Starting Out In Caemlyn

[murf2011]

It was late at night when Eltar felt the need to get out of the room and get some air. The close walls were suffocating him, so he opened the window and climbed out. His foot slipped on the ledge on the window, and he floundered for something to hold as he started to fall. The window sill saved his life, as his fingers curled around it, and started slipping. Before he could lose what small grip he had, Eltar pulled his body close to the wall, and started his descent to the ground. A cool breeze came whistling through the empty streets as he started walking the streets of Caemlyn aimlessly, and Eltar stopped, spreading his arms and looking like a fool. But no one was around to see, and he chuckled as he thought of what he looked like. He continued wandering, with no idea of where he was actually going.

 

A light rain had started to fall when he heard a distant sound along the street, with torchlight in the distance. Eltar quickly moved toward it, and the light revealed five men making their way down the street, the armour clashing and making the noise he had heard. He moved to the other side of the street, and followed the guards at a short distance. As they continued along the street, another noise reached Eltar's ears, the sound of cursing. The light from the multiple torches carried by the Guards lit up a shop with the door open, and shady figures moving around inside. When the Guards drew their weapons, Eltar felt compelled to intervene, as he was a fellow thief.

 

"Hey! Over here!" Eltar yelled, and saw the Guards turn at his voice. One moved towards him, with his sword raised, and Eltar realised that he didn't have a weapon. He cursed, and ran at the man, hoping to get inside the range of the sword. The man grunted as he swung, and Eltar dove at the man's ankles, causing him to stagger back, but not trip over. He raised his sword to swing again, and Eltar jumped up and punched him in the chin as he rose. The man's head snapped back, and Eltar grabbed the sword from where it was dropped. Another man came at him, the other three being occupied with the thieves in the building. Eltar threw the sword at the man awkwardly, missing him completely but forcing the man to duck to avoid the wild blade. As he closed the distance, the man drew his dagger and approached, dropping the sword as he did so. Eltar tried to dodge the dagger as it came down at him, but the dagger slashed along his arm, slicing through the shirt and drawing blood along his arm from elbow to wrist. With his other arm, Eltar threw a punch, but hit the breastplate rather than an unarmoured area. He cursed again, and managed to evade the next attack. Eltar kicked out, hitting the side of the man's knee, knocking him off balance, and he kicked the man again in the chest, forcing him to the ground, where Eltar kicked him in the side of the head for good measure.

 

Eltar picked up the man's dagger and approached the remaining three Guardsmen, and took a step backward when one of them took off at a run. He looked in the direction that the man was going, and saw another bunch of torches not far away. "Get out of there! There's more coming," Eltar called, and took off after the running Guard. As he drew close, he saw that this was a bigger group, and Eltar slowed to throw the dagger at them. He was surprised when he heard a grunt, but didn't see who or where he had hit. He sprinted into the alleys, hoping that they would follow him, forgetting about the robbery taking place. The alley split into three separate ways, each smelling as if it hadn't been cleaned in a month. As he ran down one, he chanced a look back, and saw a pack of the Guards following him. He took a sharp corner, and then dove into a deep doorway, where it was completely black.

 

Eltar took a deep breath and made himself as small as possible in the corner of the doorway, holding his breath as the Guards got closer. The yelling men ran straight past him, holding swords aloft as they went. He waited a few moments, and when no one else came running, ducked out of the doorway and took off in the direction he came from, whooping as he did so. The Guardsmen immediately turned around, and chased him down another branch of the alley. This alley was longer, and led out onto another main street. Eltar took off down the street, looking for another way to go rather than just staying on the main street. He chanced a look at the Guards, and almost tripped over an upturned cobblestone, stumbling into an unseen alley. As he pushed off the wall, he heard the Guards getting closer, and he moved to the corner of the alley, and lay down against the wall, and put his face against the ground, making sure his hair covered his neck and face. Just as he stopped moving, the Guardsmen came pounding down the alleyway. Eltar flinched slightly as a boot landed right behind his head, and held his breath as they passed. He let out a sigh of relief when he heard the last of their footsteps, and got up and made his way back to where he was staying, climbing in the window and collapsing on the bed straightaway.

