TS - Day 05 - Bisanthium.

[Kalamos]

The Story So Far...

War, strife, famine and chaos. Tharagya is a wreck of a country; rebel bands scour its road, roving bandits stalk travelling merchants and carovan ways are untended for.

All for power, and the vacant Moonthrone.


Stars. They shine. They die. Sometimes they streak the skies.
In a blink, they are gone, a sparkle alone.

A few unsung stars roam around Tharagya. Their names are unimportant. They all will face fate, and gamble their life with the Grey-Eyed Traveller.
Some won, so far. Other lost. A few might hope for redemption. But the glimmer of hope is just a fickle candlelight at the mercy of stormy winds.


For glory or death, for riches or demise, for fame or oubliance - their deeds are all recorded in...

The Tales of Aygomenia.

 

[Kalamos]

List of Characters.

Currently Active Characters:

- Rachel
- Rilina
- Valerios Maximos [+ Maximos Tacidius]


Inactive Characters:

- Anybody else... [be sure to drop us a line]

 

[Kalamos]

Append Actions Here.

 

[cassandra1]

(OoC: Hope I didn't miss out any details.)

Northern Tharagya - A Watch Tower.

A day had passed since Rachel was brought to this place, which she still assumed to be Asperum, and it was already a hive of activity. She continued to be in shock for a few hours while Dominus Denwyn explained the unique situation to her. That there was a tremendous amount of power inside her, which he called the Power of the Ancients. Once the news had been announced throughout the area, everyone began making speculations.

Was Rachel a powerful sorceress disguised as a dancer? Or was she simply blessed with the gift? She overheard someone telling Denwyn that she was in fact not just any girl, but the princess of the Halthrea kingdom. There would be consequences if Denwyn treated her badly like he did to other prisoners, but the Dominus was not going to let this girl get away. She would be kept under surveillance.

At the end of the day (Day 04, that is), Rachel was untied from the pole and brought out of the dark cabin, away from her two friends, and moved to a larger cabin nearby that had a bed and windows but nothing else. There, she was stripped naked by vigils and made to wear a white, long sleeved leather suit -- a specially designed straitjacket, with the lower part removed to leave her belly exposed. Rachel's arms were crossed in front of her and strapped together behind her with leather belts. As if to taunt her, the vigils also cut a large hole in front of the jacket to expose her firm breasts. The finishing touch was a thick scarf gag tied over her mouth.

Rachel slept in the fairly comfortable bed. The next day (Day 05), she was awakened by the loud voices of two guards standing outside her cabin. "Today is when the Dominus wants us to move the girl to Bisanthium. He suspected that even as we speak, she is learning how to control her powers. We must prevent her from focusing on that, at least until Dominus Denwyn finds out how to use that power to our advantage."

"I know, I heard the orders. But Denwyn doesn't want the news about this girl's powers to be spread outside of this settlement."

"Don't worry. We have prepared a carriage for transportation. Passers-by will not even know who is in it." the first guard gestured towards a horse-drawn carriage to his right. It was unlike a normal carriage though; there were no seats inside, only a small bed with pillows so that the passenger could not be seen through the windows unless she sat up. "Also, Denwyn announced that he is searching for some men to escort the prisoner. Men who are not aware of the girl's powers."

 

[Darth Vegeta]

Maximos Tacidius rode over the road. He was worried. His son should have returned already. But duty called. There had been reports of unrest and a bandit gang in the vicinity. He had dealt with the situation for the most part and now was on his way back home.
At least if no trouble erupted.
He was escorted by a rather large escort of Cavalrymen
A gust of wind played with his cloak as the one eyed noble halted his horse.
Hand resting on the grip of his gladius he rose his hand in the air.
"What is going on here?"
The guard looked up "Who are you?" he said as his captain approached.
"Maximos Tacidius" he said dryly "Now tell me what is going on here?".
The captain smiled "We are escorting a noblewoman back to Bysanthium" he said.
"But we lack men to dare to move on as there is danger off being agressed by the rumoured Bandit Raiders" he said.
"I see... and where is this noblewoman?" he asked suspiciously.

 

[cassandra1]

"She is in here." the guard showed Tacidius the way to a large log cabin. He gestured to a window where Tacidius could see Rachel sitting on the bed, straining in vain to slip out of the straitjacket, making frustrated noises through the gag. She did not notice the arrival of Maximos Tacidius and the cavalrymen, being too concerned with wondering what would happen to her next to think about the new faces in the settlement.

