[COS] City of Shadows

[cazzer14]

The usual, constant noises of cheering and laughter ceased unnaturally, silence fell upon the room, and suddenly the happy, hearty feeling of the inn had declined into a tense, anticipating awkwardness. Slowly twisting his body around, Cyrus saw that all eyes were aimed towards the group that he had been studying earlier, and whispers quietly echoing the word "fight" dribbled out of the spectators' lips. At first Cyrus thought that his fellow Redguard woman and the burly Nord had reignited their mutual antipathy, and had decided to settle their differences through 'physical demonstration'. But as his slightly blurred vision focused, he in fact saw the Imperial being challenged by a Redguard thug.
"I'm gon gill you!", the Redguard promised the Imperial.
Cyrus couldn't help but chuckle at the Redguard's short tongue-d pronunciation, and found that he and the Imperial expressed their amusement in harmony, though the Imperial's was much more loud and direct, and the Redguard noticeably took great offence to this, as his scowl grew to be even more menacing.

The Imperial stood up from his seat, accepting the Redguard's invitation of confrontation, and took to a sturdy, professional stance. The fight began with the Redguard violently throwing his fists at the Imperial, left after right and again, in sheer, brute rage. None connected, as the Imperial managed to duck and weave his way out of harm, so much that, out of frustration and clumsiness, the Redguard managed to punch a wooden beam, probably decimating his now-bloody knuckles. Taking advantage of the Redguard's hesitation of pain, the Imperial grappled his opponent's arm and snapped the man's elbow, tearing a good bit of muscle and skin along with it, and blood subsequently spurted out of the Redguard's bicep, and, rightly so, he screamed in pure agony.

Unlucky for him, though, the Imperial then clasped his sweaty hand around his injured combatant's neck and lifted him well off the ground before pummelling him into a nearby table, mead, splinters and blood exploding, escaping from the impact in a wave of bar-fight shrapnel. The Imperial seemed shocked by his finale, as if he wasn't in control of his last action, and murmured to himself a few words.

Cyrus made a mental note of not getting into a fight with this man as he took a swig of his mead.

 

[solace84]

Dalious limped back into the Bee and Barb, revealing a fight. He sidestepped away from a flying plate and noticed Cyrus by the bar.
"Whiskey please," he called out to the bartender, who was not paying attention to him because of the chaos surrounding them. Dalious helped himself and grabbed the entire whiskey bottle, taking a huge swig.
"Never a dull moment here," Dalious said.

 

[Duon]

Crow was only half listening to what the old man had said when the shout rang out "I'm gon gill you!" Crow turned to see a Redguard eyes full of rage bearing down on Caleb who full of liquid confidence quickly answered his call with "Let's go, you and me, rematch." Crow couldn’t help but laugh “That’s some hell of a accent you got there friend” he said standing up to give the combatants some room. Crow watched as the old man walked to Caleb and whispered in his ear before sliding a dagger into the imperials belt. "Old man’s observant, he also spotted the other two” he thought with a smile.

As the to men began to circle Crow casually made his way through the crowd coming to a stop next to the two Redguards. Returning his gaze to the fight he watched as Caleb dominated the man with strength and brutality he’d not witnessed in the man’s last bout. “He’s improving at a remarkable pace…” Crow thought as he once again glanced sideways at the men.

He could see the growing frustration on faces as the fight came to a finale, as the men made their move, Crow took the first man completely by surpise smashing him across the face with a solid right elbow instantly breaking the man’s nose and knocking him flat onto the sticky bar floor. Quickly spinning on the second he pulled his dagger in one smooth motion bringing the blade to rest inches from the mans jugular.

The look of rage had suddenly turned to that of sheer terror, reaching down with his free hand he ripped the mans coin purse from his belt “Your outmatched outclassed and outnumbered, now pick up your friend and get him to a healer before his face sticks like that” kicking his friend beside him both men picked up there comrade and carried him from the bar with there heads hung low.

Sheathing his dagger Crow turned toward Caleb and tossed him the bag of gold “You’re winnings champion, although I’m not sure how much of it the barkeeps going to want for that table...” he said roaring with laughter.

Silence broken the Inn erupted with cheers and the bard began to play once again.

