Still having yet to replace his shirt and face flushed with a bit of looted hooch Harold entered the Blacksmith's several minutes after Mariah. Dirty nails scraping at the underside of his stomach and one eye crooked open where the other was shut he regarded the pair with yellow teeth on proud display in a semi-sober grin. "Ayeh, how ya doin'? We doin alright here? Someone call fer an exterminator, got some feisty bats with battle axes about or somethin'? " Locking his arms together over his chest the man looked over at Mariah and dipped his head in greeting. "M'lady. "
<Smitty> @DeranVendar @matt23 "Aye, we'll put some work in dis 'ere fort and it'll be decent enough in a jiffy," Ori replied, pointing at the material he had on a pile next to him as well as some smiting hammers and other stuff. "Lass, remember when you asked me about helping ya with the armor and what I said then? Ye well I got me hands on the proper tools now and with the metal I found in the old armory, I'll do those upgrades whenever you give me your armor." "As for you manling," he went back to his shop and returned with a fine looking crossbow which he handed over to Harold, "Found dis item as well and though you might find it useful. Imperial issue repeater crossbow, nothing fancy at first but I modified it to fire five instead of two bolts before it needs reloading. Hope ye not gonna spray and pray with it because if you do, your ammo ain't gonna last much. Also Miss Lena sent her regards in form of this," the Dwarf also gave him another quiver filled with extra set of bolts, "silver-tips, to kill those undead faster." <Fulke> @Skarboy Inside, Fulke found a plate of segmented heavy armor adorned with various seals of courage and strength. From a mere glance he knew instantly that this was a suit of armor some old Greatsword carried with him and the confirmation came moments later when he read the words on a seal right below the neck guard - "Captain Ulrich Kostner, Leader of the Unbreakable". Whoever this man was or what were the achievements of his regiment was unknown to Fulke, but still he stood right above this old piece of equipment which even now looked to be in pristine condition. Perhaps it was destiny that led the former Greatsword here or perhaps sheer luck but whatever the reason, he had a choice now on what to do with this set of armor. <Kolja> @Grall_Stonefist @BuriasDempsey @Keidivh @TuskatheDaemonKilla "Stuff to help you brewing, caskets, boiler stuff, ye got it," Kolja replied to Tugg as he wrote it down on a piece of parchment before turning to nod at Xiuhcoatl, "Stone carving tools, stones and paints, don't think this will be a problem my friend, Ostland is filled with all kinds of stones ha!" the Kislevite laughed and got back up on his feet. "Aight comrades, I'm gonna take the cart, pick couple of Halfling boys and set off to Wolfenburg in an hour. I'll try to get everything and I hope to return in lets say, three or four days. Please, watch over High Rock and the rest of the lads while I'm gone. And don't drink the entire stock of vodka, got only five barrels of it, so drink beer, we got twice more of that!" With that said, Kolja went to prepare for his journey while leaving the rest of the guys to do their stuff, Tugg prepare some sort of a supper while the rest would perhaps help with the training of the militia (who at the moment, since both Kolja and Kristoff were out of sight, were laying around the ground in front of the barracks, whistling, relaxing and pretty much wasting time when they should be training) or go out on a stroll and enjoy the mountain air. <Constantine's chambers> @Maleth @Jorimel @DeezNuts @Maleth In front of the door she found a young Halfling male who after seeing her, started throwing nervous looks around as his words fought to escape his dry throat. "Uhh...umm, Lady Aloiza...Lord Thomas asked me come and find you so...you could go to his...and talk. Yes, he, I mean Lord Thomas wants to have a word with you," he finally managed to finish relaying the message and immediately bolted down the stairs and out of sight. In any case, Aloiza got the message and what was left was only a simple task of going to the main Keep and its central room where her Employer took residence. Eventually, once she reached the place she would see that it changed quite a bit from the last time she was around during the battle with the Grandmaster. The dark oak throne and the long eating table was removed in favor of a sturdy and massive desk behind which Constantine sat. The suits of armors on the sides of the chamber as well as the paintings were cleaned and were now shining while a big rug made from a skin of a great lion, possibly a memento from the Order's Crusade in Araby, was spread across the marble floor. Constantine himself was outside his coat and was wearing brown leather clothes, at the moment looking like some sort of a lower member of the trading guild rather than a capable mercenary. Two pistols half covered with various sheets of papers were placed in front of him while his twin black swords were hanging from a weapon's rack further back in the room. For a moment there was a strange echo of a magical aura glowing faintly around the room which the Druchii Sorceress recognized as something she already felt during the battle but it disappeared as quickly as it arrived, leaving her alone under the gaze of her Employer. "Thanks for arriving in such short notice," Constantine said as he offered Aloiza to sit and poured her a glass of red wine which he took from one of the drawers, "I hope you are finding the accommodations to your liking. Thanks once again for helping us defeat the Vampire Lord and cleaning the undead taint from this castle, making it inhabitable again. But I must ask for another favor now. That cavern tunnel we used to get to here and infiltrate the castle - I want it secured so nothing similar happens to us as well. I don't want to collapse it in case we need the back exit and because of that I thought of you. Do you happen to know any warding spells that would deal with any possible intruder or perhaps at least a warning spell to alarm us when the attackers come?" @Jorimel @DeezNuts While they talked the door opened again and the Witch Elf arrived bringing a new face with her. "Welcome to High Rock, Sir," Constantine said as he saw the newcomer, "Take a seat please. Khelandria," he said as he knelt down a picked up a wooden box which was next to his chair and handed it over to the Witch Elf. "Thanks for bringing our guest here. I also found this while we cleaned the storage. I think you might find it useful." (Whenever she opened it Khelandria would find a set of vials with dangerous-looking liquid as well as a stash of herbs and other items alongside "recipes" for the poisons she received and could now use). "Sir Le Brisson," after giving the box to Khelandria, Constantine sat back in his chair and offered both of the newcomers a glass of wine, "Once again, welcome to our castle. I heard you might be interested in joining our company. Tell me first, what would you offer to us? What is your combat experience and do you have any special skills that might help our team deal with the problems arising in this line of work?"
