Bloody, but unbowed

Writing and selective RP blog for Thorn and Danial Drianai, Forgotten Realms OCs Please read Rules and About.

[mercenarysiblings]

((wow this blog still exists. i have no idea who’s still around or who remembers who the fuck i am but hi i guess its been literally like years yikes

((hows life

[neverwinterforgottenhero]

In response to his laugh Rith smiled shyly. She supposed that the man wasn’t a noble. Those rarely forget to present themselves with all their titles. Or if they do it’s either a sign of great humility, or a calculated choice. Humbleness could be feigned of course. 

“Then what are your usual entertainements? You caught my interest,” 

She paused, a bit hesistant on the the tone she wanted to give to this conversation. The man seemed sincere, and she couldn’t agree more with him, but how much should she show? It’s harder than I thought…

“I admit it can be frivolous, but that’s the essence of parties no? Dance, drink, eat, laugh and forget everything else in order to feel alive… Ephemeral so it is necessary.” 

Yes she had learned well how to play the noble sun elf. Though they maybe wouldn’t be so friendly with a simple human. And a true lady wouldn’t feel or show embarassement after a compliment which took Rith by surprise. A soft coral colored her cheeks before she quickly regained composure. 

Lowering her gaze, she played with her fine necklace, before laughing soflty. A crystalline sound that could suggest many things. 

“Oh you know how it is, I travel where fate leads me. And sometimes I find some beautiful place to rest a bit. I appreciate to visit new regions, however I soon find myself longing for more.” 

Her amber eyes searched for his. She was enjoying her own game, it was more fun that she had thought. Being someone else. 

[mercenarysiblings]

Danial laughed again, but this time it was warm, rich, and just a little sly. “If a party like this is enough to make you feel alive, my lady, then I think my entertainments might be a bit much for you.” His reply was gently teasing rather than snide. Rith seemed like fine enough company for now, and he had no intention of pushing her away.

Besides, she was pretty.

“Aye. I understand travel well enough. It’s only fortune that brought me here for the night. A week earlier or later and I would have been off on another job. Tell me, Lady Rith, do you consider yourself an adventurer or a traveler? There’s a difference, you know.”

[mercenarysiblings]

{Also, I’ve been playing the Mass Effect series through with Thorn as my Shepard and it’s more or less the best thing ever.}

[mercenarysiblings]

{Off hiatus now that classes have started!}

[mercenarysiblings]

{After moving to a new building I thought I would be able to keep up RP during my training, but the training schedules have changed. Because of this I will be on hiatus for the next two weeks.}

[the-open-road-ahead-of-us]

Closed Starter for mercenarysiblings

[mercenarysiblings]

The birdman’s unabashed curiosity had Danial fighting a grin. Apparently his first instinct hadn’t been far wrong. Despite his startling appearance, the birdman didn’t seem so dangerous. At least, not to Danial.

“Stealth isn’t my strongest suit,” he admitted with a shrug. “But I’m as good as most others you could hire in that regard. And I’m a better fighter than most, my friend. You can bet on that. If you’re needing someone to guide you to plants and toxins and the like, though, you may be better served by a ranger.”

[the-open-road-ahead-of-us]

Saren studied the human as he spoke, noting the easy confidence and the way he moved. He wasn’t a novice, that was for sure, and, despite his offered recommendation, Saren was convinced he would do nicely.

The man had come up to Sarenoch, after all. Bravery won points with Saren, always, especially when that bravery led to the corby making friends.

Danial had only just finished speaking when Saren waved his clawed, feathered hand dismissively. “I can find the herbs and roots myself. I have been there before. It is company I seek to deter the company I do not.” The corby could not grin, for he had no teeth, but he closed, as well as he could, his uneven beak and his eyes narrowed, wrinkling at the edges, as his cheeks lifted in his attempt at a smile.

“It is hard to find pleasant company when you bear a face like mine, but I don’t wish to earn company lining the guts of a bear or by greasing the blade of a bandit.”

[mercenarysiblings]

Danial’s lips twitched for a moment. “I think that would have to be a very brave bear and a very stupid bandit,” he commented in a wry tone. “Or vice versa. Regardless, I can handle bears and bandits as well as any. And you’ll find my prices quite reasonable.” No matter how fascinating an employer was (and the birdman was truly a surprise), money mattered.

All in all, however, Danial was rather pleased by the turn of events. If nothing else he would walk away from the job with a good story to tell.

