Quests IC

X

Xindaris

Guest
Original poster
The young noble sat at a table before the girl he'd been courting for the past few months or so. She was a commoner and orphan, but her beauty of appearance and character had taken him, and it was not uncommon in that town for people to marry up into more respectable families. She had said her name was Vern, but he preferred to call her Verna, finding the other name to be too unseemly for a girl as beautiful as her.

"My dear," he said, "We have been together for so long now..I want to know if you want this to last forever."

The girl gave a look of concern. "Well of course I would like this to last. Whatever do you have in mind?"

"Well, what I'm getting at is..would you like to be my wife?"

Verna thought for longer than seemed appropriate to the noble, and finally said, "Well, I--before I answer there's something you should know. But--I just want to be sure. Do you really love me?"

"Yes, of course I do."

"What if I..looked different? Would you still love me then?"

"Well," he said, not quite sure what she was getting at, "I mean to grow old with you, and love you all along the way..I imagine both of us will look very different by the end of that road."

"Well, then I suppose I should just tell you."

Within a half of a day from then Vern had been called a despicable witch numerous times, cast out of the city, and told never to return. As much as she would love to come back under a different name and appearance just to spite them, she never wanted to see that man again. He disgusted her; he was so shallow and self-serving. She didn't know what she'd ever seen in him.

They hadn't all been like that. Most of the people she'd loved in the past, in fact, had been very kind in their rejections. She could even call some of them friends if she needed to. But not that man. She hoped he never found love.

Once well out of the city, Vern had taken a form more suited to travel. A tall, male shape, with as much strength as he could manage and sharp teeth in case worse came to worst. And he had set out on the road, looking once again for that potion, and that special person.

That search now had led Vern to the city of Harvenne. It was a wonder to behold, he thought as he entered: An entire city under the earth. The buildings were carved right out of cave rocks, with magic-powered lamps lining the 'roof' of the city all over the place. He had heard that Harvenne had once, long ago, belonged to vampires--before the rebellion--and sometimes even now an old artifact or two from those days would surface and fetch a good price on whatever market it was taken to.

And it was no small town, but a true city; one could easily get lost in the snaking, winding endless tunnels, devoid of particularly distinct landmarks, yet the people who lived here knew it like the backs of their own hands. There were arrows painted on the walls every now and then pointing to the city's nearest exit, but that was hardly helpful to someone seeking something within the city itself.

Now Vern was in a form a little shorter, though no less strong, than his traveling one. His teeth were mostly back to human size, but for a few he'd left unusually sharp in an effort to make any event of him having to bite someone in self-defense still preserve his apparent normalness. There was no need to let everyone know of his true nature, after all.

He stopped in front of an alchemist's shop, looking at the various potions hanging on the racks. Fire breath, speed, strength, healing..all of them were basic, nothing advanced, nothing useful to Vern. Yet he found himself looking for a little while, just to be sure, watching to see if the owner perhaps kept more advanced potions in the back, or took special orders. He had been told time and again that a potion of the nature he desired would be extremely difficult to create, but he was sure someone would have the skills to make it.

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There was a shop deep in the recesses of Harvenne, whose door was marked with a simple symbol most would find innocuous. Yet a few knew of its meaning, the sort of people who dealt in secrets and obscure or sensitive knowledge. Such people only came to this place as a last resort, for its prices were quite steep, but when their own knowledge was too meager to sate the thirst of their customers for information, this was where they were sent. It didn't happen very often, but today was an unusual day for this irregular shop's owner.

The magic-powered artificial lamps went from a dim glow to a somewhat brighter one to indicate the dawning of a new day in the city. And the door of the shop with the symbol in front opened a crack, then the rest of the way. There stood an old woman, with fully white hair, covered in wrinkles and bent over her cane. She looked around at those present, her eyes practically shining with wisdom and knowledge.

"Hmph. Some people just can't take directions I see." She sighs a weary sigh. "Well, which one of you got here first?"

