Recudor: Southern District

Airgetlam (and whoever joined her) arrive at the market shortly after leaving the house. It's bustling with people, which is a welcome sight after this weeks grim reminders of all the unknowns left in the world for people to discover. With the festival long past and the central district reopened there are noticeably less stands occupied, though the common traders and merchants are mostly all still in their respective places.

Immediately airgetlam's attention are drawn to two places. From here she can see the familiar scene take place at the militia's tent. The unnamed swordsman is once again arguing with various other mercenaries and the militia. However there seem to be a few guards posted around the tend this time around, more than likely because of the theft that took place in broad daylight.
Secondly, there is a large crowd gathering at the far end of the market and there seems to be quite the commotion going on.

She takes a moment to consider where to go first, or to ignore either crowd entirely.


Meanwhile at the gates of the central district, Sartana steps across the wide bridge. Having just come from the Duke's Castle he can clearly tell the northern district is where the rich and wealthy spend their time, however the southern district is where all the action happens. Sure enough, the moment he arrives in the markets he is greeted with the very same two scenarios. Down one end is a large crowd, gathered around what seems to be some surprisingly intense form of gambling. And far across from him is the Militia's Tent, where he will have to go eventually to hand in his bounty for the White Claw.

[Sartana & Airgetlam join the Southern Markets]

Airgetlam takes in the options open to her, weighing which seems more interesting at the moment. She decides its pretty much whatever the crowd is up to, since the same guy at the militia tent is always gabbing about... whatever bull it is that seems to rile him. She rolls her eyes at how the man simply repeats the cycle day-in, day-out, and she ventures over to the crowd, if a bit more slowly, taking ponderous steps.

She walks up to someone who seems to be focused on whatever is happening.

"What's with all the buzz?" She asks. "Another anomaly or just some fun?"

The man turns his head to Airgetlam only briefly and then focuses his attention back at what's happening past a few rows of people ahead of him. "Well, honestly a little of both I'd say." he says and tries to get a better view past the moving heads. The crowd chatters among themselves and occasionally cheer or laugh as the commotion seems to continue bit by bit. A man parts the crowd right next to Airgetlam, a large mercenary type, with a grim expression on him. He pushes a few people aside and marches off angrily, leaving Airgetlam just enough room to slip through to the front row.

Turns out there is some gambling going on, which the guards as usual are completely oblivious to... somehow.

A rather energetic guy dressed in an yellow eastern-style tunic of sorts is sitting down on the ground, with a few different types of gambling sets laid out before him. Next to him is a large pile of various weapons and items. Air witnesses another person step up. A nervous looking woman, with sweat on her brow. She sits down on a pillow in-front of the gambler and unwraps a fine golden blade with a diamond studded handle. She puts it on the side of the small table and the easterner extends his hand. "So~" His cheery voice begins to speak. "You wish to having yourself a go?" he then asks mockingly, a vicious but playful smile building on his tattoo covered face. The woman nods to him nervously. "Yes, anything to get my husbands sword back. It's his life's work."
The guy slaps the flat of the table in a way that causes the knife to bounce up and spin in the air, where he catches it effortlessly and begins to inspect it. "Oh~ This is very fancy, lady. A family heirloom yes?" he puts it back down on the table and gestures to the three games before him. Some of the crowd start to mutter about her wager, and Airgetlam can vaguely hear one of the people mention how the woman's family had lost many precious items to this gambler.

The woman finally decides, pointing at a set of five cups. The crowd has a mixed response, with some cheering and some gasping in horror.
"Very well, lady." the guy says and juggles the cups around playfully before letting them fall upside down on the table. He flicks his wrist and presents a small silver marble to the woman, urging her to take it. "The rules are simple. You have heard of this game before, yes? I hide the ball and move the cups around and you point to where you think the ball can be hiding. If you find the ball you win. Simple, right? But here is a twist. It's easy to cheat at this game if I do it, so you will do it instead." the woman frowns at his response and takes the silver ball as the guy continues to explain. "Hide the ball in one of these cups, yes? and then mix them all around. When you are ready you point to the cup that doesn't contain the ball. 4 out of 5 chance, no? Go over the math with me."

