Going Incognito (open)

[Deleted]

Ooc: In the history of Reimer, I mentioned that he had become a spy for the Varden. This is going to be about the first time he was called upon to spy. Anyone is welcome so feel free to join in.
Behind him rose the tall walls of the city. In front of him lay the flat plains. No turning back now. He had given his oath to the Varden. He would serve as they wished. Still he didn't really want to leave.

As Reimer stood alone at the edge of Surda, his mind raced over the happenings of the past few days. First had come the summons from Nasuada, calling him from his studies to her quarters. She had told him that she was planning a secret mission into the empire and she wanted him to go, alone. He hadn't really wanted to go, but how could he refuse?

As he prepared for the trip, he was again called upon, but this time by Du Vrangr Gata which had worked, by Nasuada's bidding to create an amulet he could wear that would make him appear human and would also somewhat protect him if he needed protecting. Reimer had thanked them graciously and continued packing with a great load off his mind. He only allowed himself to pack necessities and once he had packed and re-packed several times he had been satisfied. He laughed to himself. Now trhat he was actually going, he was glad he had been careful to only take necessities, his pack was heavy enough as it was.

The early morning sun glinted off the amulate and off the pommel of his sword which he wore at his side. "Time to go," he thought, "I have a long way to travel." Step by step, he winded his way toward the empire and the coastal cities he was to investigate.

The further he went from Surda, the greater his wish to go back became. To calm his nerves and forget about the situation, Reimer sang a low song in the ncient lamguage that he had been taught several years before. The words flowed over and around his tongue creating a melody none could mistake for elvish in nature. Calmed by his own singing, Reimer marched on theoughout the day and finally, late in the evening he decided to camp for the night.

[Quetzal]

Elves. Dwarves. Dragons. Riders. Such thoughts filled the head of Isrydia, the storyteller who had recently become apprentice to the Varden knight William. Since then, it had been as if she were drifting through the different stories she knew, seeing tiny snippets of each before moving onto the next. Already she had been to Farthen Dur and met with the dwarves. They were a wonderful people, hardworking, kind and strong. While there, it had just got better and better; William had been assigned to protect a Rider, and so by extension she was able to meet him too. Nelpherion Coldfire and his dragon Starlight. No sooner had they met, the Rider had disappeared, returning with an elf, Caspia, and her dragon, Amira. She had seen two real life dragons! That wasn't even the best part. The day only a couple of weeks ago kept replaying again and again in her head. Caspia had sparred with her, given her some valuable advice she knew as an elf, then taken her to meet Amira properly. Then she had flown. For real. On a dragon's back. The purple scales had been the wall stopping her dropping hundreds of feet to the valleys and mountains below, but she felt safe as well as terrified. It was more than she had ever dreamed of experiencing, and the happy memory would never leave her.

The thoughts were still making her smile now as she wondered aimlessly through the wilderness. Empire towns and cities were all around, and her master was on some Varden errand she shouldn't know about, leaving her free to roam and explore. That was exactly what she was doing. Leather armour clung protectively to her under her cheap and loose blue dress. A simple wooden shield was strapped to her back, and her sword Nettle was sheathed at her belt, the vines climbing along the hilt of no particularly special craftsmanship. They would keep her safe, although she had learned already that she was not nearly so competent in combat as she had considered herself.

The night was growing, so she chose a spot to set up camp, leaving her small back of possessions at her feet as she practiced swinging Nettle with her left hand as Caspia had advised her. She was right-handed, and as the elf had pointed out, there may come a time when she would need to use her left hand to fight. That could be because of an injury or simply as a tactic to throw the opponent off balance by changing sword hands.

As she practiced, she noticed a shape nearby. Another camp. Sheathing Nettle, she paused to think. Would they be friendly? Would they try killing and robbing her in her sleep? How many of them were there? Would they feel threatened by her presence? At this distance they would be unable to tell anything about her. Feeling threatened could pressure people into doing things they might not normally do. Anyway, maybe she could make a friend or learn something or at least find safety in numbers. Perhaps she might be of some use too. Picking up her bag, she walked towards Reimer. Just a normal guy, by the looks of him. That was a relief. No threat then. "Hey, I'm not a threat. I'm Isrydia. I was about to set up camp nearby when I noticed you. Thought I should say hi and that I won't try robbing or hurting you," she introduced herself, keeping her distance. She felt distinctly awkward.

[Brenton]

Konner walked through the streets dressed in his red and white cloak with a strange A symbol on it just over the heart on his chest. His torso was covered with steel and leather straps for armor and weapons belts where he could have all sorts of blades hanging. Yet he was unknown to most people as he slipped through the shadows to hide and made sure that no one could see him long enough to identify him long enough or easily enough. Just in front of him was a target for him to kill.