[mercenarysiblings]

@neverwinterforgottenhero

{Danial is definitely the more approachable one xD}

Parties were strange things for Danial. Sometimes a party was a marvelous thing, all excellent company and good food, but sometimes they simply felt wrong. Usually it was the parties hosted by the nobility that made his mood sour. A celebration of life was one thing. Extravagance for the sake of extravagance, as in the ostentatious affairs hosted by most nobles was disgusting.

The current party was, to Danial’s disappointment, the latter sort of event. He was trying to enjoy himself, for the sake of the friend who had been kind enough to invite him, but his easy smile was more a facade than anything else.

“Hello.” He wasn’t sure who the woman he’d found himself sharing a table with was, but he was hardly about to take his frustration out on her. “I’m Danial. And you are?”

[neverwinterforgottenhero]

Parties. Frivolous reunions of the nobles, outrageous display of wealth, waste of luxirious food, place to be seen, gossip and conspire. So many periphrasis could describe it. And yet noone could exactly depict how much those were needed in those strange times. 

Here it was mostly to keep a eye on the vast court of the city. And to occupy them. Bread and games, as the proverb said. 

The paladin retained a sigh. With her new obligations she had to go this time. It was kinda part of her new role. So she was all eyes and ears, listening to the murmur of the crowd carefully. 

A bit surprised by the salutation, she masked it with a gracious smile, saluting politely. 

“Nice to meet you Danial, I’m Rith.” She paused, searching instinctively for her pendant. She didn’t found the comforting disk of gold. She had to remove it. Instead was a fine necklace  which matched her silvery dress. 

“Are you enjoying the party?”

[mercenarysiblings]

There was just a hint of bitterness to Danial’s answering laugh, but he hid his true feelings well in spite of it. 

“I suppose. This is a far cry from my usual entertainments.” He waved a hand as if to encompass the luxury and finery surrounding them. “It seems wasteful sometimes, no?” An accent, so faint as to almost not be present, colored his words and marked him as hailing from somewhere much further south than Neverwinter.

“But tell me, my Lady Rith, what attracts such a wonderful woman to a party like this? By my mark you’re worth a party twice as rich.”

[mercenarysiblings]

{Fun Fact: Danial’s actually pretty anti-capitalist}

[mercenarysiblings]

Thorn’s jaw tightened as she listened to the brief exchange between Raserei and the unknown soldier. If the demonic stranger’s presence had set her on edge, his presumptions made her bristle.

“I am not yours,” she said in a low voice touched by the hint of a lilting accent. “And my business is my own. If I were a spy, you would not see me.”

[sieged-by-fate-blog]

Raserei looked at her with a curled lip, not that she could really see, “He meant one of my genosse, one of the men who work with me. So keep your wild denken, thoughts, in control.” Raserei scoffed. 

There was no point in explaining he had no interest in her in any other way outside of figuring out why she was there and where she was from. After all he couldn’t barely get any human to believe anything that came out of his mouth. 

“And I might be able to see you, but I can riechen, smell you.”

Such despair hangs around her; devour it. 

Raserei tilted his head a bit, much like an owl, “Are you verirrt? Lost?”

It was tearing at him the smell of “offness” she had; he wanted to know where she was from is only to quell his own stupid need. But mostly he wanted her gone before she caused a fight or worse somehow attracted the reason he was here. 

[mercenarysiblings]

Something flashed in Thorn’s eyes when he spoken of wild thoughts. “I don’t care what you meant,” she replied stiffly. “But it was not that. I am not your warrior, I am not yours. And my business is my own.”

The truth was, she was lost. Some searching and a few deals she didn’t like the cost of had led her to an informant, some sort of magic user, who had promised to meet her in the bar. With luck, they would know how to get her home. With a giant demon man bothering her, however, the contact would surely never show. “”I have no interest in any war. Leave me be.”

[childeofsune-deactivated2018111]

Danial bounced up to Asher, grinning from ear to ear. "I got you a gift," he crooned in a sing-song voice.

His lover’s grin was contagious, drawing Asher’s lips into amirrored smile both bright and warm, dark eyes filled with genuine delightedsurprise.

“A gift? For me?” Still smiling, Asher laid downhis quill, blowing once on the wet ink before rising from his desk to meetDanial. “Is it honey? Sweet bread? Strawberries?” With each guess,Asher’s eyes grew larger with hope, for few things in this world could so enthrallthe elf as the epicurean pleasures it offered.

[mercenarysiblings]

Asher’s unabashed excitement made Danial grin from ear to ear. Simply seeing the elf light up at the prospect of a gift was enough to lift his mood, and it made him want to simply shower his lover in presents.

Of course, that would ruin the game.

