Greybrook Family/Solomon/Consequences Over Spirits

Meeting between Darren Rea and Solomon discussing the threat of incursion by the Zuma Coalition after Darren's imprisonment.

Roleplay from Darren Rea

As the sun rose in Golden Farrow, a lone man shuffled towards the city. He licked his lips, fully aware of the importance of the lack of people. Even this early in the morning, there should have been farmers and merchants going to and from the city. In the distance, he could see the closed gates, and the occasional movement from the parapets above. Again, he had overstepped, and again, he had nearly escaped from the jaws of Nightmarch. At least, for now. The palace glittered in the distance, walls and windows paid for by the man's work. For years, he had served the realm faithfully, ever since he had been tossed into the mud over a decade ago. It had been Solomon that had picked him up, and Medrawt that had cleaned him up. He owed them both his life. But.... Darren's hand twitched slightly. Solomon would feed him to that deamon now, for sure. He nearly had the last time it had marched on Tol Goldoran lands. Darren closed his eyes for a moment, walking blind. He owed him his life.....but hadn't Darren already paid that debt back in full? Did he really have to give his life, even now? The man had choosen actual tratiors to his crown over Darren, fed him to that thing, and had been getting thousands of gold for years now. Surely, that was enough? He sighed, opening his eyes. It wasn't like he was useful anymore anyway. His missing arm had nearly gotten him killed for Solomon just a few days past. Slowly, Darren shuffled down a side road some distance still from the city gates. A half mile down a winding, tree choked road, he came to his hamlet. Simply a small house, an an empty stable, but it was where he technically called home. He'd barely used the place, only wintering in it on occasion, as well as using as a meeting place for when he got separated from his retainers. Smoke curled from the chimney, no doubt a cooking fire. At least one of his people must have made it out safely, at least. With a grunt, he shouldered the door, pushing it open to a hopeful looking Bernard. A smile broke out on the older warrior's face. "Sir Darren! You made it out again, I see! And missing an' arm since the last time, no less!" Darren was able to coax a small smile to his face, despite his misgivings. "Where is A-" "In the city getting supplies, Sir." So, they had both survived. Good. At least that was two less lives he would have on his conscience. "Yes, the Zuma are not very good dungoen builders, it seems." With a heaving sigh, Darren looked longingly toward his bedroom. "Bernard, I am going to rest for a while, but prepare the travelling packs." "Sir? You've just got back, and I am sure that so-" "No, Bernard. We leave as soon as we are all ready, and as far north as we can go." By the elements, his bed was soft. He groaned slightly, rolling over without even opening his eyes. He felt Nibblers (his undead mouse) scurry across his chest, squeaking indignantly about his nap being disturbed before settling in the center of his chest under his shirt. It wasn't often he slept in a real bed, and the horrors of the last week, as well as the last month of rough travel were clearly catching up to him. Slowly, he opened his eyes, blinking the sleep-crust away. The small window above his bed was dark, and the room darker. Staring in horror at the window, he shook off the last dregs of sleep, and lifted himself out of bed. No, it couldn't be that late, Bernard was supposed to wake him when Alera was back from the city.... Shouldering his way into the main room of the house, he found himself face to face with both of his caretakers, both sitting at the small wood table. "Good evening, Sir. I saved some supper for you." Alera pointed at a clean cloth thrown over a plate, at the third chair. Darren ignored it, choosing to glare at Bernard instead. "You were supposed to wake me up, Bernard!" Bernard glanced at Alera for a moment, before looking back at his lord. "You need the rest, Sir. You've not stopped since ya got out of bed after your....arm." The old warrior gestured at where Darren's arm used to be. "You can rest a few days, Sir. Trust me, it will take time to move troops this far north. Plus the thousands of troops between us." Bernard watched the younger man twitch, probably at the thought of the demon, he supposed. "You are safe for now, Sir. Come and get some grub, before it gets colder." Darren flinched, and pursed his lips. It wasn't the rabbit he was worried about. Silently, he made his way to the food. They could leave after he ate, he supposed.....

