• Graded • Kayfabe

[Gangui]

27 Vhalar 717

“I am never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever going back in that cesspool again, Mister Gangui.” Zipper said the moment they cleared the exit of the so-called Goldmine, the second Tavern they had visited on this less-than-auspicious day. “I want good eyes in there but I will never personally set foot in this Immortal-festered sinkhole of waste again.”

Gangui looked over his shoulder, peering down the black hole that was the tunnel that led into the cavernous labyrinth under Sunnyslope that was the Goldmine. Before he could blink twice, Zipper little feet had already taken her nearly a stone’s throw distance away. The warrior bounded after his client. He noticed she was rubbing her hands absently, as if she could clean away the some kind of invisible filth that had somehow infested her as she departed from the bar.

“I told you it would never work without an inside guy,” Gangui huffed, stopping the furious woman with a touch to the shoulder. When she turned around the fury of Etzos was in her eyes. Gangui immediately raised his hands, surrendering, “Look, calm down. This is a victory for us, you have to look at it the right way.”

“I’m looking away.” she said, her blue eyes boring straight through him. “I’m looking everywhere else but here.”

“Now you know what NOT to do!” He stared straight back into her eyes. A smile crept up onto his face. She looked really cute when she was mad. Like she couldn’t really hurt anyone with the smooth, young face of hers. So her outrage didn’t really hit home for the warrior and her piercing eyes only seeming to bolden the flame under him, “We will need the support of the underclass, they are more important than foreigners and nobles alike. You’re good, Fiona, it wasn’t THAT bad,”

“Zipper.” she insisted tersely. “And it was that bad.”

“They’ll forget. You are over analyzing.”

“No, I’m just regular analyzing. This-” She took a deep breath. “Fine, we’re done here for today. I don’t want to talk about. I don’t want to think about it. What’s the-” She grimaced. “What’s the name of that cyclops in there?”

“Mack?” Gangui raised an eyebrow, “Yeah, Mack Meloud is the name,”

“Mack, yes.” It seemed to pain Zipper to even say his name. “Mack will do - but I never want to see him again. I never want to see any of them again. In what world is a handshake the signal for an orgy?”

“Zipper,” Gangui said with a stern look now, “I told you after the treasure trove, you don’t shake the bartender’s hand… It’s very strange behavior…”

“Strange? Fine. I can accept that. It’s idiotic, but I can accept that.” Zipper scoffed, seemed to let it go as she turned around to walk on, only to swerve back to Gangui abruptly. “An ORGY?”

[Gangui]

Gangui cleared his throat, “I can’t tell if your from the Citadel or from some fishing village up the coast! The bar keep is like a servant. He is serving you your drink. You pay triple the base market price for a drink to have the luxury of being served like a rich man. When a rich man shakes his slave’s hand, what do you expect the slave to think?” Gangui shrugged. He didn’t want to admit that even he thought that the orgy connotations were wrong, however it did sort of make sense. It wasn’t something that he knew the exact rules of, it was just like what one did in social scenarios. Zipper was a queer gal, definitely.

“I don’t-” Zipper opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again. “I just need this done. Liaison with the cyclops for me. Can I count on you for that?”

“Okay,” Gangui chuckled, “I’ll talk to him again and explain to him you mean well, then you can meet again with him yourself after,” He tipped his head back towards the tunnel behind them, “Next season though, give them some time to cool off,” The warrior raised a hand to shake Zippers, “Sound good?”

“Sure.” Her enthusiasm was infectious. “Sounds fuckin’ peachy.”

Shaking the woman’s hand Gangui’s face transformed into a devious smirk, “Great, so when do we start the orgy,” Poking fun at the hand shake again. Too soon?

Zipper’s response was to immediately walk off without him. Gangui looked at her butt, an uncontrollable reaction, before chasing after her again. He wandered if it squishy or firm.

“Wait! Zipper!”

She might as well been an aukari with her temper. If Gangui only knew that she could substantiate her rage into reality with magic. To him it was all fun and games with Zipper’s antics.

For now.

Catching up to her side, the two walked for a couple bits in silence through the muddy streets of the outer district. A part of Gangui’s mind wished that the lower classes would take it upon themselves to improve upon the primitive roads, but why would they? They had no motivation to do so and it was sad. It wasn’t something that the mercenary could fix though, so he forgot about it.