“You have to find it,” he teased. “And see what it is for yourself.”

[childeofsune-deactivated2018111]

“Oh I see,” Asher purred, his gaze sweeping over the room.

After a moment’s consideration, the elf glided past Danial all trailing silk and perfumed hair. Circling behind the man, a fingertip tapping his chin as he tilted his head, Asher’s lips curved into a cat-like smile of appreciation, eyes riveted to Danial’s posterior.

“I do see something that is a gift,” he teased in return. “God-given, I have no doubt,” he added with a hum of delight, then, eyes wide with feigned innocence he asked, “Shall I claim it?”

[mercenarysiblings]

Danial cackled and struck a pose as if modeling for a particularly pornographic painting. “Only if you want to,” he teased. “And only after you find your present.” With that he straightened and turned to Asher, once again seeming as eager as a puppy. “You get a hint. It’s not in this room.”

[the-open-road-ahead-of-us]

Closed Starter for mercenarysiblings

[mercenarysiblings]

The mercenary’s brows shot up when he finally saw Saren’s features. The bird… man… person wasn’t something Danial had seen the likes of before, and he had no idea what to name it, but it didn’t put him off the pursuit of work. If the birdman was in public and unharmed, he likely didn’t make a habit of tearing people limb from limb.

“I am both comedian and guard,” he crowed with a low bow. Danial hadn’t actually intended his comment to be quite so ironic, but he was hardly about to pass on a chance to preen. “A man of many talents. So if you’re looking for work, I’m the one you need to hire.”

[the-open-road-ahead-of-us]

Saren tilted his head to the side, and he looked very much like a curious crow in that moment. “Confidence. Self-assured. Have you enumerated your talents? Or was that an exaggeration? Or… what’s the saying… a turn of phrase?”

The corby turned his head to the other side to contemplate the mercenary. “But I am looking for a guard, and you are looking for money. I need more than a guard who can jest, however.” His tone was thoughtful, not meant to be insulting, as if the man were simply thinking aloud. “I am going out into the wilds. I am searching for plants and toxins. There are things in the wilds that I cannot fight alone, and things I wish to avoid. Can you move unseen? How proficient are you with your blade?”

[mercenarysiblings]

The birdman’s unabashed curiosity had Danial fighting a grin. Apparently his first instinct hadn’t been far wrong. Despite his startling appearance, the birdman didn’t seem so dangerous. At least, not to Danial.

“Stealth isn’t my strongest suit,” he admitted with a shrug. “But I’m as good as most others you could hire in that regard. And I’m a better fighter than most, my friend. You can bet on that. If you’re needing someone to guide you to plants and toxins and the like, though, you may be better served by a ranger.”

[mercenarysiblings]

@auzaknafein

Danial lounged at the bar, more leaning against than sitting on his stool. He had a mug of something in one hand (water, if one looked closely enough) and an easy smile on his face. If it hadn’t been for the greatsword on his back and the careful way his eyes scanned the crowded room, he would have almost appeared to be a traveler looking for nothing more important than a good time.

As if happened, he was looking for work. The bar was one of his favorites for many reasons, but tonight his coinpurse was too empty to win him much fun. To his good fortune, however, a potential employer had contacted him for a meeting. With luck he would have a job before the evening was out.

[mercenarysiblings]

@neverwinterforgottenhero

{Danial is definitely the more approachable one xD}

Parties were strange things for Danial. Sometimes a party was a marvelous thing, all excellent company and good food, but sometimes they simply felt wrong. Usually it was the parties hosted by the nobility that made his mood sour. A celebration of life was one thing. Extravagance for the sake of extravagance, as in the ostentatious affairs hosted by most nobles was disgusting.

The current party was, to Danial’s disappointment, the latter sort of event. He was trying to enjoy himself, for the sake of the friend who had been kind enough to invite him, but his easy smile was more a facade than anything else.

“Hello.” He wasn’t sure who the woman he’d found himself sharing a table with was, but he was hardly about to take his frustration out on her. “I’m Danial. And you are?”

[mercenarysiblings]

@heroesofveradun

Danial wasn’t drunk. He’d had a bit to drink, that much was true, but getting well and truly drunk was something Danial saved for moments when he was alone and safe. Getting drunk in public seemed like a good way to get killed.

No, Danial wasn’t drunk. He was, however, bored. Extremely bored. Looking for a pleasant way to alleviate the boredom, he cast his gaze out across the crowded bar until it landed on an fascinating little elf. The fellow didn’t look quite like elves normally did (perhaps he was half-blooded?) but Danial only found that more intriguing. There was nothing like a mystery to spice up a flirtation. Or a fuck, if the elf was interested.

