forum I'm alive and not sure for how long (MATURE + CLOSED)

Started September 09, 2023 by @Desvelarse pets

tune

Valiel Galcan had very few activities that she fully enjoyed. One of the few was interacting with her people as something other than her royal self. The Hinterlands were full of different species and races, and finding a way to blend into a crowd had been a little game for her for a long time.
Being a Skin-changer, she was able to shapeshift to all kinds of things. Being a royal meant she had some restrictions placed on her. One of those was that she would always be identifiable. Some part of her would always carry the blazing auburn color of her natural hair, and her family and the guards used that to keep tabs on her.
But the average citizen of Konrack wasn't entirely familiar with what she looked like, so there was a small comfort in walking through the markets, looking at all the trinkets, and occasionally buying herself something from the local vendors. That's exactly what she was doing today.
The most annoying part, though, was the constant presence of guards, watching her, keeping track of her. Many people would miss them, and that allowed her to blend in a bit, but to anyone with watchful eyes, or anyone who knew what they were looking for, the two 'completely average' men following her and keeping her in sight stuck out like they were flourescent.

Valiel just hoped she'd get a few hours without someone pointing out she was the Princess. It was always followed by bowing and scraping and favors and formality, and she hated that. In fact, she'd been thinking about ways to get out of it since she was a child. Recently, those thoughts had turned more serious, as her father worked to get her married off to someone he was comfortable passing the throne off to. She'd seen some of the prospects, and she didn't like anyone of them, let alone think she could fall in love and be happy with them.
But none of that mattered to Father. It never had, and a conversation about it would just-… it would make him mad, and that was never good.
So even now, as she looked over small pendants and carved totems in at a booth in the market, her mind was thinking about that. She was wondering which of the lucky pendants had enough power to protect her from the coming mess.
Valiel doubted any of them would help.

Thatcher made his way into the city, Nike trotting along side of him. The civilians seemed to recoil at the dog, it clearly not being a regular of the cold region. Nike's fur was short and single coated, not meant for the chilly weather.

How would he identify the princess, much less get into the castle to reap her in the first place? He expected to see her wearing lavish clothes made from the finest material, surrounded by guards with weapons that he would have to subdue. It would be a messy task, he assumed.

But that was not what happened. He made his way into the market square, scanning the crowds. His eyes locked onto an individual, and a gut feeling told him that's who he was looking for. But what would a princess be doing alone, or so he thought, out at the market? He glanced down at Nike, who whined and tilted her head to the side. That had to be her. He couldn't reap her here in the middle of the market, though.

Thatcher approached the booth the princess was at, acting as a normal customer. He watched her eye a couple of pendants, and inched closer to where she was standing. "You should choose that one," he commented offhandedly when Valiel lifted a moonstone pendant, glancing down at her. "Matches your eyes."

Valiel's subtle light magic usually repelled dark creatures, but it also had marked her and drawn them to her before, so Fremik wasn't surprised when the tall figure with the hellhound stepped into her space. The stocky guard moved closer, trying not to crowd her, but also getting close enough to make sure that he could get there quickly if something happened.

Valiel glanced up at the very tall men next to her. He towered over her, even in her current form, and she got a vaguely threatening sense from him. But he spoke to her in kindness, so she gave him a small smile. "Thanks for the advice. I do like moonstone." It had a small collection of runes carved around the edge of the stone, which promised the wearer adventure. She turned to the shopkeep. "How much?"

The man in the booth had been watching this young lady, dark skinned with black hair dressed in lovely red, as she perused his wares. The sudden appearance of the tall man next to her had caught his attention, but he gave her a salesman's smile as she asked the price. "Shall we say 14 gold, ma'am? That's a steal for all the runework."

Valiel liked to support the local vendors. She handed him 15 without haggling. "Thank you very much."
Turning to continue her shopping, she gave the tall figure another smile. "I haven't seen you around before. New here?"

Thatcher had no idea that she wasn't human and could most likely see the distorted features of his hound- being red eyes, long sharp fangs, and a long, devil like tail. He had been given nothing besides a name and location when he was assigned this reap.

He eyed the man at the booth, standing a bit taller and holding his shoulders a bit more straight in a confident posture. Whatever the man's intentions were, it was clear that Thatcher had crashed it and was raining on his parade. 14 gold was a decent price. He couldn't imagine the reaction of the vendor if he discovered that Thatcher's blood was essentially liquid gold. But really only other Reapers and hunters knew that, and he was glad to keep it that way.

When Valiel spoke to him, his lips twitched into a polite and friendly smile. "As a matter of fact, yes I am. My dog and I just arrived in town today," he said, glancing momentarily in Nike's direction. "Would you happen to know of a place that has available rooms? You would be doing me a huge favor, getting me out of this cold."

