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 Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 6:26 pm
Tovarishch " Needs a first for everything, y'know?" Unsane could barely conceal the smile that was creeping up the corner of his lips. The more he heard about the Argus, the more he wanted to go. A place where the people that counted met and discussed. He could compare it to the Place d'Armes of his family's lands in the Underworld. In the higher spheres, you simply did not exist unless you were seen there daily. The tip of his foot tapped the floor impatiently. His decision was made, and although it would be reckless, he knew the profits were worth the investment. " Can I buy you a map of the city or a guide? I also need snub clothes, I don't know what's in in the desert, and half a dozen bottles of water. I'll pay however much you need to get it all before noon tomorrow." Saiya hissed something incoherent in an unfamiliar dialect, nearly jumping to her feet. It didn't sound complimentary, whatever it was. Perseus put out a hand to stay her where she was, and said, quite calmly. "In case you ain't noticed, Malkin's not exactly Strata's sweetheart right about now. You don't got enough money to get her out and about on the streets--hell, even the rooftops, if they wasn't so slicked over with ice--in broad daylight." Saiya said something that didn't sound like her voice at all. Her accent mangled the words almost beyond recognition. "Too many people it would make too ******** happy to see me up along with you on Chrysogon's Spine, darlin'."
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Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007 8:17 pm
"Why would I wanna take Malkin? She can't even make up her mind about her own damn name, how could I trust her around the city?" He grumbled. Unsane wished inside that people would give him a bit more credit. Of course he wouldn't waltz around in broad daylight. Having a disguise was useless if you walked around in the open all day. "Come on, can't you see how ridiculously beautiful the situation is? The whole of Strata's jet-set holes itself up in a little coop, waiting for the wolf to gobble 'em up." His smirked had turned to an annoying grimace by now, and he started pacing, fumbling. "I can make it snow over half the damn desert, but can I get directions and spare change from an alley rat? Noooo. Nice overlord I make."
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Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:18 pm
Tovarishch " Why would I wanna take Malkin? She can't even make up her mind about her own damn name, how could I trust her around the city?" He grumbled. Unsane wished inside that people would give him a bit more credit. Of course he wouldn't waltz around in broad daylight. Having a disguise was useless if you walked around in the open all day. " Come on, can't you see how ridiculously beautiful the situation is? The whole of Strata's jet-set holes itself up in a little coop, waiting for the wolf to gobble 'em up." His smirked had turned to an annoying grimace by now, and he started pacing, fumbling. " I can make it snow over half the damn desert, but can I get directions and spare change from an alley rat? Noooo. Nice overlord I make." Saiya's hackles lowered almost visibly, and she gave him a skeptical kind of look. "The Argus ain't little. And it ain't a chicken coop, neither. I knew the last guy to try to break into that place. They threw him out the next morning. He's a crip now. Both legs got broke, and his head--" she touched her temple with a forefinger. "Ita'd been kinder to kill him straight-out. You don't ever want to touch the wards they got in that place. Margot says they's eons old. Back from when the Argus was strong." Perseus had remained quiet, head cocked a little to one side and watching Unsane with narrow yellow eyes. Now, he was toying with one of his fetishes again. "Overlord?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2007 10:01 pm
"Yes, overlord. Emperor, king, whatever words people use here, with ways to prove it." His eyes stayed on Perseus' charms. It was tricky telling someone he was of noble descent in the current context. "Which makes me blue-blooded. As noble as any in your Argus, and probably even more. To top it off, I know a trick or two that any mages that respect themselves would kill their sister to know. If I go there, I won't have to sneak or break in. They'll open their arms wide and pull out the red carpet."
