Forever Wandering

[Brenton]

His mind should've been broken long ago when he fell and hit this desolate ground back before anyone was here. If only he had not gone and raised the Angels in a revolt against the elders when they were trying to create everything. Then maybe he would still be in the Heavens with his mind fully healed and his body not aching from this walk across the land to find what he needed. Then maybe he could find the right heroic quest to get salvation from the elders.

In years he had yet to find another of his kind and Tashiel was beginning to suspect he was the only left on this land who hadn't killed himself in fear of destruction. Suddenly a city was in front of the man and he walked slowly through the gates with his nearly 8 feet tall and massive frame filling the area that most couldn't get near filling. His dark blonde hair was tied back for the most part but it was tangled and ratted so that it was in his face slightly.

When a guard stopped him though, the Fallen Angel looked at him with his spectral eyes and soulless black pupils that made the guard shudder. The guard took one look at the sword in a scabbard across his nearly bare back, clad only in a ripped and shredded shirt. He knew this wasn't a normal man and the white wings that pushed at the fabric of the shirt only proved that. With a nod, the guard moved away and allowed Tashiel to pass into the city proper.

Tashiel walked into the city and his body screamed at him to get something to drink or eat but he knew all he had for valuables was his meager supply of gold that he got for doing some work for the farms around the area and a large sum of money and riches from the Empire that was stored somewhere in Belatona. Yet he had no idea where the four chests of gold were and nor did he really care because he often times kept to himself

Finally realizing that he needed something or he would die and he didn't feel like going and killing a meal, Tashiel walked into a tavern and sat down at the bar. "Only paying customers allowed in here, sir." The bar tender spoke to Tashiel with a polite manner but there was that hard edge to his voice. I can pay for a drink with gold or if you have work to do then I could do that in exchange for a meal. Please kind bar tender, don't kick me out because I have little monetary value at the moment.

The bartender nodded and picked up a parcel from behind the counter, grunting with effort, and handed it to Tashiel. "Take this to Throkk in the smithing district and be back by the time I have the food out of the oven and I will give you a meal as well as enough gold for a night's stay in an inn."

Tashiel took the parcel an nodded with a small smile as he walked out of the door, immediately finding the smithing district where everyone was just getting ready to finish for the day. He walked to the nearest human metalworker and spoke to him. Where can I find Throkk, I have a delivery for him from the tavern. The human pointed to the forge right next door and Tashiel walked over to the forge before he knocked on the door lightly.

[Quetzal]

Throkk opened the door promptly to a man so unlike any he'd seen before he froze. The dwarf's neck was almost strained looking at Tashiel's face. The muscular bronze-skinned man had elf-like features but was clearly not an elf, unless he was one who had used magic to change his appearance. He could just see wings on his back, something which must have taken an awful lot of magic to do. Throkk was as bulky and muscular as Tashiel, what with the thick strong bones of dwarves and the days hammering metal, but he was rather more... rotund.

The disparity in height was crushing. Tashiel was literally double Throkk's height; the angel was near eight foot, the dwarf barely over four feet tall. It was practically amusing. Throkk's thick beard twitched as he smiled at how different they were. This couldn't be the time for childish giggling, though. He composed himself and began to draw himself to his full height, but gave up when he realised that would not achieve anything. It was too big a difference.

Had this stranger known he was looking for a dwarf? He might have been only a couple of feet taller than a human, but now he was faced with a man literally half his size. That must be a shock for him. Steely grey eyes looked right into the piercing gold ones. They make him uncomfortable, but he stubbornly refused to flinch away. All too often taller folk assumed they were above him purely instinctively; people they interacted with his height were usually children, after all. "The name's Throkk. You need anything? Smithing, guidance around the city?" word would have reached him if a man so strange had been in the city long, so he could only assume he was a new visitor to Belatona.

[Brenton]

Tashiel smiled at the dwarf, honestly trying not to think about how he had expected a human or elf instead of what he had gotten, as he handed the parcel over. It was strange how the shorter dwarf had tried to draw himself up to his full height to even out the difference before giving up which told a tale of how he was used to being shorter than others. With a sigh and a brief nod, Tashiel spoke in his soft voice that was rough from disuse and obviously so. "I'm Tash Son of None, a weary traveler who walked into the tavern earlier for a drink and was told that I could get money and food for delivering this parcel to Throkk in this district. So I am here to deliver this to you and hopefully get something to eat and drink in time for my body to realize it has been filled."

Tashiel looked around a bit and saw in the forge that it was normal and what he would expect to see for someone who was smithing a lot for an army. This dwarf certainly seemed to know who he was and what he was doing in this world when presented with people like Tashiel who were obvious warriors. Sometimes it was to be expected that there were people like Throkk out there but it never ceased to amaze him anyhow because Tashiel would have been proud to have this dwarf as an ally in the Heavens back before he Fell.

