DAWW: Mercenaries

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Veli Alvar
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DAWW: Mercenaries

Post by Veli Alvar »

`You're out of your mind! This is nothing less than extortion and I will not stand for it! Let the Duke take his chances with his military. Hiring you thieves is not worth the cost, especially when we don't even have the ability to trust you.`

The Irish emissary was aflame with disbelief. Leonhard and his Band had asked for a much too generous donation, it seemed. The emissary had come with two bodyguards, one a captain of the Duke's military, to a discrete meeting place deep in the woods. It was dark, the only light seeping through the dense forestation was that of the moon. The emissary was outfitted in elegant noble attire, a deep sea green with golden outlines. His bodyguards outfitted in deep sea green armour with white capes, the captain helmetless and fixated on the conversation more than the other guard.

Leonhard gave a look that was unfazed, as always. The look he gave the emissary was condescending indeed, one of a superior standing. `'Thieves', that is quite the presumption. You, who lives comfortably and cozy within the confines of a castle, perhaps with your own land even, would dare question the price of our efforts, that is laughable. When I see you, all I see is a meek little person, deluded into thinking he is worth more than he actually is.` the Shadow Lord said with a short, deep, insulting chuckle.

Leonhard was massive, 6'4" in height and surrounded in a deep black cloak with the glyph of Mars right on the front. The cloak hid under it massive black steel plates with white trims, armour that would embarrass even the most noble of knights. The wolf-head helmet he sported only served to intimidate, as very few of his facial features were visible beyond it. What could be seen were his different coloured eyes and the cold expressions they made.

The emissary growled with anger and turned around to face his bodyguards. `Let us be gone from this filthy animal! The Duke deserves protection from much better than these low-class roaches. I don't understand what the big idea is getting help from these thugs. There are far more mercenaries to hire, better than his kind.` he said, walking away. Though, as he reached the captain, the captain stopped him in his tracks. `Take their offer. You don't know what they are capable of but I do. Take them on it. They always honour their duties. I have worked with them a couple of times before, on personal issues. You won't get better than them; at least, nowhere close to here.` the captain told the emissary who gave him a disgusted look.

Leonhard turned on his heel and began to walk away, a sign for his companions, the Fenrir Hakon and the Fianna Aoife to follow him. As he took a few paces forward he heard a yell. `Twenty thousand gold coin! That's where we will sit our offer!` it was the emissary. `Thirty thousand.` Leonhard responded, continuing to walk away. The emisarry let out a frustrated groan as he looked over to the captain who in turn nodded. `Fine! We will do thirty thousand!` he yelled as he muttered `Damn twat.` under his breath.

The Shadow Lord turned back around and headed towards the trio holding out his clawed gauntlet. `Fifteen up front.` Leonhard said, with not a shred of emotion in his voice. The emissary grumbled as he turned to the other bodyguard whom brandished a small chest where the coins were. The emissary grabbed it from him, a heavy thing, as he walked over to Leonhard and instead of placing it in his massive gauntlet, dropped it on the ground before him. `You falter even in the slightest and the deal is done. As well as your life!`

The emissary was bold indeed, bringing out the coldest, dead gaze from Leonhard as he stared at him. The Shadow Lord knew that with just a single stroke of his gauntlet, the smaller man would be pulverised. The emissary was a frail being, his ego only being swelled because of his noble status. In a one-on-one, he didn't stand a chance against Leonhard in any universe. In fact, it would be a surprise if he even lasted 15 seconds.

Leonhard could only chuckle in the most demeaning way possible, treating the emissary like a child. `It's a good thing you listened to the actual warrior among you 3. Captain McMillan knows what true battle is like. A glorified letterboy such as you,` the Shadow Lord said, stopping mid-sentence to chuckle. `You are clueless. Captain, we will see you first thing in the morning.` Leonhard said, raising the ire of the sensitive emissary who brandished his sleek blade. `Why, you!` he cried out but the captain held him back. `Don't be foolish. Mercenary, we will see you in the morning!` he said, effortlessly holding back the frail, egotistical emissary.

