Whispers and Rumors (Open)

[Wei]

Whispers and rumors two of the most powerful forces in politics and the underworld. Wei was going to need to have his fingers in both if he ever wanted to reach his ambition. However that was for another time. Right now Wei needed to build. Not a building or a army, but rather his own personal inner circle. Ambition was great, but at the scale he dreamed of it could not be accomplished alone. He was going to need help. Help that was skilled, loyal, and harboring the same dream as he did. With that in mind Wei left to the city state of Pherae. He knew a kid who lived there from his youth. He was clam, quite, and had a ear to the ground. He was just the type Wei needed. However Wei was not sure if he would join up with him, or if he still had mind to rise above his station. As children they played together and both shared there idea to become nobles, thought Wei's dreams were much higher. Wei wondered if that same longing was still inside of him.

Upon visiting the city Wei discovered that his friend was not at hims home, nor was there anybody living in the residence that related to him. Made sense, he heard rumors of him and his skill at picking up on secrets of course others would as well. If you have a secret that you don't want to get out you would do well to either bribe people like him to work for you or eliminate them. If Wei was going to find him he was going to have to search for him. He was not going to be in a open filed just waiting for him to show up. "Well follow the booze", spoke Wei as he chuckled to himself. Loose lips were often followed by the smell of stale mead and old liqueur. People could not keep there mouth's shut when they drunk. Taverns were the usual place, but Wei knew better than to look there. No way he would work with a fool who got drunk at a local mead hall. His friend knew to much to do that. Instead Wei visited your local wine vender and purchased several bottles of there cheapest venue. Rather than drink them himself he purposely sought out the homeless and depraved. Everything and anything in the city passed through the ears and eyes of the homeless. People would say things around them that they would not say around another. If you can get them on your side you can get ears in the city.

"Hey Mr.", spoke Wei as he walked up to the local boom. "Let me ask you a few questions", spoke Wei as he handed the homeless man a bottle of wine. The man looked at the bottle and then back to Wei. A smile crossed his face as he removed the quark and began to guzzle some of the local product.

"Well young one what do you want to know", he spoke as he re-quirked his wine and looked up at Wei.

[Locke]

A man pressed forward through the crowd. His face bore strange brown marks, and his hair, green and wild, fell in some sort of tail over his shoulder. His flowing cloak and robes gave him the look of a mystic, a tribal medicine man, or a magician. The only thing to contradict the image, and the scenes of lightning and inky blackness erupting from his hands that inevitably came to mind, was the gargantuan silver mace he held on his shoulder, resting squarely on top of a carved pauldron.

The crowd, by some strange unspoken rule, parted as he meandered forward. No magic flowed from this mace, and the man said no inflaming words. Simply walked, slowly and deliberately, with the spiked weapon resting. Occasionally, he would stop, and, exchanging a few words with a vendor, would receive a local delicacy for a few coins. He seemed, for all intents and purposes, simply a traveler, an oddball with a food obsession.

But this was no ordinary traveler. Locke was a manakete, one of the surviving members of the once-proud race of Earth dragons. The Mace of the Guardian, on his shoulder, cemented his role as the Sanctuary's Keeper - although none but sand scorpions bothered the crumbling shrine now.

Locke was taking the advice of dragons he had met - Nayru, and Aeos - and was sampling the foods of humans and searching for a friend. Indeed, it was an unusual errand for a dragon - while it seemed that the love of human food was almost universal, Locke wanted to experience more of life on the continent in the epoch of humans. And so he needed to form bonds. Friendships, or rivalries, anything to thrust him into adventure.

And that was how he found himself leaning on a wall, munching a scone, as a infantile human gave liquor to a bum.

[Wei]

"I am looking for a Scottman", spoke Wei as he looked at the old drunkered. From what he could tell the man use to be a soldier. The mark on his next was a very popular tattoo a few years back. Soldiers would wear it. If he remembered correctly it stood for evil until evil. A saying only used by the most harden of guards and far removed from the more modern soldiers. Now they avoided tattoos, but fifteen to twenty years ago they were apparently in style. Of course Wei was not old enough to have lived through that era, but he had picked that knowledge up over time and it had proven useful when it came to identifying people.

"A man named Scott", spoke the old drunkered as he looked up at the boy. Confusion could be seen in his eyes and told Wei that he was not hiding anything, or at least it seemed that way. You can never fully trust people when you are trying to get information.

