Imprisoned in Fissoa

[Lychaon]

Dytalcon was finally starting to feel the chill of the ever-shadowy stone in which he was lying. His breathing was starting to be more conscious, as he felt the straw blades spread on the ground tickling his nose. And then he clearly noticed the stinging pain in his forehead. Little by little he started to rise while he tried to make up his mind. What had happened?

Everything came back to his mind as soon he saw the iron bars of the cell... imprisoned. His memories were quickly cleared, so he could recreate the details of those last hours. He took a boat from Madina to get to Fissoa, looking for opportunities in the land. It started to be obvious that he hadn't chosen the best destination for his first steps out of the lands where he was born.

His homeland... he realized which could be the reason of his imprisonment. For a commoner, diplomatic relations are not matters of a common use, but that explained the mistrustful looks of the peasants at the tavern. Instinctively he had avoided to try to apply for the local monster-hunting guild, even when he knew he could offer a good service:  for the very first time he felt a stranger.

Now his fate was under the wish of the Judge of this unknown country for him, but he couldn't figure out which were the charges against him. He decided to speak to the jailer, a giant covered in iron and leather, with a surly looking.

"Why am I here? – He asked in what tried to be a calmed tone. The jailer took his time before answering.

"Shut up, you Falkirkoscum...

The rudeness of the reply left him numb for a second. Falkirk... what? It seemed that the jailer read his thoughts, as he repeated slowly to help him understand with no doubts:

"Falkirk-o-scum... - The official opinion towards the lands where Dytalcon was born started to get very well defined in his schemes.

"Sir, I'm just a traveller... I didn't even know there is some kind of conflict within our countries!

"So you've got a conflict with our country, don't you? – The jailer's eyebrow raised giving him a quite unexpected intellectual gesture.

"I'm not saying that! I was just saying...

"Talk to the Judge, Falkirkoscum! – It was clear Dytalcon wouldn't get any other explanation from this brute. He whispered and replied trying to keep his nerves.

"When will I be able to talk to him?

"Well... probably tomorrow. Before... - The jailer accompanied this words with a very explicit gesture. His red tongue and unexpressive eyes talked about a fear which the adventurer didn't dare to admit.

"That can't be true... - These whispered words didn't get to the jailer's ears. He just smiled as a satisfied jester after a great performance.

Dytalcon sat on the ground. He started to organize his ideas, he would probably have just one chance and had to choose the right words. Would the Judge believe him? The life of a commoner doesn't worth much for anyone else, but he wanted to preserve it. He had some debts to pay and some wits to prove, and his conscience was clear. Would it be enough?

[Lychaon]

True story...  :-\

[Shizzle]

Nicely written :) Feel free to share RP within the Verminators as well, I saw you joined.

Also, after having read this, I'm in somewhat of a conflict: the RP shows Dytalcon is no spy from Falkirk. Could this be enforced OOCly if he turned out to be, and could his player be met with sanctions?

@Lychaon: not saying this to offend or defame you in any way, your RP just made me wonder :)

[Lychaon]

Sorry, I'm afraid I haven't understood exactly what you mean. To what concerns to Dytalcon, I just wanted to show him as I see him. For some circumstances he was born and raised in Falkirk, but his goal is to be recognised by his family, once he'll have washed the sins of his father and gained the right to be called noble. Of course, once he arrived to Fissoa, the different accent and the suspicious looks of the peasants made him feel as a stranger, whether we couldn't say he had rooted deep in his homeland (OOC: I noticed in the diplomacy section that Fissoa and Falkirk are enemies  :P)

I guess you were wondering if there should be some kind of sanction for a player that uses RP to show his character friendly or loyal to some realm when he isn't actually, right? I think that's comparable to a fake character, who pretends to be someone else to get some profits. I wouldn't sanction the player, but of course I'd think twice before trusting him next time... and if I'd have the chance, I'd hang the character with a sign of "traitor" :P

[Shizzle]

Yes, that was indeed my concern. Thing is that I don't have an issue with IC lying or deceit, however writing up a roleplay only to ignore it's reality lateron would be OOC cheating, from my point of view. Not that I don't trust you; I was just wondering.

[Indirik]

Just to be anal about things, your character was not "born and raised in Falkirk". Falkirk simply has not existed long enough for that to have happened. You would have been born in Madina, then mostly raised in Madina, and then for smaller periods of time in Aurvandil and then finally Falkirk.

[Shizzle]

Just to be anal about things, your character was not "born and raised in Falkirk". Falkirk simply has not existed long enough for that to have happened. You would have been born in Madina, then mostly raised in Madina, and then for smaller periods of time in Aurvandil and then finally Falkirk.

I didn't even think of that  ???

[Nosferatus]

I didn't even think of that  ???

Bad shizzle, BAD BAAD Shizle!

[Lychaon]

Oops! Sorry for my lack of "historic" rigour Indirik, I'm afraid I haven't read enough yet and although I've heard about Madina (and the "visit" of its western neighbour  :P), I didn't think about it as the previous realm that owned the current Falkirkian lands.

Truth is, comparing with the characters' lifes, I've always thought as if the current realms had lasted for a long time, when there're some characters who have actually survived plenty of different realms!

[Indirik]

It's not a big deal. I'm just sayin'...

Dwilight started almost 5 RL years ago. That would be about 20 IC years. That means that most of the realms have not really been around long enough for new nobles to be "born and raised" in them. In fact, I don't think we have a realm that has actually lasted that long. PeL was the last. You could make a case for Morek, but that was called Xinhai for a while...

