|
Post by Gadleon Shahrizai on Sept 18, 2007 8:56:30 GMT -5
“I am finding you a bit on the interesting side as well” was my reply as we made our way to Night’s Doorstep. Le Poulet Gauche was the choice of the evening a good place for male bonding amid the ruckus crowd and it more or less fit the mood of us as well. One cold not speak of the cold lands without considering the deep and fine art of manliness as well as a generous does of bragging. I did not bother holding the door for my companion and instead shouldered my way into the little dive bar. Mayhap my manner was indeed part of the lesson as well.
|
|
|
Post by Siegfried de Strasbourg(D) on Sept 18, 2007 11:02:08 GMT -5
Silently, we made our way through the crowd, and amusingly, I found a few figures looking me in the eye – which, for me, is always a novelty. I did look rather proper, compared to my companion, and noted I did need to keep my hands on my belongings, lest I be left drinking dry.
The bar was broached, and I ordered ale for myself, and looked at Gadleon with inquisitive eyes, then decided on ordering two. If he didn’t want the second ale, I’d have it. I smirked, amused – last time I’d been out, I had ended up befriending two adepts and a healer. What an amusing development, really – being out with a Shahrizai who had killed the Skaldi was all the better.
|
|
|
Post by Gadleon Shahrizai on Sept 18, 2007 11:15:12 GMT -5
I felt a daring hand slip toward my purse and easily captured the wrist and gave a little twist. The worldly lass who was in the process of bumping into the back of me went to her knees whimpering as I peered down at her and asked in conversational tones “Looking for something you lost love?” By now my grip on her wrist was simply with thumb and forefinger but I had her in the groove between the bones where a bundle of nerves lived and she was writhing nicely before me. Had she been remotely attractive it might have been arousing, but I prefer my women with more than one tooth. So I released her and she hurried to escape my presence and my companion and I were accorded a bit more space. All well and good I did not even have to reach for the dagger resting in the groove of my spine at the small of my back.
I settled in with Siegfried and accepted the drink what ever it was and took a healthy sip “Thank you Siegfried and might I add dam that is good.” I grinned as I completed my little show in the seedy bar and most the patrons decided they did not wish to tangle with an obviously talented Shahrizai. Now that the phallus waving was over mayhap Siegfried and I could converse in peace.
|
|
|
Post by Siegfried de Strasbourg(D) on Sept 18, 2007 13:12:43 GMT -5
The whole little skit with the broad had really made me laugh, and I noticed amusedly what despite my proper looks, no-one really tried me. Blame it on my giant size, I mused. “And well deserved,” I replied in comment to the drink. “That’s skill for you,” I said, right before a healthy sip of ale made its way down my throat, followed by a wide belch.
I leaned my back to the bar, and found with a wide grin that there was somewhat of a semi-circle around us – visibly we would be left alone. I considered buying a round, and opted against it – I wasn’t that wealthy, and more importantly, a display of wealth would not be a smart thing to do.
I gave them a toothy grin that was just this side of mad, and turned my back to the crowd, concluding the point. “Well, master, what have you to teach me?” I teased.
|
|
|
Post by Gadleon Shahrizai on Sept 18, 2007 13:33:52 GMT -5
I smirked “First I would suggest you buy a large ax as it looses the whole affect without it.” I took another sip of my drink “Know anything at all about Skaldian religion? In a nut shell the main god worshipped is Odin. Also called Old One Eye, Spear Thruster, Worker of Evil, Glad of War, and Crow Gutter. Some say with gods like him the Skaldia do not need evil spirits.” I took another large sip of my drink and hoped onto a stool to let that sink in.
|
|
|
Post by Siegfried de Strasbourg(D) on Sept 18, 2007 15:23:14 GMT -5
I looked at Gadleon with a vast measure of amusement, “Well I am certain walking around the city of Elua with a large axe would get me arrested by the Royal Guard,” I said with a grin. “And no, I know nothing,” I conceded, though I was listening eagerly. “So what is the core of Odin’s worship?”
|
|
|
Post by Gadleon Shahrizai on Sept 18, 2007 15:36:40 GMT -5
“He is a sky god, a war god, basically it is believed he defeated the frost giants and made the earth. Ravens are his birds who whisper words of wisdom in his ear also how he lost the eye by the way as he plucked it out as a sacrifice for wisdom.” I folded my arms “But as an example of his nature he gathers the fallen great warriors for the final battle with the frost giants at Ragnarok the end times. Soooo, if he has to betray the occasional powerful warrior so he dies and his soul might be claimed so be it.”
|
|
|
Post by Siegfried de Strasbourg(D) on Sept 19, 2007 1:47:53 GMT -5
“Hmmmm.” I paused, thinking. “Your Odin did the same kind of sacrifice as Blessed Elua, who cut his hand for mankind, his love of wisdom reminds me of that of Shemhazai, and yet, he is a warrior entity, like Cammael.” I reflected a moment, and looked up. “Two questions – one is, how have you come to learn this religion? The second one is… what do the Frost Giants have to do with the end of times?”
