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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Jan 24, 2023 20:42:52 GMT -5
The past few days in The Pale City had certainly been eventful. He didn't expect a night of guard duty to end with extreme wrestling some dudes through a table and setting fire to a bandit hideout with a half-orc woman. That said, Gerhart wouldn't change that for anything.
Thankfully these last nights have been quiet, no reports of thievery or anything of the sort. Whoever this Red Rogue was must have called it quits. This town wouldn't be so easily poached and pilfered it seemed. The young knight knew he wouldn't make it home before the next storm, so as unfortunate as it was, he would spend Winter's Crown here.
A neatly wrapped gift was tucked under the young knight's arm, his backpack full of more trinkets. He figured if he was stuck here, the least he could do is spend it with a new found friend and give them a gift. Keep the holiday spirit alive and such. He waved down the half-orc as he easily spotted her across the street.
"Hey! Glad I caught you, not gonna make it home in this storm so, you up for a few drinks on the eve of Winter's Crown. Even got a gift for you." He grins proudly, gesturing with the box.
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Post by Ak'ka the Bonegrinder on Jan 24, 2023 21:45:44 GMT -5
There was always this kind of dull quiet after finishing a job that Ak’ka despised. A moment after finishing up the job, basking in the glory and the excitement, roasting marshmallows in the fiery remains of the mess you made of a thief’s hideout. That part was fun. She’d enjoyed the hell out of fighting with Ger, and they’d been paid pretty damn well for their work. Maybe Ak’ka should’a felt bad about brutally destroying the work of folks who were just trying to give back to the needy people of the Pale City, but those guys had been thugs. She’d seen the shit stashed in their hideout. It wasn’t about doing good, not for them.
It was about the violence.
Not that Ak’ka could blame them. She was just as much a brute as the guys they’d fought, if not more. The only difference was that she’d been the one to come out on top.
And now she was bored out of her skull, stuck in this stupid limbo of waiting for the next exciting thing to come around, the next job, the next battle.
She didn’t find any of that while she was out restocking her supplies in anticipation of skipping town when the storm blew over. What Ak’ka found instead was Ger, the little guy she’d fought with during the war against the Red Rogues in question. Ak’ka stopped when he waved her down, grinning in surprise when he invited her to a tavern for a few drinks.
“Hey yourself, Ger.” She laughed, clapping him on the shoulder. “Sucks about the storm, eh? Sorry you won’t be able to make it home to yer family in time.” She assumed he had family. He seemed like a happy-go-lucky kinda person, almost reminded her of a dog. She hoped wherever home was, that family wasn’t missing him too much. Or that he wasn’t too beat up about missing them.
“Yeah, storms around here are a real pain in the ass. Makes it rough if you’re not used to the cold. You ain’t from this far north, right?” Even right now in the howling wind Ak’ka didn’t look like the cold weather bothered her one bit. She wasn’t even wearing her fur-lined cloak right now, walking around like it meant nothing to her. “Don’t worry ‘bout it too much. Let’s get you warmed up with some drink and food, and you can tell me about home, yeah?”
She paused when Ger gestured to the parchment-wrapped box in his hands, frowning. Did he really go out of his way to get her a gift? Why would he do something like that? Sure, they were friendly, but he didn’t know her all that well. There was no need for him to waste his money like that.
“Shit, Ger, I didn’t get ya anything…” Ak’ka said, rubbing at the back of her neck as the fearsome half orc, whom Gerhart had watched torture information out of men with brutal abandon, suddenly looked sheepish.
It was a bit stupid. Ak’ka could break a man six ways to Sunday but when it came to friendship, she was lost.
“You really didn’t have to.” Her voice was oddly gruff as she started to lead Ger to the nearest tavern. “Uh, in that case, drinks are on me, yeah? It’s the least I can do.”
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Jan 25, 2023 15:51:49 GMT -5
"It's no worries, even in the best of weather it would've been cutting it close. They probably made plans already since I'm not already back." He grins, it's clear his not hiding any pain, he's not too bothered by it.
