Time to make some money, he thought. As usual, if no jobs were immediately available, Perry had spent the day drumming up a crowd to come see some spectacular archery feats. So in a fallow field on the edge of town he'd set up a good obstacle course of challenges. Apples, bits of rope, bails of hay, logs and the like to serve as the base of the show. Also he might have a little extra help on this one.
There was a decent crowd, milling about on the edge of the field, looking to see where the archer was, seeing a hooded figure standing in the middle of all the obstacles, covered by a shabby cowled cloak which fluttered in the breeze.
An arrow sprouted from the head of the figure in the field, hitting with a meaty thunk. Then a second. Then a third. The third one knocked the head from the body and it rolled to the ground. A pumpkin. The voice rang out from behind them.
"Misdirection, ladies and gentlemen, is the hunter's ally! If you can convince them you're somewhere you're not, then you've got them dead to rights!" He strolled up as the crowd wheeled around, clapping appreciatively. He'd shot blind over their heads, though it wasn't much of a challenge as he knew the range and windage. Now for the show to really begin.
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144][b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
That was the bard's cue. No singing, or even strings. He was there to drum and walk. Dom had borrowed a marching drum from the guard barracks, promising to take good care of it, having it strapped over his shoulder. He beat out a stoccato, tribal rythmn, walking steadily behind the archer and moving through the crowd. He kept walking, over into the field. It was surprisingly easy to navigate, the sharp drumbeats bouncing readily off the floor and obstacles. Maybe he should carry a drum all the time instead of clicking his tongue.
He didn't use sticks, instead favouring his hands to rattle the drumskin, making the sound rounder and more primal, also allowing him to use more than two impact points to cause it to thrum and rumble like thunder at the appropriate moments. He'd been promised a cut of whatever the crowd gave, but he was more in it just to perform. The archer was something of a showman, but Dom was a true performer.
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Perry was glad to have the backing of a musician. He was decent enough alone and could put together enough money to live on by just showing off his archery skills, but a real show could make real money. He thought back to the time when he had the brainwave of packing metal powder around his arrowheads, and of the fiery pyromancer who'd set them off so brilliantly. Maybe she'd turn up. He hoped so.
"So, folks, let's start off with a simple one." He turned and in a single smooth motion notched an arrow, drew and loosed. It was an almost lazy motion, but the arrow flew straight and true and smashed an apple off a standing log twenty yards away. A few appreciative claps came up, though that kind of shooting wasn't all that special.
"Hit an apple, not all that impressive. But what if we do it this way?" He took an arrow from his quiver and stabbed it into another apple sitting on one of the bails of hay. The drumming stopped for a few beats, just long enough to let the predictable heckle of 'That's cheating!' come up. Laughter bubbled from the crowd.
"Is it?" Perry drawled, then turned and shot the apple up in a high arc. In the time it was in the air he was easily able to draw again and loose, apparetly straight toward the place where the first apple had been. The arcing apple arrow was met by the second, sending a satisfying spray of fruit pulp to the ground.
That one got some applause.
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144][b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
Dom didn't see the trick shot, but he didn't have to. They'd gone over the outline of the show over a mug of ale in the tavern earlier that day. He continued as he had been, adding the appropriate drumbeat to the display. He'd heard the boasts of the archer, wondering just how good he was. Well, perhaps he'd put in a bit of danger to the show. Anything for the performance.
"Sounds like you're putting on quite the show, Mr Marksman." he suddenly bellowed in rich, resonant tones. "But would you stake a life on that skill? My life for example?" He'd stopped drumming, ambling over and taking a few strands of straw from a bail next to him, idly winding them together and putting them between his grinning teeth. He turned and started walking away, shuffling along until he was about twenty yards away, turning to his side.
"So howsabout it hotshot? Can you snap this out of my mouth? Don't worry if you hit me. I'll never see it coming." That got a few nervous laughs out of the crowd.
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Perry didn't even hesitate. He began to draw the arrow back, slowly, dramatically. To his credit he didn't show that he was seriosuly nervous. He tended not to do trick shots that could actually get someone killed, but he also couldn't turn down a challenge. Damn bard. And now the blind fool was playing a funeral march on that drum.