“There is another tavern,” Gangui started up again after he assumed Zipper was cool enough to exchange words again, “A much more civilized place-”

“On a scale of 1 to 10, with the Trove being 3 and the Goldmine being 15. Go.”

Gangui cleared his throat with an upturned brow. He had never heard the expression before in his life, “Uh… 1? It is a lot more refined that even the trove… Did I use that right? Where did you get that way of putting things from?”

“Etzori slang.” she said. He was not convinced. “Something to look forward to, this tavern” He wasn’t sure whether she was being sarcastic or not. Immortals be damned, Zipper was so hard to consistently read. One moment she was transparent with her motives, the next she was completely impossible to track. Her eccentricities were completely off beat from any flow in conversation that he had ever encountered before. He wandered if it was the magical side of her that made her this way.

“Lead the way, Mister Gangui.”

[Gangui]

“Verily,” Gangui looked at her again, still a cutie despite her queer antics, “We must clean our boots out from this pig shit before entering the Inverted Noose,” He showed her the bottom of his muddy shoe, “It’s a mercenary bar, very serious. If you… act like yourself, then we will both die. Think you can act like a normal person?” Gangui was being serious, but he couldn’t help but smile. Where was he feeling this attraction from all of a sudden?

He could already hear the answer he thought was going to come out of her mouth: I am a normal person, you guys are the-

She simply nodded. It seemed the more agitated she got, the less predictable she became.

They finally arrived at the defensive perimeter of the Landing. With a nod from the guards, they Turkey tabard, armored mercenary and the not-a-black-guard wearing a simple white shirt and pants walked through the pedestrian-portcullis between the central and lower districts.

“This place, the inverted noose,” Gangui began again as their boots transitioned onto the cobbled road now, “Has a pecking order, so to speak,” The warrior was unconsciously starting explain things in more detail to his client.

“Big dog walks, little dog scurry?” Zipper said. “Name’s a bit on the ominous side.”

“No, no,” Gangui shook his head, “More like a dozen big dogs deciding who is the biggest. It is a dangerous place. Grim and noblemen alike, who no doubt could take over the city should they choose. It is not a place for your eccentricities. None of the usual banter. Your dealings with men of war have been only me and Robin? Robin is a little bitch boy. And me? I am in contract with you, honor bound,”

Gangui stopped Zipper. The traffic flowed around the pair. He dropped his playful smile and gently rested both hands around her narrow shoulders. He looked at her in the eyes, really feeling each others souls in that moment.

“Do you get what I am putting down?”

[Zip]

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Zipper sometimes wondered whether he remembered the little snippet she told him in their first meeting of her tenure in the Etzori corps. She wondered whether anything that didn’t fit his mining town mentality entered through his thick, albeit durable, head: she was eccentric, Robin was a bitch who wasn’t worth his weight, the Immortals were not some immediate, very real threat but a foe that had all but been vanquished by the rising spirit of man, and an orgy was-

No, she wasn’t thinking about the orgy. Those malformed, imperfect bodies would be seared into her brain forever. How did junkies looked themselves in the mirror everyday and bear to see that rot?

Well, if nothing else, Gangui wasn’t wrong about the 2nd point.

He was, at the very least, coming along much more nicely than the ever-troublesome Robin. And there was Zapper too, her magical clone by the the vile Oberan, who she pushed into the sea when the clone peeked over and quickly swerved back before she could see her own reflection and spawn her again. She hoped that was the end of it… but she doubted it. The best she could do now was to avoid EVERY single reflection she could find, right down to the potential shine in her boots.

“If they’re so powerful,” she said. “Why haven’t they taken over Foster’s?”

Gangui sighed and a grimace swept over his face, “You arn’t listening to me! Your mind is obviously in ten different places,” He let go of her shoulders and paced on the stoned walkway, “That’s not how it works,” He looked at her again, this time holding her hand in between his massive paws, “You gotta believe me, the “ladder” you talk about climbing is not that simple,”

She shrugged. He was right about a lot of things in the Landing. He had earned that very narrow aspect of trust at least. “I do believe you,” she said, surprising herself in her own belief in those four words. “Lead the way. I’ll play along.”

Wrenching her hands from Gangui’s grasp, she made a little ‘zip’ motion with her fingers around her lips and, inexplicably, winked.

Judging from his expression, that little act of friendliness could very well have been the most disturbing thing he had ever seen.

