When the Opportunity Arises

[Master Val'Rysn]

Closed to Seth_Rahl, Kially Gaith and Raelyse

NOTE: Though the thread itself is in the Ruins section, the beginning takes place in Irrakam.


It had been a perfectly normal day for the drow adventurer; Waking up in a small bed in a small Inn, strapping his staff to his back, taking a stroll through the dirt-ridden streets if Irrakam while the celestial sun beat down upon his brow. No plans in particular for the day.

About midday Val had happened to stroll near the Merchant's Walkway, a sweat breaking on his dark face. He reached into his cloak and brought out his gold purse, weighing it in his hand. He smiled in satisfaction, feeling that he had maybe enough to buy a fancy trinket, maybe an amulet to wear around his neck? That'd be splendid.

He took a turn, then a couple more, and in a moment ended up at one end of the long street. As usual, the place was bustling. Merchants talking, yelling, advertising their products as various people came from around to peruse the sales. The mage realized he had been coming here for a couple days now, what else was there to do? There was absolutely nothing exciting going on. No special adventures. He sighed, filled with discontent.

He walked slowly down the street, avoiding other shoppers as best as possible, looking over all the merchandise. There was nothing that caught his expensive eye; Herbs and spices, gadgets, various sundries and things of the like. Nothing too spectacular. After a moment a single stall did catch his eye, though. He strode over to it with a smile.

"I see you have stumbled upon my little shop," Said the merchant behind the stall, a robust, well-groomed human, obviously not a native to Fallien seeing as how he spoke perfect Common. He had a sly look draped over his face. "I've got all the magical stuff someone like you would be looking for!" He exclaimed.

The mage smiled, he hadn't seen this Magic Shop the past couple of days. At least, he had never seen this man before. Strange he thought, but people did come and go often. He looked around and saw that he was the only one perusing the stalls contents, sprawled across the wooden countertop. Jewels, daggers, amulets, scrolls, vials; It all screamed with magical energy.

"How much for this?" Val asked politely, holding up a thin, dark orange amulet shaped like a flame. The merchant eyed the piece as the flame dangled in front of his face.

"Aha! That is one of my favorites," The man began, smiling. "But sadly, seeing as how I only set up shop this morning, I haven't yet remembered the price of that particular item... Why don't you come inside with me, and I’ll show you my price list?"

"Inside?" Val asked. The merchant responded by looking behind him and pointing to the small house behind.

"I live here on the Walkway. That was how I got this spot so easily," He explained, the mage nodded but was still confused. The merchant motioned for the drow to come back with him, which was the first confusing thing. Why did he have to go back into the house with him? Could he not go in alone? Wouldn't someone attempt to steal some of his wares? The expression on the mage's face was incredulous. "It will only take a second." the merchant added.

Val smiled slyly and walked around the stall, keeping his arms at his sides, his dexteric fingers began to weave strange patterns, and a blue spark zipped across his palms. He also whispered several arcane words, inaudible due to the bustling street behind them. The situation cried with deceit, he could easily tell. The merchant opened the door and walked inside, leaving it open for the mage to follow. Val'Rysn simply went just inside the door and politely shut it, keeping his back leaned against the closed door.

"Hurry, then." The mage said, looking around. It was a single, pretty bare room, with a spiral flight of stairs leading up to the second floor. The curtains covered the windows and some light furniture sat beside the walls. Some chairs, a small table, and some drawers. Straight ahead, to the back of the room, was a desk. The merchant strolled over to the desk, pushing a lit lantern aside.

"Ah, it's around here somewhere." The man said, rummaging through papers and trinkets sprawled across the desktop. Finally he uncovered a rolled piece of parchment, "Ah, here it is." He said, turning around and walked slowly to Val. He held the rolled up paper at his side, like a dagger or something. "I'll just give it to you, to peruse ate your own leisure." As he got a little closer, he saw the drow whispering something, his red eyes locked on his. His eyes widened and he tried to lunge forward, heaving the parchment high. But in that same instant Val'Rysn had finished a couple spells, thrusting his arms forward sent a bolt of light blue energy zipping into the merchants unprotected chest. It hit him just as he thrust the rolled paper forward towards the mages flank, right into a translucent shield of force that stopped the attack in mid-swing.