@Keidivh Pierre followed closely behind Khelandria as she began leading him to Constantine's chambers. Hearing the words of the wolf priest Pierre would stop for a moment and taking a deep breath through his nose. "And I am surprised to find you do not smell of wolf piss" the knight spoke calmly in a heavy Bretonnian accent, giving the man a charming smile. It had taken Pierre months, but he began to quite enjoy the comments Empire citizens would sling at each other from time to time, finding it much more amusing than the constant posturing of Brettonian nobility. @Jorimel Having looked over the witch elf several times by now, not out of lust, but pure curiosity he began finding many things odd. First was her sharpened teeth which she seemed to flash to him in the form of a smile when they first met. The second and more important one was her sense of style. It would not bother him if she were just a whore at some tavern, but she was a warrior of a mercenary company. But yet not one shred of her clothing showed any signs of wanting to deflect a blow or protect her from any damage at all. "Tell me, why is it that you do not wear any armour like the rest in your company?" he asked in a confused tone. @Colapse @Maleth Stepping into the office of Constantine Pierre would quickly make his way to the back corner of the room, where he would lean against the wall, waiting to be adressed as he did not want to interupt what was already happening. "A pleasure to meet you sir, I offer only my blade and the blessing of the lady if she sees it fit to let me sip from her grail. I am a hardened knight of Bretonnia, my entire childhood was spent forging me into the warrior you see before you, one who has slain greenskins, beastmen, and the undead. Whatever plagues the world of the Lady of the Lake, my only goal is to bring her holy wrath upon it". Having finished his zealous speech Pierre would step forward, coming closer to Constantine's desk, hoping the man would offer him the job.
@Colapse Mariah nodded before turning to leave. It would be about an hour before she would return carrying her family armor. She would gently place it on his workbench, placing a hand on it before speaking, "Ori, words can not explain the importance of this armor to me. This is the only link left I have to my family, besides my sword and shield. Please be careful with it."
@DeezNuts Kristoff glared at the Brettonian for a moment, looking as if he was about to make use of his hammer, when he broke out into his boisterous laughter. "Phaha, glad to see you don't have a broom shoved to far up your arse friend, welcome to our humble group!" Thoroughly amused now, Kristoff decided it was time to check back on their new guard, eager to see if they were coming along any further with their training. Of course he should have known better than to think they would train with no one to watch over them, instead lazing about at the barracks. "Well, well, I'm glad to see you've all been resting up! Means you'll all be fine and dandy for a training the night? I mean, why else would you be lazing around on your arses when you should be patrolling, training, or I don't know, guarding the bloody gate! If I don't see you lot in formation in twelve seconds, I'll make you wish you fought an undead horde!"
@Keidivh The Saurian nodded his grateful thanks before Kolja left to go to Wolfenburg with the tiny little warmbloods, leaving him with the Black Ork, the massive ogre leaving to make dinner which was a worrying prospect on its own, in the middle of the courtyard with many militamen lazying about around them. "Hmph, one would think they would keep training to protect their homes..." Xiuhcoatl hissed to himself with his scaly arms crossed against his chest. It seemed no wonder now how this little village was taken over by the undead with little effort. Grumbling to itself at such a dangerously lax view on defending their home, a duty he had failed too greatly himself and felt its sting now. He walked over to the wolf priest that was getting the men back on their feet and active again. "Do you need help in properly motivating them wolf man?" he asked Kristoff as he stood next to him.
@BuriasDempsey Kristoff had to admit he was taken by surprise from the appearance of the giant lizard man before him. He had never seen anything like it before. No Beastman. No Warpspawn. Very interesting. "My thanks lizard man, these sorry louts need all the help they can get or all I'll beat em bloody." Kristoff paused for a moment, a smile creeping across his face. "Or maybe they can do that job for us. Care to take part in a little mock battle lizard man?" OOC: Have a mock battle, we each control a group?
He gave a look of great approval and nodded. "Experience can be a wise teacher. Though, not always...merciful." Xiuhcoatl commented. "Hmph, seen skinks with more muscle than these men..." he grunted as he took a closer look at some of them as they began lining up. "Split them as you see fit, I can work with what is given with me. I think...." he said with some jovial uncertainty while poking a clawed finger at the armor of one armsmen. OOC: I feel like they'll all be in Claire's care after this is done.
@BuriasDempsey Kristoff clapped his hands together and gave a somewhat malicious laugh as he eyed the recruits. "You here that lads. No more kiddy time, your gonna learn the bloody way now!" The men grew somewhat nervous at that, but thankfully didn't break off and hide under their bunks, which was a good start. "Grigor, take fourteen of the boys and join me, Jareth you and the other fourteen are with the Lizardman. Grab some of the practice swords and form up." He then turned to look at Xiuhcoatl, "Anything you'd like to add to this little trial?"
"We do this not because we hate you but because the pain you feel now will overshadow the pain on the battlefield." The lizard man said sternly to the warmbloods. "You have lost your town once, but your people remain. I lost my city, everyone is dead. You would like to prevent that yes?" He posed the rather grim question to those who were barely more than peasants with weapons.
