Shintheory Role-Playing
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| | Endless [Sand] Waltz * |  |
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Kiun
Intern
Rep! : 10
Location : GARhalla
| | Subject: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Sun May 22, 2011 6:36 am | |
|  “It’s dangerous out there, you know.”
“I know,” said the red-haired man. “I’ll be careful.”
“See to it that you are.” Two men stood, one armed with steel fitted to cloth, and another dressed mostly in rags sitting atop a carriage drawn by two camels – one tall and strong, one young and small – conversed by an open area, delegated as a gate to the town of Rajeh. The two traded brief words of familiarity and such offhand topics as the armed one’s wife and children, and the various packages stowed away in the auburn merchant’s caravan. It never lasted for long, not now, or any of the times it happened, and the conversation would end. With it, the man would nod his head and step away, and the merchant leading the cart would wave silently. The two, who appeared to be somewhat close friends, would part company another time, as the guard would retreat back to his station, and the man would lead his ride into the eyebleed inducing morning sun as it rose in the horizon. Still it was, rather cold from the night like always, but the heat could be felt rapidly approaching, like an angry wave crashing into whatever dared stand in its wake. Nothing abnormal, Rashn thought to himself, as another day in the desert began with him and his carriage, treading through the sandy hills without a smile or care present on his face.
Time would pass, and the sun would rise further and further into the sky. With the sales of ore settled for now, he had picked up a few extra things, such as cloth and food, that he would peddle in another region who had no such easy access to them. The carriage was nearly full, save for the bench with which the man sat atop. His hand snaked its way into one such package and pulled out another signature roll of cinnamon which would not last long in his jaws. The day was still to be considered new, and he had made good progress already, but it was probably time for a rest none-the-less. Short, frequent breaks seemed to work well for his camels’ bodies, and for his sanity as well. It’s not like it would harm him, or anything: were he to not take a single break it would still take them the better part of two full days to reach the next major village, and one or two extra breaks would not change that.
However, he decided, as he scanned the horizon, it was not yet time. He would like to find at least some sort of shade for his ride to rest in, and there were none of the shade-inducing giant slabs of rock to be found. How they got there, and what made them stick out of the ground as they did, he never knew: they were there when he awoke on the first day, and they had been there since. He never thought of it as weird: only normal. It didn’t make sense to him, but neither did much of anything in the desert, and all he cared about were the things he actually could understand, and the number one being that his camels would need to find shade if they were to stay healthy enough to travel, and so, until such shade would be found, they would continue. Whether they ran into bandits or other merchants, it was his normal duty to keep on keeping on.
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| | | | aѕceпxion
Supreme Mystic
Rep! : 56
Location : California
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Sun May 22, 2011 2:23 pm | |
| Since earlier on in the day I had left from the village of Rajeh moving out into the large and expansive desert for questionable purposes and reasons, leaving the bubbling population of ruled desert residents to head elsewhere. Still, the narration leaves me for a moment in my meandering through the heat to focus on the initial area where one such merchant was finding himself moving through.
As Rashn moved through this area of the desert, he may or may not notice odd looking plants in the desert sands. Much less plants, they were actually more along the lines of hollowed bamboo stalks, the type that didn’t seem to fit in with this region of the world. There weren’t terribly many of them, just about six or so that were set on either sides of the projected travel path of the merchant.
They would be bandits, the origins of these straws of sorts. Skilled in laying low to the land, they would wait for large things such as carts and such and then cover their bodies with sand in the direction they thought the cart would pass using the stalks as breathing apparatuses with the appropriate clothing, or rather head gear to at least keep their main vital orifices free of sand during this ambushing process, though their lower orifices would be game for the permeating sands. Among bandits, these had a particular skill set that allowed them to sense movement and vibration in the sand. They would wait until Rashn was near before leaping out of the sand and appearing on all sides much like a random encounter. Odd looking individuals in leather bound armor, face goggles, bandanas and caps, they would be wielding thick curled scimitars with 4 to the left side, one to the immediate right and two in front of the cart. Giving an audible increase in vocal tone, they rush towards the cart with weapons raised.
The two in front would seek out their objective of covering the camel’s head with a sack with the purpose of saying calm during the rush as the four on the left would hold the purpose of attempting to strike Rashn from his perch to attempt to pull him down and throw him from the cart. The one on the right would be support and stand by just in case something went horribly wrong.
