The Wind That Shakes the Barley, Semi Lit, O/A, Recruiting!

[Sir Metzgermeister]

"The Old Lion"

The Baron saluted in return to Vlade. Here was a soldier that Amadeus knew he could trust, and while she was a bit unorthodox in her job description she still did things by the book and the Baron appreciated that. There was no need to become uncivilized just because the job description made it so easy to act that way. If Reichert had shown the slightest concern for protocol, The Baron wouldn't have needed Vlade to seek him out. Things were always the same with that man; he had no regard for any authority other than his own. Perhaps the Emperor's, but even that was suspect. The man loved war. War was his true loyalty, and being an Imperial soldier was the surest way to continue serving his master. It was all so unfavorable. The Baron raised a questioning eyebrow at the newcomer and frowned once again.

"I would prefer that you restrict your tea activities to a regular schedule, or at the very least wait until called upon. I do not want intrusions upon private conversations."

He removed a cup of tea from the tray and sipped at it before taking another puff on his pipe.

"Thank you, all the same."

The Baron began shifting through the files that Vlade had given him, not really spending too much time on any one particular entry. There were plenty of names, that was for sure.

[Sir Metzgermeister]

”A bullet pierced my true love's side,
In life's young spring so early…

Leighe “Shame” Arriat

Helena and Coffey's newfound presence did little to ease Shame's troubled mind as he went about collecting his spent magazines and discarded weapons. The rebels were really crawling out of the woodwork now...no doubt, Carver would have something to say about that. After Shame had retrieved his own weapons, he stripped useful items off of the men he had killed. One stick grenade, and several bandoleers of ammunition. He kept the ammunition he could use and redistributed the rest of it among the troops, and even some to the newcomers who had been firing at the enemy. Any enemy of the Imperials was a friend of Shame's...

"Alright...looks like we've found us a few more recruits, Carver. You were sayin' that yeh' had information for us, lassie, so let's hear it."

Shame crossed his arms. They were still dripping with blood, and honestly he was a bit of a fearsome sight at this point; but he wasn't entirely unapproachable...just a wee bit terrifying to behold. He seemed calm enough, now.

"And on my breast in blood she died,
While soft winds shook the barley…"

[Karo Kiba]

Helena Moloney

Helena sighed as she sat down. She had not gotten much sleep over the past few days. The lack of sleep and food was really starting to wear her out. Helena looked at Shame and gestured for him to sit. Helena was covered in grime; she hadn't gotten to bathe in two months. The job she did was extremely dangerous and left her almost no time to rest. It was also extremely solitary, which was why Helena was seemed a bit happy to see other people. She wasn't at all disturbed by his appearance because she was simply happy to see another person, another Aednat. She had spent the last few weeks on the run from Imps, but she had been doing errands for the rebellion for the past six months.

"The news I have to share is this: there may be some Imps that are defecting. Apparently some of them are a little tired of their government as well. I learned this from a woman who claims to be running a spy ring. She says 'be careful not to kill them'. And she also said that they would be 'marked out by what they wear'. I don't know what she meant by that, but she told me to spread the word out to every rebel I meet. Said it would boost their morale to know that some of the Imps are defecting. I'm not sure if I want to believe her. This so-called 'spy mistress' seemed a bit crazy to me, but I'm doing her bidding anyways. If what she said is true then I can see why she wouldn't want anyone killing the defecting Imps because they are invaluable" Helena explained.

Helena sighed as she took some of the ammunition that was left over. She placed it in her pack. She made an assessment of her supplies. Her only food consisted of one small pack of crackers that she had stolen from an Imp three days ago. Her medical supplies were in good shape though, and she even had some medical supplies that she could probably spare.

"How goes things over here?" Helena asked.

Lily Tara O'Sioda

Lily nodded. She should have known better than to interrupt the Baron. She set the tray of tea and snacks down and turned to face her employer. She wondered if he had any other tasks for her to do. She mostly spent her time serving him his meals as well as doing any other odd errand he needed.

"Of course, Your Grace. I apologize for interrupting you. Your Grace, do you have any other tasks for me? Or am I free until this evening?" Lily asked.