Darren Rea

Roleplay from Solomon Greybrook

Solomon woke another day where he immediately poured over the scout reports. Was the day going to come? Upon those, he saw that Darren was indeed in the city once more. He took the opportunity to send for him to meet in a indiscrete place, hoping to catch him before he left the city.

Solomon Greybrook

Roleplay from Darren Rea

They had convinced him to stay, for a day or so, at least. Apparently, every stable in the city was either full up, or refused to let their animals go 'with current events.' A deal had been struck up with a less the reputable stable, but it would be a day before the animals would be ready. Darren wasn't sure if his retainers were lying to him to get him to rest, or if they had really scraped the bottom of the barrel for a set of horses. That night, he got very little sleep, just a few winks in the wee hours of the morning. Breakfast was a grand affair, however, and both his bodyguard and his healer had been hard art work for over an hour by the time he crawled out of bed. They'd outdone themselves; Darren enjoyed the meal, making small talk and just trying to relax. While the trio began to clean up the mess, a short, clipped knock came at the door. Darren, hand full of dirty plates, immediately moved to the back of the room, near a small chest filled with his weapons. He sighed, as Bernard went for the door, sword carefully hidden behind the oak door itself. Darren had found, no matter what he did, he was nearly useless in a fight now a days. He would have to rely on the old man's sword arm, and his healer's mace. "Excuse me, is Sir Darren here? I come on behalf of His Majesty, Navarch Solomon." Darren closed his eyes, for a moment. This, this was why he'd wanted to leave, dammit. How had the Navarch already found out he was back from Nightmarch? With a grunt, Darren rose, and shouldered his way past Bernard. A herald of the Navarch stood on his step, gaudy green and gold uniform and all. "I am here." "The Navarch requests a meeting with your person, at any place of your choice." Darren narrowed his eyes. It wasn't like Solomon to be so....accommodating. As he mulled what to say, Bernard softly touched his shoulderblade. Someone else was here, but where? A glance around the treeline proved fruitless. So much for having him come meet him here. "I will meet him in his quarters, in two hours. Tell him he doesn't need to announce me, and in fact, I would prefer he didn't." With that, he shouldered the door shut on the herald, and gave a quiet whisper to behind, "Where are they, Bernard?" "I'm not sure, Sir. I only saw a flash in the other window." The response was quiet, and tense. Carefully, Darren padded over to his chests of tools and weapons, Alera softly helping him buckle them on one by one, as Bernard ghosted to the window, to watch the herald leave. "Is the back open?" "Yes, Sir." "The herald?" "Safe as long as I could see him." "Good." A whispered conversation, before Bernard rose from his perch, and walked into Darren's bedroom. After a moment, Darren and Alera followed, entering the room just as Bernard's head dipped below the floor. A large door in the floor sat open, stairs leading into darkness. Light flared up from deeper in the hole, no doubt Bernard lighting the torch in the supply room. Steadying himself with his hand, Darren quickly made his way down the stairs, as Alera heaved the door shut behind them. There was a throw carpet stapled to the door, that would slow any tails for a good long while looking for the door. The supply room held all manner of tools, weapons, and food packs, even if Darren hadn't gotten around to replacing the tools with new sets of single arm friendly ones. However, his cloaks and the food packs, as well as equipment for his caretakers were quickly acquired. A single nod from Darren, and the now armed and supplied troop made their way down a dark tunnel. The Navarch waited, after all. The backdoor lead away from the city, of course. Circling around back to the city had taken them nearly half an hour, and navigating the city had taken longer. By the time Darren and his retainers made it to the palace, Darren found himself with only a mere half an hour to make his way through the castle. The three of them sat just outside the grounds, quietly resting before they began the next part of the plan. Bernard shuffled through one of the packs they had brought along, pulling out servants' clothes for all three of them. While such a ruse would never work with a foreign noble, Darren had been careful to pay key figures within the Palace staff well since the building was built to look the other way on these things. It only took a matter of twenty minutes to navigate the Palace itself, a handful of glances and nods the only payment needed today. Above the Navarch's suite was a storage area, deemed to have too low ceilings for any other use, yet for some reason still had a few small windows. The reason had been "decorative;" greasing the pockets of the builder had had it's perks. After a few minutes of prep, Darren found himself in his soft travelling clothes, and a rope with a quick release of his own design attached to his disfigured hand. Bernard lashed the other end of the rope to a well placed support beam, and nodded to Darren. Slowly, Bernard lowered the infiltrator from one of the windows, until a short tug came from the rope. Darren found himself hanging outside a shuttered window. Once again, the builder had proven himself useful, as this latch, when softly nudged with a boot at the right angle, popped open. Darren swung himself into the Navarch's lavatory, smacking the quick connect on his hip, which released it. He stored the end of the rope outside of the window, hiding it from view from the inside. The Navarch had a large suite, and would hopefully be waiting in his study, or perhaps his entrance hall, by this hour. A quick, longing glance at the window, before Darren began to ghost his way through the apartment. After a matter of moments, he found himself in front of the door of the study. Light bled out from under the door.