444 | |
| | | | Kiun
Intern
Rep! : 10
Location : GARhalla
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Sun May 22, 2011 11:54 pm | |
| The man, not to be daunted by the innumerable dangers of the desert, would relax himself for the long journey ahead. Everything was going well, as per usual, though never TOO good. There was not a downpour of rain, or scattered goods along the side of the road ready for him to pick up for free loot, but it was still a general good trip. Time was being handled well, the camels were fine as normal, and although it was soon time for a break, there was nothing particularly wrong. Which, naturally, simply meant that whatever was going to go wrong, as something always did, had just not happened yet. “It’ll happen, sooner or later.” Rashn mumbles to himself, shaking his head lightly to push away the sweat-inducing rays of sunlight. Up ahead, a small number of odd twig-like objects seemed to protrude from the surface of the earth. Odd, he thought, and it would likely be a good idea to check them out. Were they a rare crop? The tip of a large treasure just barely sticking out of the ground? Yet, for whatever reason, against all common sense, the man would ignore them and have his ride continue in their direction and utterly ignore them. It was a bad idea, naturally, but for whatever reason, it seemed necessary: as if, had he not ignored them, the story would not progress in the appropriate direction. Like the will of god, it was to be ignored.
And, like all things brushed off as small, they would prove to be most dangerous. Like the eruption of earth from below, seven men leapt from the ground all at once. Demons! Clearly, they were demons! Oddly dressed ones, but, demons nonetheless. Except until recently, the man never believed in such things as demons or angels or spirits, though a recent ‘random encounter’, not unlike this one, had changed his mind on such things. With the men brandishing their scimitar’s in such a dangerous fashion, and having employed such unique-ninja-like stealth techniques, they were clearly masters of ambush and to be taken as quite the intelligent group of robbers. Rashn, the victim of one such ambush, would drop his jaw in what could only be described as surprise, and his hands rose in front of his face instantaneously in presumably a defensive manner. Truly, his reaction was one of fear!
Well, not really.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” He whispered to himself internally. Outwardly, his voice boomed, “HUK!”, and as soon as his hands were raised, they were thundered down like hammers to the anvil, whipping the reins into the back of the camels. His jaw closed shortly after, the surprise of ‘what the hell kind of idiot jumps in front of a carriage drawn by two seven-and-a-half-foot-tall, near-thousand-pound beasts’ falling to the wayside as the situation demanded serious attention. The camels would, in accordance with their master’s command, plow forward rapidly, ignoring the attempt of the two in front to blind them with knapsacks. Like a rat versus a bulldozer, the two spearheading the attack would likely be squashed immediately. Hopefully for them, it was an instant death. Very easily handled.
Of course, then remained the manner of the four attacking from the left side. Rashn was no slouch with such things as bandits, and understood he could probably sacrifice a piece of gear or two to distract them, but he would, naturally, rather not. He could also try fighting them off, but he had bartered his only weapon, his dagger, like a fool. Thus was the depths of his cinnamon addiction: anything short of the two camels he trusted his life with was up for barter if it was for a stash of cinnamon. There was always the knife he kept to cut rope and such, but that was unwieldy and not sharp enough for an engagement here. Scowling to himself, he would spin backwards from the front of the ride and simply try to push back the closest one to him. Standing on the carriage, especially one of such shoddy worksmanship as his, was tough to do normally, but when the camels began to truly run, it would be near impossible. All it would take would be a little push to help ease him off, and he’d likely fall. Which would, fortunately or unfortunately depending on your view of the situation, leave only three more to deal with…
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| | | | aѕceпxion
Supreme Mystic
Rep! : 56
Location : California
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Tue May 24, 2011 12:21 am | |
| The bandits who were positioned in front of the camels would be much like deer in headlights when the camels were given the go ahead to destroy them and responded in a manner where not everything would go according to their plans. Still, if one where listening closely, very lightly, a ‘mommy’ could be heard before the males in front are run over by the camel and carriage. After that sound, of course the obligatory “bump bump” could be heard as they are passed over. How well the carriage and its suspension set up were built would determine its ability for the wheels to successfully absorb their lumpy bodies. The sudden acceleration of the cart and camel would of course throw off those males attempting to attack the merchant. The one on the right hand side would be left in the dust along with his fallen allies as two of the four who attacked from the left would attempt to cling onto the cart. They held on for dear life with fingers stretched attempting not to fall off and fall into the quick moving sands beneath them. With nothing to lose, one of the bandits looks up at his brother holding on for dear life. With watery eyes, he gives a look that spoke “remember me, aniki!” to which his cohort gave a look of surprise as if to say, “Georgie, noo!” The sacrificial bandit sways with the bumps of the carriage and gives a smile with a sparkle moment before releasing the carriage with the one hand that was holding onto it. The other male turns his head and burials his tears into his arm with the departure of his alley; in his falling, the one who let go aims his sword for the spokes of the wheel in efforts to attempt to destroy it and bring the cart sliding to a halt; if this missed, then he would simply roll… and roll and roll. Either way, the memorial oversized semi transparent portrait of the martyr bandit would be in the skies for a moment smiling down on his friend who would still attempt to be holding on for dear life if at all possible.