Lily sincerely hoped that he would let her have a few hours of freedom. Then she could use this time in order to send that valuable information to the nearest courier or rebel. The question was this: how could she get that information out without risking her own death? She had thought of several ways, but all of them were extremely risky. She sincerely thought that she was the only Imp to have defected, but she didn't realize that she was probably wrong about that. She felt lonely in her work. But more than lonely, she felt ashamed. Ashamed that her people would turn on one of their allies! And even more ashamed at the things that Reichart and his men had done. This shame was what fueled her work, her quest for justice. She knew that the Empire must be stopped! The aednats had to be allowed to govern themselves. She would give her life to make sure they had that right.

[Sir Metzgermeister]

”A bullet pierced my true love's side,
In life's young spring so early…

Leighe “Shame” Arriat

Shame couldn't help but cringe a little bit at that news. So there were Imperials who were defecting to the cause of Aiden, but they weren't making themselves know to any of the rebels. Except...now they had a report from a girl he had scarcely met. This seemed suspicious to say the least. And besides, how the hell was he to tell the difference? When it came down to a fight, anyone wearing an Imperial uniform was going to be shot. That was just the fact of the matter. He didn't have time to differentiate so much between targets once the bullets started a'flying. They'd have to be pretty damn obvious, or they were dead. Simple as that.

"Thas' all well and good, but they best be looking out for themselves. I can't promise that no harm'll befall em' if they're doing their cloak and dagger operatin' in such a way that we can't tell the difference. Thas' just the truth of it."

Shame loaded a magazine into his rifle and pulled back the charging handle.

"I'd say things'r goin' well based off of what yeh' just saw. But then again, its hard to be sure isn't it?"

Shame didn't point his gun at Helena but tapped on it to draw her attention towards the large and formidable gun.

"I think ah' speak for the rest of us when I say we want to know a little more about how yeh' found us."

[Karo Kiba]

Helena Moloney

Helena sighed. He was quite right to mistrust her, but she intended to show him that she was on his side. Helena's specialty was tracking people and delivering messages, but this time she hadn't been aiming to find him specifically. She was just aiming to find any old rebel that she could spread the information to.

"I was not far off when I heard the gunshots and I followed the noise and decided to help. I wasn't looking for your group in particular, I was just looking for any rebels that might be in the area" she explained.

Helena started to unload and clean her rifle with tender care.

"I help the resistance by tracking people down and delivering messages. I'm a mountain lass so I've learned how to track animals as well as people. I mostly run messages but I also participate in raids occasionally. Over the past few months some other people and I have formed a sort of network that we use to relay information. I'm actually due to meet up with someone in about two days from now" she explained.

[Sir Metzgermeister]

”A bullet pierced my true love's side,
In life's young spring so early…

Leighe “Shame” Arriat

Shame felt as if she could be trusted, but there wasn't any way to know for sure. For now, she was under suspicion. She definitely spoke like an Aednat, but there had been plenty of reports of locals fighting for the Imperials in return for money or protection. To hell with the traitors. They all deserved death. He just hoped that this girl wasn't one of them, he could already tell that he didn't want to kill her. Something about stabbing that man had taken the edge off of his bloodlust.

"Aye..."

He spoke tentatively, his brow furrowed in thought. She was cleaning her rifle, and thus was unarmed. This was a good time to test her mettle he decided. Badou shouldered his rifle and pointed it straight at her. It was time to see what she was made of.

"Alright 'mountain lass,' what's your name? What's yer' family's name, an' who are you meetin' up with in two days? Think real hard about this'n."

[Sir Metzgermeister]

"The Old Lion"

The Baron was not particularly a fan of hiring locals to manage any sort of work within his offices. The possibilities of espionage and sabotage were increased dramatically by such things, but it had long since been common procedure to hire locals to extend a hand of friendship to them. Jobs helped them feel as if the Imperials were not such a bad folk, or so the politicians had figured. Amadeus had seen enough go wrong as a result of these things, that he did not personally care for it. Lily was but a girl, but that might have been why she wasn't to be trusted. She was young and pretty, and perhaps did not seem like a spy. That was exactly why she would have made a good one. The Baron shook his head slowly. Too much paranoia was bad for the spirit. He continued puffing on his pipe.

"You are free until this evening. Be sure to enjoy yourself, Aegis-Night is coming soon."

The Baron smiled. He loved to educate the riffraff about the holidays of the Empire. One day they too would celebrate the Aegis fasting.

