In Search of Sanctuary

[Moon Jae-Seong]

TIMESTAMP: Sundered Rise 12, Searing 123
NOTES: continued from here

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Just a couple days prior, both Novalys Jae-Seong and Chisuo Shuai had crossed paths within the confines of a charitable endeavor hosted by another family– House Ahtivan. This meeting had been brief with the former assisting in the distribution of what resources were provided by the kin of the latter.

Over the course of this endeavor, however, the two noblemen spoke back and forth and Jae-Seong mentioned how he spent the majority of his time roaming around as a mercenary along with small stories on the subject. He elucidated that his background was mostly martial and about how he often felt out of place within the city proper. It was when he said something along the lines of how he would much prefer to perform charitable acts in that vein that Shuai, who was more than likely just idly following along with the flow of conversation, made the mistake of agreeing with the other. Well, that choice being a mistake was subjective, but Shuai’s agreement led to Jae-Seong roping the other nobleman into further agreeing to help escort a few more Zaichaeri refugees safely to Kalzasi.

A few folks had overheard the mercenary’s former sentiment about wanting to do more and as such, they proceeded to inform him that the rest of their family was currently in the process of making the trip. Jae-Seong being who he was declared that he was more than happy to offer up his assistance– and whether it was altruism or peer pressure, Shuai caved and agreed to go along. They responded with delight and gave the two noblemen as explicit directions as they could about the path their loved ones were taking and descriptions of the individuals they’d be looking out for. Given the fact that they had said their families had already set out on their travels it was, consequently, imperative that they head out on this endeavor right away to minimize the risk posed to them.

The two noblemen and what guards they deigned to bring along had agreed to set off en route early in the morning after taking two days to prepare. On Jae-Seong’s end, he actually did not come alone this time, either; he opted to bring along two guards of his own– though he viewed them more as friends than not.

The first was a woman who had the look of somebody who’d spent time in or had been formally trained by somebody within the military. She was well armored, dressed in leather plated overtop by steel. Because of the Eclipse’s endless winter, she also wore a burgundy cloak to keep herself from freezing. For weapons, she had with her a shield and shortsword, both of which looked to be of exquisite craftsmanship but lacked any ostentatious ornamentation.

The second of the two was a dark-complexioned male Avialae with the wings of a raven. He was a full head taller than Jae-Seong; likely just a bit over seven feet in height. The man was well built but relatively lean aside from his shoulders and the reason for this was immediately obvious– upon his back, he was armed with a war bow. Anyone who knew anything about archery would recognize from its appearance that his bow must have an incredibly heavy draw weight. His armor was almost entirely leather, though he did bear a steel plate over his chest. Not unlike his female companion, he also wore a cloak, though his was a deep, golden ochre in color.

Jae-Seong himself was dressed in a fashion that was more utilitarian than he had been wearing the other day. This time, the fabrics were visibly more durable and lacking in pattern. He donned padded cloth armor styled after his usual fare– split-legged hakama and accompanying kimono beneath it. However, he opted to shirk anything obviously meant for insulation; he carried lodestones to keep himself warm, preferring what freedom of movement was provided when only lightly armored.

The two nobles had agreed to meet with one another not far from the main gates leading into the city of Kalzasi, and having arrived at that location, stood with his companions to wait for the Chisuo boy.

- - -

"Synskrit"

"Common"

"Inandoth"

[Shuai Chisuo]

It was of course not an enjoyable experience.

While Shuai did enjoy testing his own martial prowess in a fight there were some which were completely unacceptable by society like a random bar brawl and, those which were not only accepted but welcome and lauded by society like a good blood boiling scrap in the arena. With the same measure of violence as the latter, the sport of hunting dangerous individuals which threatened that very same society like crooks and bandits too was looked highly upon no matter the reason, whether it be for bounty or for glory- which was what Shuai assumed they would be running into in this new 'charitable act' he accidentally volunteered himself for. Although the nobility itself did not partake in these common fights with a view they were lesser job better handed off to sellswords they could just pay off for their goals, a noble failing to honor his own word was looked down upon just the same- there was no way Shuai was going to get out of it without maintaining his own dignity so the better thing to do would be to just go with it. His own father was not one to discourage it either since it was for 'the greater good' and simply told Shuai in the flippant way only a father could to "don't die. And try to come back before your mother gets worried because she'll have it over me for weeks."

