Neppie slowly led her old donkey through the streets, her cart was brightly colored, the smell of food followed from behind, making everyone turn. She had her head down, heading to the main street to set up. Neppie turned and went down an alley, the main market place was seen at the end. A man stepped out of the shadows, blocking her path.
"May I help you?" Neppie asked in Yoreiq. The man laughed and pointed at Neppie, looking behind him.
"She's an outsider." He said looking back at her, three more men showed up, two behind her, the other next to the speaker. "How about we give her a warm welcome."
The two behind her advanced, one pulled out a bat, he grinned as he raised the bat, about to take a swing at her cart when Neppie ran forward, placing her palm onto his chest, pushing him. He flew back, hitting the wall and was out cold. There was silence as Neppie stood up straight, her head still down.
"You bitch!" The man's partner said, charging her, pulling out his knife. Neppie turned and ducked, sliding to the other side of him and ran to the other two men, jumping, her foot aimed at his chest. He reached up and grabbed her foot, and flipped her. Neppie's hands touched the ground, back flipping to the other side of the man. The three men stood in a line, the other two pulled out their weapons, one a mace, the other a short sword. Neppie stood up again, bowing.
"I suggest that you calm down."Neppie said, speaking in the common language. "There are plenty of noodles around for everyone." She looked up, grinning, holding out three bowls that came out of nowhere. "We have Vamp Garlic, Onion Butter, Mother rice, Blue lotus, Silver Moon..."
As Neppie rattled off the menu, one of the men ran forward, yelling. He stopped in front of her and raised his mace over his head. Neppie stopped and jumped as he slammed down, landing on his back. Neppie, placed her foot onto his head and jumped off, forcing his face to connect to the ground. She landed, the bowls were left untouched. Neppie pouted, looking behind her.
"He didn't get to try my noodles." She said, sniffing. She set down one of the bowls and stood back up. Suddenly one of the bowls went flying. Everything seemed to go into slowmode.
Neppie was dogging a foot that kicked at her. The foot hit the bowl instead, sending into the air. The noodles left the bowl, and headed to the ground, spattering across the stone. The bowl landed and rolled into a stop. Everything went back to normal. Neppie's child like face turned dark, anger seemed to fill her eyes.
"You fucken ASSHOLE!" She yelled, punching the guy straight in the face. He stumbled back, but Neppie didn't stop delivering one punch after another. Eventually he dropped, his eyes rolled to the back on his head. Neppie turned to the last man, the one that stopped her from before. He gulped and raised his hands.
"Hang on. W-wait a m-minute. Let's talk about th-this!" He stampered. Neppie growled and charged him. That day, the alley turned bright, guards that showed up saw four unconscious men, all talking about a demon child. Down the block, in the main market. A brightly colored cart was set up, a lot of customers surrounded the place. A young girl was smiling as if she didn't have a care in the world.
"Hey boss, looky over there." said a man clad in grey and green, a bow on his back. His "boss" had a red crossbow strapped to his back, an iron chest plate, a red plume sticking out of his hat, and was busy speaking with a market vendor about buying bulk ammunition.
This "boss" took one glanced at the scene and snorted, frankly he had no time for this. Meanwhile the attention of his entire group had been drawn to what one of them had pointed out.
The "boss" and his group consisted on a few archers and a few crossbowmen the "boss" had been at work speaking while the rest of his group had been lazing around, until one of them spotted the commotion.
Then men, save the "boss", began to chuckling at the spectacle, before having it turn into down right laughter at the men who tried to attack the lady.
"Ooooh, girl can pull a punch" said one of the men, faking a recoil.
"Yeah? I think they had it coming." laughed another. "I mean look at her face, it's all red!"
"Serves them right." a man from the "boss"'s left chuckled. "Teach them to be assholes to foreigners"
"Oi, how long do you think you can last against her?" One of the men sitting on a nearby stairway said, grinning a toothy grin while looking at the faces of the rest of the group.
"I won't imagine long, least not in hand-to-hand." snorted the man on the "bosses" left. "Now if I had my crossbow on the other hand, then things would be differnt..."
While the men laughed and commented on the beat down, the "boss" just shook his head. Back still turned, he continued to speak with the vendor, though even the vendor's attention occasional wondered onto the fight.
After the fight was done, the group(save the "boss")applauded, one of them even whistled at the spectacle they say.
When Neppie knocked out the last one, she didn't expect someone to be watching. Multiple people in fact. She bowed, though she wasn't sure how they saw her.
