Grancourt Family/Secret Society of Da Way

(This page will be added to and probably rejuggled when there is more txt, for now enjoy the story! - There's a RP from the player of Karandras that will run alongside these RPs and hopefully we'll get them up somewhere too)

Karandras Runs into Trouble

(Written by the player of Karandras)

It had been a good night. For the first time in almost a fortnight, The Black Guardians had been given the evening off. They had, as was tradition, made a bee-line for the nearest pub and were the last to leave having consumed a heroic amount of Sullenport Stout. Karandras was not a big ale drinker, she found it sat heavy on her stomach and had a habit of disappearing from her glass with exceptional pace, only to be replaced by another one… Instead she had had a few glasses of the local wine, which, she had to comment, was not that bad.

Now, she walked back to her quarters, through the city’s cobbled streets, alone, having assured Quillindras she would be fine over the short distance to her accommodations. Sullenport was a different place at night. The houses and shops seemed to bear down, almost arching in over her, the narrow alleyways wrapped themselves in pitch black and played host to the extents of the imagination, and every little sound, noises you wouldn’t even notice during the day, became cacophonous. Quickening her pace she tried to focus on the sound of her heels on the stone instead of the scrabbling of rats and the screeching of the neighbourhood cats. Doing so, however, only brought to her attention a similar sound….another set of footsteps. Looking over her shoulder, Karandras saw no one; trying to force her gaze to penetrate the black but to no avail, her heart rate starting to quicken.

Stopping in her tracks she listened, the footfalls had also stopped. Moving again, she heard the other sound again, panic set in and she broke into a run, heading through the night streets she cursed not having her bow with her. Even over her own heartbeat, footsteps, and breathing she could still hear the other persons, now running, steps. There was something different about them; they were higher in pitch than her own. Refocusing her thoughts she looked ahead. The old temple front was fast approaching; centuries ago it had had the rest of a temple attached to it, now only the façade remained and was used as one of the entrances into a large, open forum. Hurtling towards it, the penny finally dropped, the only way footsteps could be a higher tone than her own was, if a) her mystery pursuer was markedly lighter than herself…which seemed unlikely unless she was running from a child, or b) they were stepping on something other than cobbles. Raising her eyes, she caught sight of a figure, silhouetted by the moon, running along the slate tiles of a parallel roof top to her right, jumping over the alleys between the buildings with incredible skill and precision.

As Karandras made it to the temple front, she came to a stop under the protection of its arch. No one could jump from the houses to the forum, she thought, it was too far. She could wait a few seconds until whoever it was started climbing down to the street, then make a run for it – simple. It took no more than a second longer, than this thought took to fully process, before it was disproved, as, not only the figure she had seen to her right, landed on the stones at the bottom of staircase which lead down into the forum, a few metres in front of her, but a second figure also landed from the left. She inspected them closely. The first, a man, was tall and slender with a mane of black hair and a full beard covering his lower face, dressed from head to toe in red, a shirt and kilt, and carried a short sword. To his left was a woman, styled and dressed similarly, yet oppositely. Her hair was platinum, and instead of a kilt she wore a skirt of equal length. She also carried a very different weapon. For a second, Kari thought it was a javelin, until the moonlight glinted off the weapons long blades: it was a double-bladed sword, one blade in the standard position, the other protruding vertically downward from the base of the handle. “You have no place here, Carelian” said the man, after a moment, “You and your heretical kind will be pushed back – back from this city, back from all the lands of Da Way”

Karandras said nothing. She assessed her options quickly, she couldn’t outrun them, she’d already tried that and Two-on-One were never favourable odds for a fight. All of a sudden she was rather frustrated they’d had a night off…she didn’t have her bow, she didn’t have 24 archers around her, and perhaps more importantly, she wasn’t in uniform…her usual leather tunic sat safely at home, leaving her in just a black shirt and trousers, leather boots, and a long, red sash she often wore around her waist for two reasons, firstly to remind her of her mother who had given it to her on her 15th birthday, but also to partially obscure the short sword on her belt. “No words of defence?” said the woman in a harmonic voice, “Perhaps Da Great One will grant you leniency for your sins against him….but I doubt it” she said, as she broke into a run towards her.