The Shadow Lord picked up his chest, turned on his heel and laughed as he disappeared into the darkness with his Bandmates. `They have no idea. This is such easy money.
A good chance for you two,`
Leonhard said, glancing towards Hakon and Aoife momentarily. `To revel in some bloodshed. Let's head back to camp and prepare.`
Veli Alvars tattoos: :ahroun: (left shoulder) :fenris: (left bicep) :nerigal: (right shoulder) :alpha: (right bicep)
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Keira Kelly
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Re: DAWW: Mercenaries

Post by Keira Kelly »

A quiet chuckle came from behind and slightly to the side of the massive armoured figure of the mercenary leader. Aoife inghean Uí Cathail was a good foot shorter and considerably leaner, especially as she was more lightly armoured, than Leonhard. Many had underestimated the pale, ginger-haired Irish-woman with the piercing green eyes in the past; they had underestimated her and the lucky ones had managed to crawl away still breathing. Wearing black, fitted leather chest armour, black pants and a dark green shirt beneath the armour, the only thing that really stood out about Aoife in the darkness of the forest was her face, giving her an almost ghostly appearance in the low light. She snorted a laugh again at hearing the emissary reject their price, calling them all thieves. Such an insult would probably have pushed some in their band over the edge but, she had to admit to herself, there had been times where she had been forced to thieving to survive.

What she didn't like though was the emissary's derision of the warband's capabilities. What were any human forces in comparison to Garou, who were born to fight? Then again, the poor little sheep was properly behind the veil so what would this amadáin know. Her face showed nothing but contempt. If this sheep walked away, maybe it was for the better. Let his Duke and himself get killed relying on inferior help. She had no sympathy for her kinsmen. Her own people, her own town, had driven her off because of she had been different. She doubted any of these would have treated her any better. What she didn't like to see was the payday walking away though and was pleased when the one human they had had dealings with before stopped the emissary.

Finally the deal was agreed to, after the captain had done some talking to the duke's emissary but the man had the nerve to further insult them yet again. This time, Aoife wasn't going to let it slide, especially since it seemed the Shadow Lord was going to. She had a hand on one of her daggers at her hip but didn't pull it. She just leaned closer towards the emissary, her eyes dark in the shadows. "We never falter... Da blood of ar' enemies on ar' blades proves dat." she replied venomously. She was about to threaten back when she saw Leonhard glance back at her in warning. She sighed, backing off.. slightly, but continuing to glare in the emissary's direction. She couldn't help but smile when she realized the reason for Leonhard stopping her; he had wanted to do it himself. As long as the sheep learned a lesson. Unfortunately though, the captain once again held back the fool.

When Leonhard picked up the first part of their payment and turned off, Aoife followed suit, catching up to the Shadow Lord, looking over at the heavy chest. Once they were fairly out of earshot of the humans, she nodded her head towards it. "Do you t'ink we should be checking inside, Leonhard?" she asked. "Make sure dat d'ere is really fifteen t'ousand in d'ere?" She shrugged. "Oi' mean, it looks heavy en'ugh but.. dat emissary was a little worm." She realized that if the man wanted the Hounds of Mars working for them, he would have paid them honestly but from what she had gathered, had it been his choice, their mercenary band wouldn't have even been considered. He could have been looking to make trouble. Probably not but she still carried a deep distrust of normal humans.