"No Scottman, it is a old alias for a young man that use to live in a house near here." As he spoke he pointed and made sure the old man knew which building he was talking about. "That house right there, the one with the blue drapes and red door.

"Oh you mean the Reaves", he spoke as he opened his bottle and took another gulp. "Well they moved about five to four years ago. I heard they went out of town. Something about a family farm or relative something like that. I heard a rumor thought that the son died on the trip. sad times really", spoke the man.

A lie, thought Wei to himself as he heard the man's story. He knew that Scottman was alive. His finger prints were all over the underworld and even in the small ring he worked in he heard whispers of a information broker that fit the description of his old friend. Clearly this rumor was created by him. Just in case anybody figured out who he was and started to track his trial. However this would make finding him quite difficult now.

"You don't mind me asking, but why are you looking for him", spoke the old man as he looked up at Wei.

"Nothing much", spoke Wei as he looked back at the drunkered. The man had broken his train of thought. "Just a old friend trying to find someone", he spoke as he began to walk away. Wei began to think for a moment as he imagined the layout of the city. He knew Scottman a bit, but not enough to understand his train of thought. Where in the world would this man travel. It would obviously be someplace inside of the city, but it also had to be a place where he could watch out for other people. "Hmm", spoke Wei as he noticed the strange man leaning on the wall. He had no idea who this guy was and his presents seemed suspicious.

"Now what do we have here", spoke Wei to himself. His woodcutting axe was still on his back and he was confident in his own fighting ability, despite not having any formal training. The guy also did not look that tough, thought he did carry a big stick. "Hello there stranger", spoke Wei as he walked up to the man. The young journeyman came up to him friendly and with a smile. He pulled out a bottle of his cheap wine and offered it to the man. "You don't mind if I ask a few questions do you", he spoke?

[Locke]

"Mmm?"

There was the infantile human. Offering him liquor as well. Well, how interesting. Locke, with one eyebrow raised, slammed the Guardian Mace into the paving stones, cracking a few in a show of strength, and then took the proffered bottle. Using his thumb and finger to remove the cork, he drained a good quarter of the bottle before re-corking it as the bum had and responding to the newly-hatched human.

"No, I don't mind... Ask away. Thank you for the liquor, by the way... It will save me a few coins at the tavern tonight."

The manakete eyed the boy up, in case he would attempt to cause trouble. He could try to lift the mace, but the huge silver-alloy weapon was designed to be used only by dragons. It would be near impossible to lift for a human, except those breed that wore no clothing save loincloths and toted large axes of their own. Berserkers, they were known as in Common.

The manakete inwardly chastised the little human. The liquor was terrible; it must have been exceedingly cheap, or awfully made. Most likely both, if the kid had bottles that he could just hand out. Or perhaps it was his own brew he was trying to test. Either way, the wine tasted far too acidic and much too bitter to be anything but a half-fermented attempt at a ripoff spirit. Ah, well. What could you reasonably expect from a small human who was talking to bums and strange men with green hair and big maces?

[Wei]

"Excuse me sir have you heard of a man by the name of Scott. He also goes by the name of Scottsman", spoke Wei as he looked the individual up an down. Green hair, yellow clothing, and tattoos on his face. Wei could only guess that the man was either from sacae or the Nabatan desert. Tattos were common for the people in that region, but he was not sure about the clothing and hair. His hair looked as if he was from sacae, but Wei knew better than to judge by that alone. He himself had crimson hair and he was not from Pharae, thought he fit in well enough.

"i am just looking for somebody. A old friend of mine. He lived around here, but it seemed he moved. The gentlemen over there did not have a idea of where he was and I was wondering if you might have. You have the look of a traveler so I figured you may have heard about him."

At this point it seemed like it would be a waste of a bottle. If the man said he did not hear anything he would make it up by asking him questions about the region. Whispers and rumors were always useful. He could add it to his data book, it might prove to be worth while in the future. Still Scott had gone through some serious work to hide himself. It made Wei wounder what kind of trouble, or information he must have stumbled upon. Maybe it would be wise to simply leave scott out of his plans, but then again that could be all the more reason to try and add the guy into his inner circle.

"By the way where are you from", asked the young man as he looked up at the dragon.

[Locke]

"I have heard of many who bear that name. But none so far in this town. There are many Scotts in these parts. One you may be interested in was in a village north of here... He ran the local granary. He seemed to have quite the handle on the grain supplies, and everything else... Quite the iron grip."

