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Fighting words
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2022 10:09 pm
by Vinsue
Ash 8th
Last night was probably one of the most uncomfortable nights the two had ever had. As Vinsue had been the only one to actually bring anything. So they shared one sleeping role which was normal for those from Enoch. The problem is that it was cold and neither had brought a jacket or coat of any kind. Another problem was that Bonzi had never slept in a tent before and so he was complaining all night. To say they were in a mood would be an understatement.
The two stopped walking at a fork in the path. Vinsue dropped the pack on the ground and sat down the second she realised she could not read the signs. One big disadvantage of going to a foreign land.
"Now what?" Bonzi said, the half orkhen than sat down.
"Unless you can read the signs or have a better plan we should choose a road. But knowing you, your going to disagree with whatever path I choose." Vinsue snapped.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He said.
"It means that you always choose the opposite of me. Like you don't trust my opinion" Vinsue said.
"Perhaps if you didn't do stupid stuff like teleport to the middle of nowhere without proper equipment than I might be able to trust you." He said.
By now both were standing.
"If you didn't like what I do then you should not have come. Remember I did not invite you." Vinsue snapped
"You're right you didn't but you also lied to me. You said you were going home."
Both vocals had risen to full on yelling.
"So what if I didn't go home. I can't advance in my training anymore there."
"Your still on this? We both know you will never be strong enough to defeat that snake. Your goal will get you killed just like it did your mom." Bonzi yelled. It was a low blow. Vinsue was very touchy when it came to her mom.
Re: Fighting words
Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2022 6:18 pm
by Moon Jae-Seong
TIMESTAMP: -
NOTES: -
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Moon Jae-Seong had not been long returned to his home in Kalzasi. Really, it’d only been about a week. An odd one, given all that he’d learned had happened in his absence. The gravity thereof was weighing on him and the guilt for the length of his wandering this time tasted so very, very bitter. Not quite interested in staying within the grounds of the Palace of the Fourth Wind today, the man decided to wander once…just, this time, he would stay within the city itself.
Along his path, however, he spotted two Orkhan. Such a thing was not actually that strange of a sight given the fact that some Orkhan were actually native to the lands around Kalzasi– pity, that, that the primary settlement in the area was blood-bound to be ruled by Avialæ. As much as he loved his home and his family, he always found the blood restrictions on rulers to be a bit…much.
Jae-Seong stood about ten feet away listening to the two of them bicker; he’d stopped moving as others had begun to stare, and, from what he could tell, their argument was only being more aggressive as opposed to toning down whatsoever. As voices grew louder, the Zoan-guised Rathari approached the two of them.
With a gentle voice, “Ought we argue in public like this? I know not what troubles you– but I advise against violence, here.”
And after these words were uttered, the swordsman materialized his pact weapons, two swords, one in each hand. He looked to either Ork with a soft smile, though it was clear that if either made another aggressive step, he wouldn’t hesitate to cut them to ribbons.
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'Thoughts'
"SynskritTongue/Speech"
"Common Tongue/Speech"
"Inandoth Tongue/Speech"
Re: Fighting words
Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2022 9:03 pm
by Vinsue
Both Vinsue and Bonzi looked down at the horned rathari. Both doing so without words. Vinsue then whispered at Bonzi in Ecitharese. "I will avenge mom once I'm strong enough. Whether or not you like it" Bonzi simply shook his head as he began speaking Ecitharese "Fine, you have fun I'm going to find somewhere to eat." As he turned he switched back to common. "Don't do anything stupid like get yourself arrested. Cause I'm not saving you" He then chose a direction and started walking. Vinsue rolled her eyes. What could she possibly do that would be considered stupid? Not like she would actually fight a local. Though one was seemingly a threat.
Then she looked back at the Rathari and noticed the weapons. Perhaps Bonzi had a good reason to leave. She wanted to rise to the challenge but knew very well that was an unwise thing to do so instead she knelt down and grabbed her bag and put it on before grabbing her spear. She looked back up at the signs and then looked at each of her options. Her stomach growled. Making her first choice clear. Food.
She switched back to common. "You must be local law enforcement." She asked as she realized a local may help her figure out where she was and perhaps help her find the market area so she could buy a coat to save her in the colder weather. "Any chance you know of a good place to eat?"
True she was ignoring the fact that weapons were summoned against them. But it wasn't the easiest thing to do. Truthfully she wanted to rise to the challenge. But she did not want to be in trouble in a new town. "Or at least where we are?"
