IC Scene - The Alleys of Windholm

The Captain shot a glare at Khadar.

"Yah swore it alreadah, E'entide. Yah fightin' fur Valdor now."

His expression lightened as he looked back to Mattus.

"Yah mean Gudr? Tall 'ne, that. Smar' tah. Woul'n mind 'im on tha ship. Ain't seen 'im tahday. Las' I saw 'im, 'e said 'e was goin' tah 'ross the bridge. Tol' 'im 'e was ah fool. Bu' then e'en Fancy Pan's was a squeamish af'er they spoke."

The Captain drained his glass again.

"If'n yah gonna fight fur Fancy Pan's, yah can go. If'n yah still like Greyswhore the Duchess, yah'd bes' stay 'ere an' drink!"

Mattus eyes cleared up as he heard him talk about Gudr. When the Captain was finished talking he stoos up and held his cup of ale in front of him.

"Believe me Captain, if it comes to fighting I am always for the one with the most hair, and I hope that Greyswhore isn't hiding anything below her gown."

He clanked his cup against the one of the Captain and motioned his friends to do the same. They emptied their cups at once and waited for the rest of the gang to do the same.

Kharad chuckled to himself when the Captain reacted so violently.

"My friend, im an honourless corsair! You should no better than to take my word as an oath!"

He signalled for the barmaid to refill the captain's cup before he continued.

"Worry not though my good captain. I will fulfill my promise in one way or the other. That does not change the fact that I must first speak with my Order, im sure you understand"

He rose to his feet and stretched before tossing a few coins down upon the table.

"My ship, the "Maelstrom", is recently berthed at the dockside. Should you need me again Captain, that is where you should look. Until then"

He gave a loose salute to the Vanskerry, and then swaggered out of the tavern.

Javier entered the Wind-Scoured Tavern without too much fanfare. He calmed strode towards the bar, and took a seat that was available.

"A drink, please. Preferably a hard one. I need to clear my head."

Evedas entered the tavern, while carrying Sarah who were still asleep. He went straight to the tavern owner and ask for a room.

-Bring me to a room, NOW!

The tavern owner looked at Evedas and the girl, and with a rather understanding smile, he told the two to follow him

-Mister customer, would you like a normal room or a "special" room? The special room is further upstair and better for private moment.

Evedas, hardly restraining himself, grinned through his teeth.

-Anywhere, the further away from other people the better. Hurry up or people will die.

As soon as Evedas entered the room, he felt like the demon inside can't be controlled anymore. Once regained consciousness he found himself lying on the bed. Sarah was lying next to him, here eyes were opened, full of fear and hatred toward him. He returned her hatred with a warm smile, sat up and started talking.

-You know, you are the only one who have ever survived the experience, and it is because of my life force. I can sustain a bleeding wound anywhere in my body, except for one place, my hand. Once in a while, something inside me regain its consciousness. It desire pleasure, the darkest pleasure. Bloodlust. The only way to calm it down is to kill, or to find pleasure in women.

Sarah disrupted his words.

-To rape them. To make them feel the same kind of pain. Is that what you are, Sir Evedas, a demon. The Eventide maybe worshiping Erida Occisor, but you, you are a demon, and you are so cruel that you cursed me to have to bear your pain. You should have left me dying!

She shouted, then stood up and ran over to the table, grabbed Evedas's dagger that was lying there and sheathed it. Sarah was never this angry before. She was raped by this man, the same man who saved her from death. She wanted to kill him. Her eyes turned red. Bloodlust. The voice inside her mind kept telling her to kill him, and free herself. With a quick dash, she moved toward Evedas, aimed for his heart and thrusted. Evedas however, is not an ordinary man. His senses told him to move and evade the blow. He quickly turned to the side, grabbed her hands with his, and put her back down on the bed. Then, he sat on top of her, still restraining her arms. He looked at her, with all his seriousness.

-Miss Sarah, I don't think you are capable of understanding your own situation. You are mine now. You bear my life force. And when you are angered, my life force will take over you. Worry not, you are the first who have ever survived my life force and should be proud of it. By the way, your thrust is stiff and not illusive enough to hurt anyone. Now if you excuse me, put some clothes on and wait here. I have work to do still. Of course you can go around but I can't guarantee your safety then.

Evedas put his armor on. His disguise, clothes and hood all are torn. now he really have to show his entire face to everyone. What a bad time, he thought. When he entered the hall, he saw Sir Javier sitting there, having his drink. Evedas sat down at the sit next to him and started talking.

