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Post by The Darkheart Twins on Jan 3, 2023 12:40:48 GMT -5
Tao sipped at his drink, grinning as the alcohol burned its way down his throat. The varnished oak of the counter was smooth beneath his fingers, and he was truly appreciating the ambiance of the tavern, with its dim lights, red velvet cushions, and quiet tasteful music being played by a hired bard. “Cheers mate.” He said, tipping his glass to the bartender. The bartender didn’t respond, though the blood dripping from his neck did make a small drip drop sound as it pooled over the counter and hit the floor. Tao downed the rest of his drink.
Behind him, amidst the carnage of unconscious or dead bodies, Ambryn was crouched over a patron, one hand gripping his collar, the other curled into a fist, raining down blow after blow on his already bloodied face. A man stumbled to his feet behind her, looked around, eyes wide, and rushed towards her, throwing a wild punch at the back of her head. He gasped as his wrist was suddenly gripped tightly by the Tiefling’s arrow-pointed tail, stopping its momentum dead. Ambryn stopped beating the man underneath her, and slowly turned her head, a grin across her face. Her tail yanked the man’s arm, pulling him in closer as Ambryn twisted into him, elbow thrusting deep into his gut. As his breath exploded out of him, Ambryn twisted her arm, turning the elbow into a fist to his face, knuckles breaking his nose as her tail released his arm, and the man went flying backwards.
Tao slammed his glass down and spun his stool around, one leg crossing over the other, and leaned back against the bar, elbows up. He grinned at his sister, and she raised an eyebrow back at him in delight. All across the room lay bodies, some of them moaning or crying, all of them bruised and bloodied.
Ambryn tugged at her collar, adjusting her coat, allowing the form-fitting black leather to settle more comfortably around her shoulders after the fight, and stepped over a man to approach the bar. Tao slid a waiting glass of amber liquid to her as she leaned against the bar next to him.
“Satisfied?” She asked.
“Are you?”
“I’ve got what I wanted out of this place. How’d we do?”
Tao lifted a piece of paper and smiled at Ambryn. “Golden.”
Then the door swung open. The Twins turned their heads in sync to look at the newcomer, both still leaning against the bar.
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Ash Rose Jackals
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Post by Eameia (Zarius unavailable) on Jan 3, 2023 15:16:25 GMT -5
Eclipse City was a complicated place to conduct business in. There was tension between Moonglade and the Crescent Isles just as much as there was between the Crescent Isles and Capitol Landing. A lot of the politics are very messy and complicated with all sorts of tensions and personal vendettas. The recent actions of the Lunar Rebels in Sol City as well as the continued problems caused by the Clasp only acted as a catalyst for more unrest.
Of course, wherever there was unrest there was opportunity. Zarius found himself in the capital city of Moonglade with the intent of making the most of the complicated political environment. He had to be careful about what kinds of things he tried to get away with in Moonglade considering he had some very powerful allies who would likely not appreciate him going behind their backs and harming their homelands. As such, he is prioritizing information gathering for the time being.
He was following up on a lead from a contact who wanted to negotiate some information trading at a local tavern that was less conspicuous than the main on in the city. He fully expected that there was another reason the contact picked a quieter, less well known location. If the negotiations went poorly, he fully expected that the contact would have some friends try and get the jump on the tiefling. Needless to say, Zarius came prepared for a fight.
Stepping within the tavern, he is suprised to see that he had just caught the end of a pretty violent bar brawl. Seems that his preparations were unneeded amongst the current bloodied crowd. The charcoal skinned tiefling sighs. It was hard to tell if this was a blessing or a curse since it's possible his contact had already fled or was very much dead on the floor.
His golden eyes lands on two other tieflings in the tavern currently leaning against the bar. Judging by their minimal injuries, he determines that they were likely the cause and overall winners of the fight. He wasn't too keen on getting into an unnecessary fight with a pair of random individuals, so he puts on a friendly smile.
"Pardon the intrusion. I will only be a minute."
Stepping across the room, he starts checking the bodies on the floor to find his contact. As he's searching, he keeps the pair in the corner of his eye just in case they protest or try to start a fight with him this time.
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Post by The Darkheart Twins on Jan 5, 2023 21:21:02 GMT -5
Ambryn’s eyes gleamed as she watched the newcomer searching among the bodies. Another fight… Her breath caught in her throat in excitement. But she didn’t move. She felt Tao calming her down in her head, and reluctantly accepted his guidance. They had what they wanted. No need to risk another fight.
Tao didn’t bother moving as he observed the newcomer. The thoughts he and his sister shared in the moment were quick, so quick that they sometimes melded into a stream of consciousness like that of a single being. When he finally moved, Ambryn moved with him, both of them turning towards the bar in perfect synchronicity. She reached over and picked up a new glass as he pulled up a bottle, and they turned to each other, flowing smoothly in a dance of perfect unison, her holding the glass steady, he pouring. Then Ambryn made her way to the newcomer, stepping with the fluidity of a fighter around and over bodies. When she reached him, she smiled and presented him the glass of fire water. Her smile was seductive, much in the same way a succubus smiled right before she pounced; It could have meant she wanted to bed him or kill him.
