Creed of the Blades

[mainehorse]

"Quarter to three." The barkeep says, setting a goblet of wine down in front of Farjon. He reaches under the counter to pull out a bottle of whiskey. Opening it up, he fills a goblet and sets it down in front of Cassius. He takes a moment to study her as she takes a long sip from her goblet of whiskey. She had seen better days, that much was readily apparent. He could see the blood staining her tunic and leather armor where it was torn by sharp blades. But then again, he knew that she would only brush it off should anyone try and fuss over her. The maesters would try, but she always fixed herself up in the privacy of her quarters here. He glances back at a pot of stew he had near the back, it was still hot since the fire burning in the woodstove was still going strong. "When was the last time either of you have eaten?" He asks. He figured that they might as well get a hot meal while they were here, after what had to have been a long day.

[Chloriosus]

Farjon took up the goblet of wine and took a sip after nodding in thanks, then almost spit out his sip when he heard what time it was. He had known it was late, but he hadn't expected it to be that late. He took a few more sips of his wine. He liked the robust taste and the way it bit his throat a bit. At the question he straightened slightly and thought. "I skipped the evening and noon meal today, so around eight or nine o'clock, I would say.", he answered.

[mainehorse]

The barkeep nods slightly, pausing to look over at Cassius. "And you?" He asks. "I'd answer, but you'd not like the answer very much" she replies. Most of what she could get her hands on, she donated to those who needed it more, mainly the guild. So she often got by on very little. "I thought as much" he says, turning to retrieve two bowls. He ladles some hot stew into both and sets one down in front of each of them. "Need to keep your strength up, both of you. Go ahead and eat. It's venison stew prepared fresh tonight" he says. He figured that a hot meal would do them both good, especially if they were drinking as well.

[Chloriosus]

Farjon smiled his thanks at the barkeeper. The stew reminded him of his mothers cooking, although hers usually smelled of more parsley. "Much oblinged.", he said, taking up th bowl and beginning to eat, trying to find a pace that would allow him to finnish fast but not burn his mouth. He sort of wondered what exactly Cassius was reffering to, but she had probably not been given any food in the dungeon, and the rest she had probably left to the guild. Thinking again of the guild brought a question to his mind. "In how many cities does the guild operate?, he asked, blowing on his stew.

[mainehorse]

"This one... and we've got two other branches. One in Waterdeep, and one in Baldur's Gate." Cassius says, breaking small loaf of hard crusted bread in half. She offers half of it to Farjon. "It's a bit stale, but if you dip it into your stew, it's not half bad" she says. A piping hot bowl of stew, some bread and a bit of alcohol were definitely welcome after the whole ordeal. And it was a relief that the children were all already asleep, or she'd likely have been swarmed as soon as they saw her. She had brought a bunch of wooden toy swords recently for the kids to play with, and wouldn't she know it, their favorite 'game' to play with them involved trying to 'take down' any of the rogues who they knew would let them get away with it. Not all the adults in the guild would, though even those who didn't play with the kids would let them down gently. But as far as she was concerned, it did her no harm to play with them from time to time. They were just kids, and it was a tough existence for all of them. They needed the chance to just be kids whenever they could.

[Chloriosus]

Farjon nodded. He knew his father had been in Waterdeep before, but he hadn't yet heard of Baldurs Gate. "I am going to need to learn a lot more of these cities,", he said to himself, taking another spoonfull of stew and thankfully accepting the piece of bread Cassius offered him. He thanked her and dipped it in his stew. "On the contrary, it goes very well with the stew, and is not at all bad.", he said, taking another bite. It really did taste good to him, though he was sure that at this time in the night almost anything did, especially if one hadn't eaten in a while. "Do you have any siblings?", he asked suddenly. He had noticed Cassius seemed to be loved by the kids, and that made him wonder if she had had siblings of her own. He himself had never had any, but he had often watched the neighbor children play and fight with each other.

[mainehorse]

"Library is probably your best bet for that. Got some history books there, you can probably read up on both Waterdeep and Baldur's Gate there." Cassius says as she breaks off a piece from her own half of the loaf to dip in her soup. They didn't have much down here, but they did what they could with what they had. "Siblings? No, I was an only child growing up." she says. She had a soft spot for the kids here though. They had all been through so much... and yet they somehow still managed to find joy in life. It was endearing. She herself had grown quite cynical over the years, and they gave her a reason to keep going. Few would probably think it, but she could be gentle when the situation called for it. These kids had nothing outside of the guild. Not since their families were taken from them unjustly, and when they were so young too. "How about you?" she asks.

[Chloriosus]

Farjon took another bite of the bread and stew. "Nope.", he said smiling, a sad note in his voice. "I never had any, though I did wish for some. I must admit I watched the neighbors children a lot. My parents didn't really permit me to do much outside you know.", he said thoughtfully, finishing off his stew. He remembered at one point he had wanted a pet of sorts, so after several years of annoying his parents his father had given in and got a crow. However, after two days of having it, his mother had grown exceedingly annoyed with it, for it repeated everything she said in a mocking manner. "We did have a crow, but it copied my mother so much she let it fly.", he laughed.

