Mercenary Camp

Kokoro as well looked up when she heard the sound, standing up and leaving the tea be for now, her liege lord as well made his way over to the point he thought the sound originated from - problem was that in his case, that was not at all the point the sound actually did come from - long story short, Roderick was about to get lost.

Camp

No-Gae was about to approach the group, but she also heard the strange sound as well. She turned her Pegasus about, and rested a hand on the quiver on her waist.

Adia takes the letter back when the crack attracts her attention. She reaches back to where her bow is strapped to her pack, before she remembers she'd unstrung it to make it easier to transport. An oddly cold, empty expression crosses her face for a moment as she wonders whether she'll need to rely on her backup weapon...

... No, it could be that it isn't something come to attack us.

Cyric hearing the noise turns back to the camp and takes a running leap onto Vega's back and the two are soon flying through the air towards where he thought the noise and yelling was coming from.

Small Town, Adtriyn

...As if on cue from the laugh, Fel managed to swiftly step to the side and avoid Byrn's hand, giving a confident, if slightly nervous grin.

"Hey, life would be kinda boring if there's wasn't the occasional danger or trouble to liven things up."

Yet there didn't seem to be much more information to glean from the villagers, with worries about how the upcoming Winter could be until the sound of the crack and someone's yell made some of them jump and Fel's wry smile to fade.

If it was some sort of enemy closing in on the camp, they'd be able to handle it without him...but it was technically part of his job to fight. And if there WAS some foe and they went after the town...the guards would need a hand.

"...I doubt that it's them...but how 'bout we go check it out just in case?"

Edited by TheRealWren on Feb 11th 2020 at 7:11:04 AM

Small Town, Adtriyn

"Well, you're not wrong there." Bryn's smile dropped as quickly as it appeared when the distant crack reached them, though she looked more curious than concerned. Could be something like a whip, signalling battle, or it could be as harmless as an old tree keeling over.

Either way, Fel didn't need to ask her twice to investigate. Stuffing the rest of the food in her mouth, cheeks bulging like a chipmunk, she wiped the grease onto her leather tunic, gave Fel a sharp nod, and then took the lead, reaching back to unbuckle her axe as they went.

If anyone follows the noise they'll find a band of bandits parked just outside the town.

They don't seem like much, mostly brigadiers and such, except their leader, who is dressed in... odd regalia.

One of them scoffs at the approaching group.

"Oi! Look what the dire beast dragged in."

"Oh no," said Sigmund, trembling.

AN - if needed Halis will take over for these particular group of bandits. Busy week, dog was sick, yada yada.

Town

Ever the negotiator, Nyx, uh...

Spits at the bandits. "Funny, seeing some mangy mutts say that. How about you get out of my sight before I use you for target practice?"

Camp

No-Gae gave Sin-Rip a little pat. "Let's go, boy."

The Pegasus steadily took up to the sky, giving No-Gae a full view of the people behind the noise. She spoke to them loudly.

"Excuse me! Why are you guys hiding here?"

Alessa glanced over at Hadri, then at Adia, then back in the direction of the noise. The timing was suspicious, but if that was a signal to do something than Adia had completely blown it. She sighed, and glanced back at Hadri. "I leave her to you." She turned and set off towards the sound - and the various people chasing it. It seemed Alessa wasn't in any more of a mood to elaborate on her plans now than she had been at any point previously.

Catching up to the others, it seemed there were indeed bandits, and their leader was wearing rather peculiar regalia. Though she'd missed any opening "negotiations", given the stances of everyone involved and who, precisely, was involved, she could guess about what had gone on. Her hand fell to her sword - and though she did not yet draw it, she was ready to at a moment's notice.

Glaci stops in place, looking at the leader of this group of outlaws.

"..."

Something about what they're wearing is off-putting to her. She isn't sure why, though, and she keeps in mind where she put her Dragonstone given who she's talking to.

"Excuse me, but... where did you get that from? I-it probably isn't yours. Or mine, either..."

Small Town, Adtriyn

Keeping up that smile and giving a slight shake of his head at Byrn, the young man kept up with her, weaving through the crowd and eventually out the town, glancing in the direction of the camp...and then towards the sound of the shouting and noise earlier.

Fel adjusted his backpack, laced up his boots and did his best to keep that new dagger hidden from sight. If they didn't expect him to be a threat, it wouldn't be hard to prove them wrong, assuming it came to that. Of course, if it turned into a fight...

"...speakin' of trouble, I reckon there's some right now."

Bandit Encounter

Kokoro arrived to the bandits alongside the rest of the group, and while she knew well enough that those were bandits, given she wasn't accustomed to what was "normal" here, she didn't realise that their leader seemed off. Instead, she simply scoffed at them before turning to the rest of the group " Will we fight?"

Edited by Sergey_Smirnov on Feb 13th 2020 at 12:16:44 PM

Small Town, Adtriyn -> Bandit Encounter

With axe now in hand, Byrn came to a stop alongside Fel, watching the gathering from the sidelines. Though she'd been doing nothing but talk of meeting with the mercs, it's the other group that catches her attention first. She instantly recognises them as bandits- from the cut of their clothing to the sharpness in their eyes, they were identical to the group that Bryn had grown up with (and, of course, Bryn herself).