Sauntering across the room with a warm smile and a confident stride, Danial came to a halt at the bar next to the elf. He leaned on the counter and grinned at the stranger. “Hello there, my friend. Buy you a drink?”

[mercenarysiblings]

The moment the stranger began to move, Thorn’s eyes snapped to him. She watched him unblinkingly, her hand still on the hilt of her sword. The metal, warmed by her palm, was comforting to her. It was familiar. That comfort, however, did little to erase the tension in the set of her shoulders or the coldness in her eyes.

The closer the stranger came, the more obvious it was he would not be one she could intimidate away. What Thorn could see of him under his hood was alien and eerie. His vicious look marked him a warrior at best and a killer at worst. He reeked of blood and offal, and the sheer darkness that seemed to ooze off of him would have been enough to intimidate almost any mere mercenary.

But Thorn had made a living hiding how she felt.

Her icy mask was firmly in place as she weighed his comment. “And?” she finally asked in a perfectly flat tone.

[sieged-by-fate-blog]

“And, if you are a kundschafter, spy, you are doing a poor job.” Raserei shrugged, keeping his voice low and himself leaning forward. He didn’t want unwanted ears to hear.

He looked around at the soldiers who were watching their interactions. Really the only reason the barbarian was bothering with this woman was simply because he didn’t want a brawl to happen; the sight of blood made him weak. 

She will betray you all. Kill her now. 

Raserei swallowed hard and tried to keep the voices in the back.

Does she scream different? Make her scream you want to hear her scream.

She had to have known there was a war going on, and this was not a good place to travel here, so why was she here? Mostly being this tense; was she looking for a fight?

“So why are you here?”

It was the smell of her sin that made him so bold and leery of her. Why his skin itched and his blood roiled inside him. 

“Is she one of yours demon?” A soldier said, finally asking the question that was no doubt on the mind of countless others. 

“Ja.” Raserei replied flatly and without hesitation.

He took a seat across from here and waited for her reply, or if she could call his bluff and cause this bar to go into an uproar.

[mercenarysiblings]

Thorn’s jaw tightened as she listened to the brief exchange between Raserei and the unknown soldier. If the demonic stranger’s presence had set her on edge, his presumptions made her bristle.

“I am not yours,” she said in a low voice touched by the hint of a lilting accent. “And my business is my own. If I were a spy, you would not see me.”

[the-open-road-ahead-of-us]

Closed Starter for mercenarysiblings

[the-open-road-ahead-of-us]

Sarenoch lifted his head as the man approached. He was broad of chest and his flat face had strong bone structure. His lips were spread in his kind’s show of a disarming smile, and the corby already found the man agreeable. His words, however, caused the man to roll his eyes in the shadow of his hood.

“’A little bird’?” he asked with a snort. “Your sense of humor is obvious. But I can appreciate it,” Sarenoch said in his high, musical voice. The corby pulled his hood back away from his beak, looking at the mercenary full in the face. “If it’s work you’re looking for, I’m in need of a guard.”

[mercenarysiblings]

The mercenary’s brows shot up when he finally saw Saren’s features. The bird... man... person wasn’t something Danial had seen the likes of before, and he had no idea what to name it, but it didn’t put him off the pursuit of work. If the birdman was in public and unharmed, he likely didn’t make a habit of tearing people limb from limb.

“I am both comedian and guard,” he crowed with a low bow. Danial hadn’t actually intended his comment to be quite so ironic, but he was hardly about to pass on a chance to preen. “A man of many talents. So if you’re looking for work, I’m the one you need to hire.”

[childeofsune-deactivated2018111]

Danial bounced up to Asher, grinning from ear to ear. "I got you a gift," he crooned in a sing-song voice.

His lover’s grin was contagious, drawing Asher’s lips into amirrored smile both bright and warm, dark eyes filled with genuine delightedsurprise.

“A gift? For me?” Still smiling, Asher laid downhis quill, blowing once on the wet ink before rising from his desk to meetDanial. “Is it honey? Sweet bread? Strawberries?” With each guess,Asher’s eyes grew larger with hope, for few things in this world could so enthrallthe elf as the epicurean pleasures it offered.

[mercenarysiblings]

Asher’s unabashed excitement made Danial grin from ear to ear. Simply seeing the elf light up at the prospect of a gift was enough to lift his mood, and it made him want to simply shower his lover in presents.

Of course, that would ruin the game.

“You have to find it,” he teased. “And see what it is for yourself.”