all men must serve
Falke Guildenstern
The "Fixer"

Age: 40 | Height: 5'10 | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 3 - Strg: 15 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 14 - Luck: 18 - Int:
OPHELIA - Regular - Brown Weeper Capuchin
Played by: Astor Offline
Change author:
Posts: 207 | Total: 4,350
MP: 0
#1
Falke
pull up a seat right next to men and
pull out a pen, write down your memory

Step after slow step, the Fixer separates himself from the Festival-goers, consulting a map taken from the Collegium that depicts the whole of King’s End. Mourn. Following the coastline, he quietly marvels at the vast expanse of rolling white hills beyond the water. The going is easier here, where the water melts the snow. Phi, however, is cold. She burrows into his chest, curling into a little tiny fluff ball, and he wraps his layers protectively around her. The little capuchin is a creature of Torchline; this is not her world, but she would not be left behind.

The hedges of Queen’s Gambit loom in the distance, and Falke finds that he’s eager for a rest. He knows the maze is there, but perchance it will have a bench to sit on and rest a while. Just a little further, then maybe he’ll activate the Compass and go home. It's not like there's much at home for him anyway, other than his work.

how many of us
are on the cusp on the verge?


Age: 7 | Height: | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: - Strg: - Dext: - Endr: - Luck: - Int:
Played by: Offline
Change author:
Posts: 370 | Total: 370
MP: 0
#2
A cloud passed across the sky, casting a shadow on the ground. The land in King's End was uneven, tough going for anyone, let alone someone with a cane. A chill wind sprang up, causing the branches of the hedge maze to sway and their leaves to rustle.

In front of Falke, a blink hare would pop into existence, perhaps coming from the maze. It froze as it took in the Fixer and his companion. Then, it darted away from them before blinking away and appearing behind the pair. It brushed against his leg as it scampered off, stumbling a bit as it dashed away from the maze.

A wise man would wonder what had startled the poor rabbit. Probably just a hawk.
Falke Guildenstern
The "Fixer"

Age: 40 | Height: 5'10 | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 3 - Strg: 15 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 14 - Luck: 18 - Int:
OPHELIA - Regular - Brown Weeper Capuchin
Played by: Astor Offline
Change author:
Posts: 207 | Total: 4,350
MP: 0
#3
Falke
pull up a seat right next to men and
pull out a pen, write down your memory

Startled at the unexpected appearance of something - let alone a rabbit - in front of him. He takes a sep back, reflexively clutching Phi close until recognition kicks in. “Oh hey there,” Falke murmurs to the hare, recovering his breath. It puffs out, white in the chill ocean-side air. White, like hare’s tail.

He follows the hare’s course as it brushes up against his leg and then peers after it, into the maze. The hedges are too high to see over, and he is too large to squeeze into the hole the hare went it. Phi is too cold to venture out, so Falke decides to investigate a little further, walking a little further along the hedge line, searching for something that looks like an entrance.

how many of us
are on the cusp on the verge?


Age: 7 | Height: | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: - Strg: - Dext: - Endr: - Luck: - Int:
Played by: Offline
Change author:
Posts: 370 | Total: 370
MP: 0
#4
The hare might've twitched its whiskers at Falke's greeting. Or maybe it had just been the wind, which picked up further with a whistling sound. Either way, the creature was gone even faster than the Fixer could blink.

It didn't take long for him to stumble upon an entrance to the maze. Perhaps one had actually opened up while he wasn't looking. It was hard to tell: the rustling from the breeze disguised any actual movements from what might've been sentient hedges, or might've just been a confusing set of twists and turns.

However, it soon became apparent that more than just the wind was at play here, as behind the man and his monkey, a small gap appeared. A cloaked figure slipped through it, one that had been following the pair since they left the carnival. Using the hilly landscape and their own skill at stealth to disguise their presence, they'd been shocked when a passage opened in Queen's Gambit for them. However, they'd trusted the landscape and that gamble had paid off as it deposited them in the perfect position to creep closer to Falke, whose back was to them.
Falke Guildenstern
The "Fixer"

Age: 40 | Height: 5'10 | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 3 - Strg: 15 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 14 - Luck: 18 - Int:
OPHELIA - Regular - Brown Weeper Capuchin
Played by: Astor Offline
Change author:
Posts: 207 | Total: 4,350
MP: 0
#5
Falke
pull up a seat right next to men and
pull out a pen, write down your memory

The eeriness is not lost on the Fixer. Curious as he is, that little feeling on the back of his neck is too much to override and he instinctively pulls his jacket tighter around the two of them. Ophelia chitters at him from her cocoon and he absently scritches her head as he turns around to get a good look at his surroundings. Now, Falke was born and raised in Stormbreak. He knows that city like the back of his hand; it’s home and the people know him for who he is - a caretaker. He’s not at home in the wildnernesses of Caido, doesn’t have any kind of reputation to rely on out here.

So the sudden appearance of a person behind him is more than unnerving. It’s worrisome. Falke exhales sharply and takes an step back, wobbling in both surprise and genuine unsteadiness as the snow around him provides less purchase. “Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you,” he offers, trying to school his face into something calm and collected.

