POOHEAD189

Blades of the Blood Coast

Blades of the Blood Coast

You guys have a week from today to get a post in!

@POOHEAD189

3 days remaining...

Tricksters and Theives: A Warhammer RP

For the first time in years, Neil actually felt a little awkward. She called him cute, wanted to steal stuff with him, she liked him, and she was still wearing that goddamn outfit. The wine nearly had him taking her hand to pull her up for a kiss, but he stopped himself. They were out for appearances as much as a date. Damn! The staff at Conyer's was busy as ever, sashaying to and fro, taking orders and setting down more drinks. Their mustachioed waiter appeared beside them just before Neil was going to speak.

"Are you ready for the check?" He asked them, raising an eyebrow at the 'Justicar' until Neil interrupted by asking for dessert. "What's on your mind, herr...?"

"Edwards, and fetch us some pie. To go. Half blueberry, half cherry," He began, the man giving him a sweeping bow and making his way back to the kitchen. Neil stood up to catch his attention with a call of, "And your best bottle of wine!" Which the waiter gave a prompt thumbs up at. Neil grinned, falling to his chair again.

"Neil...?" She asked, clearly seeing something was on his mind.

"We're going to make a sizeable score tomorrow, babe." He said, leaning in to speak softly. "And we won't fail to celebrate tonight. So we're getting some delicious dessert, some more alcohol, and we're not going back to the tower. We're going to the Golden Comet."

Emmaline might have heard of it, but Neil knew it well. It was the swankiest inn in Nuln, and one of the most expensive. For good reason, however. A delectable bath house, lush, comfortable beds, and large suites. The best part was it was located at the southern gate, far away from anyone near the palace who might recognize the Justicar from earlier that day. Neil did have a small worry that a few servants there might recognize him for some petty theft a year ago, but he doubted it. Even if they did, who would believe them over a servant of the law and Neil, who could now afford to go there as a patron? The pie was presented, steaming on a wooden bowl Neil paid extra for to keep, and he took the wine bottle too, shoving it into Emmaline's hands as they made their way out into the streets of Nuln, just as the sun was beginning to set. The clamor of the crowd died down behind them. Both thieves were anxious to get there to relax and enjoy one another. Neil suspected Emmaline might be taken aback at how fancy the place was, too. He was never one to be smart with money, but they had sixty pieces of imperial gold crowns, that could last them a long time even if they lost about seven tonight.

There was very little in the way of lights in the Faulestadt District, which served as a buffer of poverty and ineptitude between the southern gate and the rest of the city. The industrial complex and the gunnery school was just beside it, but Neil avoided it like the plague to keep from any familiar face seeing him, so he went through the belly of the shantytown. Every now and then they heard wails or coughs, and a few shouts in the distance mingled with the echoing of barking dogs. Not to mention they passed by a few unpleasant smelling mounds of...something. It took very little time to traverse a place Neil knew like the back of his hand, however. Just when they were three blocks out of the woods, a shadow on the street, merely an extension of a stoop, stumbled out in front of them, whistling a jaunty tune.

"Hello there, frauline and gentleman." He remarked, stepping into the light with a dry, crusty grin. He had on a worn hat and a buck toothed smile, twirling a pocket watch in his hand idly. "Care to spare some change, eh?"

"This one's a Justicar!" A voice marveled behind them, a big man with a bald head lumbered out, clenching his fists. Next to him, a slim fellow with a cudgel giggled. They closed in around them, circling like predators. "I hear Justicar's are worth a lot in the lower markets, eh? This one's pretty too."

"Look, fellas." Neil said diplomatically. "Normally I'd be in the mood to play with you, but right now we're sort of in a hurry."

"Shame, because we got all night." The lead one said, producing a serrated knife. It glinted in the light of the moons, and he gave a disgusting smirk that promised many nasty things. Neil sighed, shaking his head. He handed the pie to Emmaline, the buxom woman taking it in her other hand as she watched Neil, too casually, reach into the back of his trousers.

