((OOC: This thread is a continuation of A Tricky Delivery (http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=16314.80).))
Viatrus bit into the peach daintily, it was the only way he could bite with his relatively smaller mouth, and was rewarded with an explosion of juice that ran down the front of his shirt. He hadn't been paying attention to just how ripe the fruit was. That was just great. Now his shirt would be sticky all day.
He heard the thump as Guzstomp got out of the wagon, and he brought the vehicle down to the place that Uon had pointed out. He stopped the horses, and hopped out of the vehicle himself. "Hey Uon, Guzstomp, can I get some help? I can't unbridle the horses and get them to the water on my own. Too short."
Keltros swung out of the carriage, and went to help Viatrus. As he was working, he whispered to Viatrus.
"I haven't been quite honest with you." he started. "My names not Uonryl. If I tell you who I really am and why I lied about my name, could I trust you not to call me that in front of others?"
He unbridled a horse, and waited for the younger thief's reply.
((OOC, later on you can betray him, or reveal him accidentally to someone you shouldn't, I don't mind :p))
Gutztomp ignored Viatrus' request for assistance. He was getting paid to hit stuff, not carry out menial tasks. The other two could muk around all they wanted.
Viatrus looked up at Uon with surprise. No, not Uon, that wasn't his name?
His ally's revelation surprised Viatrus, and elicited a variety of emotions. Anger at the lie, curiosity as to it's reason, pleasure that Uo... whatever-his-name was trusting him with a secret.
The second two feelings won out in the young halfling, and he looked to his ally and nodded. "I'll keep it a secret, I promise, but you better have a good reason for lying to me," the second part of the sentence was said huffily, and with a piercing glare.
My name is Keltros. "I stole the jewels from the noble in Ketra. Their theft drive the lords only heir to suicide, meaning King Akkiel had to pay a lot of money for compensation. I have a. 45 000 coin weight for my head. They know my name, as who else could steal the jewels from under their nose in daylight, but Keltros, Thief of the Night. I trust no strangers with my real name. I believe I can trust you."
As the other two talked, Gutztomp wolfed down about twelve more peaches in order to relieve his hunger. Just one simple peach wouldn't sate him as easily as it did his companions. Satisfied, Gutztomp down with his back up against a tree and fell asleep, snoring loudly.
Viatrus looked up at Uo... no Keltros, in surprise. The theft was famous, and Viatrus had heard of the event. He understood why Keltros was so protective of his identity, and he actually felt flattered that the thief had taken him into his confidence.
The halfling's newfound gratitude and Keltros' circumstances overcame his displeasure at the thief's initial lies. "Alright, I guess I understand. Thanks for helping with the horses. Let's bring them over to the water so they can drink."
He looked over at the snoring Guzstomp. "I think we're gonna be here a while, unless you wanna wake up a sleeping Ork."
((OOC: edited: You're right, sorry I've been good about it so far but I lapsed))
((OOC - Ork*, different species!))
"I do not. We will wait for him to wake up. We will rest here. One of us will be vigil at all times. We don't want anyone knowing where we are going, especially not to agents of our traitorous payer."
Keltros welcomed Viatrus for the thanks, and pulled out another peach. He bit into it, staining his overcoat with the rich, delicious juices. He offered Viatrus another, and sat down in the shade. He closed his eyes.
Gutztomp continued to snore away louder than any human possibly could. Any hope of stealth was dashed by the ork's obnoxiously loud snoozing. Gutztomp rolled in his sleep which caused him to role off of the tree that he had been leaning against and plop onto the ground. Despite the sudden displacement of his person, Gutztomp did not stir. His slumber continued on as loud and strong as always.
Keltros chuckled.
Viatrus watched Keltros walk back to the shade of the tree with a but of consternation. It looked like he was going to be the one taking the horses to the water.
He grabbed the reigns, and looked at the big animals apprehensively. He hoped the didn't trample him on the way...
It was the work of a few minutes to lead the horses to the stream and to tether their reigns to a tree, and by the time Viatrus returned, Keltros was biting into a peach and offering one to him. The halfling took the overripe fruit and gingerly dropped it into a jacket pocket. He wasn't hungry right now.
The master thief sat down under a tree and closed his eyes, which Viatrus took as a sign that he had first watch. The courier went back to the wagon and sat in the front, watching his surroundings and waiting for Guzstomp or Keltros to awaken.
Gutztomp flopped over onto his back just as a squirrel happened by. The squirrel hopped onto Gutztomp's face, ran down his torso, and stopped on his stomach. Gutztomp stirred when the squirrel had landed on his face, and he was now fully awake. Sneering at the small animal, he attempted to smash it. The nimble little creature hopped out of the way and Gutztomp ended up punching himself the stomach. The squirrel ran to a nearby tree as Gutztomp drew one of his axes and hurled it at the tiny woodland. The axe was embedded deep into the tree, just missing the squirrel as it escape. Gutztomp grumbled and cursed to himself about how much he now hated that squirrel.
Keltros awoke at a sound, and awoke to find an angry Gutztomp cursing... a squirrel? Anyway. He was awake now. By the position of the sun in the sky, the thief assumed about two hours had passed since he slep last. It was nearing sundown. Keltros told Viatrus he could sleep, and he would watch the camp, and awake them if there was trouble.
