Being from a tight knit but mostly nomadic community, Das has always found cities to be just a bit too crowded for him. Not that he minds the people, he’s just quite large and finds himself needing to apologize for constantly bumping into people. There’s only so much situational awareness a guy with one eye can have. Still, the summer festival has been a great joy full of many new and interesting things, a true melting pot of what Charon has to offer. He quite likes it.

While trying to make his way through town for another part of the festival, he finds that this street is particularly unmoving. “What the hells is going on?” he wonders, struggling not to accidentally elbow people while he holds his hand over his eyes to shield them from the sun. It seems like something is going on at the intersection ahead, which might very well be the source of the traffic. Well, he’s a big guy. Maybe he can help.

“Excuse me. Sorry. Pardon me. Big guy, coming through. Yes, I’m just going to see what’s going on up the– Yes, ma’am, sorry ma’am.”

Finally, he makes it to the intersection. “What’s going on up here? Is there something I can do to help?”

---

Quest Details:

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: Gridlocked
Participants: Two or more
Location: Sol City
Post Requirements: 5 posts per person, 200 words per post
Reward: +1 Renown
Description: Sol City becomes chaos this time of year, with people from all over flocking to enjoy the summer festival. Merchants come to sell their goods, while Bardic Virtuosos come to sing and dance for entertainment. However, because of how much attention this attraction brings, the city streets can often times become gridlocked. You find yourself caught up in a messy gridlock somewhere in Sol city. Wagons, carts, horses, and other livestock remain stalled while hundreds of people push and weave their way through the crowd… some sort of occurrence or disruption causing the street to become jammed. Find your way out while navigating the unknown chaos that may pop up.

In a now rare sight, the Lion of the Landing strides in atop Byrr through the streets of Sol City. Haurach is a bit too big to comfortably fit inside the city streets...and not comfortable for his very pregnant wife who sits side saddle in front of him. The pleasant summer air and festivities will probably be the last festival they enjoy together before taking on the mantle of parents.

Though the traffic jam ahead of them threatens to prevent them from finding joy on that day. He and Apogee both share a small smile and 'it's always something' look. The Aurthurians have never been one to abuse their status as nobles, but perhaps just this once a little bit of selfishness is warranted. Leandros nudges Byrr forward to trudge through the crowd.

Some move, others need to be side-stepped.

"Just what is going on? Did someone overturn a cart? I am surprised it had enough room to fall over."

"As am I love, but I am determined to not let this ruin our outing."

Apogee just smiles up at her husband and rests against her chest. Eventually they come to the same intersection as Das and find what is causing this. An injured oxen and broken axle have stopped one wagon from moving entirely and another wagon driver has stopped to yell at the other for damaging his goods because of the sudden stop. This was going to be a long afternoon.

“You can help move this buffoon out of my way and demand repayment for my damages!” a crass merchant whose goods were damaged in the accident demands. He angrily points a finger adorned with rings at the girl fussing over her injured oxen.

Das somewhat expected someone to be angry, but not someone who stands two feet shorter than him and has twice as much audacity. “Erm, okay, sir, you don’t need to yell at me, I’m just here to help,” he says, taken aback by the behavior.

“You can help by clearing this up!!” the merchant shouts, stomping a foot like a petulant child.

With one eye, Das gives the man the blankest stare a head-empty person could ever give. Then he takes a deep breath and lets out a sigh before going over to the girl and her injured ox. “Miss, are you alright? How is your ox?”

The girl, who appears to be in her early twenties and not from the city proper, is very unused to the crowds and shouting and is evidently shaken up by the whole event. “I-I… I don’t know what happened,” she stammers. "We were moving and then the other cart came rushing through and... Oh, my ox, his leg is broken..!" The oxen groans.

“Well, let’s not worry about the angry shorty over there,” Das assures her with a gentle voice. “First things first, we’ll clear the accident, and we can deal with everything else once we’re not blocking the streets.” He stands upright and looks around at the crowd. “Excuse me, does anyone have the strength to help lift a one ton animal? I can drag the cart to the side, but the ox will pose an issue,” he asks. There’s a very beefy guy on a horse that looks promising, actually, but seeing who is presumably his wife, he does not call out to him specifically. He wouldn’t turn down the help though.

Hearing the commotion, Leandros lets out a little breath and continues forward. At least it seems like this was just a verbal dispute and not the onset of violence. Though....from the shouting it just might be. The dwarf merchant is about to explode again before the armored body of Byrr steps between him and Das.

"More names is not going to help the situation any, boys." Apogee speaks as Leandros dismounts from the horse.

