Aiakos carefully placed the bow string in the small pack on his hip. He'd thought it best to unstring his bow while he waited, both to spare the string and to allow him to use the bow as a walking stick. One had to take good care of one's bow, that was something you learned quickly as a hunter. Keeping the bow strung when he didn't plan to use it would have been plain stupid. It wouldn't be much good in the hustle of Tanchicos city streets anyway, and he didn't expect any trouble for a time yet. Besides, a walking stick would look less out of place in the subjugated city. Whatever you thought about the Seanchan, they had brought order to the city. That was one thing all rumours agreed on. Lawlessness was not tolerated. And you could tell that just by looking around; no one was going to make any trouble. Those that did were quickly dealt with, he'd heard.

Closing the pack again, Aiakos looked up. With a start, he realised the Banders were moving. One of them just left the plaza through a side-street, and Aiakos could see Banders around the courtyard casually starting to stir, none of them seemingly having anything to do with one another. Aiakos hesitated. He was sure he'd been told exactly what would happen, but he couldn't remember what that was. He'd been so excited that he would be one of those going into the city, he'd had a hard time concentrating on what the officer had told him. Surely they were meant to meet up? Yes, he remembered now. They were supposed to meet at an inn that was off the main streets. Glancing at the other Banders, he set off after the first man to leave the square.

The man was a big one. He looked as hard a man as Aiakos had ever met, and the young Mayener was glad he had the man on his side. He kept as far back as he could without losing sight of the giant, snaking through the alleys of Tanchico. Eventually, the man decided on an inn and entered. Aiakos looked up at the sign. The Panarchs Welcome. The sign was of a fat man kneeling in front of a finely clad woman. Most likely the innkeeper would claim that the event had actually happened sometime in the past, but Aiakos doubted it. He glanced up at the sign again and frowned. Why were all innkeepers fat? He waited a few minutes before entering through the door beneath that sign.

Aiakos spotted the innkeeper walking towards him, a less than welcoming look on his face. Fat. Just as I thought. No doubt the man didn't think Aiakos had the coin to pay, worn as his hunters outfit was. Aiakos raised his hand, cutting the innkeeper off before he could say anything. "A glass of your cheapest ale, please", he said gruffly. Well, the innkeeper wasn't far off. This place would likely suck him dry before he knew it if he wasn't careful. "Certainly", the innkeeper said reluctantly, giving Aiakos one last glance before turning around. As he did, Aiakos could see a smile returning to his face as he nodded to one of the other patrons. Scanning the common room, he quickly spotted the man he'd been following sitting in front of the fireplace. Aiakos made his way over. "Ho, friend! Care if I join you?"

OOC: I'm sorry for not following the plan with the merchant (I'm assuming both the merchant and his guards were meant to be members of the Band, yes?), but I realised Aiakos in his worn clothes would likely not make a very convincing merchant, and if we wait for the others to post we might have to wait forever. I hope Mehrin can think of some way to solve the situation when the real "merchant" does show up.

OOC: Meant to post this days ago, but I had the luck to experience what it's like to be violently sick in a bucket an entire weekend instead. So.

Aiakos could feel the large walls looming over him, the vast metropolis of Tanchico sprawling in front of him through the gates. The line in front of him dwindled as men, women and families reached the soldiers at the gate, and then continued through into the city itself. The young Bander nervously adjusted the three dead rabbits hanging from his belt, his eyes darting to the guards even though he tried looking steadily forward. He had another animal carcass in a sack over his shoulder, as well as a bow and quiver, and a skinning knife by his hip. If anyone asked, he was just a hunter entering the city to sell what he had killed. He hoped the guard did not know too much of hunting. There was certainly no other hunter Aiakos knew of that would enter a city controlled by the Seanchan to sell a measly three rabbits. It had been the only way he could think of that would ensure he got to keep his weapons, however. Besides, the guard by the gate looked as dumb as a rock. A rock that could kill you in a second, mind you. A rock that could kill you three times over before you had time to draw your knife.

