The Street, Outside Arrille's Tradehouse, Seyda Neen

Laurenne stood, drenched and regretting her outburst. She was being idiotic, the others had nothing to do with... what had happened. She didn't really know what had driven her to leave, the cocktail of panic and rage that had fuelled her had subsided, washed away by the pouring water. The connection between her fellow prisoners and her... old friends had ceased to make sense.
What was I doing? I'm on my own here, no friends, family, money... If I don't accept whatever help I can get, how am I going survive on this damn island?
She spotted a couple of the others leaving the tradehouse, two of the Nords had made their ways out, seemingly going off separately, she recognised Kraling
Well... He was sober at least
"Hey, wait!"
Laurenne began to run after the Nord, hoping he'd hear her as she waded through the churned up mud, which was all that remained of the village's main street.

Outskirts of Seyda Neen

Luck did indeed seem to be smiling on Kalthar as he stumbled to the outside of the town. To his right he could see the giant beast that was the Stilt Strider and a platform connected to it with a small trail going around and behind it. To his left he could see a another winding trail leading deep into the swamp and out of sight. Nobody else seemed to be in sight but the Stilt Strider operator, she however looked quite moody as she was tood openly in the rain. Kalthar couldn't be bothered to climb up and talk to her anyways as the trail up was pretty steep and slippery. Without anything else to do Kalthar turned right and began walking sluggishly through the mud long the trail and past the stilt strider to wherever the road takes him.

He didn't walk very far, only a few minutes at the least, until he noticed an odd rock formation out of the corner of his eye. He was beginning to recover from his drunken daze now and was more aware of his surroundings. Curious to see what it was, he walked towards it and seen that it was in fact a door, a cave door. Wonder what's inside he wondered as he held his hand out and grabbed the small opening and pulled it open. Inside it was pitch black and it took the Nord a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the dark surroundings. His curiosity and bravery took over him and he stepped inside with his hand on his sword by his side. Might get to test this damn thing out

Kraling turned as he heard Laurenne shout. "Yes?" he asked. He hadn't really paid much attention before, so he didn't know why the big group of prisoners split up. "Is there something I can help with?"

Arrilles Tradehouse, Seyda Neen

Ghost frowned at the Altmer. "This kahjiit takes forever, can you just deal with me so i can go?"
Ghost stalked back and forth in the back of the room eagar to be off. He stoped and eyed a silver staff. Ghost grinned, then looked back to the Altmer.

@ Emperor Jim
Addamasartus cave, Seyda Neen
Tanisie Verethi Stared into the campfire, it had been a horrible day for their little group of bandits, first the slaves had tried to escape, waking the trio up early as the two argonians and the Khajjit slaves tried to break out through the solid wooden gate that had been erected to pen them in until they could be transported to market. Then there had been the close encounter with the legionaires, who had come close to catching them red handed in a smuggling operation, they'd had to leave most of their wares down on the dock to be picked up by the annoyingly intrusive soldiers.
One day...
thought Tanisie, fingering the chitin shortsword that rested at her side, a poor substitute for her normal steel blade
Revenge comes to those who wait.

-----------------------------------------

Outskirts of Seyda Neen

Laurenne finally reached the Nord she was panting heavily, running in the thick mud was tiring and she imagined that she looked pretty bedraggled from the brutal weather. She put her hands on her knees and bent down to get her breath back before speaking;
"You, *heh heh* you were going... and *heh* well, this isn't a journey I wanted to try alone..."
She looked up at Kraling from her doubled over position
Don't ask... just accept that anyone wandering these roads alone and unarmed isn't likely to hold onto their money for very long
Out of the corner of her eye, she briefly noticed the other Nord... Kalthar dissapear behind some rock formations at the bottom of the hill that lead to the gigantic bug which must, she supposed, be a silt strider...
Afterall if the thing was dangerous, people would be more worried about it
she thought, intimidated by it gargantuan size.

Arrilles Tradehouse, Seyda Neen

Ghost growled deeply, walking up to the counter Ghost slamed a pearl down on the counter and grabed the first shortsword he saw. "This is more than adequate pay." Ghost growled loosing the fake speech impediment. Turning around and pressing the Iron Shortsword through a belt loop Ghost rushed out into the rain. Spotting the Breton woman and the Nord Ghost rushed up to them. "I hate this town, mind if I tag along?"

OOC: What are the rules for fighting with NPCs? Can we decide or is it up to the OP? I wont fight for now until my next post.

