#roleplaying thread

[apinchofsanity]

The Magpie and The Deer part 3

Two weeks passed before Jim could arrange the dinner date for himself and Barabara, his time consumed mostly by Sherlock and his loyal little sidekick poking their noses into his criminal dealings. Honestly, it was becoming ridiculous, could Sherlock really not just let him LIVE? I mean sure people were dying because of him and his games but people die all of the time, and Jim was giving them an exciting death at the very least. Loosening his tie Jim rubbed his face tiredly, once again contemplating on the merits of continuing to let a certain young Holmes breath. @barbara-maureen

[sneezingscholar-blog]

abyss-touched (masaki && adam)

No one was guarding the door.

That was pretty strange in-and-of itself. The Rising Stones wasn’t exactly in the safest of locations, and despite it’s typical clientele, the owners seemed to treat their bar with the utmost care. He’d never been here and not seen a guard in plate standing at the ready. And when he’d seen it earlier, he’d paused outside, eyes peeled, ears straining for anything unusual, looking for the distinctive blue outfit of a Crystal Brave and listening for the clicking of Garlean military boots. His ears twitched underneath his large pointed hat.

But the bartender had nodded in his direction when he’d come in, and all of the regulars had been sitting around. There was even a crowd of other, newer people, huddled around something... But what could it be-

Realization hit him before reason could, and Adam Narciso found himself moving rather quickly towards the crowd. Typically, only two thing could make the patrons of any bar in Eorzea gather togethor so quickly. The promise of free liquor...

Or one of the Warriors of Light.

“Misaki?” Adam said excitedly, pressing his way past a few fans. “Misaki, you’re back! I thought your weren’t getting back for another day or two!” Now moving quickly past the few people who’d decided the Xaela’s personal space bubble might be a little smaller then a normal person’s, he noticed the looks on their faces. Faces full of awe, and respect. 

Ugly, a very small voice in the back of his head said, but he pushed it away. The abyss always called to him, but it called to that lowest possible denominator inside. The price of “taking the black,” he thought to himself, shaking his head quickly and finding his small smile again.  

“Are you alright?”

[razorbladeballad]

Subterfuge

Sneaking into the Fire Nation royal palace was something only a very crazy, or very confident man would do. Yi Xian Tian could be considered both, though he most certainly only qualified as extremely confident in his mind. He'd been paid handsomely to assassinate Prince Iroh II, but the Bajiquan grandmaster honestly taken the offer simply for the sheer challenge of it.

He'd studied the patterns of the guards visible in the main courtyard, as well as those of the archers stationed on the looming walls protecting the palace. There was a slim window of opportunity to sneak into a blindspot near the the easternmost gate, which he exploited successfully when the freshly woken archers came to exchange positions with those whose shifts just ended.

Now that he'd been able to infiltrate the first layer of protection housing the royal family, all he needed to do was make his presence known.

Turning the corner, Razor stepped forward and struck the surprised guard nearest to him with a double-fisted body blow. His strike didn't do much damage past the armor, but the force of the opening move had caused his opponent to double over. He caught the guard under the chin with a quick elbow strike- the only way to cause pain barring needing to remove the helmet protecting the man's skull. Blood splattered against his jacket sleeve from the guard's lips- perhaps he'd bitten his tongue and would bleed to death soon.

The sound of tensing bow strings triggered him to move onto the next guard, twisting the man's arm behind his back to employ him as a living shield once the arrows had let fly. Dropping the body, Razor made a beeline for the nearest open corridor, using his momentum to jump kick another armored guard straight in the chest enough to topple him. Once he'd landed, he brought his heel down right in the winded man's face, listening to satisfying crunch of bone and ignoring the spray of red against his leather shoe.

He lead the pursuing guards on a merry chase down winding hallways, taking down men and women employed as bodyguards alike during his progress until he found one around his height and complexion. Dragging the corpse into an empty calligraphy room, he quickly changed and hid his civilian clothes (as well as the freshly stripped body).

Dressed as one of their own, the assassin secured his helmet in place and dropped to the floor as though injured. Once the guards entered, they immediately mistook him for a comarade and seeing the blood still painted down his breastplate, they helped him to his feet. Razor groaned and staggered, gesturing to the open bay windows silently to make them search the adjoining courtyard that lead to the gardens.

He kept the winded act up until he heard orders barked- certain troops being sent on his manhunt to the right, others spread out to protect various, lesser members of the court. Feigning enough strength to join his comrades, he followed a small group of elite warriors in different armor sent to the innermost rooms and tried scanning the surroundings to determine where they'd holed up the prince during the ensuing chaos.

[[ irohthesecond ]]

[baracorps]

First Aid

Administering field dressings may have seemed a useless skill to some, given the severe injuries one could incur from a titan attack, but it was necessary. In some cases, injuries could be dressed properly enough for a soldier to live to fight another day, with quick thinking and proper medical knowledge.

Reiner was well versed in tourniquets, pressure dressing, and the like, so he'd been instructed to aid the less... talented in getting up to speed. Before him were dressings and other basic gear that a standard field kit would contain- nothing spectacular, but would do in a pinch until a specialized corps member could see to certain wounds that required more knowledge than they were given.

"To reduce bleeding, you'll want to elevate the injured limb slightly above the level of the heart- but keep in mind that anything fractured should NOT be elevated unless it's been properly splinted. Understand, Marco?" Braun asked, carefully holding the sterilized side of the field dressing down onto an imaginary gash upon Marco's left leg.

"Never tie the knot directly over the wound. You want the tie the tails of the dressing in a tight, nonslip knot to the side- just over the outer edge of the dressing like so. You want to stop the bleeding and make sure the knot won't come loose, but avoid making the dressing so tight, the skin surrounding the wounded area becomes cool, blue, or numb. If the bleeding persists, apply direct, firm manual pressure with your hand for 5 to 10 minutes. The casualty can do this himself, if he's able to, as well. Any questions, so far?"

[razorbladeballad]

Strangers in the Rain

themaskedmercenary started following you

Folding metal security lattices had already been drawn against the display windows of the traditional barber's shop, nothing more than a free standing oak and brass coat rack keeping the entryway door cracked open. Florescent overhead lights flickered as a passing subway car rattled the entire foundation of the building- making nearby wheeled storage carts meander across the tiled floor and glass apothecary jars lining the shelves tremble briefly.

Yi tapped the ashes of his handrolled cigarette into an old cloisonné ashtray, artfully reclining against the middlemost leather chair like a cat stretched out in a sunbeam.

"Come back tomorrow, friend. I've already seen my last customer for the evening. I'll give you a discount for your trouble, since you dropped in," he drawled, not bothering to move or open his eyes- instead focusing on the lilting, dulcet tones of a Beijing opera starlet playing over his radio.