Post by Joa on Nov 19, 2017 21:07:57 GMT
(OOC 4 DEARTH: ok so bc kevin spacey is a big ol rapist and sellen is a useless character I'm just gonna kill him, then u can have Rhi's guards capture some of Joa's ppl, then he turns himself in to free them, then we have their Friendship thing, k??)
Ah, but the Lord Sellen was bold.
Long had he been careful of the horde. Long had he concealed himself within the walls of Baron, thinking himself clever, like a clam in its cowardly shell. The caravaners and the less cautious Holds held less ripe fruit, but were easier to pluck, and so Joa and His had harvested and eaten well from them and let Sellen think himself clever. The Lord Holder had grown fat on his own safety. The day had finally come that Sellen, tempted too much by the prospect of another Hold and its tenuous leadership, had left his fortress and ridden himself all the way to Nezehm.
Joa had held back his people and his laughter, for the Lord rode a spotted horse.
Oh, but the man was confident.
Sellen's confidence only grew as he rode successfully with his train to Nezehm and went unmolested, and they spoke more loudly and even began to laugh, heady with their imagined strength and cunning. Joa visited the train occasionally from the trees, sitting overhead and eating a plump redfruit while they passed below, making merry. He watched them drink and heard their gossip, sometimes from the ears and lips of his people, who crept constantly and silently behind like jungle crawlers. Sellen intended to take the new Lady of Nezehm into his fold. He had a son for her, it seemed.
Sellen was lucky to have so many sons.
When he had left Nezehm, when Joa had finally given word, when his blue people had sprung upon the riders and cut their throats and seized their horses and their purses, when Joa had himself drug Sellen from the saddle and strangled him up against a tree, he told him so.
"You're lucky to have so many sons." He let his blade tickle Sellen's cheek, watching the color flee his face to be replaced with the purpling of strangulation. "Baron will easily find another Lord. Though perhaps not before we reach it." He smiled a rare smile, letting Sellen see himself defeated. It felt a foreign luxury to his face, but this smile, he had earned.
He punched his blade into Sellen's gut and fished for the right organs. He withdrew and inserted his blade neatly, repeatedly, while blood splashed out over his hands and soaked him to the elbow, rinsed his boots, and ruined the Lord Holder's priceless clothing. Joa let himself be gluttonous with this death. When he dropped Sellen to the ground, he felt a peace settle over him.
Joa had waited a long time for that death.
Flicking his fingers free of blood, he returned to the path, where his people waited. He had no smile for them. They expected none. "Send Hasbet ahead to put a ring around the Hold," he said. "No one in or out. We'll begin the siege upon our return." He took the reins of Sellen's spotted mount, and ran a hand up its face to rub its forehead, leaving a streak of blood on its white face. The creature was bewildered by the happenings but calmed in his practiced hands.
Lura jerked his head back up the path, towards the Hold Nezehm. "What about here?"
Joa regarded the tenements, visible from here, for they had not waited for Sellen to be long on the road before coming upon him.
"What about here?" he asked.
"She's young and has no husband," said Lura, baffled. "We could take it with ease."
Lura was a good murderer, but he had no mind for politics.
"She has no husband, no children, only a Hold," said Joa, as he swung into the saddle. He adjusted his seat and decided that he liked this runner a great deal. It suited the length of his legs. "When you have only one thing to defend, and little to lose, that simplifies your task, doesn't it, Lura?" Normally he would have silenced the man instead of lessening him, but victory made Joa generous. "Nezehm has its back to the sea and a fresh defender. I won't test a new-hatched snake until I know how much venom it has in its fangs. If you think it an easy task, go be ambitious. Perhaps you will be lucky."
Joa prompted his new beast down the road. Blood dripped from the reins down its white shoulders. The rest of his people mounted up and began to follow. They would go at a brisk pace, and if fortune favored them, reach Baron before it knew to guard itself.