Neppie had grabbed the reins of her donkey and led him to the open market. Setting up. Soon there were many customers, all wanting to try the best noddles in the world. Most took a day to cook, each had different colors and tastes. Soon the lunch rush left, and Neppie waited for her next customer to approach, wiping down her counter/bar.
"Oi boss." Said one of the crossbowmen. "We'll be right over there, Holler if you need anything."
The group of men who was originally with the "boss" had decided to wander off to the noodle.
"Hey there doll, what's all this your selling?" Said one of the men, he had a bow on his back and a smile on his face. His introduction lead to a uproars of jokes and laughter by his mates, as the men around him started to surround the noodle cart at the various cooking utensils and ingredients with curiosity.
Neppie looked up with a toothy grin.
"Noddles! That's what I got. Taught by the Master of Noddles, these are the best you'll ever eat. Since your looking, how about you guys buy something! I got a whole bunch, here's a menu!" Neppie said rapidly, acting like she was on a sugar high.
The menu was four pages, front in back. There were different flavors, all with strange names but had common ingredients. Neppie leaned on her hand, still smiling.
"Go on. Buy one. You won't regret it."
The man took the menu and began to flip through it, his mates peeking over to try and see what was on the menu.
"Cow liver? Who the hell eats cow liver."
"How do you pronounce that?"
"Oooh, so many choices."
"Is that raw?"
"Is that suppose to be noodles? But it's flat!"
A barrage of questions and comments came from the party as they looked through the menu.
The original man who spoke just gave a defeated sigh, still keeping his smile, he handed back the menu.
"So many choices...tell you what, darling, since your the master, why don't you give me your favorite."
Neppie thought about it. She had many favorites, or if one looked at it a different way, she had no favorites. Eventually she nodded, fired up her two tiny stoves. They seemed to turn on by themselves, the flames shot up into the air and fell back down to a small flame.
Neppie tossed a large pot with water into the stove, and grabbed a bundle of homemade dried noddle strands into the water. She unwraped another bowl, clearly chilled and put it in a pan, placing it onto the other stove. Neppie started to chop some ingredients and looked back up at the men.
"The noddles will be a while. Care for a drink? They are hung up here." She pointed to a small sign that was on the wall behind her.
"Nah, we're good." said the bowman as he patted a water skin on his belt.
"Oooh, nice trick you have there." said one of the bowmen as he looked at the stove. "Is that magic? Or one of them fancy do-dahs from Connoloath?"
"Probably magic." snorted a crossbowmen. "My people are generally not known for their fancy footworks in cooking, probably call this primitive if anything."
"Well primitive or not, we'll see how it tastes." the leading bowmen said, leaning against the counter,as he turned his attention to the cook. Keeping his cool smile, he said"Darling, I notice your not from around these parts..."
"I think the men yelling about it earlier gave that away." laughed one of the bowmen's mate.
"Well, yeah, I guess they did." chuckled the bowmen. "Well, on behalf of all of Sereians, I do apologize for them; our people aren't normally this mean and assholish. But, alas, some of us were never taught manners."
"Speaking of bad manners, here comes the big o'l Walt" said one of the bowmen in a hushed tone.
Indeed, in the background the Beast Wizard was rudely pushing through the crowded, even knocking some passerby over.
"Oh boy, maybe we should do somthing." said one of the crossbowmen as the attention was shifting away from the cook to their beast wizard friend.
But the lead bowmen kept his focus on the girl. "So, where do you hail from?"
"Well Im originally from Yoreiqi Isles but I moved here and became a chef of sorts." Neppie said, sliding a mix of chopped roots and nuts into the pan, grabbing some oil and drizzled some inside. The pan sizzled and Neppie put a splatter guard over it. "Been here for a couple of year, so I've been to a few places, though I recently became a Master."
She looked up smiling, taking the pot off the stove, replaceing it with a smaller pot. The rest of the items she had chopped were placed inside. Neppie opened a cupboard and pulled out butter and a jar of milk, and added them to the smaller pot.
"How about you? You are a colorful bunch, have you traveled a lot?"
"Oh gods!" said one of the bowmen looking away from the booth.
It appeared on the passersby Walter had knocked over was now yelling at him.
"Dammit!" said one of the other crossbowmen. "Excuse us for a secound."
Not all of the men left, but those that did were sprinting full force for the big wizard.
The lead bowmen gave a sideways glance at the situation, as the group of the men making their way into the background was putting themselves between their wizard friend and the passerby, frantically trying to apologize for their wizard friend.
He rolled his eyes at the spectacle, before he continued to answer the women's answer.