396 / 840 | |
| | | | Kiun
Intern
Rep! : 10
Location : GARhalla
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Tue May 24, 2011 5:22 am | |
| Clicking his tongue in distaste, the merchant would turn back to the front of the carriage and resume guidance over the vehicle. He never liked to waste life, though if it stood in the way of profit he would do so when necessary. Still, it left a foul taste in his mouth. The wheels would rack and roar with the rapid movement, and the running over of the bandits would not assist in their wellbeing. They weren’t that great to begin with, and such a feat as that would only put them further into the deep end. Rashn wasn’t aware of just how much damage that had done – such an assessment would require direct checking – but he, regardless, would need to ignore it for now. It didn’t stop the cart, and that was all that he needed immediately. Unluckily for him though, the disgust lingering inside of him would only increase as the bandit sacrificed himself to damage his ride, though honestly how that would kill him was questionable. The sound of wood being chopped would be heard, and this would cause the redhaired one to turn back his head towards the rear and curse himself, as he knew something had been cut. Like most wagons, his wheels had twelve spokes each, but even the breaking of one could cause a problem. With their proximity to one another, and the length of the blades, Rashn imagined he cut two or three on his fall. A display of surprising accuracy, to be honest.
This was, then, a very grave matter. While a couple of spokes being gone would not cause an immediate breakdown of the wagon, it would not be able to continue the rest of the trip unaided. Eventually the stress would accumulate on the other spokes and they would, in turn, break as well. He would need to tend to them quickly, or else his work load would be increased drastically. Now, a drastic workload, which could end up costing him a whole day or two, would be better than losing his life, so he would go ahead and push the carriage for as far as it could go. To be honest it was on the verge of collapse after having suffered so much damage so quickly, but there wasn’t a choice at this point: he had to continue on. “Gee!” he would boom, and the camels would turn right. Shortly after, he would continue with “Haw!”, causing them to twist back left. This was only further aggravating the wheels, but he needed to try and shake off the last (visible) bandit. If it came down to a fight, he would likely end up having to throw his gear around, or try to pick up some sort of dagger or knife off of the would-be robber. Jesus, were there no people traveling the desert who were nice or helpful? Only annoying bandits like these?
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| | | | aѕceпxion
Supreme Mystic
Rep! : 56
Location : California
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Tue May 24, 2011 5:50 pm | |
| I walk casually away from Rajeh continuing my traveling taking a slightly different route, but ending up around the area where merchant would have passed through a little earlier. In the distance I noticed a few men standing over something. Taking them to be bandits, I figured it would be best to stay low and by pass them as I continue along my way through this portion of the desert. I had come to know that men dressed oddly and in groups were best avoided as not everyone in this world tended to be kind and social.
Out of the men who had originally attacked the camel drawn carriage, three of them, the one who had been on one side by himself and two of the four who had been on the other, stand over the hoof imprinted males who had been run over by the carriage. They laid in critical conditions with fractured bones and torn and bruised areas of skin from the cutting hooves and unforgiving wheels. One man pokes them gingerly with the broad side of his scimitar. A little further down the path, the dead martyr lies on his back with his eyes closed. They suddenly open as he realizes that he was still alive. Though a bit over-dramatic in the sacrifice of his body, he had managed to live through the experience after inducing damage to the cart. Slowly he gets up with various grunts and holds his back as he gingerly gets to his feet. He looks in the distance to see the cart trailing away.
The zigging and the zagging had done well to loosen the already loose grip of the last remaining bandit who, up until that point, had held on for dear life. In a bowel loosening moment of sadness, he feels his grip slip and becomes weightless for a moment as he realizes what happened. Time seemingly resumes and the man is left in the sands and dust of the cart as it powers on. The man is sent rolling until he comes to a stop, alive, but a little battered from the experience. The heist had been a failure and the score was Merchant 1 and Bandits 0.
395 / 1235 | |
| | | | Kiun
Intern
Rep! : 10
Location : GARhalla
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Tue May 24, 2011 8:50 pm | |
| With the success of shaking the last remaining bandit off, Rashn would cast his gaze behind him in victory as he watched the man tumble and roll away like discarded trash. It sucked for them: they failed at their job and thus may not eat for some time. Were the world not such a harsh place, perhaps they could’ve all gotten along. That’s not to say that he regretted his actions, no, not at all. It was them or him. One was destined to face hardship after this encounter. Silently, he apologized to them for their misfortune, and would wish them luck with their next attempt. As long as it was on a RIVAL merchant this time, of course, and not he himself.
His grip loosened, letting some slack into the reins as he whistled softly, thinly, and lowly to calm the camels to a slow run, instead of their remorseless sprint. Now, they would really need to find shade and rest more than before. Naturally, however, he couldn’t stop just yet: not until he was a fair distance from the bandits, though he wasn’t sure exactly how much longer the wheels would last. He would continue for a fair distance, the camels mini-sprint lasting but a few more distances, before he would whip the reins lightly to their back for them to stop. Their thumping gallops would calm into pitter-patter footsteps as they halted in place. There was still no shade to be found, but he would not be able to continue long enough to find it. Before even more damage would be done, he would have to toil in the heated sun and make an attempt to fix the damaged wheels of the wagon.