Boxcode credit: Yolande

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[Zip]

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“So, we arn’t getting anywhere today. They won’t give us any deals. They won’t help us.” Gangui said staring at the floor as the two continued on side by side, “Also if we presume to even ask them such things will go badly,” The chinking armor next to her shifted, “We must have… nuance?” Unsure of his own Ith’ession, “We are going to go there to basically make a statement that we are operating in town and lay down our political stance. That is all. Make sense? We have no bargaining power, in fact we have not even a foothold to even ask the question.” He reiterated himself.

“Be cautious,” she corrected him. “I’ll say it again: lead the way, Mister Gangui. It’s your lead.”

Until it goes south - which it seemed to have a tendency to do in this land out outlaws and lynchings.

The warrior shook his head, “I am your humble retainer in this situation. It is you who must lead. They are very sensitive about these things. Our goal is for you to establish your intelligence network right? So it is up to you to establish your own stance. Once we explain to them your position in the game, that is where you start to play. The inverted noose is like… a place where even enemies can discourse...” He peered at her with the puzzled look asking if he communicated correctly.

By poisoned Lissiria and furious Syroa and faceless Aelig and every other God who stood behind their mantle and commanded the masses, when she gave him the authority to lead, he threw it back in her face. Did every tavern in this place need to have so much personality. The trove, the nightmarishly disgusting goldmine, and now a secret club of mercenaries with their own set of arcane rules.

She really missed Etzos right now and, as much as she hated to say it, missed her uniform.

“I understand,” She nodded. “Lead the way… in.” she said, adding a little modification to her prior two commands.

Boxcode credit: Yolande

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[Zip]

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“Verily,” They continued down road in silence until they finally reached the Inverted Noose. Finally the name of the place made sense to the woman. It was a matriculated structure that resembled an upside down pyramid. The traffic seemed to steer clear of the building’s footprint, and ominous force making sure that strangers and uninvited guests did not enter the location. People just inherently knew it wasn’t a place open to the general public. The symbols that adorned the entire building were strange indeed. It reminded Zipper of a Immortal’s temple in style, but obviously devoted to the Etzori cult of man. Globes, daggers, flames, and strange geometric shapes. The architecture itself also seemed ripe with symbolism, being constructed with lots of curves amidst the square shapes.
Taking an audible breathe, her retainer led the way to the front entrance, the master stone work that supported the upside down pyramid. Gauntlets rapped on the wooden door. A sliding peephole opened. No greeting.

“Hello! It is I, Gangui, the Etzori Patriot. I have signed contract with the Black Guard.” Zipper glared daggers at him, but he continued. “My client would like to make her presence known to the free market of Foster’s Landing,”

A long withdrawn silence. The peep hole slammed shut and the door to the Inverted noose swung open.

“How do I know they’re not going to waste us once I put my foot in the door?” Zipper said.

“Honor codes.” The Gangui formerly known as Mustachio whispered.

“Right. Honor codes.” she said rather than spat. Entering the building, she was going to make sure she kept skin to a wall or a chair or something at anytime. This… this was not exactly the right time to test whether she could bring down an entire house. She sighed, and took a first cautious step into the door, before transiting into what she believed was a confident stride.

Image, first impressions, respect: Etzos or Foster’s, none of that changed.

Boxcode credit: Yolande

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[Zip]

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There was more than one mercenary bar in Etzos - the Inverted Noose just happened to be where, if Gangui was to be believed, the elites of the elites gathered. And if the decor was to be believed, they did try for that impression once she ascended up to the first floor: expensive furniture that wouldn’t look completely out of place in a mid-rung tower room, a bunch of chairs that somehow managed to look hard and soft at the same time, and a bar area that looked like it was desperately in need of a stocking.

One last detail: the dozen or so giant, stone-faced men hanging around.

She hoped there wasn’t a mirror here. This would be the… absolute worst time for Zapper to show up.

Gangui removed his finned steel helm and stood still for awhile. The entire room was looking at the pair. He announced their presence in a clear voice, repeating what he told the doorman. Zipper found herself as close to the wall as she could get without looking inconspicuous. “It is I, Gangui, the Etzori Patriot. I have signed contract with the black guard. My client wishes to make herself known on the free market,”

No response. None at all.

The armed men simply turned back to their whispered conversations and Gangui led Zipper to a couple of red cushioned chairs. The bartender left his position, bringing with him two drinks which he set on the wooden table between them. He bowed in front of Zipper, “Welcome to the Inverted Noose, my lady, we will be with shortly,” Then he left without so much as glance to Gangui, whom simply sunk back in the chair and closed his eyes after sipping on the whiskey.