It had been a bit of a span since they had last had a job promising to pay this good and Aoife welcomed that almost as much as the potential for a good fight. At least she hoped so. Suddenly, she ground to a halt, putting a hand out to catch the Shadow Lord's arm, and her other arm out to stop the others with them. Slowly and quietly, she slipped her bow off her shoulder and quickly nocked an arrow, aiming ahead of them. She paused for barely a moment before letting it fly into the darkness. There was a strangled squeak sound and then silence. She jogged forwards, following the trail the arrow had taken. Returning back to the others, she carried a hare, her arrow clean through the creature. "Dinner!" she said with a smug grin, holding up the carcass as they all resumed walking. It wasn't much even for just their pack but it could add a bit to whatever was being prepared.
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rivaan
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Re: DAWW: Mercenaries

Post by rivaan »

Kosara wasn't really too happy to be the one left in camp, but all things considering if there was one person you needed to keep in safer location and not just let to wander about it was the healer in this case her. She wore a gray washed out robe on top of her shirt and pants. Her hair black like raven feathers was tied on high tail that just about reached the tip of her shoulders. She didn't have the longest hair, but it was enough for her. She was currently just sitting on a piece of leather by her things. All the herbs and tools she used in both her tasks as healer and as a theurge. The noise of the other people from the mercenary group were getting on her nerves though as she was trying to focus on maintaining her bow while she waited for Leonhard to return with the others.

She let out a sigh as she rolled her eyes, notched an arrow and pulled it to test her bow. It seemed to be holding up rather well, but she needed some new arrows. Hers were while well maintained also, pretty worn out and old. There was a limit on how much you could reuse arrows. The main problem were the arrowshafts which with time got weaker because the wood just slowly decayed and would rot.

When she was done with her bow, she pulled a whetstone to sharpen her knives. She had time to kill until everyone's back together so she might as well prepare everything while she had the time to do so.
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Re: DAWW: Mercenaries

Post by Ghaz »

Hakon had smirk on his face the entire time during this arrangement. The Fenrir was 6'4 in height with red hair and a braid in the back. The Fenrir wore leather armor with emblem of the fenrir on his chest with fur around his neck, he also had a cape made out of bear fur. The Fenrir held a shield with and axe in his left hand and two axe's in his belt. Hakon was always ready for anything to happen so he could get some action. The Fenrir always enjoyed a good fight even if it was only sparing with his companions. He didn't care for the gold he got on the end because all he desires is a good fight.

Hakon listened intently to the conversations waiting to see if they would agree or not. While listening to the emissary all he could think about was how quickly he could kill him but the thought of it soon passed since he realized that there would be no good fight in it. The Fenrir didn't bother talking since he knew the Shadow Lord has everything under control. When he saw the Shadow Lord turn about and began to walk he quickly turned around with him and began to walk away with the others. When he heard the man say the amount of money Hakon just kept on walking knowing that they were going to get the job.

While walking with his companions he listened to his companions talk before thinking to himself 'I hope we are going to get at least a decent fight during this job.' He stopped when the others did watching Aoife release and arrow and just watched her go in the direction she fired the arrow. The Fenrir looked at Leonhard saying "Do you think we will get into a decent fight cause I have been itching to get into a good fight!" When Aoife returned with a hare the Fenrir quickly gave her nod then continued walking.
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Re: DAWW: Mercenaries

Post by Veli Alvar »

The Shadow Lord gave a glance towards Aoife and back to the small chest in his gauntlet, full of coins that rattled as he took every step. `If there isn't 15,000 in here like it was agreed upon then we will simply keep whatever is in here and cancel the job. Judging by the weight there has to be, at the very least, 10,000 in here. With that we can afford many provisions and gear, without having to hunt for them ourselves. Hell, with that amount we could easily even acquire a property of our own so we don't have to always rely on our caravans. They can work as storage and resting points. It is the biggest job we have had thus far.` Said Leonhard as the trio continued to walk through the dense, dark forest back to their camp.