 

[Mr.Self Destruct]

In that moment, I was a God. Caleb thought to himself, standing there heaving with each breath. Everyone had their eyes locked on him, their expressions were clear, as best as some tried to hide it they were in awe. If he wanted to, Caleb could've stood up on a chair and proclaimed his triumph, how he was in control and Riften was his plaything and any opponent who dare challenge him would be crushed with ease. But the looks on everybody's faces said everything, they were scared of him. They had gotten the message even though Caleb hadn't even opened his mouth.

“You’re winnings champion, although I’m not sure how much of it the barkeeps going to want for that table...” Crow said, tossing him a bag of coins, as Caleb caught it the silence was shattered as the inn went back to it's cacophony of cheering and drunken yelling. Caleb snickered when his old employer, Talen-Jei came stomping up to Caleb with a scowl on his face. "Caleb! Where have you been?!" He said, trying to sound threatening. Caleb shook his head, laughing while reaching into the small bag of coins. "I got a new job." Caleb said with a sly smirk, before flicking a few coins towards the Argonian's face. "That should cover the table." He said while turning his back and sitting back down with his friends, Caleb was just as stunned by his behavior as Talen-Jei was.

 

[Star Gazer]

Isnar felt calm. Although he had just seen the fight unfold, he felt... serene, even. He did not know what it was, but something was either right, or wrong. "I need some air. Haven't had time to think in a while." Isnar said, walking out of the Bee and Barb. Isnar walked until he saw the lake he had broken his leg in. He sat on the railing, and kicked his legs. Finally. Some long awaited time to myself. The old man thought, feeling completely rejuvenated.

 

[Skyrimosity]

Savile had watched the fight. He was surprised that Caleb had won, yet at the same time he wasn't surprised. Caleb had already won once before so I guess the rematch would have the same result. Savile thought about going over there and talking to Caleb, but Caleb was in such a high from winning that the effects of Skooma were dimmed in comparison. It didn't seem bright to attempt a calm conversation with a man who thought he was on top of the world and who was surrounded by people congratulating him so Savile just remained seated. He noticed that the 2 stools by him were empty and he actually hoped, for once, that someone would care to fill them. Just someone to talk to.

(OOC: PLEASE!!!)

 

[Duon]

Out of mead Crow left the table and headed to the bar to flag down the keep, taking a seat on a stool at the far end of the bar he noticed a Dunmer one seat over with the dark eye sockets he knew came with a long skooma addiction. Extracting his pipe and pouch of the Elsweyren mixture he packed a bowl and used a match to bring it to life as he blew out several smoke rings the thick moon sugar laden smoke filled the air. “greetings friend, hell of a fight wasn’t it?” he said with his normal charming smile. “didn’t I see you with Veloca at the meeting earlier this evening?”

 

[Skyrimosity]

Savile was surprised that anyone would exert the force needed to take a seat next to him. "Yea, was a real rough fight. But once again, the Imperial one. He's a real good fighter apparently, has potential from what I've seen." Savile noticed the man looking at his eyes, and it honestly once again hurt Savile's fragile heart that people immediately noticed the disease plaguing his body in the evil Skooma but he continued talking. "Yes, I was with the Redguard Veloca earlier. We sort of agreed to be training partners. So, enough with my boring life. What brings you to this wretched city?"

(OOC: Thanks Duon.)

 

[Duon]

As Crow spoke the Dunmer seemed surprised that anyone had addressed him in the crowded bar yet hurt when he noticed him looking at the man’s eyes, he felt bad as he had not meant to be so obvious. "Yea, was a real rough fight. But once again, the Imperial won. He's a real good fighter apparently, has potential from what I've seen."
“Indeed he does, remarkable improvement sense his fight in the Ratway earlier tonight.” Crow had thought the same thing sense witnessing Caleb fight, the imperial had more skill then he even knew about and would certainly grow into a fierce combatant.

"Yes, I was with the Redguard Veloca earlier. We sort of agreed to be training partners. So, enough with my boring life. What brings you to this wretched city?" “Just looking for a place in this world like everyone else, mostly stories told by old crewmen telling of Riften and its fabled Fight Club.” He scoffed thinking back to his years with the Khajiit he called friends. “Can’t really say I was disappointed given current events.” He laughed opening the new mead the keep had set before him.

“Don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced friend, names Crow.” He said putting down the mead and extending his hand.

