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"Please, someone! Anyone! Why won't you listen to me?" The man's anguished voice fell on deaf ears as the crowd milled around. The two guards on duty refused to pay attention to the man, and had had denied him entrance. His clothes were tattered and torn, blackened by dirt. His face was covered in soot, two streaks of tears carving paths through the ashes.
"Please, it's my daughters!" He shouted again, pain in his voice. His energy spent, he collapsed to the ground in a crumpled heap.
It began with an old man and a cart who pull off to the side, raising the farmer to his feet. He nodded as he listened to the man, speaking in hushed tones, and slowly a crowd gathered around as the man told his story.
"I live up in one of the farms to the north. I have... I had a family and land, and I helped provide for all of you." His gaze swept the crowd of people gathering, and he seemed to gain strength from their presence. Drawing himself up, he raised his voice, "And now it's all gone. It's the Aukari! I tell you, they came and burnt and killed us all."
He tottered for a moment, his face pale beneath the mask of dirt and soot as someone in the crowd handed him a waterskin. Drawing deeply from it, he thanked the person and continued with a clearer voice.
"They came two nights ago, flames from the north. I had heard rumours of several farms burning on the far edge, but thought nothing of it- there was no way they'd come so far south." He gave a mirthless laugh, on the edge of hysteria. "What a fool I was. I don't know what happened. I was out in the field, carrying the food into the cold cellar near our house when I heard the screams. They...they took them. My two daughters, stolen."
He paused, as if searching for the strength to continue, and let out a sigh. "I... I hid in the cellar as they stole their innocence. Like a coward, I hid and did nothing. I sat there and listened as they killed my wife, and listen to their laughs as they took my girls while their mother's body lay beside them." Tears ran freely down his face, and gasps rippled across the crowd. A man spit on the ground, staring at him with loathing as he pushed his way back towards the gate.
"I followed them, and saw where they went. My girls weren't the only ones... Dozens of other girls were there, and enough chains to take most of the farmers from the fields."
Just another day at the Kettle until F'mos was alerted to some other act of the detestable Aukari attackers by one of the regulars which burst in. The man was too excited to relay the news properly and the cook, an Aukari himself, decided it would be better to find out what was going on by himself. At the very least he would know the bullshit the Etzori would blame him for because of his signature hair and would be able to better prepare himself for any such repercussions.
He got to the gate quickly enough, the same trip made many times over seasons whenever he had an errand within the walls. The old farmer easier to locate as the large crowd had not even begun to dissipate with so many curious people like F'mos and like the Aukari, probably had no other intention than to listen and seem sympathetic. F'mos obviously was not one of the ones sympathetic to the farmer even after he heard the old man's story but the farmer should be happy the Aukari at least felt something.
Anger.
The anger F'mos felt was neither for the destruction to the old farmer's property, the death of his wife, nor the fate of his children although the latter helped contribute. The aukari were a people far above any of the lesser mortal races. Halfers in Sirothelle were mistake enough to shame any family inflicted by them unless those mistakes proved themselves useful to their society and even then, will still go through the same persecution even if in a lesser degree; like any other suspected non-human in Etzos would be treated as F'mos had been over the seasons.
Those deplorable aukari had to be taught a lesson for the shame they brought to their people. F'mos may have no love for Sirothelle or the aukari, but the bastards responsible hurt the pride he had for his heritage. Perhaps this was the norm in the field, but Nauta rarely had reason be there with his post to protect his home as a guard. The only time he went out into the field was to investigate and discipline matters of military law which coincidentally, was also the same time he decided to desert.
This even may even be a direct consequence from his own desertion but F'mos did not have time to mull on that idea. He had to return home to cool down or he might have erupted at the gates in a blazing beacon to tell everyone, "Hey look at me, I'm an aukari!" With no reason to waste another dose of Frostbite, he chased Lizzie out "to play" but even with the girl gone, he was still plagued by the hustle and bustle outside. Eventually he was going to have to find a new, quieter place within the city's walls for his own peace and serenity.
Until then, the heavy curtains would have to do. Muffled noises soon became imperceptible to F'mos and his focus was only on his time as a guard in Sirothelle along with his peers, with some degree of professionalism despite their reservations towards their jobs. The old farmer's description of the events may have tried to force itself back into the Aukari's thoughts to reignite his fire, but they eventually stopped and F'mos was reminded of what he had to do.