[mainehorse]

"Well... I know it's not the same, but I know that the kids here would be happy to play with you now. They're always happy to invite anyone into their games that's willing to join." Cassius says. They were all good kids. Of course, it was more like she had a bunch of nieces and nephews since she was a lot older than all of the kids who permanently lived with the guild. "I had a horse once... big dapple grey destrier stallion. Gentle giant of a horse" she says wistfully. She missed that horse. He had been a gift from her father when she had learned to ride on his old gelding. But when her former friends had come for her, they had taken a battle axe to the innocent stallion since the horse had rushed to her defense when they ganged up on her. The king... his soldiers, sometimes it felt like they took everyone she ever loved from her. Her parents, her horse. But she wasn't going to let them take anyone in the guild. Not if she could stop it.

[Chloriosus]

Farjon's face lit up. "I would love to!", he said, picturing many children happily playing games with each other. "Children are so interesting. Many of them don't have a care in the world, they are so happy with little things, yet even when bad things happen to them, they find a way to remain happy." He thought that over a second. How many children here in the guild must have had horrible pasts! He angered slightly to think about people treating children harshly and unjustly. They deserved a happy life, and he would make it his mission to protect them. He knew that if events like their pasts had happened to him, he wouldn't be able to let it go so fast. "I don't think I could have that attitude about things like they can.", he admitted. "I would seek revenge."

[mainehorse]

"Ahh to be young... to not have a care in the world. Unfortunately life has a way of beating that out of a person over the years." Cassius says as she takes another swig from her goblet of whiskey. She sets the empty goblet down on the counter. "Can't deny that revenge does sound tempting once you loose the rose tinted glasses of childhood. But then again... revenge doesn't fix anything. It doesn't bring the dead back, it doesn't heal old wounds. The thought always seems more satisfying than the aftermath ever is" she says as she watches the barkeep pull the cork back out of the bottle of Waterdeep whiskey. He refills her goblet before putting the bottle away again. "Much appreciated." Cassius says, picking her goblet up again to take another long sip. Part of her still wanted revenge... she couldn't deny that. But she knew it wouldn't bring her parents back, or her horse. It wouldn't heal the many scars that covered her body from many skirmishes. Though perhaps if revenge meant getting rid of the king... then perhaps revenge could also liberate Faerûn. Or perhaps that was just the whiskey talking? No, it couldn't be. Then again, she had lost a fair bit of blood today, so she supposed it wouldn't take as much and whiskey was a strong drink. Taking down a monarchy would not be so simple as revenge.

[Chloriosus]

"That is a valid point.", Farjon agreed. "It is true that revenge doesn't fix anything, and many people regret their actions after rushing to destroy their nemesis. Only truly vengeful people, people who have already been too damaged at this point to think about anything but revenge, have true pleasure committing their acts of destruction. Its like a drive, something they simply MUST do. To resist that urge and think rationally is hard, however, some people are just consumed by it." Farjon was rather convinced that the wine he had had contributed a great deal to his distress at the moment. "Appologies.", he said with a dry laugh. "I suppose I get rather worked up about some things- it is a habit I must drop."

[mainehorse]

"Not a problem... we all have things that we get worked up over." Cassius says, taking another sip of her whiskey. She'd probably cut herself off at two glasses since she had lost a lot of blood and she had no desire to get drunk. She just wanted enough that even if her shoulder insisted on reminding her of the rather crude treatment it had received in her haste, that she would be less inclined to care. It didn't work as well as milk of the poppy, which actually numbed the pain. But it would probably help her to sleep she mused. Though she would want to freshen up first. Sleeping in bloodied clothing sounded less than pleasant. Perhaps she could get a hot bath as well, it would be nice to wash away the dried blood.

[Chloriosus]

Farjon himself was trying very hard not to fall asleep. Since he didn't drink much, and not often, the wine had contributed to his sleepiness, and he was trying hard to keep his eyelids from drooping. "I'm glad you understand.", he said stifling a yawn, the immediately being caught by another one off guard. "I'm assuming we have to go to bed soon.", he said. "Is there place I can sleep here?", he asked the barkeeper. "I do have some money with me."

[mainehorse]

"You won't need the money, the guild offers shelter free of charge to whomever needs it. C'mon, I'll show you where you can sleep for the night." Cassius says after draining her goblet of whiskey. He almost seemed half asleep already, so she figured it was better to get him to a bed before he fell asleep sitting up. She had a room down here, he could take that bed for the night and she'd curl up in the armchair for the night. She couldn't well sleep comfortably on her side right now anyway since her shoulder was injured. And she never felt comfortable sleeping on her back. She'd sleep better sitting up until she had healed. It wasn't a big room, but it was homey enough and the bed was soft enough to be comfortable, provided one wasn't used to the comfort royalty or nobles lived with.