Blood and Gold: Chapter 11

[jiminee]

Here's chapter 11!!!!! Some lore and some... other things!! enjoy. c:

Chapter list | Map

Vechs arrives late with a newspaper in his hand. He searched far and wide for more ‘wanted’ posters, but there seem to be none in Corax. He’s incredibly curious as to where Bdubs got that one. It’s not old, he knows. There were none issued until now. Unless Bdubs has secret connections outside of Corax, there’s no way he could have gotten that poster from Feretan.

Still, he did swipe today’s newspaper from a stand, and if there’s any information about wanted criminals, it will be in here. Vechs pushes aside the rock and descends the ladder to see four figures in the main room.
“What the blyx?”
There’s a man tied to a stool, sitting against the wall. He doesn’t look happy.
“Hi Vechs, you’re late back. We found this ninja as he was trying to tie up and kidnap Nebris. Says his name’s Etho,” Aurey says.
Vechs blinks. “Okay then.” He pauses, then tosses the rolled up newspaper at Zisteau. “Catch.”
“Is this what you spent all that time getting?”
“Well….” Vechs pauses. “I was trying to find a wanted poster in Corax, but there seem to be none. I don’t know where Bdubs got his.”
Zisteau sighs. “Blame - ”
“This isn’t about Blame. I promise. I just wanted to make sure our faces aren’t known here.”

Zisteau opens the newspaper as he sits down. He reads it quickly, his eyes skimming over the pages for any important information. He knows if there is an article about crime it will be small; definitely not a headline. Cities like Corax experience thievery so regularly that it’s hardly newsworthy. Vechs probably had other reasons to stay so long behind in the city.
“There’s a sandstorm coming in from the north east, apparently,” Zisteau observes. “Residents are advised to stay indoors…. Board up windows… stock up supplies just in case….”
“That’s exciting,” Nebris says. “Think we could get in a bit of looting when it arrives?”
“It’s risky,” Zisteau says, frowning. “If it’s dangerous for them, it’s dangerous for us. We’d better stay inside.”
“When’s it coming?”
“Day after tomorrow.”  
“Will we be safe in the forest?” Aurey asks worriedly.
“Dunno, doesn’t say. It’s mostly just for the city. But I imagine it will die down along the edge of the forest.”
“There’s not much sand in the forest,” Vechs points out. Aurey shoots him a look, but smiles.
“It could be fun to stock up for it though,” Zisteau says. “Grab some food, blankets and stuff, we can weather out the sandstorm like survivors.”
Aurey nods. “I guess.”
Vechs agrees and so does Nebris. Etho sits silently, watching from behind his gag. If I get out of this alive, he thinks, at least I’ll know a lot of information about Naziv. He is afraid, of course, that Zisteau – the name of the part-Grax, he has gathered, and the apparent leader of the group – will decide to kill him because of everything he is overhearing. There is no point in keeping him alive. After all, they don’t know if Etho has any alliance to any other groups.
And he doesn’t.

Etho has always worked alone, offering his services to others but never employing the help of others. Maybe he should, he thinks now, but it’s too late anyway. He will be killed and nobody will take revenge. Bdubs, his current client, might, but only because he needs Naziv.
All in all, it’s a pretty bad situation. Etho thinks this as he watches the four go about their evening. They are surprisingly like a family, and less like allies – they bicker, but it’s all done with an undertone of fondness. Etho is most interested in Nebris. He has pretty quickly worked out that Nebris is a replacement for Blame, the man on the poster, who, for whatever reason is not in the group anymore. The others treat him almost like a child, which Etho works out has to do with his newness. Vechs - the goggled man - treats him with the most fondness, talking to him as an equal and laughing at his jokes. Etho would say there is something more than just platonic-ness between the two of them, but what does he know?

Nebris has purple eyes and a low rasping voice and so many ideas and plans to do things in the city. He wants to steal everything, Etho soon realises. He has an itch in his fingers that keeps him constantly asking when will be their next trip into the city.
He had been coming back from a stealing trip today, Etho realises when Nebris pulls a small carved wooden box with gilded inlays from the large bag all the thieves carry at their sides. He sets it on the table in front of the group with pride.
“Oh yes, Nebris did some excellent stealing today,” Vechs says, looking at Nebris and grinning.
“I forgot for a little, after my assault,” Nebris says. His eyes flick for a brief second towards the captive Etho. “But yes, I did steal this today. There’s something inside.”
“Well go on, open it!” Aurey leans forward, her eyes sparkling. Zisteau and Vechs lean in too, to look at Nebris’ prize. Nebris fumbles with the small clasp, but once it is undone he opens the lid easily. He upturns the box and a couple of coins tumble out.
“Only a few gallam?” Vechs turns one coin over with a finger. “Disappointing.”
“No,” Zisteau says, picking up a coin. “These are different.”