There was truth to his words; with that amount of coin they could consider themselves quite a bit below wealthy. Not even the hardest working commoner could attain that amount of coin in a year, here they were earning it in just mere seconds, without a single slash of a sword to speak of. It could serve for them to make better establishments for themselves and grow larger, eventually becoming a force that even the Nation would have to agree is one to reckon with. `If we keep working like we have until this point, the money is almost endless.` he said as a subtle praise to his comrades. Indeed, everyone in the Band was talented, this trio moreso, though they were all relegated to outcasts of the Garou Society. They laid quite literally on the fringes, the smallest screw-up rendering their exit complete. Leonhard, however, sought to prove that the Nation was far too strict and judgemental. Garou are still part mortals which gives them the capacity for mistakes, some larger than others.

Leonhard himself was known as the 'Sept-Killer', notoriously. Since that time, however, when he was much younger, he has learned a great deal. It is true that no Sept with clear sanity would allow one known as the 'Sept-Killer' among their ranks but they have not taken into account that Garou grow and learn as well as everybody else. That experience has shaped Leonhard into what he is and has bestowed him an iron will unimaginable, almost unbreakable. Even in the face of almost certain death the Shadow Lord merely glared into the eyes of his would-be killers and ready his blades, without a shred of emotion to be shown. With the work of the Hounds of Mars, however, he would prove to the Nation that these 'outcasts' would serve, possibly, even better than those whom had remained deeply rooted into the Society since their conception. Gaia cherishes all of her protectors and even she understood that sometimes her children made mistakes.

The Shadow Lord stopped in his tracks at Aoife's touch as she swiftly brandished her bow and disposed of quite a large hare in just mere seconds. The Fianna must have been part-eagle, thought Leonhard, for the sheer swiftness and powerful eyesight she possessed. `Impressive. Good for maybe 3, 4 meals.` he said, continuing to walk the path back to their camp. Leonhard cherished the differences in his Bandmates, the passionate, no holds-barred nature of his Fianna Beta and the fiery, aggressive nature of Hakon. As he was the coolest of the 3, there was barely any action he had to take himself, as his Bandmates were ready to pounce at the drop of a hat. Yet another consequence of his past mistake that he had learned. His other, more discriminating tribal mates would see these allies as reckless and actually put themselves above them. As outcasts, however, they were equals. Leonhard merely managed everyone. It was nice that they considered him their true leader but he did not see himself as above them.

`You will get a decent fight, Hakon, more than so. The Duke we are to escort is quite hated. I have no doubt that there will be ambush parties set up on the path to his doctor. Easy ambush for you two to thwart.` Leonhard said with a short, deep, dark chuckle as they just reached the camp.

There was a fire set up in the centre of the trees and the Bands caravans had been set up just around the outer edges. Sitting around the fire were 3 Garou. Two of them were Metis siblings, just one year apart. The poor suckers had sadly been practically exiled for the mere circumstances of their births. both were Fianna Ahroun. One, the oldest, was deep red of fur, though with a missing eye, a black patch over it; he was Cyclops. The other, his brother, was of red fur but not as deep nor bright a sheen. He was born without any fangs or teeth, though he had a blacksmith make him metal replacements; he was known as Iron-Tooth. Sitting by them was Meria, a Silver Fang Galliard who had been shunned for rejecting the most arrogant of Silver Fang ideals. She found pleasure in being an outcast as the Silver Fangs were much too prideful for her, to the point of disgust even.

By the caravans there were two Garou asleep. Leonhard's senses kicked in and he turned to see Kosara sitting isolated by the others. The Shadow Lord had left her in charge in the trio's absence, even though it seemed she was bored by the task. `Food provisions?` Leonhard said in a powerful voice. Iron-Tooth, who had been sharpening his longsword on his own steel armour, responded, without stopping his current task. `Low.` he said, as Leonhard turned towards him. `Knowing that, you had not done anything to remedy it?` Leonhard replied coldly. The two Metis brothers let out a short huff of annoyance as they both stopped what they were doing and charged into the forest, without further words.