The two of them go over each cup, coming to the conclusion it is a 4 out of 5 chance for her to win, although given she is the one who scrambles the cups she will know which cup contains the ball to begin with.

"Okay..." she says nervously and puts the ball under the middle cup, then moving the cups about. She barely moves the pieces, making sure to always keep her right hand on the cup with the ball. And when she is done she points at the cup next to it.

The man asks her to lift the cup. She does, and her eyes grow large as the silver ball is under the cup. She gasps in frustration and confusion as the crowd starts to go crazy and stands up from her seat, reaching for the heirloom but is interrupted as the gambler slaps the table once more, causing the golden knife to fling into the pile of objects next to him. "Well, better luck next time. And tell your husband he needs to stop drinking, yes?"

He laughs as the woman is about to protest but then simply pushes herself out of the crowd and runs off in tears.

The man challenges the crowd again, waiting for the next challenger and the scene continues with much of the same.
"come on, come on, winner takes the pile!"

Ignoring the scene, Sartana headed straight to the bounty tent. Feeling grumpy, he struggled to remember what happened yesterday or even this morning for that matter. It was if his mind had thrown out the last day and a half of memories. Finally reaching the tent, he stomped threw the entrance and marched right up to the clerk working the desk. Placing a neatly folded, blood spattered bounty on the young clerks desk, Sartana drew white claw’s four barrel and placed it next to the paper as proof.

Airgetlam can't help but show her disdain visibly. The nerve of such a man to take from others. Then again, he preys on the gullible and those who think throwing the dice a little might win them great fortune. She shakes her head, and when the man pans his vision to her she makes sure he sees a quick flash of her silver arm, fist balled and firm. She backs away and separates out from the crowd, heading toward the militia tent. She'll find a way to get that knife back, but it won't be on his terms - it'll be on her's.

As she approaches the militia tent and the bounty board, she notices the bounty on the white claw is not there, so she heads inside to see a man putting a paper down with a four-barreled pistol next to it. She approaches the front desk and looks at the attendant.

"Is there a line? I wish to find out what happened to the bounty on the White Claw." She says, brushing a lock of hair away from her face.

As Airgetlam leaves the gambler can't help but smile a friendly smile, albeit towards her back. Fake or not, he is clearly enjoying himself.



The militia attendant stands there somewhat baffled as Sartana pulls out the four barreled pistol. He shakes his head as Airgetlam approaches and asks her respective questions to which he can only reply with equal surprise and shock. "Well I mean, it's just... you see..." he picks up the gun and inspects it, confirming only what he already was told.

"The White Claw is Dead." a sour voice calls from the other side of the room. At the notice, all the Mercenaries turn towards the entrance to see Feli standing there, with the obnoxious swordsman poking his head through the tent, saying; "No way...." in disbelief.
Feli walks up to Sartana, her deep green eyes piercing him as she analyzes his face, features, get-up, everything, with an icy stare. This young girl, at most the age of sixteen carrying a large rifle on her back in such a professional manner you could mistake her for a real mercenary. She stands before Sartana, hands on her hips, staring him in the eyes with a frown- before bringing her hand up to offer a handshake. After said, sudden handshake, she turns towards the militia attendant, signing the paper, which she then hands back to Sartana. She reaches for her bag, and abruptly stops, remembering it was stolen the day prior. Her frown deepens as she reaches behind herself and pulls forth a small velvet bag and tosses it towards Sartana, shortly after grabbing the four barreled pistol and walking to the exit of the tent. "That was my notice." she says as she exits the tent, shoving aside the swordsman, who of course immediately begins complaining about her brutish behaviour.

The mercenaries turn to stare at Sartana, some with confused expressions and others with confidence. A few moments pass before some of them begin leaving the tent to go about their usual bounty hunting.

"Well, it is certainly surprising." the militia attendant says, sighing deeply. "That bounty had been out for months... It was going to expire again at the end of the week. Ah but... well it looks like you have been paid by client in person, so we are not officially inclined to, you know, pay that heavy bounty. Please have a plesant day." the attendant says to Sartana who weighs the velvet bag briefly before opening it.