The guard captain explained the situation to Tacidius, "We suspect that she might be the princess of Halthrea, which is why we need more men to guard her from the bandits. We even constructed a carriage for her, giving her the treatment a princess deserves." He showed Maximos the specially designed carriage. "But do not be taken in by her beauty or her social status, for she is also a dangerous criminal. We have had many witnesses reporting that this woman, a dangerous practitioner of magic, attacked travellers in the woods and stole their purses. She has yet to confess to her crimes but we are sending her to Bisanthium for punishment anyway."

Of course, the guard captain made up the story. Not even a man of Tacidius' rank should find out about Rachel's special powers. Inserting a key into the cabin's door, he added, "Perhaps you would like to speak to her in person, sir?"

 

[Darth Vegeta]

Maximos Tacidius frowned for moment. This was quite the absurd story.
It was possible... he had seen stranger things happen. But he somehow greatly doubted the truth of those words.
The Nobleman nodded nonetheless. This all intrigued him and he was curious to see what this girl was all about.
"Very well open up" he said.
The Guard Captain complied and Maximos Tacidius entered the room.
He looked at the room.
It was not too bad a room. Especially seeing the situation.
"Milady?" he asked politely. He awaited her reaction.

 

[cassandra1]

Rachel stopped struggling and looked up at the man who just entered. From his mannerisms and clothing, he appeared to be someone important. As soon as Tacidius entered, she turned around sharply so that he could not see her exposed breasts, but kept an eye on him by looking over her shoulder.

 

[Darth Vegeta]

"My apologies" he turned around.
"I'm Maximos Tacidius" he said "I was told you needed an escort to the capital." he said.
"You are said to be a princess and a criminal... what do you say about this?" he asked unexpectedly direct.

 

[cassandra1]

"Mmmppgh. Ummmpfff." Rachel lifted her chin as if signalling that Tacidius should remove the gag first. He had been polite so far but she should not let her guard down just yet.

 

[Darth Vegeta]

He had not noticed as he had been too busy not looking at her breasts. He was after all a married man. It might be 'misinterpreted'.
Tacidius nodded "My apologies" he said removing the gag.
"This is a most... bizarre situation" he said.
Tacidius only had one eye. The other was concealed by a little cap. He had a beard.
He was about fourty perhaps more but truly a huge and fit man. Though he must have been a lot more muscled in his youth. He had a small scar on his cheek and it was certain he had a lot more under his light armour. The man was clearly a noble seeing the precious and beautiful outfit he wore and the details on the grip and scabbard of his blade.

 

[cassandra1]

Rachel told him what happened without turning around. "I am a princess..." She was not worried about concealing her identity in such a predicament. "But I'm not a criminal. Denwyn kidnapped me for reasons I do not fully understand."

Through the window, she noticed the guards watching her intently. From what she heard earlier, they did not want too many people to find out about her powers. She would have to choose her words carefully.

 

[Darth Vegeta]

"I see..." he frowned. "I find this all... somewhat bizarre" he said.
"I have little reason to believe either side. Are you sure you have nothing to tell me?
Are you rich or powerful? Or do you have something they desire from you?" he said "What is your name milady...".

 

[cassandra1]

"Well... I guess you can say I am powerful if I choose to flaunt my status. But I ran away, preferring to travel on my own." she replied. "My name is Rachel, by the way, and yes I do have more to tell you. I was already told, to some extent, why they are keeping me here..."

The two guards burst in, interrupting Rachel before she could tell Tacidius about the Power of the Ancients, though they figured that it would not matter much if Tacidius found out anyway. But orders were orders. One of them pulled the scarf gag over her mouth and tightened it at the back of her head. "I apologise, my lord, but I must warn you that this woman has fooled many guards into letting her go with her sweet talk." The guard captain said as he joined his two subordinates in the cabin. "We are not taking any risks."

 

[Darth Vegeta]

"Oh really..." the veteran said.
"You will remove her gag now and let her finish" he said.
"Three whelps like you aren't going to stop me" he said. "Besides... outside awaits swift retribution if you do not comply" he said unafraid "Let her speak" he said as he drew his gladius. As he unsheathed it... the many scars on his lower arm became apparent.

 

[cassandra1]

Taken aback by Tacidius' response, the guard captain yanked the scarf back down to Rachel's neck. This nobleman seemed very determined to find out what was really going on with Rachel, and it would not be wise to disobey. Denwyn would probably understand if he demanded an explanation for this afterwards.

