Fighter's Guild
IS OFFLINE
9
Renown
Frostgale
Forgiveness is for Quitters.
319 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Ak'ka the Bonegrinder on Dec 1, 2022 23:51:57 GMT -5
The Pale City.
A bustling port in the harsh northern country, where merchants flourished and the wealthy elite grew even richer from the trade. Even during the harsh winter months, ships were constantly coming in from Capitol Landing with all manner of goods. And it was during this time- Yuletide- that the city was plagued with a legendary figure known as…
The Red Rogue.
While the common folk regarded the Red Rogue as a hero, who stole from the rich and gave to those in need, there were plenty of rich assholes that didn’t want their things stolen, and plenty more that didn’t much like being painted as the villains of the city. It was on the darkest night of the year that a wealthy merchant caught wind of an attack on his warehouse, one that would cost him thousands of Solars in goods.
And so, Farnz Lewer, the merchant in question, decided to do the only rational thing and set a trap for the dastardly thief.
He hired two of the best heroes off the streets for the low price of a couple rounds of drinks to protect his warehouse from the Red Rogue, which the two readily agreed to. Neither of them had known each other before this moment, until they were standing on the middle of a rooftop overlooking the compound, on the lookout for any sign of the thief.
This was where Ak’ka the Bonegrinder found herself, hands shoved in her pockets as she whistled casually, occasionally looking down at the little guy that had been hired to protect this place with her. To be honest, she didn’t really give a damn if the rich shits got robbed or not, but she was itching for some action, and she’d gotten a couple of drinks out of it. She had no idea why the other guy was here, but given his happy-go-lucky attitude, he was probably here because he was a real, bona-fide hero or something. Real cute.
They’d been out here a couple of hours without much action, so Ak’ka pulled out the flask from beneath her cloak, taking a swig of liquor. Once she finished off nearly half the flask, she turned to the little cheery guy with a grin that showed off her tusks.
“So. You think these Red Rogue guys are really gonna show, or is this gonna be the easiest night of free drinks you’ve ever earned in your life?”
|
|
The Expedition
IS OFFLINE
33
Renown
Moonglade
an good boi
789 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Dec 2, 2022 20:43:07 GMT -5
Gerhart was happy his coat was still in tact after everything he dealt with when rescuing that wagon driver and his team. Frost Gale was pretty in its own rights, but the cold and the wind could get to any man. Thankfully, he was no longer scraping coins together just to get by. A little bit of money adventuring and some help from the Fighter's Guild to get consistent work meant he was on the right path.
Though, unfortunately that path still meant a lot of basic jobs like guard duty. He was no Shaa or Zarius or Cyran, they had lots of skills and lots of jobs. Still though, he knew he had to cut his teeth somewhere so it might as well be on jobs like this.
Similarly to his new found partner for the job, Gerhart wasn't actually all that concerned if rich people got robbed, but he did care about doing a job. He may be a rich and smug asshole, but that rich and smug asshole was the reason for the aforementioned comfort Gerhart had come to find.
Hands idly rested on the pommels of his swords, wiggling them up and down as he rocked back and forth on the balls of his heels. "Well with luck no, but I have never exactly had luck on my side, so I'd expect them sooner rather than later."
|
|
Fighter's Guild
IS OFFLINE
9
Renown
Frostgale
Forgiveness is for Quitters.
319 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Ak'ka the Bonegrinder on Dec 4, 2022 8:11:46 GMT -5
“I’d say with luck we’ll meet a whole bunch of ‘em.” Ak’ka said, tucking her flask away to crack her knuckles in anticipation. She wouldn’t mind if they didn’t show up at all, of course- Ak’ka would never turn up her nose at a free drink- but she longed for the thrill of battle. Being from the mountains, Ak’ka didn’t know much about this Red Rogue myth, but from what she knew, there was supposed to be a group of ‘em coming in to steal the goods tonight. One person or many didn't matter much to her- she could take down any number of them, and the giant pine tree strapped to her back was warning enough for anyone that was dumb enough to try taking her on. And the little guy had those nasty looking swords, too.