Lura rode at the back, and shortly, he drew to a halt. He watched them riding on, and then he turned, and he looked back at the towers of Nezehm.
(ig Lura can get captured lol)
Ah, but the Lord Sellen was bold.
Long had he been careful of the horde. Long had he concealed himself within the walls of Baron, thinking himself clever, like a clam in its cowardly shell. The caravaners and the less cautious Holds held less ripe fruit, but were easier to pluck, and so Joa and His had harvested and eaten well from them and let Sellen think himself clever. The Lord Holder had grown fat on his own safety. The day had finally come that Sellen, tempted too much by the prospect of another Hold and its tenuous leadership, had left his fortress and ridden himself all the way to Nezehm.
Joa had held back his people and his laughter, for the Lord rode a spotted horse.
Oh, but the man was confident.
Sellen's confidence only grew as he rode successfully with his train to Nezehm and went unmolested, and they spoke more loudly and even began to laugh, heady with their imagined strength and cunning. Joa visited the train occasionally from the trees, sitting overhead and eating a plump redfruit while they passed below, making merry. He watched them drink and heard their gossip, sometimes from the ears and lips of his people, who crept constantly and silently behind like jungle crawlers. Sellen intended to take the new Lady of Nezehm into his fold. He had a son for her, it seemed.
Sellen was lucky to have so many sons.
When he had left Nezehm, when Joa had finally given word, when his blue people had sprung upon the riders and cut their throats and seized their horses and their purses, when Joa had himself drug Sellen from the saddle and strangled him up against a tree, he told him so.
"You're lucky to have so many sons." He let his blade tickle Sellen's cheek, watching the color flee his face to be replaced with the purpling of strangulation. "Baron will easily find another Lord. Though perhaps not before we reach it." He smiled a rare smile, letting Sellen see himself defeated. It felt a foreign luxury to his face, but this smile, he had earned.
He punched his blade into Sellen's gut and fished for the right organs. He withdrew and inserted his blade neatly, repeatedly, while blood splashed out over his hands and soaked him to the elbow, rinsed his boots, and ruined the Lord Holder's priceless clothing. Joa let himself be gluttonous with this death. When he dropped Sellen to the ground, he felt a peace settle over him.
Joa had waited a long time for that death.
Flicking his fingers free of blood, he returned to the path, where his people waited. He had no smile for them. They expected none. "Send Hasbet ahead to put a ring around the Hold," he said. "No one in or out. We'll begin the siege upon our return." He took the reins of Sellen's spotted mount, and ran a hand up its face to rub its forehead, leaving a streak of blood on its white face. The creature was bewildered by the happenings but calmed in his practiced hands.
Lura jerked his head back up the path, towards the Hold Nezehm. "What about here?"
Joa regarded the tenements, visible from here, for they had not waited for Sellen to be long on the road before coming upon him.
"What about here?" he asked.
"She's young and has no husband," said Lura, baffled. "We could take it with ease."
Lura was a good murderer, but he had no mind for politics.
"She has no husband, no children, only a Hold," said Joa, as he swung into the saddle. He adjusted his seat and decided that he liked this runner a great deal. It suited the length of his legs. "When you have only one thing to defend, and little to lose, that simplifies your task, doesn't it, Lura?" Normally he would have silenced the man instead of lessening him, but victory made Joa generous. "Nezehm has its back to the sea and a fresh defender. I won't test a new-hatched snake until I know how much venom it has in its fangs. If you think it an easy task, go be ambitious. Perhaps you will be lucky."
Joa prompted his new beast down the road. Blood dripped from the reins down its white shoulders. The rest of his people mounted up and began to follow. They would go at a brisk pace, and if fortune favored them, reach Baron before it knew to guard itself.
Lura rode at the back, and shortly, he drew to a halt. He watched them riding on, and then he turned, and he looked back at the towers of Nezehm.
(ig Lura can get captured lol)