It was Tao who spoke, still at the bar, as Ambryn handed the glass over. “Have a drink on us, friend. I don’t think anyone here minds.”
Ambryn let out a soft laugh at that, and when she spoke, Tao spoke as well, the two of them speaking in identical tone and cadence.
“Take as much time as you like, brother Devil-kin. The world is for the taking, if you can grab it.”
Ambryn laughed again, separate from her brother once more, and turned away from the newcomer, tail brushing gently across his chest as she walked to the door. Tao met her halfway, and they paused, looking at each other. Then they both smiled, and continued to the exit.
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Ash Rose Jackals
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Post by Eameia (Zarius unavailable) on Jan 5, 2023 23:06:55 GMT -5
Zarius does his best to mind his own business. He had no quarrel with the pair of tieflings even if their bloodlust was painfully obvious.
He finally manages to find the contact lying unconscious on the ground, beaten to a bloody pulp by the female tiefling presumably. Sucking in air through his teeth, he exhales slowly. This complicated his plans. It was hard to question someone who was unconscious and possibly suffering from brain damage.
The most he could do is rummage through the man's pockets and fish out anything that might even come close to useful scraps of written information. Unfortunately, he is out of luck on that front. The man only has a few meager coins tucked away and a small blade.
Shaking his head, he stands up and dusts his hands off on his pants just as Ambryn approaches him. He looks at her out of the corner of his eye then past at Tao.
Usually he would turn down a drink offered to him, but something was off about the two tieflings and they likely would take offense to his rejection. He takes the glass and watches Ambryn closely as her tail flicks across the front of his coat.
"I appreciate it." He raises the glass, but does not drink from it.
Instead he walks about the room and pretends to still be searching for something until the two tieflings make their way out. Once they have left through the front door, he sets the glass down on the counter.
"Just great." He mutters under his breath then carefully departs from the tavern as well.
He checks outside the door to see if the two other tieflings are lingering nearby. When he doesn't immediately see them, he steps out and makes his way down the street. Last thing he needed was to be found at the tavern with all those bodies should any guards or other would-be-witnesses drop by.
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Post by The Darkheart Twins on Jan 10, 2023 1:16:18 GMT -5
The twins were crouched on the roof of a house near the tavern, the shadow of the chimney hiding them. Thoughts passed between the two of them, a conversation that existed only in their minds. Well, in their mind.
“Why are you concerned?”
“Why aren’t you? That man was searching for something- It could be this.”
Tao held up the piece of paper he had acquired in the tavern.
“And why would he want the deed to a run down manor in the Shadewood?”
“For the same reason we do, darling Ambryn.”
“Don’t fucking patronize me, Tao.”
“Hmm. Apologies.”
There was a pause. Then: “Accepted.”
When the charcoal Tiefling exited the tavern, the twins moved as one, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, shadowing him. They waited until he cut through an alley, and leapt down, using what handholds they could find to flip and twist down the walls until they landed on either side of him.
Tao flared out his coat with a motion of his hands, and grinned at the other man.
“Behind you, brother Devil-kin.”
And Ambryn launched herself at the stranger, a laugh ripping out of her lungs.
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Ash Rose Jackals
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Post by Eameia (Zarius unavailable) on Jan 10, 2023 11:15:30 GMT -5
Zarius pauses as the male tiefling from before cuts him off in the empty alleyway.
An ambush? Really? And a sloppy one at that.
These two were way out of their league, but they were probably running high from all the people they beat the shit out of mere moments before Zarius arrived on the scene. Why they weren't going to let him just walk away was a mystery, but perhaps they weren't thinking too clearly to begin with.
Not only did the tiefling before him give a warning with ample time to react to the attack, the female tiefling's manic laughter gave Zarius a good idea of her exact positioning.[1] He lets her get in close, before he reaches back and catches her incoming fist.[2] Pulling her forward, his tail lashes around one of her ankles to trip her up as he twists her arm behind her back and holds it firmly.[3,4] He kicks the back of her knees to knock her down as he slips his free hand into one pocket and arms himself with one of his knuckles knives.[5]
Pointing the spiked end of the brass knuckles at the side of the woman's head, he looks up at the other. "Thank you for the warning. Now, I have no quarrel with you two, so what do you want?"
These two seemed like loose cannons, probably just a pair of rebellious young folk on an anarchist kick. It wasn't uncommon. He'd seen plenty of his 'kin' go through the same phase due to the attitude directed at tieflings by the other races. Young folk with no direction in life easily became little punks with too much confidence for their lack of real life experience.
He was willing to give them a chance to back down before he really beat the shit out of them. If they had any sense, they would understand the current situation was not as favorable as they had anticipated.
[1] Fighters Sense [2] Hands are Weapons [3] Prehensile Tail [4] Iron Grip [5] Knuckle Knives
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