The warehouse itself was a huge, multi-story complex, with several floors each housing a different type of item. Ak’ka and the other guy were currently standing on the roof, which Ak’ka figured would be the best place they would be able to see threats coming from all angles. What she failed to realize was that she couldn’t see jack shit in the middle of the night.
Completely none the wiser to this, Ak’ka turned back to the little guy, figuring small talk would be a good enough way to pass the time as any.
“Name’s Ak’ka, by the way.” She said. “Looking forward to pummeling the hell out of some criminals with ya.”
|
|
The Expedition
IS OFFLINE
33
Renown
Moonglade
an good boi
789 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Dec 4, 2022 11:26:43 GMT -5
“Unfortunately for us, they are probably gonna wait until we are tired and falling asleep….which means it’s gonna be a long couple hours of nothing.” He puffed a breath into his hands to warm them up a bit.
Although Gerhart put on a good face about the job, he was clearly bored too. It was a strange thing he struggled to reconcile sometimes, he didn’t enjoy fighting and hurting people but he was usually bored if there wasn’t some kind of adventure going on. He always felt bad for the bandits he killed, but he felt good about protecting people. This is probably what his “dad” meant when he warned about being an adventurer. Having to make compromises and such like on this job. The red rogue was stealing from only the obscenely rich, but theft is wrong no matter how well intentioned…….Right?
Ak’ka’s voice broke him out of his train of thought as he looked up to her, “Gerhart Stanislav. I can’t tell if I want a fight or if I want this to be just some sort of myth. A thief taking only from the rich sounds like a fairy tale ya know? Like the abominable snowman or something.”
|
|
Fighter's Guild
IS OFFLINE
9
Renown
Frostgale
Forgiveness is for Quitters.
319 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Ak'ka the Bonegrinder on Dec 9, 2022 21:42:49 GMT -5
“I don’t need sleep.” Ak’ka grunted, despite the fact that her words definitely sounded like she was talking around a yawn. “Those thugs’re gonna be in for a hell of a surprise when they find us still awake and gunning for them.”
To be honest, she really didn’t give much of a shit about what the thieves were up to. Stealing or guarding, it was all the same to her. She’d grown up in the harsh mountains where it was raid or be raid- and Ak’ka had been on both sides of the coin. In reality, it all came down to whoever was the strongest, or in this case, whoever was smart enough to hire the strongest. If these red rogue punks could best her, then hell, they deserved to take their spoils!
The little man introduced himself as Gerhart, but the nickname Ak’ka had already given him had stuck in her mind. “Nice ta meet ya, little guy.” She uncapped her flask while Gerhart made some joke about fairy tales and abominable snowmen. “I dunno shit about fairy tales, but the abominable snowman’s real. Met him. Wrestled him.” She gave him another fanged grin. “His bark was worse than his bite.”
She was distracted by movement under her fur-lined cloak. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, moving back the hood of her cloak to reveal a tiny doormouse, sniffing the air curiously. “What’s up, Squeak?” She asked, like the mouse could talk back to her. To be fair, the little thing was probably smarter than the half-orc barbarian, even without being able to speak common. The little bitty mouse, dwarfed even more by Ak’ka’s large frame, pointed its nose out to the surrounding compound, letting out a tiny noise in excitement. “You wanna go out and take a look around?” Ak’ka guessed, only to get a nod back from the little guy. She held out a hand, picking up the tiny rodent with her large hand, bending down to set him on the floor. “Bring back a button or something if you find anyone sniffin’ about.”
The mouse gave another sound of excitement before skittering off into the night, disappearing in the darkness. Ak’ka turned back to Gerhart, offering nothing more than a shrug. “He’s a really smart guy. He’ll probably find sign of those Red Rogues if they’ve been snooping.”
|
|
The Expedition
IS OFFLINE
33
Renown
Moonglade
an good boi
789 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Dec 10, 2022 10:59:03 GMT -5
"Sounds like the perfect thing for guard duty then, not needing to sleep." He gave a small laugh and shrug as he leaned against the wall. For a moment he thinks to protest the nickname, but relatively speaking it was less of a nickname and more of a reality.