"Well, ok then." Neil replied before he drew his pistol and shot the man square in the head. Just before the bullet hit, his eyes widened in disbelief, and it was his death mask. Blood smeared the road as the crack echoed across the stone. The two thugs behind them were dumbfounded, not knowing how to take their leader being summarily executed in broad moonlight. After a moment's hesitation, the big man cried out and charged at Neil. Neil rose his brow, but merely ducked under a heavy swing, stepping behind the big man and stomping behind his leg, twisting it painfully. Squealing, he hit the floor in a spasm, at which point Neil merely started to reload his pistol. Taking out the powder, he half cocked the pistol again and began to refill it, before he turned to see the third man just standing there with his crudgle.

"You can run if you want." Neil told him, and the lithe man promptly did, dropping his weapon and fleeing into the darkness. Neil finished reloading his pistol, and cocked the weapon again as the big man regained his sense of self, suddenly realizing he might be shot within moments. Rather, Neil knelt down and said: "Never halt the law, son. Because without law, there's only Chaos. Sigmar preserve you."

He motioned for Emmaline to head on, and both of them promptly left the scene before anyone else could investigate, heading to the Golden Comet for a good night.

Tricksters and Theives: A Warhammer RP

Neil was engaged in her story, taking the odd sip of wine here or there but fully focused on what she was saying. It made him feel slightly inadequate, which wasn't a usual thing. Neil loved to play himself off as arrogant, but he was, if nothing else, confident. A lack of confidence made life far less fun, and he knew just how talented he was in certain ways. But Emmaline was above and beyond what he had expected.

"So let me get this straight," he said, placing the wine glass down again. He called for their glasses to be filled again with an upraised hand. He didn't want to be reductionist, but Neil was the sort of guy who did sort of nonchalantly simplify things. "So, and this happened to me to in a way. So a lot of people wanted to use you and taught you all this shit, and you just sort of went 'fuck you' and used what they taught you to your own advantage? Babe that's...you're impressive."

Neil took a generous sip of wine once it was refilled, feeling warmth emanating from his belly as he considered himself. There were times when a guy spoke to a girl, and his dick made things complicated. It acted like a second brain that put you under its spell. Most men got used to it, learned how to quell the constant intrusions, but there were sleazebags who just went with it. Even stand up guys would lose to it every now and then, and it wasn't fair to the guy or the girl in question, and he wondered if that was what was transpiring now, but he realized it wasn't. Neil meant every word.

"Look, Em. I'll be honest with you. I like you a lot. I want to keep going on dates, drinking with you, and stealing everything we can get our hands on. But you're pretty, talented, you can fool most people with anything. Like...I understand why you tossed Otto away." He laughed, leaning back in his chair. "But you can swindle almost any noble in the empire or bullshit your way to the top. Hell, in the border kingdoms you could probably teach some petty lord magic for a fortune. Why slum it with me in a dusty tower, making pocket change? You could do anything you want."

The sun lowered, giving the water a glistening quality as a backdrop to their table. Two tilean lateen ships floated amongst the more robust river barges of the Empire. Beyond them, the guns boomed in a final chorus for the night.

Tricksters and Theives: A Warhammer RP

"Red wine would be perfect-" He started to say, but the waiter had already walked away. Well, if they didn't bring two glasses then he could complain at least, or just go up and take some himself. He smiled in agreement when she made a face about the lack of vodka. Luckily they had some back at the tower. The fact she liked gut-puncher drinks was strangely attractive, he realized.

The booms in the distance sounded like muted crashing. It was actually cathartic to Neil. He had always liked noises like that, or thunder. He loved storms, and for awhile he felt he liked storms because it was more havoc, but in truth that wasn't it. Thunder, or crowds, or any sort of loud commotion off to the side made him feel like the major events were happening elsewhere, and he could do what he wanted without fear of repercussion wherever he was, even if it was distant thunder and falling asleep. Soon the waiter came back, and brought two glasses and a bottle, thankfully.

"I'm not much of a worrier, as you might have guessed. Thanks-" He told the waiter as the fellow poured the glasses. The food had been nice and filling. Neil was feeling relaxed already. "But that would suck if things went downhill for me here. Nuln's a nice city. I do miss Marienburg, though."

Neil took a third generous sip of his wine before the waiter had been gone two minutes. He wasn't against getting wine drunk tonight. He felt the zest slip down his throat and placed the glass down, leaning on the table in what would usually be considered a rude-fashion, though it was clear he was just interested in his dinner companion. "So, I'm curious. You are a really good actress. I'm ok, but you must have trained somewhere. How do you do it? And also how many accents can you do?" He asked, keeping his voice low enough so no one could eaves drop. "And fucking, how many people have you swindled?"