She felt it was obvious that she and Bonzi were not from around this area. Even though Bonzi messed with her notes she couldn't help but feel that this mess was mostly her fault.
Re: Fighting words
Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2022 3:54 am
by Moon Jae-Seong
TIMESTAMP: -
NOTES: -
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Jae-Seong recognized the sound of Ecitharese, but he did not understand a lick of it. His expression remained an uncanny sort of serene as the two continued to address one another, hands and posture remaining entirely passive as they sorted out their spat with relative peace, tone of voice not withstanding. The male out of the pair left. The intrepid fisherman figured that this was ideal given that the leaving Orkhan would then have time to reign in his emotions although Jae-Seong was not quite sure how the two foreigners would again reunite. That, however, was so far from being his problem he paid the concept little mind.
His expression did not shift when the woman regarded him. “In truth, I am not. My profession is that of a hired blade, but I do have ties to those that endeavor to keep peace here.” His tone was placid.
Ever an interesting way to describe who he truly was, those words were. Moon Jae-Seong had no real authority in terms of policing the citizenry, but what he did have was formidable martial prowess and royal blood. So while he could certainly not arrest anybody in any sort of ‘official’ capacity, what he could do was arguably far worse and he would be able to speak smoothly and convincingly to sweep any cruelty or the like away from the conversation. This was largely due to the fact that he was so very respected here; many simply trusted his word on the surface without bothering at all to dig any deeper. Such a thing was remarkably easy to abuse, in truth, but the swordsman usually stayed away from doing so. Normally, he did not feel the need nor was he oft drawn by temptation.
The only siren song he had trouble resisting was bloodscent, hence taking action here. If one were particularly observant, more so than the average person, one would notice the fingers wrapped ‘round the hilt of his blade twitch in a sort of anticipatory manner, though his face and voice remained completely calm and austere. The man, serene on the surface, had a deep well within that constantly craved fulfillment– and the sustenance such a thing desired was none other than blood, violence. However, he was an incredibly disciplined figure and would certainly not act out of turn in a scenario like this. While he could excuse it away on a personal level, he did not want to give the perception that members of house Novalys were particularly violent. That was a sin he knew was rather unique to him.
Regarding the woman’s actual question, “...I do know my way around the city, though, yes. You will not have to look far if you’re not picky.” With that, the swords glinted, engulfed in æther, then fragmented into increasingly smaller pieces, floating off like coruscant, crystalline dust into the wind as he unmanifested them. “That being said, are you looking for something that might be more familiar to you or would you be willing to sample something more distinctly Kalzasern?”
Moon Jae-Seong was not a tour guide, however, he was a bit on the bored end, stuck in the city as he was. Usually, he occupied his time by wandering the vicinity thereof…but of late, he did not feel it quite appropriate to leave.
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'Thoughts'
"SynskritTongue/Speech"
"Common Tongue/Speech"
"Inandoth Tongue/Speech"
Re: Fighting words
Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2022 12:46 pm
by Vinsue
Vinsue read every move he would make and every word he spoke. She was already in a bad mood and his anticipation for possible trouble was not helping. The way he answered her question was also not helping. She could see he was dancing around the actual answer. She could see the battle his fingers were hoping for as much as she was willing to give it to him. Only thing holding her back was the fact she didn't know the laws and Bonzi was already mad enough at her. So she pretended to stay calm until he put his weapons away so she could actually be calm.
"Back home I was a hired blade. Though my prey almost always had 4 legs," She said. She was a beast hunter. Usually hunting wolf's or large cats but she did fight an invisible dragon once. Perhaps having a local ally would be helpful but she wasn't going to blindly trust anyone either.
"I'm willing to try something local." She would say. Honestly she wasn't picky. Though she most preferred meat she would eat just about anything when hungry enough and she was definitely hungry. The dragon born would follow wherever he would decide to take her.
She would wait to talk until the original crowd was out of ear shot. "You confuse me some." She would say. "You come to stop an argument from becoming violent yet you itch for the fight. You hoped we would attack," she said, not to accuse him but to see if she was correct. If so she may have found a potential sparing partner. The way they had held the blades he and summoned, and the job he said he had would suggest he was skilled. Perhaps she would ask for a sparing Match later.