`Kosara.` Leonhard said, walking towards the archer. `We are to prepare, for tomorrow we have a big job to attend to, with a large payday.` he said, holding the chest up in his gauntlet and opening it, finally. It was full of golden coins, whos value each was 100. He sorted meticulously through them, counting them and they did, indeed, equal to 15,000 flat. `Aoife has some of our dinner ready. When the Metis return we eat and rest. These will be long days ahead.` he told Kosara.
Veli Alvars tattoos: :ahroun: (left shoulder) :fenris: (left bicep) :nerigal: (right shoulder) :alpha: (right bicep)
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Re: DAWW: Mercenaries

Post by Keira Kelly »

As Aoife had gone to retrieve her quarry, she heard Harkon behind ask if they would get a decent fight. That made her grimace. If there was one thing she had learned from around a decade of combat was that humans often made for poor fights. They were too easily defeated. While it could be fun at times, she would never call it a decent fight. That being said, it had been too long since their last scuffle and she was chomping at the bit for the next. Leonhard did have a point too; the money they'd make from this job would help them build themselves up for bigger and better things as well. But still... she really couldn't fathom this escort mission being anything more than going by rote. As she walked along with the others, carrying the hare, she cast a grimace over at them when the Shadow Lord said that the inevitable ambushes set up by the Duke's enemies would be easy to overcome. "Too easy.." she said, half in complaint. All it would take was one of their band to go on ahead in wolf form and sniff out any targets... something they would likely do just out of caution to get the job done.

"Some of us are just gonna run up ahead in Lupus, f'oind where de ambushes are laid, shift ta some'ting a bit more combat-wort'y and bam, dey'll be dead... Too easy." she reiterated. "Unless dey got a full army somewhere waitin' fer us.. I'd anticipate not much of a f'oight personally.." she replied back to Leonhart, then arching an eyebrow in his direction even though it was fairly dark. "Unless dey do.. do dey?" she asked hopefully. The other thought she had was that if they could find this enemy all together, they could take them all out in one go.. and that would be more fun than hunting smaller groups.

The light ahead grew as they came upon their own camp finally. She gave a personal nod to each of the others who had waited at the camp. After her First Change, Aoife had spent time with a Fianna Sept, learned from them, managed to get through a Rite of Passage with a group of other younglings but.. all of it just hadn't felt right to her. Though the Sept had accepted her, unlike the town where she had grown up, she'd had too much of a chip on her shoulder against humans after that for a good while. The anger of everything she had suffered had been too much for her to deal with. The Sept had dealings with humans, friendly relations with nearby human towns and the like, and that had been something she just hadn't wanted at the time. She had always had to fight the urge to become a beast and tear into human flesh with tooth and claw. So she had taken her leave, despite advice against it, and gone wandering, trying desperately to find some sort of inner peace.

She still hadn't quite found it; the anger, the rage inside was always just below the surface but at least, when she'd run across Leonhard and they'd come up with the idea for this band, it gave her a good outlet. It worked for her better than Sept life would have. She gave a nod at the two Metis Fianna. Well, if they could be called Fianna... They had been born into the same Tribe as she had joined but.. they had always been on the outskirts, near to exiled. A Garou was only of what tribe accepted them despite the lineage of their birth. While Aoife could return to any Fianna Sept should she wish too, the two Metis would probably not be so lucky. They were closer to being tribe-less. Despite that, despite their outward deformities, Aoife felt something of a kinship to them. Not just in terms of the more unusual hide colours they all shared, but the fact that Aoife felt just as.. different from other Sept-Fianna inside as these twins did outwardly.

She had accepted them as few Fianna normally would have out of that sense of kinship. They were nice enough lads to boot despite the deformities. Nice enough, but not always thinking far enough ahead, as was evidenced by the answer when Leonhard asked them the status of the food supplies. She rolled her eyes. It seemed it was a good thing that she had caught the rabbit... it would last long with so many mouths but.. it was something at least. She sat down between Kosara and the fire, giving a nod of greeting to the Black Fury. There was kind of a kinship there as well. Kosara's tribe were well known for all being female and having an inherent distrust of men, no matter the species. Hence, Aoife was most often a go-between for Kosara and the rest of the males of the band. Sometimes she was referee a well.