An eyebrow was raised watching the interaction with the mouse. Could she actually understand them? Having a spy friend like that would certainly come in handy, no one ever thinks to look out for a mouse.
"I imagine they aren't too far so he'll probably find something.....I scattered some caltrops on the roof earlier, buried them all in the snow so if they try to sneak in over us they won't be happy." Another wide grin as he revealed his own trick to try and catch these guys.
It was starting to get oddly quiet near them, though. Sure, most people were starting to go to bed and turn in for the night, but a big city usually always has some sort of noise going on. The silence had him a bit more on edge. Winter in Frost Gale or not this was too quiet and something told him they were about to find out just how big a threat these Red Rogues were.
|
|
Fighter's Guild
IS OFFLINE
9
Renown
Frostgale
Forgiveness is for Quitters.
319 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Ak'ka the Bonegrinder on Dec 12, 2022 23:04:41 GMT -5
“Smart.” Ak’ka said as the Little Guy told her he’d placed some sorta trap around the area, a proud smile on his face. It was definitely much better than anything that Ak’ka would have come up with. She wasn’t much for planning and strategy. Usually, if guys got the drop on her, then she’d just come at them fists swinging. She left the planning to other folks. But Gerhart looked like he had a few tricks of his own up his sleeve, which would definitely come in handy.
The conversation lapsed into silence as they both waited for something, anything, to break up the monotony of the night. The longer Squeak didn’t come back, the more Ak’ka began to get worried. The mouse was a scrappy little thing but that didn’t mean he couldn’t end up under the foot of a vicious criminal. The longer they went without any noise, or any sign of her mouse, Ak’ka grew more testy, tapping her foot in the snow. With her strength, it was more like a dull thud.
The night had gotten so quiet, in fact, that Ak’ka was easily able to hear the sound of a muffled yelp of pain, one that immediately quieted- but the damage had already been done. Ak’ka’s head whipped around in the direction of the noise, already got her sights set on the upcoming battle.
“Must be those thugs.”
Maybe someone else woulda come up with a plan, but Ak’ka didn’t need stuff like that. If these thugs were gonna attempt to break into a warehouse, then there would be no talking with them. She dashed forward over the snow, the ice coating the bottom of her boots propelling her forward even faster as she rounded the corner in the direction of the sound.[1] 1. Frozen Feet
|
|
The Expedition
IS OFFLINE
33
Renown
Moonglade
an good boi
789 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Dec 12, 2022 23:30:29 GMT -5
Gerhart holds up a hand for just a moment after the yelp. Some muffled curses are lost to the wind, but after another second there was a small explosion and the sound of a body hitting the ground of the alleyway. “Explosive wire.”
He let’s Akka take off ahead of him, drawing his own swords to follow just behind. She seemed to be all muscle so best to follow rather than get in front of that. There would be a few thugs just around the corner picking up their recently exploded friend. Two versus two sounded like even odds, but something about it didn’t seem right.
”Hey do you think you can handle these two? This doesn’t seem enough like a job like this, something isn’t right here.” Gerhart looked towards the warehouse itself. The roof was a terrible choice to enter this place anyways, Gerhart only put traps there because he was bored. Was this a distraction? It wouldn’t be a bad one if these guys were so organized it would make sense. This place didn’t have many entrances so pulling guards from the front was a smart move. Splitting was never ideal but these three guys together looked smaller than Akka.
|
|
Fighter's Guild
IS OFFLINE
9
Renown
Frostgale
Forgiveness is for Quitters.
319 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Ak'ka the Bonegrinder on Dec 15, 2022 18:45:48 GMT -5
“Huh? Yeah, sure, whatever. I got this.” Two versus one was perfectly fine odds to her- in fact, if Gerhart joined the fight it might have almost been too easy. Vaguely, she was aware of the fact that this was probably some sort of trap, and that they were being played while the real thieves broke in somewhere else. But with the promise of battle in front of her, none of that mattered.
There were only three guys in front of her- both shorter than her, and one of them clutching their foot in pain. The second was clutching an axe in his hands. The third, not even worth paying attention to. He’d already been knocked out by Gerhart’s trick explosion.
