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 Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 8:10 pm
A glimmer of a smile passed in Sol's red eyes as Phraktos told him about Iztheri's collection of salves. He tried not to get ahead of himself. First he had to make it safely inside this strange house. Before his patience with his soreness had a chance to be worn out, they finally had stopped.
Foolish. The idea of swearing an oath, that is. Solmur'ss never understood it. The Spider Goddess was a goddess of chaos for one thing. But nonetheless, if it was the only thing between him and possibly free salve then he would oblige his host without any questions, "I, Solmur'ss de'Virr, swear before the Goddess Lolth that I will not harm any in the iv'Ress House." He never sought to harm anyone except when fulfilling a job for a client, or possibly during a prank. Though neither of those hardly counted. A prank had never resulted in a death and he tried not to kill any of his targets.
Solmur'ss was quiet, simply looking forward to getting inside the House at last. The Goddess had really shown him some good favor tonight. She was fickle, unpredictable and cruel. In a way it was fitting as Sol was seemingly being rewarded for surviving the stroke of cruelty to his brother. He knew it meant nothing at all, but his fortune had certainly turned for the better when he ran into Phraktos. The bounty hunter never trusted good fortune to continue though there was nothing wrong with enjoying it while it lasted. As much as he liked to think he was used to the life of a commoner, a night's rest in a noble House was always preferable than slinking back into the slums!
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 1:35 pm
Phraktos was pleased enough by the spoken oath, and promptly made haste and vaulted over the wall and proceeded to lower the magic shields with the aid of his gauntlets. The magical spells shimmered as he worked them until..there was only a slight glint of the magic spell still there.
"It's safe now." Phraktos called over the wall, and waited for the other to join him.
"Tos..what are you doing?" A soft voice demanded a few feet away, causing Phraktos to jump in surprise.
"Thank the gods it's only you Iztheri." Phraktos exclaimed rather relieved. "Not much..I finished a job that was quite productive and found a fellow that needed medical help. I figured you wouldn't mind fixing him up a bit."
Iztheri regarded him with a stony look, her lips pursed in disapproval.
"What possesses you to bring home strays like this Tos? You don't even know the fellow..so you can't vouch for him. Do you even know what sort of work he does?"
"I know him well enough. His name is Solmur'ss de'Virr and he's a bounty hunter. He's a bit of a prankster like I am and is trying to keep away from his brother whom he managed to humiliate earlier." Tos replied confidently.
Iztheri cocked her head to the side, her eyes widening with surprise at Tos' words. Then she shook her head, and walked over to the wall..where she made a doorway in it for Sol to enter.
"Really..if he's wounded he can't very well vault over the wall like you did Tos. Think for a change."
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 3:15 pm
Solmur'ss waited as patiently as he could outside the wall, but he still jumped anxiously when Phraktos spoke again. His moment of relief at being told all was safe turned to confusion. This had been a terrible prank hadn't it? He eyed the tall stone wall in front of him and cursed. He could summon the strength if he was lucky to make the leap but his landing he knew couldn't be trusted. The much shorter wall earlier had been enough of a gamble. No, this was just how drow were. If the weak cannot make it to safety, then that is their own fault.
Damn. By Lolth, he had been fooled and drawn in by this lockpick. Who would be so foolish to think a stranger would really not be up to anything and let him enter his House so easily? Solmur'ss shook his head. The bounty hunter was ready to make his way back out into the depths of Undrek'Thoz to find shelter elsewhere.
Before he had taken but a few steps, he heard voices more clearly. A female voice, he corrected himself. Solmur'ss turned with curiosity and saw something which made a laugh break across his tired lips. A doorway!
Solmur'ss hastily approached and ducked in before the phantom door could go anywhere. Some joke, if it was one. He wondered if the female was the one Phraktos had told him about. Regardless, he lowered his eyes properly in front of the female. "Thank you, I take it you are responsible for the door. I was starting to think I had been pranked myself."
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 3:39 pm
Phraktos frowned and watched as Sol walked in the doorway, apparently his sister had been right. He rather disliked it when she proved him wrong..but he wasn't about to argue or make too much of it. The door shimmered and disappeared once Sol stepped away from it...leaving the Phraktos to watch the following interaction between Sol and Iztheri.