"Oh we've been plenty of places, but I don't think we've been that far south." the bowmen said, taking a minute to think. "Think the farthest south we've ever been is Adela."
"Yeah, we had that one job of returning the damn dragon back to it's home." chimmed in one of the bowmed.
"Well there you go." The lead bowmen looked back at the women. "I've always been curious, I've heard much about the Yoreiqi Isles, but tell me, are any of what they say is true?"
"Like what?" Neppie said, looking up. "We Yoreiqi are strong and hardy. I can also assume that you've noticed that I don't look like most. I lack in both height and wings." She paused, watching the commotion behind the man before continuing. "Is that what your wondering about? The wings, or is it something else."
Neppie placed out some bowls, turning down the stoves, and started to place noddles into the bowls.
"Well... yeah, actually." said the lead bowmen. "Heard much about the wings, but honestly couldn't really believe it."
The men in the background meanwhile was starting to push and pull Walter back towards the noodle stand, trying to avoid any problems the big man might make.
Neppie laughed. "Nothing to really say. They're useful, I've been told that their a pain in the butt sometimes. I happened to pick the short straw and got nubs. I call them chicken wings!"
She finished the fried noddles and placed them into bowls as well. There was over all three different types. The fried noddles had a hazlenut sauce with nagaimo and walnuts. One of the other flavors was a lightly butter and salted noddles, the top was decorated with a radish carved and shaped into a small lotus. The last one was a simple bowl, consisting of a red sauce, though not tomato with parsley on top.
"There you are there should be enough for everyone. Including your wizard friend and friend over there, if he wishes to join." Neppie said nodding over to the one man who didn't come over, "the boss".
"Much obliged." said the lead bowmen as the wizard was pushed back to the cart, the men who lead him were panting hard.
"Dig in boys." said the lead bowmen as the men started to crowed around the stand trying to grab a bowl.
"So what do we owe you?" said the lead bowmen as one of the crossbowmen carried out two bowls to the wizard, handing him one.
The wizard tooked the bowl of fried noodles with hazelnut sauce, looking at it with a curious face, he began to sniff it as his companions around him began digging into the food.
"Five a piece for each bowl. I like you guys, so it's a discount. But next time you come it'll be full price." Neppie said, never once dropping her grin. "One has to earn money somehow. Speaking of money, what exactly do you guys do?" Suddenly Neppie became really excited. She leaned across the counter, practically jumping up and down.
"Are you knights? Do you slay dragons and save damsels. Oh, are you crooks that sneak through the night, taking only that of one does not need. Or are you fisherman!"
"Of course" the lead archer said reaching for a small pouch on his belt, before looking at the rest of the men. "I'll cover lunch for today, but I expect rounds to be on somebody else tonight."
"Thanks sarge." a more or less unison echo rang from the men, as they continued to slurp down and devour their lunches.
The beast wizard, upon seeing his comrades eat, stuck his face into the noodles, not even bothering with the utensils.
"Well miss, can't say we're dressed for all those jobs..." chuckled the lead bowmen. "...but we can certainly do all of those things, should the need require..."
"'cxcept the sarge can't fish for shit." said one of the bowmen sitting on the ground, back to the stand and his face buried in the noodles.
"Shut it Pete, she was asking me not you for your opinion." said the sarge, to the amusement of the rest of the men.
"Well mercenaries lass." said one of the crossbow in between his slurp.
"I mean that's the technical term." chimed in a bowmen also sitting on the ground. "But it's so unromantic , I think huntsmen-for-hire has a much ring to it."
"Only thing unromantic around here is you, lad." replied another bowmen causing an uproar amongst the other men.
"Amazing! I traveled with a mercenary group before. Well, they were more like sexy female assassins, but they were nice. Kinda intimidating though. I was their cook for a while." Neppie said cleaning up around her, the pots were placed in a basket. She looked back up
"You guys in a job now?" She asked
One of the men sitting on the ground almost choked on his food after hearing what the women had said and started coughing, before his mate on the ground starting his back really hard.
"Female...assassins?" the man managed to get out between coughs.
"Look, I know we're desperate, but that doesn't mean any lot is going to throw in with us." said one of the bowmen standing. "Maybe a good thing to, seeing how the assassin's we usually run into wants to kill us, or kill someone else."
A wave of agreements were murmured out through the group, as they talked amongst themselves.
Walter on the other hand, had finished slurping the last of his noodles. As he brought down the bowl to reveal it empty, the last of it's content disappearing into Walter's mouth before he unleashed a loud burp, much to the surprise of one of the crossbowmen in mid-slurp.