IC:

Addamasartus cave, Seyda Neen Outskirts

Slowly and cautiously Kalthar stepped inside the cave and looked around in the darkness. He was in a small cave passage that seemed to lead to a chamber up head. From the shadows flickering on the wall of the chamber he could see a humanoid shape by a campfire. Kalthar slowly crouched down and unsheathed his sword into his right hand and moved forwards. What scum hides in this cave? he pondered to himself as he reached the end of the passage and peaked around. It was a woman, a Dunmer woman staring at her sword. From what Kalthar could make out it was a shortsword made of some strange material he had never seen before.

The Nord didn't know what action to take. Surely this woman must be up to no good hiding in a cave like a thief but what if she had more accomplices deeper in the system. On the other side of the chamber he could see a flimsy wooden door leading deeper within so it was certain that she must be some kind of guard to warn the others. Perhaps stealth would be in order here to avoid fighting more than he could handle.

OOC It doesn't say in the rules... lol we haven't discussed this. For now lets just carry out the combat as though it was pvp -> post your strike and the defendant decides whether or not it hits... within reason (bear in mind your characters are the equivalent of first levels, you aren't great fighters yet)

IC
Addamasartus cave, Seyda Neen Outskirts

Unaware of the eyes peering out of the shadows down at her from the entryway, Tanisie yawned. Judging from the pale fingers of light seeping down through the makeshift gateway, she'd been on door duty all night.
The others should be getting up about now
Rubbing her eyes and pushing her long, dark hair over her ear, the dark elf stood. Hopefully she'd be able to get either Melar or Mulvisie to fill in for her...
With that in mind, she wandered over to the gate into the main hideout and began to fiddle with the lock, the old gate was in bad condition and, even with the correct key it always took a while to open the door.

Outskirts of Seyda Neen

Ghost looked around uncomphorably. "Uh I was just suggesting." Ghost moved nervously from foot to foot.

OOC: Sorry about my absence... RL got in the way. And couldn't you have assumed, in the interest of unsticking time, that Davian would have consented to allow Arrille to handle a different customer while he inspected the blades like he did with the clothes? And, I am taking mild control of the Silt Strider, to give Davian a reason not to take the easy manner of transportation to his destination.

IC: Davian wordlessly inspecting the two sabers. No, not good enough, neither of them! he thought, testing each one's grip and balance. His testing of the blade was thorough, but he did not put on a show like the Nord. Just minor wrist movements mostly, never exceeding the minimum to accurately gauge the mobility of the blade. He'd risk not having a weapon to wasting what little wealth he had left on an unreliable blade. Though the craftsmanship of each one would hold up in combat, he needed a custom-made weapon, and it was evident from the manner of the goods that they were all second-hand, a hand less deft than his own. Most likely, the stuff was formerly seized by the Customs and Excise office, after it made its way through the red tape.

"I'm sorry, but the craftsmanship of these blades, as functionable as they may be to less refined customer, is not up to the level I need to justify spending my traveling retainer on," he said amiably after concluding his inspection of the iron and steel swords. "Now I believe our business is concluded for today." He walked off, giving a slight, courteous bow. He made his way to the Silt-strider port, and was dismayed to see the odd beast pull off from the port, its long legs effortlessly carrying it off on its runs. Talos damn it!, he silently swore, his tail thrashing from his irritation. Z'en knew how long it would take for the next one to arrive. Looks like the noble would be walking.

He headed off, ignoring the ex-cons bumbling toward the cave. He had to reach Balmora as quickly as he could, to justify not waiting for the next strider. Fortunately for him, the sign pointed him in the right direction to Balmora. It also seemed another town was that way as well, one called Pelagiad. Davian grinned at the name, linking it with the Mad Emperor as he headed down the road.

Outskirts, Seyda Neen

Ghost's attention was brought to the Kahjiit walking past them. A wide grin crossed Ghost's mouth as he decided to not wait for an answer, but instead walk off the road and follow the Kahjiit. Carefull not to be seen Ghost drew his shor sword as he watched the kahjiit make his way to Balmora. THis kahjiit wanted to dis-respect him? Ghost would make him smell his own entrails.

OOC: Alright, considering fighting: it will all be handled as if pvp. And as Pigeon has said: beware, for all your characters svck.
Also, if you expect to be gone for a few days, tell us, so we can handle things in your absence.

And too Havok in particular: Taking an item from a shopkeeper without the shopkeeper's consent is theft, no matter if you left payment or not. Bargaining is serious business here.
Also, once again, your character is nowhere near neutral: Trying to kill someone for slighting him? Your character has hopped the fence of morality, kicked the dog on the other side, and is mailing pictures of the act to the dog's mother.

