Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-3293219-20140401162322/@comment-3293219-20140401192335

(Four hours of typing later...)

"200" A Breton merchant said, uneasily, as he held Set's necklace up, trying to determine its value.

''Is he taking the piss? ''

"Look arsehole, if I clapped you in irons and sold you into slavery, you wouldn't be worth half the value of that necklace!" Set snapped at him, he had done bartering some time ago and now he was just insulting the merchant.

"Well, I don't have the coins to pay for your estimated value...

Have you tried being a bit more prudent?"

"Shit off..." The Bosmer muttered as he snatched the piece of jewellery back and walked away, heading off into the woods.

Try to rip me off...

Assholes...

He had expected this, especially in a small town where nobody had anything close to amount of money that he was demanding but he couldn't accept any less or else it wasn't worth the risk. He had to get rid of it soon, before the blades found out that he had it, as it would look incredibly suspicious if he was seen with the necklace of one of the noble’s guests.

The Bosmer shook his head and pocketed it, so long as he was smart and kept it hidden, he could sell it at the next shit hole they stopped at and even if he couldn't, he could just hide it until this thing was over and then sell it in Daggerfall...

By now, Set was already on the outskirts of the wilderness, just outside of an abandoned stable.

Guess I can train here and kill some time...

And maybe some squirrels...

The Bosmer stopped as he heard a twig snap, someone was following him...

He spun around to see what it was, drawing his blade and expecting it to be Maria, hoping to entice him for reasons that still weren't clear to him.

Unfortunately, he was wrong as he found that he was being followed by 4 men, all of whom were Bretons. They didn't have any distinguishing features but one of them had bleach blonde hair, which made him stand out from the others but that was the only thing that differentiated him from the rest...

They didn't appear to have a leader but one of them stepped forward as the mediator, the others just looked at each other, grinning like fools.

"Hello there friend!" He called, sounding friendly for your average bandit...

Most likely a highwayman, they always try to be witty and charming and it rarely works, it just makes smashing their teeth in more amusing.

"I'm not your friend..." Set replied, bitterly.

"My judgement is better than that..."

The Breton ignored his comment, Set was worse at this 'silver tongue' thing than he was...

"I'll cut to the chase..."

Yeah, 'cause I will, if you don't... Set tightened his grip on his sword; this idiot was starting to annoy him.

"My fellows and I saw that you were carrying a rather pricey necklace and we were hoping to relieve you of it."

"I hope to become emperor but life's a shithouse..."

The Breton just grunted and held out his hand, he was done playing 'nice.'

"Hey..." The blonde Breton began, speaking out of turn.

"That's one of them swords, that is! The ones that the Blades use!"

"Oh yeah, good spot Laurence! Right and we'll have that sword off of you as well!" The Breton added, smiling at the thought of making even more profit.

''They're asking me for my sword? When I could just chop their heads off with it? Are they really that stupid?''

"B-But won't we get in trouble fer robbin' a blade?"

The leader turned back, scowling at his dim-witted friend.

"He's not really a blade, you moron! He most likely looted it off of a corpse or something!"

"Yeah, like that dagger, around your waist..." Set interrupted, pretending to have his eye on it, in an effort to intimidate him.

The Breton looked back at him, staring and trying to tell if he was serious or not...

He then shook his head, it didn't matter.

"This is your last chance to cough them up!" He snapped at his victim.

"And this is your last chance to piss off before I run you through, with this sword!"

"Hmm... Well, we tried." He turned to his men and began to rally them.

"Get him!"

The first of the Bretons approached him, he lunged forward, raising his knife above his head and striking down but he was way too slow. Set took him down, with a horizontal strike that tore his throat open and sent the Breton spinning to the ground.

The second and third tried to double team him, coming from either side. Set jumped back, letting them strike at thin air and lose their balance, now they were single file. He plunged his sword forward and skewered them both as his sword went through the stomach of one and into the ribs of the other.