((OOC here))
 
The abandoned stone puppet stepped forwards, his stony - in more senses than one - eyes locked on the woman that stood before him, and was possibly the key to solving his problem. Having been infused with memories he had no intention of keeping, it was only natural he sought the person who could remove them - the person who created him. Had there been something to lead him to such a person, there would be little in the way of a problem with getting to him. However, as it stood, the earth mage had seemingly absconded without leaving so much as a displaced dust particle, leaving David at a considerable loss. He had bore no intention of falling to despair, however - having little better to do with his time also contributed. David travelled light - he needed no food or water, weapons were superfluous to his combat style, and he changed clothes on only a monthly basis, being unable to produce any odours himself. Lowering his head minutely in a sign of respect, he made his request.
"I have come here to seek the location of a mage, Arthur Smith. I cannot - he simply vanished without a trace, so I discovered one bitter Autumn morning."
 
A random crate with a red piece of cloth with a multitude of rings, necklaces, bracelets and other small trinkets. A tall, scaled figure standing behind it. "I got a large selection and fair prices! Something for that special someone, something to make yourself more powerful or simply something that looks pretty, I have it all!" He was trying to sell as many of them as possible. This city always seemed to have someone willing to buy or sell. That was what made him come back here whenever he was in the area. Had it not been for that he would never have returned here after his first visit. No sunlight and very little heat from other sources tended to make sure he never stayed for too long though.
As he sold some wares, a spider came up with a few rings from his backpack. He stroked the spider lovingly, then arranged the rings around, hoping some of them could catch someones eyes.
 
Talrev always had an interest in cities that were not made by his species. Sure, they were not quite as impressive as the ones Metal Steeds built, but to him, they had their own atmosphere, their own beauty. Of course, the larger a city was, the more likely it was for his kind to have already visited it, and thus, while people in cities still gave him horrified looks, at least they did not chase him away. What's more, in some cities, people were actually brave enoguh to approach his massive, terrifying form, so he was more likely to find his Rider in a city. This was one of the reasons why he came to Harvenne, but the other one was far more important to him: he wanted to study the architecture of the city.

After all, this was a city literally carved into a cave, an entire city made out of nothing but a single piece of rock, and Talrev thought of it like of a small miracle when he considered everything. Tough-looking support pillars carried the wide streets on their shoulders, thick walls kept the houses intact, strange, but practical buildings littered every corner, lamps lit the cave instead of natural light, and a rock-coloured ceiling oppressed the city instead of a clear, blue sky. While many Metal Steed cities were even more impressive than Harvenne, Talrev thought that by studying the architecture here, he could eventually design something similar for his own people, thus immediately earning himself a high place in society upon his return.

However, that was only a dream. As Talrev slowly advanced through the streets, looking at people with his eight eyes, he realised that the people of this city reacted to him with a hostility. He could probably not stay here for long, and he could definitely not risk staying here long enough to learn the secrets of the city's architecture.
 
The young female crossed her arms over her chest, through her squinted eyes she eyed the old woman in front of her, not really knowing if to trust her or not; after all, traders and informants sometimes lead travelers into trouble, if they were inexperienced, something she wasnt. Slightly pursing her lips as the stone puppet talked, Jason looked past the shopkeeper and into her store, eyeing the antiques she had inside with eyes full of interest. The corners of her lips lifted slightly as she spotted something that truly interested her: a jade necklace with a single green stone engaved in its center, the chain seemed to shine faintly and Jason frowned. 'Dammit, the chain is silver' she thought, slightly rising her head and taking a deep breath. Out of reflex she reached for the whip that hung to her side, running her fingers slowly through the leather and then let out a almost imperceptible sigh.
 
