It was evening when Kirah, while enroute to another location from her post, walked into Caergoth. She ignored the glares coming from the Solamnic prey and began heading towards the docks. As she passed the market place, then the mage's tower, she paused. She felt... something... draw her back.
Turning, she walked back to the marketplace. She saw, at first, a hooded man speaking briskly to one of the vendors, then further a woman in bright garb. She went to bypass both, but something caught her eye about the man. She paused once more and idly pondered, only a light 'hmmm' escaping her lips as the man glanced at her and greeted her.
She eyed him curiously at first as a glint in the moonlight caught her eye. Then the man's hands. She returned the greeting in neutral tones and asked about the object around his neck. The man got suddenly nervous, stating he did not feel safe discussing it where so many ears may listen in. Only minorly annoyed, Kirah expressed her disposition about would-be assailants in the dark, but conceded to talk to him in a more disclosed location.
Motioning for him to follow as she stated they would leave the city. As they walked past the last vender, Kirah noticed the woman much clearer. She stopped and turned to her.
"Lady Caladon... I heard what the Tower did to you..." the young squire said, a touch of sadness in her voice.
"It was rather painful, and hello to you both."
The two women spoke of the last time they had met, reminisced of their personal past involving the Solamnic guardsmen, a topic of broached by the mention of, at least to the Lady Caladon, Kirah's new uniform. The man yawned, already having been tired from earlier travels.
"I have business to attend with this one," Kirah says plainly, with a touch of sincerity, and bowed with a slight flourish.
"We will see each other again, for certain."
"Very well, safe travels to both of you."
"And you, Lady Caladon... have fun."
Kirah then lead the man out of Caergoth, and south about a league. Striking up conversation along the way about the man...
"So, that collar... is it curst, or what?"
"Not exactly... it's not something I can remove."
"Then, if not by you, then another can, yes?"
"All I know is there is a strong enchantment on it."
"Hmm..." Kirah noticed the encove that housed a seemingly abandoned campsite and began to stride towards it "There
is a place this way that should be secluded enough."
They walked into the camp and sat down on the placed logs. Kirah continued to watch the man closely as he sat.
"Now, then... what is your name, draconian?" she asked pointedly.
"Trent... at least, that is what *they* called me."
"Did they have you from birth, or do you not remember what your parents called you?"
"I... .. wasn't born... I am what they call a... Baaz." Trent seemed cautious.
Kirah just chuckled at him and motioned back towards the wings that stretched out from her shoulderblades. "As am I... and I know a thing or two of servitude..."
"My wings haven't actually grown in... yet..." the Baaz said lightly.
She almost rolled her eyes. "I am sure they will... or they can be restored, Takhisis willing... tell me, Trent... if you think I'm trustworthy enough, that is... what group ails you?"
Trent seemed to sigh and take a deep breath before answering. "Daltigoth... they... still own me... I escaped from them..."
The squire could almost growl. "Hmph... slavers. well, they cannot own what is reclaimed by the Dark Queen... I am Kirah, by the way... Squire of the Lord Knight of the Knights of the Lily."
"Nice to meet you... even if I have never heard of your order."
Kirah almost laughed at that. "The Lily are a regiment of the Knights of Takhisis," she said with a light twitch of the corner of her mouth.
"Ahh, one of Rex's group allies, then."
"Yes... Rex Storm is my Lord Knight. He leads the Lily."
"I have met Aria as well... he, on the other hand... is stubborn as hell. Decent man, just... stubborn." This comment almost made the girl crack into fits of mirth.
"Oh, yes... I can most certainly attest to that," she said, thinking of the skirmish with Chaos. "Tell me... have you thought to join the Knights at all?"
"Mmm... admittedly... not really. I tend to lay low... also, Rex didn't seem to take an interest in me..."
"I see... what training do you have?"
"I was an arena slave... combat training."
"So, the use of martial weapons, then... mind if we have a bout?"
"We can, if you'd like," Trent's words barely got out of his mouth before Kirah stood up and stepped several feet away from the campfire.