Drawing her sword quickly, Karandras prepared for the assault, but it came far sooner than anticipated as the woman launched herself into the air, bypassing the steps entirely and smashed down on the Carelian’s blade. Kari only just had time to block it and push her assailant off before a footfall behind her gave away the man’s position. Spinning instantly she again blocked a powerful attack, he dropped into a crouch and made a wild slash for her legs, forcing her to step back slightly. She replied with a strong kick, which he dodged, rolling past her to join his team-mate. Taking a couple of running steps forwards, Karandras heard the unmistakable clink of metal on stone, and turning saw that the double bladed sword had missed her by inches, its owner now pulling it free of the ground, her colleague coming to stand just behind her before, in an incredible display of acrobatics, vaulting over her and landing just in front of the Carelian, starting an enraged onslaught, which the woman only just managed to block or dodge on several occasions. Suddenly a searing pain shot down her arm as his short sword skimmed past her arm, before he spiralled into a crouch, and again tried to swipe her legs.

Taking her chance, as he descended, Kari leapt forwards over him into a forward roll, coming up into a crouch just beneath the woman, whose weapon was raised ready. There was no time to attack – Karandras pushed powerfully sideways and launched herself down the stairs into the forum, managing to land on her feet and run the remaining few steps. Her arm was numb now, fortunately it wasn’t her sword arm, but it didn’t matter, whoever these people were they were far better than she was, and even if they weren’t, with the odds stacked as they were, she couldn’t hold out much longer. Taking another step, she gave a yelp as she felt someone tug her back by her hair sharply, as she almost fell, she discovered the man had dropped onto his back with his legs angled up, both launched forwards powerfully, actually launching her off the ground, managing to focus she watched the woman jump from the top of the stairs, her weapon poised to be brought crashing down. “This is it” Karandras thought, closing her eyes and vainly raising her sword to provide what little protection it could offer, as the platinum haired woman surged ever closer through the night air.

Suddenly, she heard air moving rapidly past her body, opening her eyes she saw the other woman crashing towards the ground, no blade in hand. A brief moment of relief washed over the Carelian, before she too hit the floor, rolling a few times. Trying to prop herself up as soon as she could muster the strength, her wounded arm gave out under her and she crumpled to the deck again, trying again, she managed to get to her knees, then her feet. Looking along side her she smiled as a familiar face stood holding the double bladed sword. “Sinistra, Dextera”, nodded Laurie Grancourt formally to each in turn, “nice to see you both again” “You...” the man, who had now been identified as Dextera, “You’re dead….” “Evidently” Laurie replied, giving a mocking smile, “takes more than you’d think to get rid of me” “Duly noted for next time, Carelian” Sinistra commented, getting to her feet. There was a cascade of loud whistles from behind them in the distance, police units were coming. “I took the liberty of arranging an audience, I hope you don’t mind” They both glared at the man, “The Order will rid this city of your taint, non-believer…she was to be the first, simply a strike of opportunity, but now you will both be targets of choice – live in fear. For we will find you wherever you hide” “Uh-huh…” said Grancourt throwing Sinistra’s blade back to her, “Be seeing you soon then…” he added with a stony stare as the two figures disappeared into the night. Turning, he was about to say something when he was forced to take a quick step to catch Karandras who toppled forwards. “Got here in the nick of time, huh?” he smiled, looking into her icy blue eyes, “Goodness, but your in a state, m’lady. One shouldn’t walk the streets alone at night, it’s not safe” “Your insight is timely as ever” she managed, before asking “Who were they?....you…you seemed to know them” Laurie’s face turned dark, “Yes, regrettably I do. They belong to a cult: a militant offshoot of Da Way, I understand it was made illegal years ago. However, annoyingly, the sect appears to have taken it upon itself to reclaim the sovereign territories of Red Span, starting here. I’ve been doing my best to track the sect’s movements for the last couple of weeks, but whenever I get a lead our friends there are always ready for me….” “And that stuff about not stopping until we’re dead….?” She asked nervously “No, they won’t. But that’s not always a bad thing” he said with a rueful grin, “Makes it a lot easier for us to know who their targets will be. But for now, Kari – enough questions. We have to get this arm bandaged and from the sound of that landing you may have cracked a rib too” “But…” “No, buts. We’ll talk more in the morning” he said kindly. From the top of the stairs came a loud whistle and the sounds of many feet coming to a halt. “Impeccable timing, as ever, Captain” Laurie chastised, as he helped Karandras passed the unit of men.

