Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-17114085-20151005194811/@comment-5583506-20151009005207

Rikki felt anxious about the whole idea of letting Pierre out of her sight with that other woman. What was her purpose? What was her deal? All she knew was that she had been stalking them, but for what? What was her motivation? It all felt rather suspicious and until Rikki got some fair answers from her she would consider their alliance dubious.

She looked down into the empty bowl of stew, letting out a sigh. It wasn't just because of that other woman that put Rikki on the edge. She had found herself to have fallen unluckily in love with Pierre and at the same time her other true love was taken captured by a Half-God. It was all enough to make her head spin. She hadn't felt this cornered with problems ever since... ever since back in those days...

"Can I get you anything else?" asked the innkeeper.

"N-no", murmured Rikki and gently pushed the bowl to the side. She wasn't even hungry for Sweetrolls at this point.

The innkeeper nodded and took away the empty bowl and at the same time the door to the inn swung wide open and six men entered, discussing among themselves. Chainmails and leather armor. Armor value fit for street thugs, ruffians and thieves... Rikki would know...

There was a Breton, an Imperial, a couple of Nord twins, a Redguard and one Khajiit. It wasn't the cold wind that swept in through the open door that made Rikki's blood curdle and freeze, it was the look of the Khajiiti male's face.

''You've got to be kidding with this one... Why here? Why here of all places?! Why now?!''

Rikki leaned her chair back against the wall behind her, trying to blend in and look as insignificant as possible. She recognised the Khajiit well enough. Ar'Jadhi was his name. He was supposedly some big smuggler king her husband had gotten to know in Elsweyr, and they had regularly made some foul deals, preying upon the local populace via extortion and threats. What he was doing so far up north was beyond her knowledge. She could only pray that he wasn't one of those her husband had sent after her. He knew all too well what she looked like. He had attended her wedding. He wasn't a pleasant person, even moreso when drunk. Something she had had the dismay of experiencing first hand on the wedding feast, when he had grabbed her by the waist and forced his tongue down her mouth, giving the bride what he had called "an early deflowering", causing the whole dining hall to burst with laughter. Even her husband had laughed at the cruel jest. Ar'Jadhi was also fully aware of her orientation, something which he had apparently strongly disliked had thus taken his chances to ridicule her further whenever he could. Such as stepping on her wedding gown until it tore, or fondling her out in the open where all the other guests could see, giving them the impression that it was all just "a naughty act". Rikki had been forced to keep her mask on all the time during that time. She had been among enemies. The whole wedding consisted entirely of people from her husband's side, and her father... her father... he had just stood idly by. Heaving drink after drink, as per usual.

And now Ar'Jadhi was here... in the flesh... But even though it seemed that he wasn't on the lookout specifically for her, he knew her face well-enough. Chances were that if he saw her, he would capture her and bring her back to her husband... or claim her for himself... Whatever he chose it wouldn't end well for her. Her best guess was that he was here in Dawnstar for some shady business, presumably smuggling overseas...

"Hey, Ar'Jadhi", said the Breton and signaled for the innkeeper to bring him some stew. "This shipment of yours. How much is its worth?"

"Quiet down", hissed Ar'Jadhi and sharpened his stare into the Breton's eyes. "You honestly think Khajiit is so stupid that he will tell you things like that out in the open?"

"Take it easy", said the Breton and rubbed his temple. "I was only wondering. I didn't come all the way from Skingrad just to find out that the cargo contains som useless Dwemer junk. The boss back home certainly wouldn't enjoy such a deal."

The Khajiit sighed in frustration. "Ar'Jadhi can promise you as much that it has nothing to do with cheap stuff like that. Think more heavier. But that's all this one is saying for now. Speaking of deals, this one just made a new deal with some Breton in Solitude."

"Oh?" The Breton began to eat his stew as the men leaned closer in over the table.