That said it was not like Shuai truly was incapable for an escort mission like the stereotypical noble. It was just he would rather not have people knowing the full extent of what he was capable of because knowing would eventually become expecting. The same reason for why he agreed; while he was distracted with completing his charitable tasks, Jae-Seong's demeanor and tone at the time reminded him of the very specific situations he would simply say yes to some merc work because such a thing was expected of him and also because he sort of enjoys it. However those situations were completely different from his public face which only went right for wars and duels, a far cry from Jae-Seong who freely told of his stories from back when he was a roaming mercenary. 'That was really misleading wasn't it? Of course I'd think he was one of the boys calling me out for some fun'" Shuai thought to himself as he remembered back on what should have been idle conversation that he never thought twice on going: yes, why not? Of course! Sure, just to be polite about it. No wonder the more socially savvy of his bodyguards had a good laugh about it, before grilling him on protocol he should have observed.

There was only some key things Shuai seemed wary of, and it was not because he was looking for reasons to get out of it- why did those family members not make the journey with them, when did they actually leave Zaichaer and when was their last communications between one another. Also how much fucking luggage were they bringing along because that might make a difference in their own escort plans, somewhat. Of course Shuai did not ask the family that- that would at best be considered rude towards the refugees and if word of a noble being suspicious of the people they are meant to help spreads, the discontent throughout the refugees already may be elevated. He waited until they left before calling over one of his bodyguards and communicating these concerns to him while, just being loud enough so that Jae-Seong would be able to hear it too without straining himself. Shuai could catch a glimpse of Skammak grinning at the act being played out but it was only until later when they have split from the Jae-Seong that his bodyguard would praise him for actually bring able to make use of the usual noble tricks.

"I'm serious. Find it out if you can" was part of the conversation they had later on in the evening which was returned with a "if I can. Do I look like I know anyone from that twisted city?"

The two same bodyguards, Skammak and Ruborudean accompanied Shuai again two days later. He really did not need to have anyone else. The only thing different with Shuai and his bodyguards from when the nobles met in the relief effort for the refugees was that Shuai looked more prepared for getting into a fight, his bodyguards equipped to do the same. There was nothing else. While it may be taking things for granted Shuai assumed that the Novalys would have better resources and desire to prepare Jae-Seong that the Chisuo and Shuai himself only needed to do the minimum. Food. Drinks. An extra mount. Oh and some papers in a bag somewhere with some additional information on the family members they had to find. At least those refugees were consistent in that one more interview Shuai had Skammak do the next day after they had split from Jae-Seong.

"I guess we'll just be following the main road to Zaichaer? Or has there been any changes to it lately? Its not the sort of place I ever had any interest in going to so I've never followed any of the developments there. And I guess we should meet the family in a few days? I'm sure Novalys would have better means to know the conditions of the roads there so me and the boys here will just follow your lead."

[Moon Jae-Seong]

TIMESTAMP: -
NOTES: -

- - -

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While it may be, ultimately, unwise for groups of travelers to split up, one thing about crisis situations is that they often forced– or unwittingly beget– inefficiency. The group of refugees they spoke to yesterday mostly consisted of children, their mothers, and older folks; though Jae-Seong himself did not ask, he assumed that they had split up this way because they wanted to get that more vulnerable group out of Zaichaer faster, and thus sent them on their way as soon as they had bare minimum resources. While it was dangerous for that group to travel alone, he'd seen refugees split up like this in desperate situations before. When the subject came up after the fact between just the nobles and Shuai's guards, he did communicate as much.

The group that made it to Kalzasi had, however, said that once they had settled, that they'd sent letters by way of bird back to those they'd left behind. Correspondence had been minimal, which, given the circumstances, was not shocking, but they did learn that the latter group had left a little over a week back.

Most of what traveling supplies Jae-Seong had brought were worn on the back of the largest man– the other, more obvious Avialae, Enver. They didn't bring an excessive amount, sure, but that was because Enver hailed from a family of hunters and was an experienced survivalist whilst the other two, Jae-Seong and Marcella, were both half-Rathari. Their animal shapes lent them more adaptability to the wilderness, and all of them were capable of procuring food as needed– carrying substantial amounts of provisions, which, while such could easily be afforded, doing so would only serve to slow them down. There were also traveler's inns that dotted the main road from Zaichaer to Kalzasi every so often that would be fairly easily afforded by the group.

Jae-Seong had checked what records existed of the group that had already arrived in the interim, and as a precaution, had taken copies thereof as well as notes about the folks they'd be looking for and handed them off to Enver. He had some small concerns about running into the group and the potential for them to react with fear or trepidation; this way, he could hopefully assure them that his group meant them no harm and were actually sent by who they said they were.