Assailants in the Dark

It hadn’t been a good night.

In fact, it hadn’t been a good last few nights. Now he came to think about it, it hadn’t really been a very good couple of months.

For the first time in a long while, Laurie had the chance to reflect on the past and not have to worry about whether the guards were going to torture him tonight, or if he would get caught having a picnic with some local vagrants in the local hay barn and “accidentally” setting fire to the whole stock, only to find out the vagrants weren’t vagrants at all, but policemen who knew all about Laurie.

It seems things had turned pretty sour for him since he turned to the shadows. He couldn’t quite shake the feeling that some higher power had it in for him. His “Lady Luck” seemed to want him to fail recently and more and more he felt he was being stitched up whenever he went about his “business” – always getting caught before he’d even walked into the place. At least, in Atamara this seemed true.

While he thought about the brief but fun time he had after disembarking in a foreign island somewhere, he remembered how it had been to have nobody know your name. It had been rather lonely really, but at least he didn’t look suspicious. Perhaps over here it was just a case that everybody knew his face…especially all the local girls (not that he complained!).

As he brought his mind back to the present, he realised the bath water had turned cold and the palms of his hands had gone all wrinkly. He never could understand why the skin on the palm of your hand and the sole of your foot was lighter than that of the rest of your body, but then again, he usually had better things to worry about – like how to escape a locked cell with no window and 4 guards stood outside the door. He was quick with his tongue, but not THAT quick.

Jumping out of the tub, and sloshed the water everywhere (who cares? They have people to clean it up anyway, gives them something to do) he reached for the warm towels and dried himself off. He liked his little retreat. Warm and cosy, and the landlady and her husband always seemed to know when he would arrive. They’d be there waiting for him, with a warm bath and some hot soup no matter what hour of the night he turned up. Obviously, he also enjoyed the fact that the couple had their 3 lovely daughters working for them around the house, handing him warm towels for instance (and pretending to hide their eyes behind their hands as he got changed for his nightly “business”).

He always took a bath before a “night on the town”. Apart from making him clean and less likely to be noticed by his odour, it also relaxed the mind, gave a man time to think, time to breathe, time to relax. As he thanked Jelana, the youngest daughter for handing him his clothes he heard light giggles coming from behind the door and light footsteps heading away into separate rooms. He knew the game they wanted to play, but tonight was different. Tonight he had a mission!

Silently closing the door behind him, he heard the faint click on the latch as he dropped it quietly into place. Once out on the street his senses heightened. His long, hard days of training had at least been of some use. His hearing was acute, being able to pick up some of the tiniest out of place sounds in amongst the usual noises of the night. Quickly slipping around the side of the house, making sure nobody had seen him, he let his eyes become accustomed to the dark of the shadows. This was how it always had to be. Become one with your surroundings and the wont betray you. Become one with the night and you can use it to your advantage. He had been trailing a certain group of people for the last few days. He hadn’t made any sort of a move yet as he was unsure of just exactly how many there were, and whether they would notice if a few of their friends went “missing” for good…

Gradually his eyes became used to the darkness, and he carried out his usual checks. Despite being able to think on his feet, he always felt it better to be safe than sorry (not that it seemed to be paying off recently!). Rolling up his long black trousers he fixes the small silver dagger his mother gave to him as a wedding present to his calf, hidden underneath the small hard leather sheath. Standing up straight, and letting his trouser-leg fall back to cover his ankles, he centred his belt (also black) and felt the cold hand steel of the throwing stars tucked in small pouches behind the fabric. They were a relatively new weapon to Laurie, but he had always had a good eye and arm with the bow, and you could throw two of these much faster than you could fire two arrows. They were also rather silent, which was a plus. Finally he swung his small quiver around his back, shouldered his light bow and set out.