The shield would not have survived the blow say if the merchant were even remotely strong. But unfortunately for him, he wasn't. The shield had stopped his thrust in mid-air, and forced him to clutch his torso where the Spark hit. Val'Rysn quickly jumped to the side, reached back and swung his staff around his back and bashed the man upside the head with it, sending him falling onto the floor, unconscious. The drow laughed at spat on the stupid merchant’s back. "Miserable fool." he began, still chuckling and looking around. "Now I wonder what that has awarded me..." He thought to himself, out loud. First he thought he'd check upstairs.

He kept his staff held at his side when he climbed up, just in case anything else went wrong. As soon as he got up, he was in another room without windows, same size as below, but this one was entirely bare, save a small, tied up man with a rope through his mouth.

"Ahahaha! So the fool had been a little successful." The mage said, the tied up man was screaming as loud as he can, muffled by the rope. Beckoning to be freed. Val'Rysn took his time as he strolled over, to stand up tall in front of the slouching captive. "Sad... I'll pray for you, my good man." He said, turning to leave. He saw no benefit in untying him; all he cared about was what he could steal from the merchant's unattended stall.

A glad expression washed over the drow mages face, it turned out good after all, going in that house. He lowered his foot onto the first step leading to the first floor when he was bashed on the back of the head by something. His sight blurred instantly, and he was able to spin his body around before he collapsed on the floor, just shy of falling through the stairway to the floor below, possibly breaking his back. He saw the tied man hovering over him, though he was untied now. A wooden cudgel clutched in his hand. Had that been a trick too...? Val's eyes shut slowly as the man said, "Have fun in Hell." Then he slipped into unconsciousness.

He thought he had thought the situation through fully...

((Sorry for the length. But anyway, now, post your own intro and after, once all our intros are done, out turns will go in that order, starting with me. I'll delete this OOC nonsense once we get turns established and we get rolling.))

[Raelyse]

The stench of the ocean remained long after he had left it behind, the smell following him and sticking to his body like a parasite he could not rid himself of. Raelyse traveled often across the Althanian Oceans, even if the land route was faster, because he loved the romance of traveling across the ocean. Something about constantly breaking through the waves with no land visible to the front or the rear made him feel powerful inside. Still, he could never get used to the smell of the ocean, that salty feeling he could never cleanse from his nostrils. It was the only factor that could stop the wealthy prince from journeying aboard Althanas' premier ships.

Raelyse stuck out worse than a sore thumb as soon as he stepped off the grand looking ship onto the shores of Fallien. Eyes turned instantly upon his ornate outfit, from his impeccably styled hair down to his shoes, which shined brightly, blinding any as if they were staring straight at the sun. Peddlers rushed forward, though they were hesitated, intimidated by the single minded way he strode through the streets. One was braver than his rivals and he moved to the prince's side, speaking barely loud enough to be heard. His accent, combined with a few missing teeth, was more than enough to ensure that Raelyse had no clue what he was saying. However, even if he spoke with all the grace of a Raiaeran noble, there was no way the prince would give him, nor anyone who looked like him, the slightest bit of attention. He never entertained commoners.

The prince moved for the first inn that came close to his standards, a reasonably luxurious one with Dawn's Heaven scrawled across in some fine script just above the door. Raelyse, ignoring all those that were coming to approach him, moved for the door and pushed it open.

Like many he had seen in his adventures, Dawn's Heaven tried to increase its patronage by having a bar on the bottom floor for one to socialize while the higher floors was for resting afterwards. Luckily for the innkeeper, Raelyse was here to do both. He strode straight to the bar, interrupting a pretty, black-haired girl who was ordering a drink.

"Hello there," he said, his exotic voice and fine language not heard much around these parts. He increased those stares by lifting a sack of gold from his pockets and placing it on the table. "I wish to buy a room for the week, as well as enough drinks to keep me happy during that time."