((Sorry it's so short but at work))

[Deleted]

Reimer rose to his feet and examined the girl standing before him.  Could he trust her, he didn't know but he knew he must be careful in whatever he said or did.  He barely caught himself and avoided the traditional elvish greeting and held his hand steady at his side.  At least he could be polite according to the human standards though.
     "Greetings, Isrydia.  I am Reimer. May I ask what you are doing this far away from civilization?"  His greeting came out more harsh than he meant it to be.  He was frustrated with himself for not being more cautious and for not taking careful note of his surroundings.  
      "I am a spy after all." he thought,  "How am I going to make a good spy if I can't even make sure there is noone around my campsite?"

[Quetzal]

Isrydia was, as Reimer had said, far from civilization. She was therefore completely oblivious to anything happening in the towns, including Konner sneaking about with the 'A' for Assassin emblazoned on his chest. She was also unaware of Reimer's true identity, taking him to be a normal human, probably a traveling merchant or storyteller like herself. He was armed with a sword, but so was she. It was foolish to leave a settlement without protection. By his voice he sounded frustrated, which puzzled her. Had she done something to upset him? He might not want company. It could have just been something else entirely, in which case it was none of her business and she should keep her nose out.

"I'm just wondering around really. I'm an apprentice, and my master is doing, er... stuff," she stopped herself saying anything about who her master was. She might not be a member of the Varden, but she wasn't a big fan of the Empire and would never risk anything that might betray William. He was a good friend to her, and for all she knew Reimer could be a member of the Empire. She didn't know if she could beat him in a fight, so he could take her back to his superiors for questioning... she doubted anything of the sort would happen, but you could never be too careful. "His business thing is important so could take days, weeks even. I didn't want to hang around with nothing to do so I went exploring. Never know what you might find. What about you?" she explained. None of it was a lie, it just wasn't the whole truth.

[Brenton]

Konner was only a few paces away from his target, a high ranking Empire officer, when he heard a man running toward the guards out of breath. He was babbling incoherently except for the words large red dragon. Silently Konner cursed and sprinted forward, slipping his hidden blade through the ribs and into the heart of both the messenger and the soldier. He spun and killed the two guards before looting the bodies to come up with two pouches filled with gold crowns and a small pouch of rare gems. Konner stuffed them in his pocket and threw the bodies in a hay cart before running toward the gate. Already the portcullis was closing so his slid under it and continued toward the fire.

Ahead of him was darkness but Konner had a stallion just past the town lights. He jumped into the saddle and the horse sprang into action, bolting toward where Talon was waiting. As he neared, a fire sprang up ahead and two minutes later he was forced to stop so the horse could rest. Is there room for a weary traveller in need of some warmth and companionship?

[Deleted]

Reimer wasn't sure what to make of this girl.  She seemed harmless enough but she also had hidden secrets.  Were they secrets regarding the Varden or the Empire?  Suddenly he had an idea.  If she was working for the Empire, she would not be near as careful to hide her background.  Even this wasn't completely true though.  He would have to try force.
     Slightly turning, he drew his sword and lunged toward her.  His sword point quivered a hand's breadth from her throat.  "Who are you and who do you serve?" asked Reimer.

[Capricorn]

Nira was traveling by foot, her feline form forgotten in favor of a chestnut pony. It was a beast of fine quality, and although small, had great swiftness and endurance. The werecat was usually not one to ride upon a steed, but she had traveled much in many days and her feet were sore from the weeks that she wandered with nothing but her paws. The werecat's recent adventures had taken her to border of Surda- it was different from the coastal cities that she had visited, but the faint sense of nostalgia had brought Nira to the rebel country once more.

As her pony trod the plains, the Werecat became aware of two figures on the horizon. She ushered her pony to break into a trot. Nira's humanoid form wasn't exactly appropriate for human settlements under control of the Empire. It was distinctly inhuman in nature, although it wasn't quite anything else, either. Her hair had a silky texture and was covered silver. Her eyes were silvery and dramatically detailed, hardly anything that occurred in many humans. She was remarkably short, as well, and her ears ended in a slight point. If anything, Nira's humanoid form resembled a cross between an elf and a dwarf. She spoke with a mild accent native to the Beor Mountains, and that certainly couldn't go unnoticed. Despite her differences in appearance, the werecat still enjoyed playing with the humans, despite their dullness.