"Well, not at the moment, we just finished one." said the lead bowmen, still leaning against the stand. "Smoking out a bandit camp, wasn't easy but we got the job done. We're having some down time restock, tis why we are even here."
The lead bowmen then started to smirk. "But don't you worry about us. The cap'n will get us into more trouble soon enough."
Neppie wasn't sure what the men thought when she spoke about the assassins but she didn't mind the change of subject.
"Your Captain? Is he the one who didn't come over. I guess he's finding that trouble." Neppie said resting her head in her hand. "So what do expect your gonna do?"
"What they will expect to do is help me with the ammunition after there done eating." A voice came from behind the lead bowmen.
Turning his head back, the bowmen smirked. "Ostwin! You got to try these noodles out, it's quite devine."
"The sarge is right you know."
"Could almost beat Gammy's cooking."
"Don't let Grammy here you or he'll have a fit." Ostwin replied to one of the men's quips, before stepping forward to the stand.
Ostwin examined the noodle, looking questionably at the lead, who nodded and said. "It's on me."
Shrugging, Ostwin picked up the bowl, grabbing a utensil and digging in.
Neppie watched as Ostwin eat the noodles. After awhile she spoke.
"So do you like them? Do they taste good, hmm?" She asked stepping out if her cart holding a basket if hay and walked over to her donkey.
Slurping in some of the noodles, Ostwin took a moment to chew and really taste the noodles, before gulping it down.
"... you know, you may have a point there." Ostwin said to one of the other crossbowmen. "Don't ever let Gammy here about this, but uh, this isn't half bad, not half bad at all."
Walter came lumbering over, empty bowl in hand and some sauce still in his beard.
"What do you need big guy?" asked the lead bowmen as he looked up at the wizard.
"More." he said, shoving his hands out with the bowl pointing in the direction of the cart.
"He, alright buddy. Eh chief." said the lead bowmen as he looked over at Neppie. "You got another bowl for the big guy." Thumbing at the big wizard as he said the last part.
Neppie, placed to basket down and rushed back inside.
"Of course! I'll never deny one food, hunger is still hunger till tamed." Neppie said, grabbing his bowl and filled it back up with whatever the wizard had ate. And handed back over. She looked back at the man and Ostwin. "You keep saying Gammy, are there more if your group than the ones here?
"Oh Gams." said one of the bowmen. "He's our chief, a medic too when we need it. Makes some fine stuff, but this stuff could compete."
THe wizard nodded but said nothing, as he turned around with his face in the bowl again.
"Gams is also mighty proud of his cooking." chuckled another crossbowmen. "He'll throw a fit if he heard any of us say that."
"There are more of us, back at camp, the lot here are only here to pick up some ammunition." said the former sergeant.
"I can pack some to go if you wish? It is an easy and simple task, and it'll cost a bit more, but the more people know of my cooking, the more they come!" Neppie said, jumping excitedly. Looking from one man to another.
"'s alright lass." said the lead bowmen. "We got ammunition got to carry back, though, we need to bring back think we might stop by town tonight, the boys want to go out for a drink tonight."
Neppie pouted but it was quickly wipped away.
"But you let everyone that you know, know that you know a Noddle Master that is not very well known." Nepp said in a jumble, pointing back and forth between her and the men everytime she said "know".
The lead bowmen chuckled as Ostwin just shock his head.
At this point men were returning the bowls back to the counter, many patting their bellies as they were speaking to each other.
After all of them returned there bowls, Ostwin called out the men to go help him the ammunition.
As the men waved goodbye to the Maste of Noodles, the lead bowmen ironically was the last to leave. "We might stop by later tonight. If ya don't see us, we would probably at the local pub if you want to come join us for a drink. Think the other boys would be delighted to have you."
With that, he waved goodbye as he caught up with the rest of the group, who were grabbing bundles of arrows and crossbow bolts from a vendor.
Neppie waved goodbye and started to feed the next customers. The day went on and Neppie finally closed up her cart and started down the road looking for a stables that would allow her to keep her cart while she went to the pub.
She eventually did, had to unfortunately pay little extra for the cart and started on her way. When she neared it, she could already hear singing and laughing, though not as loud as she thought it would be.
Inside the pub was filled with men wearing red or green, many of them had mugs in there hands, there was even a card game happening at one of the games.
On one table however, sat a few particular interesting individual. There was the lead bowmen, but sitting next to him was Ostwin, and a man who looked almost identical to him but in green.
Walter also sat at the table, sitting on each side of him was an orc and a short pudgy looking man, along with a few other bowmen and crossbowmen.