Iztheri smiled faintly as she looked over the bounty hunter with a keen eye.
"Yes, unfortunately Tos doesn't always think things through all the time..but that's something I'm used to by now. So..you are a de'Virr then? Are you involved in the House politics at all?"
Phraktos grimaced at the area Iztheri's questioning was going into. He just hoped that Sol was smart enough not to engage discussion with his sister too much. He had seen several males who had gone too far in a discussion of politics with her result in horrible ends..he really did not want that to happen to his new acquaintance.
"Now Iztheri..Solmur'ss is wounded..talk of politics is just going to make his head hurt ten times worse than it already does. Perhaps you could gather a few salves for him to use on his wounds and clean himself up before you start up a political discussion." Phraktos interjected with a pleasant smile, stepping in between the two of them.
Iztheri frowned at him and gave him the "look" before she shrugged her shoulders and turned to go.
"Fine..follow me Solmur'ss. Tos see to it that the servants draw a hot bath for him."
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 4:12 pm
Solmur'ss smiled, but he had also noticed how quickly Phraktos had intervened as soon as politics were mentioned. Hm. Were house politics a touchy subject? It did seem quite strange for her to jump so quickly to it considering he was not exactly on a social call. But salves and a bath! He would say anything for them.
He nodded to Phraktos in parting, silently thanking him for what he assumed had been a warning about the mention of politics, and then turned to follow Iztheri. "No, I stay away from the House as much as possible. At the moment there is nothing much I can think of except deep admiration for salves and a hot bath." He couldn't help but grin. It was truthful, a silly thing to admit perhaps but he hoped the subject would change.
The bounty hunter decided he would try to play his injury card as hard as he could. Less conversation with anyone in this House would probably be better. He didn't want to make this stay end unpleasantly at all. Better to be quiet rather than talkative, until he was feeling like his old self at least! Once he could make a quick escape again, his tongue would probably be much more relaxed.
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 4:24 pm
"Yes Iztheri," Phraktos replied with a slight bow of his head.
He was rather relieved that Sol nodded his thanks to him, realizing he had been warning him from discussing politics with Iztheri. Phraktos followed after the two of them as they entered the servant's entrance into the House, a good three to four feet behind them. As they walked, the thief strained his ears to hear what was being said between the two of them.
Iztheri was rather unhappy with her brother interrupting her and warning the other male off. She felt like pouting and showing her displeasure but didn't; knowing that it would only paint her in an unfavorable light. She disliked appearing weak, and never liked to look weak in the sight of a male.
"Smart of you. Most males tend to get all tied up in the politics and messing in affairs they are not suited for. Now..what exactly did you injure?" She asked, as she turned down a hallway and continued to her left, leaving Phraktos behind where he couldn't hear their conversation.
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 7:51 pm
Solmur'ss nodded quietly at Iztheri's words. Of course, he was only male and it was understandable that she would see it that way. He knew he was capable of a lot of things, but he knew that some things were not his to control. Not that he had ever had any interest in the House politics in the first place, not even when he was living at the House regularly.
"I think I injured most everything. A fake drunken brawl against a warrior, falling into an angry crowd of real drunks, then running literally into your brother.." It had been a very eventful evening!
He said the word 'brother' and then immediately regretted it. Sol was wondering if his tired mind had correctly remembered their relationship or not. He hoped he was right but decided to storm on just in case.
"But my ribs hurt the worst, definitely." Truth be told, his tiredness was blending a lot of the pain signals together into one aching throb. It was the sharpest pain coming from his ribs that he could single out.
Part of him wanted to spill and tell the whole twisting tale of their evening. Solmur'ss restrained himself. If Iztheri had been curious she would have asked. She didn't have to help at all and Solmur'ss was grateful for whatever bit of extra assistance he could get. So no need to be an annoyance. Most females seemed to prefer males to stay quiet anyway.
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 12:40 pm
Phraktos was relieved when he managed to catch what his sister was saying to Solmur'ss. He quite gladly left Sol to his sister's capable hands as he went about searching for a servant to relay orders to. It might take a while convincing certain servants, as many of them did not take orders from him very well. Of course there was a reason for this..Phraktos had pulled pranks on the majority of the serving body when he had been a child and none of them had forgotten this. To make matters worse, he had accidentally killed a few of them when testing out bombs and that was an offense that made most of them hide whenever he was in the House.