Seeing Ak'ka kind of shift and seem much more demure by comparison to the woman he'd seen embed a man into a stone wall, Gerhart can't help bet give a laugh. "It's no worries Ak'ka, gift giving ain't about getting gifts back. Plus had I not spotted something this perfect, I probably wouldn't have."
He turns to follow after the half-orc, never a man to turn down a free drink or seven. Gerhart knew he couldn't keep up with the half-orc after their celebratory night coming back from burning down the bandit hide out, but Ginma's fuzzy horse ass be damned if he wasn't going to try.
The young knight shoulders the door open to the closest tavern they can find, neither of them were picky drinkers. It just had to not taste like it could fuel a fire was Gerhart's newest requirement. The box is set down on the table as they find a place to sit. "Should we just start off with two then? Got a long night ahead of us." He grins and takes a seat.
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Post by Ak'ka the Bonegrinder on Jan 26, 2023 21:52:59 GMT -5
At least Ger didn’t seem too beat up about missing the holidays with his family. Ak’ka figured he must live pretty far away if he wasn’t gonna make it home in time. “Where are you from, then?” She asked, brows raised, curious to learn a little more about the guy she’d somehow ended up befriending over the course of the battles they’d won together. Protecting a warehouse from thugs, torturing said thugs, then torching the hideout of said thugs would do that to you, she guessed.
She was still surprised when Ger explained that he wasn’t expectin’ anything back. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember when the last time was that someone had gotten her anything for the holidays. They didn’t celebrate Winter’s Crown up in the mountains. That was a human tradition. But sometimes her old man would raid a village and come back with freshly-killed poultry he’d share with her… apparently that was another common thing humans did.
She didn’t really get it. But she had time to ask Ger tonight, if they were gonna be hanging out over drinks.
“Well, you still didn’t have ta’, but thanks!” She said as she led Ger to the nearest tavern. It was one she was a regular at- not the one where all the prissy merchants liked to go after a long day’s work. Nah, this bar was a little seedier, full of other mercs and other shady guys who usually gave Ak’ka a wide berth. A few broken noses and even more broken bones had taught them the meaning of the word respect.
A few looked up when they noticed she was with someone new- standing next to the behemoth of a woman that Ak’ka was, Ger might not’ve looked like much at first, but most saw his swords and figured it was smart to back off. All except one that Ak’ka didn’t notice, eyeing the gift that Ger sat on the table from all the way at the bar.
“Two for now.” She agreed. It was probably best to start slow for the little guy’s sake. “I should warn ya now, this shit is only slightly better than the stuff we had back at the hideout.” It was drinkable, for sure, but this place wasn’t the most high-end of establishments. “They value quantity over quality here. But if you’re in the mood for somethin’ a little… higher-end, we could probably check out some other places, too.”
From their vantage point, neither one of them could see the guy at the bar gettin’ up from his chair, eyes still trained on the package Ger had left on the table.
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Jan 26, 2023 22:38:07 GMT -5
"The Moonglade, preeetty far to the south from here across the ocean, even farther if you take the long way around through the desert and then the marsh flats." He throws his boots up onto the table and leaned back, mug in one hand.
They really did luck out finding this place, it seemed neither of them were keen on fancy places or dealing with the type of clientele those places usually brought in. Granted, Gerhart also wasn't keen on bar fights and brawls but he would take that over stuffed collars any day of the week. He smirks a bit as he takes a drink of his ale.
"Ah I grew up thinking I got lucky if there was a puddle in the road to scoop a drink out of. So long as it isn't that lantern oil from the hideout I'll live!" Another grin and a drink. Gerhart was happy enough to drink and talk, he could hold his ale, but the atmosphere did have him a bit more relaxed than he usually would be. Once this night was over he would be upset with himself for not hearing the man approaching or catching him earlier, but the guard was fully down tonight.
He was likely into his second cup by the time he even noticed the gift was missing from the table. Gerhart shoots up in his seat looking around in a panic.
"Hey Ak'ka you didn't open your gift when I went into the bathroom did you? Did it get bumped off the table?"
