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Post by Draxas on Oct 28, 2005 14:54:31 GMT -5
While Kestral may not be the most populous or heavily trafficked city in Terra, the town square bustles with activity nonetheless. The area is open and functional, paved with simple stones and lacking any sort of extraneous decoration. People pass through constantly while heading toward their destinations, many of them equipped in the garb and gear of adventurers. A few stop and rest on strategically placed benches in the square, but most simply head onward on their way to other business.
NPCs: Guarino, an adventurer: Human male Lissandra, an adventurer: Elven female Elgor, an adventurer: Dwarven male Sgt. Stone, a town guard: Human male Sgt. Brown, a town guard: Human male
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Post by Ranger on Nov 3, 2005 18:27:28 GMT -5
Ranger walked back out into the town square and spoke with Sgt. Stone
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Post by Draxas on Nov 3, 2005 19:31:27 GMT -5
Sgt. Stone looked Ranger over appraisingly before speaking.
"An archer, huh," he said after a long pause, "I hope you're a good shot, because those little bastards aren't going to show you any mercy out there."
"I'm going to pair you up with one of my boys," he continued, "I want you two to head out there. If you can, try and find out what the Gobbos are up to and who's organizing them, but don't kill yourself over it. The most important thing is to kill as many of the buggers as you can while you're out there. All them Gobbos wear tribal talismans around their necks; You bring me back at least 5 of those, and we'll call your pay well earned."
"I'm going to go fetch your partner from the barracks. If there's any last minute things you want to do to get prepared, now's your chance. When you're done, meet us back here."
With that, the sergeant nodded to Ranger, and headed off in the direction of the town guard's barracks.
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Post by Ranger on Dec 22, 2005 21:04:16 GMT -5
Ranger stood their waiting for th gaurds return
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Post by Draxas on Dec 22, 2005 22:21:21 GMT -5
Ranger waited several minutes before Sgt. Stone returned, with a stocky youth in guardsman's mail in tow.
"This is Private Schmidt," the Sergeant said to Ranger as he returned. The youth nodded to Ranger in acknowledgement, "He's been on these patrols before, so he knows what he's doing, and can hold his own in a fight. He's trained with sword and spear, so he should complement your skills nicely."
"Now, you two know what to do," he continued, addressing both warriors, "The Goblins seem to originate from the wilds in the west. You probably shouldn't have too difficult a time finding some, just take care not to get ambushed. Once you two have had your fill, come back and see me."
The Sergeant nodded to them both, "Good hunting."
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Pvt. Schmidt has joined Ranger's party!
Pvt. Schmidt HP: 120/120 AGL: 4
Damage: 40 Physical (Armed with a sword)
Defense: 20 Physical 5 Magical
Command List:
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Post by Ranger on Jan 3, 2006 11:52:03 GMT -5
"Thanks for the advice. I'll be back with the talismans. Let's go Pvt. Schmidt, let's get some goblin blood,"
Ranger walked off to the Western Wilds with Schmidt in tow.
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Post by Draxas on Feb 10, 2006 17:24:46 GMT -5
Once past the guard at the gate, the farmer marched Ranger directly into the town square. As they approached, they were greeted by Sgt. Stone, as well as several of him men. Ranger didn't get to stop his forced march until he was toe to toe with the Sergeant. The crowd filled in behind them, eager to see the spectacle, until the guards with the sergeant began dispersing the crowd.
"Hello, Stone," said the farmer, with a bit of an edge to his voice.
"Hello to you, Irons," responded the sergeant, with a similar edge, "Might I ask why you are parading hostages through the city streets?"
"Because you and your men aren't doing your jobs, that's why," responded Irons. His voice had taken on a nastier tone.
"How so? All of us are here to protect and serve the city and her people."
"Remember that thief that looted my place, Stone? The one you and your protecting and serving men have failed to catch? Well, looks like if I wanted that job done right, I had to do it myself."
Sgt. Stone sighed with exasperation. "Tell me something, Irons; did you let your boy look this guy over before you dragged him out here?"
"Don't give me that kind of lip, sergeant!" shouted Irons, his temper suddenly flaring up, "My boy's an idiot, and so are you if you think I'm not going to bring this thief to what passes for justice around here if I catch him myself! Now lock him up, and that's an order!"
"I don't take orders from you anymore, LieutenantIrons," responded Stone. He really stressed the title as if it were the most hateful word he could imagine.
"I am your superior!" screamed Irons.
