Realistic or Modern Bastard's Tale

[TheAdept]

A strike of lightning lit up the sky as Jesse sat upon the road on the side of a mountain overlooking the dead city of Denver. The sky flashed white momentarily, then the world returned to the black of night. On a normal night, the city was lit by fires lit by the commoners clinging to what shitty lives they had and those by the Nobility executing those they deemed unfit for their world. This was no normal night. Jesse knew what was happening, though he did not awake.

"You all suffered at their hands, but who are you to say you didn't deserve it?" Came a low disembodied voice that felt like nails carving into his spine "So close, but so far away." It mocked, as it began to chuckled.

Then the dark clouds; barely visible in the black of night, moved away to reveal a bright white sky. Not blue, just a white that swallowed everything all around Jesse until there was nothing.

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His eyes flickered open to the grey light from the grey sky. The back seat of an abandon car on top of a parking garage wasn't the most ideal hotel room, but it was the safest spot for now. The town of Superior was abandoned, or at least it seemed that way. He had been on the better end of an ambush before. There weren't too many gangs anymore now that the Nobility took control, but there was always the Nobility itself and of course mountain lions.

He silently crept out of the car and to the stairs, pausing and listening for any commotion.

 

[Corvid15]

Walking in some direction towards a town, or former town, known as Superior, Shisa hummed to herself. A random traveler had traded her a mountain lion carcass for some medical care a couple of days ago. So, Shisa was well fed, and had salted some of the meat so it would keep, and added the claws to her belt and a few teeth to her necklace. The skull she had left as an offering to the spirits, and the pelt she would probably give to someone in need of a blanket.

She didn't initially want to leave her tribe, or gang as some called them, but she was enjoying herself on her quest. She didn't have to talk to many people, and could be called by her title "The Speaker". Granted, that's what she had been using as her name. Much more cryptic, and more fitting.

______________________________________________

The rattling of bones echoed through the streets of Superior, filling the air with the ominous sound. A figure, dressed in robes and bones, with a deer skull mask walked the empty streets, the striking of her spine staff against the ground making the sight even more chilling.

Shisa scanned the streets, looking for anyone who would help on her quest. Sadly, the spirits had been a bit vague. She could try to talk to them later, once she found a safe spot. Not seeing anyone, she kept walking the streets, looking. Searching

 

[Deadwood Deer]

Ryder looked around the ruins for a safe path. The old structure had long been looted, occupied, destroyed and rebuilt many times over, leaving very little of the original structure remaining. Not much by way of supplies could be found, but it was worth a look. Popping onto the roof to look for another building to rummage through, Ryder's eyes fell on the rest of the town of superior. Buildings long since fallen in and ripped apart by time, abandoned by even the poor that had survived. Grumbling, she rifled through buildings, finding scraps and bugs. If the scraps were useful, Ryder pocketed them and moved on. Climbing up to the roof after determining that there was nothing useful remaining for her to scavenge, and looking for somewhere safe to hole up for the rest of the night.
From the rooftops, Ryder figured out a path to the multi-story parking garage. It was pretty open, normally, but there were always hidden places, especially on top of things, as the woman made her way there.

 

[TheAdept]

In the silence, every noise was magnified. The steps of someone; probably a scavenger was audible. But if someone meant him hard they were either backed by a group of people or completely insane. The former he could take care of, he was a Bastard after all, but he preferred to know what he was dealing with beforehand. If this person was alone it would be like swatting a fly; annoying at worse. He walked over to the edge and peered over the railing.
Jesse was cautious, not paranoid, but he sighed when he noticed the woman with the bone mask and weird cultist gettup wandering the streets. She was making an awful lot of noise for someone traveling alone and seemingly so defenseless. The Nobility kept a form of law and order, but they were hardly tolerant and someone like her would be tied to a stake and lit on fire if she dared venture the wrong part of Denver, or even impaled if she was captured further north. So is this who was stalking nearby? Another stupid cultist?
Shaking his head, he crept down the steps silently as possible. At the bottom he spotted a woman dressed nothing like the cultist, but probably more at risk of captured. A bird like here would be scooped up by a lord in a minute. He popped up from behind a rusted a dilapidated sedan and whistled to her.