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| | | | aѕceпxion
Supreme Mystic
Rep! : 56
Location : California
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Tue May 24, 2011 9:25 pm | |
| After making my way past the first set of bandits, I would make haste, something that was not enjoyed in the heat, to move beyond them to continue along my way. This would be done by keeping a distance between us and them and keeping me close to the grown so as to reduce the chance of me being spotted. I was able to get some distance away before I felt that I could continue normally for some time. It was then that I noticed a man in the distance staggering to his feet. This man, unlike the others back further, was alone, but was dressed in a way that was familiar to the others. It looked like he had gotten the poor end of a struggle. Of course, with just me and him out here in the desert it would probably be fine to just make sure he was okay and to see if he had anything on him. So with nothing but the best of intentions, I cautiously make my way towards his from his blind side as he appeared to be walking into the direction that the coach had come. With a simple Donkey Punch to the back of the head, I would allow him to lie down before checking his pocket but not finding anything really worthwhile. I would no doubt find a few things, however. From there, I would leave him to continue resting before continuing forth along my way.
* Rolling for Role Compensation (Value Very Common)
259 / 1494 | |
| | | | Dice Roller
Veteran
Rep! : 5
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Tue May 24, 2011 9:25 pm | |
| The member 'aѕceпxion' has done the following action : Dices roll
'10 Roll' : 3 | |
| | | | Kiun
Intern
Rep! : 10
Location : GARhalla
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Wed May 25, 2011 7:44 am | |
| “Ah, crap…” The merchant, obviously displeased, would mutter and grunt beneath his breath repeatedly as he would fiddle around with the broken spokes. Beside him were several broken bits of wood, some of which, rather noticeably, had to be torn from the top-portion of the wagon’s sides. There wasn’t much he himself could do, in all honesty. He was simple looking for a way to reinforce them so that he could make it to the next city and find someone to do it for him. Now, were it so that he had the materials, tools, and expertise to do the job himself, he would jump to the occasion and gladly save the money. But unfortunately, that was not the case. “These bandits… really need to learn some common courtesy,” he noted aloud to himself. Wedging another thin piece of wood on the side of one of the broken spokes, he would begin to tie the planks around the shattered bits of wood with spare rope at three key points. “when they realized they weren’t going to win, they could’ve just given up with honor. Doing damage like this is just being vengeful and costing us both! All the more wear was put on his blade just to spite me. This is why I hate bandits on a personal level…”
Rising, the man would nod to himself: several feet of rope, a good supply of wood and much time was spent just to, essentially, splint three spokes. Sweat drips from his brow, and he cursed the fact that he hadn’t even checked the other wheel yet. While it hadn’t been directly attacked, how well it fared against running the men over earlier was to be questioned. Slowly moving over, he grimaced when he noticed the damage done: it was coming off the damn axle. That, Rashn grimly noted, was not something he could fix on the fly. He had no ability to carve a new cap or anything along those lines, and he kept no such spares on him. Venturing back to find it was out of the question: even if he spent the minding numbing day searching, the bandits would be all over him again. Fixing something like that with the bits and pieces he had would take a lot of ingenuity, but, that was the name of the game of being a merchant: finding ways to make something out of nothing, and then sell it for a profit. Thinking for a moment, he decided he would try sticking some lines of cloth between the wheel and the axle, taking away most of its free movement and stopping it from sliding off the wheel by much. Though, how well it would work, in actuality, was questionable…
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| | | | aѕceпxion
Supreme Mystic
Rep! : 56
Location : California
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Wed May 25, 2011 3:46 pm | |
| After helping the bandit male with relaxing, I come upon yet another bandit on my progression down the path I was heading. This area seemed as if it were littered with them. With a slight grin, I murmur a “wow…” lightly on sight of the second male, this one sprawling on the ground in the distance. Having taken note of ruts in the sand, I had already come to the conclusion of what might have happened. It sucked to be them and fail in achieving their objectives. Served bandits right; it was wrong for people to steal things that weren’t theirs… probably. Either way, I progress swiftly towards this prone male to steal from him. Coming to stand over his his body shifts lightly as his eyes move beneath their lids in a semi lucid manner. He seems to move a little bit more as I come to block out the sun that was shining down on his face. His eyes slowly open as he murmurs, “Georgie… is that you?” His eyes would open to a foot coming down into his face as I exclaim “yay!” and thus putting his lights out.
