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Snippet #2469687

located in Reclaimers Universe, a part of The Reclaimers, one of the many universes on RPG.

Reclaimers Universe

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Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mox Ierba Character Portrait: Jolo Grossman Character Portrait: Kaidman Lheyr Character Portrait: Eian Karimi Character Portrait: Shari Character Portrait: Portia Latisse
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[Co-written with VindicatedPurpose and Kuroe]

93rd Day

Protectorate City


"You're not seriously thinking of doing this, are you?" Shari's question was met with a blank look from Eian. The kind of look that assured her of his complete seriousness.

"This is... This isn't the smartest idea you've ever had, Eian..." Shari mumbled. Talking to Eian was like talking to a wall. "We're damned if we do and damned if we don't, I suppose..."

Eian shrugged in response. "This is the best way to find Mox. Leaving and going back with the letters without looking would be far worse than not."

They had been about to do just that, actually, when Shari had read the poster aloud. Now, much to her dismay, they were headed out to kill bandits and a man that may or may not even be alive anyways. Shari even knew that Eian hated these odds. Normally, he wouldn't even bother finding a target like this, or ask to be payed extra by their employer. What made this assignment different? Eian flat out refused to tell her anything about the damned thing. So here they were, going off to fight bandits in the middle of the desert. Maybe there had been something in the stew Eian had ate the other night...

"Eian, do you even know what this Mox guy looks like?"

"No."

Shari waited for him to continue. He didn't. It was obviously a sign for her to be quiet and wait. Or something. She couldn't really tell what he was thinking right now.

-

Noon quickly came upon the Dome, but much more than that was the crowd of people assembled to take on a little bandit hunting in return for rewards. It was an assortment of various peoples and species. There were humans, Drakyvarians, Vaul, lizardmen, and so on. They were dressed in all sorts of garb, but most were adventurers as evidenced by their weapons and armor. Others were simply lured by the prospect of bezants thus one could see those who were beggars, others who were merchants, and others who were simple folk.

They came to hear information that was to be crucial to their objectives. Each man had their own motives; they conversed among themselves for a time.

The surrounding streets were empty, save for the shopkeepers standing outside their businesses to watch the commotion. In front of the Dome, there was an elevated platform from which the council members often gave public speeches, whether it was for political reasons or they just wanted to hear the sound of their voices, nobody knew and nobody cared.

"Thank you, one and all for coming here this day," spoke Nabis Alaunte, one of the seven council members present that day at noon.

He spoke with a firm and dignified voice, one that might have belonged to a man of wisdom and honor, one that was almost unheard of from a council member.

He was the oldest of all the council members with a white beard and a mane of white hair separated into short and straightened rows of pony tails streaking backward in a manner that almost looked like he was wearing a bunch of feathers. He was also taller than the rest, and his sharpened eyebrows and hawkish eyes lent a dark and calculating air to him. He wore a bronze cuirass over his tunic and his arms were protected by bronze vambraces. He stood before the rest of the seven on the platform, as the rest of them had conferred onto him the role of leading the council perhaps due to his age. Nabis had been elected to the council two times before already, the only council member to have been re-elected mainly because he has been on good terms with nearly everyone.

He was in his villa when he heard of the attack on the 90th, he immediately asked if any of the other council members had been harmed, then he set about fortifying his territories in case the bandits were aligned with any of his rivals. Then he went along with the proposal to have freemen go after the bandits because it was a more convenient solution to what appeared to be a perpetual bandit problem that was not being handled correctly by Jolo and the rangers.

Nabis continued, "By now, I am sure all of you have heard of the attack on our great and prosperous city on the 90th day of the 514th year of our Sun Lord's ride. They attacked without warning, and several of our citizens have been kidnapped," the old politician paused.

"We believe it is very likely that they may have sold them into slavery or killed them already. Whatever it is, we expect you to hunt them down and either kill them or take them prisoner. If you come across any survivors, bring them back to the city."