RD descends the shallow steps of the High-Class District and enters the Southern Markets. To his surprise there are quite a bit of people up and about, given last weeks strange occurrences, though he supposes life goes on, doesn't it? There seemed to have been a crowd gathering in the far end of the market, although whatever commotion was going on seems to have ended by now as people are making their way back into the markets. On the opposite side of the market he spies Feli talking to the familliar swordsman, who normally seems to make an existence solemnly based on bothering the nerves out of everyone at the militia tent. The two of them seem to be having a very serious talk while the swordsman idly ogles a firearm of some sorts. RD can't make out a lot of the details due to the distance, but he recalls the swordsman being one of the few people outside the tent when the groups heist went down the other day. In hindsight, he may even have been unaffected by the flash until the loud noise happened.

Not much time later the swordsman hands Feli the firearm and shockingly enough bows briefly before departing, foolishly deciding to take a few steps backwards before turning around- right into one of the two tall and beefy regulars who were just on their way out of the tent.

Sure enough, the swordsman immediately starts an argument.

Rotation: Sartana -> Airgetlam -> RD (Rotation may be subject to change)

Richard's face goes deadpan as the swordsman yet again goes about his daily routine of generally making an ass of himself, though he smirks a bit soon after; seeing Feli nearby.

"Business as usual eh?" He remarks, as he walks up to her. "You know him? He seems to respect you... which is more than i can say for how he treats some of the others around here... Hey something wrong?" He asks seeing the agitated look on her face. To which she responds to with a short rant on how White Claw was supposedly taken down, which definitely catches RD's interest, and he considers heading back to the group to let em know, but he quickly rescinds the thought, honestly not in the mood to deal with Jericho at the moment. Meanwhile Feli subtly hints at disbelief, possibly even foul play as she gestures towards a man RD hadn't seen before, a man whom's garb reminded him much of a stylized animal herder, except mixed with a military background if his fatigues were anything to go by. She then hints to having some proof, but it was apparently stolen yesterday... Well shit. It was in that bag Jack so subtly lifted off the girl, he was sure.

"Stolen? I thought you merely misplaced your bag... What'd it look like? I'll keep an eye out for ya. In the mean time..." Richard glances at the man again, and thinks he sees someone familiar standing nearby him, but shrugs it off and instead turns back to Feli, "...Wanna take care of that other bounty? Maybe get yer mind off it for a bit? I know i could use a lil' distraction... this morning was a bit... rough." He pulls 7712's bounty from one of his pockets letting the girl see which he spoke of. First though, i'mma grab some grub. I incidentally skipped out on breakfast; so if ya know a place, i'll treat ya~."

“Ah, why does it have to be so loud here?” Sartana mumbled, still annoyed he could barely remembered yesterday. Securing his gold in his wallet and sticking his new found gun in his jacket’s pocket he trudged through the crowds with his hand set over his ears. Feeling this stomach rumble realized he hadn’t eaten in days. Looking around, it wasn’t long until he spotted a open a open air bbq that was grilling pork by the smell of it. Sartana felt his mouth water a little; pork had always been his favourite. Making his way past people until he finally reached the bbq, He ordered the large pork platter with everything from the hairy man working the kitchen. Taking a seat at one of the little tables that was nearby; Sartana watched his breakfast being prepared quietly.

Airgetlam crosses her arms and walks past RD, giving him a light slap on the shoulder.

"A hello would have been nice but I guess business takes precedence. I'll be around." She said to him.

Before leaving the tent, she addresses the man who argues and annoys everyone so.

"It won't be me but someday somebody's gonna shut your mouth." She said to him and continued on, following the man in the frontier attire to a small open-air grill. She approaches his table but does not take a seat.

"So you killed the White Claw, huh? How'd he go out? Was he all he lived up to be, or was he a petty coward using everyone else like chest pieces?" She asks of him.

"You won't mind if I sit, do you?"

Frazil and Jian who had left the house just shortly after RD catch up to Air who is talking to Sartana. Being none the wiser as to who the man is they join in to the conversation at hand.


Feli takes a moment to consider. "Yes I suppose so." she finally decides, already seeming a lot less annoyed. A rarity, at best. She briefly looks about the market coming to a conclusion as to where to go. "Well actually, there is a half decent Inn just down the street from here. 'Eman Yt...iru...csbo'- Yeah that." the way she pronounces the obscure name of the Inn gives RD some insight that she hasn't seemed to be in the city for all that long. And on that note, RD recalls the last time him and Sharpe had been at the place. Not only was Toshua there on occasion, but that murder had taken place there recently. To his surprise he doesn't remember reading anything about Trisperry in the newsletter and had this been back in Global the place would have surely been shut down.

