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William T. Konrad

"Just your normal man with bills to pay, a bitch for a boss, and a very limited skill set."

0 · 823 views · located in Otanis

a character in “The Skylands of Novahlis: The Heart of Otanis”, as played by Taunbon

Description

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【 Name 】
William T. Konrad

【 Age 】
29

【 Height 】
6'3

【 Weight 】
206 .lbs

【 Hair 】
Brown

【 Eyes 】
Hazel

【 Occupation 】
Bounty Hunter

【 Skills 】


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Interrogation
It is a fine balance between pain and truth. Torture isn't always the solution, as while everyone breaks, many will start to spew whatever they think one wants to hear in order to stop the pain, true or no. The art of interrogation is knowing what route will get the information needed the soonest, as such, Konrad considers himself to be an excellent reader of character as well as extremely adept at deciphering lies from truth, and most importantly, knowing when someone is of no more use.

Investigation/Tracking
As they often go hand in hand. There has yet to be a time where Konrad has not been able to track down a mark, he is very good at looking through objects left behind and trails to build an idea of the mark allowing him to build a mental profile of his mark to better allow him to hunt them down. He is very adept at tracking people through their credit trails or even their natural trail should they try and go 'primal' and lose him in some sky-forsaken wild. The hunt is, truly, Konrad's favorite part of the job... well, besides being paid, of course.

Piloting
Konrad has great skill in piloting airships born from hard earned experience and life and death situations upon his own vessel. While he certainly could not engage in a race with say, a Sky Pirate, and hope to win, Konrad is extraordinarily good at maneuvering his ship through combat zones as well as engaging other vessels to which he has a great track record of victories (even if some of those 'victories' left his ship barely floating and in minorly better condition than theirs). He is widely known for his preference of ramming which is something that is often mocked by other pilots for the risk it puts to his ship, but no one can argue with the results.

Jerry Rigging
As his ship and gear often suffers major damage and Konrad is far too cheap (And broke) to pay a professional to fix them, he has gotten incredibly good at 'Jerry Rigging' things. It is often incredibly crude looking, but as he says, "It works," and he is extremely creative with his 'repairs' and has branched out to Jerry Rigging special 'equipment' depending on what the hunt needs and has a small arsenal of gear he has created himself from meshing others together.

Combat
Like all Bounty Hunters, Konrad is extremely good in a fight be it at ranged or in hand to hand, although he prefers ranged combat over fighting with his fist or knives as it is just a waste of time and energy. Konrad prefers power and cunning over finesse and 'fanciful' fighting.

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【 Weaknesses 】

Addiction
Konrad is a slave to many vices such as smoking, drinking, adrenaline and gambling, because of this, he is usually broke and often in debt with people making him easy to hire and manipulate by waving money in his face. Withdraw is also a serious concern as while he is not addicted to the harder 'chems' on the market, he starts to get irritable if he has not partaken in his vices in some time making him sloppy.

Unpleasant
A man described as unpleasant by many, Konrad doesn't have friends and most people, reasonable sane people, hate him and working with him. Konrad tends to fight alone and has trouble connect with people, prefers it that way as well, and so does not have anyone to call on should things go tits up.

Stealth Is For Sissies
Konrad is not a subtle person. While he may hunt someone, stalk them from the shadows... his take downs are never as subtle. While he may study a pirate captain for months, learning his crew, their desires and ambition, follow them to theirs homes and hideouts without being seen and spending days, weeks, and even months gathering intel and details, when it is time for the take down... he tends to go in guns blasting, planted explosives... exploding, and bringing the 'Iron Fist' down upon their heads.

Obviously such tactics can, and has, backfired and it has left him open to various wounds and nearly gotten him killed more than a few times. Many of the people he hires for jobs refuse to work for him afterwards once they have experienced the 'other side of him'.

Battle Lust
While he is a masterful hunter and a meticulous tracker, his combat ability borders on crazed berserker. While he is extremely crafty and uses underhanded tactics and odd tools to achieve victory, he has a very brutish method preferring large amounts of bullets, fire, and, well, brute force rather than stealth take downs and kills preferred by other Bounty Hunters and Assassins.

【 Appearance 】

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[center]Konrad, despite what many would assume he looks like, looks surprisingly plain for a feared bounty hunter of some reputation. His plain brown hair is cut short and often left forgotten, his jaw is strong coming to a thin pointed jaw below a small, thin mouth. His nose is thin with a slight hook on the end giving him a very 'hawkish' look. His almond shaped eyes are the only true distinguishing feature on him as his sharp hazel eyes always seem to dance with a mixture of amused malice and intelligence. He will often have stubble stretching across his chin from as he will often forgo arguing that, "He could not find enough fucks to shave."
He tends to dress for comfort and utility, generally wearing his combat vest over a dark shirt, blue jeans, black steel toed boots, and occasionally, a plain red trucker hat. In fact, if he wasn't carrying weaponry, Konrad is a man people would walk by without giving him a second glance, something he is fairly proud of.

【 Transportation 】

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Tera is a small gunboat that has been retrofitted for Konrad's purpose. It can be flown by one person, however, its optimal crew is four with ten being the max occupancy, eleven assuming someone wants to be in the 'brig' that Konrad had installed. As a gunboat, the vessel is stronger than personal craft used by normal 'pilots', yet far smaller than even patrol government ships. It is a mixture of speed and power that Konrad finds useful... and he won Tera in a card game, so that also helped in his decision.