They were laughing and talking with each other, each one of them had a mug.
Neppie walked in, her eyes shinning with excitement. She's never been in this pub before, she rarely even goes into one since she's constantly working.
She spotted some familiar faces and headed over. She stopped at the table where the led bowmen and Ostwin sat. She grinned and waved.
"Hello, boys! Are these the other members if your group?"
"Well, look who showed up!" laughed the bowmen sergeant. "Welcome to our humble little table. Your remeber Ostwin and Walt, as well as the boys." the sergeant said as he indicated to each people.
The sergeant then continued around the table. "Now, we have the Cap'n Gerwen..."
"Hi" said a man in green and yellow, giving a friendly wave.
"...there's Gorgitz..."
"Ya git." chuckled the orc.
"...and finally, the one and only, Gams."
"Oh, how do you do." said the halfling, nodding to the newcomer.
THe bowmen sergeant then turned back to Neppie. "So, you going to grab a drink and have a seat?"
Neppie smiled and nodded to the men.
"I'm Master Neppie." She said, looking for a chair to sit inm she finally found one and sat down. She then waved for a waitress. As the lady walked over, Neppie turned to the men.
"I haven't had a drink in a long time. Last time I've even been in any place that sells drinks was forever ago. I mostly work so I don't know ow the last time I relaxed." she said in a strand. When the waitress came over Neppie placed and order, and asked if the rest wanted a refill.
"Gotta learn how to relax lass." Said Gerwen while taking a sip out of his mug. "All work, no play, ain't healthy for the body you know."
"Hu, tell that to o'l Ostwin." Laughed one bowmen sergeant. "Guy's always yelling at us about one thing or another."
"First off I am about 5 years younger then you." Ostwin said, mug being held in mid drinking position, posture slumped back. "Second, if you listen the first time I don't need to yell at you."
That earned a few chuckles from the table.
At the same times, Gorgitz was flicking pees into Gammy's mouth.
"So, Master Neppie." Gerwen said. "I hear your from, Yur-, yurr... yurrick?""Yoreiq" Ostwin interjected.
"Right, that place." Gerwen nodded as he gave a slight point to his brother. "I hear the place is exotic island. Is it true that they exist people with wings from where your from?..." Gerwen leaned in a bit at the next part. "...like angels?"
Neppie shrugs, nodding. "Maybe not holy Angels, but I guess. Their just wings, they give you the ability to fly, nothing else really. It's useful, easy to travel around with. Not everyone has wings." Neppie said pointing to her back, "Many don't even leave Yoreiq, hard being worshipped when walking down the street just to buy apples."
"But I can't really give you much information, but I bet you have lots of stories! I have the time, don't have to work till tomorrow afternoon."
"Depends on what you want to hear." Chuckled one of the privates at the table.
"Want to hear about that time we smoked out a bandit chief." said Gerwen, still leaning back in his chair.
"How about that time in the ruins, with the giant manticore." The bowmen sergeant suggested.
"That time we came up to that festival with a lot of good food." Gammy said, now enamered with the thought of food.
"Nah, how about that time when Gorgitz here got swollowed up that huge toad." said one of the crossbowmen at the table.
Neppie gasped, excitement was clearly on her face.
"You swollowed a toad whole! Like while it was alive or something, I mean, toad taste good with somethings I guess, but it's another to eat the entire toad!"
"Yup, an entire toad. This fella can swallow anything and not vomit it up." Said one of the crossbow men as he thumbed at Gorgitz. "Hell, think he even downed a shield once."
"Yeah, and I don't think it came out to well." chuckled a nearby bowmen before he was hit by a grap to the face.
"Shut it, ya sod." Gorgitz said from a corner, which only prompted more giggles.
"Now the toad he swallowed were the babies, you should of seen the size of the mother." said Gerwen from a corner. "I swear it was bigger then Thoth."
"That's amazing, what else did you do? Do people look for you so they can hire you? Oh, doesn't that mean you have friends in high places?" Neppie said. Her drink was set down next to her but she bearly even noticed.
"Oh yeah we do, most of the mayors and elders around here know who we are, even some guild leaders." Gerwen said as he took another sip from his mug. He now had his chair tilted onto it's back two legs. "We mostly do hunts or raids against anything bothering the local villages and towns, occasionally some escort missions are retrieval, but for the most parts it's always somthing big we need to take down or make go away."
"Speaking of go away, where we off next to boss?" The bowmen sergeant said, leaning in on the table.