Feli steps to the side, pointing down to the other side of the market where road leading to the Inn is located. As she does so, RD briefly sees a man on the other side of the Militia Tent, peeking around the corner right at him. The man, noticing RD's gaze, then steps behind the tent and walks off.

"It should be right down that road." she says, not having noticed the strange man.

---

Rotation: RD -> Sartana -> Airgetlam -> Frazil -> Jian

"Hm?" Richard turns slightly to watch Air as she walks off after tapping him on the shoulder "Wha? Oh hey! My bad, didn't see ya there... Catch ya later then...?" RD trails off, thinking she had headed off to the market to do some shopping; he didn't expect to see her near the bounty boards. He notes seeing her go to speak to the mercenary Feli had earlier mentioned, and soon sees Frazil and Jian join them in their discussion, which allows him to relax a bit with the knowledge that she and Frazil could more than likely take care of most anything that comes their way.

He listen's to Feli's suggestion and merely shrugs in response, "Ah, i've been there before... Its... Alright. Gets a bit crowded though, two groups known as the 'crimson claw of na'hog' and the 'Recudor Underdogs' are known to hang around there. They're a bit at odds, but still allied last time i checked... Still, i'm pretty sure there was a 'murder' there not too long ago, but they didn't post it in the papers... So there may be a bit more behind that place than it lets on..." He considers for a moment, wondering if given this opportunity he could mayhaps check in on  Garbin Toshurta, the apparent leader of the alliance between the two groups. "... I'll admit though i do have a connection with someone who frequents the place, so i'm wondering if i might be able to snag a lead on our prey, 'Tote-'."

Richard cuts short noting the man near the Militia tent, whom begins on his own way once noticed. "Hmm... Guess i'll have to look into that later too..."  He then takes the lead in place of Feli, already knowing how to get to  Eman Ytirucsbo.

“uuuuhhhhhhhh, what?” Sartana said blankly, having been lost in his own thoughts just moments before. Sitting up he bilked a couple times before focusing on the women who addressed him.
‘Yes, hello. I just handed in the bounty for white claw a few minutes ago. Was it that big of a deal? He just kinda seemed like an idiot.” Feeling his body begin to heat up, Sartana undid his coat and let it fall open. As it did, it revealed his white shirt stained almost completely red with blood. Upon seeing this all of his memories came pouring back into his head form his excursion to white claw’s cave.
Quickly doing his coat back up to keep anyone else from seeing it. Gesturing for the women to take a seat, Sartana scratched his stubble thoughtfully just as the hairy man brought him his meal and set it down in front of him. “I’ll share with you what happened with white claw in exchange for you paying for my breakfast my friend. He said with a wolfish smile.

As she takes her seat, she can't help but glance right at the man's shirt as he removes it, but before she can study it further he quickly buttons it back up, no doubt wanting to avoid looking like some murderer loose on the streets. Soon after Frazil and Jian start their approach to their table, probably having decided the house was too drear and the city life called out to them.

"Before you you sits the man who killed the White Claw," she says to them, then turning to meet his eyes with her's ,"Who apparently was quite an idiotic fellow - and yes he was a bigger deal than you realize around here. As to the full spread of his influence we aren't exactly sure."

She looks at him for the longest time, peering through his eyes trying to ascertain what kind of man he was. Sly, suave-seeming, a walking silver tongue, and probably one who relied on ranged firepower. People of those types can be either meticulous planners of very way-of-the-flow.

"While I normally wouldn't pay for the lunch of somebody I just met... I'll make an exception this one time. But I have some terms of my own: You don't cheat me out of any money, and you don't exaggerate. You tell what happened and no tall tales, nothing made up. But you wouldn't do that to me, now would you? No, I don't think you would." She says, brushing a lock away from her face again, as she is wont to do, looks back at Jian.

"You finished making breakfast and saved me some leftovers right?"