The manakete downed another quarter bottle. Man, the stuff was appalling. Who on earth would choose that sort of junk? Terrible!

"Where am I from? Hohoho, funny you should ask. I hail from Nabata, boy, and I am as fine of a sculptor and as strong of a man as ever was made. Aye, I'd bet you that you couldn't lift my mighty mace, not even after ten years of training! Where I'm from is the sands of the great desert, and believe me, son, they don't make 'em like this anymore. I'm one of a kind, and you'd be hard pressed to find another me anywhere around these parts, or even in the desert land itself!

And history, my boy... I can tell you tales of lands long since disappeared. I can tell you tales of those dragons, those giant scaly beasts that long since were exterminated by Roland and Hartmut and Hanon. Aye, I've got more stories in me than you have breaths ahead of you! Ask away, my boy - unless you care to try and lift my mace?"

Locke chortled. The Mace of the Guardian was huge, and weighed more than any other weapon around. It probably weighed as much as a lion!

[Wei]

Wei looked at the man for a moment and his mighty mace. It was far larger than anything that would be useful. Wei could only guess that it was mainly for show, or this guy was insanely strong. Still it may have been the largest thing Wei had seen, but the rumors coming out of sacae told of another warrior with a big weapon. What was with people and big weapons now a days. Maybe it was to show off how strong they where. Wei could not lie that amount of power was awe inspiring. However it was a waste. Think how powerful there swings would be if they were swinging a normal weapon. The speed, the power, it would be legendary.

"Actually sir I think there might be somebody with a bigger weapon than yous. Stories coming out of the city of Heroes in sacae tell of a boy wielding a massive hammer. According to the legends it was suppose to be nearly as big as he was and he was suppose to be a beffy guy. So taking that into account his weapon was probably bigger than yours. Still that is a mute point since he is not here and the hammer Xigshaw is not present. I would however like to know about the great desert. You said you are from that region correct. I was thinking about exploring its sands in the future. However I really know nothing about it. Rumors tell of a great kingdom that rose up there long ago, but all the knowlage is lost to us. So warrior of the sand. Do you have any light to shine on this", spoke Wei as he looked up at the man.

The travelers information could be false or inaccurate, but he could always go himself and see if it was true. Wei did plan to one day do a expedition into the desert, but that would be much later.

[Locke]

"A boy wielding a massive hammer, hmm? I will watch for the hammer Xigshaw. I will bet that my mace is bigger than his. After all, I have the biggest mace. That's for sure. Hohoho, but it matters not. You speak of the desert... You wish to know its secrets. Very well! I shall tell you.

First. The fabled city of dragons. Arcadia. It is a myth. The dragons are all dead. Well, that is not entirely true. There are a handful, hiding out among us, wearing our clothes and sleeping with our women. But there's no city of the damned lizards. They're gone.

Now for the fun stuff. There's treasure to be had in the great desert, lad, great treasure. Gold, and silver, and jewels. More treasure than in the Etrurian treasury. Those dragons were hoarders, and they hoarded lots. The ruins of their kingdom still stand, and that's as close to a city of dragons as we'll ever get. And yes, the knowledge has been lost... Because nobody can read their damn scribbles. You ever seen a dragon temple? There's a bunch of ruined ones sitting around in the desert. They used to be covered in weird scribbles and lots of jewels. Now that the looters have come through, there's lots of scribbles and a couple jewels, if you get lucky."

Locke laughed, taking the third quarter out of the bottle.

"That's where I got this mace. An old dragon temple. Yes sir, there's treasure to be had, if you look hard enough!"

[Wei]

OCC: Sorry about that Ryu, I kept getting distracted every time I thought to post

IC: "Wait what about dragons", spoke Wei as he looked at the man. Now this was a bit of useful information. Wei thought all dragons were dead, finally, done, all of them cast to the wind. Now this man was telling him that they still existed. He heard stories, tales, no legends of the beast. However he thought them all fake, each and every one of them. Some tales did come out of Bern, but once again he chalked it up to nonsense. Bern was a cesspool of misinformation at the moment. It was in the middle of a civil war and filled with bandits. Most information coming out of it was probably propaganda, just like the tale he heard about a dragon being slain in a arena. Some old coot from Bern was blaming the return of dragons to Ilia defiling Hartmut's great land. All rubish, but this man. Well he was different. He was not from Bern nor did he seem a fool, he sure did not talk like a fool.