Re: Fighting words
Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2022 11:36 pm
by Moon Jae-Seong
TIMESTAMP: -
NOTES: -
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And so it would appear that the Orkhan woman he’d come across was another hired blade. Such a thing was not altogether a surprise, really, given the fact the profession was not a rare one. Dangerous as it was, many took up a weapon and rode the uneasy waves of mercenary work out of desperation. Others, however, did so because their skills suited it, they were good at it. Moon Jae-Seong chose to walk this path for reasons all his own, some of them strange, some of them regarding his skill, some regarding his natural sort of curiosity and compulsion to never stay in one place for too long.
“A hunter of beasts, huh? I’ve done my fair share of that, but I don’t isolate myself. If it bleeds, I can kill it, so I’ve found. I’ve also found that the most wicked of beasts walk the land bipedal as opposed to quadrupedal…though some beasts have many more than four legs.” Though he was not specific, it was implicit he meant that oftentimes, the creatures most worthy of striking down were mortal men.
When she expressed a willingness in trying the local fare, the swordsman offered her a short bow before turning around and heading into the city proper. “This way, then.” He spoke politely, voice placid. As they would walk, along the streets hung all paper lanterns of myriad color and design. Given she was from Ecith, the architecture and plant life would be altogether foreign, too.
On a path with fewer ears, his new companion spoke again. The question elicited but only a turn of his head to regard her, indicating he’d heard her words. She was not wrong.
“Mm, you could tell, huh?” His voice was the same as before, expression calm. “I’ve been stuck in the city, of late. Haven’t really had the opportunity to fight much and I…miss it, if for no other reason than the thrill of it. I do so love a good blade dance.” Though it was subtle, his voice did hold the faintest threads of excitement at the thought.
They continued to walk, cutting through alleyways and other odd paths for the sake of saving time. He really did remember his way around despite how long he'd been gone.
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'Thoughts'
"SynskritTongue/Speech"
"Common Tongue/Speech"
"Inandoth Tongue/Speech"
Re: Fighting words
Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2022 9:22 pm
by Vinsue
"Yea" She said. People can easily be more of a monster than a beast could. But there was an entirely different set of rules to that kind of hunting. "My luck if I went after one they would end up being innocent or would have diplomatic immediately. Besides with beasts you get paid three times. Once for killing a nuisance, once for the hide and bones and once for the meat if you don't eat it." True the pay doesn't add up like a true bounty would but it covered her needs.
Before she followed she looked back towards where bonzi left. She then shook her head and followed. There was no telling where her cousin would end up going. Her best guess would be food, a herb place or a library but it didn't matter when he was ready to find her he would. She followed her new guide. She kept looking around, mostly trying to keep an idea of how to get back to the sign when she needed to.
She nodded to his response. "I can relate. Been stuck in the cities for a while now." Actually her problem was that she was stuck with Bonzi for too long. He was so protective and anti violence and clashed with her free, violent spirit. She had spent an entire week in a library trying to find a safe way out of the city just to find out that her attempt was so bad a bust that Bonzi hired a mage to teleport them to this location. "If it wasn't for my half brother I would have given you that blade dance. Even if it could only end badly for me." She smiled. Showing off some of her sharp teeth. Her ears straightened in anticipation as soon as she could smell the food. One could almost fill her mood shift as her current problem was about to be satisfied.
Re: Fighting words
Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2022 3:06 am
by Moon Jae-Seong
TIMESTAMP: -
NOTES: -
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There was, indeed, a point to be made that when it came to hunting beasts, one could potentially collect a higher payout simply by virtue of the fact that finding a buyer for the body parts was usually never an issue. Now, if one knew where to look, one could find a buyer for the body parts of men, but…not everyone had those connections, to be entirely fair. Such merchants were also found really quite out of the way the vast majority of the time as well. The few he knew of were in remote areas out in the forests. There was also a woman nestled into the depths of the midden that would often buy bones, but not everyone was prepared to journey down there.
The thing about payment was that Moon Jae-Seong was not actually motivated by money. While for most mercenaries that certainly played a major role in their decision making, it was of little consequence for him. Given his nature as Rathari, the cost of food when he was out was null given the fact that he would fish for it himself and didn't even have to cook it if he did not feel like it. For anything else? It was typical for him to pick at the coffers of his family. Of course, he wasn't about to just admit to that to some stranger or…anyone that didn't already know, frankly.
"You have a point there. The furriers and tanners especially will pay handsomely for hide. The skin of a person?" He laughed, "...not so much. Some Rathari hides might sell well if they're in their Lycan or beast forms, but…" he shook his head, "...good luck selling anyone else." Why exactly this was funny to him it would be difficult to tell, but after speaking his face went back to an empty sort of calm.
