|
|
Post by Quintus on Sept 27, 2017 6:06:41 GMT
For the past few years, Quintus had been stuck in the City. Despite the possession by the wrathful creature named Prizrak, he tried to go about his daily life as normal as he could. The household he lived in had noticed a change in him, both emotionally and physically. Physically, Quinn’s eyes had turned to a striking and unnatural electric blue color. They shinned more like daemon eyes than anything else. He also started lashing out a bit more, as well as avoiding the sun since it caused him a lot of discomfort. Odd, since he was defiantly still human, but there nonetheless. At first his family silently shunned him and tried to keep their distance, but his family was all he had, so Quinn did all that he could to show them he was still their son/brother.
It was only recently that he felt comfortable going out and about again. For a time, he took care of the house while his father and siblings were away, and even took to training other nobles how to use a bow. They seemed very interested in becoming Hounds, and for a time even he was considering it. What better way to make a name for himself than to work from the ground up in the human’s forces?
That was for a different time though. For now, he was just interested in hunting and getting used to his new abilities. He’d only recently found out that he had the ability to weave light to create a temporary, solid bow. In many situations, it was useless. The light manifested to create it gave it a shining, bright white appearance that stuck out like a sore thumb. In reality, the weapon was only useful in a ‘oh-shit’ sort of moment. Even so, Quinn wanted to get some practice in with it.
Leaving the City to go too far was mostly impossible for the time being. What he considered ‘getting away’ was leaving where all the high class citizens were and spending his time in other districts, like the Red Light District. The district consisted mostly of brothels, which he was mostly uninterested in. It was just a different vibe, different scenery from what he was used to.
Quinn wasn’t wearing anything too fancy, not wanting to stand out too much. He had a simple dark blouse on with loose trousers and comfortable boots. He carried nothing with him, not even coin, since he knew how people there. To the plain observer, he didn’t seem all that special, though his symbolic hose tattoo on his forehead was not easy to cover. The only thing that obscured some of it was his somewhat long hair. It was hardly the busier part of the day, since it was only the afternoon and the Red Light District was more active at night.
Sitting next to some abandoned and run down building, Quinn was scouting the rooftops for pigeons. He had no intention of eating any, but for the moment it was the best way for him to get some practice in with his new magical ability. Focusing, he summoned the brightly-lit bow into his left hand and pulled back. It took more energy out of him, but he was able to create an arrow fashioned in the same way of his bow. There, off to his right on one of the rooftops, was one of the fearless little birds. It only took him a moment to aim before he released.
The arrow stayed in the bird’s body for a few seconds before disappearing, but the hole it created was still there. There was a flurry of feathers as the dead animal fell to the ground. ‘Not bad,’ he noted to himself. It’d seemed like he wasn’t too rusty on his skill, even if the target hadn’t been moving.
|
|
|
|
Post by Devon on Oct 8, 2017 8:40:06 GMT
"This place is not appropriate for a lady!"
"Oh relax, Reese. You're with me, aren't you?"
"That doesn't make it okay. What do you want to come down here for anyway?"
"No reason, really. I'm just so bored of the upper class district."
The conversation was occurring between two people clearly out of place in this district, although in the middle of the afternoon this street was quiet and the doors and windows pulled close. The young woman was dressed in a flowing bone-white dress with a dark orange bodice, a string of small silk flowers the same colour woven through dark brown hair. Her arm was linked with a tall man with blonde hair falling in his eyes, his features broad and handsome but worried as he tried to convince her to turn around and go back somewhere more decent.
"There's not even anything to look at here. Everything is shut."
"That's kind of the point. I don't actually want to go to a brothel. I just wanted a change of scenery, honestly."
"Okay, but a change of scenery means going to the country for the weekend. Or the Kingswood. Maybe the merchant quarter. Not the red light district." Reese said these last three words in a stage whisper, looking mortified as he did so. It wasn't like there'd be any great scandal if they were seen here, or anything, but it just wasn't the done thing. And Devon was engaged to his Commander. If Lucius found out he'd brought his sister here, Reese figured he'd be chewed up and spit out.
"Look, we'll just have a little wander around. A few streets and then back to the upper class district for afternoon tea, I swear."