"Ah..you there I have some work for you." Phraktos cried as he pounced on a servant he found lounging in the kitchens.
The servant jumped slightly and backed away, fear showing in his red eyes..not sure if he should be running for the door or staying to attend to Phraktos' needs.
"Calm down..it's not something that's going to harm you or anyone else for that matter." Phraktos said waving his hand in a dismissive manner. "I just need a room prepared for a guest and a bath drawn. If you can find a room empty in the wing I'm in that would be even better."
"Y-yes lord. It shall be done." The servant replied and dashed away before Phraktos could stop him.
"Oh and have some clean clothes located for him! He's about my size only a little shorter!" He called after the servant before he started searching the kitchen for some food he could bring to Sol.
It didn't take long for Phraktos to gather up some bread, fruit, meat and cheese along with a wine skin. He figured that common simple fair would be enough to settle Sol's stomach and not contradict any of the potions that Iztheri might be giving him for his wounds or pain. Once the food was wrapped up in a flour sack he turned back the way he had come and made his way to Iztheri's work room.
Iztheri grimaced slightly at the general description Sol had given about his evening, as she slid open her work room door and ushered him into the room. "You've had quite a night, Solmur'ss. And..I can imagine running into Phraktos was rather painful..as he's built like a brick wall." Iztheri commented and motioned for him to take a seat on the short padded table in the middle of the room.
"If you'll have a seat and take your shirt off I'd like to have a look at your ribs. I want to make sure they're not broken."
Once this was said, she turned to shuffle through drawers of a large dresser and the cupboards that ran the whole length of the room. She gathered up several salves she thought would work for what he had mentioned as well as long strips of cloth to bind his wounds with, as well as bind his ribs.
For some reason..she rather liked this fellow. He apparently knew his place in society and worked to ensure that all was how the Goddess wished it to be. Not only that..but he wasn't half bad looking either. That was a definite plus for her. Most times her brother brought home half starved bums who, in her opinion, would be better off dead. This was a pleasant change for once.
"So..do you mind if I call you Sol?" She asked, turning to glance at him over her shoulder as she readied a healing potion in front of her.
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 3:10 pm
Solmur'ss knew he was fortunate to have ran in to Phrak'tos, and now on top of that there was Iztheri here to help. She had been treating him much more personably than he had expected. He couldn't say if females usually took such patience in wasting their time on the random task of bandaging up a stranger.
Solmur'ss took his seat as directed in the middle of the room. He realized then that he had never been properly treated in a place like this in a long time. Most of the salves and other things he acquired were hastily applied by himself while he was on a rest between jobs. This would be a welcome change to have someone in charge who had a clue what she was doing when it came to healing.
Sol grinned in agreement at the comment about Phraktos, "Luckily he was a brick wall that could help me up afterwards!"
He removed his red cloak first. The trusty garment had surprisingly made it through the evening in one piece. Sol raised his arms to take off his shirt gingerly to see if he could tell which muscles complained from the stretching movement. A lot of them, but it felt like he had been correct with the ribs diagnosis.
"No, Lady Iztheri, I don't mind at all."
Call him Sol? That unexpected little familiarity of shortening his name caught the bounty hunter off guard. By Lolth. His head spun as he realized he had been caught up in thinking positively of this female because he was vulnerable and in need of healing. No, he couldn't be so side tracked in a strange House! A male needed to keep his wits about him.
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Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 7:34 am
Iztheri wasn't normally the friendly type..or that personable either. However..when she had learned that he was a de'Virr and when she had first laid eyes on him she had decided it would be worth her time to actually be nice for a change. It definitely couldn't hurt to be on the good side of a de'Virr. Especially after she took out her aunt and assumed the role of Matron to her House.
Perhaps she could even get some sort of alliance from the House through showing she did good work as a healer. Being a cleric and having two gifts was rather fortunate for her, it had given her an edge over clerics when she had been going through schooling. It had also impressed her aunt enough to keep her and her brother alive, despite having wanted to destroy Phraktos for his unconventional tactics. Not to mention that the damage that he had done to the great de'Virr House when he had still been a child. Yes..her gifts in magic and healing had given her many inroads to doing well in life. And perhaps it would even bring her the good fortune of a high House being on her side.