His beloved Tera came with a standard 'gunboat' weaponry, a large dual barreled flak cannon used to fire at other gunboats, personal fliers, and other smaller targets. Besides the flak cannon, Konrad has... 'retrofitted' two ballista on the bow that is not used for 'killing' merely to keep his targets in place for Konrad's signature 'ram'. On the bow, is a massive, heavy metal covering that he uses to ram into other vessels something that is often described as both stupid and brave. It is the 'easiest' way for him to board other vessels as... well... his ship is either right against theirs or inside theirs, and it is the only real answer he has for larger ships besides to turn tail and flee.


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【 Standard Equipment 】
The equipment he normally has on him

His dual 'slugthrowers', which are just two revolvers but believes calling them slugthrowers gives them character. He prefers revolvers due to the fact that it keeps the casing allowing him to use his ammo reloader to save money. He also has two speedloaders in his pockets to reload if necessary.

A rebreather that hangs around his neck. A rebreather, once worn over the mouth, filters toxins out from the air allowing him to safely breath smoke and poison gas.

A 7 inch combat knife that he keeps on his waste and a four inch blade he hides in his boot.

A custom wrist mounted cable launcher that serves two purpose, to latch unto far away objects to use to either pull himself up or swing. If he attaches it to someone, he can deliver a large amount of electric shock to render targets unconscious.

Four grenades, two fragmentation, one smoke, and one tear gas. (He keeps the grenades separately, although there was one... funny time where he thought he had thrown a smoke grenade down when really it was a tear gas... suffice to say, he is never allowed back in that bar again.)

Restraining collar and handcuffs: A collar and remote that can be used to electrocute whatever it is around at the push of a button. He uses it when he needs to keep prisoners docile. The charge last as long as he holds the button allowing him to render people unconscious if necessary.

A combat vest that has numerous pouches on it, it is designed to stop smaller caliber rounds and shrapnel.

【 Specialist Equipment 】
Stuff he has stored in his ship for when, and if, he ever needs it.

'Storming Helm'
He wears it when he needs to, as the name implies, storm something. It has a rebreather on it allowing him to make use of his various grenades without fear, tinted glass to protect him from flash bangs, as well as the ability to change from night vision to infrared at will and just like his vest, is designed to stop small arms and shrapnel.

Explosive kit
A large... if not ramshackle, set of equipment to allow him to design and create powerful explosives because.. well, one never knows.

Dart Rifle
A powerful dart rifle, that he rarely uses, along with a few darts filled with powerful tranquilizers.

Weaponry
He has a wide selection of weaponry from pistols to rifles to a 'lightning rod' and even a sword he won in a poker game. Most of it is never used, but as he always says, he likes his options.

'Big Bertha'
A self-propelled explosive device that he 'obtained' from Troth... he only has two rounds for it and is very particular over who gets to touch it.

Wealth

None to speak of. In fact, he is in dept by... more than he knows offhand. A couple thousand here and there goes a long way. That and he often never repays people that he can get away with not paying.

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【 Family 】

He has a eight year old daughter being raised by foster parents. She doesn't know he exist, but he sends the foster parents money every time he is paid (half his cut every time), and it is the only true responsibility he shows outside of his job. Konrad knows he is not a good father and would be an even worse one if he tried. She is better off without him in her life, and a part of him wouldn't know where to start.

【 Relations 】

Admiral Karen 'The Bitch' Troth
The Admiral that 'holds his reins' as he says it. When the government needs his skills, it is Admiral Troth that contacts him, keeps him in check, and hands him his payment. They are not on the best terms, and have come to blows twice before, the first time when he 'accidentaly' told a very powerful Sky Pirate that the money he owed was on her private ship, and the second time when she... broke his nose, cracked his jaw, and fractured two of his ribs once she caught ahold of him. He still maintains that he won the fight... despite only she having the ability to walk away.

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Tera
His daughter. Yes, he named his boat after his daughter, a fact no one besides a certain Admiral knows. While she has never met him, he keeps a tabs on her and does have a picture of her in his pocket.

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Vince 'Dog Bone' Jones
A rather... influential and powerful Sky Pirate and underworld king pin that Konrad owes quite the amount too. Konrad also, may or may not, have gotten said pirate to attack the private ship of a certain female Admiral thus started a large engagement that led to two of Dog Bone's ships being removed from 'service' and a certain Admiral to lose her very expensive luxury ship. He firmly maintains that it was a 'communication malfunction'.

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【 Personality】

{Direct || Distant || Independent || Crafty || Deceptive || Frugal || Antagonist}

Konrad tends to be a very direct and brunt person. He does not mince words, save to throw a witty remark to annoy someone, and will often pick the easiest and quickest path to solve a problem. Where one person will try to pick a lock, he will blow the door down. Where one person will try to talk someone into coming with them, Konrad will knee cap them and drag them behind him. He has always preferred the brute strength approach to problems, solving issues with gunfire and violence as while many claim it is crude, it is the quickest and most efficient way to his goal. Violence has settled more disputes and issues than and other action and this is because it is the efficient solution.

