Badon Shuffle (Edgewind/Open)

[Carlisle "Hartmut"]

Thump, thump, thump, Carlisle's footsteps down the plank and into the city were heavy and tired. Percival followed closely behind looking far more lively than the prince, and Layla was positively beaming and looking in awe at the city. "So this is what a real city looks like? Its... it's amazing!" The young healer twirled and nearly fell over the edge of the plank had Carlisle not hastily caught her.

"Enough, Layla, please behave yourself. We are only going to be here a short time and then we're off to Bern, understand?" Carlisle hated being angry with her but he was still sore over her decision to stow away of Cid's ship. As far as he was concerned she was lucky she didn't get tossed into the ocean, something that could very well have happened. Worse still was that he felt like he was betraying Khalid's trust by not having her go back now, and she still didn't grasp the gravity of his mission!

"Milord, I will secure our next vessel if you would like to find an inn and get some rest for the evening? You seem to be feeling the weight of fatigue most strongly." Percival waited for no answer before peeling away from the group and wandering the docks. Carlisle was too tired to get annoyed at his lack of opportunity to answer to the apparently rhetorical question.

"Right then, Layla..." Carlisle turned toward where he thought the girl was and saw no one. "Layla!?" A wave of fear overcame him as he began to frantically search. Through the crowd he found her peering into a fountain.

"Woah! Look, there are coins in there!"

"Those are not for the taking!" Carlisle put an arm around Layla's back and placed his hand on her shoulder in order to begin herding her to the inn. "You swore yourself into my service in order to stay with Percival and me. I did not mean to give you that opportunity as one you would take, but you did. So now I will expect you to respect me as your leader, and that means listening to orders."

"You were serious? I thought all of that was just a show for Cid and his crew."

"Just come on." letting go of Layla Carlisle led the her to the inn Percival had named for them to stay at. Stepping inside the two were bombarded by the smell of food and booze.

"It's a little early for drinking isn't it?"

"Not for a sailor."

[Edgewind]

Shane Edgewind sat alone at a table in the Sailor’s Knot Inn. The road weary mercenary ordinarily didn’t grace this particular establishment, as the Broken Anchor was a much seedier bar and provided better opportunity for jobs. Granted, those jobs were often illicit and provided plenty of risk of betrayal. No, having just returned from his detour to Hillford after the mess that blew up from his last job in Caelin, he wasn’t in the mood for that atmosphere or the effort it would take to blend in. Though it could get rowdy here on bad day, it was much easier to relax and he could dress normal too. Now, someone that truly knew Shane – not that he ever let people get too close – would be able to tell what his agenda was just by what libation sat in front of him. If he was in an establishment to keep his ear to the ground, you’d find him nursing the cheapest ale on the menu. However if he was there to unwind or meet with someone, there would be a fine rum involved. In front of the mercenary rogue, of course, was a scarcely touched flagon of watered down ale mainly to avoid drawing attention to himself.

It hadn’t been the busiest of days for the inn though there was still a constant trickle of patrons in and out of the establishment. No one noteworthy had come through, though with Shane’s current state of mind perhaps it was for the best that he had a bit of quiet time with his thoughts. He suddenly had the responsibility of taking care of a teenage girl thrust upon him, and he still wasn’t sure how he was going to manage that alongside taking on mercenary work that could send him to the ends of Elibe and back. To be fair, this responsibility had been one he imposed upon himself but he didn’t really know what else he could have done. For once he just couldn’t walk away, as much as his self-preservation screamed internally for him to do so. It really didn’t help that her attitude grated against his patience.

As evening approached uneventfully, Shane called a waitress over and ordered a modest meal of roast pork, sliced potatoes, and a blend of chopped carrots and peas. Normally this place served mostly seafood, however there was mysterious blight afflicting the fishing trade and nearly all fish brought in were foul or rotting. Rumors from pirates and fishermen alike suggested something dark and ominous lurked the depths of the ocean off the coast. It wasn’t his problem though. He was fine with pork or chicken anyway.

Finishing up his meal, his attention was drawn to the entrance of a somewhat tall man escorting a younger lady. In Badon, it was common to see travelers from all over come in from port. Even at a glance though, Shane could tell that they should be able afford a much grander establishment than this. Perhaps that was worth keeping a mental note of, but it could also be easily chalked up to unfamiliarity with Badon. Hmm. This could be interesting. It also might not. Only time would tell.