The arrow flew and he held his breath, heart stopping for just a moment it seemed. Snik, and the broadheaded arrow sliced through the twined straw, leaving a couple of inches hanging from the corner of Dom's mouth. Perry was able to breathe again, just about, before wheeling around to the applause of the crowd.
"As if I'd shoot an unarmed man. No matter how much of a smart arse he is." More laughter, spurred on by the relief from the tension.
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
Ely slipped into the crowd. She had covered her ears and tail with a long cloak so she was not easily noticed. For the most part she was watching the archer, and to a lesser extent the crowd. She was sort of surprised to see Dom here, too. And, she thought she was done with surprises for a good few days at least.
No such luck. Well, you roll with the times right? She had taken a position a few rows back. Perry had obviously recruited Dom. This could be a fun show.
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
The mage was a head taller than most of the other crowdgoers, but didn't seem to notice as he watched the festivities. This is how the rural folk entertained themselves! He'd seen the magic arenas of Highever, the elaborate magical theatre that was the mainstay in Tutanranna in the far east, the ethereal dancers of the elf kingdoms...but this was whole new thing. Showmen, performers, men skilled in showing off their talents in a way that enraptured the masses.
The dark mage honestly cheered at the show, taking in the sights of the country folk.
Degree in Post-Mortem Communication, an Offical Hemomancy Conditional Practice Certificate, License to Employ Pyrokenetics, Advanced Necromantic Exception Certification, Doctorate in Soul Magics and Related Sciences, Approved Demonic Event Technician from the Board of Infernal Affairs, Practicing Curse Removal Specialist.
And your qualifications?
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144][b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
Dom had also had his heart somewhere near the vicinity of his throat, but he very much liked to give the crowd a show. And the crowd loved danger. The kid wasn't a bad showman, not really, but just showing off your skill isn't enough. You've got to make it pop. And he was going to make this show pop.
He began to stride around in a wide circle through the obstacles, having scoped it all out beforehand, not having his stick to aid him he was relying entirely on memory and his burgeoning echolocation skill. His voice came up again, strident and fierce. He wasn't exactly singing the praises of the archer, but more stating them in rythmic poetry.
"This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill, fifteen percent concentrated power of will." he began, hammering the drum in a rapid fire beat. "Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain and one hundred percent reason to remember the name." He continued on, spouting lyrical praises on how a true warrior is judged on the effort he puts in to hone his skill as much as the effectiveness of those skills.
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
Ely laughed and clapped with the rest of the crowed. Perry was holding a decent amount of people today. Dom's voice, though, was dragging in others almost as quick. Heh. They made a good team. You always needed someone to create a ruckus. The Bard would have been a great cadence caller, too, especially with that drum.
And if she knew Perry he would have... ahhh. There. Ely's eyes found the small campfire she was looking for beside Perry's extra gear. He had probably come out here this morning checked the wind, the conditions of field, set up the obstacles and had heated that sludge of a drink he swore by. Ely had tasted it once. Never again. Blech.
Her eyes were focused on the fire and she waited for Perry's voice to introduce the next feat.
Catgirl Extraordinaire
“Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.”
Well if he ever wanted a cue, that was the one. The bard could liven up a show, that was plain. Perry took a deep breath, taking bow in hand and beginning his movement. He had been trained to fight in many environments, to shoot from standing or in motion, and he had practiced his art every day, training his body and mind for the singular purpose of being able to put an arrow anywhere he wished to.
He ran toward the hay bails, using them like steps to leap up into the air, spinning in an arc to fire behind him, the arrow thudding into a standing log across the field. He dropped into a backward roll, coming up on one knee and firing three shots into three more targets, bending over backward quite literally to hit the one behind him.
He'd modified his quiver for such displays, the bottom of the bag holding a piece of cork into which the arrows were plunged, keeping them neatly arranged and spaced and preventing them from coming out without a sharp tug from the shooter. He span up to a stand, bringing his knee up to his chest and hooking the bow under his foot, notching an arrow. He extended his leg out toward a tree at the edge of the field, from which hung a log on a thin rope.