Reaching for a button on the cane Sera made him, he tries to pretend he’s ready in case of an attack. But even he knows he’s forgotten Seren’s brief instructions.

how many of us
are on the cusp on the verge?


Age: 7 | Height: | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: - Strg: - Dext: - Endr: - Luck: - Int:
Played by: Offline
Change author:
Posts: 370 | Total: 370
MP: 0
#6
The figure doesn’t move right away, letting only the wind shift their cloak around them. They’d gotten a good look at the man back at the carnival, had a chance to observe him along this long, lonely trek. He’s not a threat. He’s a mark, an easy one. Without a word, they step forward, stepping perfectly into the footprints Falke left behind.

Give me your things.” The demand comes in a low, young voice, no room spared for argument. Within the hood a pair of eyes flash, the cloak shifting as a hand tipped with claws and short tawny fur lifts in the space between them, a more implicit threat than simple words could ever hope to be.
Falke Guildenstern
The "Fixer"

Age: 40 | Height: 5'10 | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 3 - Strg: 15 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 14 - Luck: 18 - Int:
OPHELIA - Regular - Brown Weeper Capuchin
Played by: Astor Offline
Change author:
Posts: 207 | Total: 4,350
MP: 0
#7
Falke
pull up a seat right next to men and
pull out a pen, write down your memory

He takes an involuntary step back as the cloaked person steps forward. Everything about this screams to run and yet there’s no where to go - and he cannot possibly outrun anyone. His mind, normally so calm and steady, a bedrock for others, starts to churn. Gotta buy some time, gotta think. Gotta - gotta protect Phi, gotta find the compass.

Brandishing the cane in the space between them, his thumb pushes the button that ejects the knife at the base, while his other hand searches for buttons and tries to dive between layers to find the compass. It’s somewhere - in some pocket, beneath everything. Beneath Phi. Oh Ophelia, cold and so out of place, but the flash of claws and fur has alerted her tiny, sensitive nose, and she does what monkeys do best - raises a ruckus while trying to climb higher. She screams and howls into the unforgiving air,  the combination making it entirely impossible for Falke to find what he’s looking for.

how many of us
are on the cusp on the verge?


Age: 7 | Height: | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: - Strg: - Dext: - Endr: - Luck: - Int:
Played by: Offline
Change author:
Posts: 370 | Total: 370
MP: 0
#8
There is a twitch, a tremble of inexperienced hands and focus splintered in a dozen threadlike directions. All of them snap into sharp focus as a blade shoots out, as the air grows electric with the contents of a small creatures shriek. A muffled hiss grunts out of the attuned, her body folding in then springing out, claws outstretched and her teeth bared.

Lions teeth sink into Falke's throat while claws quiet his companion, an instinctual reaction to the pain, the threat. An excuse to be used later, it's him or me, no thought given to the steps that had put them in this dance.

At the end of it, it's the victor who tells the story, and she walks out of the maze with her pockets filled with ill gotten valuables. As soon as the blood is out from under nails, her lips are sealed.
Falke Guildenstern
The "Fixer"

Age: 40 | Height: 5'10 | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 3 - Strg: 15 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 14 - Luck: 18 - Int:
OPHELIA - Regular - Brown Weeper Capuchin
Played by: Astor Offline
Change author:
Posts: 207 | Total: 4,350
MP: 0
#9
Falke
pull up a seat right next to men and
pull out a pen, write down your memory

Of all the ways Falke thought his life might end, this was not one of them; alone, cold, and yes, scared. He’s not quite scared of death, for Stormbreak has nurtured a healthy relationship with the Gods and he knows Mort’s embrace will be kind. Ludo will safely usher his soul to safety. He is a purposeless man, and for someone who so often lived for his work, well - perhaps subconsciously, this is welcomed. Perhaps he sought it out. Perhaps the Fixer had no ways to fix the very darkest, deepest, most hidden places in himself.

The Attuned easily evades his cane blade and the assault on his neck knocks Phi off him, sending her safely out of range of the lion’s teeth and claws. The man is helpless against the half-predator as she crushes his windpipe, stealing the breath from his lungs even as his darkening gaze frantically searches for the little monkey, who seized by the death terror in bonded’s head, scrambled for the maze hedge. Can’t blame her. She’s just following her instincts.

When it’s all said and done, when the murderer-thief leaves and Falke’s eyes stare lifelessly up at a grey, snow-shedding sky, Ophelia creeps back to her Fixer. She feels… different. She knows, but she has to find it out for herself, as her distressed cheeps and chitters grow; her curious hands seek his usual triggers - pulling at his hair, finding his hands and nipping at a finger. Still, nothing. The wind picks up. Ophelia shivers. Seeking comfort in her soulmate’s smell and the quickly fading warmth of his body, the little capuchin burrows into his clothing and tucks herself up against his chest. Crying her loneliness and emptiness with sad chirps, she refuses to leave his side.

Deepfrost takes her too, and then buries the bodies in snow. Back to Caido they go, for scavengers to find in Flowerbirth.

{Fin}

how many of us
are on the cusp on the verge?


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)


RPG-D