dysproslogs | ⚔ 2 - Colonial Rite

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⚔ 2 - Colonial Rite

Who: Haytham Kenway & OPEN
What: Giving the gate guards a greeting
When: Dusk
Where: Ironwall, near the main gate
Rating: PG for snark

"Still guarding the gate are we?"

Haytham spoke casually as he approached the pair of guard blocking the main gateway out of town. It was a wonder that they bothered with the pretense of keeping them inside at all. It wouldn't be too difficult to find the weakness in a wall defense in a city of this size. There was too much area to protect and no where near the man power necessary to oversee everything.
But, this was only a test. How they would react to him was something Haytham very much wished to find the answer to.

"You're doing a fine job. I doubt it has moved an inch since you started."

As expected the guards raised their weapons at him as he came too near for their comfort, but from here he could catch a glimpse of the world beyond the wall. It looked, well, a bit pastoral actually. At least until the woods rose up in the distance.

"You do realize your efforts are entirely futile? If some one wished to leave it would be simple enough to do so."

Though Haytham made no move for his own weapons one of the guards took issue with his statements and moved close enough to give the smug man a shove. Hmm, not so well trained that they were above making a mistake it seemed. That move would have left the guard open to attack... again if the Templar really had any desire to attack.

"Shove off! Unless you want your eyes blackened!"

Haytham raised a staying hand, "I have no intention of initiating a battle. Fortunately for you, I have a few others things to see to today. However," his voice took on a slightly dangerous edge, "If it did come to blows you would suffer more than a simple black eye."

With his curiosity satisfied the Grand Master stepped away from the gate., allowing the guards the opportunity to relax again.

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Korra stood in the background, the small squabble having caught her ears. This was definitely her kinda guy, giving the rather pompous guards an earful. She couldn't help but to snicker as she watched.

"Nice," she said as the older man backed away from the gates. Because really, if enough of them tried hard enough, Korra was pretty sure that they could take these guys on.

He didn't know the young lady who spoke but he did appreciate her support all the same. The guards were arrogant and Haytham didn't much care for the way the abductees were being treated almost as second class citizens. Maybe some day a tactic like the one she was thinking would become nessacary.

"You don't care for the guards much either?"

"Nah, I don't see why they need to keep us in here at all." It hardly made sense. They were all taken into guilds, trained and learned in how to fight in this weird world. It wasn't as if they wouldn't be able to hold their own against whatever could be out there.

"It's not like we can't defend ourselves."

"I doubt they are keeping us here due to any concern over our well being."

Far from it actually. The people seemed to regard those not in guilds with more suspicion than those in them. The guilds were a transparent way to manage the population and see that they were all kept in check. The guards at the gate were the same.

"I suspect the mean to keep us inside in order to keep an eye on us, see what our true motivations are."

And actually it wasn't a terrible way to maintain order, it just had far too many gaps to be successful.

"Yeah, that'd be my guess, too." It was like Tarrlok and his crazy anti-nonbender policies all over again. Even Korra had wanted to smack him with a boulder or two with that one.

"Though I think they're only creating motivations themselves by keeping us locked in here. As far as I can tell, nobody wanted any trouble other than to just get home. But now they've got us locked in here. That's fishy."

"So far all of the people who have been pulled from their homes have been reasonable enough, though I suspect there are a few whose true motivations maybe less than honorable. I can't blame the people of this city for wanting to be sure of us first. However, if it lasts for too long they might cause the trouble they sought to prevent."

Just as Korra has said. Haytham agreed with that statement. People were meant to serve but even at that they could only be pressed so far before revolution would break out. The question was, how far was too far? The people had been willing enough to go along with what had been told to them and there were few who hadn't joined guilds.

"They probably still have some time left before they need worry about that."

"Yeah, exactly. Obviously they don't know anything about us, but that doesn't mean they can just lock us in here, either. It's not our fault we... well... fell outta the sky." Literally.