"So let me get this straight, you are not only telling me that dragons still exist but they are living amongst humans. That is almost impossible, but then again", spoke wei as he began to rub his chin. The young woodcutter was going to have to spend a afternoon in the library. "Can you tell me anything else about those old temples", spoke Wei. Not only where the dragons interesting to him, but there language as well. If he could some how find a way he may be able to find some old treasure. That would do well in the future for his ideas of rising above being a commoner.

Before Wei could ask anything else two men appeared in a nearby alley. They watched ans stared at him talking to the man of many words. There eyes however were fixed on Wei. With daggers in there hands and cloaks over there faces they simply watched as the boy began to question the dragon about his own people.

[Locke]

"Hah! Impossible? Clearly you underestimate them, misunderstand them, or both. Dragons are sneaky creatures. They can change their form at will, turning from their true form, with all its vicious brutish ways, into ordinary men and women. But the trick is they can't stay like that forever. It takes work. So at night, sometimes, once a month, they head out to fields and butcher livestock. Nobody knows - because they think it's 'wolves.' Because they don't want to admit that the dragons are still menacing us.

About the temples? Hah, there's not much to tell or to see. They were once great, I've read, but nowadays there's not much to see. Old, crumbling ruins, weird scratch marks along the walls, and lots of mildew and mold. Sometimes there are hidden chambers with gold and jewels concealed inside - like a treasury of sorts - but most temples have been totally looted by now. Gutted and left dry, like the bones of a fish that's been eaten by wild beasts. But some say that deep in the desert, where nobody dares go, there still are intact temples, with all the ornate trimmings still there.

But I wouldn't bet on it. They could be myths, and even if they're not, for a soft city-dweller like you, they would be impossible to reach - at least without a guide. So unless you took me along, you'd never reach a temple."

Locke looked over and saw a few shady-looking men standing and watching the kid, their hands holding weapons. Conspicuous.

"Seems like somebody's... Annoyed with you, kid."

[Wei]

"I guess we get to the meat of the matter", spoke Wei as he looked at his tattoo covered friend. He did not think he would have gotten much information out of this guy, but it seemed that he might have. "Considering the fact that you have been to this temple and the fact that you mentioned that I needed you in order to reach the good stuff is it safe to assume that you are looking for a partner to team up with. Most people only bring up treasures if they see a benefit for it for themselves. To be truthful thought you have more than peeked my curiosity. I would love to do a expedition into the desert, but alas at the moment I do not have enough coin."

"Hmm", spoke Wei as he took notice of the two people his desert friend pointed out. They where shady, covering there faces, and at the moment they seemed content to simply watching. "Must be Scottsman men", spoke Wei as he looked at them. He did not know any of them, but he was sure it was Scottman. He had been asking around about him, of course he would send people to see what the fuss was about. However what Wei did not expect was for what happen next.

The moment Wei mentioned the name Scottman the two burly men drew weapons and charged toward him. Wei was caught off guard as the Scottman he knew would not send assassins just because you where looking for him. Maybe a threat, but never death. The first of the men reached the boy rather quick. He thrusted his knife, and Wei moved to get out the way. The young lad tripped in his attempt, but the move allowed him to dodge the knife. However he was now on the ground.

[Locke]

"Well, I have plenty of time... Coin is not much of an issue. You could perhaps credit it - I'll take my cut afterwards, for instance, but it would be much higher than if you paid in advance. I need to eat, too, and I've quite a stomach for good ale. Yes indeed. But we can talk pricing later, over a pint - my treat. For now, I'm content to - "

And then the battle began, two men charging towards the red-haired young one. The first shot by Locke, but the manakete was ready for the second, and the Mace of the Guardian swung through the air, the heavy silver head smashing into the man's legs with great force. There was a sickening, sudden crunch, and the would-be attacker found himself on the ground, both legs shattered in at least three places.

"It is very rude to attack someone when they are having a peaceful conversation. Very rude.

Very... RUDE!"

Mainly for show, Locke bellowed the last word out and grabbed the second attacker by the neck. The man promptly jammed his own knife in Locke's arm, but the manakete hardly felt it as he wound up, swung, and then threw the man like a stone. And like a stone the man flew, hurtling face-first into the wall with the force of a draconic arm behind him. Releasing his power, feeling his hand's skin fade back from its scales to normal, weak human flesh, the manakete pulled the knife out, tossed it aside, and grabbed a strip of cloth from his bag to wrap his arm with. Completely ignoring the red-haired human on the ground - surely he could handle himself, no? - the green-haired 'man' dressed and bandaged his wound, then stood up to see how the fight was going.

