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 Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 5:37 pm
The dagger was a very attractive piece. The blade itself was made from a rare, expensive metal from Above, called starsilver. The stuff was apparently made from pieces of ore that fell from the sky which a smith had to heat to near plasmic temperatures to make it malleable enough to smelt into any usable form. Due to the rarity of starsilver in the Underdark, it was incredibly expensive to procure. If a weapon had a core shaft of starsilver it was paid for in platinum. This dagger's entire blade was made of the stuff.
Which was why Val was so irritated that his find had been stolen from him. He hadn't come by the piece completely fairly, but he hadn't stolen it. He'd won it in a game of faro while out drinking with friends. He'd taken shameless advantage of a very drunk thief who had enjoyed bragging about his talent for thievery. Val had enjoyed winning the thing off him. It hadn't been an easy win, either, because Val's hand had been horrible, and he'd not learned enough about cheating at cards to be any good at it. It had been mostly luck, since they'd all been too drunk for skill.
And now he'd lost the dagger. Well. Not lost. It was stolen from him. He'd seen the thief doing it, but he'd been playing his nightly game, setting himself up to fall victim to thieves, thugs, and cutthroats. It was a fun challenge for him, and he'd rarely found himself in more trouble than he could handle. As part of his game, he either caught thieves instantly or trailed them, working on his hunting and tracking skills. This thief had actually managed to escape him that night, though he'd followed until it was daytime, at which point, but the rules to his private game, he had to go home.
He had decided to return to hunting the thief from the night before, having found out where the thief might be working. It wasn't an area he was particularly familiar with, as it was in the merchant district, specifically on a street which catered to those who practiced the arcane arts. He didn't go there. He had no reason to: he cast no spells and neither did anyone else in his family, except Trielnolu, who was in Gallidurth, studying and recovering. It was interesting that the thief was interested in such a wide variety of wares, but not interesting enough for Val to let him go. He wanted his knife back.
So Val walked the shady evening streets and tried not to look like he was prowling, even though he was. His eyes peered into the darkest shadows, seeking the stocky figure with the c**k's comb hairstyle who had stolen his dagger. He'd been told the thief went by the name Hatchwod, not that it had any bearing on his hunt, as he didn't think he'd get any assistance from other thieves in finding Hatchwod, but no knowledge was ever wasted.
For a brief instant he saw the stocky male's body collide with someone else's and he sprang after him, accidentally brushing against the victim in his haste.
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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 1:43 pm
Dra'nahfiel, mage apprentice to a great master wizard, was in a horrid mood. He had supposed to have had the day off, but at the last minute the night before, his master had chosen to request him to forgo letting him have the day off. It riled him that his master had chosen to withhold it this day of all days...he had been planning on meeting up with Imordana. But rather than argue or say anything about it to his master, Dra had kept silent his about his discontent and outright rage at the sudden change.
So instead of going to meet Imordana, like he had been planning he was off to retrieve an item for his master. Of course, it just had to be in Llurth Dreir...leagues away from the city of Undrek'thozz where he resided. He had to get up extra early in order to go through the proper portals to get to the city in time for the exchange that was to happen in the magical wares section of the marketplace.
It didn't help that to get to each portal, it took at least half an hour to an hour to walk to each one. By the time he made it to the appointed area, he was only several moments early for the appointed meeting. Still in a foul mood, he eyed the area, trying to get a read on who might be the individual he was meeting. Apparently from what his master had told him, the exchange was to happen discretely out in public. It wasn't really the type of meeting that Dra' preferred, but since it was a job for his master he didn't really have any say in the matter.
It didn't take long for Dra' to be signaled from one of the merchant tents.
He was, rather easy to spot as being a mage, with the magical staff he carried at all times strapped to his side. He ambled over to the tent casually, taking his time to let his eyes flit over the wares the owner had displayed.
"Are you the bluebird?" The merchant mumbled in a low tone.