After bidding him a good night, I check his pockets to see that he had even less than the first male. I look over to the sword, which was warped and damaged somehow. There was nothing of value for me to take with me and his clothing stunk. A bit disappointed, I did what any self respecting adventurer would do. I stripped him naked, buried his clothing in the sand and then proceeded to relieve a golden stream of urine onto him. While urinating, a bit splashes onto his face, waking him up. Noticing the movement, the stream is displaced for a moment as the foot repeated the stomp it had performed earlier with the same “yay!” following it. After he was put back down, I continued until I was finished. With that, I pull my pants up and then turn proceeding down the path following along the trails of whatever wagon had come through here.
375 / 1869 | |
| | | | Kiun
Intern
Rep! : 10
Location : GARhalla
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Wed May 25, 2011 9:08 pm | |
| “Well, it’s not perfect, but it should hold for at least until I get to the next village.” Standing, the man would stretch his neck from side to side slowly, rolling his arms in their sockets, and performing a couple of light stretches. He probably should’ve done so before he was attacked by the bandits and had to repair the wagon, but bandits never gave much warning for their attacks anyway. Much to his dismay, he had to use several of his bits of cloth to stuff the axle’s up, and much rope was used up. Luckily, rope was refundable, and while the cloth would suffer in quality, it would still be largely sellable. Rising to his feet post-stretch break, Rashn would move to the front of the wagon, running his hand across the back hair of the camels as they rested on their bellies. After what they had just been through, he figured they could use a break. He would move from there to take a quick re-stock of his supply, making sure nothing was lost during the siege his cart was put through. Bits of remaining cloth and fabric, small amounts of salted meat, ore, and other such things all laid in their boxes and barrels, still safely tucked away. It was a small miracle, he thought, that he had been so lucky in that regard, but having some bad luck meant good luck was around the corner in one way, so it all equaled out to him.
From there, he would rise back to the bench, which was tilted into the sand with the lowered, resting posture of the camels. Seeing as his normal seat was a little preoccupied, he would instead sit inside the carriage, casting his gaze to the sky as he gave the mounts some time to recuperate. It would be about an hour break, so anyone passing by would have time to catch up, if they so desired. He was in no major rush since he had already been delayed slightly, though, in the long run, it did not alter his schedule much. Instead of arriving in the early day, it would be mid-day when he would get there. The day would be spent checking in with the various merchants and guilds, letting them know he was there and all the normal business merchants went through. While he could’ve made some sales in the afternoon, after the current delay he had just been through, there would be no point in it, so his first day there would be… a ‘break’, perhaps. What a foreign word to him…
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| | | | aѕceпxion
Supreme Mystic
Rep! : 56
Location : California
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Wed May 25, 2011 9:27 pm | |
| The walking continues as it tended to do when traveling in the desert. The sun was high and the heat wasn’t being friendly. My mistress, the sun, didn’t seem as if she were in a forgiving mood today. I wondered if she were still jealous about Eri; hell, she could at least offer a cloud or two. A grin comes to my face as I think about the desert flower that I had met and traveled with a little so far; I hoped that the bulk of my stuff was safe with her for the time being. I’d be back soon enough. Either way, I continue to walk with my arms swaying lightly at my side with each step that is taken forwards. After a while I spot a structure in the distance. It looked like a cart of some kind. With the fallen bandits in my quake, I could only assume this was the thing that put them in their current position; of course that would be minus the foot prints on their face and the warm scent of golden gar musk. I continue to walk getting closer and closer to the cart. Eventually I would come within range where I could be noticed if one were looking in my direction. Seeing no movement on the carriage on the outside, I would approach it cautiously wondering what type of person had been attacked and if he were okay. It also crossed my mind that if this cart was abandoned, I might be able to get some things off of it; I wondered how much a wheel went for these days.
277 / 2146 | |
| | | | Kiun
Intern
Rep! : 10
Location : GARhalla
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Wed May 25, 2011 10:57 pm | |
| It dawned upon Rashn that, in a bit of complacency over his ‘victory’ earlier on, he had put himself in a position where he could easily fall asleep. Doing so would be… disastrous. Wasting any more than a specified amount of time could completely screw up his schedule, and sleeping out in the open sun like this could kill people. While he doubted it would actually rob him of his life, seeing as he was so tuned in with the sun’s disgustingly powerful radiance, yet that would not stop damage from being done. A sunburned merchant was a pained, distracted merchant, and that made for easy pickings in the world of bartering. The terms, ‘if it’s red, it’s dead’ extended to the merchant world as well, though perhaps that phrase was somewhat out of context here. Brushing the thought by the way side, he would push off from his hands and lean forward quickly, shaking the sleep from his eyes before it could grow there in the first place. He would not allow himself to get drowsy and lose self control.
