A Tricky Delivery [SanguineBlade][WickedBasket]

[Alegretto]

The Man hissed in pain. "You might know too much!" he shouted. I was told to kill the courier, though I didn't know the he'd hire an outside contractor. Look, I don't know what this is about either. I'm just following orders!"

Viatrus nodded, personally satisfied with the man's answer, but he looked to his older companion for his decision.

[Codestar7]

"Tie him to the tree. There is some rope in the cabin, hopefully it isn't destroyed. We will go find this Lord. We will have a... Talk." Keltros just rolled his eyes as the prisoner thanked him. He didn't want to kill a man hired by someone else, just in case he was partly innocent.
Keltros turned to Viatrus. "We will go to South Adela. We will find 'Lord' Derbin. We will find out what is going on." Then he gave a cheeky grin.

[Alegretto]

Viatrus went to get the rope while the thief held the man captured. It took the pair only a short while to stow the man safely against the tree, and then they were heading down on the south road.

The little courier trusted the thief a bit more now, and she decided to try chancing a little probe. "So what is your name Mr. Thief of the Night? I never caught it."

[Codestar7]

Viatrus asked Keltros a question, and seemed to take no notice. He just kept sauntering on, and all of a sudden said, "I don't tell people my name. None but my parents know my name, and I abandoned them long, long ago. Not even my closest friends back at the Rabbit know that information. Why?"
Keltros trusted the thief, he just wanted to know.

[Alegretto]

"Why what? Why do I want to know your name? I guess I just don't want to have to keep calling you thief or Thief of the Night. It's nice to know the names of the people you're working with."

His point made, Viatrus waited for the other man to give his reply.

[Codestar7]

Keltros sighed. "My name is..." He hesitated, thinking. "Uonryl Grimstep," Keltros lied. He really didn't want people to know his name.
"Uon ((OOC, pron. 'yon')) for short."

[Alegretto]

"Uonryl." Viatrus repeated the name several times, letting the syllables fall of his tongue. "Alright Uon, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."

They walked a bit further before something struck the halfling. "Hey, did you catch where exactly this guy lives, because I don't know and if you don't either than we may want to go back to Ketra and see if we can get that info."

[Codestar7]

"I fear the man had a brooch on... From the Serha Plains. We should go back to Adela, and be prepared for a tough journey. We will ask somebody about the man Ulrin Derbish. If he truly lives in the Serha plains, we may have to find some help. The nomadic horsemen tribes that wander the region aren't too friendly. I'm not entirely sure you have heard of them, but if they catch you in their territory, they will fine you. If you can't pay this immense amount of money, you become a slave. Or, if you are an experienced fighter, in large numbers, you can fight them. But we are not skilled in combat nor are we in large numbers. So either we carry millions of gold pieces, or, we find help. What do you think, Viatrus?"

[Alegretto]

The pair were walking back towards Adela. Viatrus did his best to think of someone he knew who could help in this situation but he was pulling a blank.

The small halfling didn't really like the idea of being taken as a slave, so he hoped that Uon had more useful allies than him. "Hiring help sounds good. Do you have anyone in mind? I don't really know any good fighters. And I certainly don't have that much money to pay any fines."

[Codestar7]

((OOC, would it be okay with you to involve another player?))

[Codestar7]

Keltros thought for a moment. "I know of an ork. I met him once. He told me he likes killing things. I said 'right' and walked away. But I believe we could find him. Or he'll find us. His name is Gutztomp. Friend of The Lord Captain of Dragonriders. Felordarse or something. Hate those that work under the King. Like I'd know. Come on, let's go see if we can find him." With that, Keltros picked up his pace.

[Alegretto]

Uon's change in speed surprised Viatrus, and the halfling had to jog a bit to catch up. "An ork?" He asked, confused. "What's an ork? And where would we find one?"

At their increased rate they'd be back in the city pretty soon, and Viatrus wanted to know exactly who and or what it was they were taking with them onto the plains.