 

[Skyrimosity]

Friend? Such a word exists for someone such as me? Savile finished off his mead and told his... friend... "My... name is Savile... Savile the... Dead. It's nice to meet you, Crow. I came here because..." Savile started to sweat as he thought about all the things that'd brought him to Riften. "Nevermind that. So, are you going to be in the new Fight Club then? I have plans of joining myself just to make a few Septims. I only had 1 fight before the guards found the other one but I managed to win that one so I figured I'd try. I'll probably fail. I always fail."

(OOC: Duon, the first dialogue he is nervous about talking, then he kinda gets happier then at the end his mood suddenly drops to depressed. Sorry I need the outlines.)

 

[Duon]

"My... name is Savile... Savile the... Dead. It's nice to meet you, Crow. I came here because..." Crow could feel the mixed emotions in the mans words, “Pleased to meet you Savile” he said refusing to call any living man dead. "Nevermind that. So, are you going to be in the new Fight Club then? I have plans of joining myself just to make a few Septims. I only had 1 fight before the guards found the other one but I managed to win that one so I figured I'd try. I'll probably fail. I always fail."

“Yes; so is Caleb along with that one-armed man, and I do believe that drunken nord whose been wondering the Inn all night.” He said before finishing his mead and continuing on. “As for failure; I find one rarely ever wins a fist fight by chance, just remember friend no matter what troubles you face when in the ring all that matters is you and the opponent. I find my head to be the clearest right after a fight, you really feel alive...” He spoke with honesty, sense his first brawls as a child among the Foresworn he’d loved to fight, a love that was only nurtured under the tutelage of the Khajiit brawlers aboard the galley.

 

[cazzer14]

The Imperial - Dalious, from earlier had re-acquainted himself with the stool next to Cyrus, reaching over the bar to swipe an unattended whiskey bottle, taking a huge gulp of the strong liquid.
"Never a dull moment here", he said after swallowing his mouthfulCyrus smirked, and looked over towards the ruins of the unarmed battle, rather a massacre, that took place across the room, before looking back and replying.
"Wouldn't be Riften if there was".Cyrus examined the Imperial, and noticed that he looked even more beat up than when he first met him, commenting on the observation, Cyrus said:
"What happened to you? You look even worse than before.", a smug smirk appearing on his face as he spoke.

 

[Skyrimosity]

“Yes; so is Caleb along with that one-armed man, and I do believe that drunken nord whose been wondering the Inn all night.” GREAT, that braggart Imperial. Oh that'll be fun. “As for failure; I find one rarely ever wins a fist fight by chance, just remember friend no matter what troubles you face when in the ring all that matters is you and the opponent. I find my head to be the clearest right after a fight, you really feel alive...” Perhaps this was the one man that could help me to overcome my Skooma addiction. skooma. And I remember, just before that fight, I did feel some excitement. skooma. Maybe, just maybe, this is the start of my new life. skooma. "Thank you for your kind words Crow. I can hardly wait for the Fight Club tomorrow." I doubt he'd ever understand all I've been through. Noone will. SKOOMA!!! Ah curses I need the drug NOW! Savile pulled out a bottle of Skooma and chugged it down so hastily that anyone watching would've been disgusted by the loud gulps. But he didn't care. He enjoyed the drug, no matter how much he hated it. After he drank it he wished he could just lie down and float away on the wind, free as the birds. For now, the headache was setting in. The blurry vision, the failure of his hearing. All over that one bottle.

 

[solace84]

"What happened to you? You look even worse than before.", a smug smirk appeared on the face of the redguard as he spoke.
"My friend," Dalious spoke. "It is quite the boring story...and no, it does not involve that whale that attacked me earlier."
Dalious tried to laugh, but his ribs hurt so bad that he stopped.
"I feel it is time to sleep for me," Dalious said. "Who knows what lies ahead for men like us. Goodnight, friend."
Dalious headed toward his room for rest. He actually liked the Redguard, and hoped this would not turn ill for either of them. He passed a pretty Redguard girl as he left, the bartender from the Ratway. He looked into her eyes as if to flirt with her, but was too tired and instead retired to his room.