"Weapons, or hand-to-hand?" he asked as he got up and moved to stand across from Kirah.
"You pick."
"We can do weapons..."
"As you wish," the squire said, and brandished her bastard sword after strapping her shield to her arm. Trent had done the same, but brandished a flaming axe. "When you're ready, Trent." Kirah took her stance.
"Let's go, then!" the male Baaz said, advancing quickly with a focused discipline.
Trent brought down the axe with a several quick hacking slashes down and across. Kirah, amused by the combination of fury and focus, allowed the first two to strike, and she twisted her blade to parry a third. She countered immediately, glancing just off of Trent's left side, nearly catching the strap to his shield, then drove out, catching the man's arm with a slice that most who faced the five foot eight squire found their arm bitterly mangled. They traded several blows, Trent's glancing off of and striking Kirah's armor with vicious precision... and then the axe started spouting rays of fire.
Oh, that's cute... at least I might get a little warm from this. she thought.
Strike, parry, block, strike, block, strike, parry... the sparring bout went on for several minutes before a decisive blow was struck. Kirah saw an opening, and promptly took it, slashing quickly at Trent's arm, then thrust and slashed across his chest with her blade. This caused Trent to stagger back, breathing heavily. He was heavily wounded and held his hand up to signal his defeat.
Kirah stepped back and sheathed her sword. Something Rex Storm had said to her just days before in a similar sparring session came to mind, and she smirked as she repeated the worlds her Lord Knight told her, "You still have much to learn..." she said coolly. In truth, Trent had managed to push her about as much as she had her lord knight without his armor. "... but your skill is comparable to mine."
Trent chuckled at her assessment. "I am anything, but a slacker."
Kirah barely nodded. "If you wish, I will see if either Lord Storm, or Lady Bushmaster, will be willing to give you trials."
"I... am not ready to swear to anyone at the moment..." Trent's words caused Kirah's eyes to narrow as she studied him. After a moment, her eyebrow arched for just a singular moment.
"Hmm... I see. Well, if you change your mind, seek me out. I will attempt to find a place for you in our ranks."
"I will keep that in mind, thanks..." Trent's word of gratitude waivered as Kirah stepped up to be just within striking distance, a wicked smirk forming on her lips.
"Also... send me a raven if you catch wind of those slavers... I could most definitively have some fun with them."
"I-I will, gladly... less of them chasing me is always good."
"Oh... if I have my way... they all be made an example of."
Trent chuckled and nods. "I hope to do so to them as well... on day..."
Kirah, bored of the talk of the Daltigoth, switched gears. "Now, then... about that collar. Enchanted, yes? What were to happen if another attempted to remove it from your neck?"
Trent, at least to her, seemed to turn pale for the briefest moments. "I have only heard stories... mostly of the captured exploding and being killed," he said.
The image Kirah got in her mind caused her to wince. "So... only the 'owner' may do so safely... unless the magic is dispelled," she said, then continued slowly. "... as loathe as I am to suggest... have you spoken to the mages?"
"The only mages I have seen are a minotaur of the Red... who knows naught about it, but may be looking into it... and a Black that is trying to have Rex assassinated."
Kirah's amber eyes suddenly gain a dark light at the mention of an assassination on her Lord Knight. "A Black Wizard," she said, putting emphasis on the prefered title, "is trying to have Rex Storm, assassinated?"
"Yup."
"Oh... now this... is news, indeed... and I am going to want to sit for this story, if you have more information than that," Kirah moved to one of the three logs and sat down. The news was reeling in her head... a mage of the Black wanted Lord Storm dead... and had actively attempted to hire assassins.
"He asked me to get in contact with some... connections, I had... he bawked when he was told the price would be sixty million steel coin," Trent continued as Kirah moved, the price quoted for Lord Storm's head caught her by surprise as she sat. Surely, such a low amount would be insulting... "thirty up front to even consider the task. He's a gnome, the wizard. Goes by the name Akis. Tried to openly get me to hire the assassins for him, accusing Rex of trying to kill him during the siege on Pax Thrakas. He, of course, did not have the coin to pay the front cost, let alone the rest."