"You were my superior," responded Stone quietly, "But now you're just a retired old man, so can it."
This remark set Irons to fuming, but he did indeed lapse into a threatening silence. Sgt. Stone looked into Ranger's eyes instead.
"Hello again," he said, "You seem to have a knack for getting into trouble lately. Care to explain what happened?"
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Post by Ranger on Feb 10, 2006 19:41:59 GMT -5
Ranger shot a worried glance at his finally named assailant Irons and then began to tell the story to Stone. Told him how he had been wandering in the wilderness when he had seen the farm buildings in the distance and decided to go and look around and see if he could find something to do over there. When he arrived it had been empty so he had looked around and found Irons alone in the barn. So he was introducing himself and asking if everything was all right and well and asking if there was something to be done when he had been turned on and shot at. Then the capture and march to Kestral.
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Post by Draxas on Feb 10, 2006 22:10:12 GMT -5
Sgt. Stone listened to the whole story, and then turned his attention back to Irons, who was still fuming silently.
"And what possessed you to march him over here at the end of a weapon, Irons?" he asked.
"I wanted to show you how useless you lot have become ever since I left," snapped Irons, "But you're right, I should have just shot him and been done with it, with the way you're defending him!"
"That's not what I meant, you fool!" growled Stone, "Have you even taken a good look at him?"
"Of course I have! I had miles of walking to take a good look at him, and he's the thief for sure!"
"When was the last you had your eyes checked? There's no resemblance!"
"You shut up about my eyes! I can see just fine, and I know what I saw!"
'You're a liar!" said Stone, as he reached into a small belt pouch. He withdrew a scroll of parchment and unfurled it, revealing a wanted poster. The man in the poster did look slightly similar to Ranger, but there were enough significant differences to rule out mistaken identity: The hair color was different, the shape of the nose was all wrong, and the man had a scar scross his forehead.
Sgt. Stone practically shoved the parchment into Irons's face, who promptly thrust it aside. "Fine, so he's not the right guy! Who cares? He was still tresspassing on my property!"
Sgt. Stone paused, and Irons put a very smug look on his face. "How's that, huh?" taunted Irons.
"Not that great, considering that you held him hostage with a weapon," responded Stone, "Go home, old man, and leave policing to the professionals from now on. I'll take care of him."
Irons's expression darkened, and he held a threatening finger up to point at Stone. "This isn't over between us, Stone. You and your men are incompetent, and I'll see to it that justice is done, even if I have to do it myself."
"Shut up and go home, you old codger. You don't scare me or anyone else," responded Stone, who then held up a similarly threatening finger with a smirk on his face, "And if I find out that you were waving that weapon in anyone else's face, so help me, I'll have you locked up faster than you can blink those worthless eyes of yours. Now get out of my sight!"
Irons opened his mouth as if to retort, but then closed it again just as quickly. Instead, he turned and stalked off back in the direction of the farm. The assembled guards in the town square watched him go.
"Good riddance," muttered Sgt. Stone, once Irons was gone from view. He signalled to one of the guards, "Cut him free of those ropes."
A guardsman came up with a knife, and sliced through Ranger's bonds in a matter of moments.
"Come with me," said Stone to Ranger once he was freed, "We have some things to discuss."
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Post by Ranger on Feb 10, 2006 22:55:56 GMT -5
Ranger nodded and went along with Stone. He was sure he had gotten into something he didn't want but he was prepared to deal with it.
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Post by Draxas on Feb 10, 2006 23:31:53 GMT -5
Sgt. Stone led Ranger to the guardsmen's barracks. The inside was sparsely furnished, and mostly consisted of a few chairs and tables, and rows upon rows of bunk beds. Sgt. Stone offered Rnager a chair, before taking a seat opposite him at a table.
"I'm sorry you had to get caught up in that bit of nastiness," he began, "Irons is an ornery bastard, no question. I have to know, first, though; were you telling me the whole truth back there? This is off the record, so I want to know the whole story, if it's different from what you said before."
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Post by Ranger on Feb 11, 2006 1:20:46 GMT -5
"I told it how it was Stone," Ranger said with a serious tone,"The son did give me a look over and tried to help me before we got here. What is this all about anyway?"
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Post by Draxas on Feb 11, 2006 14:12:21 GMT -5
"All right, here's the story," said Stone with a sigh, "As you might have guessed, Irons is a retired officer from the Watch. He was a real bastard back then, too, but rank has a tendency to help you get your way. He worked his way up from Private, and did so quickly; he was a deadeye shot, and he had a keen sense of justice. However, it wasn't until he made Captain that everyone realized just how warped that sense of justice was."