[Lychaon]

That's an interesting thing about Dwilight's background. I mean, if we just stick to the game timing it's been only 20 years that a "non-rogue" political structure has been implanted in the continent. I've thought several times about it to write my characters' backgrund, because truth is the colonists (real players) found in Dwilight a rich continent, with cities and a "native" culture.

Moreover, it could be interesting to give an equivalence to the past time in larger periods; that way we could talk about some kind of "tradition" of the realms. Realms that have been founded just a few years ago IG.

Am I just making a fairy tale from simple game mechanics? Yep, quite probably  ;D

[Indirik]

In order to legitimize their RP plans and plots, many players have created extensive backgrounds for their characters, realms, and geographical areas. (Some of it more blatant and self-serving than others. In some cases, such as the second Thulsoma regime (the infamous "Saxons"), they completely trashed everything that had already been written by the players that had played there before, and replaced it with something completely different.)

[Shizzle]

It's not a big deal. I'm just sayin'...

Dwilight started almost 5 RL years ago. That would be about 20 IC years. That means that most of the realms have not really been around long enough for new nobles to be "born and raised" in them. In fact, I don't think we have a realm that has actually lasted that long. PeL was the last. You could make a case for Morek, but that was called Xinhai for a while...

Also keep in mind that characters age by wounds(?) and stuff. Mine on Dwi has spent at least 20 years of his life on Dwilight (now 50yo), though he wasn't there from the beginning.

Your comment does put things in perspective...

[Nosferatus]

Do mind that Madina is role played to have had an existence before it became a realm.
Abbot was about 20/25 when he founded Madina, hes now 66 or so, when dwilight started Madina became a realm, before that it was assort of a free state colony/trading hub where not much people lived, with a merchant aristocracy and gangs in charge of the small city.
Abbot claims to be the very discoverer of Dwilight when he founded Madina, thou many other dwilight natives have lived before on the east side of the continent, like the dwilis.
Ofcourse we don't know if thats true just like Columbus wasn't most likely the first either(oficially i believe its some Nordic outcast who also founded iceland around 1100 ad).
Many could have gone before without any notion in history books or at-least not in most history books.

Its smart to read up allot on the wiki if you wish to roleplay your family coming from Madina.
Abbot even wrote a book about the climate its people and its fauna and flora.
The region descriptions are luckily also still intact and contain alot of information too.

Even though only 20 IG years passed, it was enough to culutrally colour most of dwilight with alot of diversity.

Start here: http://wiki.battlemaster.org/wiki/Madina_(Realm) and then here: http://wiki.battlemaster.org/wiki/Madina

[Lychaon]

The cell door opened once more, and Dytalcon's flesh lost its colour. His wounds were still fresh from the beating that so professionally performed the thugs of Carmine Umpeta Perticta, Judge of The Falkirkian Freestate. Their imagination in that sort of procedures was quite prolific, indeed their chief mastered all kind of sadistic techniques.

Something this time made the adventurer remember quickly the last happenings, running fast in his mind. He had reached to see the sails of the the Aurvandilian ships from the cliffs in Munawai, and echoes of huge battles came to his ears before he personally witnessed many of them. The proud armies of the Grand Duchy of Fissoa, had been attacked with no time enough to organise an effective defence of their lands, by the Aruvandilian forces in aid of their fellow Falkirkians.

Little of that was known by Dytalcon, but other adventurers he had met within the halls of the Fissoan Verminators knew how the prior offensive in Falkirk was developing. Indeed, if that attracted the western hordes the Grand Duchy was getting effective victories in Falkirkian lands.

Little of that was important for him now. He was surprised by Falkirkian soldiers and taken to the Judge Carmine Umpeta. He didn't know anything about him; truth is he had known much more from Fissoan nobles that from those of the lands where he was born and raised. One thing he could know: the Fissoan nobles he had met had treated him and his peers as the useful fighters they were. The expression of this man revealed him that he would have to expect a quite different treatment.

The trial was short, if that could be called a trial. Rude soldiers that smelt like bittered wine barked some vague explanation about their found. The judge didn't speak, and just thrown with disdain a note at Dytalcon's feet. Both of the guards were unable to read, but the adventurer could read the surprisingly coarse calligraphy: "Dytalcon, commoner. Banned. Left his homelands while still a commoner."

The judge made a quick sign with the head, and one of the guards beat Dytalcon's stomach. When he bent unable to breath, they cut his bag with all his possessions. He had managed to find a fairly high amount of different items and ingredients, and his multiple expeditions had granted him more than 180 gold coins. He would still lose much more that just gold.

He opened his eyes and put end to these thoughts. Judge Carmine's henchmen did again a great work: sharp objects, red-hot steel, blunt weapons... After the torturing session, his right hand was smashed, and he saw the bones piercing the back of his hand. The man still barked some words he couldn't understand being barely conscious. They just took him from the cell. He slowly understood where were they going.

Out of the dungeon, the guards threw him on the mud. Some soldiers were there laughing and pointing at him. He felt them spitting on him. One of them was starting to untie his pants for some strange reason when a guard barked again, this time to the soldier. The guard took his sword and made a sign to Dytalcon, to stand upright while kneeling. He knew it would be better. He did what he was told. He breathed. He felt for a second the air in his skin, and no sound around him. He felt the steel ripping the air. And he felt nothing more.

His head was skewed on a pike in the Falkirkian camp, along with many other of dead Fissoan soldiers, and his body was thrown in a morgue. That was the end of the days of the adventurer Dytalcon. He had reached honour and prestige fighting monsters, and was a skilled fighter. Whenever he was, he tried to put his sword at the service of harmless peasants against the monster threat, and he did his best to be a worthy member of the Fissoan Verminators.

I'd wish to think that some of his fellows shed a tear for him, and pray for his soul.