Despite his brunt and 'talkative' nature, Konrad is emotionally reserved and distant. His half-smile is always fake, his smirks serve a purpose in upsetting others or otherwise getting a rise out of them. His... profession doesn't allow personal connections as those who have them tend to die with a knife in their back. As far as Konrad is concerned, there are three types of people in the world, enemies, strangers, and associates. He surrounds his heart with a wall and prefers to be alone, safe behind his walls.

Much like how he prefers to be alone, emotionally, he also prefers to be alone physically. Despite his.... talkative nature, Konrad is incredibly independent and likes his space. He despises taking orders and will do everything in his power to undermine anyone who attempts it which has lead him into quite a bit of trouble with the government at times. His skill in Jerry rigging is both a means to save money and an outward expression of his desire as it allows him to do acts himself instead of having to rely on others, something he will refuse to do. Konrad would rather die, bleeding out from his wound then ask someone for help, and he will never beg for aid. It is fair to say that there is a good amount of pride fueling his independent nature.

Konrad is not one they would call 'book smart'. Raised alone on the streets, he didn't know how to read until his teenage years, and he only learned to ensure people did not screw him out of his pay, but Konrad is 'street smart' and incredibly clever and crafty. He knows how to navigate the underworld, survive penniless, naked, and alone in a dark alley, and is an extremely good judge of character having seen the lowest of humanity and how they behave, and if anyone asked, 'Don't trust anyone, everyone is a dick'. He is able to come up with solutions to problems extremely well and form fairly good plans on the fly as surviving is one of his specialties.

Lying is second nature to Konrad and is a survival skill in his line of business. He lies about his past, often about his profession, about himself, his abilities, his employers, his contract... often he will lie on reflex to the point where the truth is not something he is accustomed to and honesty is the sign of a fool. He may be direct and brunt, but he is far from honest. Deception is a part of the job, and a natural part of the world, only a fool believes in truth and fools tend to die early. It is safe to assume Konrad is fairly cynical.

Despite the money he spends on his vices, gambling being the most expensive, Konrad is surprisingly frugal. He will barter to the last cent and prefers to go without rather than pay for luxury. Getting a penny from Konrad is harder than squeezing water from sand. However, Konrad will always honor a contract and follow it to the letter. He will not double cross a contract once it has been signed as doing so would be bad for business, no one would hire him if they thought he would turn on them the second someone offered him more.

Konrad is very much an antagonist. He takes enjoyment in poking at people to see them crack and takes special pleasure in picking on quiet and weak people, not because he enjoys preying on the weak, but because he believes they need to toughen up, raise their chin, and stand up for themselves, and he will torture them until they do. When he 'picks on people' it is the closest to a sign of affection one can expect from Konrad, and his true insults from playful jabs are... usually easy enough to tell apart. He takes great enjoyment in giving people pet nicknames or pretending he forgot someone's name to aggravate them. To make it short: giving people shit makes him happy.

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【 Origin 】

-I would like to keep his history disclosed for now. If you want, I can PM you the rough idea of it, but part of his character is that he will lie about his past if anyone were to ask and having the true story here would ruin the fun of that.-

So begins...

William T. Konrad's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: William T. Konrad
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#, as written by Taunbon
Kingdom of Otanis, Lower Financial Section - Peg's Pit
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The smoke danced through the air of the dank, little pub near the ass end of the the lower financial section which, in turn, was the ass end of the glorious kingdom of Otanis, in fact, such a description fit rather well with the pub, the glorious kingdom's ass end of its ass end, and the smell would be rather spot on; secreted from the numerous sweaty and grimy men cluttered around the small tables, stains of alcohol, blood, and other substances that were less than polite to speak of, and of course, as Konrad would say, there was the rat shit that he was sure they distilled their 'Peg's Special' from. It would be hard to imagine how such a place could attract any customers at all, much less, by a place people could safety occupy, the answer to the first was rather simple, places like Peg's Pit always existed. No matter what kingdom or nation one travels, they will find a small, dank tavern full of unscrupulous occupants, women, and sometimes men, trying to ply the oldest, and noblest, of trade, and the local ruffians and riffraff trying to prove their mettle by getting into fights with other ruffians, who just so happened, to be coming in on the docks, thus allowing their small minds to separate them as different than themselves and so valid targets for their misplaced rage and bravado.

No matter the kingdom or the location, there was always the criminal element, the outcast, the poor, the dissatisfied, or the local teenagers engaging in a bet with their friends, and such people need a place to call their own. The local authorities avoided it and the normal, upstanding, citizens feigned ignorance that such places exist for it was always easier to walk by the homeless, perhaps toss a coin at them, then to truly look at them and pay attention to the problems that lay beneath the lovely little islands or investigate what that smell beneath the roses truly was. The second answer was even easier than the first to answer, Peg's Pit was anything but safe. Fights were common place and more than a few people had been killed either stabbed, shot, or brutally maimed on its stained wooden floors. The bodies tossed out into the street and left until the local authorities came to pick it up unable to make any arrest as there was a rule all people followed, 'don't talk to the suits,' doing so was little better than suicide. The 'long' arm of the law was not as long as its faithful citizens liked to believe. And like all good shady pubs, it had a fun name with a story behind it. The cost of which was only a single drink, while many people would assume they know it by the owner and bartender, one Peggy Tarrakip, and the fact she, just so happened, to walk on a peg leg, but they would only be partially correct.