Shuai arrived about on time with the same two guards as the day before and came with questions about the logistics of this endeavor.

“From what we were told, I've little reason to assume that those we're looking for would veer too far from the main road unless under dire circumstances,” Jae-Seong began. “And hopefully the roads should be fine…cold, sure, but uneventful.”

But with everyone here, all that was left was to begin their journey. The first few days of which were, as the nobleman had predicted, cold but uneventful. They were also, for the most part, left alone when encountering other travelers.

Eventually, however, they did come across a group of travelers in the midst of being waylaid by bandits. It might’ve normally been somewhat of a risk to attack a group on the main road, but they were far enough from major settlements that travelers were less common and on top of that, it was the middle of the night. While there was wisdom to be found in striking by cover of darkness, preying upon the weak was senselessly cruel.

From a distance, it would be hard to tell if this group was the one they were ultimately looking for, but either way, helping felt imperative. Not wanting to alert the bandits to their presence too early, the patrician gestured to his allies to get their attention before he himself moved.

Jae-Seong and Marcella were both melee fighters and thus, upon brandishing their weaponry, were forced to close the distance before being truly useful. Marcella more so than Jae-Seong, however, because upon getting close enough to get a better view of what was happening, threw one of his blades into the air and launched it at one of the obvious bandits by way of a wind torrent– his target was a large, rugged fellow attempting to attack a traveler who, while able bodied, was unarmed. The blade impaled the aggressor's abdomen all the way through, to which the nobleman immediately responded by calling his weapon back to his hand– a trick of Reaving. But with the sword's egress, the startled bandit was left panicking and heavily bleeding.

Enver took a second to arm himself as he had to disentangle his weapon from the other things he was carrying on his back, but once he did, he took a wide stance, drew an arrow and nocked it into the neck of another one of the aggressing bandits. His shot was true and the man died on impact, falling over into a gurgling mess whilst the woman he was attacking skittered away into the nearby brush. She looked terrified but otherwise unharmed.

With their initial volley of attacks, however, what remained of the bandit group was now fully alerted to their presence. From what could currently be seen, there were about nine total, eight still standing.

- - -

"Synskrit"

"Common"

"Inandoth"

[Shuai Chisuo]

It was impressive, Jae-Seong's naivety that is as Shuai thought. He would have thought someone who operated as a mercenary would be able to scrutinize those requests with a lot more care. Surely gold, or in this instance the chance to help, was important but even more important was one's own life. "You don't think its too suspicious that they asked two random nobles just because we said we want to do more, instead of actual proper people like the guards to help, especially when there might be circumstances to force them to split?" Hopefully that query would be enough to to impress the idea that it is a lot more important to get more information at this point- for all Shuai knew this could be a set up to get some ransom by some more unscrupulous individuals; just because they were old or infirm their capacity for wicked deeds were not diminished any less. Nonetheless, Shuai was confident he would be able to escape any such attempts. After all, he did survive the war unscathed.

Which was why it was just as easy to go along for the ride. While at the moment no one would be able to confirm either Shuai's suspicions nor Jae-Seong's own accounts of the event in question, one thing was certainly proven by Jae-Seong. it was cold. Fortunately his bodyguards had prepared him well and Shuai himself only had to follow on from behind as he engaged in idle conversation to pass the time in the uneventful days- keeping in mind to pay proper attention to the conversation if something odd pops up because he did not want to get suckered into yet another adventure with no enjoyment for him to be had. Sometimes when passing by the other travelers, Shuai would instruct one of his bodyguards to just ask them a little about the road ahead and if they had run into the people they were searching for. Would this be an issue? Hardly. Ruborudean would easily catch up. After all, he was built for such a purpose.

Though the bodyguard would not find out anything other than the usual, the roads were cold, people were hungry, some of the inns were way too crowded and, where the fuck are the patrols to prepare the group for the bandits they eventually encountered, that by no means was going to stop Shuai from having some fun. At the very least the brief scrap would warm him up enough. How unfortunate they were that far away for the group to take advantage of. Nonetheless at least there was a plan. "You charge at them, from the side might I remind you, you might be built like a tank and the bandits don't look like much but we don't want you getting swarmed" he told Ruborudean and as for Skammak, "you sneak up on the other side. You know how. Either get the stragglers or stop their escape." Well, with the assumption the ones being attacked were from Zaichaer they were going to be scared of the group either way so Shuai had no qualms on making the rush for it.