[Carlisle "Hartmut"]

The place looked seedy enough that Carlisle doubted anyone would think a prince would ever enter here. "Go get us a table, and I'll take care of the room."

"You got it!" Layla gave Carlisle a playful salute before finding an empty place to sit. Carlisle shook his head ruefully at her antics. She meant well with everything she did but it had been one problem after another since leaving Khalas's village and it always came back to her involvement.

Greeting the barman and inn keeper, "I would like a room for three. Only one bed is necessary if there are none to spare, and I would like to order three meals if you'd please."

The inn-keeper eyed Carlisle appraisingly. "Three for one room? You don't look so hard for cash."

"Yes, well, appearances are all too often deceptive I'm afraid."

"Quite." The man gave Carlisle a room key in exchange for coin and promised the food would be on its way shortly. Carlisle thanked the man and spared a glance at the other patrons. He did not give much attention toward Edgewind as a group of men sitting at a table in the corner of the bar caught his eye instead.

A server girl was giving the men their food and drinks. The men had clearly had a few already and were making lewd remarks. Carlisle felt his fist tighten as he saw the discomfort in the girl's face but he calmly returned to his table with Layla. He knew better than to make a scene.

"We should enjoy being on land while we can, its back on the ocean tomorrow," Carlisle informed.

"Already?!" Layla looked traumatized.

"Yes, I'm afraid. We have a long road ahead of us."

"Hey little lady! I know we have food, but what about desert!? I WOULD quite like you!" One of the men laughed and caught the girl by her arm before she could leave. Carlisle shot to his feet before he had a chance to think.

[Edgewind]

Shane had paid little mind to the inebriated men sitting at the corner table. The lewd remarks didn’t bother him much. After all, with enough alcohol the least attractive barmaid could become an irresistible beauty. It was also plain fact that the alcohol loosened lips and inhibitions so a few inappropriate comments here and there were to be expected. It was usually awkward at best, but so long as it held at words most in Badon hardly batted an eyelash.

Though Shane had been curious about the newcomers, there was nothing else to them that caught his attention. Dead end, it seemed. Even the most interesting travelers often were just that. Travelers. This place was a bust today. The rogue took a small sip of the cheap brew, and turned his glance elsewhere. From the corner of his eye, he spotted one of the men getting a bit too feisty with the serving girl. At the same moment he heard the young knight rousing from his seat. Shane sighed, knowing what was about to transpire. It wasn’t how he saw the day playing out, but nothing was panning out anyway.

Moving quickly, Shane managed to step in the way of the doubtless heroic intervention, throwing up a cautionary wave. It was a simple gesture to hold the man at bay long enough for the rogue to handle this his own way. Certainly if the knight caused trouble for a group of men such as these, the young lady accompanying him might be subjected to any retribution they enacted if things escalated beyond his control.

“Hold there, friends. I’ll thank you to take your hands off my lady,” Shane bluffed as he sidled up alongside the table. He offered a reassuring smile and gently pulled the timid waitress closer to him as the offending man released her wrist. “Just head along now, honey, while I have a word with these fellows.”

The serving girl quickly pulled away, eager to put distance between herself and the scene that was slowly unfolding.

“Well then, ‘friend,’ why don’t you have a drink, on us. As an apology,” another of the men at the table offered, standing up with half a mug of mead in his hand. In turn, the other man whom had grabbed the waitress also stood. In an act that matched the sarcastic tone, the first man poured mead over Shane’s head, as his companions bellowed in laughter. The rogue nonchalantly nodded in silent acknowledgment of this act before chuckling to himself and turning his gaze askew.

Then, without hesitation, the humor in Shane’s face drained and he threw a hard jab into the neck of the man standing in front of him, stunning him briefly, and followed up with a right hook to the jaw of the one who dumped the mead on him. He didn’t want a fight, but damn if he was going to show weakness to these pissants. As the rest of the men mustered to their feet, it seemed that violence was about to erupt in full swing.

This was supposed to have been a peaceful resolution.

[Carlisle "Hartmut"]

Carlisle's step was a quick stagger and stop. A stranger was telling him not to intervene, but not in a threatening way, rather the stranger intended to take care of things first. Ans so Carlisle let him and watched the entire exchange.