Iztheri laughed softly at Sol's words. "How true. He's always been an oaf and on the gangly side. Thankfully he filled out nicely in the last twenty years."
She readied the salves, bandages and started looking for some pain medication while Solmur'ss undressed. When she turned back around she slightly grimaced at the large bruises that covered the entirety of his left pectoral muscles. She watched as he pulled his shirt the rest of the way off and took it from him and laid it to the side.
"Good..Sol will be much easier to use when asking questions..now how much does this hurt?" Iztheri asked, pressing her hands lightly across the bruised muscles on his left side.
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Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 12:39 pm
Trying to focus his exhausted mind, Solmur'ss was considering his new situation at hand. If he had made his relationship with his House somewhat questionable, having these connections in another House could be just what he needed! It could make him a little more useful to his Matron even. He wasn't too aware of their House politics, however, and his Matron would not care too much to listen to him. It could be better to save the new connection for his own benefit.
The bounty hunter smiled at Iztheri's load of supplies. Salves! Medication too! Tomorrow this time he was sure his body would be feeling much better. Sol looked down as Iztheri gingerly touched his side. Bruising was worse than he expected, hopefully nothing badly internal had occurred. Her touch was light and gentle, not too hard to send pain.
"Mmm, not too sharp. But it is sore. Do you think I have anything broken?" Solmur'ss really hoped not. He would never ask her to expend a healing spell on him but he did want to be traveling the next day. He knew he would just have to tough it out one way or another. Sol gave a tired sigh, "I was hoping to travel tomorrow."
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Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 1:29 pm
Iztheri eyed the bounty hunter as he smiled appreciatively at her collection of salves and medications. She'd have to make sure to lock up her room once she finished seeing to him..having her salves and medicine filched was not something she cared to see happen. Especially with this new fellow in the House for the night. She'd certainly get a sound tongue lashing, perhaps even a few lashes from her aunt's snake whip for allowing Phraktos to bring the fellow in the House and allow him to remain for the night. If anything were to go missing it was as much her fault as it would be her brother's. Of course..he wouldn't see any punishment since he was going to be jubilantly leaving for Gaullidurth in the morning.
Though with his departure she would also be left with less distractions as well. Tos tended to pop into her study room and her medicine room whenever he was visiting and disrupt her work..that was something she was constantly cursing him for. Though..Tos knew well enough now not to annoy her when she was studying her magic...she couldn't help but grin remembering how she had dealt with him the last time.
"They don't feel broken. They're probably just bruised and jostled. They shouldn't take too long in healing." Iztheri replied, as she turned to grab a small bottle and one of her salves. She scooped out a small bit of it with her right hand and placed it in the small bottle, and handed it over to him.
"Traveling?" She asked looking up with a slight look of surprise on her face. "Ah..Tos convinced you to accompany him to Guallidurth then. Good luck surviving his companionship." She said with a slight laugh.
"You should be fine to travel. The salve I just gave you will help in healing up the bruise and keeping your ribs from hurting too much. Just apply it once in the morning and evening and in a couple of days the bruise should be gone." She added quickly after, grabbing a cork for the bottle and handed it over, and then started smearing the small bit of salve leftover on her hand onto his side.
"Oh..this will sting a little."
Once she was finished with that she peered at the remnants of dried blood on his face, her gaze settling on his nose. "Looks like your nose is alright..nothing broken..fortunately. The salve will work on preventing bruising to appear on your face as well. Now for that cut on your arm, looks like it needs to be cleaned out before I try and stitch it up."
Phraktos had been ambling slowly through the hallways..taking his time in getting to his sister's medicine room knowing that she would want some time to see to Solmur'ss wounds before he showed up. He had no clue why she seemed to get a kick out of helping bandage up people...maybe it was because he had been such a klutz as a child. He chuckled remembering the time he had gotten into a scuffle with one of his now deceased cousins. He had ended up with a puffy blackened face, blood all over his face and a broken wrist.
Even then he had known that his Matron would have punished him for losing the fight and he would have to endure more pain at her evil hands..so he had gone to his older sister. She had taken one look at him and thrown the warrior she had been attending to out of the room and had gotten straight to work. Her touch had been gentle and almost caring as she had attended to him..and it wasn't something he had forgotten.