If there was any questions remaining, it would be why one William T. Konrad, Bounty Hunter extraordinaire, with a fair bit of reputation, more bad than good, was at a small, dark, dank pub with a pegged legged bartender in the ass end of the ass end of a tiny unremarkable country, and the answer... Konrad had not a single fucking clue. Why he had traveled to the ass end of nowhere was due to a summoning in a hastily scrawled message by his personal dominatrix, his loving Bitch who held his leash and cracked her whip when it suited her, but as to why he was there, specifically, he had not the faintest idea, but he did know that he found this nation a pathetic waste of his time.

So far, from the small amount of sight seeing he did after disembarking from his boat, Otanis was a shitstain. A pretty shitstain, but a shitstain. It barely had any good places to drink, Peg's Pit being a rare exception, the prospective marks were extremely limited as he only spotted a few small time pirates that were not worth the bullets it would take to bring their dead corpses in, and the fact that people were too fucking nice.

Konrad had lost count of the amount of people that had smiled and waved at him, apologized to him, moved out of his way, opened the door for him, and it was sickening. It seemed they were immune to his dirty looks, polite finger gestures, and one man had looked at the ground and pointedly avoided confrontation with him even when he had purposely blew large quantities of smoke in his face! On purpose! He couldn't believe it. The common people of Otanis were spineless, polite, goodies and it sickened him. He preferred his thick metropolitan cities were the average person would tell him off, where people had spines, where he could get stuck into a good bar fight and enjoy himself, the only such place that seemed to exist in all of the shitstain nation was Peg's Pit.

The Kingdom of Otanis was not worth the spit he had sent towards the way of a particularly annoying dock overseer, much to the amusement of his employees. Konrad let out an annoyed puff from his cigarette, the smoke rising to join the large cloud that had built up near the roof as he tapped his fingers impatiently on the worn table, waiting for the bitch, or one of her underlings to show up.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Adell Williams Character Portrait: William T. Konrad Character Portrait: Karen Troth
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#, as written by Taunbon
Kingdom of Otanis, Docks
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Karen gently reached forward, her long, thin fingers roaming over her dark suede pants to smooth out a rather stubborn wrinkle that had arisen when she had crossed her legs during the flight. Moving her hands back to her lip, she crossed her fingers once again and let her sharp indigo eyes move to examine the islands coming into view, the Kingdom of Otanis. In truth, this would be her first trip to the small, neutral kingdom as it had never required, or warranted, her attention until now, but insects had a way of scurrying in every nook and cranny; minor things like jurisdiction and wrongful military presence meant just as much to them as it did to her.

In fact, it was such an occasion that led to her dressing up in 'civilian' clothing which took a fair amount of concentration to not pick and probe at as the unfamiliar clothe irritated her skin beneath, having long adapted to her own uniforms and military attire that fit her far better. The civilian clothing, the dark purple suede pants and black shirt did not have the same effect upon her visage making her look remarkably 'human' which did not suit with her, and she refused to dwell on what it did to her image as she had little patience for any attention that the locals may attempt to shine on her. Karen had long since settled on her unusual hair color being the reason for the unwarranted attention, men believing that her hair color choice promised promiscuity or frightfully low standards, perhaps a share of both?

Tearing her mind away from the uncomfortable clothes that hugged her hips too lightly and created an uncomfortable, and unreachable, itch between her shoulder blades, Karen reflected on the situation. Of course, she knew where she was going as she would never enter such a place without having reports on it first. While she had not told Konrad where to meet her; she had told him to expect her, and she had little doubt that he would have picked out the worst ramshackle cesspit he could find to climb in and drink himself into oblivion on dubious beverages, so finding that had been relatively simple. Such was the normal workings of their meetings.

Turning her head slightly, she examined her newest officer, one Adell Williams, relatively fresh that she had secured the transfer to her command. Even now she pondered on the wisdom in her decision, while the boy had potential, the amount was still in question, but from what the instructors had told her, it seemed he was an idealist and that amused her to no ends, and she had bet that it would continue to amuse her. An idealist. Someone who had the luxury of a conscious, it was not too rare to find, but from what little she had seen, the extent of an idealist the young lieutenant was could almost be linked to a young child still believing in heroes and valiant knights and that made him interesting. While his test results were very good, it was that little facet that had caught her attention.

Turning her attention back to the sky before her, she settled in to enjoy the ride and ignore that abdominal itch.




Karen couldn't fight the raise of her thin eyebrow at the declaration that they had docked, she couldn't fault him for being green and nervous, but it was still something she did not expect and she also could fight the words that slipped out of her mouth, "Truly?" She asked rhetorically, making a show to turn her head and look out, "Why, yes, it seems so. Thank you for sharing that vital information, lieutenant Williams."

Stepping out of the ship, and she let her back stretch for the first time since they entered the ship, enjoying the feeling of the muscles in her back stretching and straining even if it was under that infernal clothe, "Williams," Karen said, her voice crisp and sharp, "While here, you are not to refer to me by rank, you may call me Lady Troth for the duration of our visit. If anyone inquires, I am a minor noble from Toten staying at the Korvan Estates. I am sure you can figure out your own position in the household should anyone pry."

Pausing to let her sharp eyes roam the surrounding boats, ignoring the shouts from far off voices, "Konrad is within an establishment known as 'Peg's Pitt' within the lower finical district. I trust you can take point?" She said gesturing before them with her left hand.