It was clear before he spoke that he had been staring at her. A part of him really wanted to get back so he could appreciate her in that outfit a bit more personally, but honestly he was just fixated. She screwed over so many people, he was rapt with curiosity on her track record. Idly he realized she might mention past lovers, which wasn't the most fun topic. But he was willing to take that chance. He felt like he had been an open book since they met, and while she shared quite a bit, he had always been a talker around a girl he fancied.

Tricksters and Theives: A Warhammer RP

Neil thought not for the first time that this was well executed. Far better executed than he could have done alone. He was used to improvising, or spur of the moment cons when he wasn't purse snatching. This had been orchestrated like a play. It was good Neil had a good memory and penchant for the dramatic, lest he wouldn't have been convincing. It was impressive how good of an actor Emmaline was. Even compared to her role as the noble lady, this was something else. Neil had to remind himself to keep his mind on the mission, though her in that outfit absolutely murdered him. He truly hoped she wore it tonight and they did a bit of roleplaying because goddamn she kept one upping him.

As it was, Neil decided to take himself into the next street, following the trail they had agreed upon. He went through the Temple Quarter, the older architecture was pretty in an archaic way. Neil had never been the most devout follower of the Gods, but they were anti chaos; at least the supernatural form of it. Which he was all for, truth be told. They perverted the safe, fun sort of chaos he liked. They took it too seriously.

An hour later, he made it to Marketplatz, around the less populated streets near the smaller ironworks that smelted the steel for pikes and swords rather than the guns. Here, private smiths and military contractors collected good steel to use. None of them knew Neil by sight, and so the young man casually leaned on the wall near the corner that led into a shop of knickknacks, waiting for the 'justicar' to make her appearance. When she did, he let out a low whistle that carried to her ears with a satisfying richness.

"Sigmar, you look hot." He marveled, shaking his head. He grinned at how dumb he probably sounded, but it was a shameless one. "So how'd it go? Did they look put off enough? Aaaand ready for our second date?"

Phasers and Fortune: A Sci Fi RP (Shu & Poo)

Raddek was impressed, not expecting her to have a similar amount of ordnance as he did. He had been an avid hunter of xenos fauna as a young man, but any real taste of combat other than clan raids happened when he enlisted in the Imperial military. Back on Fortus, he had never had as much equipment as he or Vasthi had now. The fighting there had been fierce, through both urban and jungle environs, though far more of the former when on campaign. For five years he had fought over a hundred miles of land in trenches, behind buildings, and through the brush, concrete and organic. By the end of the conflict, he'd racked up enough bounties and taken enough equipment from the fallen to amass himself a sizeable portion of money to redistribute into weapons and armor, and a few years later he decided to try his luck on this planet.

"My homeworld had a harsh environment, with beasts and storms and freezing temps. I learned how to survive there, and then I shipped off to fight in the big city on Fortus, during the Valkyrie War." He explained, expecting her to understand the context. Even if she didn't, she could figure out he was ready for combat, regardless. Raddek shrugged, his massive shoulders rising and falling like upending mountains. "I couldn't pass this up either."

He got his feet and decided he wanted a bit more in the way of supplies. Not weaponry, but food wise. He went to the flashfridge and opened it, pulling out a few packets of water mix and dried up fruits to put in his bag.

"Once we get down there, don't eat any plants until we find some locals to ask about them. Provided they're friendly." He told her. Most anything meat would be ok to eat as long as they cooked it, and they had some antidotes for various types of poison if need be. The problem was, the problem would be they didn't know which poisons. "We should be just twelve clicks from a ruin we might use to find a guide or some more supplies. The first day ought to be easy."

Shields of the Empire

Brasidas was found attempting to get a few hours of sleep before the column rose at the first light of the sun. He dreamed about a buxom boreas woman he knew back at home, though why she was on his mind he couldn't fathom. She was with child from another man, and Brasidas had not seen her in seven years. He grumbled irritably when his sentry shook his shoulder, but at the man's insistence and relaying the information that a Miravet had come to summon him, he got to his feet with a growl. He might have dreamed of a woman, but unlike most of his soldiers, he didn't see Miravet as women. Just slim soldiers; people he was responsible for, at least in part.

