|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 6, 2022 5:54:45 GMT
His name was Emit, and he had escaped from Castle Amber's dungeon. At least that's what the rangers said; not Julian's rangers but the new ones, the ones brought in by King Rinaldo of Kashfa, who now had command of Arden. He was unarmed when he broke out of the castle but isn't now. That's what the two of them said, huddled under the branches of a giant oak tree trying to find some protection from the rains, one covered in an oiled canvas poncho, the other in a sealskin serape. Their horses stood quietly, oblivious to the rains.
The rains had been almost a constant for nearly a year in Amber and all her shadows as far out as Kailessa ever travelled. Neither Random, at first, nor Florimel could do anything about the weather, and all suffered from it. It's said that there is good money to be made skinning seals along the coast south of Amber. No one could stomach seal meat much, so the carcasses were tossed back into the sea to feed the crabs and sharks. The skin made a waterproof, if rank, cloak.
So she hunted the man through forest, hill and dale. He was a quick one and smart too, always taking hidden trails along paths that her horse stumbled and slid in the wet mulch of rotting leaves, climbing rough cliffs where she could not follow, always far enough ahead of her and cutting through Shadow as no one without the blood of Amber should be able to.
Days later, she crests a hill to see a madly rushing stream in the valley below, flooding most of a small village. Rivulets gouge the hillsides, washing away crops and topsoil. In the gloom, under sodden skies, a few lanterns light the windows of one building, and the faint sound of voices and music reaches her.
|
|
|
|
Post by kailessa on Aug 21, 2022 3:00:52 GMT
She will enter carefully and with stealth enter the valley and find a high ground position where she can see the people's whose voices s can hear. Do she see him? He's still my mark and she would try and triangulate his position (amoung the voices) based on that. People can move pretty rapidly in crowds, but she am used to that and will try and place that into my mental calculations. Once in position she will smell the air and see if there in anything distict like cooking. She will also try and feel with her mind, using her psyche like a receiving antenna and see if garners any information.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 22, 2022 1:45:40 GMT
The town is still, the streets empty. Around the tavern, there are horses in a barn, and a gaudy covered wagon reveals that some sort of entertainments are available. From the new position, she can now understand that some voices are from actors in a play, and others are from the unruly crowd in the tavern. There is the smell of cooking from the building, brewing too.
Her mind can tell her little about the people; she doesn't even know what the escapee looks like! A few people are in other buildings, mostly alone, some working their businesses, others cleaning, shovelling or pouring out the mess caused by the flooding.
|
|
|
|
Post by kailessa on Aug 23, 2022 0:05:11 GMT
This guy was good enough to escape Amber.She suspects he may have power, as she has been chasing him through shadow. Finding a good position (concealed) with viewpoint on the Tavern, she will concentrate, visualizing the Pattern in her mind. She will then twist it in her mind's eye and begin looking through it. She will open her mind and visually scan the barn, wagon and tavern.
|
|
|
|
Post by kailessa on Aug 25, 2022 2:30:59 GMT
Did I see any boot or shoe imprints giving me a sense of how tall and how much the person weighs? That would require a strong track, but hey, asking anyway.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 25, 2022 4:27:20 GMT
The prints seen upon the trail show him to be tall and medium weight. Slightly odd if the man had been suffering deprivation in the dungeons for any length of time.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 25, 2022 4:32:39 GMT
The barn has animals and a sleeping groomsman. The wagons are shuttered and dark inside, so there is nothing that can be seen. Inside the tavern, tables have been pushed to the side to turn the room's far end into a stage. A few actors dressed in overly fancy clothes perform some play. The patrons mostly watch the show; others sit alone or in groups, drinking and eating. More than a few could fit the height and weight estimates Kailessa has deduced.
|
|
|
|
Post by Moving Fast on Aug 25, 2022 5:39:55 GMT
She will slip back into the trees, changing the rays and patterns of light to shift shadow, there should be a similar encampment nearby, perhaps some peasant girl clothes nearby with a few shinny local coins in it. She will grab it and discard her stuff in a another shadow as she changes. grabbing a piece of leather off her gear and testing it for use in combat she will tie her hair back with it. Her sword will be hidden in another glade as she shifts the light and the sounds of the birds back to that encampment, but she has circled around to the back. She will summon the sword to her if she needs it and she will enter the tavern from the back entrance to the kitchen using all of her stealth, she will listen for any names of the people who work there. So, trying not to use the front door here. Blending in as fast as possible. Any of the workers who question her get a shinny coin for their silence.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 28, 2022 7:33:13 GMT
The two people working in the back take little notice of her except to say: "All crowded out by the front, eh? Well, head up that way and get to the side of the stage. A good view there although they seem to be one of them modern acts and sometimes pull people from the crowd up there with 'em. Being so close and so pretty they'll probably call on you, especially the leader one, he's an old letch if you ask me."