The sudden presence of two very large men does seem to simmer the dwarf's anger for the moment. He may still be righteously indignant, but even the biggest of jerks are sometimes smart enough to know a losing fight. His eyes do sparkle at the sight of Leandros though, a highborn noble and a knight to boot, finally someone on his side!

"Ah! Good Ser Aurthurian, I am thankful for your arrival. Bartholemew Slaghammer, I know the man who made your armor, I've sold some good ore to him. I was simply minding my business trying to get to the festival ground to ply my wares when this careless woman continued past the traffic guard and now this...this....this," He waves his hand dismissively towards Das. "This vagabond is inserting himself into the middle of this affair."

He haughtily crosses his arms across his chest with a smug smile assuming he is already being exonerated by the knight. Slaghammer raises an eyebrow when there is a pause after his sentence and no immediate scolding.

"Are you aware that I heard her side of the story as well?" Leandros turns to full face the man, looming over him.

Slaghammer sputters, "Well y-yes, but l-look at her."

"Is her story less believable because she cannot weigh herself down with every scrap of gold she finds?"

There is more sputtering from Slaghammer, but no coherent word can be found. Without a word, Leandros turns to head to the overturned cart and woman with an apologetic look. He crouches down and lifts the ox just enough to help it stand with one arm. The other arm tenderly reaches towards the leg, a low pulse of healing light coming from his hand.

As the oxen steadies itself, he looks to Das, "We can introduce ourselves in a moment, but could you help me move this cart? The ox should be able to move now, but I would like to get it past this intersection before we work to fix the axle."

Relief washes over Das’ face when Leandros interposes his horse between himself and the angry dwarf. He gives Apogee a grateful glance while the dwarf sucks up to Leandros…and promptly gets shut down. While he struggles to keep a straight face, there is a piqued interest in the way the merchant addresses Leandros. ’Ser’? Is the man a knight? With the imposing but noble figure he has, it isn’t surprising. And yet Das feels somewhat giddy like a kid at the prospect.

Giving Leandros a nod of thanks as he steps over to assist, Das helps hoist the ox up and watches with interest as magic glows to heal the broken leg. When the ox is steady, Das pats it on the side and looks at Leandros. “Right.” Together with Leandros, he takes one side of the cart while the knight presumably takes the other and works to move it out of the intersection to clear up the streets, and the frazzled girl leads the dazed ox.

Once they set it aside on a less busy road, Das says, “Thanks for your help. It’s good to meet you. I’m Das, and that dwarf guy is an ass. Speaking of…” He looks out to the intersection where the dwarf stubbornly refuses to move. “...What should we do about him?”

The traffic at the intersection slowly begins to move again with the obstruction cleared, most moving around the dwarf as best they can. People and carts now create somewhat of a barrier between the woman and the dwarf, somewhat on purpose by Leandros. Keep the man away from her and drowned out by the crowd noise so she can gather her senses.

"Tha-thank you both, I really don't know what happened, there was the large thud and a snap, all of a sudden I hear my ox in pain and this man shouting at me." She is still a bit shaken, but very grateful for both of the men having stepped in to her defense.

Leandros puts a hand on her shoulder, "It is all right, you are not at fault. Are you in a rush? I can find help to repair your cart so you can leave when things calm down a bit."

The woman nods and Leandros gives a small nod in return. Whistling for the nearest postal drake, he writes a quick note to explain the situation and where they are. A few solars are gifted to the drake for its service before it is sent off and the knight can finally give his full atention to Das.

"You as well, it's good to see there are still people willing to step in for others...the man might be rough around the edges, but he does have his reasons for his attitude." The knight would always be the first to defend even those who might not deserve the consideration.

Across the way, Apogee seems to be handling the dwarf. She is much more deft at handling the outsized egos of people at times, plus even as mad as he is the dwarf knows there is no coming back from yelling at a pregnant woman.

"So who then is going to pay me for my lost time and incurred damages?"

"What damages are those?"

"Well can't you see?"

"I can, it seems your cart and animals are fine...it seems you are able to leave."

"Well, yes, but she has slowed me down causing lost sales. Those are the damages!"

"But you're continuing to lose sales by staying here."

The dwarf grows more and more red in the face as the conversation continues.

"I understand your concern Master Slaghammer, but from our perspective you are now creating a bigger problem. Traffic now has to move around you and a pothole in the road. Other people's business is now being affected and you, being the one of the most recognizable merchants and philanthropic person, would only do more damage to your reputation by staying would you not?"