There was a bit of a lull in interested people, and when that happened, Groz'Len used to simply take a moment and look at all the people walking by. Some humans, some elves and some he had no idea of what were.
He had made a bit of money today, yet he knew it was only a fragment of what he would need. He started thinking back to his old home. The huge trees, the big spiders and smallest, yet most important, the other Lizardkin. Then he got a bit sad, as at the rate he was making money now, he wouldn't be able to go home for at least another 50 years.
Azy climbed onto her usual spot on his shoulder. She noticed he was sad, and she knew why. She stroked herself against his neck to get some attention, which made him twitch. He the petted her lovingly and seemed seemed a bit happier.
As Groz went back to looking at the people passing, and saw something that resembled a big bug, only it seemed to be made of... Iron, maybe? "Who'd put that much armor on a bug like that?" He mumbled to himself.
 
A white-haired figure, dressed in black attire befitting one of nobility, approached the residence of the lore-keeper he sought. It appeared he was running later than he had thought, as there was already a line, a construct or elemental of some kind, earth-aligned apparently, and a girl. "Ah, look how the mighty Vampires have fallen, their once great city now crawling with living dirt and vermin, don't you agree, Master Toombs?" a cold, steely voice spoke in the man's head. The man's name was Viktor "Vorpal" Toombs, the Herald of the Fellowship of Steel. "Silence, Kladenets. You speak out of turn." Viktor replied in his mind. "Just be a good familiar and remain silent until your master calls for you." And so the man stood at the back of the line, silently waiting his turn, simply staring ahead, focused on his goal.
 
The male sat quietly his brown hair in his face, moving it out the way he looked over at a female who was looking at something in the glass he spotted what it was and kept a mental note in hi head. Charles got up dusting off his pants and adjusted his buttoned down shirt, his pale blue eyes gazed around his unfimiliar area, it was so much diffrent from, his home but it was nice and lively yet nice and calm. He walked around looking at the vendors and then the man who was speaking and seemed to draw his attention he stood watching as the man was rambling on about a deal he could offer what a joke he thought to himself as he glannced over and saw something that caught his attention.
 
The woman looked up at the stone puppet, as he was the only one who spoke. "Hm. Arthur Smith. Sounds familiar. You're all welcome to come in the main room while I check my records." She turned around and walked in, giving a more full view of the room. There were a number of trinkets around the room, seemingly placed for decoration rather than sale, half of them the sort of thing that looks valuable at first glance, but quickly shows its lack of worth to a discerning eye. She made her way around a long table that seemed intended as a makeshift shop counter, to separate the customer from the salesman.

"The only rule here is you can't look in the books." The entire wall behind that table was covered in bookshelves full of tomes, none of them labeled on the spine in any visible manner. Despite this the woman moved with a purpose toward one in particular. "You wouldn't understand them anyway." She pulled it out and placed it on the table near her, flipping to the back and running her finger across the page as if looking for a particular set of words.

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Vern waited and observed the alchemist's shop only a little while longer before determining that this was one determined to stick to the conventional, 'easy' potions. And then he moved on, wandering forward through the street without a particular direction. He paused at an unfamiliar sight.

Now, Vern had been traveling for a few years. He knew his way around, he had seen a number of things that would have positively shocked and astounded anyone from back home, that small humans-only village. He was not particularly fazed by the lizard selling jewelry on the street and petting a spider. But he had never seen a giant sectioned creature made of metal. It gave him a good few seconds of pause.

Then, someone clearly in a hurry shoved him off to one side, and he nearly lost his balance. He managed to catch himself, only to find that the person who had shoved him had also shoved something into his hand. It was a tiny satchel, and closed. He was finishing up looking at the thing with a confused expression and just about to open it up and see what was inside when someone shouted from behind him.

"Halt, vampire scum!"

Vern turned around to see a few men in leather armor brandishing swords and running his way. He did the natural thing and attempted to move to one side, out of their way, and when they moved to intercept them he threw the bag he'd been handed at them, turned and ran the other way. "I'm not a vampire, I just have a dental problem!" he yelled back. "And I don't know why that guy handed--oof!"

