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Coming Home...

Vershawn

Adventurer
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
A steady rain fell upon the young man as he rode slowly through the streets of a mostly slumbering Britain. Few windows remained lit at this hour, and the man quietly made his way through the darkened city. He paused under a streetlamp and carefully removed a piece a paper from under his cloak. Unfolding it, he began to read the letter for the hundredth time;

Master Rheneas,

Your father has passed. I know you two were never close but I thought you should know.
Please seek me out when you receive this letter, you know where you can find me.


-Koen

Rheneas prodded his horse onward. He had a pretty good guess where he would find Koen at this hour, and nudged his horse towards the west side of the city.

When Rheneas arrived outside the Mining Guild building, a lone light beckoned through one of the windows. Some things never change, Rheneas thought to himself as he slid off his horse. Making his way up the stairs he wondered why he even came back. He had left without a goodbye, with little else but the clothes he was wearing at the time. His father made it clear what it meant to leave. Rheneas paused at the door, fighting the urge to leave. Shaking his head, he knocked on the door. After a few moments the door slowly creaked open and a man with a grizzly beard poked his head around the door.

“Not very smart openin’ the door without askin’ who’s callin’,” Rheneas casually remarked. The man eyes lit up upon seeing Rheneas’ face.

“Master Ren! I knew it!” Koen swung open the door wildly, “Do come in!”

*******************************************
“Well there it is,” Koen huffed as he pointed at the building, “at least what’s left of it.”
DeWinter burned office.jpg
Rheneas stared at what remained of his father’s business. “Not quite how I remember it,” he said dryly. “Old Man Galafan went an’ burned down his house, huh?” called out Rheneas as he wandered through the burnt out building.

“What? No, my boy, it burned down after his death.” Yelled Koen, “Two days later actually.”

Rheneas made a face, that doesn’t make any sense he thought. He made his way to the room formerly known as his father’s office and stared at the charred remains of a large desk. He heard Koen come in behind him. “What started the blaze?” Rheneas asked.

“We don’t rightly know, it just went up,” Koen snapped his fingers, “like that.”

Rheneas knelt beside the desk and reached under one of the lower drawers. “Still there.” Rheneas said mostly to himself.

“What’s still there?” Koen said looking confused.

“Old Man Gal’s ledger, he always kept it hidden.” Rheneas said as he stood up. “Pretty burnt though,” he gingerly flipped through a few pages, “but still fairly readable.”

“Odd,” remarked Koen, “we found his ledger on his person when he died.”

Rheneas shrugged, “He probably kept a backup, he always lost things when he drank.” Rheneas motioned to Koen as he began walking out of the ruins. “Speakin’ of, do you have his personal items somewhere?”

“Of course Ren,” Koen replied, “I have ‘em back at the Guild hall.”

The two men began the walk back to the city proper. “You know; Mulligan owes me a purseful of gold because of you.” Koen smirked.

Rheneas looked confused, “What possibly for?” he replied.

“He bet me you wouldn’t show up, and I really thought he may have been right for how long it took you.” Koen said questioningly.

“The courier only found me a week ago,” Rheneas replied solemnly, “I wasn’t trying to be found.”

“Ah, well, it is good to see you my boy, considering the circumstances.” Koen nodded to himself as he quickly changed the subject, “How long will you be staying anyhow?”

Rheneas looked up at the grey sky, “Honestly not sure, long enough to get my father’s affairs in order I guess. Oh an’ take the Antebella with me.” He nodded his head knowingly.

Koen coughed sharply, “About that…”

Rheneas stopped short, narrowing his eyes at Koen he slowly spoke, “What about that?”

“She went missing sometime after your father passed, set sail for Skara Brae and, well and after that I never heard from her crew.” Koen replied nervously. “My contacts in Trinsic haven’t seen her down that way either.

Rheneas stood there blinking. “You lost the Antebella?!” he said incredulously.

*******************************************

Rheneas stepped off the ferry and looked around the bustling docks of Skara Brae. The sun had begun its descent on the horizon, and he figured no answers would be found this evening. A loud gurgle echoed from his stomach. Besides I haven’t eaten in an hour or so, he thought. Rheneas was about to ask a dock hand for a place to eat when he noticed a bulletin tacked to a nearby post. He pulled off the paper and read:

Pirates have been seen along the coast near Skara Brae and many Shenanigans have been going on within Skara these days ...lets settle these guys down and serve them pie and riddles at the Shattered Skull Tavern.

Interesting
he thought, maybe he could scrape up a few clues to his own set of riddles. Rheneas shrugged, at least there would be pie.
 

Vershawn

Adventurer
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Koen was working late as usual when he heard a soft knock on Guild Hall’s door. Mumbling, he pushed his weary body out of his chair and headed towards the door. He slowly pulled open the heavy door and poked his head through to greet his visitor. A large hand shot through the opening and grasped Koen by the neck and heaved him off the floor. The man slowly pushed the door open and calmly walked in while holding Koen a good foot off the floor.

Koen desperately clawed at the giant of a man’s hands, trying to gain some purchase in order to release the vise-grip on his throat. Two hooded figures stepped from behind the goliath, the tallest stepped forward and threw back their hood revealing long curly black hair and pale green eyes.

“I do believe someone warned you about opening doors to strangers?” she asked mockingly. Koen could only gurgle nonsensically, his bulging eyes tearing up from the pressure on his throat. The woman smiled coolly, “Mateo do give him some air, yes?” The hulking man relinquished his hold slightly. A rush of oxygen greeted Koen’s starving lungs.

“I... I…did everything you asked...” Koen gasped.

“I’m aware.” The woman remarked flatly. “What concerns me is your resolve.” Koen stared at the man holding him, he was bereft of armor and only wore a tunic and pants. His visible skin was a pallid grey and covered with a mess of wicked looking scars. The woman seated herself at Koen’s desk and rifled through his papers. “Writing to someone?” she asked while holding a piece of parchment.

“It’s not what you think…it’s…” Koen wheezed before the woman quickly cut him off.

“No, it is exactly what I thought,” she snapped while reading over the letter. “you couldn’t keep to our bargain, a shame really.” The woman seemed to ponder something for a moment. She took and blank piece of parchment and began writing and referring back to Koen’s letter. Koen looked around the room for the second hooded person. The figure stood rigidly by the door, the hood still obscured most of the face but Koen could make out a pair of feminine lips and a blond tendril of curly hair protruding from the hood. He judged her to be fairly young based on her size. The woman, still writing remarked casually, “Do not concern yourself with her Koen.” Then looking pleased with her work she took a fresh parchment from the desk and began to pen a new letter. Koen continued to stare at the shadows dancing on the young girls concealed face, as she seemed to have an air of familiarity about her he could not place.

“There, finished.” The woman’s soft voice snapped Koen back to reality. She stood and walked over to Koen and held the paper up to his face. “What do you think?” Koen stared horrified at the letter. His own handwriting stared back at him. “Fantastic skill to have really, extremely useful.” She drew out her last two words in a slow menacing whisper. “Well, I’ll make sure your letter gets to its intended recipient, as for you….” She stared icily at the dangling man.

“What will he think of all this?” Koen sputtered, as he noticed himself staring at the hooded girl again. So familiar, why can’t I place her?

“You assume much Koen,” the woman replied as she held Koen’s letter and her practice paper to a nearby candle’s flame. Suddenly Koen knew why the girl was so familiar to him. It couldn’t be he thought, there is no way… The woman made a sharp gesture to the hulking man.

Koen looked astonished, it was almost like looking at a young…a sharp crack echoed across the room followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the floor. The woman smiled, and tossed the burning papers into the hearth.
 
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