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Post by Ak'ka the Bonegrinder on Jan 28, 2023 21:48:54 GMT -5
“Moonglade? I’ve been there once.” She hated it, but she wasn’t gonna say that to her new friend. As much as she hated the heat, she was sure he hated the cold. She wouldn’t judge if he preferred warmer weather. Different strokes for different folks, and all that. “I fought a couple’a displacer beasts while I was there. Nasty cats.”
It hadn’t been all bad, she guessed. She got to meet Perrath while she was down there, and the Big Guy was a hell of a fighter.
“A puddle?” Ger was so happy as he talked that Ak’ka had no idea if he was being serious or just yanking her chain. If he was, she guessed that was pretty sad. Well, nothing that another drink wouldn’t cure. She waved down the waiter for another round for the both of them, more amused by Ger’s attempts to stay upright and alert than she was paying attention to the package he’d left on the table.
She really had no excuse of inebriation for why she missed the thug from the bar suddenly passing by their table, smoothly swiping the wrapped package and tucking it in his coat. She honestly just wasn’t that observant. So when Ger immediately stood, on alarm as he noticed the missing gift, Ak’ka saw red.
What the hell? How dare someone jack her shit? Ak’ka didn’t get many gifts, and the fact that someone had the guts to try and touch her stuff meant they were either extremely strong, or extremely fucking stupid. They were about to find out which.
Ak’ka immediately jumped to her feet, knocking back the chair she’d been sitting in with a loud THUD. All eyes in the bar immediately swiveled to her, but she didn’t give a shit about the commotion she was causing- all she cared about was finding that thief. That’s when she spotted the thug already halfway out the door, looking shifty as all hell.
Him!
“Get back here, thief!” She bellowed, grabbing the chair that she’d knocked to the ground and launching it through the air with all her strength. The chair arced wide and missed, smashing against the wall with enough force to shatter it into splinters, and send the thief running out the door.
She turned to Ger, seething with ice-cold rage as she pointed to where he’d just escaped. “Oh, I’m gonna make him pay.”
She didn’t wait to see if Ger was still following her before immediately taking off, nearly throwing the tavern door off its hinges in her anger, taking off down the street in a dead sprint.
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Jan 28, 2023 22:47:32 GMT -5
"You know, I've never actually seen one of those....but I guess that is kind of their whole deal right? Being hard to see." He grinned as he took a a drink. A small sigh leaves as he looks into his drink when she follows up. "Yeah, tough times as a kid, but we made it out. Sure it was bad, but why think about the past you know? Can't do nothing to it, so it doesn't make sense to linger." He clinks his mug to hers as he took a drink.
As he got up to go to the bathroom there was only the slightest bit of a waver to his steps. The slightest tinge of pink had crossed his cheeks and ears though, his face warm. The young man was defintiely feeling a buzz.
The buzz died when Ak'la called after the thief, spotting them running out. "Hey, get back here you prick." Gerhart tossed a mug that smashed against the second floor bannister above the door.
He stumbled forward to try and catch up to Ak'ka and make his way wafter the thief.
A muttering of swears came from the bandit was he was caught. He muttered something and began to step off the air and make his way up to a roof to try and escape.[1]
1. Step of the Wind
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Post by Ak'ka the Bonegrinder on Jan 29, 2023 22:16:32 GMT -5
“Hard to see and hard to catch, unless you corner them real good.” She made a strangling motion with her hands as she laughed. The good mood dissipated a bit as Ger described how he’d grown up. He didn’t seem too bothered by the past, though. It was still surprisin’ to learn he’d come from tough times. He always seemed so cheerful. But it didn’t seem to be getting him down, so Ak’ka wouldn’t dwell on it. As they clinked their mugs together, Ak’ka raised hers and took a long swig, before slamming it on the table.
“You’re a good kid, Ger.” She said in complete seriousness, despite the fact that she was only about ten years or so older than him.
She would’a even laughed as Ger mimicked her movements, throwing his mug above the door in an attempt to catch the thief, if she weren’t so fuckin’ pissed. Ak’ka took off, with Ger on her heels. The little shit was fast, but as Ak’ka stomped after him, roughly four hundred pounds of absolutely pissed orc woman hurtling in his direction at an absolutely horrifying speed, ice began to coat the bottom of her feet, propelling her faster towards the thief.[1] Ger wasn’t far behind her, both adventurers cornering the scumbag in record time.