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 4:55 pm
Tovarishch " Yes, overlord. Emperor, king, whatever words people use here, with ways to prove it." His eyes stayed on Perseus' charms. It was tricky telling someone he was of noble descent in the current context. " Which makes me blue-blooded. As noble as any in your Argus, and probably even more. To top it off, I know a trick or two that any mages that respect themselves would kill their sister to know. If I go there, I won't have to sneak or break in. They'll open their arms wide and pull out the red carpet." "Not likely," Perseus said absently, releasing the fetish he had been twiddling for the past few minutes. "Unless you're Sibyline, your magic is so much ******** dirt to 'em. What odd's'd you give me that he's from one of the 'accepted' schools, Malkin?" Her eyes were narrowed, set on Unsane like a mean, amber-eyed alley cat. "Not worth the time to puzzle 'em out. You might get by on the diplomat card, if they'd heard of where you come from and you got the trim to prove it. But dressed like that, you ain't gonna get within twenty feet of that red carpet." Perseus and Malkin exchanged looks. "What'd you be planning on doing once you got in there, anyhow?" she asked.
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Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 9:42 am
Saiyamoru "Not likely," Perseus said absently, releasing the fetish he had been twiddling for the past few minutes. "Unless you're Sybilline, your magic is so much ******** dirt to 'em. What odd's'd you give me that he's from one of the 'accepted' schools, Malkin?" Her eyes were narrowed, set on Unsane like a mean, amber-eyed alley cat. "Not worth the time to puzzle 'em out. You might get by on the diplomat card, if they'd heard of where you come from and you got the trim to prove it. But dressed like that, you ain't gonna get within twenty feet of that red carpet." Perseus and Malkin exchanged looks. "What'd you be planning on doing once you got in there, anyhow?" she asked. "Look around." He shrugged. " Get a feel for the place. Find who's conceited and full of themselves, find who's nervous and influenceable. Either that or get arrested, I guess. What's a Sybilline? Or an accepted school, for all that matters? It feels like nothing in the damn city works the same way as the rest of the world." With every minute he spent in the place, Unsane felt more backwater, and it was making him slightly grumpy. He had started pacing slightly, scratching his chin. There was no way they would've heard of the Esthell Empire. He had made researches throughout Gaia and no scholar, archaeologist or archmagi had yet to find a trace of remains from it. " Probably better that way, though ..." he grumbled.
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Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 11:16 am
Tovarishch Saiyamoru "Not likely," Perseus said absently, releasing the fetish he had been twiddling for the past few minutes. "Unless you're Sibyline, your magic is so much ******** dirt to 'em. What odd's'd you give me that he's from one of the 'accepted' schools, Malkin?" Her eyes were narrowed, set on Unsane like a mean, amber-eyed alley cat. "Not worth the time to puzzle 'em out. You might get by on the diplomat card, if they'd heard of where you come from and you got the trim to prove it. But dressed like that, you ain't gonna get within twenty feet of that red carpet." Perseus and Malkin exchanged looks. "What'd you be planning on doing once you got in there, anyhow?" she asked. "Look around." He shrugged. " Get a feel for the place. Find who's conceited and full of themselves, find who's nervous and influenceable. Either that or get arrested, I guess. What's a Sibyline? Or an accepted school, for all that matters? It feels like nothing in the damn city works the same way as the rest of the world." With every minute he spent in the place, Unsane felt more backwater, and it was making him slightly grumpy. He had started pacing slightly, scratching his chin. There was no way they would've heard of the Esthell Empire. He had made researches throughout Gaia and no scholar, archaeologist or archmagi had yet to find a trace of remains from it. " Probably better that way, though ..." he grumbled. "There are three 'accepted' schools you can belong to in the Argus which won't get you burned. Although you'll still probably get dragged along for--" she glanced over at Perseus, not knowing the right word for it. "Thaumaturgical debates," he supplied absently. "Right. Them." Malkin held up one hand, counting off as she listed. "Malkavian, Sibyline and the Amarantics." She paused, thinking. "Unless you count the bloodwitches. The Argus'll stand for them, though it ain't like nobody's lining up to invite them to the ******** soirees or nothing. They's more on the Nether City's count, anyways." Malkin gave him a glance that had knife-sharp edges to it. "And no. Strata ain't like anyplace else. That's 'cause places like Latent, they know who's top dog, who's running the gangs, and they got so far up the chain that whatever s**t they're up to don't matter, 'cause long as they're the ones doing it, it's legal. Strata's ain't got no top dog, ain't never had one. The Argus claims they run things, and ain't nobody smart going to challenge that. They're weaker than they once were, but they still have the freak hocuses like Scipio Melaire hanging around. Some of us may not be ******** geniuses down here, but nobody's that suicidal."