[Wicked Basket]

(OOC I think I can answer those questions for him. :) )

As the pair entered the city, the first thing they would have noticed was a terrible ruckus coming from a tavern. It sounded as though a wild rampaging animal had been set loose inside of it. A man came flying out of the window of the tavern. The man was then followed by two more, and they were followed by a table. A fourth individual burst through the door, obviously terrified for his life. He took off down the street toward Viatrus and Keltros. As he got closer they would be able to notice that the man's right arm was severely broken, the bone protruding out of his flesh. He ran up and grabbed Viatrus by the shoulder with his still functioning arm and started shaking him.

"You have to help me! He's after me!"

Before an explanation could be offered, the doors of the tavern were smashed clean off their hinges as a very big and very angry ork exited the tavern. Gutztomp looked around and grinned when he saw the frightened man and began stalking towards them. The glint of a dagger that was embedded in Gutztomp's chest was visible as he advanced.

"I ain't done with ya yet, runt," Gutztomp shouted. "Yer uvver arm is still workin."

The man took off running as Gutztomp continued his advance, but stopped when he got to Viatrus and Keltros.

"Wot you two gawkin' at?"

[Codestar7]

"You." Said Keltros, bluntly. "You are Gutztomp, no? I have heard of you. You know how to fight. This is what we need. A nice burly ork. Hey, what'cha say you help us? There'll be not much in the way of gold, but perhaps there will be. We need to get to a house in Serha Plains. Horsemen tribes will be wandering, and we don't want to be killed. We aren't too skilled in fighting. We are in... another trade. Will you help us?" He looked to Viatrus, and winked.

[Wicked Basket]

Gutztomp stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"How much gold we talkin'," he asked. "It's gotta be worth my time."

He didn't care about any of the other details involved such as why they were going through the Serha plains in the first place. As long as he got paid, he didn't care.

[Alegretto]

The halfling stared stock-still as he watched the ork at work. The green man was fiercesome, and Viatrus could suddenly see why Uon wanted him on their side. Still, for all his savagery and strength he seemed smart enough. How was he to convince him to help them?

Viatrus thought hard. How much gold could he spare? He only had a few coins on him from the advance payment on this job and some stored in a safe place back at his house. Still, maybe he could spin it so the ork would accept.

He pulled out two coins from his purse and help them up so the ork could see the quality. "Me and Uon here," he gestured to the thief, "were cheated out of an entire sack of these. This is the advance payment on a job from a wealthy noble, and we are going to 'persuade' him to relinquish the rest of our fee. We'll split the earnings with you if you help us get there safely and assist us in 'convincing' him."

Viatrus tried to project confidence, though truth be told he was pretty scared. After all, the ork was pretty scary.

[Wicked Basket]

Gutztomp thought for a moment. He said 'wealthy noble'. He would agree to help these two with whatever it was they wanted him to do, and then they would take him to wealthy noble. He could get paid, and then rob the noble blind for even more plunder. Gutztomp grinned at the thought of it, revealing his sharp ivory fangs.

"Alright. I'll help ya get yer fees, but I'm takin' whatever I want from dat noble's place after we're done."

[Codestar7]

"You take whatever you want," chuckled Keltros. "After all, you will have earned it, the amount of necks we are going to have you snap." The thief turne to Viatrus. "What do you think? How are we going to get to the Serha Plains? We have our brute, but we need our brains."

[Alegretto]

Viatrus looked up at the thief in surprise. First of all, he'd just called this very big, very scary green monstrosity a brute. While that was accurate, the halfling was pretty sure it was also offensive. It seemed to him that being offensive to the not-so-jolly green giant was not a good idea. Secondly, he'd called Viatrus the brains!

"I don't know why you're looking to me for ideas! It's not like I know a lot about where we're going. I mean, I know that the plains are wide and open. It might be nice to have a wagon or something..." Viatrus realized that he was already planning in his mind unconsciously. "Anyway, I want your guys' input too. I can't plan this alone!"

[Wicked Basket]

"I don't do da plannin', I do da hittin'," Gutztomp replied. "The rest is you two's problem."

(OOC That ork grammar though.)