It turns out that yelling backwards while running headlong forwards is a bad idea. You tend to run into crates that lizard shopkeepers are using as sales tables that way. Vern tumbled a good three or four yards before hitting a wall. He picked himself up as quickly as he could, hearing them yelling something at the lizard about accomplices and impeding justice. Then he dusted himself off and started running down a random alleyway, changing his eyes slightly to make seeing in the dark city a little easier. And then wondering why he hadn't done that sooner.
 
As he was standing there, minding his "shop", Groz heard someone shouting something about vampires, but before he could really understand what was going on, some guy came crashing over his table and almost sending all his stuff flying. Before he could fully comprehend what just happened, the guards were shouting about accomplices, or some such thing. Rather than staying and trying to explain, he took his backpack and swung it over his shoulder, grabbed the cloth with the rest of the jewelry, threw it over his other shoulder, then he halfway ran, halfway stumbled down an alley behind him. He knew better than to try talking with the guards. He had made that mistake before. So now he was running from the guards of yet another city. "And this one that was so profitable..." He mumbled to himself, as he ran.

Azy was almost thrown of Groz, as he suddenly jerked backwards. She had almost fallen asleep before this, but quickly woke up, due to the shouting and sudden movements. She understood what was going on. And she knew what was going to happen. She quickly crawled down to the front of His chest, to not get squished, where she clung to for dear life.
 
Jason walked into the shop after the woman, clearly excited about looking at valuable artifacts before asking for her own request. She slid her hands into the pockets of her short-sleeved brown jacket and swept her gaze at everything around her. Her interest was caught from simple porcelain lamps over to the great horns of a centaur, or that was what she presumed the horns in a glass case were. Flipping her hair back, she leaned over a collection of coins from everywhere, not paying too much attention to what was happening around. 'This would earn a look back at the museum' she thought with a chuckle, tracing her hand over the case before recoiling when touching the edge. Her skin hissed as it healed itself from touching the not-so-carefully made edge of the case. Shaking her hand she sighed. 'You won this round again silver'.
 
A small, dark-clothed girl wandered through the streets of the market, swerving away from the busybodies clustered around her. If the ordinary person were to watch the girl progress through the market, they would see movement akin to a dancer. She dipped and twirled through the crowds so that she never brushed up against any one or thing. And then, after taking a moment to recognize this, the watcher would turn and go back to his business. Perhaps she was interesting for a moment, but not interesting enough to demand more than a few seconds of attention.

However graceful her gait may have seemed, Harriet was hungry. And not just a passing kind of hunger; she could have fallen over where she was standing. She needed food, and the market, with its confusing people and smells, was the perfect place for a weak thief to steal something to eat. Harry looked left. She looked right. At every turn there was an opportunity to snatch something and run, but she was plagued by doubts. Did that elf have a weapon behind those apples? Maybe that fairy had a much larger cousin lurking around the corner. And so Harry stumbled on, barely avoiding the walls of people that surrounded her.

When she finally found a vendor old enough that he didn't seem like a threat, Harry was on the verge of collapse. She reached in, grabbed whatever she could, and ran, head pounding, heart sinking. The old man called after her, but for a moment, it seemed as if no one were following. Harry kept running. She ran past a strange military vehicle shaped like some alien bug, ran past a lizard man selling jewelry. At last, when she could not run any further, Harry stopped and ducked into an alley to eat.

She had stolen a lump of hard bread, a strange fruit, and a piece of what looked like pastry. The gloves came off slowly, painfully, a reminder of her curse, and were placed on the ground at her side. She wolfed down the pastry first, finding it delicious; the rest of the food was inhaled shortly after. Harriet felt the cruel pangs of hunger subside, although now her mouth was dry- she would find water later. For now, she sat like a broken doll against the wall, enjoying the feel of food in her stomach while she watched the crowd stroll past.