Viatrus was thankful for the rest, and he gladly accepted Keltros' proposition. He dozed in the fading light for a while, relying on The master thief's sense of time to tell them when they should leave. Or even if they should leave at all, he thought as he drifted off. It would be night before long, and it probably wouldn't be safe to travel.
Gutztomp knew that he wouldn't be able to fall back to sleep now, so he started roughly sharpening his axes. It was must faster when you could cut people in two with only one swing. The faster you could kill, the sooner you could kill someone else. Yes. Sharp axes are good.
Keltros started talking to the horses, when he heard a small rustle in some bushes between the road and the horses. He stopped tending to the mounts, and went to investigate. There was a small man poking his head over the bushes.
"What are you doing?" Commanded Keltros.
"I'm just watching sir, I swear!" The man replied.
"Do you work for Ulrin Derbish?" Questioned Keltros angrily.
"Um.." the little man faltered. "Y... No!"
Keltros knew it was a lie. He pulled him out of the bushes with ease, and tossed him into carraige.
"You, stay there. Gutztomp, whaddaya reckon we do with him?"
Gutztomp walked over to the cart and picked the man up by his ankle, suspending him in midair while Gutztomp scratched his chin with the other hand.
"I betcha he knows somefing," Gutztomp stated. "Maybe if we break some o' dese scrawny limbs of 'is he'll feel like talkin'."
The commotion roused Viatrus from his slumber. The halfling sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes wearily. He looked about to see if he could identify what had awoken him, and saw Guzstomp standing near the cart holding some poor soul aloft by his ankle.
Alarmed fully into wakefulness by the sight, Viatrus sprang up and ran over to the cart. "Hey," he called out to his two allies, "what the heck is going on?"
"We have a spy," replied Keltros. "He works for Ulrin Derbish. i say we keep him, he could be of value, to... extort information."
"I still think we ought to break his legs so he can't run away," Gutztomp said with a wicked smile.
It was both a serious statement and a threat to scare the spy into talking. Gutztomp really wanted to break something though.
Viatrus looked the man up and down. "Wait, so how did this guy find us anyway? I mean, how long have we been tracked for? I don't like this guys, what are the chances that he's working alone?"
Even as he said it, the halfling's head swiveled around and he surveyed the landscape for any further sign of movement.
Keltros paced towards the enemy spy, and looked at his shoes.
"This leather is worn enough to suggest he has followed us since we left the city." He looked at the scum. "Am I right?"
((OOC-Feel free to choose his dialogue! He's an NPC))
Gutztomp looked at the man's shoes. He could tell how long this guy was walking by his shoes? Gutztomp looked down at his own feet. His boots haven't worn out since he started wearing them, and he's been wearing them for a good long time.
The bandit mumbled something as he hang upside down. To fix the problem, Gutztomp tossed him into the air and caught him by the front of his shirt so that the man could talk better.
"Speak up," Gutztomp growled.
THe man blubbered for a bit, quite obviously frightened by the Ork's fearsome visage and by the rampant manhandling, but with enough prodding they trio were able to get a confirmation from the man.
Viatrus turned to Keltros. "That's a long way to follow us on foot, I can't imagine he could have kept up much longer. Chances are that there will be someone along to replace him, sooner rather tan later. I think we need to keep our eyes out. One source of information is good, but two would be better."
Keltros agreed. "Have you all had enough sleep? I think we should get going, so as to get to our destination soon. What do you think? Keep him, get information, and then break him?" Keltros grinned at Gutztomp, and winked.
Gutztomp grinned, revealing his mouthful of sharp fangs.
"I can break him easy," he said. "What should I break first?"
Viatrus nodded. "Alright then, let's get a move on. Uon," Viatrus decided to stick with Keltros' fake name around Guzstomp, "why don't you hook the horses up to the wagon. I'll pack up everything we pulled out and Guzstomp," he turned to the Ork, "why don't you make sure our guest is... comfortable."
Once he was sure they were all clear about what to do, the halfling set about striking there impromptu camp and packing their supplies on the wagon.
Keltros chuckled. Comfortable. Pfft. More likely the Orc would break his legs and tie him to the back of the carraige, dragging along the ground. Keltros said this out loud, possibly loud enough to have the ork hear.
Gutztomp let out a disappointed sigh.
"Does that mean no breaking?"
Gutztomp shrugged and grabbed some rope, the poor man in his grasp squirming the whole time until Gutztomp gave him a rough shake to make him stop. Using the rope, Gutztomp tied the man to his back so that he could carry him hands-free.
"How's dis," Gutztomp asked showing off his handiwork.
Viatrus looked up from what he was doing to admire the Orc's handiwork. "Looking good Guzstomp, I think we're ready to go," and even as he said it the halfling chucked the last of their equipment into the wagon. "Uon, are the horses all hitched up?"
"The horses are all hitched up. Let's go, leave this place behind, for there could be more spies."
(OOC
@Wicked Basket @Alegretto Sorry, I hadn't bookmatked this.)
"More," asked Gutztomp hopefully. "I get ta break da next one, right?"
"Yes, Gutztomp, you may break the next one."
As if on cue, a tiny army of halflings surged for the treeline. There were about 35 of them waving fists, naked and helpless.
"Well. All of them. Go on. Have some fun."