 

[cazzer14]

"My friend, it is quite the boring story... and no, it does not involve that whale that attacked me earlier"
Dalious tried to laugh after his comment, but for some reason or another, he couldn't, and he ended up making a soft sigh sound instead. Cyrus was quite touched that he had called him friend, and immediately felt like he had known the man a lot longer than he had. This Imperial was the only acquaintance he had right now, all of of his old friends and comrades hated his guts, and probably wish to see them on the floor.

Cyrus decided to add some more humour to Dalious' joke.
"Oh, right. I was coming to the conclusion that she tried to eat you", Cyrus chuckled as he spoke, amused by his own comment.
"I feel it is time for me to sleep. Who knows what lies ahead for men like us. Goodnight, friend"
Cyrus repeated goodnight to the exhausted Imperial, and watched him leave his company.
'What kind of men are we?' Cyrus thought to himself. Ones that sit in bars all night, drinking the night away? Ones that clearly have a past that they want to forget, to move on from? Are we bad men for having those pasts? Or good ones for trying to redeem? Cyrus didn't want to think about his position on the karma scale anymore, in fear that he would realise that he was on the wrong side of it.

Instead, he took a large gulp of the whiskey that Dalious had 'borrowed', and looked over towards the group that the scrapping Imperial was part of. Many faces were familiar to him, most if not all of them had been at Adrian's meeting at the docks earlier. If he was going to be working with them, he thought it a good idea to introduce himself, assuming they had accepted Adrian's offer, but it didn't hurt to at least find out, and they looked the sort to be interested. Walking over to the group, Cyrus said, not to anyone in particular, but to anyone in the group willing to listen, words regarding the fight with the Redguard moments ago.
"Y'know, it's people like that who give a bad representation of certain groups. Trust me, not all Redguard guys are like that", confidence underlined his words as he studied the group, now having a closer look of their faces. His eyes panned as he spoke, surveying the members of this merry band. As he reached the end of his last sentence, his eyes locked with those of the Redguard female he had seen earlier, and he gave a faint smile at her as he finished his words.
'Let's see if they're welcome to strangers who don't come asking for a fight...', Cyrus thought, readying himself for potential hostility.

 

[Melee]

Veloca pulled her eyes away from the Nord and settled them back on her drink and people she was actually enjoying being with. She wouldn't accept his apology, because she didn't believe it. No one was that friendly in Riften, she had learned that the hard way. It was completely out of character for anyone living here. Glancing at the old man, she said, "My name's Veloca," and quickly cut off any other conversation by taking another long swig of her drink.

Suddenly, a loud yell of what sounded like gibberish came from behind their table. Veloca twisted around in her seat to see a Redguard pointing angrily at Caleb, eyes ablaze and face bloodied and bruised. Looking between the two, it suddenly dawned on her that they must have been in a fight earlier. What else would the Redguard be so upset about? He advanced mencaingly toward Caleb, who laughed and rose from his seat into a comfortable fighting stance across from the man.

The fight between them now was brief and bloody. The Redguard swung at Caleb with reckless abandon, which was why he was able to avoid being hit by anything. After one particularly sloppy attempt which ended in breaking his knuckles against a wooden support beam, he caught the Redguard's arm in both hands and snapped it backward at the elbow, bone tearing flesh and blood spurting everywhere. The man howled in pure agony as Caleb wrapped his hands around his throat and smashed him through a table, the sound resounding through the now silent building.

Veloca's eyes had steadily gotten wider and wider with surprise as she watched Caleb fight, previously unaware that he would go to such lengths in an instant. As the mood around the bar began to return back to normal, she watched as Crow headed over to sit next to the Dunmer she had sat with earlier at the meeting, pulling his pipe out and smoking. She shook her head slightly and looked over at Caleb, who had returned back to his seat with a small smile on his face. "That was certainly some display right there," she said to him.

As she continued to drink and look about the bar, the eyes of a passing Imperial catching hers as he made his way to the stairs. He had been looking directly at her, and for a moment Veloca wondered where she had seen him before. Then she remembered, she had seen him passed out in the Ratway a short time ago. Hmm. Wonder if he's involved in anything here. Wouldn't be surprised if half the people here were. Shrugging, Veloca kept drinking, feeling her buzz getting stronger and stronger with each swig.