"Connoloath." Ostwin said bluntly, which abruptly stopped all the conversation at the table for a minute, as the most of the ones seated stared at Ostwin, before looking to Gerwen.
"We going back to that forsaken?" exclaimed one of the bowmen.
"Oh, not back there again." said another crossbowmen, who began to hold his head.
"W-what he meant was we were considering that." Gerwen hastily added to his brother's sentence. "Nothing is set in stone yet."
This prompted whispers and side conversation throughout the table that soon spread to other tables with men from the Death Eagles. Soon nearly the entire bar had stopped what they were doing and were discussing this recent news.
"Well I for one hope we don't return there." said one of the bowmen. "Those people are at best disillusioned, madmen at worse. No offense." He gestured to the crossbowmen sitting at the table, who all had a grim look on there faces.
"I thought we had left the war for good." one of them breathed. "I don't know how much more of it I can take."
"There, there." Gammy spoke up, trying to calm the crossbowmen. "You heard the cap'n, nothing is set in stone yet. I mean, we might be able to go somewhere nice and sunny, preferably with lots of food."
Neppie pressed her lips listening to the mens conversation. She hadn't been there before but she heard stories of it, and most of it scared her. Her magic is still raw, she can bearly make a fire ball but it didn't matter.
"I don't know if this is true or not, but I heard that the Mordecai have obtained a new item. A jem (http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=23794.0) of sorts can detect when magic is near by. It new but its unbelievably popular." Neppie said, finally grabbing her drink and taking a small sip.
"Of course they would find somthing like that, ha." said one of the bowmen, chugging his mug.
Walter just growled at the information, while Gammy was now trying to calm his big friend.
"Bet you the ironic thing is that the gem itself is magic based." said one of the other bowmen, looking back at the men. "How else can such a thing have the power?"
"Don't believe in magic my ass." said the first bowmen. The crossbowmen meanwhile kept setting there, looking even more grim from the information.
One of the older crossbowmen looked at Neppie and said "Stay away from Connoloath if you can, lass. That place is filled with madmen calling themselves the pious." he began shaking his head. "I suppose I once believed the same, until I came here...wasn't even that long ago...
Neppie nodded and looked down at her drink.
"I'm gonna have too. Cant really work from behind bars." Neppie said, chuckling ackwardly and rubbed her head. "On top of that, I have some really good coustermers, so a few more years around this area will really benefit me."
She then looked up and grinned. "Hey, we might even run into each other in the future."
"Well I do hope so." said the bowman sergeant. "You do have some lovely...noodles."
This earned a snicker from one of the bowmen, but the rest were still occupied with their conversation.
"Ehe, please excuse me and my brother for a secound. "Gerwen said as he leaned forward and got up. "Brother, outside, family meeting, now."
Ostwin simply finished his sip and got up to. The two men departed the table and left the tavern, assumedly to talk about somthing outside.
"Oooh, boy, what do you think they are on about?" asked Gammy as he watched them go.
"Reckon they talkin' about this Connoloath business." said the eldar crossbowmen.
"Well I am not going, not for all the money in the world." said one of the bowmen
"Lon' az dere'z panziez ta kick, az don't kare wherez." Gorgitz said in his deep, greenskin voice.
Neppie silently gapped at Gorgitz, taking her a moment to understand what he said. It was like someone turned on the light, her mouth made a little 'o' and she seemed to understand now.
"Well that mean that almost every one is a eh, pansy?" She paused and was unsure if that was what he said. "I mean everyone has something that can make them weak." She quickly raised her hands and shook them. "But, uh I understand that there are some bad guys."
Neppie felt her face heat up. She normally doesn't get serious and the previous conversation was still fresh in her mind. She quickly took a drink and drained her cup, looking ovee the rim to see what the others had to say.
"Oh don't mind Gorgitz, he just loves to fight." THe bow sergeant said with a chuckle.
"I'll say." One of the rather middle aged bowmen said as he sat up in his chair. "He's suppose to be our assassin. But everytime he does try to assassinate, he decides it's a great idea to yell at the top of his lungs "ASSUSSUNATIN'"." The bowmen picked up a spoon with the head facing down, and stood up, pretending to be Gorgitz.
It earned a few chuckles from the table, with a snicker from Gorgitz himself, as the bowmen sat back down throwing the spoon back onto the table.
"Your an our assiassin for crying out loud." The same bowmen waved his hands at Gorgtiz. "Your not suppose to give away your position while doing said assissination!"
"Awwww, 'erez da fun in dat?" Gorgitz retorted.
"Fun? Fun!" the bowmen explained. "You have enough fun already crushing the poor slrups under your boot."
