Thar Shaddin

Downtown Boogie

Soneya — Wed, 29 May 2019 06:14:34 -0700

By the life of her, she could not remember why on earth she had agreed to join her co-workers on this soirée. Granted, the food had been exquisite, if a little on the expensive side, but everything else was loud and overdone, and there was definitely too much alcohol - for them. Soneya herself had barely touched her glass of wine over dinner, not particularly enjoying the taste of the heavy red that seemed to cloud her mind even after just a few sips.

The tavern had been brimming with people and judging from the overall volume, there had been barely anyone present who hadn’t had too much to drink. Or was this how normal people conversed when they were out about town? Soneya really wouldn’t know. She was still on the young side and rarely went out like this. For a meal at times with close friends or her family, but this establishment was technically above her pay-grade. But her co-workers hadn’t exactly accepted no for an answer.

So here she was.

Just as she was about to make a polite exit, Susette came running back from a table further towards the back, where she had been chatting up some guys, and threw herself down on the bench next to Soneya with a squeal. “They invited us along to a big fancy party!”

The other girls immediately got even louder and Soneya tried not to cringe. “What kind of party?” she asked suspiciously.

“Oh, don’t worry your little head, Soneya!” Susette chided with a smile. The other girls were all at least five years older than her, something they tended to forget. “It’s going to be fun, you’ll see! Have you ever been to a theme party before?” When Soneya shook her head, the girls got even more excited.

Half an hour later, Soneya looked up at what could only be described as a mansion and gulped. This was where they were supposed to go? She felt sooo, so underdressed. If the building could make her feel that way…

The girls had done an incredible job though. Apparently, the theme of the party was “nature”. Whatever the purpose of that was supposed to be. The girls had adored it and Freya had run off to buy some impromptu masks for the lot of them, all assorted with the colours of their various clothes. Soneya having worn a blue dress as it was her go-to colour was now sporting a hairdo that made it look as though her hair was a waterfall – she was representing water.

In hindsight, Soneya was pretty sure the girls had planned for this. Susette was fire with a red dress and a fitting mask; Freya was spring with a bright green skirt and top with flowers in her hair, and Lola had “by chance” found some glitter in her bag to turn herself into a night sky with her black clothes.

Not giving her any more time to worry or overthink matters, the girls linked arms with Soneya and dragged her up the stairs, following the boys they had met at the tavern – Soneya had forgotten most of their names again already. There was some kind of security at the door, but they weren’t even asked for an invitation or their names, simply waved inside with bored faces.

The girls giggled happily and Soneya had to admit that she felt the excitement as well and felt her face crease into a smile. It quickly disappeared again when she took in the ballroom. Her mouth fell open, and all she could do was stare in complete and utter awe.

So this was how the upper classes did it?

Re: Boy Toys

Nicolai — Thu, 28 Dec 2017 01:25:11 -0800

Nicolai emerged from his shadowy corner just as Nasku walked by - the timing couldn't have been more perfect. Nicolai was proud of the job he had done, regardless of the humiliation of it, yet he kept a straight face as Nasku complimented him. After all only an idiot could have screwed up that job so really it wasn't a big deal. He did manage a small grateful smile at the promise of more work that day helping the construction crew. Finally a real chance to show some of his skills.

"I am willing to do whatever job needs to be done." He said seriously, "After all, it is good for one to be proud of his place of employment. Having a hand in the success of such a place as this would be an honour in itself." He turned to walk away before spinning around slowly.

"I have heard that the deadline is upon you," Nic said carefully, not wishing to offend. "And if you don't wish to push back opening night - well I am available to work late whenever you need. Just say the word and your wish is my command." With a small but respectful bow Nicolai strutted off, a grin on his face.

Perhaps he had taken a risk at bringing up the looming deadline - some might think of it as an insult. An insinuation that he could not manage his business in the way that it should be. But Nicolai took a calculated risk, assuming that Nasku Oslun was not exactly like the rest of his kind in that way but similar enough that in offering up himself for his use would either endear himself to Nasku as a hard worker or feed into his sense of power. After all some men loved to be in charge, to have their pawns jump to their every whim. Nasku didn't seem to be that type but then you never knew with these 'come from money' types.

Nicolai observed the other men and women who had shown up for the auditions before joining the group and introducing himself. The women he turned on his charm with, smiling as he kissed their gloved hands. The men he acted a bit more familiar with, shaking hand and clapping them on the back as they told a few jokes and made small talks. All the while he carefully scrutinized his competition.

He was lucky to be joining the whole show right at the beginning of the business. Unless Nasku had already hired almost a whole acting troupe then it wasn't as though they were all competing for one or two spots. At the same time the man clearly had an eye for talent and knew what he wanted. This would be a competition eventually, if only for the best role and Nicolai was not planning on settling for anything but the best.

