[color=CD2868][center][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5500451][img]https://i.imgur.com/a2NKAnu.png[/img][/url][h2][b]🎕 Talia of Roses 🎕[/b][/h2][/center][/color][b]//O11 - Deserted Backstreets[/b]

For Talia, Oratorio was a place of great opportunity. She didn't mind the smells of its pallid underbelly. They were certainly awful, but the smells didn't evoke the same memories that the stagnant salt sea did. Plus, a woman from a bordello always had a few tricks when it came to scents. 

As a newcomer to the city, she didn't have anything to her name beyond her flesh, clothes, and the ephemeral companionship of recusants. She had enraptured the five of them with her words and dreams. It was hardly a noble dream. If anything, it could be distilled to sitting on a childish throne made of gold coins. Despite that, it was pure, simple, and achievable. It was a promise made from deep within her heart. One that they knew would never betray them.

When the opportunity came for coin, Talia wasn't one to pass it up. A man who smelled of gold was being shaken down by three thugs of descending height. Of course, their numbers were nothing compared to the merry band. The numbers became even more unbalanced when another group consisting of an old man and dragonkin child(?) arrived and declared their intention at the other end of the alley.

That cut off the thieves escape route. Unless they could run through walls, they had to either run through a dragon with gauntlets or a wall of merry men.

[color=CD2868]"The only one here that can take balls is me!"[/color] She exalted.

For a brief moment, the world was silent. The bluster of Oratorio had frozen for those that heard. Of course, it was only a moment; a strange and provocative statement could only freeze the city--even a deserted section--for a second.

Without a hint of embarrassment, shame, or fluster shown on her face, Talia turned and walked out of view. The merry men with her had mixed reactions. One raised an eyebrow. Another gave a deep sigh. One popped his lips as if to say "that just happened". Without missing a beat, Talia returned to the alley entrance as though she had just arrived.

[color=CD2868]"All thievery shall be done with [i]my[/i] permission!"[/color] She iterated. [color=CD2868]"And if you don't play by my rules, then I suppose we'll need to enact some... aggressive taxation."[/color]

Her merry men were already ready to fight. Their weapons were questionable; they were entirely things you could find outside of the city for free. A buff, dark-skinned merry man who refused to close his jacket held a brick in hand. Two merry men of similar average builds--twins that were not blood-related--held wooden clubs. A jovial man who managed to remain chubby held a large stick that seemed half club and half staff. The smallest merry man had a simple sling (though it was closer to a discarded scrap of old cloth) and rocks in his pocket.

It was a strong provocation. Of course, she was ignoring the very real threat of the white-haired pretty boy being stabbed in the gnards by a man half his size. Talia wasn't going to care too much if he was stabbed or taken hostage. That just meant she could collect her protection fees postmortem.

But her greed was getting the better of her as she stood in front of her merry men. She saw that two others had something she deeply wanted. Something inside of them. Not their flesh, guts, or blood. She wanted something less material: something divine.

If it weren't so rancid out, she would have licked her lips.

[sup][@ERode][@Izurich][@Theyra][/sup]