"If we're smart, we'll wait 'til everyone's strong enough to fight. That's if they keep it up with this 'stay in the city' stuff." It was almost too easy. Much as Korra hated the idea of waiting it out, they'd all be up for rank promotions soon. And that meant more powers and better training. Not to mention the new spell she'd just learned. Her initial uncertainty about being in the guild was fading. This was a perfect way of making sure she could fight them if the time came.

Unfortunately Haytham was still of the opinion that the guild was fairly useless to him. Sure there was magic here and he might learn some of that, but there seemed to be very little about being an assassin that he did not already know. The guild was just a means to an end.
He lowered his voice a bit, cautious so that no one might overhear.

"You would be interested in fighting them if the time came for it?"

"Yeah. I'm Korra. Summoner." She offered the older guy a smirk, folding her arms. It was still something she was getting used to, introducing herself as a member of the Mage Guild instead of as the Avatar. But nobody knew what that was here.

"Haytham Kenway," He shrugged a bit as he added, "Assassin."

It still felt odd to him to say that. Back at home assassin's were the enemy and after leaving their group he never thought he would claim to be one again. Yet here he was. Ironically the Thieves Guild was one his skills fit into the best.

"What is a summoner able to call to their cause?"

"We're the best at elemental magic. Right now, I can Evoke, which is creating stuff like Water and Fire out of thin air. And I'm working on Summoning too, which is calling a spirit to fight for me." It was still strange, being able to make Water and Earth like a firebender could just make Fire. Then once it was there, she couldn't do anything with it! What good did that do?

"One of the more magical classes then. I could see a few uses for those skills."

He didn't know about her difficulties controlling those elements once they were summoned, but fire could be used for so many things and water... well uses for that were a little less forthcoming, but it would be a help if the fire got out of hand.

"Yeah, it's pretty helpful. What about you? What do the assassins do?" She'd heard about them, obviously, having been here a month. But she'd yet to have an actual conversation with one. It sounded like a pretty sweet job, in theory.

It was a sweet job, as long as you didn't mind killing... and Haytham didn't.

"Most of the skills have to do with stealth or with disabling the enemy in some manner. They do seem to have magical attributes to them as well. The lock-picking skill I was taught did at least."

To say he was taught lock-picking was a bit incorrect. He knew how to pick locks before he arrived. For him it had been more enhancing his own abilities and discovering the magic that would make lock picking even easier.

Stealth had never been Korra's strongpoint. Even putting her in a full bodysuit had left it difficult for her to blend in with the Equalists, after all. So this sneaky stuff sounded pretty cool.

"So's that mean you guys go on missions mostly in the city? Like at night and stuff?"

"Thus far, no. We have only been learning the methods they wish us to use here. I suppose in time that might become the case."

Apparently the thieves guild felt they had a lot to learn before sending them off on any potentially dangerous missions like that.

"Oh... So more like they're training you to work for them?" That stunk, though it made sense. Maybe these people were a little bit smarter than to make their "guests" too strong for them to keep a handle on.

"Isn't that the case with all of the guilds? There is said to be levels we will be unable to reach simply because we are not native to this world."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It's all just a way to keep an eye on us." Which Haytham had already said, but after a little thinking Korra realized just how right he was. Sure, it was great to live at the Mages' guild, where they had their big fancy building and supplied them with food. But it was just a cover up for keeping an eye on strangers.

"It needn't always be this way, but for now it would be better to play along, learn what we can."

Once they saw more on how this place worked and who was in charge, methods could be employed to change things.

Asami only caught the last part of the exchange while passing by with a horse at her side. It was her new best friend Chewy's evening walk around town, and as she stopped to observe, the horse's nose bumped her cheek. She was used to it at this point, head tilting away while looking dubiously at Haytham. It was a town matter, so it sort of involved her; she had a right to ask.

"What was that all about?"

Her expression was unchanging as the horse expelled a huff against her hair.

Given the the woman had a horse with her it was a safe bet to assume she might have taken on the role of a Lancer here. He had previous experience with mounted soldiers as well, but again... this wasn't a day where he was really looking for a battle.

"Minor disagreement with a few of the guards, nothing to worry over."

No one had died after all so Haytham dismissed the exercise as a 'disagreement' when really it had been a test of the strength of the city's defenses.