"The perpetrators are extremely dangerous as we have already seen. We advise you to take caution before accepting our call. However, if you do indeed rise up, then you have our permission to confiscate whatever personal belongings they have, weapons, bezants, and so on. The hunter with the highest number killed or captured will receive the reward of 300 bezants from the city. If you kill, you will have to record where you found them and bring back the heads for us to count. You are also free to work together with others present here today," Nabis concluded.

"Is there anything else that my fellow council members wish to add?" he turned to the rest of them, they looked to each other and shook their heads.

"Very well," the old council member returned to the crowd, "Happy hunting."

The councilors descended from the platform and returned to the Dome.

-

Around Bane Canyon

The sun beat ever stronger than before in the day. Jolo followed by the woman, Kaidman and Mox walked through the rocky sand as they approached a more open area where two saddled animals stood awaiting for the Rangers' return. They were a pair of Yakolas, four legged creatures of yellowish orange skin, a skin that was very thin because they had no need for insulation.
They were even toed ungulates with long upright necks. It wasn't long before they returned and mounted them. Kaidman sat behind Jolo and Mox behind his partner in justice, and the animals began heading off through the open sands.

"Is there any trend in bandit activity out in the deserts now, Jolo?" Kaidman asked as the animals' run concealed their words.

"I wouldn't suppose I know too much about it, but a trend? Seems a bit disturbin'," the Ranger answered. "What do you think you've found?"

Kaidman gripped the frontiersman's shoulder tightly as he almost lost his balance in the gallop. Straightening himself out, he opened his mouth to speak again.

"I think some group of people are planning to bomb somewhere; there's been some exchanging of gunpowder and canisters you'd use for the sort of thing out in the desert. I've done my best to get close without giving myself away, but I could only see and hear so much."

The Ranger could only smirk at the comment, "You're a bit late to the party, son."

"What do you mean?" The thought of letting a horrific event such as that occur made Kaidman tense.

"A couple days ago, an explosive went off near the City, took out a portion of the wall. We had some wounded and others missin'."

"That's funny, a couple days ago, a group of bandits came barreling out of Protectorate City with a hostage on the back of one of their grelbs. And that's how I came upon Mox, sitting with your friend there. He's from the city, apparently a smith."

Jolo was silent for a moment, connecting the dots in his head.

"You killed those bandits."

The fact left Kaidman dumbstruck, "How do you know that?"

"Three days later, I find some bodies on a main road leading to Solaria. Looked like they might have carried hostages too. They had weapons, so they weren't traders. They hadn't been robbed, so whoever killed them, obviously wasn't after their possessions. The only skilled warrior, that I know of in that part of the desert, who would be willing to take on bandits like them would be..." The old ranger let that sink in.

"Kid, didn't I ever tell you to leave that shit to the rest of us?" Jolo asked as he reined his mount forward with an increase in pace "Not that it matters anymore since you're still in good shape."

The old man was unsure how he managed to survive the confrontation, but he was glad that Kaidman did.

"And since those bandits are dead. The trail's pretty much gone cold. Funny."

Mox took everything in as he sat behind Jolo's accompanying ranger, Portia, his hands were wrapped across her stomach.

"Try anything funny and I'll chop both your hands off," she had warned.

"Don't worry, I need my hands to make a living. I'm just gonna hold on so that I don't fall off," Mox replied.

"Chief, what are we gonna do with him?" Portia referred to her passenger.

Jolo looked over to the bearded blacksmith but said nothing.

"Alright, so I killed your bandits, and I have someone you might be interested in. We're headed to the city, and I suppose I can hang around until the morning; but I don't want to be around here long. You know how I am, being a caveman and all."

Jolo scoffed at the smart aleck response, "Don't worry kid, you'll be back in your cave pretty soon."

"Hey, don't take it personally. Maybe some day you'll learn," Kaidman told the Ranger.

The group rode off through the sands toward the city.