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Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 11:33 am
Unsane felt like slapping her. "Ain't nobody smart -enough- to challenge that, you mean. Commoner logic like that'll never get you anywhere!" He threw his arms in the air and turned to Perseus. "So what if the Argus has a handful of brutes? Is that reason enough to let them claim a throne they don't deserve? Rip mothers out of their houses?"
The demon took a second to calm down. He couldn't help getting carried away. The situation was too familiar and too ugly. As a ruler himself, one that actually cares for his people, Strata's state was an abherration, something had to be done.
His hands buried within the pockets of his jacket, and his cold eyes scanned the room.
"You're too scared of dying to dare living. It's sickening."
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Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 12:14 pm
Tovarishch Unsane felt like slapping her. " Ain't nobody smart -enough- to challenge that, you mean. Commoner logic like that'll never get you anywhere!" He threw his arms in the air and turned to Perseus. " So what if the Argus has a handful of brutes? Is that reason enough to let them claim a throne they don't deserve? Rip mothers out of their houses?" The demon took a second to calm down. He couldn't help getting carried away. The situation was too familiar and too ugly. As a ruler himself, one that actually cares for his people, Strata's state was an abherration, something had to be done. His hands buried within the pockets of his jacket, and his cold eyes scanned the room. " You're too scared of dying to dare living. It's sickening." Saiya leapt up, snarling. "<********> you!" "You don't live here. You don't got any idea what Strata's like. Your friends ain't never died for their magic, ain't never been dragged down to the sanguette for something they don't know no better than to do. Half of our clutch weren't past their first indiction when they died, you a*****e! What do you want us to do? Rip up the cobblestones and throw 'em at the Argus 'till it falls down or something? Do you think nobody's tried?" She stared at him for a moment. Then, in quieter tones, she said, "There's a graveyard in this city called Lilieston. Biggest in Strata. Half of those graves are unmarked. You want to know why? That's where they bury the heretics, the rebellions, the kept-thieves. The Argus didn't ever ask their names before they took them to the chopping block."
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Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 12:27 pm
He had a sharp remark all ready to shoot forth, but he kept it far in the back of his throat. Getting Malkin any angrier at him wasn't going to help him. Instead, he returned the stare, letting the silent linger.
Then, he cleared his throat.
"Very well. I take you two as my witnesses. I, Overlord Fallon Esthell the Third, great king of the Esthell Empire", he spoke loudly, chest pumped in pride, "hereby declare war upon this city-state Strata, for its insulting and barbaric treatment of civilian life, seen as an insult to the Empire, and with the goal of freeing the denizens of their shackles of fear, to give them back the key to their home." The solemn announcement was over, and when he spoke again, Unsane's voice was almost a whisper. "You can follow me if you want or stay here, I don't care, but trust that my grave will have my name carved in stone and bronze."
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Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 12:43 pm
Tovarishch He had a sharp remark all ready to shoot forth, but he kept it far in the back of his throat. Getting Malkin any angrier at him wasn't going to help him. Instead, he returned the stare, letting the silent linger. Then, he cleared his throat. " Very well. I take you two as my witnesses. I, Overlord Fallon Esthell the Third, great king of the Esthell Empire", he spoke loudly, chest pumped in pride, " hereby declare war upon this city-state Strata, for its insulting and barbaric treatment of civilian life, seen as an insult to the Empire, and with the goal of freeing the denizens of their shackles of fear, to give them back the key to their home." The solemn announcement was over, and when he spoke again, Unsane's voice was almost a whisper. " You can follow me if you want or stay here, I don't care, but trust that my grave will have my name carved in stone and bronze." Perseus held up his hands. "Malkin, I don't care what kind of s**t you get wrapped up in. But neither of you's going to drag me into this, deal?" "I mind you," Malkin said absently, her eyes still on Unsane. "Alright, your majesty. You and what army?" Despite herself, she was intrigued. How did he plan to pull this off? Or was he just another hocus driven mad by the desert? Wouldn't have been the first to been found wandering witlessly about the Barthavos.
