The Age of the Dragon

[Flipout6]

"I have to agree with her, I hate big cities." Jadaco cringed. As much as it pained him to admit it, he was somewhat excited to go into the Deep Roads. He longed for battle, but he tried to stay out of the Mage/Templar war. And besides, it was probably the biggest event he'd be participating in for quite possibly the rest of his life, and killing Darkspawn never hurt anybody.

[Macman253]

A light scratching noise awoke Wind, the door opened slightly and he sprang up, the edge of one of his daggers to the throat of the intruder. A young woman froze in fright as Wind walked around the corner and realized it was Sarah the waitress. He removed the blade and sheathed it expertly.

 

"Thank you ser, A man was looking for you. One of the Crimson Oars mercenaries. They are downstairs." She explained and then vanished behind the door. Wind sighed and took off his cloak and hood to reveal personalized leather armor and his various tools of the trade attached to bandoliers. Wind looked over his shoulder at the sleeping girl and stepped through.

 

In the front room three men stood, one wielding an axe and the others having swords on their hips. Wind smiled and walked closer. The lead man glared at him.

 

"Ye' killed 'tree of meh' men!" Yelled the leader, the other two drew their blades. Wind smiled wider and picked up an apple from a nearby bowl and took a large bite out of it, the crunch of the apple filling the now quiet room.

 

He chewed and watched the men intently. "Why does it matter to you amigo? They tried to harm a young girl and I stopped them?" Replied Wind, he took another bite of the juicy apple.

 

The leader festered with anger at the elves defiance. "We wull' make yu' pay knife-ear! noone messes wit' teh' crimson whurrs'!" Yelled the human in his heavily accented voice. Wind just broke into laughter at the threat.

 

"Buddy, with your accent you shouldn't be saying that..." Replied Wind between laughs.

 

The leader growled in anger and charged Wind, Wind smiled and whipped the apple into the lead guys face and gave a sharp heel-kick to the mans groin that doubled him over. The second mercenary swiped at him with his sword and it grazed the top of Winds hair just as he managed to duck, Wind countered with a sharp fist to the mans solar plexus that sent him reeling and gasping for air. The third sell-sword thrusted his sword, Wind sidestepped the attack and haymakered the raider in the face with the back of his knuckles. The bandit dropped his sword and as Wind turned he flung a throwing knife into the mans foot that pinned him to the floor just as the second bandit now recovered bashed Wind across the face with the hilt of his blade.

 

"Hold 'im down!" Yelled the first guy, one hand on his groin the other holding his eye, The bulky mercenary restrained the Elf as the leader pounded his meaty fists into Winds ribs. Each strike felt like a kick from a mule and it wasn't long before Wind fell into blackness.

[Flipout6]

Jadaco watched and listened sharply to the confrontation. The conversation and subsequent brawl wasn't exactly discreet or quiet, and he had decided whose side he was on. He had heard some bad things about the Crimson Oars in Ferelden, so he didn't doubt at all that what the unconcious man said was true. This combined with the fact that the mercenaries were fighting unfairly convinced Jadaco that they were thugs. Good thing he was already up.

 

"Orum, attack!" He gestured at the one merc who was slugging the man, and the gray hound threw all of its weight into the man's chest, knocking him straight off his feet. He had trained his hound well, he had a specific command for the dog to kill, and the one he just used commanded it to fight with minimal deadly force. Mabari War Hounds were almsot as smart as humans at least, and could memorize several complex commands.

 

Jadaco himself drew both blades and engaged the third merc. He didn't see what the others did, he only knew that he wasn't trying to kill anyone, and that made things difficult. He could easily kill the man, but he probably had a family to feed.

 

"I know the man isn't helpless, but I'll be damned if anyone dies here." He growled, referring to the man they were beating up on.

[Macman253]

Wind awoke as the dog attacked the leader, a stranger hopped into the fight and engaged the merc he had haymakered earlier, the last mercenary still gripped onto him but Wind had a mind to change that. With a quick push off the ground Wind grabbed the mercs wrist and twisted as he flipped back and drove both heels into the mans face that sent him falling, Wind pushed off the merc as he fell and landed deftly on his feet, a pair of knives in his hand as if they just appeared there.