The three others inspect the coins more closely and see that Zisteau is right. The coins are larger than gallam, and the profile head featured on one side of the coin is not the current Aextanian king, as gallam usually bear. Yet on the other face, above an image of a desert scorpion, the words ‘ONE GALLA’ are printed, curving around the edge.
“Old coins,” Aurey says, understanding. “Probably made shortly after Corax was built.”
“How much are they worth?” Vechs asks.
Aurey lets out a long breath. “A lot. But their historical significance is almost as valuable as their worth.”
“in what way?” Nebris asks. His eyes dart to the corner again. Stop looking at him. Don’t give that asshole any of your attention.
“Did I ever tell you how Corax was formed?”
Nebris shakes his head. “You keep alluding to it. I’ve never heard the story before.”

Aurey takes a deep breath. “Okay. They call this place the city of ‘blood and gold’ for a reason. Back when Aextanis was being settled, all the cities that sprang up were well out of the desert, nobody bothering to go there. Why bother? It was dangerous. When a group of nomadic settlers finally decided to go and explore the great northern desert, they discovered the surprising fact that there were people already living there. The native Orskars lived peacefully in wooden structures hidden under the sands, well away from the large cities.
They also found that living in any part of the desert was impossible unless you knew the tricks the Orskars did. The settlers did not know how to survive, and were forced back to the edge of the desert, in roughly the same place Corax stands now. They survived for years on the meeting place of the desert, forest and the river Weya, not bothering the natives much. The settlement grew as people heard of it, and slowly a small town sprang up.

And then somebody discovered the riches beneath the dunes. When it became known that the Orskard desert held huge amounts of expensive ores, the town instantly became a mining settlement. Mineshafts were drilled under the sand into the rich earth below, and soon the town became rich. Important people from Feretan and Mes and Fallor came, and soon plans for a glorious circular city were set out.
The Orskars warned them that tunnelling under the dunes was bad luck. Not only in a practical sense – the mines were dangerous and many miners died in large accidents – but in another way too. The Orskars were being forced out of their underground homes to make room for the mines. Force turned to murder as settlers became impatient with the Orskars.

Soon, there were hardly any Orskars to speak of, and the construction on Corax was close to finish. The massive amounts of ores and gemstones, particularly gold that were dug up from the mines made Corax the richest city in Aextanis.
And then the bad luck began.
Aside from mining accidents, there were several sandstorms during the early days. Accidents took prevalence then, actually. It was regular to have trade boats capsize on the Weya, losing both people and goods. Fires often broke out in the city. The complicated design of the city led to murders, robbings and other crime in the smaller streets and alleyways.
And then the worst thing of all happened. Nobody really realised it was happening until it did. Corax was creating so much coinage that they made it practically worthless in all of Aextanis. Gallam were so worthless that poverty reigned supreme and Corax was no longer the richest city. Everything seemed hopeless until they crowned a new prince.

Although the poverty was slowly eliminated, and the worth of coins went up again as the new prince fixed things, tore down the old mint and created a different one, and had the old mines torn down and covered over nobody in Aextanis believed in him. Corax was seen as a cursed city. The king of Aextanis in Mes was disgusted with what had happened in Corax. Corax did become the richest city again, but nobody who didn’t live there really wanted to associate with it. Corax, today, thrives of course, but the stigma is still there, and crime still runs the place. Corax is bad luck for everyone but the thieves. The current prince runs it well, but nobody talks about Coraci history anymore.” Aurey stops abruptly. She looks down at the coins.

“Wow,” Nebris says. “I never knew all that.”
“Not many people do,” Aurey says, “I only know all this because of an old woman I met in – in Fallor. She is one of the few people in this country that cared to properly research the real history of Corax, and kindly told me everything.”
“You need to tell me more about Fallor some time,” Nebris says.
Aurey smiles and nods. “Some day.”
“So these coins were made when Corax was a new city?” Zisteau turns one over and over.
“They would be worth a lot today,” Vechs says.
“Good job, Nebris,” Zisteau says. “Great find.” He smiles at Nebris, who beams proudly. He carefully puts the coins back into the box, clicking the clasp shut and pulling it close to himself.

