Plotting
02/06/11
Players: Shar, Erebos
Black Rose:Main Area
After you cross the bridge and head up the hill a clearing opens up after you go threw the very thick trees, bushes and weeds.This is the main area of the Black Rose base. The base is surrounded by a tall , strong grey stoned wall with guards posted along it. Slaves can be seen making an repairs needed to the walls and even making it even stronger and better,and the guards make -sure- they do as they are told or they are punished. There are many guards coming and going from place to place. You can see the grey stoned slave cell building and another much larger building where the Black Rose members meet and plan. The large building looks like it goes into the hillside some, as does the slave cells.
Exits: [Back], [S]lave [C]ells, [B]lack [R]ose Base
The evening is a warm one, the sky heavy and fat with clouds but no snow, keeping the heat in for once. Light cast by the sullen flickering torches illuminates the gates of the camp, opening quickly under the strength of a pair of ferrets, then closing again after the outsider steps in. Dull colours and an even duller soul makes her shape hard to focus on, but there is Shar, the cloaked, hooded rat stepping lightly over the snow, her massive crossbow slung over her back and something tucked under one arm; something heavy, judging by her steps, causing her to lean to that side.
At almost the same time Erebos emerges from the main building of the Black Rose, pulling his winter coat tighter around him, the stitches beginning to stretch at his shoulders just a tad. It is warm for the winter, but cold for a beast hatched in the tropical islands, and though the pain of the winter is numbed by a glass or two of brandy, his movements are still slow and sluggish, and his mood suffers accordingly. It is hard to imagine how vulnerable cold blooded beasts feel in climates like this.
Shar shuffles onwards towards the hall, shrugging the motley-coloured hood from her head as she does. Pale blue eyes flick to the tall shape of the monitor and her pace slows. "Erebos. Lucky find, I have a query for your attention. Warm enough to think?"
Erebos' head cocks and his pupils dilate from slits into wide dishes, although they appear the same glassy black as always. He inclines his chin down and tastes the air with his tongue, reminding himself of Shar's scent. "Zinkeeng eez all I can do een zis weazer, eet zeemz." He takes a single step toward her. "Not nearlee enough beeztz are 'urteeng to keep me occupied. Eef you want my attention, you 'ave eet."
Shar smells of damp and forest, of old moss and wet bark, just underlaid with the smell of fur and rat. Everything about her is dull, hard to notice... handy for her methods, truly. She stops near enough to be seen in the low light, her head cocks and she turns her head this way and that in quick, alert movements, her curving ears upright, whiskers twitching. She pays no attention to the stoat passing near, or the weasels arguing not a dozen paces away; she's looking for a particular beast, and seems relieved that they are not near... or as relieved as Shar can look, anyway... which is to say, she keeps talking. "You know of the badger? The black one?"
The blue-black tongue shoots back, passing over his lips once before retreating back into his mouth. "Ahhh, Blackvur'zz truzted right-paw beezt." Erebos says. There is a hint of sarcasm in his rasping voice. But then again, there almost always is. "I 'ave zpoken to 'eem zeveral timez bevore, yez. What of 'eem?" a scaly brow arches, lifting the flickering shadows from his eye socket and revealing the marble-like orb.
Shar flicks a paw towards the slave cells, "Went berserk several days past. Near killed my prisoner and several of Blackfur's own beasts. Madness. Should not be kept free." And here she shrugs one shoulder, producing a dull clinking sound from the package she carries. "Acquired insurance against such... would consider your thoughts useful. You are not swayed by zeal or undue loyalty. Better than most."
Erebos is for once, taken completely by surprise. His lips part and breath escapes, before they seal again, in a very wicked smile. The lizard leans forward for more confidence, his tail sweeping from side to side, making soft impressions in the snow. At her suggestion he makes no more effort to hide his opinion of the badger. "I am avraid 'iz mannerz affect Blackvur, vor ze worzt. I would enjoy ze zilenze zat would enzue eef 'e were...brought away." His speech his barely more than a rumble. He has become skilled at keeping his baritone from carrying over the years. "What een zpezeefeec are you zuggezteeng?"
Shar shrugs one skinny shoulder, causing her cloak to bob, "Journeyed to Ruingate to fetch a second set of shackles, much like the original set I had acquired to capture the hedgehog in the Cells. He is unbelivably strong, had shakles built to restrain a badger. Successful... but after seeing the actual badger, feared not suitable. had these made." So saying, she opens the cloth bundle and sets it down on a crate, showing the blackened iron and massive chain link binding them. "Difficult to get on, but... once shackled, believe beast not capable to breaking... possibly. not familair with badgers true strength, your thoughts appreciated."
Erebos' arms unfold, and he bends over the crate. his tail lashes more violently, and then ceases, falling still and stiff in the snow. Wordlessly, he takes one of the shackles, and fiddles with it. An eye pops up to gleam at Shar, full of excitement, but also suspicion. Nothing gets his blood pumping like mutinous deeds. He watches her out of the corner of his eye as he slowly closes one of the cuffs over his wrists, as he is the relative size and strength of a badger. And though he has no idea about Nightmare personally, he has always imagined himself to be stronger. "Where eez ze key?"
Shar points at the locking point where the single binding's ends meet. There is no lock where a key would fit, instead there is just a pair of lug holes. Shar lifts up an iron peg, thick around as her finger, one end slightly rounded and wider. "No key. Locks easy to break. Pin instead, hot-hammered into place. Welded shut. Cannot be picked, very hard to break." So saying, she slips the pin inside the lugholes, sealing them shut, though not permenently. "Slower work than key, but once sealed requires blacksmith and plenty of time. Must be applied while beast is unconscious, however..."
