employer than he did about most of the people he’d considered friends over the years. He wasn’t shy about asking Calder personal questions about himself either. Where he grew up in the Imperial City, his mother, his father, where he had learned to fight and how he’d gotten the name of Blood Mouth. Eventually Calder had to shush him, stopping dead in his tracks and putting his hand on Cassimo’s shoulder to make sure he did the same.

“What’s wr-” The Imperial tried to ask.

“Shh. Listen...” Calder ordered. They both stayed deathly still for a moment and listened.

“I don’t hear anything, it’s quiet.”

Calder shook his head. “Not quiet, no. Quiet would be right. It’s silent… There should be animal sounds, insects or birdsong at the least. They’ve all fled this area... That bodes ill. Come on, we should move quickly. At the first sign of trouble you hide behind a tree or something, understand?”

“I understand.” He replied, fear on his face.

They walked on. The closer they got to the farm the worse things seemed. Pretty soon they were smelling smoke. Then hearing the sound of battle.

“Hey, get down behind that tree there. Stay right there. After things fall silent and it’s safe I’ll come get you. If I don’t after a short while you run back the way we came. Follow the road back to the nearest tavern, don’t take any chances. Understood?”

“Understood.” He spoke fearfully, shrinking down into the tree.

Calder ran on, pulling both of his axes from their places at his hips. It wasn’t long before he recognized the sound of metal on metal, the twanging of bows and the only thing out of it all that put any amount of fear into him; the sound of fireballs and other spells flying through the air. He prayed he wouldn’t have to fight a mage, or more than one for that matter. He got close enough to see the action happening and hid behind a tree, sticking his head out slightly to spy out from behind it. It was the forsaken Daedra! Men and women from races of both men and mer were fighting them. They seemed a mix of warriors and mages, quite obviously a merc-band judging by how they fought. Calder watched as one of them ran to his near invisible fire-throwing friend and seemed to shield him, soon using his mighty power to stop arrows fired at them in mid flight and turn them back on their archers. One of them burst through the eye and brain of a Dremora, another two hit the head crest and beak of a Clannfear, dropping it.

He waited for the volley of arrows to all find a mark, already breathing heavily due to the adrenaline before rushing out from behind the tree and heading towards the Daedra and spellcasters. He let out a battle cry that was all Nord yet oddly reminiscent of his Imperial father as he ran towards his new found enemies. As soon as he got close enough he pulled his right arm back over his shoulder before letting one of his axes loose at a Dremora. The axe buried itself in the creatures face leaving a gaping wound where its nose and mouth used to be. Moving forward again he pulled his sabre out of its sheath and readied himself for close quarters combat. He got to an archer first. The thing tried to bring its bow up to fire but the Nord hooked it with his axe and pulled it down and away, simultaneously stabbing the creature down through the shoulder and where its heart should be. Before he could even withdraw his blade from the creature another had reached him and swung it’s sword at him. He just about managed to bring his axe up in time to stop the thing carving through his own head. He swiftly backed away and pulled his sabre with him. 

“You’re going to have to be better than that, churl!” Calder goaded, smirking as anger came over the daedroths face. He moved slowly to position the daedroth between him and another archer he spotted behind him, giving a very quick glance sideways at the spellcasters. Oddly one of them was wearing a mask.