wrecking_yard (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
wrecking_yard) wrote2023-03-22 08:17 pm
wrecking_yard) wrote2023-03-22 08:17 pm
Fuck This Contract
[]
There's a few fluffy clouds in the sky, a light breeze, and I have a few more miles before I have to leave a main road; the advance alone on this one is enough that I'll be set for a while, and the locked box is safely stored in my pack slung over one shoulder, nothing visible to flag anything different from any other random lone traveler on the road.
For a brief moment, Orthax stirs awake, then flattens as much as he can, hiding.
It doesn't take long to spot what caused that reaction - there's three riders in the road, stopped as if waiting for something. All of them are wearing noticeable temple garb, and two of them are in heavier armor; the man in the middle has a familiar sun disk on his shield, the one in light armor has an amulet with the same symbol, while the last has an amulet of Saranrae around her neck. Their attention is definitely on me, and I'm not close enough to overhear the whispered conversation but it's clear I'm the subject.
Then they spread out, enough that they could easily block my passage.
"Ho there, courier!", the paladin calls, and I stop with a sigh.
"Yes? Is something the matter?" Maybe I should've gotten a horse on my way out after all, but I'm not sure it would matter much. I doubt I could outride three riders with definite magic, and the paladin's horse looks a little Beyond Normal.
"Do you know the nature of your parcel?"
At least they're willing to talk, unlike the usual lowlifes that try to intercept me. "That is a question I'm usually paid not to ask."
"What about the client who hired you?"
I shrug. "A mage of some sort? That's another thing I get paid to not ask about sometimes."
He looks tiredly resigned. "We don't want a fight any more than you do, but we can't let that package reach its destination."
I've had just about every kind of thief, thug, mercenary, and hired or summoned muscle sent to intercept me, but a paladin with backup is a new and concerning one. He's right that it isn't a fight I want, and I'm beginning to have some severe misgivings about the job. The first one is that the generous payment is not enough to compensate for ending up a wanted criminal or an enemy of Pelor's faith.
"...One moment." I find a tree stump on the side of the road and sit down, slinging the pack off next to me; they all move to keep an eye on me as I pull the box out.
The lock's a clever mechanism, as much a puzzle as a lock clearly meant to deter anyone who isn't familiar with it - which is the opposite of a deterrent for me. It's easy enough to figure out the sequence, although I barely drop it in time to avoid a burst of flame from an enchantment. They're all watching with interest as I pull it back up into my lap and pop the lid open.
There's four small severed hands with only minimal smell of preservative chemicals, and that alone is enough for me to pull back with a grimace. There's also five large rubies, and some kind of metal seal th size of a small plate with magic diagrams and Infernal text. Materials for a summoning ritual, of the sort that also usually requires a human sacrifice.
I close it, stand up, and hand it up to the paladin, who needs a moment to process that I'm just giving it to him. "Here you go. I assume you also want to know where I was supposed to deliver it exactly - and would you mind terribly if I tagged along for that confrontation?"
He's still staring at the box in his hands a little blankly, but the one in light armor cuts in. "You're not even going to ask us about payment? You're breaking your contract awful easily."
I hold up a hand, ticking off points. "One. The advance I was paid is more than enough for me to not care about being paid by you. Two. I was given very specific instructions for delivery and told that I was bringing all the materials for an important project; if I'm not mistaken, those are for a summoning that requires a human sacrifice, and being set up like that is not something I'll let go lightly. Three. I have some lines I will not cross, and anything associated with murdering children is one of them."
The paladin shakes his head slowly, turning to stow the box in a saddlebag, and looks to the lady in heavier armor. "Kara? What do you think?"
The Saranrae cleric shrugs. "It's reasonable enough, and it'll make finding them easier one way or another."
Translated, either I'm good to my word and they get the drop on the devil cultists, or I'm leading them into a trap they feel they can handle.
The paladin nods. "Right then. I'm Lowell, this is Kara and Talia," he says, motioning to the other two in turn.
"Percy." This is definitely not the time to advertise anything.
Lowell and his horse turn and he offers me a hand up to the back part of the saddle; it's sort-of built to allow for a passenger, although riding right behind someone in plate armor isn't the most comfortable situation. "The delivery point is an abandoned building just outside of a ruined crypt to the west of here - there'll be a side road a few miles ahead that's the first turn to get there."
They take off at a canter. It's the most alone in my own head I've felt in years, and it's strange and surreal in a way I'm not sure how to react to. They're all quiet for a mile or two, although Talia's riding behind Lowell and definitely keeping an eye on me. Kara's keeping pace to the side, and seems less paranoid.
"So, where are you from?" Kara's being conversational and clearly trying to defuse the tense silence - with the worst direction to question.
"Whitestone."