[Quetzal]

Throkk took the parcel, hesitating before smiling. The heavy oblong package could only be one thing; the sample of a rarer metal he'd ordered to experiment with. He planned on mixing small amount of it with other metals to see the properties in the material that was created as a result; a new and strong material could give the Varden a serious advantage in a battle. An innkeeper had been in charge of negotiating its transport from out of town to the forge weeks ago. There had been a few rumours circulating the Empire supporters in town that the valuable sample was around, so it had been assumed the innkeeper was too cowardly to deliver it himself. Tashiel had just taken that risk and saved the innkeeper from a hefty fine.

"Well, Tash, that man in the tavern was supposed to be the one to deliver this weeks ago. Since he must have been too cowardly or lazy to do so, I suppose I should pay you instead, shouldn't I?" he locked the package away with other more expensive materials and took from that same small safe a few coins. "Here," he held them up for Tashiel to take, "If you need more money, I can help. I'm not about to give you something for nothing, though. You can work and earn your coin. I recently made a good deal so can afford to pay you, although you look more like a warrior than a maker. I can put in a good word for you, if you'd like. Perhaps we should discuss this more in the tavern?" he offered. He liked going to the tavern.

[Brenton]

Tashiel smiled and his face actually felt normal when he did that one thing because few had given him money just for delivering a package that someone else had been too afraid to transport. Although he was considerably bigger than most men would want to mess with and few ever got into a fight with him and lived so it was understandable that the innkeeper had agreed to him taking it with him. "If it is not too much bother, what exactly did I just bring to you that caused so much fear in someone who was unafraid of telling me only paying customers were allowed? That innkeeper does not seem one to frighten easily and if a simple parcel can scare him then there must be reason behind that act. Forgive me if I have overstepped my bounds though and asked a question that was not mine to ask simply out of pure curiosity."

Tashiel thought carefully before he shrugged and looked at the dwarf again with a strange look in his eyes. "I do not ask for hand outs nor do I fear for my life in a battle but I do know that I am condemned to wander in a land that is unfamiliar to me because of treachery. It is not in my nature to refuse to do something that is hard labor and I actually would not mind it, even if it is just protecting something such as when you have parcels like that one needed to be delivered. Of course I am a warrior but not someone that would be good to have on the side of a battle for too long because I can see both sides in this war for the most part. I did know of Galbatorix back when he came to power though and he didn't try for it at first, even seeming normal by your standards, so I choose to avoid killing people unless he unleashes his wrath upon me."

[Quetzal]

Throkk couldn't tell for certain what the innkeeper's motives behind making Tashiel deliver the parcel had been, but he did know about the parcel itself. "I understand your curiosity, I'd want answers too. The package is some samples of rare metal I want to experiment with to try making new materials. It's no secret that I help arm and armour the Varden, so naturally the Empire aren't keen on the idea of me developing some incredible new metal alloy that gives all the Varden swords an advantage. Any plans for the delivery could be leaked, so it would be preferable to make the time of delivery spontaneous. No doubt the innkeeper didn't fancy being attacked, either. You don't look much like the sort thieves would target," he speculated a little on the reasons, but the explanation as to what the package was and why the Empire might want it were true.

It felt odd conversing in the doorway like this, so Throkk donned a coat and stepped out the door, leading the way back to the tavern. He didn't have anything of value on him so there was no reason for anyone to try attacking him, especially not with Tasheil there. He needed to speak to the innkeeper too regarding the delivery. "Don't worry, I'm not trying to enlist you into the Varden. I think you could do well, but if you're heart's not in it there's no point. Your strength would be wasted delivering parcels, though. Someone at the tavern may have a challenge for you, though,"

[Brenton]

Tashiel followed Throkk, seeing several eyes follow warily along the way but no movement toward them. A few times he thought he saw just a brief flash of steel as someone moved a weapon back into a sheathe that had been intended for either the dwarf or himself. Few people enjoyed fighting someone as large as Tashiel was but even fewer would attack when a dwarf or elf were present because the two were known for speed or strength in battle. Tashiel smiled grimly as the people turned away and walked quickly into houses with their faces hidden.

Strange how people could be so ready to kill until they saw that they had more of an even match and then they wanted nothing to do with the target. With a small sigh, the fallen angel walked back to the tavern and into the door behind Throkk, looking at the innkeeper with a glare. The innkeeper, for his part, hid a small look of shock at Tashiel walking back into the tavern when he had been carrying a parcel with a hit on it.

