Serpent's Cradle

Eagyrn, traveling to a monastery, became weary. He was approaching an inn which had a big sign reading "Serpent's Cradle". Thieves... Eagyrn thought. There was quite a tickle in his throat, distacting him enough to compel him to clear it. He approached the door, cleared his throat, and entered. The place was lively. Everybody was feasting upon lamb and venison stews. 30% of them were drunk, and 90% of them were thieves. The hoods, the hoodlums, the coercive conversations. It was a lively time. Convieniently, Eagyrn was in the mood for a drink or two before bed. He made a heavy-stepping walk toward the bar. Sitting down, he asked for some Roseberry Mead. The bartender- or wench- had filled up one mug full and handed it to him. Though she shot a look behind him before doing so. A glitter went into his mead unnoticeably. Luckily, Eagyrn decided to wait to drink, looking behind him. There was a laughing halfling looking at him at a table of 4. His emerald eyes had shined through the shadow of his hood. Assassination was not a good thing to try against Eagyrn due to his iron armor being a good shield. But stealing from him was easy enough. Now that he noticed the thief, he was aware of his intentions.

He drank his mead, enjoying it. He noticed the glitter within the mead after his last drink, and worried. He unsheathed a dagger and stabbed it into the table to intimidate the wench. She noted on the glitter on her dress. "Don't be alarmed, you may get sick a bit, but you'll live. It's just some scented salts. Not meant for digestion." she said. He nodded and ordered some Ale. He only drank half when he noticed the thief stand up and walk over to him, only to sit right next to him. Eagyrn pulled the dagger out and whispered, "Touch my coin purse and this blade will slice your throat.". He warned the thief. But before he could know why the thief had a sudden jolt with his hand, he tackled the thief. Eagyrn choked him, putting the blade up against the part of the neck still showing. Other thieves got up and then the drowsiness came. Eagyrn achieve full unconsciousness. What a wonderful night. He awakes within a cage. His hands tied with rope. He is dressed in a dusty old tunic and some rag-pants. He sees the thieves put everything in a chest. They lock it with two locks.

A thief walks over, laughing, and hands Eagyrn a lockpick. "Let's see how you are without your fancy weapons." he said to Eagyrn, jokingly. His face filled with anger from being humiliated. The sly old women HAD to die. The whole inn would pay. Maybe it was a thieves den. All he had to do was wait.

Being completely honest, Anyylen could name a worse day. Not to say that this one had been good - far from it. She'd felt rather at home surrounded by the thieves and scum. Getting a few drinks off one man had been easy, but when it had ended with a challenge a few hours later, she'd realized she was screwed.
And now, here she was. It was dark and silent and boring. Her weapons weren't on her, and from what she could tell, neither were her usual clothes. She watched in silence as they dragged in another body, an unconscious man. They'd dumped his belongings into a chest next to another one - where she guessed hers were.
She leaned back, watch a few thieves taunt the man as he awoke. She wondered if it would be worth it to call out to him. Better to wait until they leave, she decided, tossing the thieves a glare.

Eagyrn had spit next to the thieves and grunted. As they walked away, he looked at the other cage. Someone to talk to...nice. With a heavy but deep accent, Eagyrn would speak. "Caught by the thieves it seems. So am I. I was drugged so they could steal my coin" he said. He would shake his head, then he would shoot a look at the lockpick. Clearing his throat he tried to grasp his surroundings. 5 cages, 2 with people in them. He thought it might get interesting. "How well can you use a lockpick?" he would ask, looking at what seemed to be a shadowed figure glaring at the thieves. He smirked. His eyes looked tired and his face looked older than he really was. He tried to get on good terms with this shadow so he could try to form some kind of alliance that would last until they fully escaped the thieves.

Anyylen's ears twitched at the sound of the man's voice. Whether it was the hangover or the after effects of the drugs, she didn't quite feel coherent enough to formulate a good response. She knew it would have come out as blithering idiocy, and she had no intent of making that her first impression on someone - half drugged or not.
A female thief walked over to him, and when she began speaking, Anyylen tried to listen. Half lip reading and half hearing, she caught most of what the other woman was saying. She waited for the man's response. Mayhaps she could use them to help herself escape. A smirk crossed her lips, but she killed it before anyone could have known.

Eagyrn had smirked when the thief had walked over. He listened to her speak, and when she asked a question, he would answer. "And you, madame, must not be 'One of them'. Hey, you. Did you hear what I said." he would say, splitting off from what he was about to say to the person not in a cage to speak to the shadow. He wanted someone to pick the cage locks. He noticed the thieves left the room. He smiled. Eagyrn would stand, stumbling a little bit. His drowsiness wasn't fully gone. He took a minute to breathe, then regained energy. He looked at the women outside his cage. "How could we get you to help us? On my way to....A relatives house I needed to stop for the night. And then someone drugged me. And yes it is true I don't like thieves. Personally I try to earn what I have through hard work that does not involve taking from another against their will without suffering the consequences." he said. Eagyrn would still try to get the other prisoner's attention. He looked at the lock pick, and then at the women. If he could escape, this 'lockpick' was pointed, meaning it could stab someone. But it must be used for the chests. " If you help us escape, and help us get our stuff back, I will find you one day and I will pay you back." he proposed.

Anyylen stood, using her obscured positioning in the shadows to hide the fact that she was leaning heavily onto the side of the cage. She waited for the wave of dizziness to pass before looking out into the light and choosing to speak for the first time. "You throw the word followers around, but what meaning are you telling it to hold? You do not know the people within these cages. Many of them would just as soon take revenge once freed rather than trumpet the majesty of the captor that freed them. Do you expect me to obey your every desire for the rest of my life? Human, I am an artist. After one masterpiece in your honor, my debt will be considered paid."
She forced herself to stand straight, coming more into the light. She squared her shoulders and held her chin high. They could judge her if they wished. They could test her. Her fingers twitched. She was a bit rusty in unarmed combat, but she didn't think either one would risk it while they were still in danger.