It seemed the Skaldi, if they indeed were my people were rather complicated, and a bit non-sensical. I truly wondered, very truly, who would I have been, were it not for theTsingani’s interference?
|
|
|
Post by Gadleon Shahrizai on Sept 19, 2007 3:05:14 GMT -5
"I came to learn such by keeping my ears open and seeking information. If I knew the proper perspective while on the boarder it might help keep me alive another day." I leaned back against the bar "It is not really hard to gain such knowledge you see the Skaldi would probably rather trade than raid. They just come from a very unforgiving part of the world. One will not trade with you what they need to live and if you do not get it you will die so you simply take it when faced with your own demise."
I toyed with my glass "And their religion reflects that harsh reality often. Their general view of the gods is they are distant things that stay mostly out of human affairs and that is a good thing. As for the frost giants, well they were defeated once but does not mean they will stay that way. The premonition is they will rise again and win this time."
|
|
|
Post by Siegfried de Strasbourg(D) on Sept 19, 2007 8:29:08 GMT -5
I was listening to him, and I was amazed that a man who had referred to the Skaldi as his enemy suddenly was displaying openness and kindness to an unsuspected degree. I grinned as I took another swig of ale, and then looked at my mug with vague regret.
“Am I understanding that you are, despite your obvious position as a defender of the Realm, in favor of diplomatic relationships with the Skaldi?” I asked curiously.
No matter how surprising, his position was refreshing, if anything. I was tired to the snickers I got in the street, and of the judgments I obtained so easily. If anything, I was living proof that the Skaldi could do something else than pillage and rob.
|
|
|
Post by Gadleon Shahrizai on Sept 19, 2007 8:53:12 GMT -5
I slid my mug across the scared bar top and ponied up for both us a refill. “Hmm, never thought on it but maybe. I do not trust them as my knowledge shows me they will take what they need. Understandable in their position but not the best bases for open and trusting trade. Though mayhap it is better than sword points” now he had brought up a topic I had not considered as I had studied these people to be better able to kill them. Now my brow furrowed in thought.
|
|
|
Post by Siegfried de Strasbourg(D) on Sept 19, 2007 9:07:48 GMT -5
I took a deep breath, and looked at him will all the patience that my adoptive D’Angeline mother had taught me.
“I’m certain you realize that you are saying these things to one of Skaldi blood?”
I was furrowing my brow. He was doing so well… I sighed, and as the mug came forth, I downed it in one large gulp, then petitioned for another one.
|
|
|
Post by Gadleon Shahrizai on Sept 19, 2007 10:44:01 GMT -5
I blinked at that “Oh, sorry did not think of it that way.” I leaned in and sipped my own mug and pondered “Mayhap it would lessen friction if there was trade. Well, more trade there is a little now already. The main motivation for the raids is a need for things. Then it tends to reason if those needs are filled with trade then there should be no more raids.”
|
|
|
Post by Siegfried de Strasbourg(D) on Sept 19, 2007 10:50:49 GMT -5
"It indeed sounds very reasonable. I wonder why no-one has ever bothered with it..." I thought a moment - after all, my family had a part to play in the matter, did they not? I made a mental note to discuss the matter with the Baronne, and to see what could be done. Likely, very little was possible, as long as the Sovereign Duchesse was in her dispositions - she hated the Skaldi, I was told - though I'd never met her. "What else can you tell me of those people?"
|
|
|
Post by Gadleon Shahrizai on Sept 19, 2007 11:16:00 GMT -5
“Probably mutual distrust and lack of bothering to learn. Though I honestly cannot fault one for seeking to fill their belly when it is empty. Of course they should not fault me for seeking to keep mine full.” I sipped some more of my drink and pondered his words “Rugged individualism. Virtuous by the standards we are discussing is based on manliness. One only shows respect to those who have earned it. That is the be all end all of and those who have not earned it will be tested constantly and unpleasantly. Indeed leaders are often challenged and except in times of open war are expected to take on said challenges one on one.”
|
|
|
Post by Siegfried de Strasbourg(D) on Sept 19, 2007 11:23:47 GMT -5
"So it's a phallus-waving culture," I said out loud, liking less and less what I heard, feeling sorry about it, all the while my mind filling with compassion for my fellow countrymen... It was a confusing thing to consider, really.