The thief glanced between Ak’ka and Ger, realizing that he seemed to be beat. Ak’ka snarled, crackling her knuckles as she took another menacing step forward. “Had enough? Ready to give back what you took, punk?”
Apparently, he wasn’t ready to give in the towel, because he took the moment to cast some kinda spell and propel himself into the air, on the roof of a nearby building.
“Not this time!” She growled, stomping her foot against the ground. Cobblestone cracked under her feet as ice protruded from the ground under her, the wall shooting her up into the sky. Ak’ka leapt from the top of the wall, digging her hands into the wood of the building, climbing up to the with her own two damn hands.
The thief, scared out of his wits, didn’t stand a chance.
Ak’ka grabbed him before he could run, tossing him back down to the ground below. “He’s all yours, Ger!” 1. Glacial Wall
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Jan 29, 2023 23:13:00 GMT -5
It was a stumble to get out of the tavern, but the adrenaline of the ensuing chase and sudden bracingly cold wind sobered him up just enough. Once he had his feet properly under him, he caught up and kept pace with the half-orc. Speed over raw power was where he focused. He vaulted over the beginning of the glacial wall as it was forming to make sure he wasnt trapped behind it.
He skidded to a stop, able to use the momentum to make a little half circle thanks to the ice everywhere. Perhaps he hadn't fully sobered up because he completely abandoned his mantra of speed over power, aiming to punch the man as he came down. Instead of a rousing crack of the jaw, Gerhart ended up throwing a looping haymaker below the belt.
There was a simultaneous shouting of OW from both men, one from being punched in the nuts and the other from poor form leading to hurting his wrist.
"You stupid jerk, whyda steal a gift? It's Winter's Crown you stupid jerk!" He definitely wasn't fully sober as he kicked at the man's ass. A city guard coming by grabbed Gerhart to pull him off the man despite the young knight's thrashing.
A few other guards filtered in to pick up the other guy and arrest him, getting the story from Gerhart when he finally calmed down. The gently crumbled box is handed back to Gerhart as the guards leave.
"Stupid jerk....ruined the gift."
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Post by Ak'ka the Bonegrinder on Jan 30, 2023 12:19:23 GMT -5
Maybe it was because Ak’ka was tipsy bordering on drunk, but as the thief fell to the ground, watching him get punched in the dick was the funniest thing she’d seen all day. The guy let out an agonized squeal in an octave that was almost inaudible before collapsing to the ground. Ger was clutching his wrist in pain, both guys taken out from the sudden hit. Even as mad as she was, the rage disappeared as she finally cracked a grin. Something about watching Ger, even in a drunk state and barely able to hold himself together, made the ice around her heart melt.
“You good?” She called down, maybe a bit concerned about Ger - that punch looked like it hurt, ‘specially if the guy was falling to the ground - before jumping from the roof herself, landing hard enough to rattle the ground and send a shooting pain up her ankles. She hissed as she moved to get closer to Ger, but Ger was too busy repeatedly kicking the guy, nearly in angry tears as he tore into the dude.
Huh. That kinda reaction was new. Ak’ka’d only had people stand up for her a handful of times… but never at this level. She was so shocked she wasn’t sure how to react for a minute, not ‘till the guards showed up to break up the fight. The thief was arrested, and they were given a stern talking to for some stupid thing like ‘causing a commotion’ or ‘taking the law into their own hands’ or whatever before Ger was handed back the gift he’d gotten Ak’ka before. Ger looked down at it with such a distraught look on his face that Ak’ka had no idea what she was supposed to do in this situation.
Awkward, she patted him on the shoulder, a small smile on her face. “Hey, man, no need to get upset. The fact that ya thought about me at all makes me happy. I ain’t ever gotten a Winter’s Crown gift before! ‘Sides, watching you guy punch that guy in the nuts was a hell of a gift on its own.” She grabbed the box from him as gently as she could with big, calloused hands that were more used to being weapons than bein’ gentle, before unwrapping it. “I bet it’s only a little scratch, anyways."