After a few minutes, Harry was startled from her half-awake state by a nearing commotion. She stood cautiously, slipping on her gloves, creeping carefully towards the edge of the alley ... They were after her. That old man must've called someone -the police, maybe- and now they were coming for her. Harry's lips curled back in a fearful snarl, and coupled with her tangled blond hair and dull amber eyes, she looked more beast than human.

A dark figure suddenly streaked into the alley, followed by the lizard-man from earlier, who was hefting a bag on his shoulder that Harriet assumed were his wares. Shocked, she just stood up, spine ramrod straight, as they disappeared down the alley. Wonder what that was about ...She decided to follow. More slowly, of course.
 
Talrev was intently studying the architecture of the city, working out how the different structures supported the ceiling, and how the pillars worked. Working out the forces keeping the cave together proved to be a nightmare even for the Metal Steed's analytical mind, not to mention that when he tried to rebuild it according to the scale his species was accustomed to, he came to the conclusion that his designs would collapse immediately. He could not think of a support system that would be able to keep everything together at the scale he wanted to work on, so for the moment, he gave up and simply continued roaming around the city, seemingly unaware of the stares people gave him.

He stopped at a larger square, which had several salespeople on it, including a lizardman, but before he could get a proper look at the wares, a suspicious-looking person bumped into a strange man, and the guards started chasing after them, attracting the attention of Talrev. The strange man then knocked over the lizardman's stand, and rushed past Talrev, into an alleyway that was probably too small for the Metal Steed to fit into, followed by a small girl, who seemed to be fleeing. The guards chased after them relentlessly, however, Talrev happened to be in their way.

"That thing is also with them. Kill it or subdue it!" shouted one of the guards, to which all of Talrev's eyes focused on him, giving him a pause.
"That must be a misunderstanding, sir," said Talrev on a wavelength that he knew would be relatively pleasing for human ears. "I can move out of your way," continued the Metal Steed, and already started withdrawing from the path of the suprised guards.
"You're still obstructing the road by being here," said one of the guards as the others rushed Talrev. "You're going to have to move from here."
"I understand, that is what I am doing, sir," said Talrev, his voice still patient and pleasant as he finally moved out of the way, into the middle of the square.
"You don't understand. You have to leave town, now."
"I see," said Talrev, his voice losing its pleasant edge as he changed wavelengths deliberately. He then turned towards the town's exit, and started walking at a comfortable pace. He thought that he would be able to stay for a day or two in Harvenne, but it seems that his luck had ran out.

As he approached the outskirts of the city, the roads got more and more narrow, forcing him to carefully consider each street before moving on, meaning he spent a longer time in intersections than he should have.
"There they are! That thing is keeping us from them again!" The voice came from one of the narrow alleys, one that Talrev had no chance of fitting into. Unfortunately for him, the narrow roads also meant that he had blocked almost the entire road, meaning that people were barely able pass him, and the guards interpreted this as a deliberate action.
"No offense, but whatever you are, you are coming with us," said the guard, and Talrev noted that he was being surrounded on all sides. There was no way for him to turn around on this road, and going backwards would be inadvisable, so he attempted to reason with the guards once again.

"I am sorry, sir, but I do not know what you are talking about," said Talrev, still keeping his voice pleasant and polite. "I am just trying to leave this city as you ordered me to."
"Nonsense. You are an accompliance to those thieves," said the guard as his fellow team-mates closed the distance. "I knew I should not have let you go the first time."
"I am sorry, sir, but you are making a mistake. It is not my fault that you have built these roads too narrow for my kin."
"Yeah, like I will buy that," said the guard, making his intentions clear. Immediately, Talrev cleared his mind of idle thoughts, and begun focusing on this enemies. Luckily, the guards have not yet closed the street in front of the Metal Steed, so he prepared himself to charge ahead.
"Sir, I know that you are furious because the thieves got away," said Talrev, his voice becoming more tense. "But you can not blame their actions on me."
"How do you know they got away?" asked the guard, flashing a smile, and at that moment, Talrev realised that his efforts were futile, so he exploded forwards, knocking off several men from their feet.