”Your business in the city?”, the rock rumbled as Aiakos reached the gate, the monotone voice of a man asking the same question he’d asked a thousand times before. Aiakos glanced up at the soldier, his eyes pausing for a second on the unusual armor the man was wearing. ”I just be tryin’ to sell some of them here rabbits, m’lord” he said in what he hoped was a humble, slightly scared and slightly stupid voice. He looked at the ground, twiddling his hat between his fingers as he did so. Nothing said meek like a man twiddling his hat. He stood like so until the guard finally said: ”Alright. Have you sworn the oath?”

”The oath, m’lord?”, Aiakos asked. He did not like this part, because he did not like lying more than necessary, and he certainly did not like swearing any oaths he did not intend to keep. The guard looked at him with hard eyes. His mouth moved slowly, as if he was trying to make up his mind on something. Most likely whether he should take Aiakos’ weapons or not. ”On your knees” he said at last. ”Repeat after me. I swear to obey, wait and serve.” Aiakos did not like it, but there was little he could do. He got down on his knees and repeated the words. ”I swear to obey, wait and serve.” He told himself he would do all those things some time in life, so it was not REALLY a lie, but it sounded very hollow even to himself.

”Move along” the guard said, his attention already on the next person in the line. Aiakos got up quickly and entered the city. As soon as he was able he dumped both the rabbits and the sack in an alley. He did not want anything that would make him easily recognizable, and he could not help but wonder how many men walked the city with three rabbits on their belt. The hat went on his head, the brim of it shielding his eyes from the sun and unwanted looks. It was of a style common among the peasants of Mayene, but he doubted anyone knew that around here. It was simple enough, and hats didn’t look that much different from each other anyway. Most likely people would think he was just from the next village, or maybe even from Elmora, but it did not matter much. It would suit its purpose.

As he entered the central plaza, his eyes were drawn to a couple of hard-looking men sitting on a fountain. They did not look that out of place, but to Aiakos, who knew both the look of Banders and that he was supposed to look for them, they shone like beacons. He decided not to sit next to them, in case it would arise suspicion, so he walked over to a house opposite the fountain, casually giving the men a nod as he walked by, then leaned against the wall. Aiakos had given a lot of thought to how he would enter the city, and how he would avoid rousing suspicion, weighed alternative ways against each other. It was his first mission, and he did not want to make a fool of himself, or be killed for that matter. However, what happened next was unknown territory. He did not know what would happen, so for the moment, he settled to study the men by the fountain from the corner of his eye.

No problem! I am re-reading the books and remembered reading that only a couple of days ago, so it wasn't hard to find at all!

There are definitely tattoos outside the Sea Folk. Page 335 ACoS "...[Corewin was] holding his tattooed arms over his head..." and later the same page "...[Harnan], with a crude tattoo of a hawk on his left cheek...". So there is even evidence of people having tattoos on their faces. Both Corewin and Harnan are soldiers in the BotRH.

Alright, I've sent a bio to the e-mail provided. Hope it arrives safely, and that we can all start to RP soon in one merry pile of happiness!

*shoves his whole head into the keg* Ahh, thats refreshing. Well.. I read the books a while back, and at the moment I am re-reading them to freshen up my memory. I'm guessing reading all of the currently published books would be a good idea before starting to roleplay, or is that not necessary? I'm expecting book 7 from Amazon today, so with 4-5 days per book (I read fast and have a LOT of time on my hands), that should be all books done in about 4 weeks, which is still quite a long time. So, you know, if it's possible to jump right in that would be super, otherwise I'll just turbo-read the books and join when I'm done.

I'll start to work on a bio anyway, and then we'll see what happens!

EDIT: Oh, and I also seem to recall you guys had a website at some point. Is that still running?

As the title says, is there anyone still active here? I remember wanting to join a few years back, but concluding that I did not have the time. I do now, however, and it would be a shame if there was no one left to roleplay with. Still, if no one frequents these forums anymore, there is hardly any point in me writing up a bio and such.. Is there enough active roleplayers to keep any stories running?

Regards,

Achlys.