He didn't want to hint that he knew who she was, not just yet. As far as she needed to know, he was just a passerby that needed to stop in the city for a rest.

Valiel was aware the shopkeeper had likely modified the price because of the presence of the tall figure next to her. She'd expected to pay a lot more.
So when he asked about a room, Valiel nodded. "There are a couple of spots. Just depends on how much you're willing to spend." She pointed off to the east. "There's cheap lodging that way. Just take the main road and you'll see the sign. Little place called Beshel's. The rooms might be a bit cramped for the two of you, but it's less than a silver for a full day's lodging. Or-" She pointed off to the north. "Again, straight up the main road, there's a tavern called Marla's Meals and More that rents out rooms. It's a little pricier, but there'd be plenty of room for both of you, and of course, it's right over a tavern. Easily available food and drink is always a plus." She gave him a smile, and waited for a moment. "I can walk you down to wherever you wind up going, but only if you tell me about your home. It's not often I get the chance to meet people from other places."

Thatcher listened to Valiel, nodding his head slowly as she spoke to him. He would likely splurge on the nicer room, partly for Nike’s sake. She was larger than the average Doberman and needed quite a bit of space. That and considering he was a large man himself, the both of them combined needed quite a bit of room.

“That’s nice of you, thank you, miss,” he replied politely with a nod of his head at her offer to show him to the lodging. “I’ll go with the second one. I’m not worried about it being on the pricier side.” He wasn’t wealthy by any means. He had no job, and his only funds were given to him by the High Council. It helped though that Nike could eat those he reaped, along with him not needing to eat food.

The mention of home. What did he consider to be his home? Where he was born? Or maybe the place he stayed when he wasn’t constantly on the job? That barely felt like a home, considering he was rarely there and mostly traveling around. “Ah, well I was born in France, but I have moved around and traveled quite a bit. I’m sort of… between housing at the moment. Traveling and seeing what sticks.” He didn’t like staying in one regular place for too long. The only reason he had that housing was because it was an apartment style residence for Reapers.

Valiel turned and began walking up the north road, heading towards Marla's. "Right this way then. It's not far." She knew Marla fairly well, and hoped the host wouldn't out her as the Princess. She preferred to keep that hidden around new people.

Fremik and Carth followed Valiel and the tall figure with the dog at a fair distance. The two guards could see Valiel was relaxed, but that didn't mean anything. The Princess always seemed relaxed, regardless of her actual feelings.

France was a place Valiel hadn't really heard much of. Just that it was far, far from her home. "Oh, you're a traveler? That must be exciting." Her voice got just a bit quieter. "I've always wanted to travel, myself, but so far I've needed to stick around here." She smiled at him and shrugged. "Family matters. You understand."
There was a moment before she went on. "So tell me about your travels. Where have you been, what have you seen, that kind of thing."

(Apologies in advance for any formatting/grammatical errors, I’ll be on mobile for the day)

Thatcher swiftly moved alongside Valiel to take stride walking next to her. It was not difficult for him to keep up, considering his height and the length of his legs. Nike trotted along side, tail swishing as she went. He was keenly aware of eyes on him. There must have been guards he missed, possibly dressed in civilian clothing. He was foolish to think that he could be lucky enough that the princess was alone.

Family matters, she had said. No, he didn’t quite understand. Given that Reapers were taken from their parents quite young by the Council to be trained to kill, he didn’t remember them too much. He wasn’t aware of any siblings he had either. The closest he had to family was Nike and a couple of other Reapers that he had grown close to.

“Ah, I’ve seen quite a bit. Met lots of people, been to more places than I could even remember. This is by far the coldest place I have been to, I think,” He replied with a bit of laughter. What was the easiest way to word ‘I travel to kill people’ without actually saying that? “I mostly travel for business purposes. I’m a… mortician, of sorts.”

Valiel smiled at his explanation. "More places than you can remember, huh? That must be exciting…" She looked away from him for a moment, as if looking at their surroundings. Really, it was a moment to keep her jealousy about the kind of life she would never have under wraps. She glanced over at him again with a laugh. "Oh, it's cold here, but you should head further north. We're in the 'warm south' of the Hinterlands here."
She looked at him with renewed interest as he mentioned his job. "Oh. That's… I've never heard of a travelling mortician before. Do you…. is there a reason that's a travelling job?"