[Karo Kiba]

Helena Moloney

"Helena. And my family name is Moloney. The girl I'm meeting up with is a gal named Lorena. Works for the railroad company and supposedly has some information that's coming from someone in Foldere. A lot of the railroad employees have started to smuggle food, information, and supplies from the south to the north. They're the only ones that know how to get the supplies and the information past the security checkpoints" she explained.

Helena remained as cool as a cucumber even though he was pointing a gun at her. She wasn't scared one bit because this wasn't the first time that someone had pointed a gun at her. Not by a longshot. She had been met by distrust by many rebels even though she was only trying to help them! Helena calmly finished cleaning her weapon. She did not have one ounce of fear, not a bit.

Helena finished cleaning her weapon and then looked towards Shame, trying to discern whether her words had any effect on him. She wanted to see if she had succeeded in erasing any of his doubts and reasons for distrusting her.

"By the way, you're not the first person point a gun at me. Lots of other rebels have because they didn't trust me at first, either. I'm not really frightened by it" she explained

Helena shrugged and started cleaning her weapon again. It had gotten quite dirty and she hadn't had much of a chance to clean it. The last two weeks had been very hard for her.

Lily Tara O'Sioda

Lily bowed to the Baron before walking out. She smiled as she walked away. Now that she had time off she did not have to act in such a professional manner, but she made sure to keep her professional attitude until the baron could no longer see her. She decided that the information she had couldn't wait. She had to go see Lia right away! Lia was a local girl who was a laundress for the baron and his aide. Lia shared a room with Lily.

Lily skipped off towards their rooms, intending to divulge all of the secrets. Her happy demeanor hid the fact that she was deeply troubled by the news that she had learned. If she didn't act fast many more Aednats would die!

(Lily isn't an Aednat. She's an imp but she's defected.)

[Sir Metzgermeister]

”A bullet pierced my true love's side,
In life's young spring so early…

Leighe “Shame” Arriat

Shame listened to her entire speech before reacting. He believed that she was a rebel now. The information she had presented him with matched the rumors and intelligence he had worked to receive while on the trail of his own leads. What he didn't believe, was that she wasn't scared. Everyone had fear. Just because someone pointed a gun at you and it didn't scare you, didn't mean you were free of fear. Shame had been at the barrel of many guns, and he always felt some fear because of it.

"So yer' not afraid? I don't believe you. You are afraid, jus' like the rest of us."

While she sat there cleaning her rifle, Shame aimed down his sights and fired. A bullet kicked up dirt an inch or so away from Helena and showered it over her head. The shot broke the silence. Feeling rather smug, Shame caught the brass casing mid-air before it fell to the ground and put it between his teeth.

"Everyon' is scared."

"And on my breast in blood she died,
While soft winds shook the barley…"

[Sir Metzgermeister]

(OOC: Woops. Disregard that then.)

[Karo Kiba]

((It's okay. I think we can continue on though.))

[Sir Metzgermeister]

Indeed.

[Sir Metzgermeister]

http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/barton-ooc/the-wind-that-shakes-the-barley-ooc/t.79324863/

Here's our new OOC thread.

[Gunslinger262]

Carver shook himself and took a good long look at the bloody mess that was the former sergeant. He brought a boyish smile to his face and took his knife out. He cut the man's belt, taking his sidearm and canteen. He searched the rest of the body... or what was left of it and collected all of his ammunition. He stood up straight and let out a long sigh through clenched teeth. He turned around slowly, blinking as a girl who he had not noticed put another round into a dead body. Convenient her showing up right then... and he didn't much like it. He nodded to Shame and leaned back against a grandfather oak while he listened to the couriers words.

"Well Lassy... tis refreshing to see a daughter of Aiden takin up arms, but tis troubling in the manner of which ye go 'bout it. We might 'ave shot you in the confusion... don't be sneakin up on us like that again."

He shoved a shotgun shell up into the breech of his trenchgun. He took a hard look at the girl and shook his head slowly as he listened to her story.

"Well Lass, what province are ye from? I'm from up around those parts meself... as for these... Imperial defectors ya call em? It stinks of a trap... why would disciplined soldiers leave a more powerful army that is currently winning? And not only that, they leave into enemy territory, with the understanding that they may never see their homeland again? And while we're at it lass, who's sending ya around delivering all these messages? The army's crumbled, and it seems mightily reeking of suspicion if ya ask me."