He returned to the gates where he first found the old farmer. Though motivated by anger and duty, perhaps there would be others to respond favorably to the farmer's plea regardless their reasons. Unfortunately all he found was the man spat on with onlookers for the show. F'mos had enough and pulled the farmer on his feet because "crying won't help. Look around, no one cares weakling. Stand up. Back straight. Wipe tears. And for Cuddles' sake, stop crying." Those were the instructions F'mos gave to the farmer if he wanted to prove his cause worth it.
Even if the old farmer in his narrative had proven, "you're coward but here and alive" which was important to get help for an incident which would have otherwise remained unknown until it was too late. After Fmos calmed the man down he would focus on only one thing. Information. As the former City Guard of Sirothelle would treat a victim back home, he would ask the man to "slowly, tell me everything you saw. Aukari. Numbers. Weapons. Equipment. Mounts. Prisoners. Numbers. Health. Where. Yes...where. Draw map. Everything you remember. Land, trees, water. Everything." F'mos slowly went through all the information needed for a rescue or for him, to determine if the rescue was impossible and to be written off as a lost cause.
If had cared for what the man felt he did not show it when he reminded the man, "you better be correct, or you'll never see children again" because in the end, F'mos did not care about the children's well being even if he decided to help. The only person's well being in Etzos he cared for was his own, and maybe Lizzie as any harm which would come to her will only reflect poorly on his own reputation.
Last edited by Nauta F'mos Geey on Fri Feb 23, 2018 7:56 pm, edited 4 times in total. word count: 887
But I don't want to cure cancer. I want to turn people into dinosaurs.
Nauta's words seemed to have some effect, though if they gave the man courage or simply refocused his attention on the arrogant man who had appeared before him was hard to tell. Whatever the cause, it got the desired result.
"Y-yes, Aukari. There must have been...I'm not sure. Thirty? Forty of them? It was hard to tell... There may have been more. I'm not sure how many others were out burning farms and collecting girls," his voice caught on the word, and he nearly broke down again.
The rest of the crowd had begun to drift away, the tale coming to its close, but a handful of scrappy-looking men hung around.
"Hey, you figure the guard would offer a reward for that?" One of them piped in, and the rest perked up at the mention of gold.
"They might, aye."
The man who spoke took off, dodging through the streets as the rest of the men hung around, listening to Nauta question the farmer.
"As for the rest...I don't know. I saw many blades, decent enough quality. Swords, bows, shields, you name it. Most weren't mounted, though I saw a dozen or so of those fancy, cat horses. You know, the ones they ride that are bigger than a man?" He held his hand up, indicating the height he meant.
"They had lots of food, I remember that much. Only reason I survived is because they weren't hungry, and didn't give a rat's ass about the cold cellar."
The man knelt in the dirt, sketching out a rough drawing, but one of those standing by passed forward a piece of folded paper and charcoal, and he gratefully accepted.
He quickly drew rough, sure lines. Based on his drawing, the Aukari were stationed barely two trials south-west from Etzos, slowly moving further north and burning as they went. Small groups of trees dotted the fields, but most of the area was barren- nowhere to hide.
Just as he finished, the first man returned, sauntering down the street. When he caught sight of them, he hollered, "no reward for helping him," before turning and heading back inside the gates.
Most of the men muttered amongst themselves, turning and following him, but a few men stayed. They seemed to be talking amongst themselves, holding the paper in their hands. Good leather armour covered their body, and each carried a bow along with a blade, and one turned to the farmer, pressing a gold nel into his hand.
"Thank you for the news. If we were to save your family, would you be willing to sell us food cheaper?"
The man nodded gratefully, tears welling in his eyes.
"Very well, we'll see what we can do."
The farmer turned, nodding his thanks at Nauta as he pushed past the man and into the city. The guards let him through, pretending not to notice, and the farmer turned back once more, smiling broadly at the group of men.
It was all F'mos needed to hear and possibly more had it been time for him to strike out on his own but at that time however, the details of his opponents would suffice. Already the possibility of dealing with the may be more than thirty or forty Aukari was unsound, even with the other scrappy-looking men convinced to help the farmer and, that was even before the farmer spoke of the dozen or so 'cat horses' F'mos was more than familiar with. The rest of the details the aukari was unfamiliar fell into place as the locals discussed and, the spot Sirothelle's raiders were at might very well be one of those Rowan had hunted in with F'mos.
That said, F'mos would not have Rowan's assistance nor would be let himself rely on the other men even if they were somewhat properly equipped. He was still an Aukari and it would be beneath him to cooperate with his lessers... especially if it would be easier for him to achieve his goals on his own. With a plan somewhat made from the information of the farmer, there was nothing more to do than prepare; after he feigned his interest of joining collective who will set out to face the raiders the next trial. F'mos included, they all agreed time was not on their side especially with the raiders as well fed and equipped as described.