Slowly standing up, Eagyrn nodded, but in agreement. He was pondering to himself some pros and cons. He considered his journey to the monastery. If he follows this person around for a while, maybe he could pay his debt and move on. He seemed interested in having a travel partner. " THank-you for freeing me. I have to extend my asking for a favor. Which will have a higher debt. Can you help make it possible to take out a good 2 or 3 thieves? A distraction or something to give me time to take them out one by one...No...That wouldn't work. Ah, I have a plan. An idea really. I agree to be a travel partner, not a servant. I am a good blacksmith and warrior." he explained, also mumbling more ideas. He equipped his armor fully and grabbed all of his stuff. He sheathed his dagger and kept his sword out. He swung his sword, slicing the air but still keeping a safe distance from the other two. He noticed the rebellion in the "Artist's" tone. He smirked. "You should still stick with us until we escape." he said calmly. He pressed his back against a wall and listened for footsteps. Then he realized thieves walk silently most the time. He found a spitoon and spat in it.

Eagyrn Squinted his eyes. There was one....two thieves walking towards the room. He stayed in the shadows and hid around a corner. "Discuss this later shall we? I have a plan. Me and the girl will escape while you act as a distraction. Since you must be trusted by them, it would work perfectly. But. It is just an idea. Take it in to consideration. You only have less than a minute." Eagyrn explained. He was hoping to pick up a thieve's bow for his own use. He needs to hunt for food and without a bow, it is very hard in iron armor.

"I don't accept gifts." Anyylen inspected the blades of her swords. While the other two spoke, she checked her pack to ensure all her chakram were there. With a slight nod of satisfaction she secured it around her waist just as the other woman began her 'distraction.'
Her eyes widened with surprise for just a moment. She gripped the hilts of her swords. "With that noise, you'll have them all down here in a second." She allowed a smirk. "Though perhaps then I could demonstrate to you a sample of my work."

Eagyrn rolled his eyes at the girl's doubt. He waited until the thieves were completely unaware of their surroundings due to the distraction. Walking up, he grabbed one and put the blade to his throat. He pulled him backwards into the darkness and choked him. He decided only to knock the thief out. The thief had a key on him, so he took it. Eagyrn held his sword like a spear and aimed it at the other thief. He tried his best to avoid the lady-bird. Throwing it, it spun like a drill threw the air and hit the thief as if a javelin were thrown at him. Grabbing the other thief's key, he waited for more to come down. He cleaned the blood off his sword the best he could. After no sign of thieves he signaled the other girl to come. He expected the bird to turn back into a girl. He proceeded with sneaking up the stairs and noticed the door that had two seperate locks. He tried handing the "artist" a key and silently notified here that the other lock needs to be unlocked at the same time his is. The Simultaneous unlocking would open the door most likely.

"I must say I'm a bit curious, though," Anyylen started to unlock the door. "What is your reason for needing followers? If you're looking for some position of power, then I can guarantee we'll meet in the future. And if I don't repay you now, I will hate to have to tell a client I can't complete a job simply because I 'owe you one'." She waited for the man's signal to unlock both locks at once. "I'm sure you're aware of money and its ability to make the sun rise and set. I can't always work for free."
She kept one hand on her sword, waiting for the door to open.

Eagyrn breathed in and out, inhaling and exhaling with implied concentration. "There are SOME on the other side. " he said tapping his food. He concentrated on all beats. With this deep thought he could hear the voices through the door. He would turn his key, signaling the girl to turn hers. When they opened the door Eagyrn would look at the girl and would make single-handed hand motions. Signaling to grab one. THere were another pair outside the door. The door would open silently. He would walk forward and grab one thief, who was too drunk to react. The other was drunk as well. Pulling the thief into the shadows, Eagyn had unsheathed his dagger and would slice the throat of the thief. He knew this was the easy part. Most thieves would be drunk. This time of night was the perfect time to escape. But he expected some troubles once in the main room. So he unsheathed his sword, dual weilding his weapons. He waited for the girl to take out the other thief. So he waited in the shadows. He had no chance of sneaking up on the thief.

Due to tense use of muscle, Eagyrn was more weary. This was to avoid the clumsy clanking of iron armor. So hiding in the shadows allowed him to regain some energy.

Rhys was not a thief really – yes, he had stolen the odd coin from someone, but he didn’t steal for a living. Instead, he lurked in bars (just like the serpent’s cradle) and performed. He did magic tricks, and occasionally rigged a card game in his favor to pay for another round of drinks.

“As you can see, I have nothing up my sleeves. Now, look at this silver coin.” Rhys grinned, catching the attention of a couple of people, but generally finding himself ignored in the corner. He could tell the tension in the room was hotting up, and decided now was the perfect time to try for an audience.

“Now, do I have a volunteer?” he asked, looking around the few faces that were watching. Eventually, a hooded figure stood, and took a step towards him, almost threateningly. Rhys had played there before, however, and knew what he was dealing with.

“My thanks. Now you see the coin,” he said, before passing his hand in front of the coin and snapping his fingers, “And now you don’t!” He held up his hands flat, showing everyone that was interested that there was no coin left. Then, with a second snap of his fingers, he plucked the coin out of the air next to his volunteer’s head, and held it up. It was a simple trick, but it got the crowd mildly interested. Everyone likes a shiny coin, after all.

(I hope you don't mind me jumping in here. I'll go away if you like XD)