"Should of seen him a few jobs back." peeped up one of the crossbowmen, he seemed to have been snapped out of his trance. "He literally fell on the target and crushed him underneath."
"And he was still screaming the word!" the previous bowman exclaimed to the laughter of the others.
"I felt bad for the horse honestly." said Gammy as he picked up his mug. "Poor thing got crushed under Gorgitz weight."
There were mumbles in agreement as the men began thinking back to that one particular mission.
"Wait. I thought you guys didn't like assassins?" Neppie said, bringing up the Female Assassin group she had travelled with. She was pretty sure that some of the men here were at her noodle stand and knew what she was talking about.
"Yes, most assassins." nodded the bowmen sergeant.
"The worst of which are the ones who try to backstab ya." another bowmen who was standing around the main table. "Them are the ones making us look over our shoulders all the times."
"Should of seen that cult we've had a run in before." said one of the aged bowmen as he took a swig from his mug. "We lost so many men that day."
The men muttered in agreement, before a young crossbowmen peeped up. "But none of them are like Gorgitz."
Another round of muttered agreements went around the table.
"Gorgitz is different." Said another crossbowmen. "He might do all the sneaking, but he's one of us. He's been with us long enough to be alright in my book."
THe orc in question just chuckled in his low, orcy voice.
Strolling the streets of the locale as night fell, Asha's left hand remained in the pocket of her dress where her coin pouch rested, her iron-shod staff serving as a walking stick rather than a weapon. It was getting around the time for a meal, and the leonine lady sought some local cuisine. After all even spiced kebabs, a staple for her in beef and chicken with spices imported from Essryn, got boring after a while for her. Then again, every middle night of the week in the Anga household was 'kebab night' anyway.
It was then that the lioness spotted a brightly-colored cart outside an inn. Definitely looked like a food cart, albeit a bit flamboyantly colored, but the owner was nowhere in sight. Shrugging, Asha pondered if the owner was on break, or had closed up for the night. Probably the latter, she thought to herself as she strolled into the building.
Looking about the inn, Asha mingled among the various peoples, standing out a bit due to her animalistic appearance; the poor lass got more than a few strange looks as she tried to make her way toward the bar. Sitting down at a stool, back turned to the counter, the lass' gaze spread across the place and... wait. There just so happened to be a woman dressed almost as brightly as the cart outside was decorated. She wondered if this was some sort of themed uniform for the food cart, like something she'd seen before? There was at least one eccentric eatery she'd encountered on her travels that did similar...
It appeared as though the woman was conversing with a sortie of sellswords, but curiosity got the better of the cat as she padded forth. Raising her voice if only to cut through the white noise of the evening crowd, Asha spoke out toward the group, "Good eventide. Sorry to interrupt, but I've a hunch I wanted to confirm. This lady... is she the one who owns that food cart outside? I'm just curious -- her outfit and the cart's colors are both very bright".
(We kinda time skipped into an inn, it's a bit later in the night as well. If you want, two of my characters are having a conversation.)
(Ah! Sorry about that. ^^; Edited my opening post to reflect the scene)
(No worries)
Gorgitz's had immidantly turned his eyes onto the new comer as she entered the door. Walter, on the other hand, smelled the cat lady as enter and he too was staring. Some of the other men glanced over, but otherwise payed her no mind...least till she came over.
After she spoke, one of the crossbow men leaned back into the back legs of his chair, turning his head and upper body to look at the cat lady.
"You accusing the rest of us of being dull?" The man said with a distinct Connolothian accent, much to the amusement of the other men. "I'd like you to know that red and green are quite the trend around here these days."
Neppie looked up grinning.
"Not dull. You have a natural look." She said, still looking up at the women next to her. "And yes that's my cart. Oh also my donkey. His name is Ralph. And I make noodles, because I'm a Noodle Master. I'm Neppie." She seems to say everything in one breath.
Hearing the crossbowman speak his complaint, Asha immediately began to respond, "Ah, no, didn't mean that. Just a bit, uh, different, her clothing. I'd say you both have some sense of good colors, though". She shrugged, glancing down to her light brown outfit before gazing back up. She was a bit taken aback -- though somewhat impressed -- by the woman's prolonged speech, and nodded to her.
"Ah, so my hunch was right", she said cheerfully. "A noodle master, you say? I've not the pleasure of meeting a master of any cuisine, though I dare say I like to try as much as I can". With a soft smile across her dark-lipped muzzle, she sits back at a nearby chair. "So, uh. Am I interrupting much, folks? Not the type to attract the ire of mercenaries or soldiers alike, whichever type this fighting company is".