From his upward position, though sluggish, he would slowly stand up atop the frontend of the carriage, hop down to the sand, and place a hand lazily on his hip. It had been some time, actually, so he might as well get going again. His tongue clicked in his cheek, and instantly gripped at the camels’ attention. Their feet shuffled to stand as he beckoned them up with a twist of his neck before turning, groaning to himself lightly. It was then, of course, that a figure came into view: another bandit? “Ah, bullshit…” he would mutter lowly, but, upon closer inspection, it wasn’t a person holding themselves in an offensive posture… but then, what did they want? What the hell would someone be doing out here, alone, on their feet? Were they stupid? Or just… masochistic?
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| | | | aѕceпxion
Supreme Mystic
Rep! : 56
Location : California
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Thu May 26, 2011 5:15 pm | |
| My right arm is lifted to my brow where it wipes sweat from right to left and then flicks down. In my observance of the cart before me, I see movement that causes me to pause and stop for a moment. Catch glimpse, from the rear, of someone standing up and leaping down from the cart. From the looks of things, the merchant here had paused to take a rest and was getting ready to head back out. It also looked as if the merchant had spotted him during this time he was looking in that direction. At this time a few thoughts went through my head. One of which was the fact that it would be cool if I could seem concerned and assist a merchant after being attacked. If I could somehow engineer his trust, I might be able to catch a ride to the next town, something that would save me many miles of manually walking in this heat. With that, I resolve that it was time to put on my most social front; this merchant would be much more useful than the bandits left behind. Lifting up a hand, I call out to the merchant, “oy! Are you okay? Do you need any help?” After the words, I scolded myself for not saying anything better. Something as generic and coy as that seemed almost like a trap to lure someone in, gain their trust and take advantage of them. Even though that was kind of what I was trying to do, I didn’t need it to be obvious, nor did I need it to seem as if my intentions were bad. As a unknowning half Kami I was skill somewhat good; what parts that weren’t tainted by my human side that existed in this world for this long.
310 / 2456 | |
| | | | Kiun
Intern
Rep! : 10
Location : GARhalla
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Thu May 26, 2011 9:22 pm | |
| The red-haired one’s eyes tightened up as he tried to make out the features of the approaching man, but with the distance, and the wavy-line-inducing heat of the desert sun, it was hard to tell anything other than that it was a humanoid. He really hoped it wasn’t a mirage: he hated mirages. But, to his pleasure, the man seemed to speak out to him, which was good, because mirages normally didn’t speak to you. Normally. For a moment it dawned on him that the voice was familiar, but without seeing more of the person’s body it was too soon to tell. Probably someone he had done business with in the past? Considering the only thing he could make out was that the man had an annoying fashion sense – really, who wears so much bright/white clothing out in the sun? It strains other people’s eyes just looking at you! – and that they were moving in his direction. It dawned on him that it could still be someone looking for trouble, and he wouldn’t let his guard down just yet because of it. While what little he made out of the other man’s call told him that it wasn’t an aggressive greeting, he still could not stop himself from being slightly on edge. Years of travel in a dog-eat-dog desert had left him, perhaps, a little jaded in that regard, though he would of course try to keep an open mind and help his fellow human beings in any way he could (assuming it had no monetary cost to him).
He would grit his teeth and bite back building suspicion, and raise his arm to slowly wave at the man in the distance. “Hey there!” was the only greeting he would offer, instead opting to wait until the man got close. Calling out over long distances just got you tired and thirsty, which was especially risky in the desert, where both water and rest were hot commodities. Rashn’s gaze would then, of course, move back to the carriage and give it a once over. Everything that needed to be packed was packed again, and the camels were ready to run, so if it came down to it he could always make a break for it. Though, honestly, what was the chance of two bandit attacks within an hour from one-another? Not likely, though he was sure it had happened before. Probably happened to him before too, but he didn’t remember it.
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Supreme Mystic
Rep! : 56
Location : California
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Thu May 26, 2011 10:36 pm | |
| The longer that I had to walk to get to the cart and merchant, the more I wished that everything went well with me being able to get a ride with this merchant. In my walking, I hadn’t even stopped to wonder if the cart had been damaged or not; that would be a tragedy. The short greeting seemed to be in a familiar tone, but much like it was previously mentioned, it would be too far to tell. As I got closer I did start to notice similarities on the merchant as his body began to grow and become more discernable. With the san and sky as his back ground, he began to grow sharper in contrast with my incoming jog. Still, upon gazing at this male, I immediately got that feeling that I knew him from somewhere. As I continue to get closer, features such as the hair color, the body structure and eventually facial features would lead me to remember that I had in fact met this person somewhere before; actually it wasn’t that many days ago. Since the merchant had left quite an impression on me amongst the countless other faceless merchants, I would be able to tell him out in the middle of nowhere. What a coincidence. It was almost as if our meeting was prescripted by the gods or something. Coming within conversation range I give a cocky grin as I comment, “hey I know you! I guess you’re to blame for those poor innocent pedestrians that were run over a few lengths back?”