"Have you witnessed it?" I asked, curious still, schooling my temper to calm - it wasn't his fault, after all.
|
|
|
Post by Gadleon Shahrizai on Sept 19, 2007 11:31:56 GMT -5
I pondered “Not overtly, but when one faces Skaldia in battle it does not take long to figure out you are not facing a well oiled cohesive unit. In short you are facing a loose group of rampaging berserkers.” I smiled “By the way berserker is their term not mine.”
|
|
|
Post by Siegfried de Strasbourg(D) on Sept 19, 2007 15:20:37 GMT -5
I finished my ale, setting the mug down with a thud. "Don' t worry, you made the point before that you were not aiming it at me, and it was well taken," I said as I patted his shoulder with a large hand. "Berserkers, huh? Must be beyond strange to you, to be having a drink with one of them, then."
|
|
|
Post by Gadleon Shahrizai on Sept 19, 2007 15:35:07 GMT -5
I chuckled as his ham like hand patted my shoulder “Well you are not a real berserker. Even they view them with a bit of askance. You see a berserker is a warrior touched by their gods, remember I said Odin is not always kind. Anyway, berserkers are so charged in battle they literally feel no pain ignoring wounds that would fell any other. Bad news is once the fight is over they tend to die abruptly.”
|
|
|
Post by Siegfried de Strasbourg(D) on Sept 19, 2007 16:31:49 GMT -5
“Yes, I would suppose so. Pain is a very important signal for self-preservation – it tells us of our body’s limits, and so it is rather important to be able to listen. Thankfully, our adepts of Valerian, and the like, are well trained in that respect.”
It occurred to me that we weren’t calling each other anything, and so as I gestured for another ale, I just said blandly, “Oh, and you can call me Sieg, by the way.”
|
|
|
Post by Gadleon Shahrizai on Sept 19, 2007 16:37:41 GMT -5
I nodded and winked “Gad is my usual calling card. Or hey Dumb Arse, take your pick I am not overtly picky most days.”
|
|
|
Post by Siegfried de Strasbourg(D) on Sept 19, 2007 17:22:22 GMT -5
“Gad is fine,” I replied – “it’s short, I like short.”
The new ale was delivered, and I took a swig, pushing the second mug towards him. “So, what do you do, now that you aren’t on the border anymore?”
|
|
|
Post by Gadleon Shahrizai on Sept 19, 2007 19:04:09 GMT -5
I nodded my thanks and leaned back with the fresh drink "I got on with the Palace as a guard and have been working mostly the night shift. Not really my cup of tea but for now it keeps the bills paid till I find something a bit more exciting."
|
|
|
Post by Siegfried de Strasbourg(D) on Sept 20, 2007 1:39:45 GMT -5
“I see,” I replied reflectively. “It seems there are quite a bit of restless fighters in the city these days, is it not true?”
I reflected on it, and it reminded me of my conversation with Caine, about serving our country. I’d told him then I would if the occasion arose – it were still true. “A many have returned from Kebbel-im-Akkad’s war, and are now in need of employment. Pardon me, but you are a bit younger – you would not have gone, I assume. Still, the Palace guard can be a good place to meet the Royals. Have you had a chance?”
|
|
|
Post by Gadleon Shahrizai on Sept 20, 2007 4:42:30 GMT -5
"Well see that is the thing about bladesmen" I smiled "It is always needful that we be on hand less trouble breaks out. But unless there is an active war we are not a terribly useful resource." I considered him "You are right I am too young for that war. That is probably another service the friction on the boarder serves if you can call it that. It gets young guys like me real world experience."
I then gave a grin "More like seen a few of the royals I have not really had a chance to mix and mingle much. Though working nights mostly its an interesting perspective."
|
|
|
Post by Siegfried de Strasbourg(D) on Sept 20, 2007 4:51:16 GMT -5
“Really?” I asked, grinning impishly. “How so?”
I was getting to like him – he wasn’t much younger than me, five years or so, perhaps. I couldn’t help but wonder – he was really, really a surprising character.
|
|
|
Post by Gadleon Shahrizai on Sept 20, 2007 5:32:31 GMT -5
I winked "As in I am literally being paid to be up late at night watching when those who reside there have taken to tending their own business under the relative safety the cover of night presents."
|
|
|
Post by Siegfried de Strasbourg(D) on Sept 20, 2007 5:44:06 GMT -5
I chuckled lowly. The rumors Gad must be hearing...
"Standing guard on our Queen's privacy, are we?" I replied, grinning. "I can appreciate the value of confidentiality," I added as I took a swig. "I am a physician, after all."
|
|
|
Post by Gadleon Shahrizai on Sept 20, 2007 6:07:07 GMT -5
I nodded "To some extent though that does not stop me from spying on the others now does it? If I totally behaved they would run me out of my family after all."
|
|
|
Post by Siegfried de Strasbourg(D) on Sept 20, 2007 7:13:06 GMT -5
I chuckled. “Well, should your prying put you in need of some stitching, you know where to find me,” I said with a wide and very amused grin.
Oh, no doubt, the Shahrizai had an agenda of his own – they always did. I was tempted to ask – but I have a son, a beloved, and others to care for. Such games were never intended for me.
|
|