The setting changes from Otanis to Novahlis

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Adell Williams Character Portrait: William T. Konrad Character Portrait: Karen Troth
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#, as written by Taunbon
In my defense... there was a lot of editing involved... and I forgot to change the little tab thing which I swear people only put that in to make writers mad. >.>

The setting changes from Novahlis to Otanis

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Adell Williams Character Portrait: William T. Konrad Character Portrait: Karen Troth
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

#, as written by Taunbon
Kingdom of Otanis, Lower Financial Section - Peg's Pit
Image



Konrad's fingers continued their rhythmic beating upon the stained wooden surface, an almost involuntary action as he continued to wait for his 'handler' and his patience was wearing thin. He had not bothered to keep track of the time as he had an inkling that doing so would have only frustrated him further. Besides the tapping, atrocious concoction that was 'Peg's Special', he had very little in the way of entertainment, and so studying the nearby patrons was all that was left for him.

It wasn't such a tragedy as small pubs had a way of attracting the... oddest of flavors. Since he arrived, there had been a total of three fights a few of which ended up with a fatality who was unceremoniously dumped into the streets after their pockets had been rifled through, two of which started out as nothing more then one party feeling like the other was giving them the stank eye, but Konrad strongly suspected that the second had been a calculated hit by an enforcer to send the proper message, but if it, indeed, was that then he could only hazard as to what kind of message it was. The most common was, 'Don't fuck with us,' which would work if the dead man had been a part of a rival or new and coming small time gang. The final had been his personal favorite, two large, rather stupid, men fighting over the attentions of a rather comely woman that Konrad strongly suspected would have happily followed whichever flashed the most cash.

Still, Konrad supposed every man liked to feel like a hero once in awhile, there to save the dashing damsel in distress, prove their manliness to all the reprobates nearby by both beating down another man but insinuating a different kind of fighting between the sheets with said damsel, personally, Konrad would have advised them to go behind the pub and simply pay a small fee to one of the working ladies who were, more often than not, ready to indulge fantasies for a little extra.

Lifting the tarnished glass to his lips, he took a small sip, only a high tolerance to dubious drinks kept him from retching as the thick, chunky liquid-akin concoction slid down his throat burning all the way down and forcing his liver to crumble in crushing defeat. His eyes rose to the door as a young... boy? Boy, opened the door for the almighty bitch herself to step into his temporary sanctuary, "About fucking time."


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Karen's eyes danced and zipped around, examining people, the trash, the buildings, the windows, the loose pebbles kicked by people's feet as they shuffled along in their drab existences as she absorbed the world she walked through. The further they got into the lower financial section, the more Karen felt at ease. While, yes, she had no doubt that many of the men, and a few of the women, would happily attempt to remove her from her valuables, dignity, and clothing if given the chance, they were all easy to read. Their motives always shown upon their face.

It was the world of white marble, glittering gems, and glimmering metal that Karen had learned to tread with care. The world of half-smiles and half-truths, false hopes and hidden blades. People assumed beauty meant safety, but they were wrong. The 'common' people and the 'nobility' or the 'wealthy' all had their own vices and monstrosities, they were merely more inclined to hide them then the people currently walking past the duo. She always found it amusing how much people feared and dreaded running into a mugger, when they should have been thankful, a mugger would at least look them in the eye when stealing their belongings, the same could not be said of kings and bankers.

Already assumed to her role as a posh, but naive, noble looking to do something rather dangerous and risque, she would let a light blush fill her cheeks, let her shoulders sink into a signal of submission, and glance away whenever a man made lewd gestures at her or groped her with their eyes. A fellow slave once told her that a man will always be willing to believe a woman is both helpless and interested in them, and it was something that had always proven true. Even among the military where her title was known, it was not uncommon for her to run into men believing she needed their protecting or underestimated her due to her appearance, but it worked to her advantage often enough to avoid being a true annoyance.

The edge of her lips tipped up at the man's rather inspired response to her lieutenant's question. Lieutenant Williams was lucky the man had responded at all, but she could not help but feel the tinge of amusement out how out of place he looked. She was intentionally trying to appear out of place, but he truly looked like he did not belong. Almost as if something incredibly unpleasant had latched itself to the bottom of the shoe, and she had to admit it was the right choice to bring him along even if only for his discomfort.

But he was to surprise her, it wasn't him opening the door that surprised her, it was why he did it. It wasn't unusual for people, especially men, to open the door for her seeking either her favor as an admiral or a woman, often times both, but at least from what her eyes could see, he merely opened the door because she was a woman. Not for, but simply because she was. A polite, and innocent gesture born from a subconscious action extending from morale values, it was... an interesting anomaly. Karen paused in the door way, letting her eyes trace his face for a few moments, before finally giving him a small nod and stepping into the dark, dank tavern. The first thing she noticed was not the people, the lighting, the dubious spills on the ground; it was the smell. The smell of sweat, grime, mold, and other quantifiable things even she would not mention in polite conversation.

Her Indigo eyes scanned the room before falling on the small booth near the back of the pub, on Konrad.

Slipping through the tables and careful to avoid any puddles, she made her way over to the bounty hunter when a movement caught her attention out of the corner of her eyes, the world seemed to slow as the small, toothless man leaned out of his chair and raised his hand, crushing an internal sigh, she watched the hand inch closer and closer until the resounding smack filled the air as the man smacked her rear earning a howl of laughter from his friends and followed it up with a rather lewd comment on what he could do for and to her.