"Fine. But if your betrothed finds out you'd better tell him you dragged me here, and not the other way around."
Truth be told, it wasn't even very interesting down here. At this time of day the streets of the red light district - the ones they were walking at least - looked like any other boring upper middle class residential zone. There were few people, and nothing was happening. Devon was thoroughly disappointed. Now that she lived in the City fulltime she often found herself bored, with not enough to fill her days. She was supposed to be fitting all sorts of events in with Lucius, but her fiance was often busy with work, and he wasn't exactly enthusiastic about the courtship now their engagement was confirmed and announced. So, when Devon spotted a man - someone from their world, she recognised the House mark on his brow - she was delighted. A distraction! Something, anything, to break the ceaseless sameness of her days. Reese had spotted him too and was watching the youth with his hand shading his eyes.
"That was a good shot."
"Good afternoon! Sorry to disturb you. Did you come out here just to practice your shooting?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Quintus on Oct 8, 2017 23:28:57 GMT
Quintus made his way over to his kill, not wanting to leave it on the streets to rot. Someone might really want to eat it, and there was no point in wasting the meat, so he carried the dead bird by its feet as he began to move away somewhere else to practice shooting at something else. Something caught his eye, though. There was a young lady that stood out way too much from the normal riff raff, as did the man that towered above her. They were debating about something, but he was too far to hear. What he was mostly intrigued by was her obvious high class status. It wasn’t abnormal for high class citizens to go to the Red Light District, but they were usually more…discreet.
It wasn’t his business though, and he shrugged at himself, turning to head in the opposite direction until the young woman approached him so brazenly. He smiled and nodded his head at the man’s compliment. “Thanks. Been out of practice for a little while.” Quintus wasn’t totally surprised by the approach. Though he was wearing more casual close, the tattoo on his head was distinct to his house and made him stick out like a sore thumb.
He looked at the young woman with his abnormally bright blue eyes. She was pretty and had good hygiene. Defiantly high class, maybe even more so than his family. “It’s uh, no problem. But yeah, yeah I did. I don’t get out as much as I used to and I rarely ever leave the City.” Quintus wasn’t sure what he was going to do with his life, but the working on joining the Hounds seemed ideal. He was not much good at anything other than shooting a bow.
This was…a bit awkward. He was so used to talking more formally to other high class people, but he’d been caught off guard. A good starting point would be to introduce himself, he supposed. “Stark is my household surname, but I go by Quintus or Quinn for short. A pleasure to meet you.” He crossed his arm over his chest and bowed his head just slightly as a respectful gesture. When he raised his head up, Quinn shuffled his feet and looked between the woman, and the intimidating man she was with. “If I may be so bold, what brings a lady and her escort out to the Red Light District?”
|
|
|
|
Post by Devon on Oct 9, 2017 6:16:36 GMT
"Really? You couldn't tell. Very clean, right through the middle." Predictably, once Reese's attention was caught by the no doubt impressive skills of this young archer, he forgot all about his objection to Devon's choice of locale. She refrained from rolling her eyes since it would be unladylike, but she shook her head slightly. Men. All the cared about was shooting things! Or lopping their heads off, or stabbing them. No doubt that was what Lucius was doing right now to straw men in the castle training grounds, occupied in the ceaseless honing of his skills.
"Where have you put your bow, though? You aren't leaving it out here?" he added, looking a little perplexed. It had to be a decent weapon to get that kind of shot - a funny thing to abandon.
Devon didn't wait for the young man to answer, though. If she didn't snatch her chance to redirect the conversation Reese would talk about weaponry all day long. Elbowing her brother discreetly - the subtlety ruined by his muffled 'ouch!', Devon smiled winningly at this chance acquaintance. He looked familiar...maybe she'd seen him at court.
"Neither do we. I'm Devon -"
"Lady Devon."
"...yes. And this is my brother, Reese. Not yet Ser Reese, though he is training to be a knight one day. Strictly speaking you could call him Lord Reese, I suppose, as our father is the Marquess of Norwood, but you should ignore him being all proper and just call us by name." Devon shot her brother a pointed glare. Strictly he was correct since she'd been presented last year, even more so following her engagement. But Illusen knew titles were stuffy and formal. She didn't feel like being stuffy and formal. She did enough of that at court. Reese looked pained after her response.