And that was what he did. Stepping up unto his halberd, Shuai simply held his shield right out in front of him and burst his weapon at top speed. 'Crunch!' went one of the bandits he collided with which before the other could knew what was happening had already been thrown foward and got slammed into a tree never to stand up again. Shuai himself could feel his arm giving way as he did, no matter how well trained he was there was no way he could deal with the blow either. Not that he was going to stick around for the rest of the bandits to get on him as he continued with his hit and run, straight and up out of reach so he could recover with Ruborudean following close behind with another 'stab!' and 'crunch!' in his own hit and run to run through the bandits. Shuai was quite surprised it took the horse man that long but more likely than not the bodyguard might have wanted to give his hiis lord the chance to get first blood.

Five more to go. At least from what Shuai could see as he hovered from up top.

[Moon Jae-Seong]

TIMESTAMP: -
NOTES: -

- - -

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Sure enough, Shuai’s suspicions were valid, but the thing about that was Jae-Seong simply didn’t care. It was a facet of his personality that baffled many of the other mercs he’d come to work with over the years, but he was an enigma in the first place; many in the profession were there for different reasons and he was part of what was, by far, the smallest of these disparate demographics. That demographic being that he was there for the fun of it alone– it was about fifty percent altruism, fifty percent bloodlust. The latter aspect, however, he’d rarely– if ever– admit to verbally; it was something that just was, something about himself that he accepted, but didn’t shine a light on. Money, further, was a nonfactor due to his upbringing and he, much to the vexation of his kin, found the risk to his life worth it.

To the other’s concerns, he simply shrugged. “They might be lying to us– but what of it? Zaichaer’s government, its people, its resources– all are in tatters. To my understanding, the city was leveled. The likelihood of it being something of the sort that I can’t handle is low.”

And maybe that sounded arrogant, but it was calculated. Zaichaer was a backwards society that shunned magic aside from the hypocritical elites and the witches in the lower rungs of society. The refugees to which they had spoken did not act as if they were part of either group, and he doubted that the people they were waiting on were, either. Because with that level of fire power, traveling separately at all would’ve been abysmally stupid.

“Whatever we encounter, I’m sure something of value can be plucked from the situation,” he said with a subtle, almost strange, smile.

To him, ‘something of value’ ran wildly broad, including the simple joys of helping those in need and extending all the way to the thrill of cutting other mortals to ribbons.

“...but if it worries you, I’ll bring guards of my own along for the ride.” Assuming that they weren’t going to come across mage-assailants, this was unnecessary, he thought, but perhaps some of his guards wouldn’t mind the excursion.

- - -

Most of what was shared by Jae-Seong and his party along the road were idle tidbits about each person. Enver spoke of his kin, how they were composed of generations of archers; he spoke about himself highly, too. But he was young, not long an adult, and if one were particularly discerning, one would be able to detect the presence of lingering self doubt. His competency with a bow was hard to question, though– he hunted for the group a few times, hitting and killing targets that were far off, moving, obscured and so on. Both eagle eyed and precise, he was.

Marcella, on the other hand, was more alike to Jae-Seong in her stoicism– she talked a lot less freely than the Avialae did. Though the nobleman himself would ebb and flow between austerity and bits of levity, Marcella did not. She treated this like it truly was a job for which she must behave with utmost professionalism, saying not much at all about herself. Enver chided her for this, claiming the attitude was excessive, but she paid him no heed.

And from what could be gathered, Enver and Jae-Seong met through their families– the latter hiring the former because of his skill. Marcella, despite acting like a soldier, was apparently somebody the noble met through mercenary work; this was revealed by Jae-Seong, and the woman almost looked annoyed at him for sharing it, but said nothing. She afforded him all the respect of his class and his status as her boss, much to his annoyance.

Enver and a few others, Marcella being something of the captain thereof, were apparently charged with the security of both the patrician’s person and his own private estate. It was, indeed, rarer for minor nobles like Jae-Seong to receive their own properties without running a business or, at least, marrying with the intent to reproduce, but he was Novalys; their kin were afforded more, even when compared to others of noble blood.

- - -

In the thick of a fight, Marcella was generally a defensive fighter– Jae-Seong was a flighty man, his style of swordsmanship lending to speed, and on top of that, his lighter bones from his Rathari bloodline paired with wind courtesy of his Elementalism made him preternaturally swift. When it came to directly defending him, she couldn’t really keep up. But then, the patrician knew this, and fought around his slower companion, often striving to set things up for the both of them.