Darren Rea

Roleplay from Solomon Greybrook

When Darren agreed to the meeting, Solomon was honestly suprised. Considering their complicated relationship, he expected the noble to be far out at sea. Yet, he did expect a no show. So, in the late hours of the evening, when the knock came, Solomon opened the door to greet the man for their private audience, despite the fact he did not hear the guards announce his arrival... Apart from a nod of appreciation, no words were spoken between the two of them as the Navarch directed them to a seating area where set out where a small collection of alcoholic beverages and appropriate glasses. Sitting down, Solomon contemplated his next moves.

Solomon Greybrook

Roleplay from Darren Rea

Well, he had guessed correctly, at least. The study was much closer to his escape route then the guards at the door as well. Darren looked to Solomon, sitting across from him, the man that had saved him, the same man that had fed him to the Zuma once before. This was a bad idea. The guards could come in at any moment and arrest him on the spot.... Darren mentally shook himself. He had an escape, with every door between him and the rope cracked enough for him to shoulder it open, and good people waiting for him to get away, if the need arose. Even with only a single arm, and his hand mangled, he was much, much quicker on his feet then Solomon. Probably. Darren resolved to keep out of sword reach of the Navarch, and gave himself a breath before breaking the silence. "You wanted a meeting, Lord Navarch?"

Darren Rea

Roleplay from Solomon Greybrook

"Yes, I did want to have a meeting, you probably know what this is about." The Navarch could tell that Darren was apprehensive, probably for the best to keep him honest: "We have known eachother a long time and in my purview, you have long overpaid your debt you have imposed on yourself to myself and Royal Medrawt. Your support for the realm is unquestioned and gold is truly critical. Yet, this is not the first nor second time you have caused the realm a potential crisis." Leaning forward now, Solomon got to his point: "I have enabled you to be autonomous in where you worked. Yet, I presumed that you would think twice about going back south to the Zuma. So why did you go back?"

Solomon Greybrook

Roleplay from Darren Rea

He tried his danmedest not to crawl out of his skin at the thought of the Zuma. Maybe he should take advantage of the glittering spirits... Licking his lips, Darren looked Solomon in the eye, and placed his remaining hand on the desk. "The realm needs gold, and so do I." Darren tapped the desk with his thumb, careful not to disturb his sleeve, and the climbing apparatus hidden under it. "Years ago, Cotys D'Anglos crushed this hand. Now I can only grip things with my thumb. I can get along sometimes but...." Darren's eyes seemed to flicker far away, for just a moment, and he paused for a pair of breaths. "I lost my good arm, the last time that monster came for us. I have a reaction to magic, and whatever it did, it would have killed me.. I can't..." Darren licked his lips again, and returned his gaze to Solomon. "I want to pay for a Healer in the magical art to fix my hand. It might make me sick, it might even kill me, but I can't live like this. It's expensive, and the realm needs gold too. I need to pay for both, and the Zuma have gold. They have a lot of it, Solomon."