[Wei]

What in the world, thought Wei as he saw the tattooed man grab the burly man by the neck. The move astonished Wei as he tossed the man aside as if he was a leaf in the wind. Wei had never seen such power before. He heard rumors, stories, and legends, but never from a actual man. To toss those burly men aside so easily. Clearly this man was not just all show as Wei thought before. That great mace on his shoulder was also something mighty fearsome. "Holy crap", spoke Wei as he pulled himself off the ground. The two assailants had been taken care of. One was dead and the other screaming on the ground. "Are you a beserker", asked Wei as he looked at the man. There was no other type of warrior in the world Wei thought could posses that kind of power. The only ones to match that level of ferocity and power where the mighty Beserkers.

After the wounder lust faded Wei turned his gaze to the man with the broken leg. It was amazing what power the man had. He caused the man's leg to be ripped up in that state. Chills began to go down the young boy's spine as he thought of the ramifications of what that meant. That meant that there was other people in the world who could be just as powerful. Wei dreamed of one day being a powerful warrior, but there was no way he could match that.

"Hey", spoke Wei as he tempered his imagination. The boy stepped on the injured man's leg to grab his attention. The screams of pain that erupted from his mouth could chill the soul to the bones. The sound caused Wei to back off his cruel assault and made him panic for a moment. "Um .... hey man listen. I need to know who sent you and why are you assaulting me. I have not done anything to anybody in this city so I assume that it has something to do with Scottman", spoke Wei as he questioned the injured man.

[Locke]

"A Berserker... Yes, that's it. I am a Nabatan Berserker. When I get caught up in a fight, I just lose myself in the moment, and I suppose you can see the consequences. Heh... But that was well-deserved. No one should act so rudely to men in conversation. That was uncalled for."

When the red-haired one began to speak to the man who lay with his legs destroyed, the manakete did his best to look imposing and vicious. It was more difficult than one would think, given that Locke in his human form was certainly not very large, or fierce, or angry. He was rather calm, but in order to support the boy, he grimaced, furrowed his brow, and flared his nostrils, looking furiously at the crippled man and swinging his mace threateningly, as if about to smash it into the grounded assaulter.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll speak when my associate here speaks to you. Unless you'd like to live the rest of your days without arms, as well..."

Locke raised his mace, the promise in his tone hanging on the still air. The silver of the Mace of the Guardian sparkled in the light, and he turned to Wei, more intrigued than anything, but still trying to keep up his facade of toughness and rage.

"Just give the word, and I'll take an arm off... Say the word again, and I can remove the other one. And if you really want, boy, I'll bash his skull in too."

[Wei]

"Hold on a second, hold on", spoke the man as he looked up in terror. He had more than enough violence for a life time. His leg was broke in three places and Wei was stomping on it, and now this guy was talking about taking his arms. No amount of coin is worth going through this, thought the man. "I know what you want", he spoke as he fought through the pain. "You want to know who sent us to kill your right lad", spoke the man. Wei looked at him with some concern, but nodded his head in approval. "Well it was Gator", spoke the man as he grabbed his leg. He could feel the bone sticking out his skin. "Gator hired us to eliminate you because you where looking for Scottman. Gator boxed Scottman out the market a month or so ago. He was hopping to take the guy's head, but he went underground and has not been heard since. Gator may have taken control of the business, but he feared what would happen if Scottman resurged and as a result he was killing off anybody who worked with, knew, or as associated with him. That way he could prevent the, crap my leg, the bastard from coming back."

Wei looked at him for a moment. This was not good news and borderline crazy if you asked him. From what he understood his old friend bit off more than he could chew and got into a war with a rival information broker. At that point the guy tried to eliminate him, but he escaped. As a result he tried to eliminate anybody associated with him to prevent him from coming back and striking at him. It was a very broad and crazy way to box out a rival, which told Wei that this Gator person was not to be trifled with. He may be stupid, but he was ruthless. The method he used was crude and cruel.

"Does any of this make sense to you", asked Wei to his new friend Locke. The young axe men understood what was going on, or at least he thought he did. However he wanted to be sure that he was not the only one.