Tashiel made a mental note to find the innkeeper later and tell him just what he thought about being sent out to his death when it wasn't his job. This man seemed shady anyhow and the way he looked at a couple of guys and then at him again made Tashiel expect some sort of trouble. That was when the two guys stood up and he noticed they were both built like him but not quite as tall with the Empire attire on and the look of hardened fighters in their gaze.

Tashiel waited until they got to him and it was a brief but very well coordinated two punches that knocked the men back and into the wall where they crumpled to the ground. They were both unconscious, fingers uncurling from the daggers they'd been holding with the intent of killing Throkk and himself. Tashiel turned to the innkeeper and walked over to the bar with slow strides.

"You sent me to deliver something that had a hit on it and had two guys waiting for me in case I returned here with success in the mission? Did you really think that I would go down that easy if no one would stop me on my route to the forge in the firs place? Now then, have someone else attack me and they had been have more than just daggers and one other person to back them up."

Tashiel slammed his fist on the bar and then grabbed the innkeeper by the collar, dragging him close to his face in the process. "And if you ever try it then you had better be gone when I am done with them or my sword will be wet with your blood in the next second for your trying to kill me. Do you understand me, pathetic human innkeeper?"

[Quetzal]

Throkk wasn't a fool enough to leave unarmed as a known supplier of Varden weapons and armour. His weapon of choice was a two-handed battleaxe, but it was a hassle to carry that heavy thing around when he was just doing to the tavern. Instead he just had the smaller axe and hammer at belt. His thick arms were very capable of delivering crushing blows with them and Tashiel was clearly strong, so he felt safe.

It did come as a surprise to him that the innkeeper's hired knives were garbed in Empire dress. He'd taken the innkeeper to be a Varden man. Casting a glance at the unconscious men, he nudged one with his boot to make sure he wouldn't be stirring any time soon. Naturally the entirety of the people gathered in the inn had silenced to watch the action. Some were eagerly enjoying the excitement, others looked rather nervous. He even spotted one man muttering a bet to another, over what he didn't hear.

Looking back at the innkeeper, he make his strides slow and swaggering to make up for the lack of height. The man was nodding nervously at Tashiel. "This is a Varden city now. We won't stand for Empire weasels like yourself to go frightening people with paid knives in the dark. People here have been lived in fear for long enough," he spat. "What I don't understand is why you didn't just keep the package in the first place,"

The innkeeper didn't say anything until Throkk rested a hand on the hilt of his axe. "I was going to, but..." the man fell silent again, and Throkk drew the axe. "I thought if I could spread rumours about its value people would target whoever held it, and once they saw it being delivered to you they'd kill you. If... if we kill as many Varden suppliers as possible, their army will be unarmed and useless," he choked, shaking with fear.

[Brenton]

Tashiel tossed the innkeeper back with disgust and looked around the room, noting all of the people who had drawn weapons in case of a fight breaking out. None of them would prove an issue in single combat but there were at least twenty men all who were easily meant to wield axes all day. Even a few of them were muscular enough to be able to work a forge all day while they had hammers and axes. Definitely not a good set of odds for him even though he was pretty certain he could handle it. Best not to harm too many Varden supporters even if they were just supporting a spy.

"We can't afford fighting in this inn with so many people here and ready to fight back even though they are backing a traitor to the cause. It's best if we let this spy go for now but keep an eye on who we speak to right now as I am sure the Empire has a marksman ready for both of us by now." Tashiel had seen that the Empire soldiers had been knocked out and then someone slipped out of the door quickly with fear in his eyes. That was sure to be an informant heading to the base to let everyone know who they were up against. This could be bad for Tashiel and Throkk if they were not on their guard from here on out.

[Quetzal]

Throkk was glad that Tashiel let sense rule his head. Too many times he had seen people give themselves to anger and just blindly lash out instead of thinking about what would actually help them. He too noticed the man trying to leave discreetly. He highly doubted he would be able to achieve much. After all, this city was controlled by the Varden; Varden guards, Varden soldiers, Varden-supporting citizens (officially). The Empire had next to no power here. They really weren't a threat. Still, knives in the dark weren't great, although Throkk really didn't think that would happen just because they caught an Empire supporter as they'd left him intact and alive. The only thing that was really a concern here was making sure the message that the Empire were not welcome here was reinforced.

"Avoiding a fight would indeed be best. The Varden will never be able to find support if we attack every Empire supporter. After all, the Empire do exactly the same thing, forcing support through fear. We'd be no better than them. The Varden don't want to appear cruel." he said firmly. "This city is Varden protected. We should be fine, so long as we're careful. I don't know if the Empire will try anything unless we pose a really serious threat to them. Can never be too careful, though, I suppose," he shared his opinion with the fallen angel.