Karen played her part, stumbling forward slightly, lips parted and giving out a soft cry of pain and surprise. A strand of her hair laying across her face, knocked free from her movements. Placing her hand on the spot, she covered herself and lowered her shoulders, once more giving off the illusion of fear and submission as her eyes lowered to the floor. Annoying, yes, but she was rather glad she caught the movement, if she had not seen it, she would have been rather nonreactive to it as even though she had watched him hit her, she had not felt a thing the only alert to her was the light pressure and sound. It would have been a simple matter to crack his wrist, or to shatter the small glass and impale his throat down upon it and enjoy the satisfying gurgles and pathetic gasp for life, or perhaps to show mercy and snap his neck with her thumb, but she had a role to play at the moment so she did none of it, yet unbeknownst to the man, he would rue that singular moment for the rest of his misbegotten existence.


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Did he do something wrong? A simple nod would not have made him feel uncomfortable in the slightest, but the blatant stare made Adell think something was wrong with what he did. He couldn't imagine what was wrong, though. Could it, perhaps, have something to do with how he handled that old man? No, she did not seem mad or anything. At least, not anymore than she typically was.

Unsure as to what the whole moment was about, Adell followed behind his Admiral into the smelly tavern and investigated his surroundings with a disgusted, but curious eye. While he could honestly sit back and write an entire essay on all the reasons why he thought this bar should have some form of air freshener or the like, he was more concerned about the appearance of this place, which managed to look even worse on the inside than the outside. He had, originally, thought that possible. Drunken yelling and shouting, dried blood on the floor, and questionable hygiene characterized the entirety of the bar. Aside from Lady Troth and himself, there really was nobody else who looked like they'd seen a shower before, and Adell couldn't help but breathe through his mouth while they walked through the establishment.

The thugs in this place all looked ready to start a fight from the moment he and Troth had entered. Adell was not blind to the mean looks he was receiving and it had made him quite nervous. Would someone here attempt to start a fight on him just because? He couldn't answer that question with an answer he wanted, so he tried not to think about it. It would be great if they could just maneuver through the sea of filth and deal with their business as fast, quiet, and efficiently as physically possible so that they could vacate the premises before anything violent happened.

Yes, that is exactly what Adell was thinking just before a toothless customer decided it hilarious to give a firm smack to his superior's ass and then laugh and joke about it.

Up until that point, he would have loved nothing more than to be the silent servant that Troth had wanted him to be. Up until that point he wouldn't say anything unless asked to by Troth. Up until that point, Adell wasn't completely angered. Forgoing the whole common sense thing and instead opting to take a more brutal, violent response to the lecherous man's actions, Adell did what he did best, which is beating people up. The speed and strength behind the young man's punch was nothing to scoff at. The very action of punching was almost too quick for someone to notice, especially by the very man it was aimed at, who was certainly not expecting it. As it flew through the air, Adell briefly wondered if this was the correct course of action. He was certain that the Admiral could give this man a beating much worse than he could, and her visible reaction was unlike what he'd expect from her judging by how she acted before this point.

So she really wanted to play the helpless noble? Oh...

Well, it was much too late for him to do anything now. His punch was thrown, and it certainly was not going to be stopped by anything other than this unfortunate man's face. All he could do is watch as it connected perfectly and sent the man flying out of his chair and onto the ground, where he then lay unconscious.

As he then received many looks of confusion from just about the entire bar, he thought of a way he could recover from this. He cursed his inability to remain professional in the face of an injustice, but he did not regret what he did to this man. He deserved it. And any other pervert who would dare lay a hand on a lady like that deserves the same. In fact, this man was lucky the woman he had groped hadn't decided to retaliate. Justice was served to him and there was no going back now. He knew he had to make it clear what just happened and why.

"I do not tolerate disrespect towards Lady Troth." he clearly stated, almost as if a challenge to everyone else in the bar. At the very least, nobody said servants can't kick ass, right? Yeah, he was one of those.


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As her eyes recorded what happened, imprinting it on her mind for future reference, her face danced to the tunes and acts of the humble play before her. Karen let out a surprised gasp as her apparent bodyguard and white knight struck down the villainous cur that had rose hand to fair lady. Clasping her hands in front of her small chest, she once again made herself seem small, eyes shining with mighty admiration and adulation for her mighty hero and bodyguard.

But her mind was elsewhere. While, by herself, she would not have bothered with a persona, she had been curious to see how he handled it, and so far... she wasn't quite sure. Karen had purposely left his position open to see what he would pick for himself, a simple servant? An estranged relative? A secret lover? A dearly beloved? And it seemed he had settled on a bodyguard position which fit, she supposed. Of course, if he had meant to be a bodyguard then he was doing fairly well even if he did not have the intimidating visage that was normally needed... Or had he chosen another role for himself and this was merely his sense of justice born from naivety and years of carefully spoon fed propaganda showing through? If she was to be honest with herself, as she always was, she was leaning more towards the latter. It was endearing, having someone stand up for her honor, if she still had such a thing, and she couldn't help but link it to a small puppy bringing her a trinket. She may not want the trinket, may have no use for the slobbered thing, but it was still charming.

Stepping closer to him to hide beside Adell, Karen reinforced the image of the scared young lady hiding behind her valiant warrior. Reaching out, she tugged on his shirt to urge him to move with her to the small table where a plain man with a hard glint in his eye was trying, unsuccessfully, to hide a large grin behind his glass.