“Whitestone?" Lowell glances back over his shoulder. "Then you've been around the Sun Tree! I've always wanted to see it in person."
Of course, paladin of Pelor, sacred site of Pelor. I should have lied.
"We'll get there one day, love," Kara comments fondly.
"What's it like? How long ago did you leave?"
I have my eyes closed, focusing on balance in the saddle. "I'd rather not talk about it."
He sighs in disappointment, but mercifully drops it.
"So how'd you take up mercenary work?" It's Talia behind me, and it's definitely a lead-in with ulterior motives.
"It was better than starving and makes it easy to travel." I'm hoping the hint to stop asking about my past gets across.
"Do you take dubious jobs often?"
Kara winces, and I just adjust my glasses. "Secretive jobs, often enough. I can't say for sure how many are truly dubious and how many are just people trying to minimize the wrong sort of attention; people who need to hire some unknown who can handle a fight are usually in a bad spot." I have estimates and 'dubious' is definitely more than she'd like, but I know hostile bait when I see it.
"What gave you such quick second thoughts about this one?", Kara asks politely.
"Getting accosted by people trying to intercept a package is normal. Getting accosted by a paladin and retinue is assuredly not."
"Would you have tried to fight us if the package hadn't implied a threat to you?" Talia's definitely still baiting.
"If it still involved severed parts of children, no, it would be all yours." She's not assuming nearly enough weight on that line of mine, and I shoot her a look over my shoulder. "Otherwise, maybe. It would have depended on what was in the box, and I would have much preferred escape to violence anyway; no-one pays enough to cover making an enemy of the temples."
Lowell glances over his shoulder and clears his throat. It figures; if he'd sensed too much malice or darkness in me (or Orthax hadn't been hiding), he would not have decided I'm nonthreatening enough to have close at his back, armored or no.
The rest of the ride is quieter; I'm giving directions occasionally, and Kara's asking an occasional question about my work.
I call a stop before we get too close; I don't know exactly what the trap for me was, and I don't think riding into it with a bunch of shiny loud holy people is a good idea.
Once I'm off the horse, I'm checking over the pepperbox - loading it, clicking through all the chambers, making sure everything is clean and ready. "Can any of you be quiet?" I wave the gun the direction of the old building by the ruined crypt.
There's silence, but Lowell and Kara both step back, leaving Talia staring at me suspiciously.
"Good enough. If you hear a commotion before we get back, head for it - if I get into a fight, you will hear it." It's the one downside to the gun; there's no way to use it quietly.
There's a few fluffy clouds in the sky, a light breeze, and I have a few more miles before I have to leave a main road; the advance alone on this one is enough that I'll be set for a while, and the locked box is safely stored in my pack slung over one shoulder, nothing visible to flag anything different from any other random lone traveler on the road.
For a brief moment, Orthax stirs awake, then flattens as much as he can, hiding.
It doesn't take long to spot what caused that reaction - there's three riders in the road, stopped as if waiting for something. All of them are wearing noticeable temple garb, and two of them are in heavier armor; the man in the middle has a familiar sun disk on his shield, the one in light armor has an amulet with the same symbol, while the last has an amulet of Saranrae around her neck. Their attention is definitely on me, and I'm not close enough to overhear the whispered conversation but it's clear I'm the subject.
Then they spread out, enough that they could easily block my passage.
"Ho there, courier!", the paladin calls, and I stop with a sigh.
"Yes? Is something the matter?" Maybe I should've gotten a horse on my way out after all, but I'm not sure it would matter much. I doubt I could outride three riders with definite magic, and the paladin's horse looks a little Beyond Normal.
"Do you know the nature of your parcel?"
At least they're willing to talk, unlike the usual lowlifes that try to intercept me. "That is a question I'm usually paid not to ask."
"What about the client who hired you?"
I shrug. "A mage of some sort? That's another thing I get paid to not ask about sometimes."
He looks tiredly resigned. "We don't want a fight any more than you do, but we can't let that package reach its destination."
I've had just about every kind of thief, thug, mercenary, and hired or summoned muscle sent to intercept me, but a paladin with backup is a new and concerning one. He's right that it isn't a fight I want, and I'm beginning to have some severe misgivings about the job. The first one is that the generous payment is not enough to compensate for ending up a wanted criminal or an enemy of Pelor's faith.
"...One moment." I find a tree stump on the side of the road and sit down, slinging the pack off next to me; they all move to keep an eye on me as I pull the box out.
The lock's a clever mechanism, as much a puzzle as a lock clearly meant to deter anyone who isn't familiar with it - which is the opposite of a deterrent for me. It's easy enough to figure out the sequence, although I barely drop it in time to avoid a burst of flame from an enchantment. They're all watching with interest as I pull it back up into my lap and pop the lid open.