The night had grown quiet around him. It was now way past midnight and most of the taverns had already emptied. He knew of a few places that stayed open in Sullenport longer than most, and he also knew that the trouble was usually over in that end of town. The Carelians were very pre-occupied with maintaining public order and trying to win over the peasants right now, and much of the force was being taken away from policework. He had taken it upon himself to do something about that, and as he stepped lightly, making almost no sound, across the cobbled backstreets of Sullenport he listened to the sounds of the night.

Passing under a slightly open window, he saw the flicker of light from a bed-lamp silhouette two figures embraced in love. There it was again, that lonely feeling…shaking his head he refocused his thoughts. He could hear the sounds of their lovemaking, hear their whispers, almost feel the emotions in that room. “STOP IT LAURIE” he said to himself.

He had paused under that window for maybe 10 seconds at the longest, but in that short time a new sound accompanied the couple in their love-nest. Soft footsteps, but swiftly getting louder could be heard running down the mainstreet. Laurie backed himself against the wall, now directly under the overhanging window and waited for the person to run past. As he listened carefully he could tell the footsteps were likely those of a female. The gait suggested a certain amount of hip swishing, and he wondered why a girl would be out on her own at this time of night.

Just as he was about to reveal himself to the would be lucky female and slap on the charm, he quickly forgot that thought as he was astonished by a figure leap from the roof of the house he was hiding by onto the next one in the street. The figure seemed to be wearing some sort of flowing skirt, but was definitely that of a man. Understanding quickly who this could be, he broke away from the house and began to run along the backstreet parallel to the mainstreet, placing the rooftop figure between him and the girl. While he ran he saw ahead a movement in the dark under the archway. Quickly darting behind a broken down cart he paused to watch the figure under the archway slip quietly around the back just as the girl’s footsteps reached the main door to the temple.

“Two-on-one?! That’s not fair” he thought to himself as he watched the rooftop figure land in front of the girl and the second figure move out from the shadows to join him. Suddenly his attention was drawn to a bold red sash tied around the shoulder of the ambushed girl, noticed her long brown hair and suddenly something twigged…“Kari!” he gasped softly and quickly made his way towards the group, now stood at the foot of the stairs. Running to catch up in time, he watched as first the man, then the second attacker who appeared to be a woman carrying a double-ended sword made attack after attack at the girl. Laurie heard the clash of blades as he got closer and saw Kari defending as best she could with a small dagger, rolling out of the way, but being pulled back by the strong man. Suddenly he launched her a good few feet into the air, and as she landed awkwardly he saw the woman with the double-ended sword charging towards Kari, helpless on the ground.

As he put on a sharp burst of speed, forgetting all pretence of being quiet now his hand reached into his belt and pulled out two stars. Quickly launching one towards the man, not really aiming properly he threw the other one with a lot of force at the advancing woman, sword held above her head, about to strike…

…the star missed Kari by inches, but also missed the advancing woman. However, startled by the sudden flash of silver passing close to her head the woman hesitated for a fraction of a second, giving Laurie all the time he needed to rush past Kari and dive into the woman. Quickly snapping his hand out he took hold of her sword, and gripping tightly, with his leg swinging neatly behind her calves he tripped the woman and took her weapon.

As he righted himself he saw the man, just as stunned as the woman, pull a throwing star out of his shoe and begin to get to his feet. Laurie swung the double-sword around and pointed it at the woman on the floor. Hearing Karandras roll over onto the floor he raised the weapon and let the woman stand, but made sure to place himself between the two assailants and the girl.

As the woman got to her feet, he addressed them: “Sinistra, Dextera”, he nodded formally to each in turn, “nice to see you both again”