"Hey you. You with the Nobility?" Jesse expected several armed men to pop out of the shadows. In fact, he would be more surprised if that didn't happen.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

Upon hearing "Nobility", Ryder paused. She hadn't heard that in a while. Sometimes she wished she could go back, but this was not the time to think about that. Remembering where she was, she rebalanced herself and put her hand on one of her knives, examining the situation. She had the higher elevation, being on a partially collapsed building, and she had escape routes everywhere, but she didn't know how many men there were or how well they were armed. She also didn't think he was within range of any of her throwing weapons.

"Depends on who's asking," she replied, keeping her hand on her knife.

 

[TheAdept]

Jesse was able to put some things together in his mind from how this person looked and behaved. A pretty woman with that sort of reaction to the mention of the Nobility? He smirked.

"I am..." He said with a cocky voice "Bob the Impaler." He said, mocking a Noble lord up north "Just kidding." He chuckled "You can ease up off the knife."

An abandoned town, a cultist, and probably an escaped sex slave or a girl evading such a fate. So this was some place where enemies of the Nobility gathered? Great. Place was probably only minutes away from being attacked and razed to the ground. That is...razed more than it already was.

"You know anything about the cultist chick?"

 

[ScalpelsNSaws]

"One of these days Jesse, you're going to get shot doing that.." Muttered Shaun's tired voice, stumbling out of an alley. His coat flapping in the wind. "I don't teach your ass medicine for it to get blown off." He then looks to Ryder, he says; "Hello stranger, feeling well?" With genuine concern.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

Ryder's demeanor didn't change. "I knew Bob, kind of a prick," she replied, not easing up on the knife. She knew better than to look when questioned about the cultist girl, as well. She wasn't falling for that trick a second time. "Never heard of her." A second man appeared, calling the first man Jesse. So there were more of them?

A knife whizzed by Shaun's neck. Shit, she missed!

 

[ScalpelsNSaws]

"Relax there circus performer, are ya trying to cut my head off? Y'know what Id rather not know." Shaun mutters, somewhat startled. "Nearly did the Nobility's job for them there girl, and youd be a pretty penny richer if you did." He raises his hands in the Air, so to make it clear he's no threat to her. He moves over to where the knife landed and picks it up. "And for the record lass, I knew Bob as well, or him as a child at least. The little anclebiter was always a pest when I was working." Shaun slowly reaches out with the knife's blade in his Palm, handle towards Ryder. "I didn't mean to startle you, by the way. This belongs to you."

 

[TheAdept]

Jesse sighed. How could he forget about the old man. From the Nobility, no less. Any other Bastard would have scalped him by now. Probably why half of them defected.

"Damnit Shaun. Keep your head down in these situations." Jesse knew that even though the Nobility had the most dangerous thugs in Culrud, others working under them weren't the most prepared for this kind of situation at all. And the knife that missed Shaun only proved that.

"Look, kid, we hate the Nobility." Jesse said, though he wasn't prepared to tell her why he hated them. Hell, he hadn't even really told Shaun. Just said he was a fugitive of sorts.

 

[ScalpelsNSaws]

"I've said it once I'll say it again Jesse, if I put my head down I get hunted down, if I keep moving, they're always behind me." Shaun says, smirking. He looks at Ryder, "I'm going to forgive you for trying to kill me, but don't do it again." He chuckles and turns on his heel, walking over to an an abandoned building and peers into the Windows.

 

[TheAdept]

"Welcome to the club..." Jesse muttered, looking at the woman, sure that fact applied to her as well. "You too. Keep your head down. And learn to throw knives." He said.

He started walking away then turned to Shaun. After that night when the Bastards officially fell apart Jesse spent years surviving in the mountains. The word changed in those years, here in Culrud and everywhere else. Jesse was lucky to run into Shaun, who generally knew what the different towns and locations were like these days.

"Looks like this place is compromised. Cultists and runaway harem girls make places into targets. Boulder is crawling with patrols. Where in this town can we keep a low profile if the Nobility is scouting it?"