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Jan 30, 2023 16:01:15 GMT -5
Gerhart scooped some snow and packed it against his wrist as a makeshift compress, still muttering about how the guy was a stupid jerk. "Yeah I'm fine....sHoUlD hAvE wAiTeD fOr Us." He huffs as he waits until the guards are out of ear shot before he mocks them.
"I think I'm only upset cause I'm drunk, but nearly breaking a wrist sober's ya up quick. I'd ask if you've ever felt that but you got too many muscles to break a bone." He chuckled and gently punched her with his good hand. It did seem like the adrenaline and alcohol leaving his system did go a long way towards helping him calm down and be somewhat sober. He was still going to be very sore in the morning.
When Ak'ka did open the package she could see it was undamaged, knowing what little he did about her Gerhart wasn't foolish enough to get the half-orc anything fragile. Instead she would find a hooded shoulder cloak made from an owlbear pelt. Down the sides were what looked like arms with paws that Ak'ka could wear like mittens to keep her hands warm. Plus she would look even more bad as fighting with her bear hands.
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Post by Ak'ka the Bonegrinder on Jan 31, 2023 12:27:47 GMT -5
She burst out into surprised laughter as Ger started mocking the guard, resisting the urge to smack him in the shoulder and trigger any more injuries. He was already broken up about his wrist and she didn’t want to make it any worse. She shrugged as Ger cracked a joke about her not havin’ broken a bone before. “You’d be surprised.” Her fists hadn’t always been as strong as they were today. “I ain’t too versed at treating wounds, but if you’re still up for a holiday celebration, we could head back to the tavern and I could try to wrap it for ya…” She offered, voice trailing off as she opened Ger’s gift.
It was an owlbear-pelt cloak that barely reached the shoulders, but ended in little paw mittens for her to tuck her hands in. It was… so damn cute that Ak’ka forgot for a moment that she couldn’t feel the cold and didn’t need anything to warm her up. She pulled it on, pulling her arms into the bear hand mittens…
Wait.
Bear hands.
Bare hands.
“Oh, Ger, you magnificent son of a bitch.” She said, face suddenly feeling really scratchy and weird. She wiped at it with her wrist, surprised to find that her cheeks were wet for some reason. Despite the fact that Ger hadn’t said anything, she shoved him with her bare hand - ha! That was never going to get old - in the shoulder. “Shut up. I’m not crying, you’re crying. Thanks man, I love it.”
Yeah, she was never taking this cloak off.
Man, humans were really onto something with this gift-giving tradition. Ak’ka didn’t have anything on her now, but she’d have to go out and find Ger something too. Maybe a badass bear trap or something, since he liked hunting. She was really getting the hang of this friendship thing!
“Another round on me, yeah?” She offered, a genuine smile on her face. She’d gotten to spend her holiday beating the hell out of criminals and even made a new friend out of it. All things considered, it was probably the best Winter’s Crown she’d ever had. Pretty good considering it was her first.
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Post by Ser Gerhart Stanislav on Jan 31, 2023 15:28:18 GMT -5
"Ah don't worry about this, probably just a little sprain, should be fine by the morning." He softly laughed, waving off her offer.
He grins happily seeing Ak'ka was taking to his gift so warmly. It wasn't until these moments he realized it might be a touch weird to get someone a gift so shortly after meeting them, but this wasn't hand made or incredibly thoughtful. It was more of a lame pun, but thankfully she seemed to get it.
"I'll take free ale any day of the week. Few gifts better than that." Another bright laughter from the young knight as he followed after Ak'ka. They entered the old taproom to a chorus of drunken cheers, many of the patrons seemingly having watched that whole thing go down.
Gerhart had a strange way of finding new friends and family it seemed, but hard to complain when they are as much fun as Ak'ka. By the end of the night, Gerhart was telling the stories of their dealings with the red rogue, the words tumbling out of his mouth in a drunken mush. When things did finally start to slow down, the half-orc likely had to carry the man to bed as he had perhaps found out that you can in fact party too hard.
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