-Aren't you Sir Javier. I believe we haven't had time to get to know each other. I am just an outlaw who recently joined the Order, so there are much still unknown to me. I have hardly introduced myself to you. My name is Evedas, people used to call me the Crimson Thief. I was born with no family so excuse my uneducated behaviors.

Three Dragon knights approached the tavern, yet only two entered while the other remained outside. The third one had been here before and had caused nothing but trouble.

The two Dragons looked a bit odd as they exchanged whispers instead of the usual loud alcohol-fueled banter and roars. If that wasn't strange enough, one wasn't even wearing armor and used his sword as walking stick of sorts. After their eyes searched the tavern and passed the Vanskerry brutes and the Eventide waste, the armorless Dragon approached a young girl, Heleva.

"Girl, I'm afraid I need your help."

A strange, lightly armoured man brushed passed Kharad as he left the tavern, though not unpolitely. He had but a brief glance at his face, but it was enough to make Kharad stop and turn around to watch the man go. As he wtached him take a seat, Kharad began to pace cautiously toward him. Placing one hand upon his shoulder and waiting for the man to turn his head, he spoke.

"Yours is a familiar face, but yet I cannot place it. Perhaps..."

Kharad raised up the pauldron upon his right shoulder to display an elaborate tattoo, the symbol of the Eventide, the only thing about him that portrayed his affiliation.

He slowly became aware of the other, more sinister looking man that now approached them.

Heleva smiled at the man, but seemed hesitant while the other was armored as a Dragon knight.

"We've ale, wine, bread, and cheese. For beds and bath, you'll have to see my Aunt."

Upon seeing Javier sit at the bar, she turned away from the Dragons to walk towards him instead, despite Old Woman (henceforth known as Kamsa) already serving him.

"Will it be wine or ale tonight?" the older woman inquired.


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The Captain took note of each man that entered the tavern, although the ale was surely catching up to him. Even a Vanskerry shouldn't be able to consume quite so much!

Aelos raised his eyebrows in suprise when the young girl walked away from him. He exchanged a glance with Wulven and pointed at a free table close to the Vanskerry brute.

"Girl, Is not too much trouble to serve a man some ale, and make him forget about his injury?"

His shirt, although washed a little, still showed that earlier that day something had cut into his shoulder and forced so much blood out that it soaked the linen shirt.

After Mattus and his men emtied their mugs he clanked it loudly on the table. He managed a salute towards the Captain as he saw some Sailors do in Mettenheim.

"I am sure we will see each other again. Stay safe until then."

They left the tavern together and finally made their way towards the bridge.


[OOC: just delete the last part if he isn't letting me go]

Javier drank in solitude, attempting to reason with the recent events. When he needed another drink, Kamsa, the old woman, accommodated him. Despite his supposed stance to remain neutral, he did lean a bit more toward the plight of the commons. Was it out of honor, or perhaps a thought of redemption echoed in his mind, to help those who has he has stolen from in the past?
Javier took another drink, when a man came up to him. He said a few words and then showed Javier the symbol of the Eventide on his right shoulder. Another man, this one more familiar, greeted Javier, ignoring the other Eventide beside him.

Javier smiled for a moment, he was now in good company with his fellow Eventiders. Maybe this day wasn't a complete waste after all...

"Ah, Evedas, it is good to see you again. I trust you have sorted whatever affair you needed to?"

Not forgetting the other patron, Javier replied,

"Hail and well met to you as well. Khanrad the seafarer, wasn't it? I believe we haven't seen each other much, we were both occupied with our respective tasks before this affair in Windholm. I am Sir Javier Kristoph Doyle. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Javier took another drink before continuing, "I fear I know little of our order as well, Evedas, at least in terms of recent activities. I have been occupied with my task of escort missions and other such trivialities. As for the Windholm crisis, I arrived here somewhat late after I received word from an Eventide messenger.
As you may well know, I originally attended the meeting, but absolutely nothing was getting accomplished. Even the Duchess herself showed up, and demonstrated her speed and conviction when she stabbed the table with her dagger. I left shortly afterwards.
Personally, I would love to see some action and a sense of direction. I may have a slight idea of our objectives here, but it may not even concern the obvious events."

Javier made a motion to take another drink, but stopped when he saw a young barmaid seemingly walked toward him. He smiled and said to her, "What a sight for sore eyes! For what pleasure do I have to make your acquaintance?"

Heleva smiled at Sir Javier.

"If you were to order some bread, I might be able to stand here a while."

The flirtatious girl gave him a wink and another smile.

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The Captain gave Sir Javier a different look, and glared at him instead. He made no movement other than to turn in his chair to better see the man taking up Heleva's time. Now that Kharad and Mattus had left his table, he had little to do besides drink a little longer.