“You folks the Red Rogues or some shit?” Ak’ka asked as Gerhart dashed off to investigate his hunch. That was just fine with her- left her to divert her full attention to these clowns. She pulled the tree out from where it was strapped to her back, ready to move at a moment’s notice. “Well. Not like it matters to me. You guys made the mistake of breakin’ in, and I’m trying to get my drink.”
“The hell’s it matter to you, brute?” The first one, who was still dealing with his foot injury, demanded. “The Lewer family’s trash. Hoard their goods up here and live like kings while the rest of us starve in the streets.”
“I don’t really give a damn about the Lewer family.” Ak’ka shrugged. “I just care about getting paid. Now are you pissants gonna scram or do I need to beat the lesson into ya?”
“We’re not gonna stop because of a little bit of hired muscle! Those goods in that warehouse are ours!”
Ak’ka snorted, letting out a puff of cold air.
“Alright then, prove to me you deserve that shit in there, and it’s yours.”
The two remaining men turned to one another and nodded before raising their weapons and dashing at Ak’ka.
|
|
The Expedition
IS OFFLINE
33
Renown
Moonglade
an good boi
789 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Dec 16, 2022 9:31:23 GMT -5
Gerhart nodded to Ak'ka once she confirmed she was fine and jogged off towards the warehouse. Inside he would find another trio, these ones rappelling down from the windows. Smart, they let their friends clear the traps and take the fall while they would quietly escape. For a brief moment, Gerhart is proud of himself for figuring this out, but it quickly stops when he realizes they are still escaping. The crash of boxes can be heard as they drop what goods they were carrying and start to make a dash for the exit.
"Oh no you don't!" Gerhart starts into a dead sprint towards the other end of the warehouse. During his run, lightning crackles as he summons out a pair of large, leathery dragon wings to aid his speed. With a powerful flap he gets airborne, soaring towards the windows to cut the ropes.[1] "Gonna have to be quicker than that."
He smiled as he landed, looking at the three inside. These guys were much better suited for this by the looks of their armor and weapons. Still, Gerhart was confident at the very least he could hold out until Ak'ka could make it back in and even the odds.
|
|
Fighter's Guild
IS OFFLINE
9
Renown
Frostgale
Forgiveness is for Quitters.
319 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Ak'ka the Bonegrinder on Dec 17, 2022 15:31:18 GMT -5
The first guy- one holding a hammer- tried to make a go at it first, but Ak’ka was already swinging her tree in a sideways motion, catching the bastard right in the torso and propelling him sideways until he hit the outer wall of the warehouse with a sickening CRUNCH. The next guy tried to swing his ax at her arm before Ak’ka stomped on the ground, and a wall of ice rose up from the snowbed between her and the thug. Ak’ka heard the THUNK of an ax embedding itself in the ice, and the muffled swears of a thief who’d been stopped before he could land his hit.[1]
Ak’ka stepped around the ice wall to find the red rogue struggling to remove his ax from the ice, one leg kicked up against the wall to help unlodge his weapon. Ak’ka wrapped her hand around the back of his skull and lifted the punk into the air before he could do any more damage. “Look, man. Your buddy’s a broken mess of bones on the other side of this wall, and I can do the same to you. But in the name of holiday spirit I’m feelin’ generous, so I’ll let you go if you tell me what you and your buddies are up to.”
“Up yours, orc!”
“Ha! That’s the best insult you got?” She grunted. “Come on, man, I’m just trying to-”
He responded with a surprise dagger in her shoulder.
“Aw, shit!” Ak’ka swore before immediately following it up with an even worse stream of cuss words in orcish that should never be translated into the common language. Instinctively, she slammed his head against the ice wall, dropping her tree on the ground to grab the dagger and wrench it out from her shoulder. Not the smartest move, but Ak’ka learnt from the best warriors that when you had a weapon in your body you should remove it immediately.
Great. So now she was bleeding and had no more answers than she did before. Oh, well- it wasn’t like she was being paid to ask questions. Her only job was to guard the stuff inside the warehouse and prevent any harm from coming to it.