Well, at the very least, Haytham had a nice accent going for him. Amazing how a superficial trait could affect a first impression, so she frowned at the guards in attempt to assess the surface of the situation. They were more relaxed than they seemed during their confrontation with Haytham, sure, but they didn't look happy.

"Actually, I think I'd like to know." She was going to worry, anyway. If the guards were going to mistreat the people who didn't want to be here to begin with, then there was a big problem. Her hand clutched the reins a bit tighter.

It wouldn't be too amazing to Haytham. He was well aware that words held power, if accents gave those words even more value then that was all the better for him.

"They are under orders to see that none of the new arrivals are allowed to leave the city."

He looked over at the guards when the lady he was speaking to did and the more aggressive of the two again raised his weapon to show that returning to the gate was a bad idea.

"I was testing their resolve on that order."

"You were testing them?" A kneejerk reaction as she gives a slight tug on the reins. Chewy lurches forward and gives his head a sharp shake.

"I'm not sure provoking them is going to work in our favor. If anything they'll start reinforcing the gate."

Haytham raised a steadying hand to give the startled horse a friendly pat to calm him down again. He hadn't been so gentle with the guards but horses were another matter. He did love animals.

"It wouldn't matter much if they did."

Guards could be distracted, killed, or avoided entirely. One could always climb the wall and bypass the gate altogether, or at least he could.

"If some one truly wished to leave this city they would find a way to whether the guards were there or not. But thus far, everyone seems quite content to go along with the guild system and integrate themselves into this new city so I doubt it would be much of a problem for them."

For now.

"I don't think it's so much that we're content around here, but that the castle is our biggest lead back to where we came from." Her voice lowered as she continued, "Besides, some of us aren't as powerful as we used to be. Going out into the unknown completely unprepared would be a bad idea. Maybe the guards know that."

She couldn't believe she was advocating for the city, but she certainly didn't want to imagine Korra or Mako launching themselves out where they couldn't practice their usual bending. It sucked, but that was the way it had to be for now.

"I find it far more likely that we are simply not trusted enough to be allowed to explore outside the city gates by ourselves."

But she did have a good point about the castle. One he had to concede, that was part of the reason he didn't leave either. That castle did seem to be the center for their arrival... There was something about the castle that pulled others to it.

"Have you explored any of the castle yet?"

Asami decided the first point wasn't worth an argument, because really, who was actually certain? She also couldn't help but think he might have been right. It was hard to tell for sure.

She idly pet the horse's nose as she spoke. "A little bit. It became a little too much for me to handle the further I went, unfortunately. Have you?"

"Only the main room we found ourselves in when we arrived."

He'd climbed up into the 'rafters' of that receiving room looking for another way around, but there hadn't seemed to be one. It wasn't much of an exploration really, but he wanted to find out as much about the town and the castle itself before he mounted a more in-depth investigation.

"I'll give it a better look before too long."

Asami nodded, and she wore a look of consideration. She only knew other archers and mages, so maybe it was time to expand her acquaintances to people from other classes. They could come in handy.

"Good idea." She extended her hand to shake his. "My name is Asami, by the way. I'm a gunner. What's your name?"

"Haytham Kenway." And he would never get used to this... "A member of the assassin class."

Her offered hand though... He looked at it, in a way acknowledging that she would like to shake his hand but he did not return the favor. His hands remained relaxed at his side. Haytham wasn't much of a tender person, especially not with those he had only just met. He would never even have given Charles's hand a shake if the man hadn't reached out and grabbed it without its being offered, and Charles had turned out to be one of his most loyal followers.

"If there were to be a group who decided to enter the castle to see how far we might make it inside, would you be interested in going?"

"...Nice to meet you." Asami couldn't say this had happened before. Her hand was left hanging between them until she got the picture, and then she awkwardly withdrew it.

It actually put her off a bit. She was just trying to be polite.

"Yeah, I would," she said tersely, and she ended up petting the horse's face. It was a good idea, either way.

Of course it did. It put most people off, as it should. Haytham just preferred to keep people at a distance... at least until he came to know them better. It was safer not to get too attached too quickly. One never really knew who could be trusted.