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| | | | Kiun
Intern
Rep! : 10
Location : GARhalla
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Fri May 27, 2011 12:39 am | |
| As the man clad with obnoxiously bright clothing came closer, his face seems twists into a look of apparent happiness. What kind of silly grin was that? Either way, it was apparent that the two had met with one another before. Rashn wasn’t too sure; you dealt with a lot of people as a merchant, and those who weren’t buyers were even less likely to be remembered by him. It would take a moment, brow furrowed in thought, as he tried to place a finger on the man. For now, he would just pretend to remember and address the more pressing matter of being accused of harming innocent people. His breath would flow from his mouth, previously closed tight in concentration as he dropped his arms to his sides. “You reap what you sow, out here more than anywhere. Let’s just say they were not particularly kind to me upon our meeting.” The merchant decides to leave out any specifics, such as how he had not actually directly fought any of them. He figured it was alright considering he had no arms with which to defend himself anyway. “That said, it’s not like I got away unscathed. They messed up my carriage a fair amount, but nothing I was beyond fixing… temporarily speaking, of course.”
It was at this point the man would turn and begin walking to the front of the carriage again, giving one last inspection of the camels’ conditions, making sure the reins were on tight and they had no foul marks of any sort. As he did, he would question the man without looking directly at him. Honestly he was somewhat stalling for time to remember exactly who he was. “So what’re you doing out here anyway? How do you even expect to survive traveling by yourself on foot? What’ll you do for food or water?” It occurred to him that he should ask the simple ‘are you suicidal?’, but that might be in bad taste and he didn’t really want to know the answer to that. What eccentricities the man held were his own, and they did not pertain to the merchant’s needs at all. If he liked walking around in the desert starving to death, that was his own deal. People were weird, after all, like that guy he met back in Rajeh a few days prior who made a living off of making maps…
…Hey, waita’ second…
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Supreme Mystic
Rep! : 56
Location : California
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Fri May 27, 2011 7:13 pm | |
| My steps would slow as I reached the merchant. I cross my arms casually at my chest as the conversation picks up and I hear him comment on the would-be bandits. As he mentions that the carriage was damaged, my attention would shift around him to the vehicle as I would visually inspect it to see if I could see traces of what he was referencing in its scathing. It seemed to be able to move, which would be good, but beyond that, I was glad that it was this guy rather than some merchant I didn’t know. From what I had already observed from his character, he was an honorable person. My gaze returns to him as he turns from his fading saunter and faces me; when the questions comes, I remark, “traveling at the moment, what I always do in the middle of nowhere.” Lifting up a bundle of clothing on my right side, there were a few water bottles hanging from my waist band as I liked to keep them out of the sun. Though I didn’t have my large bulky bag with me, I wouldn’t be completely without provisions; I would simply be traveling light for the moment. “I may not look it,” I assure, “but aside from the salted meat I keep on me to chew on I’m a pretty good hunter. The place where I’m going to actually isn’t that far away from here. It was the village that I traveled to Rajeh from.” It was almost as if he proved my point about being an honorable man; he seemed genuinely worried for me, something that was kind seeing as we only met once. “Don’t worry,” I attempt to build his confidence in my ability to live, “I won’t die until I find that guy with the symbol on his hand.” Jovially I conclude, “But if you could give me a lift, I suppose that could add some more years to my life.”
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| | | | Kiun
Intern
Rep! : 10
Location : GARhalla
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Fri May 27, 2011 9:04 pm | |
| Rashn was somewhat taken back upon realized the person he was looking at was ‘that man’ from a few days prior. Ironic, he thinks to himself, that they had met yet again. Was that actually irony, or perhaps fate instead? Did the gods conspire to set this up? The merchant did not have many people he considered ‘friends’; was this other man to become one? He doubted it. Probably nothing more than an interesting turn of events. Luckily for the other man, he DID seem somewhat prepared, with his water and bragged-about skill for finding food out in this wasteland. Well, that was good. As long as he wasn’t going to beg him for food, or anything of the like. It seemed, though, that he was interested in asking for something else, in the form of a ride. Natural. Who in their right mind wouldn’t ask for a ride when faced with moving around in the desert? For a moment, he thought the only possible answer was to reject him: his ride barely had enough strength to carry him and all of his materials, but something tugged at his insides to say yes. It wouldn’t cost him anything, and to be honest, he was a little fond of the man. His chipper, upbeat attitude was oddly charming, and Rashn was a fairly kind person himself when it didn’t cost him anything. While normally time was a currency he found especially valuable, since they were both likely heading in the same direction, it wasn’t actually a waste. Perhaps, even, an extra pair of hands would be useful on the ride? Though that begged one question:
“Can you fight?” he wondered aloud, seeing as he had already been attacked once. While he was okay, generally speaking, there was no confirmation of that being the case twice in a row. If this man had the ability to work as a bodyguard – something of a hired hand – it would likely be worth it. If he didn’t have the ability to defend himself, well, he’d still be welcome aboard, it just wouldn’t be such a good deal as the merchant first thought.