"No. I'm the snake." Dra' replied, remembering the code word at the last moment. All this displayed secrecy was rather wearing on his nerves.
The male eyed him carefully, sensing the displeasure in Dra's tone. Dra practically rolled his eyes at the male, it wasn't as if he were going to use his magic against him, this was public after all. Dra' chose a few items from the table in a guise to the other people milling around the table and close by, and began to haggle with the merchant.
Apparently that had been what the merchant had been waiting for. He rather seemed to enjoy the game of haggling, for the merchant became rather boisterous and congenial with him. Dra' continued on, until finally the merchant gave in and proceeded to gather up the items Dra' had bought, adding in the item Dra' had come to collect to the bag which he handed over to him. Dra' rolled his eyes, rather angry with the fact that the man had wasted so much of his time.
Dra' attached the bag to his belt securely then tried to estimate the time. Perhaps if he were to leave now, he'd still be able to catch Imordana before she discovered that he wasn't going to come meet her. That was when, unfortune took its opportunity to smile on him. Someone suddenly collided with him, causing him to stumble and almost fall over.
Before he could catch himself, yet another individual brushed by him. It was so slight that Dra' had almost missed it, but when his hand went to check the bag he had attached to his belt, his ire was immediately raised. It was gone! His blue eyes blazing, and his staff glowing in his hand he followed after the last person to touch his person, fully intent on bringing his rage down on them.
"Stop thief!" Dra' cried in a loud reverberating angry tone. His tenor voice shook the stones of the marketplace, as a blast came from his staff, knocking the fleeing drow to his face.
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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 7:05 pm
It didn't occur to Val for one moment that the male he had brushed might be addressing him when he commanded the thief to stop. Val had acquired a number of interesting skills over the course of his life, but he had never turned his hand to thievery. For one thing, he was far too noticeable at his rather impressive stature, and for another thing, he simply did not have a thief's temperment. At any rate, he did not think that he was the one being addressed, and therefore he did not expect to be knocked onto his face by a magical attack.
He'd only felt the barest tingle warning of the impending attack, and considering that he was in a market which catered to mages, it was hardly an oddity to sense magic. Besides, there was no reason he could see for a person to attack him. It was too early yet for any but the stupidest of cutthroats to ply their trade, and most didn't use magic to do so anyway. Had he thought to counter the attack, he might have managed to diminish some of the force with which it struck him, but he couldn't have blocked it completely. He didn't do anything preventative though, and so he ended up with his face on the ground and a scrape on his chin which tingled in a maddening way unique to those of House Baen'duis, mixing pleasure and pain.
Moving slowly to avoid provoking any further attack until he had at least ascertained who had issued the first attack, Val pushed himself off the ground and into a kneeling position. To someone who wasn't trained as a warrior, it might have looked like a position of supplication, and even to certain schools of fighting it might have given that appearance, but Valyrr was able to move with incredibly speed at need, even from a kneeling position. He might be able to propel himself backward and turn around while doing so fast enough to cut his assailant down, but he'd rather not have to. Instead he composed his mind and constructed the defensive shield spell taught to all warriors to prevent his attacker from destroying him before he could demand an explanation.
"You missed," he growled as he turned to look over his shoulder. "And now the thief and whatever he's stolen from you is scampering away."
He probably could have phrased that more politely, considering that he was addressing a mage that he couldn't see and he had no weapons in his hands, but he was irritated and the scrape on his chin was throbbing in a distracting way. He'd been a lot more sensitive to that fine line between pain and pleasure lately, and it made him irritable to find that something as simple as a scrape was now a semi-sensual experience. He didn't know how Shri managed to cope, as her gift was far greater than his. It probably explained why she was so responsive.
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Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 1:44 pm
Dra'nahfiel was rather surprised when the supposed thief wasn't incompacitated by his spell, and was able to move into a kneeling position. As Dra' drew nearer, he was a bit taken back by the fact that the other male was covered in armor, and looked more like a warrior than a thief. Dra' frowned, and approached the drow cautiously.