She cast a glance back at the Shadow Lord. "Well, Oi' WILL have it ready.." she corrected him as she drew one of her daggers and began to skin and gut the hare. She glanced back at Kosara as she continued her work with precision, being just as much a master of the blade as she was with arrows. "You didn't miss anyt'ing ton'oight, Kosara. Puffy, pompus sheep as usual.." she said, cathching up the Black Fury. "Dey payed da pr'oice d'ough.. so we got ourselves a proper job... At least, hopefully der'll be sum amusement in it.." she added with a shrug. Finally finished with the hare, she held up the skinless, naked carcass in Leonhard's direction. "Stew or jest plain-cooked hare, den?" she asked.

( By the way, isn't the whole big group called the Warband or band, and a pack is still a pack? Thought that was what we had come up with. And I thought the big group was bigger than what we have here? Or is it just our pack here? )
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Re: DAWW: Mercenaries

Post by rivaan »

Kosara had just about finished sharpening one of her thinner knives that she used for surgery when she heard hte loud bellowing voice of Leonhard who had returned along with the rest of the group. He right away gave orders and the metis rushed away to fulfill them. Stocking up on food supplies huh? Well overall not a bad thing, but doubtful to be overly effective. Still every meal counted. As she saw Leonhard walking over to her, she quickly put away her knives, wrapping them in the leather they were originally kept in, securing them away from dirt and the elements.

"Yes?" She asked briefly. She had chosen to follow the man despite her heritage. There was a reason for that too, she held a debt towards him and her own pride nad honor couldn't allow her to not repay it. As such she ended up here and despite the overwhelming ratio of male to female, she continued to stay and serve as teh healer of the group. They needed someone to keep sure their insides stay on the inside and interestingly enough she was glad to do that." I see." Was her final reply as Leonhard explained the situation. They were given money in advance and a big job tomorrow. She nodded, having already prepared her tools. Her knives were prepared her bow maintained.

When she heard Aoife speak, Kosara quietly moved over to the other woman, sitting nearby to listen to her speak. There surrounded by all these men, Kosara sometimes just moved closer to the rest of the women just to feel some kinship. She grew up surrounded only by women... didn't get to meet men until quite later and frankly never was able to get over hte inheritent distrust and dislike she had for them.

"Finally..."She replied quietly at the explanation for how they got a proper job. Proper job paid well and she saw Leonhard counting. They were needing the coin indeed. She nodded in approval.

"Stew..." The Fury then stated when Aoife asked for Leonhard's input on the meal." Stew is easier on the body... warriors need not eat heavy before battle. Heavy meal bad. Makes one slower... hurts energy... stew better. Stew with weaker taste best. Easiest on body."
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Re: DAWW: Mercenaries

Post by Ghaz »

Upon hearing about the ambushes parties they were going to fight he couldn't help but smile. He laughed while thinking 'I would trade a few battle for one big battle.' Once they entered the camp Hakon looked around walking to a part of the camp with a forge to practice his crafting. He loved doing two things crafting and fighting when ever he had the chance. He listened to what the Shadow Lord was saying to everyone while he started to sharpen his weapons getting ready for the job. Hakon always wanted his weapons in tip top shape but knew not to sharpen to much. Hakon began to talk to himself saying "Always good to have a nice sharp blade at your side."

Hakon stopped sharpening his blade and began to think about the first time he learned to fight. He began to think about how his father use to teach him how to use his axe. He was glad that he learned because he enjoys the fight against another opponent that will be worthy his blade. Hakon yelled out "Anyone need anything made or improved before the job?" The Fenrir wanted everyone to be ready for the just in case there will be a worthy fight that's actually worth their time.
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