 

"I'm sorry amigo but i prefer the embrace of the fairer sex..." Snipped Wind with a cocky attitude. He glanced over to see the third mercenary draw his knife as the stranger charged him, Wind whipped a shuriken that struck the man in the hand as he drew the blade. He jerked his hand aside and dropped the blade just as the Stranger was upon him.

[Flipout6]

The merc dropped his blade, so Jadaco slammed into him with his shoulder, crushing the man against a wall. Gasping for breath, the Crimson Oar, slid to the floor, and met the point of Jadaco's blade.

 

"Damn well better surrender, mercenary. Try to fight back and I'll have to seriously injure you." He glanced backwards. The elf was awake and had dealt with the one man unaccounted for, and Orum had ensured that the leader wouldn't be swinging a sword anytime soon: His right arm was mangled. The dog stood on his chest and growled ferociously. He looked to the victim. "You obviously aren't helpless, but I lent a hand anyway. Crimson Oars don't have a very good reputation back home, and these boys weren't helping it any." Once he had joined the fight, it had been over in a few mere seconds, barely enough time for even jadaco himself to do much. He still didn't see what any of his companions had done, if anything, he had been focused on the one man.

[Macman253]

Wind applauded the strange man, he bent over and took the apple off the floor and rubbed it off on his leather jacket as he leaned against the frame of the door to the backrooms. He took a bite and watched the stranger.

 

"Not many men will jump in to aid a random person, let alone an elf..."

 

Wind had met quite a lot of stigma in Kirkwall and many places in his travels, the alienage in Denerim was one of the worst hes seen during his time abroad.

 

"But then again, I've always believed why people hate us elves so much is because they can't have pointy ears..." He said with a cocky smile. The Mercenary he had taken down a second ago spat up blood and looked up.

 

"Frell you Knife-" He said defiantly just before Wind silenced him with his foot as he walked by, the strike was loud enough to be heard across the tavern and it put the mercenary out.

 

Wind smiled and approached the Stranger. He picked up another apple and tossed it towards the Stranger, he scanned the room to catch eyes with a young looking girl with bright red hair.

 

"Mi' amore." He said to himself in Antivan.

Edited September 29, 2012 by Macman253

[Alaylyne]

Alaila has been watching the whole fight, not wanting to participate because a) she would use her magic and expose herself, consequence of that being dragged away to the Circle, b) she would attempt to use melee attacks and get her ass kicked. The man that accused that pirate woman of doing something to her, on the other hand, quickly jumped to help the elf, along with his faithful Mabari.

 

Dispite the fact she did not really trust any of them, Jadaco seemed like a good enough man to her, ready to help everyone in trouble. But just because she thinks that he is a good man doesn't mean she'd tell him everything about her just if he asked. She'll simply feel a bit better in his company than in the company of the others, except for Thomas.

 

The elf also noticed that the man those brutes were attacking was an elf, but certainly not from around here judging from his accent. Not to mention he was skilled as a fighter from the shadows, making Alaila wonder just who really are the other people she's traveling with. Thomas was a mage, that much she knew, The Warden a fighter - though she did not know whether a one like the new black-haired elf or like the Qunari -, that strange woman that had been listening in to them one from the shadows and that was about it. She needed to keep a closer eye on all of them; after all, how can she be sure none of them were actually disguised Templars?

 

One think Alaila would never understand is how the elf and Jadaco seemed friendly already, despite the fact they've known each other not longer for less than a minutes. The red-haired mage looked back to the Warden and the rest of them, hoping they could get moving as soon as possible, before - knowing her luck - Templars show up again. Or was it the guards who dealt with fights like this? She wasn't sure.

[LeoXaladin]

Cyran was impressed by the fight and shouted, "Bravo!"

[Macman253]

Wind decided it was time to head to bed and he headed upstairs and crawled into bed next to the girl, as he pulled the blankets up he noticed she wasn't wearing anything but those blankets and he beckoned him over with a smile and as he slipped in a warm hug and a thank you kiss. They spent the rest of the night together, enjoying each others company multiple times. Wind awoke the next morning to find her sitting upright and wrapped in the bearskin blanket that acted as the second blanket on the bed. Wind arose from the bed to find his jerkin and gear sitting on the table and when he came into the light she saw his array of tattoos, mostly those of Antivan make but one on his neck interested her as it was the Dalish symbol for Wind that was combined with the symbol for Cursed.