 

Eltar ~ Thief

[murf2011]

Eltar sat at a table in a gambling den, watching the games around him, occasionally drinking from the mug sitting on the table in front of him. A cheer went up from a table across the room, a man having won a large amount of money. Eltar was considering placing a small bet when a short, bald man came and took the seat opposite him. He looked around, and saw a man standing next to the door to the street, and two more were circulating through the crowd that was watching over the games, keeping their eyes on him. "What do you want?" Eltar asked quietly. The man chuckled, and leaned in, motioning for Eltar to do so. "I thank you, for what you did two nights ago," he said quietly, and Eltar's eyes widened. How did they find me? he wondered. "You're welcome, but I'm sure you didn't come all the way here just to thank me," Eltar replied, and the bald man chuckled again. "You're an observant one. How old are you?". Eltar glanced about the room, and saw one of the circling men come to stand at the table, staring down at him. He had dark brown eyes, and his posture suggested he had a weapon ready to pull out and use. "Old enough," Eltar decided to say, and saw the man standing nod out of the corner of his eye. "Let's take this outside, shall we?" Eltar suggested, and stood before the two men had a chance to reply.

 

They followed him out into the street, the other two men joining them, so it was the four of them confronting Eltar. "We'd like you to join us in our... endeavours, unless you have another group to work with?" the third man asked, and Eltar shrugged. "Why do you want me? All I did was distract the city watch from you," Eltar said, looking at each of them in turn. "We'd like you to help us out, because not many people would do what you did. It's been agreed that you would make a good addition to our group," the man told him. Eltar stood there for a moment, then took the man's outstretched hand and shook it. "Meet us outside the west gate of the city tomorrow as the sun rises. We'll start there." With that, the four of them walked away, leaving Eltar standing there.

 

____________________________________________________

 

Eltar was standing outside the gates at sunrise, waiting for the men to arrive. He wasn't worried about them not showing, because he didn't have any plans for the day. Just as he turned again, looking for them, a man appeared standing in the center of the gates. The man approached him slowly, and motioned for Eltar to follow him. Eltar decided to follow, but kept a hand on his knife just in case something happened. They walked for a while, the sun slowly rising into the sky, before finally reaching an old farmhouse. The other three men were standing there, two with quarterstaffs and one with nothing, all lounging against the side of the farmhouse. The men all followed Eltar and his guide to the barn at the side of the house, where two of them pushed the doors open, illuminating the inside.

 

One tossed him a quarterstaff, which he reached out to catch. As his hands closed around the staff, the other man flicked his quarterstaff towards Eltar's ankles. He instinctively jumped, and it swept under his feet, and the man stepped back, holding his quarterstaff in one hand. The man who had thrown him the staff came and stood next to him, and positioned Eltar's hands wordlessly, shaking his head at him when he started to speak. He mimed moving the quarterstaff, and waited for Eltar to acknowledge his movement before stepping away. Eltar's opponent moved forward again, this time moving his staff rapidly, the ends of the staff no more than a blur to Eltar's eyes. Before he knew it, the staff was coming towards his head. His hands moved the staff to the position the man had shown him, and there was a loud crack as wood met wood. The impact sent vibrations up Eltar's arms, but he kept moving, swinging the end of the staff at the man's feet, like he had done to him. As the man moved, Eltar shifted his arms slightly, bringing the quarterstaff past the man's staff and clipping him on the shin. He grunted, and the man who had instructed Eltar cheered, while the other two walked toward Eltar.

 

"Well done. This is Emir," the man who had sparred with him nodded in greeting, "Balon and Raon," he waved at the other two men, " And I am Cern, leader of this small group," the man who had brought him to the farm extended his hand. Eltar took it, gripping firmly. Cern smiled, and motioned for him to hand his quarterstaff over to Balon, before leading him outside. "We have word that a caravan is coming to Caemlyn, with two guards. Naturally, we don't trust you, but we're willing to give you a chance to prove yourself. Are you ready to become one of us?," Cern asked him. Eltar grinned, and nodded. "I'll need some training with that staff though," he told Cern, and he chuckled. "Boy, you'll pick it up quick. It took the others much longer to hit him on their first try."