By the time they reached the thick of the fight, the one the swordsman had previously impaled had fallen, overtaken by blood loss. At first, Jae-Seong positioned himself in a way that, by all appearances, was poor– right within the striking distance of two more of the bandits. This was a feint, because though that pair of foes made an attempt to work together to take advantage of his questionable positioning and take him down, the nobleman would spin ‘round, swinging both his swords in a wide, horizontal arc around him. His style of swordsmanship was an old one native to Kalzasi; it was built around speed and facilitated by spinning oscillations resembling the outward blooms of flowers; it was as deadly as it was graceful. One was too close to do anything about dodging, and though the second man stepped back, Marcella had closed the distance and he was met with a blade through the ribs.

Enver, taking to the air, flew overhead and shot another arrow down at one of the farther of the bandits from the fight. The heavy draw made each shot of his slow, but the arrow shattered the man’s skull on impact, leaving a splattering of gore on the ground behind him and anyone nearby. The sight of which, apparently, was terrifying to all onlookers– including the two bandits that remained.

They called their surrender and began an attempt to flee, but did they deserve mercy?

- - -

"Synskrit"

"Common"

"Inandoth"

[Shuai Chisuo]

Surrender? Shuai did not know the meaning of the word- or that is what he would tell people in his retelling of this story so he could increase his notoriety. Maybe if everyone believed him to be a bloodlusted battle junkie they would avoid bringing him out for altruistic missions where violence was expected. The two bandits, immediately split up as they made a rush for the treeline. The moment they crossed that, they would surely be lost. Pursuit would be too troublesome and not even Shuai in the sky would be able to keep track of them. It would maybe be a few seconds until they did but Shuai only needed one. It was a simple yet elegant use of elementalism. The novels of heroes past called it the legendary voice transmission technique! Anyone who thought Shuai would not learn something like that even if there were no combat applications did not know him at all.

A deep breath accumulating in his core. His aether going along with the flow. The wind got charged with it at his request, the elements of air tickled by the prospect. A demand with no wiggle room for the bandits. Shuai obviously regarded the elements with more respect than some bandits who have already forfeited their lives through their misdeeds but he knew the reasons he had to keep them alive. Well at least one. Hopefully they heeded him. "On the ground! Drop your weapons!" It would be loud as it would reach directly into their ears and echo inside their heads no matter how thick their skulls. To the others like his companions and the ones being attacked by the bandits, who knew what Shuai looked like. They would not even be able to hear what he said unless they tried really hard and might only catch it as a faint whisper so he could even look as stupid as... some noble enjoying the scenery in a trip he took in a whim- which is what Shuai could be described as.

While he was not following Shuai's instructions to the letter, one did drop his weapons if only to cover his ears and yell before he crumpled unto the ground in a curled up ball. The other seemed to be made of tougher stuff as he continued to run. If that bandit was he, perhaps Shuai would have done the same because he was already so close to the tree line. A few more steps and he would have already escaped. Too bad for him it was still a few more steps too much. Less of foresight and more of the basics one would find in texts on tactics, Skammak was just in the right spot to intercept the bandit. From the tree one arm blocked the bandit off at the chest and another arm dug deep into the man's stomach, then the arms of the pairs wrapped round the bandit to make him unable to escape as he yelled and yelled various profanities. Shuai was not impressed. If one were to accompany mercenaries and soldiers enough times, there were much worse words which could be used.

Shuai himself leisurely landed himself on the ground beside the bandit which was still squirming on the ground. Tapping the man on the shoulder to get his attention, once they were face to face he dragged the bandit by the collar to lift him back up on his feet so they could speak on the level. "Hi, its me." Ah his ears were still ringing. He brought himself right to the bandit's ear so the man would not have any excuse for not listening to him, "hi, its me. Now how comfortable you are depends on how cooperative you are. Are you going to cooperate?" Actually, how many times was he going to have to repeat this? He gestured for Skammak to bring the other bandit along with him so he could group them all together, the other bandit did not even seem to be a little bit out of breath as he was still screaming all his profanities.

"Your first job to prove yourself, shut your friend up so we can get have a little talk. We have questions. You all will answer them." While Shuai's tone so far may be mistaken as him trying to be amicable, he still meant business and had no time to suffer in the cold just to accommodate some bandits.

[Hector]

Review

Jae-Seong

Points: 6 mundane/4 elementalism
Injuries/Ailments: n/a
Loot: None

Shuai

Points: 4 mundane/6 elementalism
Injuries/Ailments: n/a
Loot: None

Notes: every day is a good day for murder disguised as altruism~