Etho never really liked the culture of thieves, although he deals with them enough due to his business to not care much what they do. His current client, Bdubs, is a thief, although there’s definitely something more shady than just plain robbery going on with him.
Etho deals with everyone, though; thieves, bank robbers, forgers, murderers. For some reason, ninjas and kidnappers are in short supply, so his services are needed often. Etho is famed enough that anybody who needs somebody kidnapped goes to him. In the Underground, nobody judges others for their crimes, even if they may go against their morals. There is a sense of solidarity in the Underground that Etho doesn’t really see in other criminals.

I will be missed, he thinks bitterly. Maybe there is a chance he can slip out of his bonds, but he would never be able to leave the bunker without being seen. Do these people ever sleep? If they do, maybe then… but somebody will probably be set to guard him.
The evening drags on, and Etho becomes bored by even the funniest of Naziv’s drunken antics. They play cards and babble until it’s late – Etho cannot tell the time but his eyelids begin to droop – until finally, Vechs suggests they go to bed.
“We need to… someone’s gotta watch the prisoner,” Zisteau says, slurring a little. “We can’t have him sneaking out once we’re all asleep.”
“Who’s gonna do that?” Aurey asks. There is silence.
“We’ll draw straws,” Zisteau says. “’Cept we don’t have any straws.” He picks four cards off the table and shuffles them. “Whoever gets the Gold Prince has to do it.”
He holds out the cards for each member to take. When Nebris gets his card he groans.
Vechs pats him on the back. “You can do it, it’s not hard. Just sit there and watch him, make sure he doesn’t try to escape, kill you, or kill himself. Just like babysitting.”
Nebris giggles, and Etho does his best to glare at the group. The three others head to bed and Nebris goes to the kitchen area for a drink before pulling a stool up by Etho. Nebris eyes the captive for a few minutes before hesitating, getting up and untying his gag.

“Jerk.”
“I can put the gag back on if you want,” Nebris says crossly. “Anyway, it wasn’t my idea to capture you.”
“It’s because of you that your wonderful friends tied me up,” Etho says.
“You were trying to kidnap me!”
“I’m sorry,” Etho says. “But it is my job.”
Nebris sighs deeply, sipping his drink. “Okay, what is your job, then?”
Etho hesitates. “I’m a ninja. Basically I kidnap people, or kill them from behind. The idea is not to be seen, but…” He tries to shrug, but his bonds hinder him.
“You were trying to kidnap me, weren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” Nebris says loudly. “I’ve never even met you before!”
“My client wanted me to kidnap you. Well, to kidnap all the members of Naziv. As I said, just doing my job.”
“Who is your client?” Nebris fumbles to pull out his dagger and hold it threateningly. “You have to tell me now.”
Etho sighs. “I’m going to get in so much trouble for this. But his name is BdoubleO.”
Nebris blinks, sitting up. “Oh, I know him.”
“And he knows you, though I didn’t. I knew you weren’t Blame, but I think BdoubleO might think you are. Well, he just wanted me to capture all the members of Naziv.”
Nebris frowns. “Really? He was trying to seduce Vechs not long ago.”
Etho chuckles. “Guess that was part of his plan, but it failed.”
“What did he want us for?”
Etho shrugs. “Never told me, but I’d imagine he’s hatching some plot with his friend, he always is.”
“His friend Guude?”
“No, his - ” Etho stops suddenly with a look of guilt. “Yeah, Guude.”
Nebris looks at Etho, waving his dagger. “I’m not stupid. You were about to say something you’re not supposed to, right?”
Etho leans away from the blade. “I’ve already told you far too much.”
“Do you want to make it out of here alive, ninja?” Nebris waves a hand at the scar crossing his eye. “I can  give you another scar if you want.”
Etho’s eyes flick down to the blade and he sighs. “Alright, there’s only so much I can tell you as I’m sworn to a pact with the punishment of death if I reveal a certain thing. But I will tell you about BdoubleO’s friend. He’s a recluse, uh, you wouldn’t see him around much but he works with BdoubleO in secret. Guude doesn’t know about him. But he has a business that Bdubs helps with, and they’re always making plans together. I don’t know how many they have actually seen through.”
“What’s his name?”
“GenerikB, I think. Now don’t ask me any more questions.”
Nebris sighs. “I guess I’ve gotten enough out of you. For today.”
“There’s not much more to tell.”
Nebris wonders how long this night is going to feel.

Comments

[ruddiestbubbles]

So much Nebtho want!!

[tanadin]

Can I just mention I LOVE the names you come up with?