[CLOSED] Hundred thousand changes, everything's the same

[archademode]

WHO: Gabranth + Jone
WHAT: two rowdy fightclubbers on a mission
WHEN: current...ish (do I ever do anything 100% current?? probably no)
WHERE: Nevarra, spanning the trade routes
NOTES: NA so far, potentially violence, will add as needed

The orders are straightforward, shared in detail on the stretching journey northward, long before heavy hooves trot a steady pace atop dirt roads stiff with fainter chill compared to southern humidity: thieves, in guise of roaming dead, are to be removed from their current efforts in order to spare the people of Nevarra further troubles. In success of any sort, esteem will no doubt weave itself into the shadow of Riftwatch's efforts, if only in some small, definitive amount.

Yet they lack allure to hungry eyes, the two of them. Visibly they are no simple prey— and so they will need to set a trap of their own, Gabranth asserts, by way of tailing a caravan as it passes along its course.

“You have experience with...the unrefined,” Gabranth starts, his gaze falling across Jone's high-set shoulder where he's seated on horseback behind her. She is the better rider, and one horse makes for a far more discreet shadowing of the merchants they follow at distance.

“Do you think yourself capable of persuading these thieves to join our cause?”

His disdain is palpable, more so when he speaks. If it were his choice alone, he would cull the cutthroats down to the last— but these roads are rife with information within territory he vaguely knows to be valuable. For the sake of their cause, he will endeavor to forego his own instincts.

It would not be the first time.

Comments

[archademode]

“Strange emissaries.” The woman asserts, the edge of a broken canine tooth flashed when she speaks to them more fully.

Beyond that, she says nothing. It is obvious enough: they bring nothing in their arms as offerings, they are not charming, sticking out like a swollen thumb even here.

“I think we will pass on your offer. The south does not interest us.” Her arms fold as she returns to sit across the raw wood of a stacked series of crates, angled like a makeshift chair. “You can leave, or stay. There is room until we move on in the morning.”

With a glance of her head she barks something in Nevarran, and a few particularly forlorn members of the pack drag themselves back onto their feet, fitting bony guises back in place before slinking off— presumably to head back towards the roads in the hopes more merchant travelers might cross their path.

[poleaxed]

Jone rolls her eyes. She is not charming, after all. She may as well lean on her strengths: harsh and imposing. "Kind of you," she says at the offer. "I can be kinder. You all get to live," she counts on her fingers, "you get to stay here. The cleverest of your lot send us information. Sometimes we send orders. They get paid-- through you, of course."

So she may distribute the money as she sees fit. So she can take her cut.

"Or I let this bastard do as he likes, starting in the middle of your camp, and we drag the survivors to the magistrate."

[archademode]

Somewhere within that camp, Gabranth’s well-confined heart swells with pride. Outwardly, his posture shifts sharper. As aggressive as a snarling hound making ready to bite on command.

In response, what Jone earns visibly is a hawkish look of disdain from the woman seated before her, arm draped high across her knee. She is clearly not afraid. She is not intimidated.

Or if she is, it doesn’t show.

“What kind of information?”

Ah. A glimpse there, visible enough. Progress gleaming like something half-buried. “We are not messengers. Perhaps your masters already know this.”

[poleaxed]

"It'll be secure," Jone says. She just has to trust that the Scouting division isn't utterly daft. "We need to know what the enemy is doing. What d'you think? There's a war on, luv."

Jone hopes that isn't too much of an ask, but it isn't though they're asking these idiots to fight. They already risk themselves daily, as far as she's concerned.

[archademode]

"We follow merchants who shiver at the first signs of sunrise. You want us to...watch your enemies? They will be guarded. More careful."

Watch is the key word, it seems, the edges of the woman's kohl-lined eyes fixed on Jone in order to measure her response. The cautious difference between risk and reward. In truth, the only difference between being devoured by a lion and being devoured by a dragon is the view before fangs sink in. Jone threatens to ruin them here and now— a hasty alliance would be no less deadly.

"But if you pay well enough not to insult for this agreement, then we will consider it."

Somewhere behind Jone's shoulder, Gabranth moves to take up the nearest bone-carved mask between his fingers, crushing it into a split near-half, a few broken teeth tumbling to the earth. It might seem as though it is a threat, but from beneath the shadow of Gabranth's helm, he breathes:

"Agreed."

[poleaxed]

Jone bows, trying not to make it mocking. Most displays of deference just come off as sarcastic, on her. She was never meant to bow, not because she's better than anyone, but because she's bad at it.

Straightening, she pulls hair behind her ear. "Glad we could make this arrangement," she says. "We'll stay in touch, luv."