They came to a large three story building, with Marla's Meals and More painted over the door in stylized cursive. Valiel went right in, leading her tall friend into a large tavern. Lots of tables and chairs, a huge fireplace along one wall, a bar across the other, and stairs in the corner leading up to the rooms on the second and third stories. The tavern was busy, full of all kinds of people eating and drinking. There was a table surrounded by burly men and a few women, where a dwarf dressed in thick furs, and a troll of some kind, were armwrestling. Bets were being placed and jeers tossed around. Another table had a silent poker game going on, with each of the gamblers staring stone-faced at their cards. The weapons laying on the table spoke to the seriousness of it.
The most striking thing, though, was the waitstaff. All female, and quite beautiful.
And also huge. Every barmaid, every server, was over 7ft tall, and some of them were much bigger. Several of them had a blue tint to their skin that suggested other than human heritage, and all of them had the kind of beauty that came from toned muscles instead of supple curves.
Valiel weaved through the tables and approached the bar, where she caught the eye of the towering 9ft bartender. The giantess approached, her blonde hair covered in a thin layer of frost. "Ah, hello! What can I do for you today, girly?" She smiled at Valiel, and the princess was relieved that Marla hadn't immediately mentioned who she was. "Brought me another vagabond off the streets?"

Valiel smiled at glanced at her tall friend. "Oh, he's no vagabond. But he is a customer." She gestured at the tall lady behind the bar. "This is Marla. And Marla, this is-" she stopped, as she realized she hadn't bothered to ask his name. "Uh, that is-"

Thatcher hummed are Valiel’s comment about traveling being exciting. He could have said the opposite. He wished he could settle down in one spot, but it was simply impossible.

When asked about his traveling mortician job, he cleared his throat a bit. What would be the best answer to that? Considering it was a lie he had come up with on the spot, he had to think quickly. “I travel to various morgues and help out other morticians. I’m, uh, still in training at the moment to I’m still learning.” Again, lie. He was one of the more experienced Reapers for his age group. He had worked thousands of jobs, and completed thousands of reapings. That was most likely why they had given him such a high profile job.

When he stepped into the tavern with Valiel, his brows raised in surprise. He thought he was on the taller side, but everyone in the room happened to be taller than him. He glanced over at Nike, whose ears were back in the slightest. If they were non-human, they could see Nike’s true form and see that she was clearly a hellhound and not a simple Doberman. He momentarily rested his hand on her neck, giving her a reassuring pat. They wouldn’t know he was a Reaper. It wasn’t a common thing for Reapers to have hellhounds. He could fake innocence and claim to not know what they were talking about, that he couldn’t see her devilish features and that he simply found her on the streets.

Thatcher stood next to Valiel as the woman at the counter greeted them. Valiel must frequent here and bring in individuals who need a place to stay. It was a kind act, and he began to wonder why he was set to kill her. “Thatcher Wain, pleasure to meet you,” he spoke up, giving a nod of his head towards Nike who was now sitting next to him. “Do you allow dogs?”

Valiel had been a bit distracted when he answered her question about his job, so he got away with the lie for now.

The denizens of the tavern didn't really seem to notice Thatcher, or Nike either. They all seemed engrossed in what they were doing.
However, a few did look up, and despite making eye contact with Nike, gave no indication that a hellhound was cause for concern. The Hinterlands had seen worse, after all.

Valiel brightened at the introduction. "Nice to meet you, Thatcher. I'm Alnifer Theriac. Glad we bumped into each other today."

Marla smiled down at them both. "Absolutely. You'll find we allow all kinds here. Just know you're responsible for the care and clean-up of and after any companions. How long do you need a room for?"

(Sorry for any bad formatting, on mobile for a while)

Thatcher breathed out in relief when Alnifer didn’t mention anything about Nike’s breed. He glanced down at Nike, whose tail was swishing happily.

At the question on how long he would need a room for, he glanced down at Valiel for a moment. Surely this wouldn’t be a quick overnight job, considering her status. “I’ll need one for two weeks, if possible,” he replied, reaching into his pocket and taking out a pouch that contained gold coins. He assumed he should have more than enough, it was given to him by the Council for this job. “How much will it be?”

(youre fine!)

Valiel/Alnifer glanced at Nike. She saw the true form, but she also saw the creature swishing its tail, like any happy canine. She was glad she hadn't recoiled when she'd initially felt the darkness rolling off of these two. She had learned, over long years, that not all creatures aligned to darkness were inherently evil, just as those aligned to the light were not inherently good.
That last bit was a lesson she knew very well.
She watched the interaction between Marla and Thatcher with interest. He was staying for 2 weeks. That meant he would likely find out who she was in due time. But still…. the fun was in keeping the veil up as long as she could.

Marla nodded and stooped to pull a large ledger from under the bar. She opened it and checked a few pages, before smiling at Thatcher. "We have a room free that long that should be big enough for both of you. It's on the third floor. Price is 1 gold per person per day per room, so 28 gold total for the two of you. I'll give it to you for 25 even if you pay it all at once."

(Ok, I wanted to make sure so I could reply accordingly)

Thatcher considered it to be a decent price. He could easily be able to pay the entire fee upfront. He opened the pouch and counted out twenty five gold coins. He handed it over to the worker. “25 even. Is there anything else that you need?” he asked, stuffing the pouch back into his pocket.