Raelyse saw eyes widen, though only the innkeeper's ones nearly fell from their sockets. "Not a problem sir. I'll get Shiara here to show you your room where you can place your things," he replied, greedily dragging the sack into his pudgy fingers and, without looking up, turned his fingers towards the pretty black haired girl who Raelyse had interrupted. She took the key and jumped off the barstool, pushing her black hair from her face, flashing the prince her glimmering white teeth.

"Your boss lets you drink on the job?" the prince asked, returning her smile with one of his, one that had often led to weak knees among Althanas' female populace.

Shiara managed to keep her wits about her, though her cheeks flushed a visible red. "Only if I get my job done."

"Then," Raelyse said, reaching forward and opening her palm lightly, pulling the key from her grasp. He was a good few inches taller than her but as he walked past her and whispered, she still heard him clear enough to send quivers through her body. "Will you show me how well you do your job?"

He made for the staircase and Shiara followed him shyly, looking for some form of approval, but noticed that no one was looking at her. Smiling to herself, she moved upstairs excitedly. She stood in front of Raelyse's intended room, putting herself in between the prince and the door.

"Do I get a guest so early?" he asked, leaning forward and downwards for the door frame and Shiara, his hand with the key moving for the doorknob. He slid the key in effortlessly turning it and pushing the door open. The girl fell backwards, but Raelyse's other hand caught her easily in her grasp.

"Maybe you shouldn't be drinking," the prince said, leaning lower towards her. "On the job."

"Oh shut up," she said, smiling so widely her mouth poked into those bright red cheeks. She wrapped one arm around Raelyse's neck and pulled the prince's head down into her and her lips grabbed his in a passionate kiss. The prince more than obliged, pushing her deeper into his room and slamming the door shut behind him with the key still in the doorknob. Unable to see much, the prince decided against the bed and pushed her down onto the rug. By the time Raelyse had grown tired of her lips, he had already removed his effects and clothes from his person and was well on his way to repeating the trick from Shiara.

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When the prince awoke, it was to a stabbing pain in the right side of the torso. It wasn't to the bright lights that he had expected either or to the softness of the rug that he had fell onto. The ground was hard and his body ached but worst of all he was in a dimly lit area. He fumbled for his cane, his rapier, but got nothing but hard, hard ground. His eyes confirmed that none of his possessions were nearby, though his clothes were still on him, though they were slightly wrinkled and more than a bit damp.

The prince tried to speak but that stabbing pain in his right side came back. This time though, it was coupled with a second desire, a numbing feeling that started at his chest before spreading all over his body until consciousness was lost to him.

[Kially Gaith]

Today seemed a day of great fortune, Kially had found himself a single ‘shiny’ on the floor, that’s a coin, to you and me, and he was rather damned proud of himself for such! The sky was bright blue and just shone with luck, today was going to be a good day, Kially assured himself.

This shiny, so to speak, was a useful little contraption, Kially had found, it got him things…Things are usually good. Now what thing Kially was going to buy was a large questionable mission requiring most of Kiallys’ logical thinking, he remembered seeing people go into building, then come out giggling like little girls, that seemed fun, what had he heard those places being called? Tawny owls? Towels? Tappernackle? T-T-Taverns! …That was it! Now…Where was the nearest tavern?

His memory had served him well, he soon found himself at the entrance to a down-town tavern, before him, stood the challenge of a large door, very large in fact. Kially reached for the handle from the right side of the door as it suddenly burst open, the solid wooden item only just missing his face, so close that he could feel the air brush his face.

“AND STAY OUT!” A large beat up fellow stumbled out, having been shoved by two stocky blokes with blades, bloodied and bruised, drunk to the high nines and currently none the worse off in his stupor.

Using this moment for entry as the door swung back towards closing, Kially slipped in, only to the gazing eyes of nought but all the patrons, Kially cowered to the edge of the door frame as the door slammed shut behind him, making him jump quite considerably. Why is everyone looking at me? He silently thought. Truth was, the patrons had just watched the drunkards’ leaving parade and Kially had taken the moment when such had ended, it was like standing in the middle of a building after it had been destroyed, the aftermath was to be stared at, like some circus, fresh in town, and Kially was the current act.