When the other drow spoke, Dra' became even more irritated.
"I figured that out when you weren't incompacitated. By all appearances, you were after the same thief. Indulge me with what the piece of roth dung has taken from you. That is, while we work on capturing him. I must get the satchel back that he took, it's of the utmost importance."
Dra' replied, frustration and rage still etched on his features.
"I don't suppose you'd be willing to work together to catch the xsa'us lotha to'zoe? Or we could split up, and whoever catches him first will return the others items to them."
Dra said, not really waiting for a response, taking off in the direction he had last seen the thief go. He figured that if the warrior was up for it, he would either follow or not. Either way, if there were two people searching for the thief there was more of a possibility that one of them would eventually catch him. And if the warrior didn't return his items, he would always be able to find him and get them away from him, now that he had used a spell against him.
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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:21 am
Val shook his head sharply to dislodge the spell's lingering effects and found that he was baring his teeth ferally. That wouldn't do. He blanked his expression and stood up the rest of the way. It didn't take him too long to regain his balance, though longer than it would have under normal circumstances. Once standing, Valyrr shifted his weight to the balls of his feet and took off after the mage and the thief.
It felt good to run. He hadn't had much opportunity for it lately, but his muscles remembered what was expected of them and shortly he was gaining on the mage and their shared quarry, and then he was keeping pace with the mage. He knew he could push himself harder and go faster, but the words the mage had spoken to him did seem to require a response, even if the mage hadn't waited for one.
"I'll work with you," he said, measuring his breathing and timing his words carefully so that he wouldn't have to significantly alter his pace or the rhythm of his deep inhalations and exhalations. "But if you plan to throw any more magic around, make sure it hits the right person, or leave the throwing to someone who's likely to hit the target."
Weaving through the crowd was an interesting challenge. Doing so while keeping his eye on the thief made it more so. Even though he was taller than most male drow, he was of a height with most females, which meant he couldn't really look over the heads of all and just find the fast-moving short person. This was enough fun that he might actually let the thief live, assuming his new hunting mate had no objections. Maybe he should go hunting in the wilds. That might be exciting.
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Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 3:05 pm
Dra'nahfiel wasn't surprised when the other managed to catch up with him, he had seemed to be the sort to be the physical type. It was something that most drow didn't realize about him. Usually they saw the cloak, and figured since he was a mage his body wasn't as finely tuned as his mind was. Unfortunately for those that underestimated him, Dra's body was as active as his mind was.
Dra simply nodded to the other, as the male measured his words and breathing so that he could be understood easily. "I apologize for attacking you. I was mistaken. It won't happen again." Dra promised, and then reached out with his magic trying to get a sense for the thief.
When his seeking spell came back to him, Dra spoke once more saying, "Keep chasing him, I'll head him off where he's going to end up. Also make sure he can hear you and thinks there's only you after him."
Then he abruptly stopped running. He grinned, and continued the chase in a leisurely pace in another direction than he had been going. He figured that the thief hadn't even noticed that two had been following him, and it would give him the opportunity to catch the thief unaware if the thief was more concerned with who was following him. Oh..this was going to be quite fun once they caught their prey.
Dra stopped in a back alley, and started working a transporting spell. He drew several magic signs in a circle in the dust around him, and then a triangle in the middle of that. Dra had to be careful with his robes so that the signs weren't messed up as he drew them. That wouldn't do much him much good. Not to mention cause him to end up in some strange realm that he wouldn't be able to get out of.
He finally finished with the drawings, then stood up, held his arms up and began tracing other signs in the air as he began chanting. The signs around him flared up in bright purples and blues as each word was spoken. As the last sign flared, and the last syllable left Dra's lips, Dra's body went see through before he disappeared in a bright flash of red light and he went hurtling towards the thief's destination.
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