The only belongings he carried with him were in a small bag that he had strung over his shoulders. A couple of extra sets of clothes, mainly. Reapers had no need for food or water so he didn’t bother packing any provisions. Nike could go hunting out in the wilderness outside of the city and find either a lone, unfortunate traveler or a wild animal.

“I appreciate the help with getting me set up in a room,” Thatcher said, turning to Valiel. He had a polite smile on his lips, and Nike barked happily, seeming to second Thatchers words.

Marla counted the gold with the quick fingers and practiced ease of a woman who handled a lot of money, and smiled at Thatcher. "Just a signature." She spun the ledger around and handed him a charcoal stick. "Next to the space for room 308." She turned and stashed the gold in a small lockbox under the far side of the bar. "That fee covers a free drink every night you're here, though the rest of your food and drink is on you to cover. Our only rules are don't start brawls in your room if you can avoid it, and if you bed one of my girls, we're not liable for any harm, bodily or otherwise, that comes to you." She kept the same smile in place through the whole explanation.

Valiel chuckled at Marla's spiel. It was always the same, and always made her laugh a little. Few men were brave enough to try to get one of the half-giants to accompany them to their rooms, but the few that did always ended up staying a little longer, recovering.
She smiled at Thatcher's thanks. "Of course. Anything else I can help you with? What's got you in the city for 2 weeks?"

Thatcher took the charcoal stick from Marla’s hand, signing the paper as he listened to her rules. His brows raised slightly at the bit about getting with any of the women there. An awkward chuckle came from his mouth as he handed back the charcoal stick. As touch deprived as he was, it would go against his code to indulge in intercourse when he should be working and reaping. He wondered why Valiel brought him to this place, if he appeared like the type to want to rent out a woman’s time for the night.

“You won’t have to worry about us, thank you,”Thatcher said to Marla with a nod before he turned his attention back to Valiel. “Ah, just a job. Boss sent me out to help a local mortician, so I’ll be in town for two weeks at the most.” Lying through his teeth was thankfully something he was very good at doing. He had to- how else would he get closer to his targets?

Marla gave him a wink in response to his awkward chuckle. It really was a tavern and not a brothel; she mostly had made the rule as a joke, though they'd had to enforce it a few times. "That should do it. There's your key. I'll have Llenara show you to your room." She snapped her fingers at one of the girls, who walked over, checked the room number, and headed towards the stairs.
"Right this way, sir."

Valiel/Alnifer nodded with a smile. "Ah. That makes sense. Morticians around here can always use help." She glanced at Llenara. "I'll let you get to your room. Nice to meet you, Thatcher." She turned and headed back out of the tavern with a small wave.
A subtle glance at two of the large men sitting at the table had them following her not long after. Fremik and Carth had been glad to see her lead her new friend to Marla's. It was a relatively safe zone. Now, she was likely headed back to the palace, but they wouldn't know till she got where she was going.

Thatcher took the key from Marla, thanking the woman once again. He turned back to Valiel with a small smile on his lips. “I’m sure I will see you again before I have to leave town, Miss Alnifer,” he replied with a nod of his head. “Have a nice night.”

He turned away, patting his side as he followed Llenara so Nike would fall into heel next to him. He followed the woman to his room, making sure to thank her before she left. He opened up the door, and Nike trotted past him, jumping up onto the bed. He sighed as he did, hoping that she wouldn’t end up burning the sheets from her paws.

Thatcher dropped his bag onto the floor by the door, shrugging his trench coat off. He slipped his shoes off as well, his feet aching. He was exhausted from flying most of the way to the city/kingdom. As exhausted as he was though, he knew that he was unable to sleep. It would be a long night of planning for the reap he was assigned, as well as looking into the local mortuary to get his story a bit more straight.

Llenara led him up the spiralling staircase in the corner of the room, up past the second floor hallway and onto the third floor. The second floor had looked to be a long hallway with about 20 doors, which would mean smaller rooms.
The third floor, however, only had 10, all of them a little bigger. Llenara led him to 308, smiled in return to his thanks, and headed back down.
The door opened into a decent sized room, with a queen-sized bed against the far wall. A dresser next to the bed provided storage. There was a small desk and chair in the corner, a couch near the fireplace on the sidewall, and a padded window seat next to the fireplace.
A door on the opposite wall lead into a bathroom, with what looked to be a plumbing system of some sort. It was similar to other dwarvish engineering, and also seemed to have a few parts that worked purely on magic, but it made the bathroom functional.
The window overlooked the main street heading north to the palace, and Valiel could be seen making her way slowly that direction, with the two guards slowly following her.
The sun sank quickly in the Hinterlands, and soon enough, darkness had descended.