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Konrad leaned back in his seat watching the bitch and her newest pet make their way through the small pub, he was confused as to what she was up to with her.. act as while it wasn't uncommon for her to go without her military uniform, it was uncommon for her to purposely put on in act in this side of the economic status, especially one that stuck out so much. The last time she did this she had pretended to be a prostitute much to the annoyance of her last pet, was that what this was? Some test or game to taunt and tease the newest puppy? He wouldn't put it past her. She was a bitch.

Then it happened, a moment that he would hold and cherish for a long time, an old man reached out and smacked her right on the ass. Being the tight ass she was, he was surprised his hand didn't shatter, but he let out a loud snort none the less. She needed a good spanking once in awhile to beat the bitch out of her, and while he toasted the man's unknowing bravery and newly signed death certificate; he was surprised, once more, by the little puppy lashing out and knocking the man over and out.

The declaration he made was almost adorable. What appeared to be an untried youth giving out a declaration and warning to a bar full of testosterone filled men was generally not a good idea despite what novels and stories had people believe, and was really, a quicker way to get someone's teeth knocked out. Spotting a few men starting to stand up, Konrad started laughing, a deep, hearty laugh which spread to the rest of the pub as they all brushed off the obvious challenge instead enjoying the antics that had just taken place. A few men pushed each other making jokes while most of the others returned to their drinks, but the old man, knocked thoroughly unconscious was being lifted by his friends and carried out, the looks upon their faces declaring, loud and brazenly, that they would be seeing the two again. Was it because they wanted to kick ass to avenge their friend? Or was it one of those macho trips that kicking their friends ass, somehow, implied a lack in themselves, but then, he further reckoned that it didn't mean jack shit in the grand scheme of things. It was a shame the older man had been left unconscious and carried out as Konrad would have bought him a drink, a feat onto itself as the only person Konrad bought drinks for was himself and even that was reluctant!

Leaning back in his seat, he moved his legs to make room as the bitch slid into the seat before him, moving against the wall to better conceal herself from what little light was there, but she took extra care to not actually touch the wall, itself which had... well, it was best to not think about what could have been on it over the years.

"So..." Konrad said drawing out the vowel as he leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table, "It is just so lovely to see you, your royal Bit-... Admiralness," he said purposely catching himself, "And you brought a little boy toy as well! I didn't know you were into the younger boys, so does he crack the whip or do you? I know how much you love to hear grown men squeal. Or is it the other way around? A reverse dominatrix kind of thing?"

"How disrespectful!" Adell wanted to interjected disdainfully. Who did this man think he was, speaking so openly ill against both himself and the Admiral? If Adell had taken a seat then he would have stood straight up, ready to bare his fists at this ignorant man. Though any actual attempt to voice this was purely in his head, his tense expression betrayed his unhappiness.

Karen said nothing, waiting for the normal spew to end, it was almost a routine they did. Normally, she would fire back, but not today, today was about watching the lieutenant and gauging his reactions and actions to the world around him. "Charming," Karen said, "My 'ass' is doing quite well as I am sure that was your next line of inquiry."

Konrad huffed at being denied the jokes he had saved for that moment, he had intended to save the best for last, but now it held little point. He had so much planned for that little instant, and such a thing was a long time coming, but no, she couldn't let him have that little tidbit of enjoyment. "Well, I hope it heals in time for the latest pet to be able to give it a rough spanking when it is 'morale' inspection."

Considering the first inappropriate statement was enough to rouse irritation at Adell, his subsequent voice of disapproval of Konrad's jabs and insults was nothing anybody paying the slightest attention to him should be surprised about. "You...! Stop calling me a pet and projecting your sick, masochistic desires onto me!" he growled. Why this man seemed to be so fond of pretending like Adell was some sort of sick deviant was beyond him, but it was not appreciated in the slightest. Plus, Adell never did have time to even think about s-s-s....sexu! And to think he would pair Adell up with the Admiral, of whom he admired and respected!

...He actually wouldn't mind, ///blushu

Needless to say, Adell was overwhelmingly pissed.

Konrad hide the small smile with practiced ease as the feeling of trimuph rose in his chest, while it was annoyingly difficult to get a rise out of the frigid bitch, getting it out of her newest pet was looking incredibly easy, "Is the 'ittle puppy mad? Does he want a biscuit? Do you want a biscuit boy?" he taunted waving an imaginary treat in his hand.

"Ugh! You're so insolent for some lawless thug!" Adell fired back, and Konrad could almost see the pet trying to wash himself of the conflict early, but there was no way in this righteous side of hell he was going to let that happen.

"Oh!" Konrad said purposely exaggerating it, "He pulled out the big guns! Insolent lawless thug! How will I ever recover from that?! It would sting even more if it didn't come from a yapping lap dog, go outside and chase after people, pee on things you want and play dead, the people are talking."

"Enough!" Karen barked, their display doing nothing more then waste time, more importantly, her time. Getting dragged into Konrad's games was not something one wanted to do. Arguing with a fool only created two.

Konrad opened his mouth to say something more, but decided he had poked fun at the kid enough, "Whatever," He said sullenly, like a child reprimanded by their parents, crossing his arms and pouting.