"Er...right. Please don't call me Lord. Our older brother than keep that honour. Anyway, the pleasure is ours, Quintus."
"I just wanted to walk somewhere new, that's all," Devon added, steering the conversation onwards.
"Like you, we rarely leave the City now. Reese is always training for the army, and I attend court most days. I get so tired of the same places all the time, don't you?" Not that the red light district had turned out to be as interesting as she'd hoped. Maybe she'd convince Reese to take her to the spice market one day...
"I couldn't convince her this place wasn't worth visiting. Fine for a quiet place to shoot during the day, sure, but uninteresting otherwise."
"And how would you know that, dear brother?" At these words, Reese instantly blushed.
"Hearsay! Ignore her please, Quintus, she's got far too much cheek for a young Lady. In fact, we should be leaving. We're going for afternoon tea somewhere more appropriate...perhaps you'd join us?"
"Oh, please do. Meeting new people makes the same old places seem much less dull."
|
|
|
|
Post by Quintus on Oct 10, 2017 1:47:48 GMT
Immediately, Quintus was more interested in holding a conversation. He loved to talk about his abilities, as he was quite proud of them. Sure, he could muster arrows and a bow from light, but it still took pure skill to shoot them correctly. His magic didn’t help him much there. Grinning, he was just going to answer before being interrupted, and immediately he forced himself to hold back a frown. It was obvious the Lady had no interest in talking about such things, which was…well…not promising, but maybe she’d turn out to be better than most of the other nobility he was bored with. There was still a chance.
His entire body language changed though, as she explained her brother, Reese’s, position. Training to become a knight? How badass! Quintus was grinning, dying to ask questions. He wasn’t sure if that was the life he wanted to have, but they were skilled warriors that were looked up to for their combat prowess and discipline. Some were known to abuse their position, especially when it came to those in poverty, but the few that were good, Quintus looked up to them greatly.
But…could he ever truly join the King’s forces? With the Vivek creature, Prizrak, possessing him, it seemed liked a foolish thing to do. It’d been a year since his last appearance, but the last time it happened and Quintus had come to, there were dead bodies everywhere, in piles even.
That form of thought process wasn’t appropriate for the moment though, but he’d been standing there for a solid minute not speaking, just looking out into space. When he realized this, he shook his head and shuffled his feet around uncomfortably, scratching the back of his head and breaking eye contact with the two.
“Er I’d have to agree. The Red Light District isn’t really all that…great. But it is different, I’ll give it that. Some fancy title though. A lady, eh? My father regulates trades between The City and…well, everywhere else. Mainly the Boil. He used to be in the army though. Good at shooting a bow and all that. One of my brothers was aiming to be one of the royal guards. Haven’t heard from him in a long time, after he got married and all that.” Quintus and his brother, Lucas, used to be close growing up till envy made them grow apart.
Quintus crossed his arms smiling, amused at their banter. Defiantly siblings. “I think cheek in a Lady makes her more interesting. We’ve got plenty of ladies already that are much too proper. Talking to one of them is like talking to a wall; dry and plain.” Reese and Devon seemed like an alright bunch. Under most circumstances, he would have said no to the offer of tea. Such frivolities weren’t really his thing, but they seemed nice enough.
“Sure, I’ll come. And don’t worry about the bow. I get little of my family’s money, so it’s not as if I leave expensive pieces of equipment lying around willy-nilly. The bow is magic-based and is created through my artifact.” It was never wise to explain what the artifact was, even to another human, so he didn’t go into detail.
|
|
|
|
Post by Devon on Oct 13, 2017 6:14:37 GMT
Devon and Reese glanced at each other, quietly perplexed at the young man staring blankly into space. Lost in thought, or something less explicable? Bound by custom into simply waiting - anything else would have been rude - both Devon and Reese were relieved when he seemed to suddenly snap back to reality.
"Never mind titles. It's nice to meet new people, we spend a lot of time with those we already know." Devon wasn't sure whether Quintus attended court regularly - it sounded as though he might be spared that particular duty, nobles varied in how much of their time was spent at the Castle depending on rank and favour with well-placed members of the inner circle - but she didn't recall seeing him before.