They stood on the spot, gasping for breath as Set tried to withdraw the sword. It took a good pull but the Bosmer finally retrieved his katana, giving them a second to get used to their wound before he swung around again, twisting his body around to get more momentum and slicing their heads off.

This left the smart mouth on his own, Set was looking forward to dealing with him and the Breton could see that. He quickly lost his nerve, turning into a quivering wreck and dropping his knife.

"K-k-kay! Y-You win! T-t-t-ake what you want!" He shrieked before running away, like the coward he really was.

There was a time where Set would have chased him and cut him down, to make an example of him but he had mellowed a bit in his thirties and he wasn't as brutal as he once was.

Besides, seeing him shit his pants and run was far more amusing...

Set raised his sword and examined the blood on it, with some curiosity, he shrugged and flicked the loose bits of flesh and wet spots of blood off of the blade before he began to sheathe it.

Before the blade could even connect with its holster, Set was tackled by a large Nord, who was most likely the true muscle behind the gang. He pinned the Bosmer down and tried plunge his dagger into his heart.

Set grabbed at his hands and tried to steer the blade away from anything vital as it grew closer and closer to his torso. Eventually, the Nord put every ounce of strength into driving it down, into his stomach, just above his hip. He seeped in pain as he felt the blade sink in, causing his guard to drop for a second, allowing it to sink in deeper.

The Bosmer snapped out of his pain induced trance and reached for the knife, that Maria gave him. He drew it and stabbed the Nord, under his chin and sent the knife through his head. The barbarian's head shot back as the blade penetrated his brain; Set held him up for a few seconds before he keeled over and expired, thankfully to his left, avoiding the Bosmer as he fell.

The Bosmer lay motionless, breathing for a moment or two as he came to terms with the injury. It didn't hit anything vital but it still hurt like hell and his shirt was drenched in blood...

Mi...Miri...

He snapped out of it, gasping for breath to try and wake himself up, as passing out here would be a death sentence. Set wrapped his hand around the hilt of the dagger, which was jutting out of his stomach and tried to pull it out. It was a long and painful process but he was able to do it, he managed to remove the blade. He groaned and gasped as the blade came out of his gut; it was dripping red with blood, as it had gone in rather deep.

H-Holy shit...

He threw the knife away and dropped his head on the floor, the grass wasn't as soft as he anticipated and it surprisingly hurt. He groaned again, covering the wound with his hand as he built up the strength to get up and carry on.

Got to get back...

He tried to raise his arms but the pain was too much to bear...

"C'mon, stop being such a pussy..."

He tried it again, he raised his head and shoulders this time before the pain shot through him, causing him to cry out and fall on his back again, gasping as he looked up at the sky, through the trees.

-

He lay there for some time, feeling the pain ease off as he hadn't moved for several minutes and the wound began to settle. He still didn't feel like he was in any position to stand...

He then noticed the flapping of wings, he thought that it was most likely a wood pigeon or something trivial but then he heard it caw. He sat up as it sounded incredibly close and he quickly grew fearful that the birds had come to eat him, he strained as he propped himself up, resting on his elbows.

He saw several crows scatter about, hopping and flying around as a figure materialised at the center of them.

He didn't hear it approach, which he noted as quite odd, as its iron grieves made quite a bit of noise and he would have heard it coming. The figure wore brown robes and kept its hood up, obscuring its face and it also wore imperial grieves and gauntlets and it was carrying a staff but Set couldn't see the details on it from where he was lay.

It approached Set and stopped in front of him, looking down on him as he lay there, motionless...

They 'stood' staring at each other, in silence, for some time. The figure didn't say anything, it simply stood there, awaiting Set's first question.

"Any chance of a hand?" He wheezed, looking up at the figure as it loomed over him.

The figure raised its arms and began to draw back its hood, slowly revealing its face as it let the hood roll down its head and onto its shoulders, revealing an elderly Breton woman, who looked rather ghastly.

She raised her staff and threw it on the floor next to him, it rolled and stopped as it touched his elbows...

Is she shitting me?