He took a turn to the left at the nearest crossroads that were large enough for him, hoping to do a full circle and get back on the more traversable roads, but as he took the turn, he noticed a small girl stepping right into his way from one of the narrow alleys. Immediately, Talrev slammed all of his limbs into the ground, but he still barely managed to stop himself before the small girl, who looked quite frightened. She looked very skinny, too skinny to be healthy, and her amber eyes seemed incredibly dull, the proof of a long time of living in fear and hunger. Her shoulder-length, blonde hair was also stained with dirt, and the clothing that covered all her of her body has also seen better days.

Eight, large, red eyes locked onto the fragile, small girl's body, desperately looking for any injuries, and when they saw none, Talrev let out a pleased growl barely in the range of human hearing.
"There is that thing! And the thief is with it!" shouted a voice from the distance.
 
Despite the alley being empty and dark, Harry still went cautiously- or at least, she started to. After a few paces, however, she began to hear sharp voices behind her. At first she tried to reason with herself. The guards might not be after her specifically- lately they seemed very temperamental, going after all sorts of creatures for the silliest of reasons. Or the commotion might not be guards at all. No, she thought after a moment, trying to regulate her uneven breathing. No, someone was calling to their wife. Perhaps there was a lively game of tag going on among the other street rats. Or a parade. Or, um. Something.

But there was a different noise above the others that worried Harriet the most. Was that metal she heard clanking? Sure sounded like a lot of-

SKREEEEEE

Something exploded into the alley, something enormous and silver and terrible, something going fast, fast, slow, stopped. Harriet threw her arms over her face and tried to run back into the alley, two actions that were apparently not very compatible; she fell to the ground and gazed up through her hands, shaking but silent save the harsh sound of her own breathing. Of all things, the military vehicle from earlier -the one shaped like a centipede- was there, looming over her like a metal sun. For the first time, she noticed eight red disks glittering on the vehicle's nose, almost like ... Almost like eyes? For a brief moment, Harry contemplated the purpose of eight small red peepholes, thinking the color a bit strange, but she did not pause for very long.

Guards flooded into the alley, shocking the young woman to her feet. They began to shout, but the words were unintelligible- something about a thief. That's me, Harry thought in wonderment. But why so many guards -and with that armor- for one girl? surely they ... They didn't know about her talent, did they?

Still quaking, Harry turned and ran, praying that the metal caterpillar couldn't move quickly- but of course she knew that it could. She'd seen it charge into the alley, and with those speeds, she was sure it would overtake her quickly. Regardless, the young thief ran. She ran and stumbled and righted herself and ran some more, even as the food she'd eaten grew heavier and more regrettable by the second. Harriet didn't want to have to use her curse today, but her legs were turning into lead and she could hear the guards nearing. It might be necessary. She spied the end of the alley before her and concentrated on making it into the street, where escape would be easy and confrontation could be avoided.
 
"Hmm..." After a bit of flipping around the book and checking back to the page in the back, presumably meaning it's some sort of index, the woman looks up again, mostly at the puppet.
"It would appear that he is still alive. He left on his own power but not of his own will. His crime was prepared to catch up with him, and he was unprepared for that. He is held prisoner, but for a different crime. Does anyone know a city, encircled in moats, embroiled in war? The..source of information is accurate but not straightforward, you understand."

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Vern kept running for a while. He altered his appearance in a few simple ways: changing his eye and hair color, modifying his complexion and build slightly--the latter to something a little more athletic--all to the end of looking like a different person when he doubled back around to check on the area he'd just fled from. His clothes were fitting a bit more loosely, but nothing he couldn't handle, especially given the lack of plants to catch them on in this cave of a city.