How could he be so relaxed? Her thoughts twisted downwards into the depths of paranoia. What if he was one of their members all along? What if this was a half-season long setup to get her alone, her bodyguard one of their own, inside a house where they could just… make her disappear; an extended con to get the foreign Black Guard in a vulnerable position. What if, what if, what if, what if spun and spun and spun like a stray carriage wheel. Her right hand found the chair, and her ether flexed and swirled, ready to explode the wood outwards in a shower of shrapnel.

She had all but forgotten her drink. Again.

Gangui looked at Zipper, sensing her discomfort, “You need to relax, we will be waiting for breaks, guaranteed… relax...”

“What.”

“What did you expect?”

“Prompt Service. A basic courtesy extended and given.”

“You sure you’re not new to this?”

“Quite sure,” she said, a tad tersely. “I’ve been living my life, after all.”

“Things don’t move because Zipper snaps her fingers-”

“Not here evidently.” Again, she missed her uniform.

“-We did not,” Gangui paused, “We did not send them warning of our visit. You must understand. Don’t worry, the wait will be worth it.”

Boxcode credit: Yolande

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[Gangui]

For the next break, Gangui learnt that Zipper took waiting… badly. Very, very badly.

In contrast to her usual controlled, often stone-like stillness, she fidgeted, she looked up at the ceiling, she entered some kind of trance where she seemed to be staring at him -or through him, or something behind him- he wasn’t completely clear about it. For an eccentric workaholic like Zipper, it became increasingly clear that doing nothing, just wasting time away, was the worst possible hell for her. Even if the time they spent waiting would translate into more benefit than she imagined. Gangui wandered exactly what paranoid thoughts and magical musing where going through the woman’s head. He placed a hand on hers trying to comfort her, but she ripped it away in annoyance.

He made a note to come 10 bits late if he were ever annoyed with her.

Finally, some action happened. A man descended from the stairs, whispered some words to the barkeep, then made his way to the third chair that sat across from the pair. He was dressed in a flowery surcoat and green trousers. A rapier and dagger hung on his waist. His hair long and braided as his beard was. In his fine leathery hands was a notebook and quill. He lowered his hand to Zipper in greeting.

“It is I, Domeniko the Historian, I greet thee black guard to the Inverted Noose,”

“It is I, Gangui the Etzori Patriot, I thank thee for seeing myself and my client,” He glanced at Zipper hoping that she understood the lingo well enough to respond properly. More proof that he was getting some consistent insight into Zipper’s facial expressions: he could very clearly spy a brief flash of “Are you kidding me?” cross her face.

“It is I, Zipper,” she said, a bit more life to her voice than usual. “You honor us with your presence, Dom-” A quick, urgent look from Gangui told her enough not to shorten it. “-eniko sir.”

[Gangui]

The richly clad representative nodded and continued, “As am sure Gangui has explained to you, we are an organization that represents the Etzori free market in Foster’s Landing. This place that you sit at today, is a safe haven and resting place from the tumultuous occurrences in the field. It is also a place of administration for the free agents of the landing, as as well as free forum for discourse. As such, it is my duty to record this event,”

He unscrewed the ink vial and prepared his parchment to be written on. The entire process slow as ever. Gangui looked at Zipper who was still showing signs of impatience. He tried to convey to her to calm down, to slow down her roll and think, but it didn’t seem to work. At least she could fake it.

“So, Zipper, who are you in Foster’s Landing?”

“I’m an officer--”

“Excuse me,” Gangui interrupted, looking at Zipper than Domeniko. He paused for awhile. Officer of the law wouldn’t work. He title needed to fit her stance. She would curse this moment forever if she didn’t have room to grow. In this way the mercenary would look out for his clients needs. As she so thoughtfully said before: going above and beyond. “She is Fiona Zippomaria O’Connor, the Purveyor of Justice,”

The historian looked up at Zipper waiting for approval, his quill ready to record the title. Gangui gulped and looked at her uneasily, hoping that she was catching how things worked at the Inverted Noose.

Another bit of proof: he could see the long, invisible sigh on being breathed out on the inside before she committed to character.