Re: Never Play(ed) Fair: The Goodtime Gang

Haneul — Sun, 20 Aug 2017 23:55:01 -0700

The entrance to the slave tunnels loomed ahead and Haneul felt a shiver of unease travel down her spine. They both knew this was a trap and so far they still hadn’t really talked about what the plan was once they set foot inside, following Lavelle’s request to meet her there. Truth be told, they hadn’t exchanged a word bar the absolute necessities since leaving Dimitri’s place.

It was unlikely that Lavelle herself would be present, but then again, maybe she liked to take care of unfinished business herself, and she definitely had unfinished business with Andras. While Haneul didn’t particularly feel the need to be there to rehash her partner’s past, he was unfortunately just that: her partner. She wasn’t going to leave him high and dry, no matter how extraordinarily pleasing that thought was.

“You sure about this?” she asked in a low voice. Knowing he would most likely just reply with an insult if he deigned answer at all, she added with a sigh: “What’s the plan?” Trying to call up the layout of the tunnels in her mind, she wondered how many people Lavelle was going to have down there. The odds were definitely against the duo.

Re: Never Play(ed) Fair: The Goodtime Gang

Andras — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 21:29:52 -0700

As the pair left, Dimitri started lifting himself up using the wall to support his weight. He clutched at his groin in an effort to relieve the pain. Andras happened to glance back just before the door swung closed: the man wore a paradoxical expression, with a grin at his lips but fear in his eyes.

Selling out family would do that to a man, Andras supposed. He glanced at Haneul. With the bag over her head, Andras couldn’t hope to guess what she felt about their situation. He chose not to mention what he had just seen.

“Well.” Andras muttered instead, “I hope at least you’ve realized why killing Lavelle is so important. The snake is probably expecting us to use the slave tunnels, considering those are the only tunnels she should know about.”

Re: Night on the Town

Ysole — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 17:33:01 -0700

"You as well! I do hope you'll visit again!" Ysole said already rushing off towards home, stopping just enough to peer back and smile. "I'm glad we have met! I'll be sure to watch my way the next time. Good day to you!"

Re: Never Play(ed) Fair: The Goodtime Gang

Haneul — Tue, 18 Jul 2017 02:46:50 -0700

It was disappointing... It was such an obvious feint that Haneul had almost expected Dimitri not to fall for it. Almost. Of course, this made things easier and he was down.

Just at that moment, Andras came in and had the gull to scold her. Glaring at him, she didn’t even respond to the taunt and simply stepped away when he went to pick the thug up off the floor. Why he did so, she had no idea. It wasn’t as if he had any interest in the man himself. Besides, he had left her there for a specific reason and then… Eurgh! She needed to stop letting him get under her skin or she was going to do something she’d regret. Or maybe she wouldn’t. As it may be, it wouldn’t be good for their endeavour and she was pretty sure that the cell leaders had something else to say about Andras’ death if she let her emotions get the better of her.

She ignored the magic itching all over her skin and simply gave a brief nod at Andras’ direction and after a wide grin at Dimitri, silently promising pain if she ever met him again, she turned around and walked to the back door, and out into the night.

Unfortunately, the rain had not led up. Quite on the contrary, it seemed to have increased even more which made her grumble under her breath. The spell had long since failed with the masses of water pouring down and she was starting to feel more and more like a wet dog, a feeling she did not appreciate.

Re: Boy Toys

Nasku — Mon, 17 Jul 2017 02:11:41 -0700

Setting the actor to cleaning had been a test as much as an actual job that needed to be performed. Nasku grinned to himself when he noticed the dismay Nicolai tried to hide, but he was pleasantly surprised by the vigour with which the actor threw himself into the job. If he did everything with as much zeal, then he was definitely someone to keep around, if not for acting then at least for the work that still needed to be done.

As Nicolai set about his task, Nasku checked up on his workers, some of which were already in the full swing of things, while others were lounging around chatting. As soon as they saw Nasku though they jumped up and busied themselves with what they were supposed to be doing. Their boss was nowhere in sight. Yep, heads would roll. Later.

Nasku went back to his usual work station not far from the stage where all his papers were still lying as though they had exploded into a pile of disorder. There truly was a system in it somewhere though most likely nobody but Nasku would be able to figure it out without putting some serious thought into it. ‘Ordered chaos’ was what he liked to call it.

After rather more fiddling than he had planned, Nasku finally had an idea in mind about who to put together for the group project he had in mind. The story Nasku had given to all the actors who were going to come back revolved around a group of friends going off into the woods together and finding themselves enchanted and played tricks on by some fairies with various mix-ups – it was a fairly well-known play but he hadn’t divulged the original title or the author to see if some of them knew the playwright’s work.