Nira allowed her pony to slow into a walk as she came within a few yards of the figures. She approached just as Reimer began questioning Isrydia. With an amused chuckle, the werecat shook her head, although it was difficult to distinguish whether she was disappointed or still merely amused. "Now now," She began, her accent distinct and clear, "I don't want to see any violence, hwatum il skilfz gerdumn! Now, stop being so ridiculous, male human. You seem to have placed your sword to her throat unprovoked, and I must ask you to remove it, for the sake of common courtesy, because apparently that's a thing in human society and Elven society and dragon society and Dragon Rider society and all sorts of societies but I can't really name all of them right now."

((Hwatum il skilfz gerdumn translates to "Listen to my words!" in Dwarvish.))

[Kaane]

Xedric had been watching the three with interest for the past few minutes now. His black cloak and outfit would normally have made him quite easy to spot, but he was doing his best to keep himself hidden. He wanted to stroll right up to the group and strike up some sort of inquiry; indeed, he had much to say and much to ask. But who would want to meet a stranger clothed in black near nightfall anyway?


He had reached the border of Surda during his wanderings throughout the eastern edges of Alagaesia, preaching the word of his god, The Reaper, to whomever would listen. He was quite compelling at times in his prophecy, but he never really succeeded in convincing anyone of his god’s power. His past to him was filled with so much evidence of the workings of The Reaper...it was sad that often no one cared to listen. Not that it mattered to him; those ignorant heathens would be unpleasantly surprised when their time came...The Reaper would finish his work for him.


But he was not in the mood for preaching or prophesying at the moment. Coming across these travelers, he knew that they were not like most of the people he had met during his hermitage. They all seemed to be in some sort of loop that he didn’t know about. And, well, considering he couldn’t remember much besides the death of his dragon after he woke up in the desert that one day, he wanted to know as much as possible about what was happening around him. The Reaper himself told him in his dreams that those without knowledge are those without power…


He waited, hidden at least to the eye, and listened. Hopefully these people would be slightly more intelligent than the sub-normal halfwits that he had preached to in the past.

[Quetzal]

Isrydia looked at Konner as he arrived on a tired horse. He had been traveling at some speed. What was he running from? It was not for her to answer his question, however, and at any rate she was somewhat preoccupied by the blade pointed at her throat. Eyes widening, she froze. This was the first time she'd been threatened like this. Her heart pounded in her dry mouth, eyes fixed on the sharp edge which could easily end her life. What could she do? Telling the truth was the obvious answer, but would Reimer accept the truth, and would he turn on her anyway? This sudden change in attitude was a surprise to her. "I-I told you, m-my name is Isrydia and I'm just an apprentice," she managed to force the words out against their will. As for who she served, she was not prepared to give over any information about Sir William, but neither did she want to die. There had to be another way.

Nira arrived completely unnoticed by Isrydia, still fully distracted by the threat to her life. Her voice made her jump, but she relaxed when she realised Nira was on her side. "Thanks," she said weakly, unable to convey the extent of her gratitude with words. Tearing her gaze from the sword, she looked at her. Dwarf was her first thought owing to the height, but she looked a little elvish, maybe? There were distinctly inhuman features present, and Isrydia had stayed in Farthen Dur recently so recognised dwarven characteristics as well as the accent. How unusual. There was no way she was about to question her about all that, as she owed her too much right now to feel comfortable demanding any information. "My name's Isrydia. I'm not a Rider or knight or anyone of importance, just a human and an apprentice," she introduced herself to her rescuer, glancing briefly at Konner to see what Reimer would do about him. She was completely unaware they were being watched by Xedric.

[Brenton]

Konner, being a knight meant to protect those in need, stepped forward and in a blur he put his fist close to the male's back while his voice cracked like a whip. In the Ancient Language he spoke quietly. Move the sword away from her throat and do not move in haste or I will put a knife through your heart. He never turned his head but Konner switched to fluent Dwarvish. In the name of King Orik I speak to you and tell you that an attack on my person would be an attack on the dwarves themselves.

[Deleted]

     Who is this creature and why is a everything turning against me?  These questions and others whirled through Reimer's head as he glared at the werecat.  As Konner's fist came to rest against his back, a calm came over Reimer.  As Konner's voice cut through the stillness, Reimer's heart leapt.  He turned swiftly, sheathing his sword in the process, and came face to face with an old friend.
     "Why do you threaten me?" Reimer asked. "Have you forgotten our friendship, Konner?"  He kept this in a whisper so none other would hear and find them out.  "Do you know something of this girl and werecat?"

[Deleted]

Anybody want to help me finish this?