Leandros can only hear bits and pieces of the conversation as he talks to Das, but he gives the man a small smile, "I believe my wife has him handled anyways. You've proven strong enough though, if he continues to remain I suppose in the interest of public safety we might have to move him ourselves."

Das wishes he had a little more information on the situation regarding the crash so he could make a better judgment call, but from his perspective, the girl needed his help more than anything: rattled, afraid, being yelled at, and not in a position to stand up for herself. Besides, Das would rather defend someone like her than someone pompous like the merchant. He offers a little shrug, looking over at Apogee handling him like a champ. “Maybe, but you don’t need to take your misfortunes out on others,” he says.

Then he looks at Leandros again. “That’s your wife? From the way it looks, she could give a whole cavalry a stern talking to without backing down. She might just embarrass him out of the road at this point.”

This is completely true, because Slaghammer’s stammering can do nothing against Apogee’s firm but polite manner of speaking. It’s impossible to argue with her, and with other people trying to get around him expressing their displeasure, the dwarf quickly backs down. “I’ll evaluate the damages at my shop and send an invoice should I determine the need, Miss Aurthurian,” he says, collecting himself and quickly moving to get back into the flow with traffic. After some time, the jam disappears completely and normalcy returns to the intersection.

“Looks like she has him handled,” Das says. “I’m grateful for your help with all of this. I don’t think I could have hoisted an ox to the side of the road on my own. Where did you learn to use magic like that?”

He gives a small laugh, "I hardly know if this would qualify as stern, she's just much better at dealing with outsized egos. Blustering can do little for you when the other person isn't buying it."

On the otherside of the road, Slaghammer was more huffs and guffaws than actual words. He looks Apogee up and down, clearly nearing a breaking point as these people dare to not immediately bow to his will and more importantly his money. The elf simply turns Byrr around though, only barely catching the bit about the invoice. Good luck figuring out which bureaucratic nightmare to send that invoice to, the Crown? The Woman? Maintenance Department?

"I had some magical training in my schooling, though no domain stuck much like light magic."

Apogee rejoins the two, a hand coming down to fix back some of Leandros' hair and cup his cheek a moment. It was much easier to reach him when atop Byrr, she quite liked this.

"He's more or less settled, though once she's ready, I would ask if we could escort her to where she needs to go. I would hate to have him stalk her. Thank you for your help as well Ser?"

Rubbing the back of his head, Das can’t help a little chuckle. “I know a few folks that might respond well enough to that rather than the shouting of their higher ups,” he says, thinking back to the one time that he and another raider got scolded hard enough by a crotchety old woman that they left her alone entirely and warned others against bothering her. “A force of personality can do a lot against anyone if they know how to use it right.”

The idea of learning magic from schooling isn’t exactly foreign to Das. Of course, he has heard tale of an academy for mages, a place where people can learn to cast magic, but being the knucklehead that he is, book learning isn’t exactly for him. “I’ve never seen that kind of magic firsthand before,” he muses.

When Apogee returns, Das looks at her and places a clenched fist over his chest as some sort of salute or acknowledgement, his head inclined slightly in a bow. And then Das’s head shoots upright again, and he shakes his hand to awkwardly dismiss the title. “No, no, not Ser, just Das. Or Kardas, or– uh, Kar’Das’Dun is my full family name. Any of those are fine. But no, I’m not a knight. Maybe someday.” He can’t help a nervous chuckle at the thought. “A-Anyway, I’m happy to help escort the girl.”

"Leaning on intimidation is better saved for bandits in my experience, keeping the enemies afraid and friends protected."

"Plus it is quite fun when people do take an attitude with me not knowing who my husband is." Apogee offers a light laugh before offering her hand for a shake. "Apogee and Leandros Aurthurian. Don't get too carried away talking about knighthood or you'll get him started on what it means to be a knight."

Leandros offers a sheepish chuckle, but his wife wasn't wrong. Up close and with less chaos going on around them, Das would be able to see that Leandros is a tried and true knight. The armor, while shiny and well polished, does have the marks of battle still. If Das knew any of the history of Capitol Landing he could now identify the Aurthurian house sigil on Leandros' cape and Byrr's armor, two regal lions standing upright holding a sword between them.

On top of that, at his waist was a badge of the Knights of Duros. What was new and likely unknown was a triskelion, three spiral patterns coming from a common center, etched into his cuirass. It was the symbol of the fledgling Oath Watchers, a small guild the knight was working on forming from the ground up.

"We are happy to walk with you and help Das, I believe we are all headed to the town square after all." The woman does seem to be slowly coming down from the shock and breathing more easily.