 

[Star Gazer]

Isnar watched the river run underneath his feet as he sat on the railing. The water smelled of dead fish and rotten meat. Isnar looked into his satchel, and pulled out a can of tobacco and packed it into his pipe. He lit it, and puffed a few times. The smell was instantly gone. Isnar tried blowing smoke rings. The first one was shaky, and broke up about six inches above his head. He tried again, and the smoke curled up into the sky. Isnar looked back to the bar. Wonder what time it is. Isnar said. He got up and walked to the bar. There were three khajiit standing/guarding the doors. Isnar didn't think anything about it at first. He put his hand on the door, and the largest of the group of cats put a large paw on Isnar's hand, and a claw at his throat. "There is a man in there. He goes by the name of Savile. Savile the Dead." The khajiit said in a strong khajiit accent. Isnar remembered meeting Savile the Dead at the Ragged Flagon. Isnar could only wonder what they wanted from him.

"Go in there and tell him that we need to talk to him." He said. He pushed Isnar through the doors of the inn. Isnar looked around the bar, but it was packed. He would have to call out to Savile. "Excuse me!" Isnar called. The bar went silent and everyone stared at him. "Savile the Dead? Your khajiit friends are waiting for you outside." Isnar called. He saw Savile raise his head up. Isnar felt bad for the dunmer. Skooma has ruined his life. Judging from the looks of the khajiits, and knowing Savile's addiction to the stuff, this must be about a trade. These trades usually end with someone dying. I really hope it's not Savile who gets the short end of the stick. Isnar thought. The old man walked over to Savile. "They mean business. Be careful." Isnar whispered, wishing the best of luck to the man.

 

[Mr.Self Destruct]

That wasn't me, I was little more than a puppet bystander back there. Caleb thought to himself, his eyes set on the fireplace, the flames flicking and snapping along the charred wooden slabs. "That was certainly some display right there," He heard Veloca say, but everything was so distorted and distant the words hardly registered in his brain. This had been going on for awhile, he zoned out a lot, got his behind whooped more then once back in the orphanage. At that moment he really wanted to head over there and beat the snot out of Grelod, but it'd mean he'd have to hit a woman, an elderly woman little more than a leathery bag of brittle bones.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I guess." Caleb said lowly to Veloca, while shifting in his seat so that he was facing the table again. He took another sip of the alcohol, before setting down the flagon and turning to Veloca. "If you could fight anyone here, who would it be? Not here, in all of Riften, no, Nirn. Anybody in the world, who would it be?" Caleb had difficulty spitting the words out, it was the alcohol, his senses were beginning to dull but he was beginning to mellow out as well.

 

[Duon]

"Thank you for your kind words Crow. I can hardly wait for the Fight Club tomorrow." ”You're welcome friend; and it should definitely be interesting, that for sure.” Crow trailed as the Dunmer extracted a small phail of Skooma and drained it. “Not much I say now is going to matter anyway.” He thought, Crow had much experience with Skooma during his time in Elsweyr, he had even tried it a few times but found he preferred the far less addictive mellow that comes with smoking the moon sugar blended with Elsweyren tobacco. Looking around the crowd he noticed the old man wonder back in the bar looking slightly shaken and craning his head side to side. "Savile the Dead? Your khajiit friends are waiting for you outside." Savile looked up toward the voice as Isnar approached. "They mean business. Be careful." The old man said as he passed the intoxicated dunmer.

 

[Skyrimosity]

Friends? That is certainly not the word to describe these Khajiit. They are very serious in their dealings. Hope I didn't do anything wrong. Savile walked outside, preparing his barely conscious body for whatever may happen. "Savile, we heard about what you did to our friend. Kicked him in the lake and let him die. That wasn't very nice. Why didn't you just pay this one in the first place?" "I... I can explain." "See Savile, I'm sure you can explain just fine what happened. But this one will have to tell that one's wife how her husband was killed by an unwilling customer. So you understand what will happen now, don't you Savile?" The Khajiit didn't let Savile answer and let out a punch that hit Savile with such force that he was flung through the door of the Bee and Barb which was a good few yards away.

Savile was grasping for breath, barely able to understand the pain. He threw a barstool at the Khajiit in some sort of effort to save himself but the Khajiit kept coming. "I'll kill you for not paying, Savile. You crossed the wrong Khajiit." The Khajiit picked Savile up and punched him once more. Savile landed just a few feet from the man he remembered as Crow. Crow was a Breton and Savile didn't know if he would help, but with all the strength he had left he said "Help me, please Crow!"