The entire lower floor of the tavern was in utter dismay, the barkeep was extremely shocked, unable to stop the previous fight that had ransacked the entirety of the place, tables and chairs on their sides and tops, some broken, some in complete disrepair. The large blokes whom had began the fight quietly paid the barkeep what pittance it would take to replace the cheap broken furniture and damaged goods, the most expensive being heavily matured bottles of varying liquors.

When the rush of the situation finally died down, the majority of the patrons left for another bar where the furnishings were generally kept in place and not thrown, few remained, three women and a single male sat round a small table playing poker, another fellow sat at the bar drinking away sorrows unknown, whilst the back wall catered to a young woman, sat alone, her eyes now set on Kially with eager veal.

How did people leave happy? The person before didn’t look happy, he looked hurt! Kially suddenly wondered if what he had seen days before had possibly been a dream. Believing the possibility of such, Kially turned to leave, surely there was a better place he could take his ‘shiny’.

When the child reached for the door handle, the woman in the back panicked and stood to her feet, rushing over. “Wait, sweety!” She cried in desperation as she grabbed his hand in her own, her skin as soft as silk to the touch. “You look cold…Do you have a home?” The woman took a single whiff of Kially and her nose upturned slightly, trying to escape the smell. This only confirmed her beliefs that he was without lodgings.

Kially froze, frightened that he was about to be hurt like the bloodied patron before him, when soft hands advised him deep inside that this was not the case, her voice commandeered gentleness and sweetness, and her hands portrayed velvet. A mother without a doubt. “No, miss, I dun’.”

“Well…How’s about we go get you cleaned up and into a warm bed, yes?” A bright smile, requesting and urging for his trust with piqued cheeks and red lips, her hand removing itself from on top of his, offering a more motherly position, holding her hand down to him to hold at his own leisure.

Kially was unsure, he had no reason to distrust her and he definitely was cold, and clean water? That would be a luxury. Taking her hand, he gave her the benefit of the doubt, and with such, his trust. His hand fell into the accomplice of hers.

Taking the child from the bar, like a diamond from a mined rock, the lady took her prize, leading him down the street, into a good 15 minute walk which eventually lead to a singular home, average in size, even a small garden, well kept. Soon, the door was open, and the woman took her salvation into the home.

Kially had calmed and took pleasure in the walk, the weather was about right for the season, a chilling wind with a hint of sea breeze, moisture gentle in the air. Reaching the home, he was rather satisfied to feel the warmth as the door opened, a log fire having been burning securely for some time.

Without hesitation, the woman quickly welcomed the child in, going to get a small blanket, which was soon retrieved and wrapped about the boy. The eve would irk on, and would event in a standard meal consisting of bread and chicken broth, followed by a warm bath where the woman kindly stayed and helped wash the boy, soon after, drying him and putting him into an oversized shirt for the night, tying the boys ribbon into his hair at his demand.

Kially had not fussed all this time, having let her mother him as much as she so wished, the unique attention was pleasant, something he had not come across before, so this position was welcomed with open arms, even the bath, touching of his more sensitive areas not making him uncomfortable in even the slightest, having never experienced such before.

Finally, the woman, carrying the child to a spare room wrapped up in a towel slipped him under the blanket of the rooms bed and took the towel from him. “Thank you, sweety, you’ve made me a very rich woman.” She carefully tucked him in before placing a hand on his head.

Kially blinked at her words, one blink, two. His brow furrowed slightly before it was hidden by her hand. “…Huh?”

“Shhh…Time for sleepy byes.” Her hand, that had been placed on the childs forehead quickly began to resonate with warm energy, a trick her mother had taught her, rapidly sending the child into a deep blissful sleep.

Before he would awake, Kially’s clothes would be cleaned and in his mystically induced sleep, would be placed back up on him, preparing him to be picked up in the very early hours. Looking to the child, she gave a sigh of regret at having to do this, but the many letters of debt on the dining table confirmed in her mind that she was doing the right thing…After all, they were either paid, or she would end up on the streets herself, then probably raped and killed by the slum miscreants…

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When Kially awoke…It was not to the bed he had been placed in, he was fortunate however, all his belongings had been taken along with him. Now…Where in the name of Althanas was he?!