This takes place sometime after The Hangover and Sylus's and Eliana's sexcapades.
Don't ask me about the title because I'm tired and I don't know either!
ic:
The breeze whispered to the night, the hushed allure of its words softly teasing the trees and gently coaxing their leaves to rustle...perhaps jealous of the night and the secrets that the wind confided in it. Standing beneath one of those envious trees there stood two figures shrouded in cloth that was as dark as the night mistress herself silhouetted against the bright white luminescence of the moon's light.
"Are you sure that you want to become involved in this? " The taller figure inquired, " It might be more trouble than it's worth. " The figure's inflection revealed the speaker to be male, and spoke in a voice that was deep and smooth , perhaps sounding as alluring as the whispering winds.
The other figure was much shorter than the man, hardly reaching over five feet tall and was much thinner and less muscularly toned than their companion by comparison, " Trouble is precisely the very reason why I'm sure that I want to do this, " The voice that spoke was undeniably female, almost melodic and silvery like one of the fae folk. The inflection bore an air of sophistication , the diction of an educated lady. The woman held out her hand to the man and looked up at him expectantly, " I trust that you have it, then. Give it to me. It's safer in my hands than anyone else's."
"Yeah. It wasn't very difficult obtaining it but-, "the male reached into his pant pocket and held out a ring in his palm which the woman claimed from him swiftly.
"Excellent work. I didn't expect you to be successful. I'm impressed. But don't let that go to your head, rookie, " The woman was quick to knock his ego back down to ground level, " You want in ? Well, I'm going to make you work for it. So hard til you bleed and cry for your mommy like a frightened little girl. If on the extremely unlikely circumstance that you manage to survive the hell I put you through, then maybe you'll see Jackal himself."
"My name is Jassir-"
"I don't care if your name is Shirley , rookie. To me, you're the rookie. You don't matter. Not yet, anyway. Not until I'm sure that you can be useful to us and that you can be trusted. From this point on, you piss where I tell you to and scratch your balls only when I say so. Your ass is mine, are we clear? "
The man nodded, "As crystal , M'lady. But, M'lady there is something else that you should probably know. "
"What might the be? " the woman slipped the ring into her vest pocket and eyed her newest recruit critically.
"His door wasn't locked. In fact, it was left wide open and , I don't know the little guy's cleaning habits, but the room was in a complete state of chaos. It looked like the place had been ransacked."
The woman released and irritated sigh, " No sign of the lizard?"
The man shrugged, " I haven't seen him since he left the elf's bar. I tried asking around , but the only eyewitnesses were either drunk or , uh, busy. " The man frowned, " You don't think he had something to do with the incident?"
"You mean the attack? " She shook her head , " I don't think so..."
"Seems like an awful coincidence. "
She chuckled, "This is not the first time we've had trouble with the law before , but you're right. The timing of this is a bit suspicious. I suppose this matter would require further looking into. While I study this artifact, I want you to sniff around. Ask questions, find the kobold if you can but be discreet. Do not discuss the reasons with anyone. The last thing we need is a bunch of oafish thugs fighting over a power they don't have the aptitude to respect. I'm hoping our search doesn't have to extend beyond the Towers. Sekeo should still be around. I was hoping he'd be able to identify the bandit he'd won this ring from. Anyway, report back to me with your findings tomorrow evening an hour after the sun sets. We'll meet in this spot. "
"Am I training to be a bandit or a spy?" Jassir grinned.
The woman ignored his humor. "Remember to meet here tomorrow after sunset. Don't be late." She left him standing there, proceeding her way down the road alone. There was no doubt in his mind whether or not she would be safe. Lady Leolin was rather resourceful, after all.
Jassir turned away from the road and looked back over his shoulder at the Deadfall Towers, his new and temporary home. He started up the rocky incline and when he made it to the Towers he paused to speak with one of the bandits standing sentry,the man had no useful information for him so he went inside and moved on.
He moved through the tower, inquiring time and time again about Sekeo's whereabouts but no one seemed to know where he was. Finally, one man, a large robust brute of a fellow who might have been a bugbear jabbed Jassir in the rib cage with his claw roughly but not so much to puncture flesh, "Rookie, " he grunted, "wot yer want? That witch woman sent ya, didn't she? If this is about me ownin' her yer kin tell 'er that she'll be gettin' 'er bloody money when I'm damn good 'n ready t' pay-"
"Actually, " Jassir interjected, "I'm just looking for a kobold. Sekeolath'zhin? You haven't seen him by any chance, have you Havik?" Though he was new, he made it a point of remembering names. At least as many as he could.
Havik scratched his furry chin, "Yer mean th' lil lizard guy? Yeah. I've seen him , " He gave a snort that sounded comparable to that of a boar, " Wot yer want 'im fer, eh? He stealin' from yer too?"
Jassir almost said no, but then he quickly realized that such an excuse would be a good , believable reason to be searching for the tricky little creature, "Yes, actually. How did you know that?"
Havik grinned, " Cos he does it all the time. Personally, I'd kill the scaly little runt m'self were it up to me, but Jackal sees somethin' valuable enough in 'im. Damn good thief, that 'un, but too much trouble. Heh. "
Shrugging Jassir politely stirred the conversation in his direction of interest, "So you were telling me about where I might find him?"
"I'd ask Wulfgar or ye kin try seein' that saucy lil minx. He's always pokin' around in her room, takin' sommat. "
"Saucy little...minx?" Jassir looked at Havik, curiously. There were quite a number of those running around the place! "You'll have to be a little more specific than that. You mean one of the ,uh, whores?"
Havik shook his head, "Naw. Not one of those second-rate trashy bitches. I'm talkin' 'bout Eliana. Heh heh. "
"Eliana? " He inquired, feigning his ignorance perfectly. As far as the bandits were concerned, he'd never met the woman and knew nothing about her. He'd been here at the Towers for a couple days shy of a week now. However, he'd been briefed by his associate and he knew about her. Though he had yet to see her. All he had to go off of was his associate's desciption of her.
Havik smirked at him, "You'll know when ya see her. "
"Really? Hrm. I don't suppose you could tell me where I might find her?" This was a piece of information that his associate had failed to find. "
"I've seen her at Sylus's joint. And uh...well, she might be at her personal quarters. Though I'd try the bar first. Yer likely to find ole Wulfgar there."
Jassir smiled and nodded, "Thanks,"
Havik grinned, "No problem, kid. Say hi to Eliana for me."
Without further ado, Jassir made his way to the bar hoping to find either Wulfgar, Eliana or someone else who might know where the kobold had run off to.
ooc: I am perfectly fine with him not finding who he's looking for!