Perhaps this was why he was so loyal to her. She didn't torture him or try to put him in his "place" like all the other females in his family. Though she had no qualms in whipping him every now and then when his petty pranks destroyed her room or a part of the House that she particularly cared for. Of course..he didn't mind it. That was one thing that he wasn't about to hold against her. Not to mention the fact that no matter how vicious her whippings were he had never really noticed them or felt them. Funny how that worked. He remembered every whipping the Matron gave him and held every single one of them against her with fervor and anger.
His memories fell back into nothingness in the back of his mind as he came to a stop outside the door of Iztheri's medical room. He knocked lightly on the door, and waited called through the door with a loud clear voice.
"Hey...are you done in there Iz, Sol?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 3:13 pm
"I'm glad they aren't broken." Sol felt relief at her prognosis. Bruising and discomfort could be ignored. "I think I can survive Phraktos long enough!" He grinned at her comment. From the sound of it, Phraktos had been planning this trip for a while maybe. His sister knew about it, so Phraktos had not been lying about his intentions so far. That made their travel more likely to go smoothly. A male leaving his house alone could mean trouble in most cases. As a bounty hunter, Sol knew that very well! In this case, however, it seemed more likely that Phraktos was leaving with female consent.
About to say something in thanks, Solmur'ss instead grimaced as the stinging sensation hit suddenly. She had been right about that! He nodded to Iztheri, setting his new bottle of salve down with his cloak. The male had not realized his arm had been wounded enough to need stitches. It did look deeper than he could feel. Keeping it from infection might take some careful watching as he traveled.
Was he requiring too much attention? This female had to be expecting something in return. His obedient nature couldn't possibly be enough to sweep him under the radar completely. So far, these strange siblings were fairly eager to be helpful. Despite every sign, he just could not feel at ease. Sol watched Iztheri carefully as she moved to prep his arm for stitches.
"I did not expect to be this much of an inconvenience for you.." Solmur'ss was trying to sound out some motivation on Iztheri's part when her brother came to the room. Sol went silent, deferring to the female to answer.
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 4:17 pm
Iztheri shook her head at Sol's reply. "So you say so now..you have yet to experience the type of chaos that follows him wherever he goes. I still don't know how it's possible for him to attract as much trouble as he does." She replied with a shake of her head.
She turned to the door, and flung it open and glared at Tos with dull eyes.
"What have I told you about lurking outside this door? Make yourself useful and get me some hot water...no delaying. Sol's got a wound that needs to be cleaned and stitched up."
"I brought food." Phraktos replied with a slight grin, holding his bundle up in front of Izthere's face.
Iztheri raised an eyebrow at him and then snatched it away..saying only. "GO." Her tone of voice immediately had Phraktos turning to go get what she wanted without another word.
Iztheri turned back and put the bag down next to Sol on the exam table and waved her hand in dismissal of his earlier words.
"Forget it. Healing is something I actually enjoy doing..you're not an inconvenience for me. Just sit back and relax while I work."
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Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 12:45 pm
Solmur'ss nodded politely, taking Phraktos's sister's warning into mind. He was used to plenty of trouble on his own, but he wasn't looking forward to too much of it once he reached a new city. Well, not more than they planned to cause at least. The trip was supposed to be a bit of a break for him. Sol would be working as hard as ever, but just having less drow in his immediate vicinity who knew his name and face would be a fine break! The bounty hunter knew he did not need excessive chaos from being associated with Phraktos to add to his own problems. Though the excitement could be worth it.
Iztheri let Phraktos in. Solmur'ss couldn't help that his attention targeted the bundle of food. The last thing his body had was that awful strong sewage they called a drink at the tavern. He wouldn't presume it was for him, although when Iztheri sat it next to him Sol had half a mind to take that as a sign. Hm. You could never tell with a female though. Sol reasoned that she was just as likely to accuse him of stealing it or stealing even this salve she had given him. Whatever she said would be the truth if that's the way she wanted it.
"Of course, Lady Iztheri. I am glad you enjoy healing." Solmur'ss tried to relax his muscles and sink into a comfortable posture to wait with more patience. She was certainly right, being tense and anxious over traveling was not going to help him heal.
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