|
|
|
|
Post by kailessa on Aug 28, 2022 16:04:22 GMT
"Iye, I will and did you happen to see which lad was the last one to come in?" She responds hoping he might give her the information. If he does not she will try and identify him looking for several parameters: someone who has more dust on their boots, a person who is not with a social group or someone watching the front door. Also, anyone who appears new to a group of people might be him as well. She will look around this entrance before responding to the old man under the assumption he might have placed himself by the door she just came in through. She will give the two men some coin if they help her, but not too much in coin that it blows her cover. If it looks like she will blow her cover conversing with them she won't ask anything at all.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 30, 2022 16:44:31 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/74HgMLV/esme~png "No, madam, we're too busy a-work back here to take notice of the comings and goings through the other door." the man says. Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships, And burnt the topless towers of Amber? Sweet Florimel, make me immortal with a kiss. Her lips suck forth my soul: see where it flies! an actor proclaims from the stage, over-emoted. He is dressed as a comically villainous king. "Oh where is my Pirate King Brennon? Who will save me from this evil King Caine!" the actress replies. A more skilled actor who looks surprisingly similar to Kailessa. Beside the makeshift stage, the impresario, dressed in fine colourful silks, shakes his head in dismay. The new additions to the play are not as popular as expected. The crowd murmurs and shuffles about in boredom. Kailessa can see a few men sitting on their own, all nursing tankards of ale except one. He is tall, thin, with a well-groomed mustache and stares blankly at the stage. |
|
|
|
Post by kailessa on Sept 18, 2022 2:53:32 GMT
She has contacted Ryland before these events. You can see the contacts in my messages. She did ask him to be on standby and that she might be bringing someone through.
She will walk right up to him and say,"That was one of the best hunts I have ever experienced, and you sir, are a person of power. I have a great deal of liberty on this assignment and I would like to exercise that. Please don't run, as I will throw diplomacy to the wind and take a more violent path. I respect your skills and I wish to know your story. I want to know why you were imprisoned and where you hail from. I think there is a story behind you that may connect to larger events. I have a place with some friends I can temporarily move you to. Here is my proposal, I will hold off on taking you in to hear your case. Much is afoot, as I suspect you know. If at the end of that it seems we cannot come to a beneficial outcome, then I will give you a fair lead and hunt you again. Given that you have probably be sentenced by Amber, I would like to hear your case. I have never done this before, so I suggest you consider seriously my offer. We can talk here and should your story carry some weight, I will consider some options. I hope that this is to your liking and we do not proceed down the bloody path. I am a good tracker as you know, but I am just as capable in walking the bloody path with little worry. I guess formal introductions are in order, I am Kailessa, Princess of Amber and a Captain in the Arden Rangers. No others among my kind would offer such a deal. Do you think she's a shadow of me?" She nods with a charming smile to the redhead on the stage. "Maybe I missed my calling."
She has positioned herself so that combat is an option and she is in an advantageous position, not the very best position, but really good (Think warfare -10). Also, she thinks he might be a psyche bunny and she is prepared to fight on that turf as well.
PS Sorry for the delay, working 52 plus hours for the last two weeks, was just burned out from the cyberattack at my work and I am IT.
Sadly, the totally avoidable attack..... Also, wrote a short story (page and a half about her past - will take me some time to edit it).
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Sept 18, 2022 15:36:51 GMT
The messages are hidden from me! And there is no attendance; if life takes you away from the game, that is okay, be me.
The man turns his head slowly and looks at Kailessa.
"Captain Kailessa of the Rangers? You are who they sent to hunt me down? I had expected Hammett would be given the task, and he would never have caught up to me.
"Sit and watch the play. We can come to a deal once it ends. And I imagine you would have a greater talent for the stage than this-" he glances at a playbill, "-Esme."
|
|
|
|
Post by kailessa on Sept 18, 2022 19:38:31 GMT
"I am not Hammett by any stretch of the imagination, and I agree, even I would have greater talent for the stage, but perhaps the play itself will be a reflection of events in Amber to some degree. I lie low in the family, I find it a wise move. Excuse the peasants garb, I had planned to just take you in without question. But your abilities suggest that you may be something more. So, at least humor a laced performance awaits us." She says with a smile, a charming glint in her eye to set him at ease.
"Certainly, it is good to deal with a gentleman," she waves for one of the severs,"Drinks for the gentleman and myself." She will enjoy the play and afterwards gesture for a private table. She will of course watch for any attempts to slip anything in her drink and she will choose her drink right off of the server's tray. "My gear is here, next to me, but it is peace bound, as are all my abilities for this meeting. Here gear should be right there behind the table in the corner. "I have already assumed you have allies here and I am a prepared to deal with that, let us not go down any such unfortunate paths."
"So tell me your story, elusive one, please leave nothing out and state the charges set against you as well and who levied them. I am exercising my Captain's authority in this situation. You might think a Captain is a lowly position for a Princess, but I take the position and the trust empowered on me by the throne most seriously. I play not the silly games that so enthrall my family. Tracking is but my oldest of skills. So the truth, no matter what it form it takes, is what I seek. Please explain by what means or powers you gave me challenge as well. I will consider this, even if it is bad, perhaps I can take your case under my wing and perhaps offer you a better route to answer for any wrong doings. Certainly, under times of crisis, understanding will be applied after the storm has passed. I believe there is legal grounds for a royal to ask for a case to be reconsidered by the crown. Should you betray me with untruths or deception, I promise you would not want me as a foe. Since I have none, you would gain all my attention. I speak this not as a threat, but merely a statement of truth on my part. Since I have been above board, please avail yourself of the same, Emit."
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Sept 19, 2022 17:39:04 GMT
The man does not touch the drink on the table.
"You may wish to take back some of your offered benefaction once you know more of me.
"Emit, they are calling me? A peasant's name and a far fall from my actual title of General Strasser in the German army. I believe I outrank you, Captain. I was in Kasaba under Lady Vada of the Courts of Chaos' command when Prince Gerard was killed. The ruffians Hammett and Brennon captured me, and I was transported to Amber and her dungeons. I was not arrested by anyone or charged with a crime. 'Political Prisoner' is probably the most correct way to describe my position.
"As for staying ahead of you, it was a simple matter of my not being human."
|
|