"Hey, Carlisle? What's wrong?" Layla looked up at the prince from her seat concerned having not noticed the others in the corner. Carlisle did not look back at her, his gaze was fixed.

"Layla, go to our room, right now."

"What? Why?"

"Just go." Carlisle's voice was stern but not harsh and thankfully Layla complied.

The moment one of the men poured the booze over the stranger's head Carlisle knew he made the right choice, conflict was unavoidable. Thuk! The first man jabbed clutched at his throat unable to catch his breath. He staggered back terrified he was going to die. In truth his body was just shocked. Whathump! The second man was far less fortunate and was immediately laid out. His body fell back and slammed into the wooden table before crumbling back onto the stone floor.

The rest of the men at the table rose to their feet except one. He continued to sit and grinned at Edgewind haughtily. "You have a good hook there! I can commend that, but do you know who I am? I don't think you do if you're trying to pick a fight with my boys. I'm the pirate they call Sharktooth!"

The prince crossed his arms as the pirate snarled. Even if this Sharktooth was a big deal he'd never heard the name before. The entire bar was looking at them now. One, two, three, four; Carlisle counted a number of them baring matching tattoos on their arms. A quick glance over at the ones that faced down the stranger showed they too had the tattoos. The bar was filled with that man's followers. The stranger was surrounded.

[Edgewind]

It was too late to take back what he had done. No time for regrets. It was immediately clear he had drawn the attention and ire of most of the patrons in the bar. Shane hadn’t been observant enough, too complacent. Things weren’t out of hand just yet and he still had a couple tricks up his sleeves, so he decided to play his cards close to his chest for the moment and see how this continued.

“Sharktooth, huh? Word around Badon is that you and your band of puddle pirates are busy trying to make a name for yourselves out east because you’re not big enough to do it here,” Shane surmised, casually taunting the seated pirate. “Why don’t you get out of here before you get the attention of the real sharks in Badon?”

The cocky expression on Sharktooth’s face twisted into anger as he briefly lost his composure. The moment passed and a sadistic grin spread across his lips. “..And just who would these ‘sharks’ be? You?” Sharktooth laughed. From his seat he could see that the rest of his men were all ready to take this fool rogue. With a small hand gesture the rest of the bar sprang to life, nearly everyone in the establishment rising to the occasion.

“You don’t all have to stand on account of me,” Shane addressed the bar lightheartedly with a sidelong glance. “Clearly you value quantity over quality. A common mistake of men of your standing. Trying to compensate for something?”

Without waiting for an answer, the rogue shoved the recovering pirate before him onto the table, sending mugs and flagons toppling in nearly every direction. Sharktooth tensed, tightening his fists as the downed man slid to a stop in front of him. It was enough to spur the men surrounding Shane into action, none of them needing any further prompt from their leader. With all of them closing in at once it would be a different situation, entirely.

The nearest pirate to his left threw the first punch, Shane shifting to the side to duck it. With a quick step he slipped to the man’s rear and shoved him forward into another approaching pirate. It bought him a moment to step back, but soon there would be aggressors to contend with from that direction as well. There were no more cheap shots to keep him ahead of these goons. This brawl was just beginning in earnest and Shane hoped he wasn’t getting in over his head here.

[Carlisle "Hartmut"]

The bar was flung into chaos. Carlisle groaned and accepted that it was inevitable. Guess he should give the rogue a hand. One of the pirates began to close in on Edgewind's back but Carlisle acted quickly. He kicked a chair over into the man's path and watched him slam his knee and crumble with a cry of pain. It was hardly a fair fight but it was all just fists. As long as it didn't escalate to weapons he was fine with it. Time to show these men how the Etrurian knights of old handled CQC!

Carlisle grabbed an empty heavy wooden mug and when a pirate threw a punch at him he blocked with it causing the pirate's hand to crunch painfully. "This didn't even involve you!" One of the pirates shouted.

"Maybe not, but someone has to even the odds!" Throwing his cloak up he obscured the vision of a third man before spinning and cracking him across the jaw. The pirate staggered with a look of shock before his friends helped him recover. Carlisle made it to Shane's backside. Standing back to back with the rogue he began to laugh. "This wasn't how I had intended to spend my first evening back on land but... there are worse ways it could have gone."