“I asked for a hand, not a friggin’ walking stick!” The Bosmer called out, falling on his back again.

The Woman merely chuckled and began to pace around him, circling him until she reached his head, where she stopped and looked down on him.

“You know, with age comes repetition, history always has a habit of repeating itself…” The Old Woman began, unprompted.

<p class="MsoNormal">Set squinted slightly, confused by what she had just said…

<p class="MsoNormal">“The last time there was a crisis like this, I was merely an opportunist, prospering from the chaos…” She turned around, with a smirk on her face.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Like you…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Crisis? You mean… The Emperor?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yes, unless there’s another crisis happening, that I’ve somehow managed to overlook.” She ended on a laugh that made Set feel uneasy.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Now, I am merely an observer, who doesn’t even have time to intervene…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Poor you…” Set strained, trying to pull himself up, using his new walking stick. He slipped and fell on his stab wound, crying out in pain and rolling onto his back.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Breton Woman didn’t dignify him with a response; instead she went back to circling him.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Your alliance is fragile, held together by threads that are being conjured up by the dread of being alone and a few hopes and dreams. Right now, you are all in turmoil and Telemachus is ever so close to his goal…”

<p class="MsoNormal">Set’s eyes widened at the mention of his name…

<p class="MsoNormal">   “How do you…”

<p class="MsoNormal">The Breton chuckled, cutting him off.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I know a lot of things child, how I know them isn’t important but I always know what to do with the knowledge and that is what’s important...” She gestured towards the staff that Set was still trying to support his weight on.

<p class="MsoNormal">“That staff is a unique artefact, which will be a vital part, to your quest, later on…”

<p class="MsoNormal">Set looked up at the staff head, seeing that it had three, bearded faces on it, displaying different emotions. One was laughing, one was screaming and the other was yelling, it had a curved pattern down the base of the weapon.

<p class="MsoNormal">“What’s it do?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“You need not worry about that, it ran out of charge years ago and that is not what you will need it for…”

<p class="MsoNormal">Yeah, I’ll need to it to get back to the friggin’ inn, because you won’t help me up!

<p class="MsoNormal">“Don’t suppose you could get one of those crows to swipe the amulet from Telemachus could you?” Set asked, ending on a laugh.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I wouldn’t do such a thing, even if I could. I have no desire to see Telemachus fail…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“What?!” Set sat up, seething as he felt the pain shoot through him as his stomach moved. “Then why’d you give me the staff?”

<p class="MsoNormal">The Breton chuckled; she found it fun to toy with those who relied on her…

<p class="MsoNormal">“Well, it gives you a fairer chance but Telemachus’ victory is no concern of mine, so long as the crisis is prevented, I couldn’t care less who prevents it…”

<p class="MsoNormal">She gave Set some time to dwell on what she had said, he felt pretty disappointed, that his new ally was somewhat indifferent about his success as it wasn’t very encouraging...

<p class="MsoNormal">“Now…” She began, walking away from him, taking her crows with her, who obediently followed her, by her side.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I fear that I must leave you…

<p class="MsoNormal">Other matters require my attention and you have everything you need…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Except the ability to walk…” The Bosmer mumbled, he didn’t have the courage to speak loudly as something about this woman creeped him out.

<p class="MsoNormal">He watched her as she curled into a ball, shrouding herself in her robes. She then morphed into a flock of crows, which took flight and left him with the staff and a pretty deep stab wound.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Bosmer sat there; several feathers fell from the sky and surrounded him as he tried to process what had happened. He felt a bit more awake now but his wound was still incredibly painful, most likely debilitating, though it wasn’t going to get any less so…

<p class="MsoNormal">He grabbed the staff, with renewed determination and used it to pull himself to his feet. His legs were incredibly shaky but he managed to stand upright, straining and groaning as he felt like he was being stabbed, over and over again. The Bosmer gasped as he came to his feet, looking up at the sky and smiling triumphantly.

<p class="MsoNormal">Time to see what the others are up to… He thought as he sheathed his sword and knife and began to hobble back to the city…