The guards were gone from there, having chased him, or possibly distracted by something else. Maybe he had just managed to run fast enough? And Vern noticed that the pouch he had thrown at them was still sitting there on the ground, unattended. Were they hunting the other man for being a vampire, or for stealing this? If it was the latter, they did a terrible job at collecting evidence. Vern quietly moved closer and picked it up, stowing it away to inspect later. And he heard another commotion, the screech of something stopping and more shouting, echoing through a nearby passage.

There were a few seconds of indecision before his curiosity got the better of him. And he was off again, to see what had happened. There were a few twists and turns; fortunately the shouting was still going on, so he could hear his way closer to the action, and then he came upon the backs of the town guard who had been chasing him moments before. They weren't in a good mood, for whatever reason, so he didn't mean to compromise his new appearance by running into them. He turned and ran down another way, not the way he'd come, and saw a wall coming up, an intersection. He chose to go to the right before he got there, and made that turn without so much as a glance,

Smack

which turned out to be mistake, because he ran straight into someone running the other way, and staggered back a couple of steps before falling over. He sat up and immediately saw a girl whose attire suggested she was uninterested in showing the least bit of skin. Or possibly, had particular interest in showing none of it.

Vern flipped onto his feet and stepped forward, attempting to offer her a hand up. "Excuse me. Were you running from something too?" All this despite the fact that he was still aching at every point of contact from the collision and subsequent fall.

((I moved ahead with the shop scene because I realized there wasn't much to do based off my second post. In the interest of cooperative setting-building, I want someone else to write some details of the city, in an in-character fashion. Here's your chance, whoever speaks first!

roboblu, let me know via PM if this is unacceptable and I can edit it. I realized I'm marginally tugging your character around, possibly assuming too much, now that I reread this post.))
 
Groz'Len almost ran down some skinny looking girl as he ran down the first alley, but he ignored her and kept on running headlong down the alleys. It was not the first time he had had a run in with, or run away from, the guards. Though he was faster than most humans, so as he got a fair distance away from where it started, he stopped and shoved the cloth with a lot of his wares into his pack, swung it back onto him, then kept on running. Then he stopped again, as he realized he was lost. He looked around, chose a direction, and started running that way. He heard... something large making a screeching stop and a lot of shouting. At that point he knew he was running the wrong way, and took a hard turn, hoping he wouldn't run into the large thing, nor the guards.
 
Jason's ears seemed to prick up as the woman spoke to the stone puppet who had requested to find a certain mage. A city encircled in moats and embroiled in war? She turned and as she made her way to the home-made counter, her movements resembling that of a cat, she said: "You're talking about Gmork. The city of Gmork. No other place has gone through as many wars as that city, and they still are having wars mind you. It's also in the center of the biggest moat anyone has ever seen." She smiled at the stone puppet and waved her fingers in a way of saying 'My turn, darling'. Jason pressed her hands on the counter and leaned forward, licking her lips. "Now, if I have the right and permission, I would like to ask you something ma'am." She reached into her satchel and took out a piece of blue parchment and a quill that had a golden tip. Her hand made swfit movements here and there, curves and sharp turns and straight lines appearing in black ink. When she finished sketching she held up the piece of parchment and locked eyes with the woman. "Do you know of someone who might have this object? Or of a place where I can find it?"

The drawing she had done was, to the bare eye, a simple-looking razor. The intricate looking design she had scribbled on the handle was full of dragon-looking creatures and vines twirling around them. The blade looked longer than any other one you could find somewhere else, its center being occupied by the word "Stavros". Jason looked intently at the woman, her face not even twitching a bit.
 
Talrev was about to ask the girl to move out of his way, but she had already started running, his unusual and bluntly put, terrifying appearance already doing its work. Seeing that he no longer endangered the young girl, the Metal Steed coiled his body again, and exploded forwards to escape from the guards, but seeing as he was such a large individual, he had little hope to evade whatever punishment was set for him. And if he had learned anything about human civilization, it was that their punishments were usually incredibly effective at discouraging most of the criminals, especially in smaller communities. Therefore, there was only one course of action left for him, and that was to turn against the guards.