Donning his cloak, he followed zoe back to the tent and striding in, listening to Phaedra's pronouncement and looking at the newcomer. He stared at them both, stony faced. It was a stark echo of when they looked him after he had reprimanded Eudoxia. Zoe walked past him again to stand with her commander, glancing Brasidas's way, curious too on how he might react.

"His daughter," he said, weighing the words. There were various implications for good or bad with that acknowledgement. Truthfully, if Phaedra wanted her, he wouldn't be able to stop her if he felt it the wrong choice taking her in. The Gods seemed to be testing them, or giving a boon. Either way, he wished they would stop. He would rather simply fight a war and be done with it. "You can take on whatever recruit you want, Protos Kapetanos. Though the Satrap will be on our heels far more doggedly if you take her with you. I've got a feeling the Ashvari people feel a bit more strongly against women warriors than the Empire, particularly their daughters."

He gave Tachmeena Al'Suren Daeva a grave look, raising an eyebrow when he looked at her two servants. "And you, lady Daeva, you know how to ride and fight, and you're willing to die for those who came to conquer your country?" He inquired, crossing his muscled arms. Indicating the servants, he shook his head. "You'll have to get rid of these, unless you think you're owed an officer's rank."

Blades of the Blood Coast

You guys have a week from today to get a post in!

Tricksters and Theives: A Warhammer RP

Two days later...

Wissenland was a province filled with ruins. Ghosts lurked in the woodlands and forest paths, still haunted by the great invasion of Gorbad Ironclaw over a century ago. The folk that tilled the land amongst this land were equally grim; hard working and dour enough to make Dwarfs notice their grumbling. Nuln was the exception. A vast metropolitan city that could potentially become its own independent city state. Rumor had it the Countess wished for that

The Emmanuelleplatz was a wide, stone carved road that inclines the steep hill leading to the palace, offering a beautiful view of Nuln’s architecture. On either side of the road stand the townhouses of the nobility, and each tier offers a better view of the temple spires, the great buildings of the Imperial Gunnery School, the University of Nuln, and the immaculate College of Engineering. The palace itself is incredibly large, with tall walls, turrets, and crenulated balconies. It was a veritable fortress, the only entrance to it through the gateway, which was a great arch fitted with heavy oaken doors reinforced with bronze. The wood itself was laminated. Neil had studied the entirety of the palace's schematics himself for a project once. You would have to place three great cannons within fifty meters of the gate to knock the thing down cleanly, otherwise it would be a shitshow to break in. And that's considering an invading army already pierced the city and pacified the rest of Nuln.

Neil stared at those gates now, leaning on an alleyway wall and waiting for the right time to move The day had been overcast, but now the skies were clearing up and he could see the sun directly. Any minute, Imperial Gunnery Academy Dean Lebowitz Von Wickenbach, accompanied by various guards and staff, would walk up the Emmanuelleplatz to give his weekly report to Vicount Valstadt, the delectable Countess's cousin and overseer of the southern half of Nuln, across the riek. A common enough meeting; Neil hadn't had to dig for very long. He had known about it before he was presumed dead. He'd just had to go and make sure they were still continuing, the two conducting field reports on the Veranda of the Vicount's townhouse. It gave an even lovelier view of the city than the one at the palace gates, which meant it brought an equally auspicious view of the street below, where Neil Edwards would meet with the justicar to discuss legal recompense for being knowingly put in danger and left for dead.

He cradled the piece of glass he had in his left hand just under his jacket, glancing down the street to see if he caught sight of Emmaline. In his right, he lifted an apple to his mouth to bite into. He hadn't seen her all morning, nor had he caught a glimpse of her in the suit she had acquired. He didn't doubt she waited at the appointed spot, but it was still a bit nerve wracking as the minutes slipped by, until on cue, he spied the good Dean's coach, flanked by mounted pistoliers as they cantered up the street toward the townhouse. He waited until he finished the apple, tossing the core into the trash laden alley and sliding his piece of glass out, angling it perpendicular to the sun and letting its glare flash across the way for just a moment. He waited...and did it again.

When he got another flash back, he dropped the glass by the apple and stepped out into the street, walking across a very upper class market and finely dressed people to 'meet' for the first time, the Lady Justicar.