The Cruelty of Desire [Open/Burt/White Feathers]

[Deleted]

Were was his precious lady luck at? He had been met with misfortune after heartache. First the living dead, then bandits that ruined his tome, and finally his village was gone. An exhausted and dirtied with soot mage stumbled across the plains until he was outside of a small village. Having expended all his energy he collapsed.

Waking an unknown amount of time later Merric found himself in an odd little home. Weaponry and finely crafted decorations abounded the room. Sitting up he wondered where he was. He quickly checked his coin to see that it was still there. "Thank goodness."

"You looked a right mess there lad. Are you alright? You seem to have checked out but you musta been through quite the rough time." An old man with no legs sat on a nearby chair smoking a pipe. Merric could not contain his bearing and gave a horrified expression. The old man looked a bit hurt to which Merric apologized.

"Sorry, you just took me off guard. Are you the one who brought me... sorry, um... who brought me here? I ought to thank them."

"There'll be plenty of time for thanks later, for now rest and help yourself to some soup." An old woman soon came from a back room and offered him a bowl of soup.

"Thank you very much." He greedily devoured it realizing it had been some time since he'd last eaten a good meal. "So, what kind of uh, shop? is this?"

"It's an antique and weapons trade. Odd combo I know but we make a good living here. Get a few 'special items in sometimes too' Heh heh heh." the old man's laughed sounded of decay. Age was not on his side.
--------------------------------

Rosalie looked on the town with disdain. "I still don't see why we didn't take it all ages ago." The woman prepared her bow and headed for the town. She had to find three weapons. Two were here and the third with another warrior.

[Burt]

Burt walked into town confident and excited. He had visited a number of tribes on his journey and was close to finishing his book. Still he had a good ways to go and the road was starting to get to him. The historian had unconsciously decided that today he was going to stay in this town for more than a night. It was about time he took a break from wondering the road and got some good R and R.

"Man Sacae has been exciting", spoke Burt as he looked through his notes in his bag. As he fumbled through his papers he saw the axe he had picked up while helping that merchant. Burt was very superstitious when it came to magic and magic items. He never really trusted them and this one even more than the rest. He still remembers the story about that bandit that caught on fire when he touched it and the words whispered to him when he first touched the weapon. Something about it seemed wrong to him. Binding spirits to weapons was never a good idea. Still he could not bare to throw the thing away. If it was truly evil he did not want to pass the burden to anyone else and at the same time he did not want the power of the weapon to be held by somebody who would abuse it. So to put it short Burt was stuck with it.

The fighter gave off a long sigh as he walked up to the local tavern. He was more than ready to get some hot soup in his belly and a long rest.

[Deleted]

Approaching Burt was a beautiful woman. She had long pink hair with bright eyes and full lips. She wore form fitting clothes that showed every curve of her body and a white feather in her hair. Setting her bow on the bar she smiled warmly at the man.

"Excuse me barman. I was wondering if you knew of any stores around here that dealt in rare weaponry? I have a client that is very interested. If you lead me to a good lead there may be a little something in it for you too." She held up a gold coin with a playful wink.

"Heh, well, I know of a no legged merchant with some oddities. Actually he lost his legs just a few months back bringing in weapons of fire. So he claimed anyway." The barman snorted and cleaned a glass.

A dangerous glint appeared in the woman's eye then. "is that so? Do please tell me more."

"Uh, well, he lives over on the edge of town. Shop with the big coat of arms sign."

The woman stood. "Thanks. It's been a pleasure."

---------------------------------------

"Special items? Like magic? Or just really old stuff?" Merric asked. Looking around he was fairly sure he might be able to find something for himself. "Hey, I have an idea. I figure with your uh, condition, you could use some help around here.I've been in a tight spot lately and I could help you out as thanks.If I do a good job maybe you could hire me full time."

"My condition!? I get around just fine thank you! But I suppose we could use an extra hand."

"I promise you won't regret it if you do."

[Burt]

Sheep or Wolf, that was the question Burt asked himself as the beautiful pink haired woman walked up to the counter top. Even though Burt did not feel threaten by her he still tighten up his belongings. It was better to be safe than sorry in his book. The fighter heard the man's story about magical weapons and became interested. If this man in town knew about magic weapons then he might know about his, still the way he said fire and weapons Burt wondered if he encountered the same type of weapon he did. It could be something to look into while he was in town. However their was some more important business that came first before that.

"Hey do you all have some potato soup", asked Burt getting ready for his dinner. As Burt dinned on his soup he began to think back to his journey in sacea and the deadly weapon he had picked up. Burt had not really touched it since the first time he pulled it out the wreckage. The axe demanded strength from its wielder and justice above all else. Burt however was not sure if he could meet up to its standards. Violence was always in his blood. Burt wondered if that would move him toward the side of evil to the axe. Then Burt himself will catch on fire and burn to ash.

"A tough world", spoke Burt as he took another spoonful of his soup. He wondered if that girl was after something similar to his axe. Normally Burt would not pay attention to this kind of things, but once the bartender mention fire and injuries her eyes lit up. Burt had a keen eye for detail and he remembered that specifically. "The fool has no idea what she is getting herself into", spoke Burt aloud as he took another sip of his soup. He preyed that she never found what she sought as he was sure the weapons would prove to be nothing, but ill too her. The last owner, the merchant, had most of his stock stolen from him because of it. A bandit was burned alive and Burt was seeing weird vision when touching it. "Maybe they are cursed", spoke Burt continuing to enjoy his dinner.

[Deleted]

The barman looked at Burt with a scrunched face. What was this fool going on about? It struck him as odd, was he mentally sound? "What are you talking about exactly? You saying you know something or are you just one of those guys that are trying to sound cool?"

The woman was pulled in by his comments and was not yet ready to leave. It was a long shot but perhaps he DID know something and could point her into the direction of the missing axe. Her brother claimed that it called to him and he would retrieve it if need be but she had her doubts.

The woman slowly looked back at him with a look of desire. Men always were an easy to influence breed for her. She walked back to him with that walk only a woman could achieve. "Hold on there now," she giggled. "You mean to tell me that you let me do all this talking about looking for stuff and you were going to let me walk off like that? When you know something?" She scoffed playfully. "How rude of you." She scolded placing a hand on his arm. "Wow, you have some MUSCLE!"

--------------------------------

Merric felt well enough to go to town now. Stepping outside he realized just how bright it was. "Middle of the day sun... blech. Alright then," He looked around for the pub. It was time to go get a drink and learn the latest news. Plus if he would be working here for a while, it could not hurt to meet the locals.

Inside he noticed that it was rather, what was the most polite wording, dumpy? Yeah, that's a good description. He sighed and made a beeline for a table. It was wooden and dusty, splinters were abound and there was a foul odor of rot. "Yuck." He then saw a scene of interest. A woman walking in and talking about weapons of power. A legless merchant. The man that helped him?