Destiny's Tears: Zykovian's Sidetrack

[Keia]

Zykovian walked with Lyveria, thinking even to offer her his sword and swordbelt to defend herself if the need came to it. Otherwise, Zykovian would keep an eye out for shops along the way that might have equipment for Lyveria as they made their way to the Labourer's Ward.

Zykovian was first interested in looked at the blood scrawled messages before it got too dark to look at them.

 

[Rystil Arden]

*Zykovian and Lyveria pass through the Grand Bazaar, but not the Merchant's Ward, to get to the Labourer's Ward. There usually aren't too many weapons for sale in the bazaar, but this time, Zykovian catches a glimpse of steel and turns to see a stall that has runic swords, daggers, and other blades of various sizes, in a hodgepodge of different styles.*

*Later, as he reaches the Labourer's Ward, he realises that he doesn't know exactly where the blood scrawled messages are located. He will have to do a bit of quick investigating if he hopes to find them before dark.*

 

[Keia]

Zykovian smiled to Lyveria, then made a quick look through the weapons. "Anything suit you here, my dear?" Zykovian asked. He was only interested if there was something Lyveria definitely wanted or showed an interest in.

OOC: He can't really spend a fortune either, considering he is likely homeless starting after tomorrow.

***

Arriving in the Labourer's Ward, Zykovian glanced around for a quick bit of information. First he looked for runners that he might recognize, either by group or personal experience. IF that failed he was going to head to a tavern and ask about, to most likely the barkeep, with a coin or two to help his memory.

 

[Rystil Arden]

"Not in such a way that you should spend your money on me, no. I typically fight with a Praetorian Battle Lance and a shield, and neither is for sale here."

***

*Zykovian doesn't see any runners right away, so he tries to find the nearest seedy tavern in the impoverished Labourer's Ward, eventually reaching an unnamed place with a rickety sign atop it depicting a mug of some liquid.*

*Moving swiftly through the questionable clientele, Zykovian makes his way to the bar, where he questions the barkeep, the glint of silver quickening the sunken-eyed man's tongue.*

*Zykovian is able to ascertain the location of the nearest blood-scrawled message, down a few blocks in a back-alley.*

 

[Keia]

Zykovian nodded in understanding. He really needed to look into recovering her items at some point - most likely without her presense, though. "Very well," Zykovian replied to the woman with a smile. Nodding to the owner in passing, Zykovian left the store with the Praetorian hand in hand.

***

Zykovian strolled casually out of the tavern after giving his thanks, then hurried to the location that was described. He was wary of an ambush, knowing that the bartender would have no problem selling him out in hoping of getting a larger piece of Zykovian's money pouch. Plus, he wanted to read the Praetorian if that's what it was before the light faded.

 

[Rystil Arden]

*Zykovian is able to find the location after one false start and a minor backtrack. The blood-scrawled message is somewhat obscured by a combination of fading, splatters of mud and garbage, and grafitti intentionally added to the ensemble, perhaps to increase the prestige of the scrawler. Nonetheless, Zykovian can clearly make out that the original blood scrawlings were written in a language he can't read, if they are a language at all, which seems likely based on the way they flow.*

 

[Keia]

Zykovian almost growled in frustration at the wall, and his inability to understand what the woman wrote. Without looking at Lyveria, Zykovian asked, "Can you read what is written here, Lyv?" Unthinking, Zykovian used Lyveria's suggested shorted 'good friends' name.

 

[Rystil Arden]

"No, I cannot. However, accounting for the physical atrophy, the characters seem to bear an 80% resemblance to those found on the Jewel thief's letter. The alphabet would seem to be the same."

 

[Keia]

"Fancinating," Zykovian replied. He considered her words . . . was he prepared to be dealing with someone that worked with true jewel theif . . . possibly. But more importantly, if this woman was harmed by the jewel thief as well, then he felt even more responsible to help out.

"The jewel thief's letter . . . the one found on the dead Mojiin, or another letter?" Zykovian asked. "And did Alire mention the language - or perhaps who translated it for her?"

 

[Rystil Arden]

"It was the one found on the dead Mojiin. I don't remember being told this specifically. However, it occurs to me that your group claimed to have translated it as well. It was some sort of rhyme about dying Mojiin. That said, I doubt there is a connection here other than the language...unless..."