She nonchalantly wiped the blood from her hand onto her cloak and set off in search of the little guy. 1. Glacial Wall
|
|
The Expedition
IS OFFLINE
33
Renown
Moonglade
an good boi
789 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Dec 17, 2022 20:53:02 GMT -5
These guys were certainly good, it was easy to tell by their blade skills alone. It was hard to get any sort of opening as he was constantly having to block and move. For a few moments it seemed like this was just going being an annoying stalemate that would last forever. The kind of sword fight that just dulls the blade as steel endlessly clashes against steel.
He needed an opening, thankfully the thunking of a man against the warehouse wall provided just that. Gerhart turned and dashed up the wall[1] vaulting himself back to flip over behind the trio. He would bring both of the pommels of his swords down onto the middle man's shoulders, sending him into the dirt.[2] When the other two turned, one tried to catch Gerhart with a jab but he turn and caught the man's blade with his own sword.[3]
Gerhart would shift the other man to the side and toss him back into his friend, sending them both off balance. Before they could scramble to their feet and grab their weapons Gerhart had his swords at their throats. With the third man out cold, there hopefully weren't any more threats to worry about.
"Make it quick, tell us everything and you get to go with the guards. At least the cells will be warmer than out here."
|
|
Fighter's Guild
IS OFFLINE
9
Renown
Frostgale
Forgiveness is for Quitters.
319 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Ak'ka the Bonegrinder on Dec 18, 2022 13:01:47 GMT -5
Still bleeding from her wound but utterly unconcerned, Ak’ka wandered around the outside of the warehouse looking for any sign of the little guy when she felt a tiny, skittering sensation up her leg and torso. A few seconds later, Squeak popped out on her shoulder, little nose pointing in the air urgently.
“Huh? What’s up?” She asked, eyebrows raised. The little mouse had something tucked along in its bag- she picked it up between her large fingers, squinting to inspect it further. It looked like some wood chip from a box… She wasn’t always the brightest, but she had a feeling she knew what the little mouse was trying to say. “They’re inside?”
Squeak let out a little, well, squeak as if confirming that was where Gerhart had gone to find the rest of the invaders. She wandered around until she found another door- a locked one- and shrugged before planting her boot in the center and smashing it inwards.[1] They weren’t really paying her to protect the outer shell of the place, and even though smashing in the door probably wasn’t the best idea for security, but she wasn’t really thinking about that right now so much as she was worried that the little guy would be caught by whatever was inside. What she found instead was Gerhart, surrounded by three men on the ground, one unconscious, and two with swords pointed at their throats.
Huh.
“Well, uh, looks like you’ve got this handled.” Ak’ka said, not exactly surprised but still proud that the little guy handled himself well. She wished she could’a seen him in action with those blades, but maybe she would get an opportunity later. She approached Gerhart from behind, putting a hand on his shoulder. “So. There were more of these Red Rogue punks, huh?”
Somehow they looked less impressive than she thought they would have.
While Gerhart had them at swordpoint, they may as well get some information.
Ak’ka knelt down, staring down at one of the guys that was still awake.
“Nice try, guys, but unfortunately for you, y’all just weren’t strong enough.” She shrugged. “My buddy and I here will happily turn you in to the guards where you’ll be nice and snug in a holding cell if you just give us what you need to know.”
“Like I’d tell you anything, orc!”
Ak’ka stared down at him, unimpressed.
“Wanna learn how I got the name Bonegrinder?”
She watched a myriad of emotions flashing across his face as he considered the sword pointed at his throat and the hulking half-orc that was within grabbing distance of his fragile little stick-limbs.
“Throw us in jail if you have to. I’ll never reveal any of our secrets to the likes of you!”
Ak’ka picked up his hand at the wrist, immediately grabbing one of his fingers. “I wonder how many of these you need to hold a sword.” Unfortunately for her, that seemed to be a final breaking point, as the man immediately flinched and shouted,
“Okay, fine, I’ll talk, I’ll talk!”
“Oh?” Ak’ka flashed him a toothy grin before turning to Gerhart with an expression on her face that said, things are finally getting exciting. She turned back to the Red Rogue, crossing her arms. “Alright then, talk. Let’s start with the location of your base…” 1. Bull's Strength
|
|