Which was one of the reasons why F'mos had to set out of Etzos breaks ahead of the time the group was supposed to gather. His mission was one decided on his own and his goal only one thing. Atop his own 'cat horse' with the armour he 'liberated' off the raiders in the mine a few trials past, he was confident he would be able to get into the camp and do the one thing at the very least before someone discovered him if they did at all. As it so happened with his own 'cat horse' and familiarity with Sirothelle, its language and practices, it ended up to have been a lot easier than he expected. His being from Sirothelle seemed to have an advantage- for the first time.
With Sirothelle's draconian practices, F'mos only had to act a superior to cow the scouts and sentries he found with the chain of command. The scython he got off his own superior certainly helped too. Not only was he directed to camp, he had his own escort too which in no way did he feel was troublesome. It was the only news of home since he left, well, news not yet manipulated by Etzos and it was rather quite interesting. Interesting to see the difference between each group had to say actually. Home still sounded like a shithole and justified the decision F'mos made to abandon it in any event.
That trip to the camp went a lot quicker than F'mos expected. He could have attributed it to the knowledge of his escorts, the superior mounts of Sirothelle they were on, maybe even the specific formation which had to use both knowledge of his escorts and the abilities of the mou- who was he kidding? It was all aukari superiority, even if it was bummed off the escorts. He really did only have to make sure his scython followed theirs all the way back to camp for a relatively smooth journey. While it would have pleased anyone else, F'mos was quite troubled with the outcome. He had arrived at the camp a lot sooner than anticipated which meant...
There was still a trial he had to get through before he could execute his plans.
Last edited by Nauta F'mos Geey on Sat Mar 17, 2018 8:52 pm, edited 1 time in total. word count: 624
But I don't want to cure cancer. I want to turn people into dinosaurs.
Fortunately, there was no reason for the aukari raiders to expect there would be one of their own hiding away from them in their own base. After his escorts returned to their duties, F'mos was left alone. His own mount was left to guard his gear with a command to chew off the arm of anyone who tried to get it off, although at the time he was still not aware any of the aukari in the base would not be at risk for the same reason he was able to make off with the mount, and F'mos quickly got to his survey of the camp. While the same as any other Sirothelle camp for logistics purposes, the little differences would mean another variable to the plan F'mos had and accuracy would result in a better chance of success.
Any conversation with the raiders, which F'mos steered to Vauni to make sure he did not fall into the trap of speaking in Common he had grown used to in Etzos, was kept to a minimum; enough for the others to feel he was a part of their camp and enough to get any other information he needed. Even the food he bitched about at mealtime was for a mutual topic to assimilate himself with the groups to learn of some interesting details. Jackass superiors were pretty much the usual he expected. The location of the raider's prizes, loot and captives, will make the next trial's efforts easier. The practices some of the raiders had towards their prizes...
Terrible as it was, it was the best method F'mos could use in the camp to reach his goal. His meal quickly finished, he left to reach where the prisoners were. Despite the guard's valid suspicions of the newcomer's shifty behaviour, F'mos eventually had the man convinced when he spoke of his 'needs' which like the other raiders had, used the prisoners to fulfil. As his true need, he immediately demanded for the woman they captured in the farm... how many trials ago was it again? Well, that did not matter too much to him as the farmer had already described his daughter in as much detail as such a father would for F'mos to easily identify her once the other captives too afraid to go against his demands, pointed her out to her.
She was obviously afraid but F'mos did not have the convenience of being nice; there were other raiders present, watching. Time was also not on his side for him to be careful or gentle towards the girl and he quickly dragged her away as quickly as he could. In as private a place he could find, if such a place existed in the camp for the raiders' indulgence in depravity, F'mos had the girl make sounds which would feed the nearby raiders' imagination even further while he filled her in with the details. The most important of them, he was sent by the farmer so he could secure her cooperation and, she had to get well rested and ready for their coming escape.
Night would obviously have been the best opportunity to escape but the night for F'mos was reserved for his own preparations for the next morning and, something else most would-be escapees were not privy to. The coming of the scuffy Etzori volunteers. However they were but a part of his escape plan. F'mos slowly moved around the camp where he set up some of the flammable materials he brought along with him and those he found around the camp. Thanks to his own knowledge in alchemy, it was easy to mix these usually harmless items to be something more. And then his own knowledge of something else, poisons, were used to drug the food of the officer he had to deliver when he 'happened' to pass by the mess hall.