"Reese is squired to the Captain of the Guard," she added, not only out of pride for her older brother, but also because if Quintus' father had been in the army he might find this interesting. The Captain of the Guard was the third highest rank in the Royal Army, below the Commander of the Guard and the King himself. It was an enviable position, to squire for him, and Reese valued it highly.
Pleased with Quintus' acceptance, Reese and Devon both smiled as they headed down the road - away from the Red Light district, to Reese's immense relief.
"Please, don't encourage her," Reese said, though he was grinning, and ignoring the face Devon pulled at him.
"She's quite headstrong enough already."
"It's nothing for you to worry about, brother. I keep my manners in check at court, and Quintus says he doesn't mind."
The easy jocularity between the two hinted at their closeness - Reese was Devon's favourite brother and, apart from her ladies, her most frequent companion now that she lived in the City full time.
"Summoned from magic? Will you show me?" Reese, naturally, was instantly intrigued by the tale of a magic-based weapon. Lucius was not an archer and preferred swords to bows, and Reese was thus being trained in this image, but to be able to create weapons of any kind through magic was a fascinating skill. Devon, though, was interested in her own way. Reese had taught her to shoot last summer, and although she was not skilled at it and it was strictly a hobby only for ladies, she had a working knowledge of archery as a result.
"Will you be joining the guards, as your brother may have?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Quintus on Oct 13, 2017 22:05:49 GMT
Quintus’ eyes widened with even more admiration for the man, Reese. It was amazing that he was squired to someone so high up in rank! Quintus wasn’t very ambitious himself, so he had no real desire to try and get to that point, but man did he really think highly of the people that were. “That’s really neat! How do you even come about getting squired?” Vaguely, he remembered learning about stuff like that in his studies growing up, but as the son that was always destined to get very little, he admittedly didn’t pay much attention to stuff like that. He had a feeling it had a lot to do with how high up in nobility their family was, as was usually the case.
They past by a few brothels on their way out, one of which had a women that was free who was giving teasing glances to the three nobles that were trying to leave. Awkwardly, Quintus smiled at her, unsure what else to do when she made eye contact, but then quickly looked away. He wasn’t very fond of brothels and never knew how to act around the people in them. Now, with the other two present, he was a little eager to get out of the area.
Quintus was excited to talk about bows again, as it was his favorite weapon while archery was his favorite pastime. “Sure! It takes a lot of energy for me to do it, but I should be able to create it once more.” If that wasn’t an assurance to Reese’s question, Quinn’s grin was.
It was almost impossible for him to do it while they were walking, so he stepped to the side of the road and took a deep breath to concentrate. Quintus stuck his arm out directly in front of him, and for a few seconds there was nothing. He looked like a maniac staring at his hands, expression focused with a slight furrow in his brow. After those few seconds though, from his hand a yellow and white light emerged, shaping into the form of a recurve box at his fingertips.
Once the bow was completely formed, the finishing touch being the draw string, he exhaled the air he was withholding, beads of sweat slowly sinking down his face from the effort. He looked at Reese and Devon, smiling. “That’s…..whew. This is pretty new, so I’m not used to it yet, but there it is. That’s not the best part though.”
Using more of his concentration and energy, Quintus went into the familiar stance of acting as if he was going to shoot an arrow. He was standing right to the side of Reese and Devon as he used the strong muscles in his back and arms to pull back the strong draw-weight of the bow.
As he did so, an arrow formed in the same way that the weapon did, except it didn’t appear till Quintus was at a full draw and ready to shoot. It appeared much quicker than the bow, and as he slowly eased on the string back at its resting point, the arrow disappeared. Soon after, so did the bow. His breathing was a little heavy from the effort, but after showing off a bit he continued to follow the two to wherever it was they wanted to have some tea.
The question Devon asked him was one he’d been asking himself for the past few years. “I’m not entirely sure yet. I’ve thought about it. I don’t find it very satisfying to just be doing menial tasks for my family for the rest of my life, so it is much preferred to that. And the bow is my best skill, so that may be the only way I can excel at something.” He wasn’t much good at anything else besides training animals.
|
|