Local cart workers start to arrive, summoned by the postal drake Leandros had sent. He quickly promises to cover the repairs and the work gets underway. It seems they have some time before they can really head off to their final destination.

While Das agrees with Leandros’s reasoning, it isn’t exactly his own experience. The Red Riders aren’t exactly a fully organized military unit, more like a sprawling group of warbands aligned under a common flag and ideology – one that has twisted over the many years of the Riders’ presence in King’s Valley.

“That must be a treat,” Das says regarding the use of their status to shut people up. He takes Apogee’s admittedly much smaller hand in his giant gauntleted fist to shake as gently as he can. Glancing over at Leandros, he observes the various sigils decorating his cape and armor, most of them he doesn’t recognize except the badge of the Knights of Duros, which even still is only recently familiar to him. Somewhat awestruck, he murmurs, “You are a knight… That’s the second one this month…”

The red Fellblood chooses to take this as a sign that he is on the right path.

Suddenly, Das’s eye lights up with more recognition. “Wait, Leandros? Do you know a man named Everett? Kind of scrawny, one arm, but a damn good captain and also a Knight of Duros?”

"Hm?" Leandros has to think a brief moment, but pretty quickly remembers. His interactions with Everett had been admittedly sparse even if he was leaning on the man for help founding the Oath Watchers.

It wasn't easy finding people willing to throw themselves behind the idea. It was hard to pull people who just wanted the fun and fighting of the Fighter's Guild or the monster hunting of the Winged Expeditionary Force. It had been a struggle to find people willing to serve a purpose beyond themselves. Perhaps Leandros was a bit too idealistic when pitching the organization to prospective members.

"Yes, Everett Reykas, he's a good man. I am not surprised you would know someone like him. Good hearts tend to draw themselves towards one another as I've found."

Das finds himself a little embarrassed by Leandros’s comment, but he can’t exactly put a finger on why, not that he tries to. “Yes! I actually met him recently by happenstance. He offered me a ride to Sol City after helping me avoid an altercation in Thunderhoof. Good man, good attitude,” he says, nodding along as he speaks. Das has only known Everett a short time, but in that time, he has already been able to tell that he has a good head on his shoulders.

“He spoke well of you! And mentioned that you’re in several guilds and even started your own? That’s incredible. It’s really an honor to meet you.” The more Das talks, the more excited he seems to get, almost becoming childlike with glee. “It seems the ancestors are smiling upon me lately! Please, tell me more about yourself! I’m eager to hear how you have made such a name for yourself.”

Leandros takes a small appreciative, but also sheepish smile. There was a strange dichotomy at times of how he could be prideful, yet shy when it came to receiving praise. Normally the largest man in the room, but the first to make himself small if it meant lifting up others. Always a moments notice away from delivering a grand speech but never wanting to take center stage. The duality of man it seems.

"Ah yes, Everett was kind enough to support me in helping to establish The Oath Watchers...I am hopeful as it grows others are drawn to it, to serve with purpose that isn't necessarily tied down to any rulers, but to the people, where our focus should be."

He taps his chest where the triskelion is, "The common folk, the nobility, and those in power...all separate groups but we come from the same common center. Neither exists without the others."

"Ah, but you didn't ask for a lecture." He gives another small smile and laugh. "The other titles are just titles, I don't give them much weight."

"Cause they are such simple things~" Apogee chuckles, "Just the stories of slaying dragons and gods. My husband is the only adventurer I know that could take part in felling something like Vulcadreus and think it is not a story people would like to hear. Or how you make a habit of somehow surviving fights with dragons."

“He seems like a good man to have at your side,” Das remarks. In his short time away from the Red Riders, he has already found at least two people with good in their hearts and a desire to protect others. Their helping hands have given the Fellblood a lot of faith in how successful he could one day be with this new path forward. With great interest, he listens to Leandros describe the Oathwatchers and the trinity of society. Maybe he hasn’t dealt with a lot of nobility himself, but he’s sure he could learn.

His one eye grows wide when Apogee casually mentions that Leandros was involved with the felling of the old god. In fact, Das’s jaw drops slightly, only stifled by his attempt to be a little less rude. “Incredible…” he whispers before hinging his jaw shut. “Ah, well, anyway, if you have as many good things to say as what I’ve just heard from you, I would gladly take a lecture whenever you have the time or energy.”

Still, the idea of these Oathwatchers sounds right up his alley… Somewhat sheepishly, Das asks, “I don’t suppose the Oathwatchers would want an old washed up fighter on a path to redemption, would they?”