As he would not want the entire camp to be on the alert if he messed up, the food was merely to make it easier for the officer to fall asleep and, stay that way until the time he was meant to naturally awake. The effectiveness of this was proven once F'mos snuck into the man's tent and rummaged through its contents. It was not like he had to but he was already there and, the last time he looted a superior has been quite profitable for him already. Still there was a limit of what he could carry as he could not get through the guarded front door; the only reason he was inside was because when he delivered the food earlier was because he memorized the empty spots in the tent, the ones he could reach from the secluded spots outside after he cut through the tarp.
The papers and trophies he got were right where he hid them, near his own scython. The moment he heard the news of an Etzori force near the camp, F'mos knew it was time. He rushed to where the captives were and demanded for the girl again. Unfortunately with an impending attack, the guard would not allow him his... liberties... With no love for Sirothelle, F'mos waited until the guard had his back turned and wrapped his arm around the man's throat to knock him out. While it was not as effective as he wanted it to be, the guard somehow able to displace the surprise attack, F'mos was still able to get the man down on the ground and when he asked a nearby captive "do you want to escape?" got some much needed assistance to silence and bind the guard.
He intended to keep his word, but not just yet. He ignored his assistant and quickly freed the girl before he led her to the back. The prisoners threatened to alert the rest of the camp if F'mos reneged on his word but it was only after he heard most of the camp mobilizing that he tossed the key near the prisoner... who still had his hand on the guard's mouth. That ought to buy him some time, while the other prisoners deal with the guard first before they could even free themselves. The girl understandably did not want to escape without the other captives but F'mos did not want or need the extra baggage. He shoved her out roughly, his only 'agreement' of their escape expressed as a "if they make it, they make it. If they dumb, they die."
"Don't be dumb" he warned the resistant girl as he was forced to drag her all the way to his mount.
But though he could lead the girl to his scython, he could not force her to mount. Again he tried to persuade her, "there are some other volunteers coming. They will save the rest" and if they could not, it was not on him. It was then the commotion of the camp grew, hopefully, because the flammables he had set around the camp finally reacted to the sun. "No more time" he told the girl as his distraction could only last for so long, and then he forced her on the scython before he went on his way. It would be the long way round but at least, he would not run into the forces of either the aukari as a deserter or, the scrappy Etzori volunteers as one of the wretched raiders of Sirothelle with a captive.
He left the girl near the city to make her way back to her father. He still had to get out of his disguise. As for his reward, "tell your father I'll collect next time," if ever. The items he liberated from the officer's tent? He kept the trophies for himself and the papers were left to the girl. "Keep those safe, deliver them to Guard or someone important later. Maybe when other rescuers come back. Say you are part of group or something." He did have a quick look at some and they seemed useful information to any Etzori defenders, if delivered in a timely manner anyway. Too bad for Etzos, the rescuers were doomed to fail and by the time the girl figured she should deliver the papers on her own, most of the information would be outdated.
word count: 1403
But I don't want to cure cancer. I want to turn people into dinosaurs.
Closed up an old and abandoned thread, I see. Nauta managed to fool the other Aukari, which was good for him, I suppose, but he also didn't really rescue anyone. Interesting double play, there.
Thanks for being patient with me—life got busy.
Nauta
Points
XP:
15 | These points cannot be used for magic.
Renown:
This is a tough one since you wanted to be somewhat secretive on both sides. I'll give you +5 because the girl may remember you and may mention you when turning in the notes, but it's kind of tricky.
Loot
A Farmer's Discount: For begrudgingly assisting him with the rescue of his daughters, Nauta has received a promise for cheap food when purchasing the farmer's wares. This doesn't reply to all food, however, but only that which this particular farmer or his contacts choose to offer Nauta, which will depend on the season. The cold cycle offers no discount as there are no crops to be had unless Nauta is buying meat.
About 50gn worth of weapons and goodies that you can decide for yourself to keep or sell. All little things, mostly coins.
Injuries + Overstepping
Nah.
Knowledge
Skill Knowledge:
Tactics: Usefulness of the logistical information of enemy forces
Meditation: How to not expose yourself as an aukari in a fiery beacon
Etiquette: Do not ask for assistance from a position of inability
Disguise: Even if you have to get it from their cold, dead hands
Mount: Woodland creatures to get through the woods
Mount: Travel in a formation makes it easier for the group
Linguistics: The easiest way to assimilate into a group
Unarmed (Grappling): Pile on the one guy
Other Knowledge:
N/A
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