The pirates were disorganized and this was the only reason the two could stand a chance against these numbers. No weapons and Carlisle was fine. He prayed no one would escalate it. Sharktooth meanwhile kicked his feet up on the table and settled in for the show with his dinner. The table was a mess but, it was a small price to pay.

[Edgewind]

The sounds from behind Shane confirmed that he had an ally in this mess or, at the very least, he was not the sole target of the pirates anymore. It was a nice thought, not that he could afford much time for thoughts right now. He ducked under the flailed arm of a drunken pirate and dished out a body blow, causing the attacker to stagger back and double over. Another pirate’s jab caught him solidly in the cheek. Well! That woke him up a bit. Shane clenched his fists and returned with jabs from his left and then his right, backing the man off long enough for him to finish the drunkard off with a strike to the back of the neck.

Heavy footsteps approached from behind, too weighty to be the knight and definitely seemed to heading directly for him. Shane gauged the distance, biding his time before turning with a surprise right hook to the approaching man’s chin. Instead of the satisfaction of seeing the man go down, the rogue was instead greeted with the sinister grin of a big brute of a man missing several teeth. The man hadn’t so much as flinched from the punch, but damn if that was going to stop Shane from trying. “You’re a big one, huh.” Shane followed up with a left and another right, the latter of the two punches was stopped by the meaty hand of the guy as if he were catching a thrown ball. The rogue looked up into the man’s eyes with a nervous chuckle and cocked a half smile, knowing what was about to happen. The huge arm connected forcefully, sending him reeling into the side of Sharktooth’s table. Looking up, he was met with a snide grin just before being grabbed by the shoulders and flung away into another table. A groan of pain punctuated by a sudden grunt scored the journey.

Shane struggled to right himself, his senses swimming in a sea of pain. Pushing himself up from the back of a chair, he heard those heavy footsteps once more over the sound of blood rushing through his veins. Still wincing from the stout blow the man had delivered, Shane grasped the sides of the chair and turned with it, swinging it awkwardly as he did so and using as much force as he could muster. It proved to not be the sturdiest seating, the wooden construct shattering into several pieces. It did the job though, the bruiser collapsing backward with a loud thud. Breathing heavily, the rogue tossed the back of the broken chair aside and returned his attention to the situation at hand, the rest of the pirates itching for a piece of him.

[Carlisle "Hartmut"]

Despite himself Carlisle grinned as the chaos was abound. The rogue was getting tossed like a child's doll but he seemed to be holding his own well enough despite it. Carlisle on the other hand was not faring quite as well. The first pirate to approach him threw a wide haymaker which Carlisle was easily able to catch and throw the pirate over his shoulder and harshly into the ground.

With the prince's back exposed however another of the pirates slipped in behind him and placed him into a headlock. Keeping calm he knew exactly how to deal with this. If he could just get his feet in the right place the pirate could be taken by surprise and thrown down as well, but alas the pirates had a different idea in mind. A second pirate went low and grabbed Carlisle by the feet. The pirates lifted him helplessly into the air. He tried to grab hold of something vital but he didn't have time before the pirates threw him through the air like a sack of potatoes and into the bar.

Crash! Crack! Crunch! He wasn't sure which of the sounds was him or the bar stools that broke underneath him. As he looked up through squinted eyes however he noticed an unexpected sight. The barmaid was looking down at him. No wonder the pirates harassed her, she was cute. "Sorry about all this."

"We're used to it." The barmaid simply shrugged and dropped a wooden rolling pin into the prince's lap. "Instead of a sword," She winked. Carlisle grinned thinking of the absurdity of it all.

"Sure thing." Standing back up Carlisle brandished his pinwheel as he would a blade. "C'mon! I can go another round with thugs like you."

"Bahahahahah!!! One of the pirates laughed. "Really now?" Thwak! He was struck across the face and sent staggering. "You are going to regret that!" The pirate moved to punch him but was jabbed in the shoulder before being subsequently tripped.

Sharktooth lowered his boots from the table and leaned forward to watch with more interest now. It was one thing to insult him, that was enough to make them suffer, but to give his men a run for it, that was something else, that was a challenge to his power. Or, a cause to recruit them? "Hmm..." he was unfazed by the going ons and instead plotted and schemed.