"But this is off the record and the contract, so to speak", said Ar'Jadhi sternly. "This has nothing to do with my deals on the contracts. This is for my own personal gain, but there might however be cuts to go around for the rest of you if you help Khajiit out with some contacts here and there."

"As long as this deal doesn't involve us backstabbing our bosses back home, you can trust me with anything, Ar'Jadhi", said the Breton.

"Good, because as of now Khajiit is rounding up a few good men all over Tamriel to hunt down some people on behalf of this... friendly chap."

Even though Rikki found the whole conversation to be interesting her only thought was that she hoped that Pierre would come back soon so that she could leave this place as quickly as possible.

"What kind of people are we talking about?" asked one of the Nords.

Ar'Jadhi smirked. "Half-Gods."

"Half-Gods?"

The Khajiit nodded and chuckled. "Apparently this Breton, a tall, strapping fellow, with black hair and clear blue eyes, wants to create himself some sort of kingdom. But in order to do so he wants to come in contact with people of 'particular talents' as he called them. He wants Ar'Jadhi to round up men and capture these Half-Gods alive and bring them back to him. One Half-God equals a shipfull of gold. Something this man apparently has a lot of."

"I am in", said the Imperial with a smug, wet smile.

"But... Half-Gods..." said the Redguard with hesitation in his voice. "Aren't they like... all powerful and all that?"

"Not for long", said Ar'Jadhi. "That's why this one is so eager to see what's in those crates the shipment brings in."

"But then... you are betraying the deal?" said one of the Nords with anger in his voice. "You brought us here to strike a deal between you and our masters considering what was in that shipment of yours!"

"Yeah, I only agreed as long as it didn't have to involve me betraying my boss in Skingrad", hissed the Breton. "You have tricked us, Ar'Jadhi! You bastard!"

The Khajiit slammed his fist into the table. "You people are the most thick-headed sons of whores Khajiit has ever encountered. Didn't you listen to a word of what this one said? This plan is in global motion. Right now, Khajiit has sent words to hundreds of men out there to prepare for a Half-God hunt, in which each captured Half-God means a shipfull of gold. Each Half-God, gentlemen. Now how many Half-Gods do you think are out there? Quite a lot, this one likes to believe. Now imagine if we manage to capture each and every one of them and bring them back to this Breton guy. He gives us a shipfull of gold for each captured Half-God, that's far more than your bosses would have earned on that paltry sum of that other deal which is now utterly defunct."

The mens' expressions seemed to softened somewhat. "It's... not a bad plan", said the Imperial. "Sure, we may have been tricked to come here. But it's all for a good reason, right?"

Ar'Jadhi nodded. "Of course. I didn't get this position by screwing other smugglers over. If anything, I got this position because I knew where they would be looking for better deals."

"So... We will hunt down Half-Gods? How?"

"Patience", said Ar'Jadhi and made a gesture for the men to calm themselves. "First we wait for that shipment. Let's just say it contains some... practical anti-Half-God equipment which you could send to your masters and tell them to replicate."

"You mean that... there is some sort of secret weapon?"

"Khajiit wouldn't be so blunt as to call it a weapon", shrugged the smuggler king and licked his lips. "Moreso a... tool."

The men all exchanged stares, as if they were wondering whether or not to go through with this deal. It was huge. Smugglers, thugs, ruffians and other lowlife world-wide, united to work in the shadows in order to capture Half-Gods.

"I'm in", said the Breton. "I have to bring this message back to my boss."

"Yeah, same here", said the Nord twins in unison.

The Redguard nodded vaguely.

"Yes", declared the Imperial.

"Good", smirked Ar'Jadhi. "As soon as the shipment arrives, you will each receive a copy of the contents to bring back to your masters. Tell them to spend whatever they can on replicating the contents and we should be in on this globally, lining our pockets with the shiniest of gold."

The men clashed their flagons together in celebration of the sealed deal, while Rikki stared at them in sheer terror.

Pierre, she pleaded, please come back...