There's four small severed hands with only minimal smell of preservative chemicals, and that alone is enough for me to pull back with a grimace. There's also five large rubies, and some kind of metal seal th size of a small plate with magic diagrams and Infernal text. Materials for a summoning ritual, of the sort that also usually requires a human sacrifice.
I close it, stand up, and hand it up to the paladin, who needs a moment to process that I'm just giving it to him. "Here you go. I assume you also want to know where I was supposed to deliver it exactly - and would you mind terribly if I tagged along for that confrontation?"
He's still staring at the box in his hands a little blankly, but the one in light armor cuts in. "You're not even going to ask us about payment? You're breaking your contract awful easily."
I hold up a hand, ticking off points. "One. The advance I was paid is more than enough for me to not care about being paid by you. Two. I was given very specific instructions for delivery and told that I was bringing all the materials for an important project; if I'm not mistaken, those are for a summoning that requires a human sacrifice, and being set up like that is not something I'll let go lightly. Three. I have some lines I will not cross, and anything associated with murdering children is one of them."
The paladin shakes his head slowly, turning to stow the box in a saddlebag, and looks to the lady in heavier armor. "Kara? What do you think?"
The Saranrae cleric shrugs. "It's reasonable enough, and it'll make finding them easier one way or another."
Translated, either I'm good to my word and they get the drop on the devil cultists, or I'm leading them into a trap they feel they can handle.
The paladin nods. "Right then. I'm Lowell, this is Kara and Talia," he says, motioning to the other two in turn.
"Percy." This is definitely not the time to advertise anything.
Lowell and his horse turn and he offers me a hand up to the back part of the saddle; it's sort-of built to allow for a passenger, although riding right behind someone in plate armor isn't the most comfortable situation. "The delivery point is an abandoned building just outside of a ruined crypt to the west of here - there'll be a side road a few miles ahead that's the first turn to get there."
They take off at a canter. It's the most alone in my own head I've felt in years, and it's strange and surreal in a way I'm not sure how to react to. They're all quiet for a mile or two, although Talia's riding behind Lowell and definitely keeping an eye on me. Kara's keeping pace to the side, and seems less paranoid.
"So, where are you from?" Kara's being conversational and clearly trying to defuse the tense silence - with the worst direction to question.
"Whitestone."
“Whitestone?" Lowell glances back over his shoulder. "Then you've been around the Sun Tree! I've always wanted to see it in person."
Of course, paladin of Pelor, sacred site of Pelor. I should have lied.
"We'll get there one day, love," Kara comments fondly.
"What's it like? How long ago did you leave?"
I have my eyes closed, focusing on balance in the saddle. "I'd rather not talk about it."
He sighs in disappointment, but mercifully drops it.
"So how'd you take up mercenary work?" It's Talia behind me, and it's definitely a lead-in with ulterior motives.
"It was better than starving and makes it easy to travel." I'm hoping the hint to stop asking about my past gets across.
"Do you take dubious jobs often?"
Kara winces, and I just adjust my glasses. "Secretive jobs, often enough. I can't say for sure how many are truly dubious and how many are just people trying to minimize the wrong sort of attention; people who need to hire some unknown who can handle a fight are usually in a bad spot." I have estimates and 'dubious' is definitely more than she'd like, but I know hostile bait when I see it.
"What gave you such quick second thoughts about this one?", Kara asks politely.
"Getting accosted by people trying to intercept a package is normal. Getting accosted by a paladin and retinue is assuredly not."
"Would you have tried to fight us if the package hadn't implied a threat to you?" Talia's definitely still baiting.
"If it still involved severed parts of children, no, it would be all yours." She's not assuming nearly enough weight on that line of mine, and I shoot her a look over my shoulder. "Otherwise, maybe. It would have depended on what was in the box, and I would have much preferred escape to violence anyway; no-one pays enough to cover making an enemy of the temples."
Lowell glances over his shoulder and clears his throat. It figures; if he'd sensed too much malice or darkness in me (or Orthax hadn't been hiding), he would not have decided I'm nonthreatening enough to have close at his back, armored or no.
The rest of the ride is quieter; I'm giving directions occasionally, and Kara's asking an occasional question about my work.
I call a stop before we get too close; I don't know exactly what the trap for me was, and I don't think riding into it with a bunch of shiny loud holy people is a good idea.
Once I'm off the horse, I'm checking over the pepperbox - loading it, clicking through all the chambers, making sure everything is clean and ready. "Can any of you be quiet?" I wave the gun the direction of the old building by the ruined crypt.
There's silence, but Lowell and Kara both step back, leaving Talia staring at me suspiciously.
"Good enough. If you hear a commotion before we get back, head for it - if I get into a fight, you will hear it." It's the one downside to the gun; there's no way to use it quietly.