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Instead of Heleva, it was Kamsa who approached the armored Dragon and his wounded comrade.

"Ale or wine then?"

"Ale, milady. From the north, if you have it."

With a nod, Aelos backed away to join Wulven at the table adjacent to the Vanskerry's own. He realised quickly enough that this man was no ordinary raider. This man was quite drunk, perhaps even too drunk to stand and give attention to a superior, making Aelos think he didn't have one.

Wulven had noticed the Vanskerry as well and chose a specific chair that would allow him to interfere with any odd doings. Even Ullr'Vtr knew of the young Odheas and his tendecy to get in trouble whenever he visited a tavern.

Kharad grinned slightly.

"Javier. Thats an unsual name here in Pendor. I believe we have met before, though only briefly. Kharad Moriendor, professional...privateer, at your service"

He once again took a seat before he turned his gaze to Evedas.

"Hah. Your face is just as unfamiliar, but there is only one name I could put against a man of your reputation. Or is it infamy?"

Kharad chuckled briefly, before he lowered his tone to reduce risk of eavesdropping.

"Its good that we have found each other so quickly, for I am not long arrived within the city. I know only briefly what our task here is, and as I am yet to meet with Rayvs, I presume he is already closing in upon our goal. The last thing we need is for the other Orders to discover our true intentions"

He glanced quickly over his shoulder toward the Dragon knights before speaking again.

"And seeing as this place proves to be a popular meeting ground for them, I would suggest we go someplace more secure to discuss our next moves. My ship, the Maelstrom, is moored in the docks not far from here. I would extend an invitation to both of you to join me on board, away from prying eyes"

Kharad looked up as the serving girl approached, and a cocky grin once again spread across his face.

"Bread? Oh, my dear girl, im sure my friend here would simply love to savour your bread"

-Sorry to have to decline your invitation. I have something to do regarding the ongoing meeting. I think a little back up is always good.

Evedas smirked and whispered to the Eventide knights.

-My senses are telling me that something is going to happen. This is just a calm wind that come before a storm. No sight of the rebels, no sight of the Duchess's action. We may not be here for Windholm but we must make sure that our task is done. Worst case scenario, we will have to fight our way out!

Evedas called for some wine, drank them and continued talking.

-Now if you excuse me, I need you two to prepare the way out for us. I suggest taking the seaman's ship since he arrived at such good timing. Be careful though, some Shadow Legionnaires are lurking around, and that woman has a ship too. I will go and provide Rayvs some back up. The timing should be close and we need to act now. Plus I don't trust that the Dawn will let us go easily after we've entered their lair.

Evedas stood up and hurried toward the meeting at the Church.

Kharad nodded in agreement as Evedas made his exit from the bar.

"A sound enough plan, however..."

He trailed off as his eyes fell to his twin blades sheathed at his waist.

"I have no intention of leaving this city with my swords dry. If there is a battle brewing, then I am not leaving without experiencing the fall of Windholm"

He rose to his feet, readjusted his sword belt and turned to Javier.

"Your choice is your own though. I go now to the harbour to tell my men to make ready to sail. Once done, I intend to return here to fight. Will you join me?"

"Running already? There hasn't been any fighting yet. The Eventide doesn't live up to their reputation." Aelos said as he overheard Kharad.

The young Dragon rested on his longsword, but a keen eye would notice that the left hand was holding the scabbard ready to release the masterwork blade.

Javier watched as Evedas left the tavern. Something about the calm before the storm. Surely the meeting didn't go to hell right after he left...

Then, privateer Kharad made his suggestion. Javier shook his head and in response stated, "No, I will not be joining you. If the situation is getting dire, I will need to inform my men stationed just outside of Windholm. No doubt they will want some of the action as well."

After his response, Javier finished his drink and bowed to the young girl. "My apologies, milady. I have other matters I must attend to. Pray tell that such a fine rose shall not wither in the face of such conflict. May we see each other again."

With that, Javier made toward the exit of the Wind-Scoured Tavern. However, in doing so, he kept the Dragons in his peripheral vision, hand resting on his rapier. Javier hoped to leave without provoking the young Dragon and his friend, but Javier also kept watch on Kharad and hoped he would soon follow suit.

Edit:
[By Order of Organization, Javier's story continues in IC Scene - The Wind Scoured Tavern.]

After the departure of Javier, Kharad once again sauntered over to the captain, who seemed now to contain enough much alcohol to knock a bull out.

"It seems that the time for words is almost over. Come find me upon my ship when the time has come"

With that, Kharad slightly inclined his head toward the man before finally exiting the tavern, and making his way toward his ship.