 

[ScalpelsNSaws]

"I will check my maps but there should be a cistern nearby we can hole up in, if you can handle the smell." Of course, Shaun had no intenion of staying in the sewers, he had maps and records of an old observatory in the Rockies to the west, twin sisters peak. That was his true objective. "The cistern is underground and built solidly, should've held out these past few hundred years. Well, from the lack of records that the best I can do for you right now anyway, I'm working on other locations through estimation and memory until we find a settlement." Shaun sighed. He glanced at an old piece of cereal box packaging with ink maps scribbled on it, and begins crossing things out.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

As the two men were having their conversation, Ryder was looking around out of the corners of her eyes for the quickest way out of this situation. There were two of them that she could see, probably more she couldn't. Sure, they said that they hated the nobility and meant no harm, but how many tribes of savages had said the same right before forty of them came out of nowhere with spears and bows pointed at her? So far, fortunately few, but that wasn't a number she wanted to see the rise of. So as Jesse and Shaun were debating their escape route, Ryder picked hers and took off.

 

[ScalpelsNSaws]

"Dont you want your knife back?!" Shaun yelled, hearing her footsteps moving away, "Jesse, it's do or die time we gotta go. If she goes to the Nobility we are fucked, moreover *I* am fucked. They're not looking for you." Shaun begins running, "Follow me to the cistern!" He calles back. Shaun was terrified of being caught, knowing he'd most likely be tortured to death. After nearly a decade, or 8 years to be exact, his bounty would easily feed whomever killed or turned him over for years.

 

[Lexico]

The town was shrinking. It was abandoned and broken. Every time Aurora walked in this town, she felt it was shrinking. Shrinking like a dying old man. Aurora Luciano kept walking in the roads of town of superior. This is the trip she has taken for scavenging. Though nothing much of value is expected, she wanted to increase her resources. One, she can trade it back in the inn. Two, she need it for the big day. The big day when she will fight the dogs of the palace prison and rescue her love Mos. She stopped. Did she hear any sound. Her right hand immediately grasped the handle of the knife in her belt. She was listening to find out the direction of this noise. Is it a wild animal? Or a traveller? Well, travellers are not bad. She can rob them. Or is it worse? Suddenly the sound became clear and She realized some one or some thing coming towards her in full speed. She took a deep breath and got ready.

 

[ScalpelsNSaws]

As the gangly shape of Shaun rounded the corner, he stops dead in his tracks. He locks eyes with Aurora and tenses up, his eyes darting back to where he had just came from. He begins to reach for his Bowie knife before noticing Aurora already has her weapon ready, so he stops and tries to close up his coat to stop her seeing the shredded Nobility uniform. "Oh shit...." He murmurs, his voice barely heard on the wind. Then he shouts. "Jesse! We got company!", before attempting to walk backwards and falling down.

 

[Corvid15]

Hearing the commotion, Shisa wandered towards the sound of people. The yelling of several people, hm. This would be interesting. Most people didn't take too kindly to her kind, calling them cultists. The Bone Speakers were not a cult, that's rather demeaning. We are a spiritual tribe, following the gods and spirits on our path.

Moving slowly to stop the rattling of her accoutrements, she crept towards them, crossbow not yet drawn but ready to. She stepped out to be seen, several paces away from Aurora. Spying the other few running away, hm. Then either this girl next to me is an enemy, or they are an enemy. But, his uniform, the one of the guy running away. From what little she saw, it was Nobility. But, if he was still with them, why would it be in such disrepair?

Chanting under her breath, a prayer to the gods of fate an luck that they would be able to help her on her quest, Shisa drew her crossbow. Unsure of who was the enemy, she kept it pointed at the middle ground, ready to fire at whoever showed the most hostility. She didn't want to hurt anyone, but she would if she had to.

 

[Lexico]

Aurora saw Shaun first. Even before he tried to hide his shirt with the coat, She saw the battered nobility combat uniform. She immediately know this man is no nobility or maybe ex-nobility. Knife in one hand, she watched his eyes move and stiffed up thinking there are more people around. And the doubt got confirmed when the man shouted another name. Her first thought was to flee from the scene. She has no business here. As she stepped back, she heard a sound. As she slowly turned, she found Shisa with her bow, getting ready to fire. "Take it slow," Aurora raised her hands slowly. An indication of surrender but also ready to bounce if there is a chance.

