Dervish

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

There. Posted, and I hope you all know how disappointed Do'Karth is in each and every one of you.

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

Do’Karth was pleasantly relieved to have had the first skirmish of the mission pan out as relatively simple as it was, and the fierce dwemer constructs were dismantled with surprising ease for something made of metal and impervious to pain, which is more than could have been said for Leif and Elmera, both of whom were wounded in the fighting. Despite their differences and mutual loathing due to their decidedly non-mutual understanding and respect over Sevine’s affections, he did not wish to see the man killed and maimed, and if the situation between them weren’t so awkward and hostile, he would have offered to mend his wounds. He would if he were asked to, but the man deserved his space.

The khajiit felt for Elmera, the dunmer woman who made a rather strong first impression based on her cold and efficient debut for handling the argonian situation in Dawnstar, she was injured pretty badly and he’d likely have to attend to her puncture wound when the area was secure. She’d have to guard the lift, likely alone, and Do’Karth felt there was a real chance they’d come back and discover her slain, just like the two dead Armigers they stumbled across, and no one deserved to die alone in an increasingly hostile ruin. He offered her a sympathetic nod, and carried on with the rest as Edith ordered them forward.

While no one else in the group could see in the dark as well as Do’Karth, he easily made out the forms of the four people approaching, lightly armed and surprisingly having an Imperial in their ranks. They seemed rather casual, given the circumstances, and he listened to their conversation, gauging intent. The khajiit assumed anyone encountered in the ruins were hostile and not to be trusted, given that the island was occupied by the very same enemy that assaulted them on the coast days prior and were reputed to be allied with the Kamal, a combination that did little to engender affection for their well-being. Worst case scenario, these interlopers would play the victim under the pretense of slipping away and warning their masters, the best case scenario was they were forced to be here, although this was unlikely as they were all armed, unsupervised, and talking about pay.

It did not sit well with Do’Karth, and he was an individual who quickly dismissed his near-devouring via Charrus hours after the fact as something that wasn’t worth musing about.

The mercenaries broke into a bunch of hushed whispers that Do’Karth was not paying attention to as he continued to eavesdrop on the approaching adversaries to determine anything useful from their dialog, gleaning that they reported to a boss. If they could find this person and subdue them, they’d have a huge advantage to discover what they were up against and what the dunmer were doing here…

Suddenly, the wanderer was aware of a half dozen sets of eyes on his back and he turned around to find everyone staring back at him, expectantly. He felt the fur on his neck standing on end as he caught the gesture for him to go forth, likely to talk with the four unknowns with weapons, considering he was the only one without any form of armour and was sworn to an oath of not taking anyone’s lives.

It was a plan so insidious, Leif must have concocted it. Much like their past few days involved ships that wanted to murder him, nearly getting roasted alive by his close ally and possible friend while facing giant frost demons that laughed at puny attempts to defend against their hulking martial ability and then subsequently fleeing from their mounts that looked kind of like a prolapsed rectum with legs, nearly falling to his death down any icy shaft while balls of glowing death killed off sailors he didn’t know the names of and land only promising more death by fanatical dunmer warriors and horrors from the deep, Do’Karth decided that the world was trying its damnest to have him killed off.

This one should have just stayed on that raft on the lake in Colovia. he thought with a shake of his head as he stepped out, holding his staff with both palms open to show his lack of hostile intent. A quick glance at the expectant faces behind him made the khajiit wonder what made his companions pick the only member of a much maligned race by dunmer and Nordic eyes who spoke as if he himself were talking of another person, had a visage of any number of alpha predator wildcats that were known to eat people alive and was a self-professed illiterate who had such a lack of conviction when he spoke to others whom he was not close with that he failed to ask his boss to not send him on a godsforsaken ship instead of in the woods where he had the better chance of success.

In all, it was an awful plan that he felt was supremely unqualified for. “S’rendarr, keep this one safe…” he muttered, hoping his god was actually paying him some mind this day.

He stepped out into the open, in full view of the four unknowns. His heart was pounding, and his mouth was rather dry. Still, he managed, “Greeting, this one comes to sp-”

Immediately, Do’Karth was validated in his fears and the common knowledge that everyone hates khajiit on principle as the now confirmed hostiles did not even bother to speak as they simply decided to act upon their curiosity of if khajiits did in fact make nice rugs. A an arrow whizzed by his ear before smashing into a ornately carved wall, a pitted and ugly looking knife managed to tug against his sash off of his left flank with its hilt before clanging on the floor, and the crossbow bolt passed so close between his legs, he felt himself shrivel up on fear and his tail reflexively flicked to the side as the projectile smacked into the stone floor.

“Thanks, S’rendarr.” He said, turning his weapon to the attackers who had displayed impressively abysmal displays of marksmanship and now opted to try and get physical. One khajiit was surely no match for four of them, right?

Bringing his staff behind his back so he could quickly lash out on either side, Do’Karth looked forward to embarrassing them twice in a matter of moments while feeling simultaneously vindicated and slighted by having his suspicions confirmed. “Perhaps this one should inspect your weapons for flaws? Bring them closer so khajiit might have a look!” he taunted, counting down the seconds until they were in range.

Mass Effect: Borealis

<Snipped quote by Fallenreaper>

Aye, I peeked in to see what I missed out on... and wept.

@Hank

Usually my games take something akin to hardcore player apathy to kill off, and these guys are pretty amazing at keeping the dream alive, even when I totally shot the bed as GM for whatever reason.

Sorry things didn't work out differently!

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

<Snipped quote by gcold>



"...how could you miss!?"

@Frizan

They be like,

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

So, Elmera will be guarding the lift in her semi-immobilized state. As for the rest, a tie between Sadri and Raelyn means Do'Karth will have to go at it alone. He suffers -1 penalty to his RNG.