[Edgewind]

The rogue took a punch to the jaw, and then another to the nose. Just a moment of distraction was all it had taken. Well the distraction had actually been quite a large brute, but that didn’t matter. The shrimpier guy from before had recovered during that time and had Shane staggered. Rivulets of blood trailed from his nose and lip as another blow struck his cheek. The rogue winced as he tried to get his head back in the game. Unfortunately, his opponent didn’t intend on granting the luxury of time.

Yet another lunging punch was thrown by the skinny pirate, but finally Shane was able to sway out of its path. Ducking slightly, the rogue redirected the force and sent the assailant flying head over heels behind him. The pirate crashed spectacularly on the table supine, and struggled weakly to get up. Shane, not particularly wanting to be blindsided by this guy again, seized the man both by throat and shirt and dragged him across the table and hurled him into the legs of another would-be attacker. After tumbling to the floor, a quick boot to the head turned out the lights for that one. Shane swiveled his gaze, fatigue in his eyes as his right shoulder sagged. He spat a gobbet of blood as he sized up the situation. How many guys had he picked a fight with?

His eyes were drawn to his impromptu partner, who seemed to be brandishing a kitchen utensil as a weapon. His clenched jaw went slack and his mouth opened as if he were about to say something, but instead he closed his mouth and shook his head briefly. In the meantime, another drunken fool had Shane in his sights, rushing across the floor with a loud roaring yell for a battle cry. Without missing a beat, the rogue lifted a tankard from the table beside him and flung it forward. Satisfyingly it clunked right against the madman’s forehead and laid him flat.

In the moment bought, Shane was able to close the gap between himself and Carlisle. The rogue forced a laugh. “Some mess we got here. It’s not quite how I pictured my evening when I left the house.”

[Carlisle "Hartmut"]

"Yes, well, here we are!" Carlisle tilted his head playfully and spread his arms wide in challenge before rushing back into the fray. This time he was more prepared for the thugs. The rogue had managed to knock a few men cold, quite the accomplishment given the conditions. The prince's count was much less impressive: 0.

A swing to the left, whack! A sing to the right, crack! A dodge! And a swing down to the back of the head, thunk! The pirate fell hard. Carlisle's count: 1. Carlisle had little time to check on his impromptu companion but after he made a quick spin and swing of his rolling pin a man shouted in the crowd. "That's enough!" Carlisle and another pirate both stopped just short of swinging at one another again, and as the pirate seemed to stiffen up it was clear who must have been shouting.

The prince slowly turned to see Sharktooth standing with his hands on the table. He must have slammed them down. He probably had splinters now too, the tables weren't exactly in the best of shape. Carlisle dropped the rolling pin and looked calmly at the pirate before confirming the rogue's condition as well.

"I've seen enough of you louts getting bashed around by two, TWO people! How can you expect us to maintain a good reputation when this is happening? Eh? EH!? Damn you all to the seven hells!" He proceeded to flip his table to the side. "What are you fools's names?"

[Edgewind]

“Here we are, indeed.” Shane faced down the encroaching pirates with his full attention, glad to not have to glance over his shoulder constantly. It was nice to have an ally at his back in this, especially now some of the ones he’d downed were picking themselves up for a second go at it. They were surrounded still, sure, but it was a new ballgame with the cavalier and rogue united. A reckless grin spread on Shane’s lips as Sharktooth’s men balked at the prospect of taking the duo on. “Well come on then, you curs! I don’t have all day.”

Two uncertain bearded men took up the challenge, the rogue’s regrets not showing as they flew at him. However, before either of them could launch an offensive, the voice of Sharktooth thundered throughout the room. Neither of the two men dared continue as their captain berated the entire group’s failure at putting down the two upstarts. For the moment, it seemed the fight was on hold if not over completely. Relief washed over the rogue, and he wiped the blood from his face with his wrist. He spit to the side, and turned back toward the furious captain. For what it was worth, he didn’t have many words for the man.

Sharktooth had made a good decision in stopping the fight, Shane surmised as he glanced around. The rogue had given out more than he’d taken, and the pirate bunch were a little worse for wear in comparison. Despite his cockiness though, he wasn’t sure how much longer he’d have held up. Usually when one of these brawls broke out, it was every man for himself. It could have gone better, but it could have been much worse.

Rather than leading off introductions, Shane held back and decided to hear what this newcomer had to say. His own curiosity wasn’t yet slaked.