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Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 12:55 pm
"Marching in Strata right now would be a bad idea. Crossing the sand, and then the snow that's covering half the desert would get them too tired to put up a fight against anyone."
That, and his army was made of madmen, circus freaks and jailbait, but no one needed to know that.
Ahem. "So it'll be me and whoever will follow for now. If we're to infiltrate the Argus, it's better as a small group anyway. Once the higher-ups like us, we can start offing the influencial heads slowly until they're all disorganized and paranoid enough to take over. How frequent are noble feuds in Strata?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 5:38 pm
Tovarishch "Marching in Strata right now would be a bad idea. Crossing the sand, and then the snow that's covering half the desert would get them too tired to put up a fight against anyone." That, and his army was made of madmen, circus freaks and jailbait, but no one needed to know that. Ahem. "So it'll be me and whoever will follow for now. If we're to infiltrate the Argus, it's better as a small group anyway. Once the higher-ups like us, we can start offing the influencial heads slowly until they're all disorganized and paranoid enough to take over. How frequent are noble feuds in Strata?" "Feuds?" She tilted her head a little to one side. "Oh, like the when the clutches fight, you mean? Not often. Nothing in the Argus's out in the open. If there's a fight to be done, it's going to be quiet. Nobles and wizards don't take their problems out to air. Some in there could almost be sneakthieves, the way they go about it."
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 4:49 pm
Light glinting off his shield and back into the sky, blinding any of the other travelers behind him unscrupulously, the brown haired shield bearer unconcerned with their discomfort as he looked around in open awe, jaw opened wide as he beheld the sights of Strata. " Wow...." He murmured softly, hitching his shield up alittle and the pack hidden beneath it, the straps running in an X across his chest and ending just above his belt, where two identical short swords were strapped. He was dressed as most of the other travelers exiting the boat, loose brown pants and a brown shirt, but his chest was covered in what was called a brigande, a tight, thick leather sleeveless shirt thing with a golden star emblazoned over his heart. " Where first? Inn? See the sights? drink?" He asked no one in particular. His name was Damion Hedley, a simple wanderer from the islands come to the mainland for alittle adventure, Stratus seeming like the perfect place to do just that. As he began to walk deeper into the port though, his expression began to turn into one of confusion, instead of just awe. Spinning in place, it suddenly occured to him that maybe buying a map or something would be his best bet, but he also didn't have any money left after paying for the trip to Strata in the first place. He hardly had any food left at that, just afew peices of jerky in his pack and a waterskin in the same place. Damion quite literally carried all he owned on his back and hips. His shields and swords weren't even technically his, they were his families, which he happened to run away with.
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 8:20 pm
Damion sighed, flopping down on the nearest crate available, sighing and leaning forward to put his chin on his hands, elbows resting on his knees." Well maybe this wasn't such a hot idea after all..." He murmured, second guessing himself now that he had finally made it and was broke at the same time. Maybe he could do some grunt work for awhile? Just to make some money? " Yeah....hey yeah!" He cried, hopping up onto his feet, standing on the edge of the crate with a look of triumph on his face, fists clenched at his hips as he pumped one into the air. Little did the overexcited islander know that two sailors had waited for just that moment to pick up said crate, lifting it up in a rush and sending Damion straight for the ground, a look of complete suprise on his face. For most people, this would mean a faceplant and probably some broken bones, but Damion had fallen out of trees far higher than this, and as he got closer to the ground his body curled up into a ball, his neck impacting and rolling him over, the shield protecting his back as he lunged up onto his feet, hands gripping the leather wrapped hilts of his sword, facing towards the sailors with a look of anger replacing that of shock." Damn it what is your problem?!!" He snarled at the laughing men, even as they carried the crate up onto a ship, leaving him standing there on the dock in a somewhat fighting stance.
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