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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 7000895" data-attributes="member: 20323">[SBLOCK=Najiyah]It is evident that Derafsh has aspirations beyond common banditry or blindly serving a tyrant like the former Sultan. Yet he's also the sort of man used to double-talk and innuendo, and even his most candid confession could seem ingratiating and silver-tongued. While he does seem to feel genuine guilt for some of his past actions, his concern over his brother's salvation seems a bit played up to Najiyah...who knows how to spot a performance when she sees one. It's clear to Najiyah there's some kind of bad blood between the two.[/SBLOCK][SECTION][align=left]http://i.imgur.com/rNCBfLQ.jpg[/align]Still bound, the strange man gapes a bit at Najiyah's conclusion that the treasure is immaterial except insofar as it causes strife. However, slowly he nods in silent sober agreement. His second mouth at the back of his head purses its lips as if in disapproval or consternation. "It's true I aspire to more than clemency, but for a man to make his way in Tajar first he must not be reviled as a traitor. He must have a chance to rise on his own merit. I can't go chasing apricots before I can climb a fence." Derafsh's proverb is one heard among the al-Badia, meaning roughly 'first things first.'Clearing his throat, Derafsh smacks his dry lips, and squints his eyes at the visage of Akilah superimposed in front of one of the ever-burning braziers. "My kin lack the proper vision, shackled to the memory of the Sultan and our moment of greatness. You see, they still think of themselves as cursed wretches. Forgive me, I neglected to tell of how we came to be bandits not out of a desire to deceive you," he says with a voice made raspy from a parched throat even as his second mouth enunciates the word 'deceive' with gusto, "but because once people know the truth they take pity on us. My father and his father before him were cursed by a great saher (sorcerer) for laughing at the saher's misfortune; they and their offspring were cursed to wander the deserts finding no welcome in the cities of this land, cursed with a voiceless mouth which none would trust. And so none would take me as doorman, as guide, nor even porter. But banditry? That my siblings and I were surpassing good at." There is a look of relish in his amber eyes, though it fades quickly as he furrows his brows again, as if attempting to dissuade himself from dwelling on a past long-gone.After weighing Akilah's caution, Derafsh licks his lower lip and swallows. "Loyalty should not be easily placed, you are right, vizier. We put our loyalty in the Sultan and look what it cost us. Traitors, those not stoned to death left reviled and remanded to the shadows like rats. No, I have no need of status. The Sheikh has no reason to trust me, nor I him. Only a chance to make our own fortunes in Tajar without concern for the Sheikh's guards hounding us or the people driving us from the gates. Is it so much to ask?"[/SECTION][SBLOCK=Salahuddin]As Easifa floats over to peer down the alley, Salahuddin sees two figures in the shadows conversing with the man about Derafsh. They are wearing dark silk headdresses and veils over worn and weathered leather smith's aprons. One is a tall man with a jutting lower jaw and eyes that nearly glow a ruddy hue. The other is a tall woman with elongated forearms and pinpoints of crimson light in her eyes. They are discussing Derafsh's recent behavior and the morale of the others in "the family" in low conspiratorial voices. A cursory scan of the courtyard and adjoining alleys by Easifa reveals a few urchins playing a game with colored white and black stones, and a few drunks leaving the "House of the Oud", but no other suspicious looking men.Easifa Wisdom (Perception) check <a href="http://roll.coyotecode.net/lookup.php?rollid=149049" target="_blank">_: 1D20+3 = [20]+3 = 23</a>[/SBLOCK]</blockquote>

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