 

[ScalpelsNSaws]

Shaun didn't dare move, he was frozen with fear. It wasn't Aurora that made Shaun try and fail to escape, but the sight of Shisa, in her tribal garb he had mistaken her for a savage, like the ones in Ootah-(Utah) or worse still a cannibal from the tribes in th mountains. "Up shits creek without a paddle, but yet again I swim." Shaun mumbles, drawing his Bowie knife and levelling it in the direction of the two very fearsome looking people in front of him. He knows there's three ways this will play out, and is really hoping it isn't the first two.

 

[TheAdept]

Unlike Shaun, his impression of Shisa was not that she was out to eat anyone, or if she was, it was for some pagan and ineffective ritual. Her chanting reminded him of Chris, one of the Bastards who died. They weren't best friends, but in the end Chris was alright enough to stay loyal.

Charles, the leader, had helped each Bastard learn of old ways. The vague memories Jesse had of his childhood were from a village who lived like North Europeans long ago, but Chris was from a gang similar to this Shisa person, it seemed.

"Thats a bad idea." Jesse said to Shisa, referring to the crossbow as he drew his hatchet. His pistol was tucked in a hidden spot, and reserved for a rainy day.

 

[Obsidian]

Rummaging through the debris of a long hollowed mechanical workshop, Ethan tries in vain to find anything of use, but this place seems to have been cleared out long ago. All that's left is the junk no one else could find the smallest use for, and nor could Ethan. "Fucking trash." He muttered to himself, turning his attention away from the junk and raising himself back onto his feet, turning to leave in search for better pickings. Leaving the crumbling ruin, he began to hear things, shouting most of all, coming from across the town. People being around usually meant resources, or at least information. And if they were Nobility, that would be a bonus.

Ethan began tracking the ruckus, following it to through a darkened alleyway to a street with a ruined car parking garage across the road, and there he noticed a few people that seemed to be in a stand off; weapons unshealthed in a tense atmosphere. Best not blunder into a middle of what could very likely be a fight. Ethan took his bow in his left hand, an arrow in his right, and stood in the shadows and watched to see what they would do. If they ended up killing each other, Ethan could pick off any stragglers, and loot anything of value from them. If not, well, maybe he'd be able to overhear something interesting.

 

[TheAdept]

Shisa was aiming at the middle between Ryder and him and Shaun. Very dumb idea, taking out a weapon and not knowing where to aim it, he thought. Then another person showed up and he even saw someone spying them from not too far away. This person probably wasn't Nobility either, but these others didn't seem savvy enough to know he wasn't. At least not right away.

"Nobility!" Jesse shouted, and pointed at the guy spying them (Ethan). Then nudged Shaun and gestured for him to flee.

 

[Corvid15]

Shisa put her crossbow away, still eyeing the group. She held up her hands as a show of surrender, and slowly reached for a pouch on her side. Pulling two bone runes, she smiled under her mask. Wyrd and Rād. Fate, and a journey or quest. These were the people she needed, the proper companions for her quest. Any who were close enough to see would notice the bone runes were human finger bones, with symbols carved into them.

Putting back the runes, she pulled the mountain lion pelt from her pack. She had taken care to not damage it, as it was surprisingly high quality. She also had the pelt of the traveler who had given it to her. He had died of his injuries, despite her help, and waste not want not. But that was for herself, she would not trade that away. Or any of his meat. Her tribe had told her that others frown upon them for consuming their own kind, but she never understood why. It's just like any other meat.

Shisa glanced over from where a sound came from, there must be someone else there. She paid them no mind. Looking between the ex Noble man and the woman, Shisa spoke up, holding the lion pelt.

"I would rather not fight. But, if it shall bring peace, we can trade."

A wave of fear ran through her as another man shouted at the newcomer. She debated, she did not want to hurt anyone, but the Nobility were the devil she sought to destroy. She hated to be a hypocrite, but this was her enemy. She threw the pelt onto her shoulder, pulling her crossbow out again and leveling it at Ethan.

 

[ScalpelsNSaws]

Shaun catches Jesse by his arm as he turns to flee. "There isn't any harm in the Sun y'know stranger! Show yourself!", he calls to the stranger in the alley now very not hidden thanks to Jesse's call.
Hearing the masked woman's words comforted Shaun, making him slightly glad she wouldn't shoot anybody.
"A trade would be...preferable to alternative lady. watcha got?"