That didn't mean she held any loyalty to this different group, however, and she wouldn't take issue with cutting them down, but still, just for now, it might be better to wait and see how the mercs would handle things. Planting her axe's blade in the dirt, allowing her to lean against its hilt, she watches intently. "What you think, Fel? Smell any blood in the air?"

"Smart. I got this one." Hadri nodded at Alessa, then shifted her hammer down into a readied position in both hands and eyed Adia... not exactly with suspicion, but certainly looking for her to go for a knife or a spell. She took a few small steps to reposition, not even bothering to hide that it was the exact sweet spot distance to home-run the alleged merchant with her hammer dead-on. "It's no hard feelings or anything, Adia, but you do understand why you showing up when you have is so suspicious, right?"

Adia snaps back to reality when Hadri addresses her. Her expression relaxes a bit- though not entirely, given they're still under attack.

".. I understand, yes. I've never seen.. whoever those people in my life, but I suppose your comrades will figure that out fairly quickly if things come to blows."

She eyes Hadri's hammer and shrugs half-heartedly. "I'd also need to restring my bow even if I were to do anything, and I doubt I'd get any attacks in before you got me with that thing."

Bandit Encounter.

For a moment, Fel wondered why Byrn seemed more focused on the bandits rather than the Silver Falcons, writing it off as her deciding to try and gauge the enemy and decide not to pry into it.

"I reckon it might not be long before they try makin' a move and start a fight, yeah. Don't think they'd get far if they tried runnin' off now."

The one that looked fancy made Fel a bit perplexed, though. Standing out in town was a good way to get attention. ...On the battlefield, a good way to get killed.

"Listen. Either you all haul off, or we kick your collective asses and leave your guts for the birds," said one of the bandits, sneering.

"For the record only some birds like guts!" said Sigmund.

Glaci gives Sigmund a look that says "not helping" without even saying a word, looking back at the group of bandits with the same expression.

"...I'm really trying to be nice, but... you're making that very difficult. Please stop and answer my question."

She's genuinely trying to avoid a conflict, futile as it might be.

"Well, you never know." Hadri said with a smile and a shrug. "You may be carrying a little knife somewhere that I'm not looking at too closely. And you certainly look spry enough to get past my reach..." She turned once to look at the developing situation with the bandits. "And more importantly just by being here you have got the rest of my comrades missing one extra member of their forces."

Well, despite the new manakete's best efforts, diplomacy seemed further and further off the table with each passing moment. Expediting the process, Alessa drew her sword from her sheathe. The blade was a rather typical hand-and-a-half sword, the slight curve near the tip marking it as distinctly Avissian in make. She leveled her blade at the bandits, not pointed at one in particular, though her gaze was directed squarely at the one in strange garb. "You talk big. Back up your words, or leave."

Nyx draws her sword and, with the sound of gears turning, extends it to it's full length◊.

The blade is silver with etched markings - some kind of special metal alloy - and as long as Nyx's leg. The blade is unsually wide, as well. The black hilt-like area showcases several gears, as well as an odd obsidian glint. The handguard is essentially a knife, and the deep red hilt ends in a sharp black cap.

Nyx rests the sword on her shoulder. "I'm not repeating myself. Leave, or I'll kill you."

She laughs. It's small and short, but seems genuine?

".. I feel oddly flattered that you've clocked me as spry already. And I can't say in good faith that I'm not carrying any hidden weapons." Adia follows Hadri's eyeline towards the burgeoning conflict.

"I could help you out with that, if you'd like. From your perspective, if I'm being truthful, you get an extra ally. And if I've been lying, well that means I'm just another foe to cut down, right? You don't seem to trust me yet, so it's not like a sneak attack would do much good now."

Since a few weeks of travelling from town to town doing oddjobs to survive "Diana" was finally able to locate a mercenary group that seemed to be accepting new recruits, things finally seemed to be looking up for "her" and "her" pegasus Rose but then when she was finally able to locate them "she finds out they seem be having trouble with a group a bandits.

For the time being no fight had started yet but both seemed to be getting ready for a fight and neither sight seemed willing to back out, "Diana" decided to keep flying over the conflict readying her lance so "she" will be able to intervine if a fight brokes out, she hopes that if the mercenaries see "her" they won't confuse "her" with one of the bandits.

Edited by Kiobi20 on Feb 17th 2020 at 7:10:53 AM

"That's good. Consider it your practical exam." Hadri stepped forward and put a hand on Adia's shoulder. "I think you've got a bright future here, personally. What I'm going to suggest you do is, first, string up your bow." Hadri pointed at one of the bandits in back, where a fuckup wouldn't hurt anyone bad. "Then get a bead on that one, and as soon as they make any aggressive action, at all, take the shot. Shoot to..."

Hadri actually hesitated on these trash bandits! Wow, time really changed you. She supposed the scum she'd fallen in with and given her noble endorsement were not much better. "Shoot to wound. Shouldn't be too hard since I don't think they've noticed us. I'll be behind you with the hammer tee'd up to smash you if you try anything. Purely a formality, you understand."