Erebos grimaces and almost pulls back from the rat as she slips the pin in, but he bites his tongue from saying anything violent or biting. Must be rational, now. Once the cuff is closed around his wrist, the lizard grabs the chain in his free claw and drops it to the ground, crouching and securing it under his knee. He takes a deep breath and yanks against the shackles several times, grunting with effort on the last. the metal holds steady. "Zey zeem to be ztrong enough. I would trust zem." He stands and removes the pin, grasping it between two talons. "I do not deny I would enjoy zeeyeeng ze beazt reztrained." He mutters in a murderous undertone. " 'ow do you propose to weld it shut while 'e eez zleepeeng? ...Or would you need zomezeeng to render 'eem...more complacent?" The tongue flicks out again.
Shar is already drawing something out of the boxy case on her hip. Most of it is crossbow quarrel; the short, fat bolts that fit her murderous weapon. She had demonstrated it shortly after her arrival in the camp; with a regular iron point the thing could hammer a bolt clean through an oak plank a broad paw thick. This bolt though; instead of the evil little iron heads it has a thick, flat lead one; the face of it only slightly curved. The weight of it combined with the power of that Horse-murderer she carries... "Used these to knock the Hedgepig out. Effective but inaccurate. Need to be close. Not suitable unless in dire need. However," and here those dull, blue eyes flick up to you, corpse-pale and just as lively. "There are more... subtle means."
Erebos is silent for a long, cold moment. His entire body seems to tense as he calculates things in his head. "Ways zat would not eemplicate eizer of us. Or even better, zat could eemplicate a zlave, Eef zome beezt were to zleep zomezeeng eento ze zellz." The smile returns again, curving along his jaw and folding the scales into lines along his face. "Eef...zat eez what you are implying..." Another silence lingers and the smile fades from his visage, as the excitement and the drink ebb away, and he slowly comes to the realization of what they are planning. "And what of ze conzequenzez...?"
Shar raises one small, clean paw and tilts it back and forth in the universal sign of weighing something in the balance. "Had spoken with Blackfur before of having these made. He considered it useful to have handy. Reason I had them made. Does not trust leftenant as much as he puts on, it seems." She quiets for a moment, peering at the manacles before setting them back into the cloth package. "Perhaps needs to be shown Badger too dangerous, give command to allow him to be bound? Perhaps drive badger berserk on purpose, kill some lesser beasts in camp?"
Erebos stands up straight, rolling his neck. It emits a crack or two as his vertibrae pop, his bones protesting the icy air. "Are you zuggezteeng a job vor me?" He asks, playing coy and uninterested. Why would she be telling him if she didn't want his participation. "Eet zeemz I am zkeelled at goadeeng beeztz eento violence, eef zat eez what you require. Wiz Nightmare quieted, per'apz Blackvur could be...guided...to take wizer couzez of action?" He watches her carefully, trying to guage a reaction on that expressionless face of hers.
Shar's eyes seem to stare at nothing for a moment, gear spinning in her head. Her ears swivel slightly as the noise of the night settles into the break in conversation. Some laughter from the distant slave cells for some reason, and there the chatter of vermin around a fire, the smell of it warming the air. She is about as easy to read as it is to make a birch tree laugh. "Only if required." she finally says, tucking the package back under one arm and sagging a little at the weight. "There are other ways." Those dead eyes swivel upwards to the Monitor's face, "There are herbs that heat the blood, yes? Make a beast energetic, irritable? Perhaps the badger's food could use some additional flavourings. best to keep distance until action required."
Erebos nods, he huffs air out of his nostrils and the breath crystalizes and drifts away, making him look like one of those fire breathing dragons of folk lore. "Of couze. Zo weez ze badger, zuch meazurez are 'ardlee necezzary..." he sounds rather...disappointed. The poor bored lizard has been looking for a good fight to be had, it seems. " 'e zeemz to be keepeeng to ze zlaves wiz 'iz outburztz, but a case could be made to ze cat zat zis 'inderz ze productivitee of ze camp, no?" A claw taps and scrapes at his canvas clad arm. The slower he moves, the quicker he wants things to happens.
Shar tilts her head slightly, "The beast I brought, the hedgepig... infuriated the Badger quickly, within moments. Nightmare does not seem well-inclined the beast; they are likely evenly matched in strength. Easy to goad both into fighting. Perhaps useful?"
Erebos nods, the claw flying from his arm to his chin. "Per'apz indeed. Az long az I am not expected to 'eal ze blazted creature. I 'ave 'eard of vermeen turneeng good 'earted, but a 'eartless badger? Eet eez unnatural." The lizard wrinkles his snout. "I was on my way to ze zellz now, een fact. Zhould I mention zis to ze pig, or zhall we let nature take eetz courze?"
Shar waves one paw again, "Perhaps take the hedgepig out while Badger is near. I doubt it would take long, and the 'hog is no longer concussed from my flatshot bolts. Goading useful, however." She starts towards the door, "Hedgepig is shackled hand a foot, so isn't too large a threat. Badger will enjoy fighting near-helpless beast, even if hedgepig still formidable... Hmmn, goad 'pig, ensure his rage is stoked. Must rest now, have been walking since past night."
Erebos nods, half-turning from his sudden and strange ally. "Good night zen." He speaks softly, his tongue flicking the air once more, sniffing out the nearby beasts, his eyes rolling over those who might be within earshot, then to the wall. His focus is already on the next activity, whatever that may be.
Shar slips into the building without a further word, her pawsteps soft, vanishing not into the gloom but into the foreground, her bland presence as good as any cloak.
Groups:
