Ties that Bind - Citadel Adbar - Chapter 1 "The best defense is a good offense..."

[GSFRumble]

"An' THEN I knew I was in deep sandstone, an' I sez to meself "Bruggin! 'Nex' time pay more 'tention to orcs with the chantin' and the moanin'!" an' o' course, 'twas still in the midst o' one'er the biggest battles that warren't act'lly called battles inna history o' the Citadel!" Bruggin was in his element; a warm tavern with a handful of listeners and plenty of ale to ease the frustrations that came with being a sword in a quiver of arrows. "But if'n it warren't fer the blessin' o' Clangeddin, I wouldn'ta lived ter tell ye the tale. 'e filled me with renewed vigor, aye! An' I sez to him "M'Lord, thankee fer yor strength!" as I put me father's waraxe inter the belly o' the ugliest warlock I ever set sight upon. An' I cried out "In glorious battle I praise thee, Clangeddin! By the wisdom o' yor beard I am strengthened!" as I spun 'round an' let fly with me maul. An' ye know what happerned t' the hill giant?" Bruggin's eyes widened, and he spread his hands for emphasis before clashing them together with a meaty clap. "'is skull caved in like it were paper. Ach! I spent nigh upon three days fighting it afore I could free me maul from 'is skull's clutches!" Bruggin slapped his thigh and chuckled heartily, regardless of what his companions at table did; he enjoyed the story.

Sighing, he leaned back to stroke his beard, looking curiously at the guard he'd so easily thrown into a wall earlier. Smiling bemusedly, he spoke directly to the guard.

"Y'know, ye ne'er gave me yer name, young'n. But ye clearly knowed of mine..." Bruggin leaned forward a little, elbow on the table as he rested his chin in his palm. "Are ye sure ol' Harbromm dinnae tell ye anythin' aboot the meeting t'morrer? Not even a snatch o' what he wants ol' Bruggin Darkforge fer this time?"

 

[Kyoni]

When Yorlii enters the tavern, she orders a mug and goes to sit im a corner. Reviewing the meeting with "the little one" in her mind, she just pays enough attention to the others in the tavern as to not be surprised by anything...
...until she hears:

"Are ye sure ol' Harbromm dinnae tell ye anythin' aboot the meeting t'morrer? Not even a snatch o' what he wants ol' Bruggin Darkforge fer this time?"

Not showing anything outwardly, she scrutinizes the two dwarves that are talking, carefully but makes sure no one notices this and starts to listen to their conversation...

 

[GSFRumble]

After another hour or so, Bruggin finds himself teetering on the brink of hearty inebriation. Wiping his bleary eyes, frowning, and then smacking the left side of his head sternly, he brings his vision back to the realm of reason, pays for the alchohol consumed by himself and the guard, and leaves, stumping through the streets to his own little "home"; a barracks nearby had several older warriors housed in it, and though most disagreed with Bruggin's attitude at times, they tolerated him better than anyone else, especially one Dwarf named Orlbar Havenfist and his brother Grum, both of them nearly as wild as Bruggin.

Battleragers liked him best, Bruggin reflected as he stowed his maul and axe and bedded down in his bunk.

 

[Kyoni]

Sometimes after the dwarves left, Yorlii also left to get some sleep. The tavern was already pretty empty as it would dawn in a few hours.

 

[gabrion]

The night passes uneventfully for the three of you, and you wake to another cold morning in the Citadel. Many dwarves are already up and about, moving around supplies, running errands, patrolling the streets (in the case of the guards), and generally doing what a race of extremely productive people do in the early morning hours.

For all three of you, the invitation to meet with Harbromm is at the top of your thoughts. You've been employed by others to do many a job in your time (and Bruggin has been contracted many times by Harbromm), but it's always natural to wonder what's kind of interesting task is in store. Of course the only way to find out is to meet with Harbromm...

[sblock=OOC]If you head to the meeting, don't worry about waiting. Some random guard will escort you all to the same meeting room, and when you all are there, I'll move on.[/sblock]

 

[Someone]

Jares gets up early, and as he always does, methodicaly inspects his possesions and reviews his prepared spells, again looking for a better combination of them. But he hopes not to have to use them today, and so he passes to make some practice with the double sword. The room is small, but that´s good since he has to prepare for every condition he´s going to meet. And after 30 minutes of twirling, only a mere hint of a scratch in the table betrays his only mistake.

Time to wash himself, dress and go down, still with time to arrive in time to the appointment. There´s a guard there, and that´s strange since he was supposed to have company. He come out and says to Mouser: "You won´t like where I´m going. Go find some food, we´ll meet later"

 

[GSFRumble]

"When mornin' does coom upon us all,
We rise fr'm bed t' say,
We're ready, willin', anxious'n 'ungry,
To start us a brand new daaaaay..."

Bruggin was kneeling outside, slowing chanting as he braided his immense beard in the dawn's light. The process took about as long as it took to finish the second half of his song in Dwarven, and when he was finished, he stood, uttering the last breaths of prayer to Clangeddin whilst thumping the flats of his battleaxes against his rockhard chest. Striding into the barracks, he lay his weapons out on his bunk and hauled out his locker, donning his mithral full plate reverantly.

Thrusting his battleaxes into loops on his belt, he then tied on his waraxe, and then his maul. Now fully accoutriment-laiden, Bruggin thrust his helm onto his head and made his stumping treaded way to Harbromm's court.

 

[Kyoni]

Yorlii went down after her usual stretching and 'contortion' training to get herself a nice breakfast. Not that she needs it, but she enjoys good food.
So it is dressed as usually (clean functional clothes and her padded armor) that she watches the usual morning activities, waiting for Jares to show up.

[sblock=ooc jares]Yorlii will wait for Jares till about 15 minutes before the meeting and then leave without him if he doesn't show up.[/sblock]

 

[Someone]

waiting for Jares to show up.

[sblock]It´s going to be difficult for both of us to arrive first, since it´s a logical impossibility. Still, Yorlii stood around drinking until late, while Jares went to bed early. I think that gives him the advantage [/sblock]

 

[gabrion]

Jares arrives at the council chambers first and, upon introducing himself, is escorted by a dwarven guard to a small meeting room. The room, like most of the fortress around it, is relatively simple, but finely worked stone. There are no luxaries to be seen, but the wooden chairs are comfortable enough, and with any luck he won't have to wait long.

Shortly thereafter, the guard reappears, this time with another dwarf following him. (I'll leave it to GFSRumble to describe how Bruggin looks/acts upon arrival).

A few minutes after this, yet another arrival comes into the room, the halfling Jares was talking with the day before at the inn. It's a few minutes before noon, and the guard informs you that King Harbromm will be along soon, but in the meantime you all can't help but wonder who your companions in the room might be.

[sblock=OOC] Just to everyone know, chronology will usually be determined simply by posting order. In this case Jares is first, then Bruggin, and finally Yorlii. It makes it easier to use the chronology of the actual posts, so that way we don't have to backtrack.

At this point you all can introduce/describe yourselves, and Harbromm will be along soon to get things rolling (ie I'm working on that post).[/sblock]