First up is the persuasion check. Do'Karth has no speech skill, and neither is he a Dunmer. So it'll 8-10 when the other guys completely follow Karth, 6-7 they will draw weapon but listen reluctantly, 4-5 they retreat to regroup and 1-3 for attacking immediately.



Do'Karth must have a super punchable face. Since his listeners turned enemies attack right away, we're gonna RNG for three projecticles. 8-10 all miss, 6-7 one hit, 3-5 two hits and 1-2 for a hat trick.



Couldn't hit the broad side of barn.

And there you have it, our brave spokescat played the turkey in a turkey shoot so the rest of you can attack.

@gcold

Mass Effect: Borealis

<Snipped quote by Rtron>

Likely the most mild drama currently. Maybe Vellios should've stuck around?

@Fallenreaper

Tanya's going to take off after him, since she pretty much is giving her the impression he's looking for death with those bird things out there.

Mass Effect: Borealis

<Snipped quote by Dervish>

Just waiting on you.

@Zombiedude101

How dare you.

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

<Snipped quote by gcold>

Madura can be the one to speak up about Do'Karth's current status and whereabouts before he sets off for the ruins. He interviewed the pair together and knows they fought side-by-side in Windhelm. It might occur to him that Niernen would like to know Do'Karth still exists.

That brings me to Niernen's personality. She is consistently stubborn and somewhat reckless in her history and it would not be out-of-character for her to, despite her current shape, want to reconnect with Do'Karth as soon as possible. It wouldn't be a stretch for Madura to have a flask of water (or something or other) and something to eat for Niernen to perk her up a bit, which he offers to her out of sympathy as he sees the almost insane desperate desire in Niernen's eyes to go to Do'Karth, the only person who ever showed any understanding for her trauma and internal struggles about her actions in Blackmarsh. Niernen may have built Do'Karth up in her head to be some kind of perfect, furry angel, a beacon of hope during the traumatic enslavement by the Kamal, and to have developed the idea that "If I can get back to him, everything will be alright".

@Hank

I think that's a pretty logical train of thought.

Also, Furry Angel is now DK's porn name.

The Jolly Roughers ~ Dervish & MacabreFox

The argument reached a crescendo, and Shay could not help but feel that he was responsible for much of it. He felt like excusing himself, to get away from two people he cared deeply about tearing each other apart in a vicious, heated argument, but in his current state, he wouldn’t be excused so easy, and he wanted to be there for Vera more than anything. The room was silent, save for the two siblings, as if everyone else were afraid to move, let alone speak.

Vera stormed out of the kitchen, looking very much so ready to murder, and her words dug into Shay like a dagger; get out. He wasn’t an exception for her wrath, and after everything, and perhaps in spite of it, he suddenly felt discarded, like he was shouldering the blame for something he was not the cause of. He could not control Sam’s words, who could? And yet, here he was, gathering his things at the behest of the unsettling Gypsy woman, and stepping out of the flat like a retreating army. Sam was livid; it didn’t take a psychiatrist to realized speaking to him was paramount to suicide at this point, and the fist he drove into a passing wall set off a deafeningly loud punctuation to the situation. If any of the residents of the building were aiming to complain, none reared their head; it was as if they knew the stakes.

The next few hours passed by in a haze as Shay was preoccupied by what was happening, only half listening to Sam’s rant and violent rampage across the Tawdy, and the Gypsy doctor kept working on his wound. With a whiskey in hand, Shay just wished the day to leave him be in peace, and he remained as non-committal as possible to inquiries his way, and even Silas didn’t look at him like he wanted to pry for details about how intimate his time with Vera got, like the boys usually did when women were involved. One glass turned to two, and to three, and before Shay knew it, the walls were beginning to spin and he sprinted to the washroom to upheave his shame, barely hearing the complaints about him being a shitty mess and to get him home before he made an ass of himself.

The wound in his shoulder was testament enough to that; it was a bridge that had long since been crossed.

Emory drove Shay back to his flat in the same car he was charged with driving, as if he were being revoked the privilege and it was someone else’s turn, someone who could prove to be more responsible, and a part of Shay resented Emory and the others for the fact, all the while still hearing Vera’s scream to leave like a siren. She was furious, and for good reason, but why did she have to rope him in with the others? Did he not prove himself enough, that he genuinely cared? A dark mood crossed him like a foul miasma, and the rage that consumed Sam left impressions through his soul like inky tendrils.

Goddamn you all. Shay thought, slamming the door of the car and leaving a startled Emory speechless as Shay stormed off back to his flat, where against his better judgement and perhaps entirely because of the alcohol ebbing through his body and soul, he grabbed a bottle of vodka, God knows what brand, and sat on his couch as if gravity finally took his legs out from him. He sat in the dark, stewing, vaguely aware of the protesting ebbs of pain from his shoulder and something prodding at his side. Drinking deeply, Shay eventually found the irritation enough to investigate what it was, and from between the cushions he pulled the Webley Revolver from the couch, the cold steel breech opening handgun feeling empowering in his hands. He stared at the cylinders, the destructive potential contained within as each cartridge was worth a man’s life.

The only question was whether it would be his own or another man’s the gun would claim next. The unsettling thought floated as the cylinder rotated, clicking softly as each chamber came and went from battery.

The next time Shay saw Donald Hayes, he was going to blow his fucking brains out, consequences be damned.

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

@Graviloquence Finally read the sheet in it's entirety! Sorry about the delay!

It was quite a good read, and Bharzak seems like she's a really well-rounded and compelling character that has a lot of storytelling potential, as well as a simple but well realized history. I quite enjoyed reading the sheet, and I see nothing off about the skills and inventory that need to be addressed, so it gets the Dervish stamp of approval!