Darren Rea

Roleplay from Solomon Greybrook

"Sir Darren, you know why there is a bulletin restricting access to the Zuma lands, you know this better than anyone else." Solomon also began to be tempted by the drinks on the table but he needed a clear head for now: "Yet... I see your need. I do not want you to suffer anymore, not if there is something you can do about it. If it is favourable, I can seek a petition for a healer with a magic scroll to see if they can fix your almants. But... You cannot venture into Zuma land no more for work, at least without direct permission which I will be certainly be difficult to provide. Too much has happened now for you to go back to them, I am still expecting a scout report with a Coalition of Daimons to our south..."

Solomon Greybrook

Roleplay from Darren Rea

He tried not to flinch at the mention of the Zuma. Dark, shining stone flashed before his eyes, just for a moment. The screech of that beast echoed, quietly in the back of his mind. "You and your realm will suffer." Darren breathed, deeply, for just a moment. Shame inched it's ugly head forward, replacing the moment of fear. Dominic would never let his realm down, and he would never run from his mistakes, and...he would trust his King. Licking his now rather dry lips, Darren eyeballed the drinks, buying himself a moment to think before answering. There was no way he could trust Solomon, not as deeply as he had in years past, but the man had offered his help, and hadn't chewed his ear off yet for bringing daemons to his door, not once, but twice now. While he had handed Darren to that thing once before, ignored and publicly bereted him over the traitor nobles, and nary spoke to him other then to ask for gold, Solomon was offering to help, even now, after Darren had no doubt brought who knows what horrors down on the man. He flicked his eyes back to the Navarch. "Yes, Lord Navarch. I was sick when it was written, but I remember the day that monster showed up in Demyansk." Dominic wouldn't put up with anyone's spinning, either. "You said I could go to the Zuma lands, Lord Navarch. So long as I knew the consequences." A long sigh escaped him then. Damn it, when had the man in front of him grown so far away? "It's not like I have been stealing from them directly. Most of the gold I bring you I earn by teaching the locals how to fight rogues, but.." Dominic would be honest, too. "I was teaching the non-Zuma affiliated humans, the ones that live deep in the woods. I didn't ask why they needed to know modern ways to fought rogues, when the Zuma keep them away so well. I also didn't ask why they had so much gold on them. When the raid from the Zuma came, I failed to run fast enough. I watched many of the men I had been teaching be ripped apart around me. They saw my arm, or they would have killed me too." Darren shrugged his armless shoulder. "I was lucky. I had my shirt off for a training match, and the strips of that rainbow skin that are left were showing." Darren's eyes bored into the Navarch's. "I didn't feel very lucky. Being drug before Kettle for the third or fourth time now wasn't...." Darren's voice broke, and he paused, collecting himself. "I will help repel them anyway I can, Solomon." He tapped his thumb on the desk again. "But first, I.....need some help."

Darren Rea

Roleplay from Solomon Greybrook

"Help is what you will receive Darren. Ensure that you find a scroll of healing as soon as possible. Enlist the realm's adventures or the various guilds. Yet, if the Zuma come, I expect you to be in Tol Goldora. It is my responsibility now to ensure no harm comes to my nobility from my lack of foresight." Standing up from his chair, the Autarch finished: "I hope for all our sakes we have a resolution for this war and the Daimon, we can't do both."

Solomon Greybrook

Roleplay from Darren Rea

"I understand, Lord Navarch." Darren followed suit, standing just a little too quickly. The sudden movement had put him on edge immediately, but at least he had managed to curb the impluse to draw blades. "I will travel just to the edge of the the northeren border, and the rogue regions there. I need some gold, but then I will stay in my home outside the walls of the city until you require me. I'm... unwelcome in the adventuring guilds since...um...well, maybe Eddie can help." With a short bow, Darren made his exit from the study ahead of the ruler, careful to keep his distance, and careful to disappear into the shadows of the suite before Solomon could do something unfortunate like try to show him the front door. His rope still was safely tucked behind the window jam, and a matter of moments with the quick connect and a pair of tugs, and he found himself back in the attic space with his troupe. His face must have said enough, since Bernard clapped him on the back, and Alera smiled softly. "We are staying, arn't we, Sir?" "Yes, Bernard. we are."

Darren Rea