Kirah was still mulling over the sixty million. For certain, Lord Storm deserved a higher price... "Well, well... consider yourself having another notch in my good graces..." she mused, lost in her own thoughts. Gnome wizard... Akis... didn't she meet a gnome mage who said something about the Black about the time she was summoned to join the Knights? Wasn't that the one who got so pissed off when called a gnome? "So... not only is he foolish, but craven as well... hmph... that rather sums up the majority of mages I've known for any length of time..."
Trent piked up another tidbit of information, that extinguished the almost excited light in her eyes immediately. "He's also into child workhouses and slavery," he said, and to Kirah the tone seemed borderline jovial.
Her face darkened, her eyes becoming like burnt amber. "Is... that... so?" she breathed, Trent nodded, giving a simple 'mhmm' in response. "Well, well... the intent to go after my Lord Knight was reason enough... but this is the icing on the cake..." Kirah had a personal target, now... and it would become truly second only to the Vision. "could you do a likeness of this wizard?" the last world was nearly spat like venom.
Trent seemed bemused at the request. "Do a likeness? He's the only gnome wizard in the Black; summoning demons to his beck and call when he fights." Kirah could only chuckle and nod, her face a mask of dread musing.
"Then... the hunt should be easy enough. Demons, hmph. Their fires aren't even hot enough to get springs hot enough to be comfortable in... Hells! The red dragons the Chaos sent a few weeks back was barely a warm bath!!"
"Then, I am sure you will enjoy your hunt," Trent's words seemed from another place to the squire.
"Oh, I will take a most... peculiar pleasure... in dismembering him," she said, her voice had an almost demented kind of joy to it as she thought of where she would begin with the gnome.
Trent seemed to watch Kirah as he spoke, "I will be happy to know when it's done, if you don't mind."
Kirah could almost laugh a haughty, neigh-possessed, laugh. She forced herself to simply show her dark mirth with a grin just as dark. "You will be the second... or third... raven I'll send for."
"Thank you," Trent replies, then adruptly yawns.
"A pleasure..." Kirah says as she forces herself back to present matters. "... the good news is that I believe there is a
mage within the High Tower's ranks that have a good raport with the Knights... I'll have to remember her name, and send a raven to see if she can disenchant that collar."
"I would appreciate it," Trent replied
"Consider it... an advanced payment of security," Kirah said coolly.
"That's always helpful."
"Well... our, shall we say, personal?, business is concluded... and you look like you're about to fall over where you stand. Go, get rest. Either in Caergoth, or with your associates."
"Take care, then, Kirah... I look forward to hearing from you."
"And I... look forward to giving you the news..." she replied, thinking 'of that miserable, wretched, knee-high little maggot-eating shit stain of a mage's demise'.
Trent seemed to know what she meant; "... as I look forward to hearing it," he said, as he briskly walked away.
Kirah only waited a few moment before leaving the campsite. She had to get this information to Lord Storm, and to Lady Bushmaster... she debated informing Aria, seeing as the Lord of the Night might send Akame to deal with the magus. And, while Kirah did have a respect for the other squire, and perhaps just a hint of something else, the Baaz did not want this mark to not be hers. She shook her head as she nearly glided over the ground, heading back to Caergoth.
I have to find and meet up with Lady Bushmaster... now even more than ever. If she doesn't refuse to give me my tests... I always seem to see her near Haven... I'll break off from the Port for a short time, and hope I come across her as I travel between the Keep and Haven. she thought.
As she reached Ceargoth again, she absentmindedly ignored all of the looks she got, shoving past a kender without truly paying attention, gliding nearly through another of Caergoth's civilians, and finally flooring a guardsman that stepped up to her to confront her about her single-mindedness. She ignored it all, her body shoving the guard to the ground only by instinct. She approached the shipwright. "Take. Me. To. Newport." was all she said before shoving a pouch of coin into the captain's chest and going below deck.
After several minutes, as the ship was casting off, she came back to the deck and glared at the captain. "You will not disturb me, unless we come under attack... and even then, I may gut you like the fish you are," she commanded.