“My servitor is correct,” she said, forcing a wide smile on her face. “I slew the dread Trinity’s shadow beasts when they came calling, I carved Padfoot’s cock from his groin and so new mutant seed may find no ground on Etzori soil. I have slaughtered the plague daughter’s greatest servants and stained the rhakros jungle with their spilled blood.”

Not as enthusiastic as he was hoping for from a regular person. But from Zipper? It was a goddamn miracle.

With a stroke and scribble of the quill, neat and trim Ith’ession marked the page forever. Domeniko nodded at Zipper, “Fiona. Zippermaria. O’Connor. The Purveyor of Justice. Blackguard. Welcome to Foster’s Landing. Welcome to the Free Market. Your moves will now be recorded here and you are free to use our services. I wish you the best of luck,”

He turned to Gangui, “It’s been awhile since I spoke to you Etzori Patriot,”

He saw Zipper tense.

“Historian, I’ve signed contract with the black guard. I am the Purveyor of Justice’s champion and bodyguard until the 54th.”

“Good.” Domeniko now looked at Zipper, “What is your mission?”

“To defeat the scourge of the Immortals and-” a brief lull as she contemplated her words. “Return the reins of history to Man and man alone.”

Domeniko nodded and wrote the woman’s words down. Gangui wandered how far Zipper would take it. What would she give up for this cause? He was beginning to get to know her, however he didn’t know her well enough to answer this question for her. Her face was pretty, but it wasn’t like Ellen’wyn: naive and soft. His client had seen her fair share of brutality. Regardless, he considered the fact that maybe she contrived this answer, totally not serious.

[Gangui]

“How far are you willing to take it?” Gangui asked with widening eyes. The historian looked up as well. Four eyes on her.

She stared right back at him and, if she was lying or still playing it up, he couldn’t tell.

“Until the jungle is just a jungle, not the safe haven for 3 of the worst criminals in the history of Idalos.”

Gangui smiled and leaned back in his chair. The historian did nothing. There was a silence for a bit. The warrior remember when he first came into the Inverted Noose and did the same initiation ritual that Zipper was now undertaking. He had answered very similarly to the woman: To buy out the future annals of history for man and man alone. It was good to be on the same goal as Zipper. But when asked how far he was willing to take it?

“For me?” He looked at Zipper, “Until every last child,” A shadow began to fall upon his face, “Is sold into slavery,” He leaned up in his seat and the darkness overtook his grimacing lips, “Until every last woman and [/i]man[/i] die on the battlefield, until my culture and my people are torn apart and shattered and led to genocide,” His eyes were shaking now.

He would give up EVERYTHING. Including his own life for the cause.

Domeniko nodded gravely. Gangui was the Etzori Patriot after all, not the Purveyor of Justice.

Zipper, on the other hand, looked like she was waiting for the punchline to drop. When it didn’t, she looked at Domeniko with an unamused expression, then at Gangui, then slowly to Domeniko again, expecting either man to burst out laughing at any moment. When that didn’t happen either…

“Well spoken,” She wasn’t even hiding her annoyance this time. “But if and when you start recruiting for the noble cause of freedom, please do not start with that as a slogan.”

Gangui gripped the couch leathers so tightly they threatened to rip. Domenko raised a hand, “Purveyor of Justice, we do not exchange rhetoric here. What he says is real. I ask you to consider, what you’d give up for your goal?” He looked around the room of men armed to the teeth, “Not all these men are like Gangui and you. Ye both fight for Etzos despite being members of the free market…” his eyes narrowed suspiciously at Zipper, “ or at least acting as one.”

“You doubt me?” she said. “There--

“You’re a black guard.” his retort quick and short.

“Fair point,” she admitted. “But we’r--

Gangui interrupted now, “I believe in her patriotism. That is no lie.”

“What he said.” she continued, clearly very annoyed at being interrupted. The two men gestured silent apologies, allowing the woman to continue, “Not all shades of black are wrong, Historian. Thief, soldier, sailor, guard - we all have our part to play in the-” Gangui recognized the look she gave: it was a guarded stare that she employed when she was trying to pretend it didn’t kill her to say it. “-Free market.”

Domeniko nodded and wrote some more words down on the paper.

The warrior leaned back in his chair and wandered if Zipper actually knew what she was getting into. “Everything is recorded down,” Gangui said trying to explain to Zipper some more details about how things operated there, “It allows for us to have an unbiased history of the events at the Landing...” She just needed to experience the place first hand in order to actually understand.

Fortunately for her, for better or worse, she was going to get a taste of it first hand that day.