Arrille's Tradehouse, Seyda Neen

Arrille nodded regretfully as the khajiit left without buying a blade. On the other hand, he was fuming at the Argonian. How dare he treat himself to his swords. He was too late to call the guards, but he would be paying a visit to Gravias later, to have a bounty put on him. Albeit, it would be a small one, only as much as the sword he stole was worth, but it would be there, and the sword he took become classified as stolen. Grumbling, the Altmer picked up the pearl left by the Argonian and dropped it into the small chest that held his earnings, as well as returning all the loose objects left in the outlander's passing to their proper places.

OOC: Havok, add a bounty section to your character sheet, your bounty is currently 20.

Outskirts of Seyda Neen

"I hate this town, mind if I tag along?"

Laurenne was interrupted by Ghost, the suspicious Argonian from earlier. She paused before turning, the Argonian had no reason to travel with them and she half expected to be mugged on their way to Balmora.

"Uh I was just suggesting."

Her hostile response seemed to be having an effect as ther Argonian began to figit nervously. Laurenne couldn't help but notice the brand new iron longsword hanging by his belt and she became very aware that, should the lizard attack he would likely win. Finally, accepting that she had little choice in the matter she began to say;
"Um... sure y-"
But the Argonian's attention had been lost to a well dressed and unarmed Khajjit who wandered past them. Laurenne frowned
I knew he was up to no good!
She debated over what to do, she might be able to help the khajjit by inviting him along,
safety in numbers
Though Ghost hadn't done anything wrong as yet so it would mean all four of them would be travelling together. It was a tough decision for now, she decided to hold her toungue.

Addamasartus cave, Seyda Neen Outskirts

Knowing that with the woman turning her back on him, now was the perfect time to strike. It did not matter what they were up to and a quick retreat could be made should things become to difficult for him to handle. He was handy with a blade and surely no woman could match his skills, except maybe a Nord or Orc but this was a Dunmer, a weak one by the looks of it.

Keeping crouched down, Kalthar crept forward towards the woman with his sword in his hand. She seemed to be fiddling with the lock giving him plenty of time to sneak up on her. Her weapon was holstered too. The time it would take for her to respond should she catch him would be too long before his sword was in her chest. He was now behind her and Kalthar drew his sword back, ready to thrust it into her back. He aimed directly for the centre, to pierce her spine, it would be an instant kill and not waiting any longer he thrust the blade forward.

Addamasartus cave, Seyda Neen Outskirts
*click*
The lock had finally given way and Tanisie, unaware of the Nord behind her moved forwards as the door swung in. The blade however still pierced her, burying itself deep in her side, just below the ribs. She tried to cry out though the blade had pierced a lung and all that came forth was a trickle of frothy blood. The dunmer fell against the door, pushing it wide open, the key still in the lock. Her mind was scrambled with pain and it was all she could to grope for her weapon before her eyes began to glaze over.

Down below in the main cave, Melar Baram paused on his way to relieve Tanisie of her guard duty. from where he stood he could the wide open door. It was general practice to lock the door after the guard to keep the slaves in and it being open without Tanisie in sight meant one thing... the slaves were escaping! The mage hurried back towards the bedrolls where Mulvisie, his other partner still lay, slightly high from a previous dose of moon sugar.
"The slaves are escaping!"
He breathed, wordlessly she grabbed a few throwing stars and staggered after him, they moved warily. Despite being armed they were now most likely out numbered...

Kraling simply watched events unfold for the moment. "People are telling me this place is dangerous." He said, "and at least for the moment it'd probably be safer to go in groups. But then, I don't think we'd be much safer travelling with that argonian." He said, hoping he was well out of earshot. "we'd probably be best to try and get going before he comes back." Kraling told Laurenne, and started walking.

Seyda Neen, Outskirts

"we'd probably be best to try and get going before he comes back."

Laurenne sighed, unwilling to leave the Khajjit to his fate. Despite her misdeeds, she still hated to see others hurt, especially if she felt she could avoid it...
"But... what about that Khajjit?"
she whispered back, making sure that Ghost couldn't hear as she hurried after Kraling. His stride wa larger than hers and she had to jog a little every now and then to keep up;
"Look at Ghost, he's eyeing the poor noble up as though he was a walking money bag! I agree that Ghost is a dodgy character but..."
Laurenne left the sentence hanging, Kraling knew what she meant and she felt unwilling to contemplate what might happen to the Khajjit if Ghost had his way.

Davian continued to walk down the road, heedless of the Argonian sneaking up behind him. However, that was not to say he was unaware of the Argonian, as the creature's foul stench would have alerted anyone to his presence, and the squishing of his feet through the soggy ground didn't help his stealth attempt either. He waited, continuing his oblivious ambling until the lizard was almost close enough to skewer the "kahjiit", before suddenly turning around to face the wanna-be assassin. "Excuse me, good sir. Do you happen to know whether Pelagiad is on the way to Balmora?" the noble khajiitBreton asked, comically ignoring the obvious threat the ameture Argonian supposedly posed to his pompous life.