"See, Irons has always been interested in the bringing of justice. However, as you can probably tell, who he brings justice to and why are not all that important; they're simply details to be worked out later, in 'interrogation,' which is a nice way of saying that they were sent to the torture chamber. And under Irons's command, the Watch had some very talented 'interrogators' that were able to get people to confess the crimes Irons chose without fail."
"It was a frightening time to live in Kestral. The whole city may as well have been under martial law. Everyone wanted to remove Irons, but the City Council was paralyzed; there are some esoteric laws on the books here, that not only prevent the City Council from removing the Captain of the Watch without a punishable offense to try him for, but also from changing the laws already on the books without a unanimous vote of approval. Irons had a crony on the Council, a councilman Brust, that stymied every attempt to bring the subject up. And so, the reign of terror continued."
"Then, seventeen years ago, the city reached its breaking point. Irons was convinced that there was a group of subversives attacking the city from within. We would occasionally find dead civilians and guardsmen near the western section of the city, and Irons was convinced that this was their handiwork. We found out later that it was actually the result of those bloody goblins sneaking past the walls, using an underground tunnel. But at the time, Irons had the Watch go door to door and round up anyone who seemed even slightly suspicious, or he had seen or heard protesting his policies. Or even seen or heard rumors about them protesting his policies. Dozens of people were thrown into the cells or executed, and the populace pretty much decided that they had had enough."
"The riots were brutal and bloody. Parts of the city burned, and clashes between the Watch and the rioters were constant. Many guardsmen either went AWOL or joined the rioters, because they couldn't bring themselves to keep killing the people they were supposed to protect. Everything came to a head in a huge clash in the town square. Hundreds of rioters with torches, clubs, and maybe a handful of real weapons, attacked a force of Watchmen, personally led by Irons himself. It was a massacre. Nearly a hundred rioters were killed, versus barely a dozen Watchmen killed, and a handful more wounded. At least 20 or more of those rioters slain were attributed to Irons himself, with the crossbow bolt stuck between their eyes considered his calling card. Most of the mob dispersed and fled after that, burning as they went; half the city was on fire at some point that night. And in all the chaos, someone took it upon themselves to assassinate Councilman Brust. He and his family were found executed in their home, each with a crossbow bolt stuck between their eyes in a mimicry of Irons's own style."
"The rest of the City Council wasted no time in taking action. The mayor appointed a temporary stand-in for Brust only hours after he was found dead, ostensibly until elections could be held. The Council came into session immediately after, and their first act was to demote Irons to Lieutenant, which was the extent of their legal powers, and appoint a new Captain of the Watch. Within hours of his appointment, the new Captain had discharged Irons, ending both his career and his grip over the city. Infuriated, Irons took his family and left the city. He's lived on that farm ever since. If he wasn't so unstable, if you know what I mean, I imagine he might be dead by now. But after hauling the corpses of a half-dozen would-be assassins through the gates to present to the Watch, people pretty much started to leave him alone."
Sgt. Stone leaned back in his chair, and sighed, "And that's the bloody history of Irons and Kestral, in a nutshell."
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Post by Ranger on Feb 11, 2006 17:57:39 GMT -5
"So what's the story with his son then. Surely he had a wife to. His son seems to condone what he does but he wont listen. How can he be so against his own flesh and blood?" Ranger said questionatively.
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Post by Draxas on Feb 11, 2006 23:56:40 GMT -5
"Irons took his wife and two sons with him when he left Kestral," replied Stone, "I don't know what the poor woman ever saw in him, but she stayed with him right until the end. She passed on about 12 years ago from an illness."
"Less than a year after his mother died, the older son, Dean, left the farm. He came to Kestral briefly, to buy supplies. He said he was stocking up for a journey, and that he was 'sick of his father's bull,' as he so eloquently put it. That was the last anyone here ever saw of him. He left on the road to Suryan, and never turned back."
"The younger son, Ricky, is the one you already met. He's stayed on the farm all these years, helping his father. They don't get along well, as you might have guessed, but Ricky won't leave. He may not be very fond of his father, but he's even less enamoured of his brother; he sees his brother as having abandoned them, all those years ago."
"And that's the story of Irons's wonderful, dysfunctional family. The keep to themselves, and always have since they left the city; we get all our information about them secondhand, or on the rare occasions that Ricky is sent to get supplies that they don't have on the farm."
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