The three guards walked out of the cabin quietly. Rachel looked up at the intimidating sight of Tacidius, his sword drawn and his scars (presumably obtained from battles) visible. With the guards gone, she felt that she could tell Tacidius the whole story without consequences. "My two friends and I were abducted from our forest campsite yesterday. Dominus Denwyn... that's what I heard the guards call him... showed great interest in all three of us, but most of his attention was on me. I don't know what exactly he did but he rubbed a lapis on my feet and then fired a beam from it that blew a hole through the wall, saying that there was great power within me. He called this the Power of the Ancients. No doubt he only kept me here because he knew that this power could be put to good use, though I do not understand why he wanted me sent to Bisanthium and why he didn't want anyone else to find out about the powers."

 

[Darth Vegeta]

Tacidius frowned.
Than he snorted semi amused "Strange story. Rubbed your feet he?" he said.
"But they do seem to see something in you. And i have learned that in this world there are sometimes forces at work that a mere man cannot comprehend" he said. "Very well... prove it... prove your power" he said. "And I'll see what i can do for you" he said.

 

[cassandra1]

"I... I cannot use my powers at will. Before Denwyn told me about it, I did not even know I had such powers." Rachel replied, thinking that Tacidius did not believe her story. She did have some sorcery at her fingertips, but those were completely different from the Power of the Ancients and probably not what Tacidius wanted to see.

 

[Darth Vegeta]

Prologue to another meeting

"You aren't giving me much to work with" he said. Such a handsome woman. He had to admit. Though too young for his taste.
"Very well... I'll see what i can do..." he said "You intrigue me" he said.
"I shall bring you to my manor. My wife knows more of this sort of things" he said.
"If you lied... I will off course hand you back to your captors"

 

[cassandra1]

"I'm certainly not lying." Rachel assured him. She felt relieved that Tacidius was going to let her out of this prison. "Can you free me from this jacket?" she said, with her back facing him so that he could access the belt buckles.

 

[Darth Vegeta]

"Very well... just don't try anything. I have run into Sorceresses before. You need time to use magic. And it takes little time to kill a frail little girl" he said directly to he point "No offence milady" he said.
He than unbuckled the back of the jacket. "Best you prepare. I want to be on the move as fast as possible" he said. "Before nightfall I want to have done quite a bit of the road"

 

[cassandra1]

As soon as the buckles were undone, Rachel pulled her arms free and stretched herself for a moment. Tacidius had reasons to be cautious of her; they had only just met and he had not be fully informed about the situation. But anyway, he was rescuing her from this place. She should not be ungrateful.

"Thanks." Rachel said. Without turning to face Tacidius, she grabbed her dancing attire, the one she wore when she was first brought here, from a corner of the cabin and put it on hastily. Then she turned around. "We must move right away, before the guards return to check on me. Where exactly are we heading to?"

 

[Darth Vegeta]

"The capital... or rather it's outskirts where my family has it's domain" Tacidius said "I'm expecting my son to return home soon" he said. For a moment she almost could imagine seeing a hint of sadness in his one eye.
"If he survived" he said.
"In any case... you will be save there and hidden" he said "If anyone ever asks on the way or there... you are a servant. A slave I bought for my son." he said.
"Nearby a Slavemarket is being held. I found you there" he said.
"Also change your name." he pondered a moment "Aayla sounds nice." he said "A typical slavename given to a woman who was trained to dance." he nodded "Also a bit a plain name" he said.
"It will be best for you. But also for me. I have political enemies after all" he said "That still would like to get even the smallest revenge on this old withered fox" he said. He held out his hand. It was a big hand. He might be a noble but he looked more like a man who had worked a lot in his life.
"Come..."

 

[cassandra1]

Rachel held on to his hand gently. Tacidius looked like he knew what he was doing so it would be best not to argue with him about pretending to be a slave. At least he was getting her out of Denwyn's prison. She hoped that none of the guards would see her leaving.

"I'm ready. Let's go."

(OoC: I think Kalamos is rather particular about us simulating travelling time when we go from one location to another. How should we handle this journey?)

 

[ticklishrilina1]

RILINA:


Rilina is in a rather precarious position at the moment; the young blonde apothecary is being dragged on to the stage at the Dragon's Inn, where this all started for her, to be tickle tortured for all she is worth by someone she knew from childhood, a skilled torturer. She has been brought here by Tandy, and is gagged and bound and not clothed as she is dragged out to the stage kicking and screaming.