"I was considering forming an expedition like that in the future. We could use more people with combat experience."

[ AND THEN THE ENTIRE KORRA CAST TAGGED HAYTHAM.

mako is on his way back from a short test run at the castle — to practice and maybe find some extra stuff to sell, though any spoils he carries are hidden in impetro. in his dark blue mages' coat he almost blends in with the shadows cast by the gate, his red scarf a brushstroke of color around his shoulders.

his experiences with the guards have been... weird, to say the least, but this is the first time he's seen someone try and talk shit (and maybe get hit!!?). i mean, sure this guy is packin' but...

dude you wanna do it in less obviously out of town clothes? mako is just side-eyeing the fuck outta this dude. ]

[Welcome Korra cast!

Haytham took a few steps away before stopping and glancing back at the shadows. Instinct perhaps or a small flash of movement in his periphery vision alerted him to something over there. Which ever it was the gentleman he found standing there was given a solid looking over before he spoke. With the mage's hood he was very nearly mistaken for an assassin, but it was blue instead of white and the man made no move to attack him.
Very well, they could stand around staring at one another or... ]

Do you have something to say?

[The silence could be broken.]

[ mako pauses in his walk when haytham addresses him, conveniently in the light of a torch. his features are fine and east asian, though even in the poor lighting, it's clear his eyes are an unusual shade of gold, and for someone in an academically oriented guild, he looks surprisingly athletic. ]

I dunno, man, you wanna try that when you don't look fresh off the boat? We get enough weird looks as it is. [ dude nobody dresses like that!??? ]

I highly doubt, dressing as you have done, in the outfit of my guild would have offered me much protection either.

[Given that it was a den of thieves and guards had a tendency to be even more suspicious of thieves...]

If however, you are concerned how this might reflect on those who were brought here against their will, I'm afraid little could be done about that. The people here have already formed their opinions on us. Whether that changes for the worse or for the better only time can tell.

[And actually... if the people did form more negative opinions on them that might be the best option. The travelers wouldn't need much convincing to rally against an 'unjust' government that treated them poorly. ]

[ oh, so he's in bed with lady luck too? or the sketchier kind? mako's reply would have been "well maybe you shouldn't have joined the criminal guild, shitass" but... this guy just went out of his way to threaten the guards, and he's armed to the teeth. plus, it's not his style. mako'd rather not start shit when he's not entirely sure he could freeze haytham to a wall yet. instead, he sighs, and listens to the flouncy dude pontificate at him, his own hands tucked into his pockets.

(as for any scheming from haytham to "rally" the travelers, he'll get no support from mako — kid knows to keep his head down when it comes to putting up with shit) ]

It's gonna go worse for sure if you keep on threatening to shank the guards for doin' their jobs. [ he shrugs ] Being inside bothers you that much? Climb the wall. [ as for him, he's gonna be focusing on the dungeon, and the great spirit he keeps hearing about at the top. ]

Edited 2013-06-08 17:38 (UTC)

[His skills fit best with the Assassins, oddly enough. Though it was strange to count himself among their number again these assassins were different than those he was more familiar with. From what little he had seen of them, they seemed less dedicated to mucking things up.

(He could tell from the tone that this man did not think much of him or his tactics, however... Korra might be more agreeable to them. She seemed to understand where he was coming from.)]

They threatened me first. Up until that point it was merely conversation.

[This was said with just the faintest touch of a smile, so subtle in fact that it might go unnoticed. He knew very well that he had pushed them towards making that threat by standing too close and mocking them, but the point was the guards had moved first. Perception was always more important than fact. That hot-hotheadedness that had been displayed could be used in the future.
Again... if he decided to act. It might still be possible to use the system itself in some way.
Which was also why he did not simply climb over the wall and leave. He wasn't really interested in leaving just yet. not unless it was to return to the world he came from.]

If I wished to leave the city I would have done so.

[Guards are not much of an obsticale for this one.]

But, I think for now there is more to learn here. Don't you?

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⚔ 2 - Colonial Rite

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