 

"What is your name?" She asked, Wind just smiled and stretched.

 

"That is a long story but call me Wind..." He said as he poured a bowl of fresh water and rubbed down his hands and washed his face. The girl smiled and stood, he thought what was her angle in these questions.

 

"Why do they call you Wind?" she asked as she moved closer to him. A ping of caution ran up his spine but soon settled when she stopped. He replied by saying "I move like the wind, silently and gracefully but I strike like a storm, quickly and effectively." She took his words in and smiled "Do you have a real name?" She asked curiously.

 

"Just Wind miss." He said as he washed his neck and rubbed down his bare chest. "I'm Selean, I'm an...assistant to the ambassador to the Dalish clans living outside Kirkwall." she said with a pause, Wind picked up on her unwillingness to tell him her real position but he decided not to push it.

 

"So why did you save me?" She asked, Wind could tell she was wanting to ask him something but wanted to work her way towards it.

 

"Those men are known for not treating women very well, specially elven women..." He explained as he washed his hair.

 

She sat back down on the bed as she realized something. He looked at her curiously and when he finished washing grabbed his gear and set them on the table near the window, a pair of exquisite antivan crow-blades and various other weapons and tools.

 

She watched as she began sharpening his daggers and he general lack of speech about himself. She remembered him being cocky and brash and now he's calm and reserved. He seemed strange but intriguing to her and she wondered what type of man he was. She had known many men in her life, brutish to sensitive men men who could barely compare to the leavings of a pig and others that she had loved at one time but he...he was different.

 

"So your some kind of assassin right?" She asked, noticing his daggers and noticing the symbol of the House Of Crows tattooed on his forearm. The only tattoo he had that connected him to the infamous guild of assassins.

 

Wind thought for a moment then said "Was, sometimes I am again but I'm sorta not aswell..." as he sheathed one of his daggers after he'd finished with it and drew another blade. Selean smiled and looked at him curiously. "Are you always this aloof Mr. Wind?" Wind chuckled and put the blade away.

 

"Only when it comes to my history or my name..." He said with a quick smile, Selean admitted to herself that he was attractive but she didn't really know him but what made her curious was the fact that he wouldn't tell her his real name. She decided that it was something she wanted to know more about. "So why are you not telling me your real name..." she asked as he sat back in his chair drinking tea. It was then she realized what his name was, the dalish word for Wind was Gal and the word for Cursed was Laev as she realized this but Gal was common for a dalish man to be named but why did he not want to use his real name she thought.

 

Wind broke her from her thoughts when he asked "Why were those men after you..." As he cleaned his daggers. Selean thought for a moment then realized why they followed her into the alley. She went on to explain that the Ambassador got word that Dwarven and Dalish artifacts were uncovered in Ferelden that linked them to the Kirkwall tribe, she went down there to witness the Crimson Oar mercenaries offloading the ship after butchering the crew. She followed them and found they stashed the cargo in a warehouse on the otherside of Low Town.

 

Wind sat and digested the story, realizing the chance encounter and the bar fight were only a piece of the puzzle. He picked up his gear and strapped on his leather jerkin. "What was in those crates?" he asked as he hooked on his rig. She thought for a moment and then said "I don't know, only the ambassador knew the exact details of what was in them."

 

He decided after he visited the Ambassadors office he was going to see where this warehouse was. He figured the ambassador and the mercenaries were connected but he needed proof. He threw on his cloak and kissed her deeply just before he slipped out the window and took a run to the edge and flipped off.

 

"He really does move like the Wind." She thought as he vanished from her view.

[Naktis]

Thomas watched the fighting from the table. He simply couldn't risk to show his powers in public. Who knows maybe the templars are outside the tavern waiting for some mage to reveal themselves.

 

Illadriel walked up to Jadaco. "What was that about?" She inquired, looking around the tavern. She knew that after this it would be for the best to leave as soon as possible.