Standing on one leg, shooting with one foot on his bow and one hand on the string he neatly cut the rope with a broadhead arrow before kicking his bow up into the air to catch it again and take a couple of breaths to recover.
Kiga clapped and whistled aloud, his eyes wide after watching that feet. He was altogether impressed, this man's understanding of ballistics was incredible. Kiga liked archers, there was something about watching an arrow float... and float... and just sail so damned far. Throwing knives had their limitations of course, but he preferred their quicker deployment and usefulness in close.
But wow. He'd seen incredibly feats by bowmen, but never just... to show off. It really was something... it was fun. That was much better than holding a fort and skewering cavalry, or hunting. Best of all, no one had to get hurt.
He looked on in anticipation, wondering what the next trick might be. It was interesting - this man seemed to love the attention. Kiga could do incredible things in his own right but being the focus of a crowd... no thank you very much.
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144][b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
Dom heard the twanging of the bowstring and the whistle of arrows, loving the adulation the crowd was generating. Oh he might not be the star attraction, but he knew he was helping. And the better the show, the bigger the payout. The lyrical poetry flowed smoothly, beat thrumming forth from the drum, giving Perry something to time his show to. From the sound of the footfalls and arrow looses he was doing just that. Now for a little deprecating comedy.
"He's a nihilist porcupine, he's a prick, he's a cock. The type of man women want to be with and other archers hope he gets shot, ha!" he grinned around the words, slamming his hands on the drum as the giggles rippled round the crowd. So, Mr. Marksman, how're you going to answer that one, he thought.
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Perry knew the words were only meant in jest, and appreciated that a bit of ribald humour always spiced up a performance. How did he know what he'd been though? To go through life valuing nothing, believing in nothing, just existing for its own sake? That was a shameful time in his life.
Anyway, that was behind him, and what was in front of him were four standing logs at about thirty yards. He put an arrow into one of them, not too impressive, but then he span on spot, drawing two arrows at once, notching them and using the fingers on the hand that gripped the bow he fired them into two separate logs. Then another spin and three arrows were drawn and fired into three logs.
He held his breath for the final spin, the trickiest feat of the show from a technical skill point of view. Drawing, notching and firing four arrows at once required quick manipulation of both hands, absolute steadiness and practice, practice, practice. He usually stopped at three, but the drumbeat and the crowd had gotten to him and he had to try. Four solid thunks of impact later and he whirled to bow.
Ely [M:164:1653:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=394&page=1#14814][b]A soul on fire...[/b][0:Snuffed][1:Flame On!]
Perry had gotten way ahead of her. She had intended on setting the hay bales on fire while he ran through the obstacles. But, she was much too late to do that now. How had she gotten so distracted so easily?
Ely rubbed at her temple with one hand. The logs would be harder but there was no choice for it now. Perry hated having his arrows tampered with, not that she could blame him. Setting them on fire would be a hell of a lot easier though.
Four tiny fireballs leaped from the campfire to obey Ely's command. They hit the log Perry was aiming for at the exact same time the arrows did. They exploded outward to make one huge burst of flame and then just as abruptly died out. To the watching crowd it appeared as if Perry's arrowheads exploded without reason.
Without reason? To Loreburn, nothing was without reason. The crowd ooh'd and ahh'd, but suddenly he was too distracted by the fire to be overly impressed. As the archer and the singer played and put on a show, the dark mage lowered his head and slowly went from one side of the crowd to the other, gently weaving through the people. He wasn't really looking for the source, and didn't expect to find it, but that was definitely magic, and anything magical had his immediate attention.
Degree in Post-Mortem Communication, an Offical Hemomancy Conditional Practice Certificate, License to Employ Pyrokenetics, Advanced Necromantic Exception Certification, Doctorate in Soul Magics and Related Sciences, Approved Demonic Event Technician from the Board of Infernal Affairs, Practicing Curse Removal Specialist.