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Supreme Mystic
Rep! : 56
Location : California
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Sat May 28, 2011 8:16 pm | |
| When the question comes, it was almost taken as an insult before I had to remember that there were in fact men in this world who didn’t know how to fight. Granted, they might mostly be artists, singers, and sissy boys by stereotype, but they did exist in this world. With the skill that I created the symbol that seemed to captivate the merchant at our first meeting, it was understandable that he may think me such a person. Fortunately to him, I was much more than a pretty face and one who could make out coarse symbols. The muscles of which my somewhat built body consisted of weren’t all for show. With a nod, I confirm an affirmation to his question in stating, “I can handle myself fine in a fight; I’ve been in plenty battles in my day.” The statement was true for myself, but an understatement for Battousai, who had seem much more bloodshed then me as a persona. He was the one who would kill without hesitation while I handled hand to hand combat scenarios that weren’t in a kill or be killed situation. But since the merchant didn’t know that side of me and it wasn’t being presented right now, I would not talk on its behalf.
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| | | | Kiun
Intern
Rep! : 10
Location : GARhalla
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Sun May 29, 2011 5:13 am | |
| Add some years to his life, huh? Well, he never considered himself to be a healer: even those conmen who claimed to be were more honest of men than he was. But, doing a good deed was still something to be proud of, he thought. Regardless, the man was settled with his answer of ‘Yes’, so that was really all that needed to be said. As long as he wasn’t going to get in the way, it was alright, and if he ended up saving them both from more trouble, all the better. It occurred to him that the other man may simply be overestimating himself and he really was not very good at all, he had no particular reason to believe this to be the case and cast doubt on his would-be passenger. “Well, I’ll take you at your word then, so let’s get going.” Rashn wanted to leave no more time to waste, and would need to get on the road soon, especially with a second person onboard. While it wasn’t actually a major slowdown due to weight, he would have to accommodate the man’s needs on the ride, which could cause slowdowns depending on the situation. “You can sit in the front with me or in the back with the things, but don’t touch. I’ll tell you, neither is particularly comfortable.”
Turning, the man would slide onto the front-left side of the rider’s bench, and begin to mentally check over everything once again. The camels had rested, as had he. Everything was accounted for in stock, and the repairs had been made. How well they would hold would only be told by time itself, but he hoped for a good result. Everything seemed to be in order, although he had forgotten one thing, that being the other man’s exact destination. “I hope you know where you’re going exactly,” he begun, turning back into his cold mode somewhat without warning, “if you end up missing your stop, I’m not going to turn around, so you’d better be paying attention. Don’t doze off for too long.” While it never really occurred to him that they could be going to the same place, that didn’t really matter. If they were, great. If they weren’t, no harm done at all, and it wouldn’t matter to him one bit, so long as he didn’t slow the merchant down.
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Supreme Mystic
Rep! : 56
Location : California
| | Subject: Re: Endless [Sand] Waltz * Sun May 29, 2011 12:41 pm | |
| The camel pushing male confirms his benevolence and a smile grows as I am accepted aboard; it was so great to have friends in random places. “Right,” I affirm to the conditions of where to sit. Since he had to ride on the front and endure the strain of driving, I figured, I could share the burden with him and at least keep him some company along the way. Thus the decision on where I would ride was easily made as I state, “sitting up front is fine with me.” After Rashn gets into place, I would pull myself into the front area with him leaving a respectable amount of room as should be between two males. When the warning comes, I find slight amusement at how stoic his words are. It was almost like he was an uncle, if such a family tie was known to me, who was looking over a nephew. The only other figure that could be comparable for that comparison would be Meloli’s father. With a nod, I agree, “don’t worry, I shall limit my dozing.” With that, I would attempt to make myself as comfortable as possible. Early on I realized that my rear may harden several degrees with this experience. Still, I would not complain, I would sit back and enjoy the right and attempt to offer light social conversation to my traveling partner as we seemed prepared to ride off into the distance.
Almost comically as an aside, a cryptic “youu~” comes verbally hurled through the desert from a length of distance to the rear. Apparently, the bandit’s way home would be passing through this way as well. Though ill intent is in the tone of voice, they would look exhausted and rag tagged with at least two being supported by their cohorts arm around the neck fashion and another two with black eyes and battered bodies. The lead one, who seemed to be in the best condition of the two stands there pointing at Rashn and his carriage defiantly from the rear. A desert wind happened to pass at the yelling of the ‘you’ making it reliable and easily ignorable as well.
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