There were another five men and three women coming back, which served his purposes well. He had put two men and one woman into each group and would have them come up with a way to interpret the scenes he had selected for them. And for that exact purpose, he had wanted the stage to be clean so the groups could each settle in another corner on the stage.

That done, Nasku looked up just in time to see a handful of workers enter the door with a questioning look on their faces. Getting up from where he was seated, he waved them forward and greeted them. “Thank you for coming on such short notice. If you please follow me.” He lead them towards the back of the theatre where a larger group was currently working on some decorative beams that needed to be put up with the balustrades once those were completely finished. “You will be working with these men. I would like to have the wood work in this area finished as soon as possible. You will most likely receive another helping hand towards the end of the day or latest tomorrow.”

Next stop, he went to fire some of the lazy ones, who were once again lounging about and doing as little as possible. The shock on their faces quickly turned to pleading as they began to narrate tales about wives and children. Nasku usually had sympathy for families with little income but these men didn’t strike him as actually being part of that category. Otherwise they would actually have been working and not just faking it. He told them as much, in no uncertain terms, and they were quick to leave afterwards.

On his way back to his paperwork and most importantly, to greet the returning actors, Nasku passed by Nicolai who just emerged from a quiet corner in a new set of clothes. “You did fantastic work with the stage. Thank you. Depending on how long auditions are going, I would like you to stay on afterwards and help the men with the balustrade. As you have experience in that area, I’m sure they’d appreciate another set of helping hands.”

Re: Never Play(ed) Fair: The Goodtime Gang

Andras — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 21:26:59 -0700

Dimitri defensively lifted his hands to his face, leaving him completely unprepared for Haneul’s knee. He fell into a heap on the floor, but his mouth emitted no sound as he tried to hold his dinner down.

Naturally, Andras chose this moment to return. With a glance at Haneul’s moaning victim, he rolled his eyes before fixing them on the witch. “For Teonidus’ sake. Your fixation is getting out of hand.”

Andras stomped to Dimitri and grabbed his shoulder. With a shove, he propped him up against the wall. Standing back at his full height, Andras turned to tower over Haneul. He nodded his head towards the back door. “We’re leaving. I didn’t find anything.”

Dimitri, having recovered slightly, suddenly opened an eye. It was alight with hope at Andras' statement, but it swiveled to Haneul. He began to worm his way across the floor, putting negligible distance between himself and the revolutionaries.

Re: The Horror of Peyton Farm

Valyr — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 20:42:22 -0700

The farm wasn’t anything too remarkable, but it did confirm Drifel’s suspicions that he’d sold some pelts to the Peyton family. There was a distinctive smashed wagon abandoned just off to the side of the front road. He had offered a them a couple bishani to take the busted old thing off their hands, intending to use the planks to patch his home up, only to be informed that the kids liked to play on it. It was clear that had stopped being the case at some point: Drifel could see the weeds growing over it.

Drifel took a moment to admire the woodwork of the house. His own shack was cobbled together from his grotesquely limited self-taught understanding of architecture, and was nothing to look at. Teonidus knew it leaked to the point where a Marnish geographer could declare the place a waterfall. This house, and the farmhouse beside it, were far older than his hovel. However, it could not be disputed that they were built to last. It even had a solid stone foundation. Drifel may have kept dwarven tradition at arm’s length for most of his life, but he still caught himself appreciating good craftsmanship now and again.

Without taking his eyes off the house, Drifel asked, “How long’s your family been living in Thar Shaddin, Sorin?”

Drifel’s horse gave a rebellious flick of the head. Drifel gave a disgusted grunt. He didn’t think these beasts responded very well to the short legs of dwarves.

“And where should we tie the horses?”

Re: Never Play(ed) Fair: The Goodtime Gang

Haneul — Mon, 10 Jul 2017 04:07:44 -0700

Haneul almost tilted her head to the side in contemplation. What was she supposed to do with this man? Leave him alive? End his miserable existence? And where the hell was Andras? What was he doing? There were no sounds coming from where he had disappeared to so at least that should indicate there was no trouble, but he was taking his sweet time.

Dmitri’s last words brought her attention fully back to him again. “You want to make it out of here with your hide intact? Are you joking? You do realise who you’re involved with?” What was it with all these thugs and their completely delusional views of their own lives?

But alright, he backed away, kept his hands in plain sight and didn’t use the knife he had been so obviously playing with – what was he waiting for? What was he planning? But more importantly, why did she more and more get the impression that he was stalling?

Haneul swung at him, feigning to go for his face, but instead she used her knees to go for the family jewels.