Setting
Arkus had made a name for himself as a mercenary, and not just any mercenary. To his clientele he was one of the best caravan guards in the continent of Garund, having knowledge of the land, how to make both healing potions as well as debilitating poisons, his mysterious connection with the Black Thorns, and his own physical might. Most frequently he was hired to give merchants who were traveling through the Gray Forest protection against the manner of things that dwell within. In the past the primary concern would have been the now destroyed Black Thorn tribe, however; with a power void comes a power struggle. Smaller orc clans, goblins, hobgoblins, and even troglodytes were competing for who would take the dominant role and with it, the best plunder.
The mountain of an orc, who had until now been content with quietly sitting in the corner of the tavern, rose to his feet upon hearing the popping and the whistling. Grabbing his iconic weapon, Blood Lust, as well as his crossbow, and paying for his drinks, he left to investigate. What he found was... interesting to say the least. In the middle of the small crater was a rather small woman and a man who was talking to himself. Harvesting his powerful voice, he called out to the man.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"ughh..." Her groan turns into a scream as she suddenly comes to consciousness. Her bright amber eyes open wide as she attempts to flip herself over, putting pressure on her right leg and she screams once more in pain.
"Who.. who are you?" she asks as she calms down enough to look up at the figure standing above her as if he was just another person, Unafraid. She succeeds in sitting up now but her chest is still heaving and her robes reveal a bit of the flesh of her chest though she doesn't seem to notice.
"Well, screaming beauty, glad to know you'll make yourself useful now. My name's Morris Aberrigan, usually called "ShallowGrave" since i tend to just not die. I'm what people consider a rogue. What's your name, darling?"
"Akira..." She looks around for a moment before realizing that something is very wrong as she places her hands on either side of her. "What?! Where?!" she scrambles to her good leg and turns like a dog attempting to chase his tail before falling to her ass again. "Where are they?" She then looks to Morris, her eyes suddenly demanding. "What did you do?!"
"Well, if you HAVE to know. Today i wandered around the town looking for something to do for money. Got bored of picking pockets and went into the bar, hoped for a bar brawl. Nothing happened, so i went to check the bounty board, turns out there was a guy around here that's really fuckin' annoying, a barbarian. So i took the bounty, tracked the barbarian, and chopped his arms off before stabbing him straight trough his stupid heart. And i dragged the corpse back to the bar for my reward. Oh and while trying to get rid of the corpse, i heard a loud as hell noise, saw some bright lights, and there you were. On the ground. Knocked out cold. And without money. Oh and you seem to have lost your wings, no idea about that one... You only wanted to know about your wings, didn't you?"
She blinked for a moment while she listened and took in his short story. "You steal from people? Why?" a frown came across her face as she apparently only got that from his response.
"What the hell do you mean by "why"? because i'm poor as fuck. I can hardly get enough money to repair my armor and weapons. Also, i tend to enjoy chugging on rum bottles. It's a rogue thing, you'll understand when you get older."
She perks an eyebrow. "I mean why do you have to? You seem fairly capable to me..." she cuts off as she looks over her shoulder again. "Gods damned..."
Hmmm... Don't i know ya? orc, a few bottles hangin' round your waist. You're Arkus, aren't you? a guard-for-hire for the caravaneers. Heard some things about you, included the small... Incident, where you survived an assault from a dragon on your tribe. Only survivor. I've seen my share of alchemists, and i believe that's not what happened..."
Arkus nods in confirmation of the strangers question. It wasn't extremely odd for people to have heard of him, he was well know around the Grey Forest. And how many 7' tall orcs could there really be? Especially alchemist. His eyes narrowed at what the man had implied. Most people had accepted that what had happen was in fact a dragon attack. In fact, most of the locals were happy the Black Thorns were gone, one way or another. He reached up and gently grasped the vial around his neck.
"Do not presume to know such things."
The man sat down against a tree, leaving Argus to check on the girl, it was possible he could heal some of the damage.
"You know, for falling out of the sky, you look much better than one would expect. Although I'm guessing you can't walk... Do you want me to take you to the tavern?"
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