Making a show to look at her nails, rubbing her pointer finger to her thumb as if picking something distasteful from underneath her fingers, Karen shrugged, "And here I was considering giving you payment for your services this time."
"Whoa, hold on," Konrad said, his internal greed overcoming his pouting act, "Lets just slow the fuck down, you still owe me more then a few service fees."

"No. No I do not," Karen said, her voice holding a dangerous edge, "I deducted such cost for the destruction of the Esmeralda."

Throwing his hands up in mock exasperation, "I did you a favor. It was a shitty ship anyways, and that wasn't even my fault. It was a communications error."

"Of course, it was just like all my payments to you got lost devoured by the very same communications error," Karen replied easily, leaning back in her seat, while she was talking, her eyes were constantly dancing between the bounty hunter and the surrounding area never quite at ease.

"A nasty thing, that communication error," Konrad said, their eyes holding for a bit as the tension rose. It remained that way for a bit, the two staring at each other, Karen's face void of emotion and Konrad wearing his false half-smile.

As always, Konrad broke contact first leaning forward, "What's the job?"

Reaching into her pocket, Karen removed a small card and slid it across the table. Lifting it up, Konrad flipped it over and examined the apparent random numbers and letters, "Simple enough, why do you need me for this?" He asked curiously as his mind, long practiced at these dealings, deciphered the code she had chosen to use this time.

"It is time sensitive," She replied easily.

"Mmm, one of those. Alright. I can do it in... three hours," Konrad said before following it up, "Yes, yes, I know, I have one hour, but then I say I can do two hours then we settle on one and a half." He let his hand wave in the air dismissing any possible rebuttal as that particular dance was one he had no desire to participate in.

"Why don't you, my Admiralness, take the puppy for a walk while I am out. I shall leave the information at your ship, I would hate to force you to look upon my gorgeous face then deprive you of it again," Konrad said, placing his hand on the center of his chest... under his fairly plain face.

"How very noble of you," Karen said, her normally sharp voice filled with a slight bored tone.

"The noblest," Konrad said draining his dubious drink and pushing himself up from the table, "Don't let anyone smack you on the ass on the way out."

"Charming," Karen said as she slide out from her chair, "Leave the information on my ship in the docks."


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It had been surprisingly easy to find the mark, a small, weasel like man with a nose that was two sizes too big for his thin, almost sickly, face.

"I ain't tellin' you nuttin'" The weasle said, struggling in the bonds that held him to the wooden chair, the entire situation struck Konrad as entirely cliche. Small, weasel man, tied to a small chair in an abandoned warehouse, declaring he wouldn't say nothing in an exaggerated slum-born accent. It was moments like this that almost made Konrad believe he was in some two-bit over played story, all he really needed now was a monologuing archnemisis, an escaped princess, and the 'valiant' hero to really build up the tale, unless it was the kind of story where he was supposed to be the valiant hero, and he wasn't sure which he preferred.

A soft pat snapped Konrad back to the room as the man spat on the floor, "Really? Really?" Konrad asked, "You know I don't live here right? So you spitting on the floor achieves jackshit. Do you really think I would bring someone I was going to slowly torture for information to my home? Do you have any idea how hard it is to get bloodstains out of carpet? Well, not like there is carpet her, but you understand the general point."

"Fuck you," The over-sized nose declared, lifting his chin up, his eyes daring Konrad to make him talk.

"Okay, I am going to let you in on a secret, I am going to torture you. I am going to take those shears over there, and I am going to start removing your fingers all whilst playing this little piggy," Konrad said lifting up the large metal shears in question, "You are going to not say anything until about the third finger when I ask you, 'does this little piggy want roast beef?' which is going to be disappointing for both of us as I have always wanted to say, 'This little piggy went wee wee wee all the way home,' as the digit hits the ground, so how about we skip the cliche, I get to removing the fingers, you get to screaming, and I get the information, yea?"

Reaching down, he grasped the wiggling mans hands, the weasel trying his best to... well, weasel out of the straps, his mouth clenched as odd sounds struggled to escape the pressed lips, "So," Konrad said, the metal blades moved around his thumb, "This little piggy went to the market..."




Konrad tossed the bloodied shears on the small table, wiping his hands down with the weasel's dirty shirt, "See? Was that so bad," he taunted, some of the dried blood proving difficult to get from his skin with the shirt, looks like he would need to wash it which was just... wonderful since the warehouse lacked running water which meant he would have to walk around with his hands in his pockets. He should have brought gloves.

The weasel like man was bent over, his long, greasy hair a curtain hiding the tears that ran down his face, but not the broken sobs that escaped between his gasps for air, "Please, please let me go," He said, the word shaky and punctured be nemours deep gasps for air.

"We both know how this is going to end," Konrad said tossing the shirt aside, giving up on the prospect of getting the red stains from his hands, "Come on, you knew the second you entered this building that this is where you were going to die," he said, his fave devoid of the usually mocking grin that had been on his face before, an intimidation tactic to get information that was no longer necessary.

"P-please don't kill me," he pleaded, "Sorry," Konrad said, his voice not conveying any true feelings of sorrow or regret at the prospect, "But I have my orders."

Drawing one of his pistols from its holster, he leveled it at the mans forehead and pulled the trigger, ending the man's pain and life, his dreams and desires, his past and future, in a single moment... and recoloring the wall behind the weasel in new shades of red and bits of gray.