"I don't know." Kraling said, "I think we're not needed." He nudged his head towards where the Khajiit had confronted Ghost.

"I don't know if he can take care of himself, but I just got out of prison, same as you. I'd hate to be getting into fights and being thrown back in." Kraling said. "But he's got an air about him, I think he dosen't need us."

Addamasartus cave, Seyda Neen Outskirts

The Dunmer fell forward and died. This was Kalthars first kill in a long long time and his adrenaline was still pumping through his veins. He felt alive once again and stayed crouched staring at the body for some time with a glare in his eye before he decided to push himself up. Knowing that he had very little on his persona, he checked the Dunmers pockets hoping to find something of worth to help him.

After checking the Dunmers pockets he stood over her body and looked into the new chamber. Suddenly a Khajiit barged into him followed by two Argonians sending him stumbling back and tripping over the body and onto his back. Without hesitation he jumped onto his feet and took a fighting stance holding his sword in front of him and examined the newcomers. From what he could see they were wearing clothing no better than his that barely hung on their skinny frames, they were also unarmed and on all of their wrists they were wearing some strange bracelet that Kalthar had never seen before. Still, he was taking no chances with these strangers as they could still be potentialy hostile "Keep yer distance" he ordered them "Who are yer?"

OOC Slight misunderstanding, but ok .

Gains:
6 Septims, Chitin Shortsword, Moon Sugar, Small key

IC
Addamasartus cave, Seyda Neen Outskirts

Tanisie's corpse has another key, much smaller than the one for the door and in better condition. There are also 6 septims in a pouch around her waist and, in another a white powder.

"Keep yer distance. Who are yer?"

Baadargo, turned back to look at the mad Nord, standing over the body of one of the bandits.
Well he can't be all bad...
The fellow however held a blade and so the Khajjit smoothed back his ears and did as he was told, careful to keep the cave exit behind him as he faced his probable saviour.
"I, am Baardargo"
he said then, gesturing to the two Argonians he said;
"These two are Banolz and Okaw, we were slaves here. You however seemed to have rescued us and I thankyou."
He glanced nervously over the Nord's shoulder, in time to see the two bandits reach the top of the stairs...
"Watch out!"
He hissed, taking cover as the first fireball whizzed overhead.
----------------------
Seyda Neen, Outskirts
"I think you're right"
Laurenne laughed, impressed at the sheer class of the way the Khajjit brought Ghost up short. The laugh faded however and she became more serious as she moved onto Kraling's comment about prison
"I... think we're ok here. Nobody knows about our past problems so we won't be treated any more harshly than anyone else."
Laurenne looked back at the Seyda Neen, she would be glad to get away from that hellhole.
"Lets turn left here then, we'll be able to avoid the others..."

"Probably a good idea." Kraling said, pulling out the directions again, and looking at the signpost at the edge of town. "We'll probably have to link up with the main road again later, but it's better than getting caught in this."

He put away the directions and gave a quick look back. He was very glad to be leaving. "Maybe elsewhere I can find a decent shop, too."

"Do you know the way to Pelegaid?"

Ghost was taken back by the kahjiit's movements, refraining from plunging the blade into the Kahjiit's Chest. Still not using his fake accent Ghost frowned. "No, I am new here too." Unsure of how to present himself Ghost growled. "I do not like how you treated me." Ghost frowned, unsure of what the kahjiit would say.

Addamasartus cave, Seyda Neen Outskirts

"Watch out!"

Kalthar turned around and ducked just in time and barely avoided the fireball which singed the top of his hair causing him to wince slightly. His acrobatics skills were paying off although he was still a bit rusty from his time in prison. Looking up he spotted two menacing looking bandits who didn't look two happy. They had the advantage with ranged magic and the other guy looked like he had some throwing knives meaning a head on attack was suicide.

Turning back to the other strangers he shouted "Any of you guys good with a blade?" He needed an extra hand if he was going to kill these slavers and a small plan formed in his head. These slavers obviously wouldn't want their catch to escape and fighting in an open chamber like this meant that Kalthar wouldn't even get close to them. He had to fight them in the narrow passage near the entrance to force them to fight melee, which meant death for them and an extra hand meant the other slaver would be too pre-occupied to retaliate.

OOC feel free to take control of the slaves for the fight

IC
Addamasartus cave, Seyda Neen Outskirts

Baardargo gulped, the two raiders looked menacing and he had had some horrific treatment at their hands, especially the woman who as he watched drew a star from her belt.
Time to pay them back...
"I can use a sword"
He said stepping forwards determindly, his emaciated form quivering with adrenaline.