"Just messin' with ya darlin'" The crossbowmen smiled. "We only having a pleasant chat about, er, assassins?"
"Gorgitz" The bowmen sergeant said.
"Right, him." THe crossbowmen said as he pointed at said orc. "The green one over there...anyways, have a seat, the more the merrier, as they say."
One of the bowmen sitting next to Neppie stood up to offer his seat, as most of the table was now looking at the new comer.
Neppie took another drink, still watching the stranger. She had never seen someone quite like her. Neppie did spend most of her life within a village, off in a secluded island. For now she was keeping quiet, waiting for an interesting topic.
Now things were getting more and more interesting. Asha felt that some assassins were necessary evils to dispose of some wicked men, but most assassins she'd ever heard of only took hits against good people and important folk, oft bringing chaos rather than order.
"Assassins, you say?" She asked, genuine curiosity in her voice, yet lowering her voice a little while still trying to be audible. "What of them? Lots of folk think they cause more problems than good... it's not every day you hope for one to remove the wicked from this life". With a pause, she then grins with surprisingly pearly fangs, raising her voice back to its previous volume. "But where are my manners? I am Asha, of the Anga pride".
Taking the crossbowman's offer and sitting on down, the lioness couldn't help but wonder if Gorgitz was going to be fine, and if he was indeed the assassin the man was talking about. She left her combat staff at her room in a local inn, but she carried her sidearm dagger on her person. Still, she pondered if this would be of any aid if trouble brewed. After all, a missed fireball could hurt someone unintended in the tightly-packed place, to say nothing of it spreading in a blaze if she missed a person altogether...
"Depends on your definition of wickiness is." Mumbled one of the older members at the table.
"Nice to meet you Asha." Said the bowmen sergeant. "We just talking about assassins, nothing more"
"Anga Pride?" Said one bowmen, rubbing his chin. "Where have I heard of that name before?"
Neppie perked up, turning to Asha. She could already feel the excitement inside. Neppie started to fidget, hoping that the new comer would answer quickly.
A cloaked figure would enter the inn, dragging behind her a massive leather bag. The figure halted for a second, glancing around the room for an empty table, before settling on a vacant stool next to the counter. She waved to the bartender, wordlessly fishing through her pocket to check that she had the right change, before placing the money on the bar. The man working the counter gave her a glass of what seemed to be fruit juice.
Suddenly, it would appear that the liquid inside the glass was levitating, and formed into several aqueous ribbons. Without lifting her veil, the woman drank from the streams, letting them float into her mouth as they dodged the fabric that hung over the lower half of her face. She'd continue to drink in this fashion, taking a break in between to check the contents of her bag, which slumped awkwardly against her seat.
Asha chuckled a bit as the question was asked by one of the bowmen. "Funny you should mention that. I don't know how widely-traveled you are, but my pride hails from Essyrn. They're known for producing both warriors as well as healers under the watchful eye and protection of Aralisi the Fire, whom we believe brought our species to being. Though, don't tell that to the faithful of Essyrn and their deity, heheh".
With a pause, she then continues, "Anyway... you might know my father from said pride, or rather the stories about him. A mercenary and a glory-seeker he was, well-traveled and really skilled at fighting".
Bits and piece of talking amongst the men happened when Asha mentioned Essyran, but one crossbowmrn sat up and spoke
"Oh? And who may he be?"
"Oh this is getting exciting!" Neppie said, "He must have told you alot of stories. Oh I wish I had alot of interesting stories to tell. All I have is my life." Neppie pouted, sighing "I much rather listen to someone else's story. They're more fun." She looked back at Asha, "so, what is something famous he did?"
(Hey folks, so sorry for the long delay; if I end up becoming a problem again I may have to leave the thread to not slow you folks down)
Asha shrugs, unsure if anyone would have really heard of her father in Serendipity. "Well, his name was Mosi. One of the big adventures he had involved the Dread Serpent of the Bone Spire. I'm not sure if anyone would really know about that story around here, though. If you want, I can spin the yarn as best I can from what he'd told me. It's quite something, I suppose..."
(Naw, you fine. Take your time.)
"Well, we've got nothing better to do now." One of the crossbow men said leaning back in his seat.
"Indeed." The bowmen weren't said. "I do enjoy a good story. Gather around boys." Men around the table began to shuffle closer to the table, all heir attention now urged on Asha.
Neppie gasped. She was just as interested in this story as the men. She turned, bringing her feet up in to her chair.