Metal Steeds did not like violence in general, and Talrev also preferred words over actions, but he learned from his interactions with the human species, that for them, the opposite is true. They usually act first and only think later, trusting their instincts and their convinction, so all he had to do was to weaken their wills, and he had just the perfect tool to do that. When he came to an intersection that was large enough, he quickly slammed his legs into the ground and turned towards the advancing guards with surprising speed, who screeched to a halt. Then, the Metal Steed let loose a roar that would have put a dragon to shame, all the while raising himself to the level of one of the nearby structures to show off his huge body. Needless to say, the guards were quick to flee the scene, along with much of the civilians.

Letting out a barely audible, pleased growl, Talrev slowly lowered himself back to the ground, and resumed his search for the city's exit. The guards would certainly not bother him for a while after seeing that stunt.
 
((Not a problem in the slightest. :} ))

Nearly there ... The street was positively glowing, sending warm light into the mouth of the alley, which, by contrast, was almost completely dark. Harriet strained towards that faint light. Vaguely she wondered- how did I get here? What am I doing? Not, of course, regarding the alley and her current flight- more general than that. No, Harriet wondered about her life; how did she end up here, in this strange underground city, with no home, no friends, and no family? How did she end up a thief? As air pumped out of the teens lungs, she glanced at the long gloves hiding her deadly hands. That's how, she thought sadly. That's how. Just as she ambled through the dark alleys now, Harriet had lived in the darkness surrounding her curse for her whole life.

But the street- the street neared, and with it, crowds of people who were ready to swallow her up. She'd be rendered invisible, if only she could make it to the road ...

SMACK


The darkness exploded as Harriet was knocked to the ground for the second time today- not a habit she meant to keep up. Tiny white blotches speckled her vision for a moment, but they swiftly disappeared when she tried to focus on who -or what- had displaced her thusly. She made out a tall figure, although the smaller details were fuzzy and dark, seeing as its back was facing the light. A hand reached down like an invitation. "Excuse me," a voice began, and judging by the depth, she guessed it was male, "Were you running from something too?" Reminded of her plight, the girl whipped around, still sitting, but could not find any guards. They must have been distracted by something ... Something big.

Harriet turned back, feeling silly. "I, um ... Well, yes," she stammered, standing but not daring to take his hand. She compensated with a small apologetic smile, though it lacked emotion. "But it seems they've moved on." Just how long had she been running from nothing?

Trying to be discrete about it, Harry took a peek around the figure, trying to decide what he was running from and if it were safe for her to advance. If he was fleeing from something more dangerous than guards, she was through. Harriet was not able to keep running, especially after that nasty fall; every fiber of her body sagged in exhaustion, and now, mild pain. Her dull golden eyes squinted at his face. Perhaps, if he was being pursued by the guards, he was a criminal- but, herself now a criminal, Harriet decided to give this dark man a chance. "Harriet," she said simply, but did not offer a hand.
 
Groz stopped and looked around. He knew he had to get out of the town, yet he didn't remember where any of the exits were. He cursed to himself under his breath, then felt a chill go down his spine. Feeling cold was never a good sign. He knew he shouldn't have stayed out for so long, when there was no sun out. The light in the roof of the cavern simply didn't give of much heat. "And heat is important for you, you damn hatchling." He muttered to himself, as he leaned against a wall. "Okay, no more running unless I have to. Find somewhere warm, or a way out of this damn cavern." He looked around. The back alleys were deserted, so there were nobody he could ask for directions.

Then he remembered he wasn't alone. He looked down at the spider who clung to his chest. "Okay, Azy, scurry off and try to find someone who might know how to get out of here, AND that won't run off telling the guards. None of us want to end up in jail, now do we?" The spider let out a low screech, as to say that she understood, then climbed down his leg, onto the ground and scurried away quickly.
As he saw her run around a corner, he pushed himself of the wall, then started slowly walking. He didn't really know where he was headed, yet he knew he couldn't stay.
 
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