The path they walked was a bit winding if only because of the shortcuts he took. Kalzasi was a fairly organized city, in truth, and roads themselves were easier to follow if one took them properly. However, while less clear to a newcomer, this path was certainly faster and more direct. It was not long before one could smell various types of food being prepared by street vendors as the two continued near one of the busier market streets.
The swordsman's ears perked at the next thing she said. He smiled, though it was slight. "Ah, a bold one, are you? Some say fortune favors those like you. That being the case, we can still spar if you would like. My strikes just won't aim true. I am not of the mind to kill a wayward tourist for no reason." Over the past few days, he had been so very tempted to stray a bit out of the city or into the Midden for something more fun, peaceful as it often was above ground.
At this point, they'd entered the market districts proper and on both sides of the street they now stood, there were ample options for food. Fried things, noodles, dumplings, kebabs, meats, and so on. The street was rather busy, but that was to be expected given the time of day.
"See anything that strikes your fancy?" He asked her this mostly because he would be happy with nearly anything along this particular road.
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'Thoughts'
"SynskritTongue/Speech"
"Common Tongue/Speech"
"Inandoth Tongue/Speech"
Re: Fighting words
Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2022 5:22 pm
by Vinsue
"True, Selling people works better when they are alive and not a problem person. who, unfortunately, is not the kind of person who has a bounty." For a moment Vinsue thought about what bonzi had said about people hunting orks. Now would be a good time to use that info but she decided it best not to say anything about that idea at all. Besides what would you use a ork hide for. Okay not a good mind set before food. Another thought was the debate on whether or not a Rathari still counted as a person if in their beast form. Or did they count as a beast?
"I'll take you up on that. After food," she said. A sparring match would do her good. It may even help her sanity and her mood. But with the mention of aiming true it reminded her of the spear she was carrying. She should have taken the tip off earlier but had not thought of it until now. She reached for the tip of the spear and began unscrewing it. She put the pear head in her pack. She now had a non deadly weapon in case she needed it though she still had her sword if life blood needed to be spilled but she doubted that would be a need today.
Food was always a welcome distraction. Though the smells were different than she knew they smelled good. Mom always said to trust your nose. "Any particular recommendations?" She would say before heading to one of the stands with noodles and kabobs. She would proceed to order a thing of noodles and 2 kabobs. One of which she had wrapped for bonzi later.
Re: Fighting words
Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2022 2:13 pm
by Moon Jae-Seong
TIMESTAMP: -
NOTES: -
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The swordsman actually had an additional comment about Rathari he had wanted to say, but in doing so, he would give away the specific fact that his animal shape was that of a crow. He had made a pointed choice to keep the identities of his Zoan form and his Lycan form separate; he did not want them to be known as the same individual so as to allow him to live with more freedom when he existed in his Lycan form.
While Jae-Seong was not a man to turn up his nose to bloodshed and some other choice types of cruelty, he would never be a fan of the buying and selling of people. Keeping slaves, he thought, was often a far crueler system than ending a person's life. That being the case, in terms of raw monetization, people were almost always more useful alive than dead.
"I've never been so desperate or tempted by greed to dabble in the trade of people, personally. I…don't think I could justify the subjugation of others, actually. Death is one thing…to make others bend to your will is another entirely." And though he was still markedly calm, threads of palpable disgust were woven into his words that time.
When his new companion agreed to spar, he smiled at that. Though when she removed the point to her blade, it occurred to him that he did not carry anything blunt. "I'll take you back to the grounds at my home for that…I don't have anything non-lethal on me; the space I've got for pact weapons is rather limited, unfortunately." Eventually, as he grew in skill with his Reaving rune, he'd be able to store more– but for now, he only had his two primary blades.
And while she did ask for recommendations, it would appear that the Orkhan woman did not really need them to make a decision. He followed after her, "...personally, I prefer noodle dishes or pork bao, but I don't think there's anything along this particular road you could go wrong with." His commentary was reinforced by the fact that for himself, he chose a spiced beef yakisoba. It took him a minute to make the decision between that and udon, but he'd been having a lot of the latter recently.
And while there was space to eat at any given shop, Jae-Seong preferred to use the tables sat beneath a few pavilions at the end of the road. "This way," he said, gesturing for his companion to follow him.
Once they had sat down, "what drew your and your, ah...friend?" He spoke tentatively, not entirely sure about what tie bound the two Orks together. "...here to Kalzasi, specifically?"
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'Thoughts'
"SynskritTongue/Speech"
"Common Tongue/Speech"
"Inandoth Tongue/Speech"