RD leads the way over to the Inn, where Feli and himself will be staying for a meal and to gather some information regarding their objective and the recent happenings.


The waiter of the modestly sized restaurant sets down the decently sized meal consisting of various kinds of well cooked and seasoned meats, alongside a small bowl of mashed potatoes and a few steamed veggies. He leaves the bill alongside four glasses of water on the table, as well, before tending to another table.

Frazil sits down at a table now covered in food and wonders why Jian went through all of the trouble. She glances at Airgetlam Does the group usually just scatter to the winds each day? Seems an inefficient way to accomplish things.

Having caught up with Airgetlam he can't help but be a little confused. She seems to be with a man he has never seen before, just going along without it without any of the two explaining who he is. Though, it doesn't throw him off too much at this point, as it seems to be the common pattern with people here, they meet, someone else joins in, they blend into the situation and just go with what's thrown at them. Regardless of this, some background would be nice.

"I finished breakfast, yes... I uhm... I am not sure about leftovers, people might just eat up everything I made.", he says to her asking him about the food, then focusing back at the man to form a picture of who he is. He tilts his head, also breaking down what he said, how he said it. There's a strong vibe coming from him, yet there's more to this. The man doesn't seem to care for the small details too much, being the bold kind, yet determined to get things done, even if the approach to the solution might be unique.

Jian wants to get more information to form a picture, yet, none of his personal thoughts can be confirmed, he'll need more time to make sure he knows how to handle him. For now, he'd just want to know who he is.

"Sorry to interrupt for a moment... I am just a bit curious on who you are.", he says as if he was directly speaking his thoughts, gesturing towards Sartana, "My name's Jian Manchu, pleasure to meet you."
Hoping for a positive reaction, rather than some repercussion for interrupting the topic, he leans back, scratching his stubble. He then once nods to Frazil, asking Air if it's normal for people to scatter during the day, to confirm her question.

Moments later, he also realizes, he doesn't know much about this white claw that was mentioned. He saw the name up on the bounty boards, including some really high reward to the one finishing him, so it might be good to get info in that aspect aswell.

Bringing his fork forcefully down upon his plate, Sartana began shoveling great portions of beans, rice and pork into his mouth. There were carrots and crunchy celery mixed in to. It was fantastic. Only after a few mouthfuls did he brings himself back to reality and the women sitting across from him, and her companion, jian.

“What happened to White claw, right?” Sartana put his fork down and sat up a little. “I stumbled into the entrance of his hide out while I was trying to find a bear. After that I demanded his men take me to see him. So they did after some convincing, and when they did, they never disarmed me for some reason. After having a short talk with White claw were he just kinda made fun of me and then told me to beat it. So killed his guards and then shot him, before killing and wounding something like forty plus of men until....” he trailed of for a second “I fell down some stairs and woke up outside of his hideout.” Snickering a little he added in before going back to attacking his plate “the whole thing really could have been avoided if they just took my guns.”

She looks at the other two posing questions about the group's tendency to split apart. She nods and sighs.

"Yeah they tend to... divide and conquer you could say - only they don't realize that we could get a lot more done if we worked cohesively. I'm a bit more free from it due to the nature of how I operate though. But either way, its something we need to address but people just keep wandering off." She looks more specifically at Jian.

"The White Claw *was* a local crime lord and gang leader, he was the big blight on the city and the surrounding area and there was a handsome bounty for his death - Feli seems to have been the one who put that bounty up, oddly enough." She turns back to Sartana.

"So you were going after that bounty about the bear, and you just somehow stumbled onto their base of operations? The way you put it, yeah he seemed like a pushover but maybe he thought you were a new recruit or something? Either way good job, but it seems his compatriots might still be out there and trying to regroup. We have been preoccupied, but I'm part of a small mercenary group that has had finding the White Claw on the plate, but never got around to it - except last night an incident occurred that really put him front and center as an objective. So maybe you can help us find his base and see what's left of the place, since while the bounty was only for the big guy himself, his buddies are sure to be trying to get their little business going again."

Frazil watches as Jian does the sensible thing and introduces himself. First, she replies to Airgetlam, That was one good thing about Utopia I suppose. They made sure the teams stuck together instead of going off half cocked.

She then turns to the new guy, Sorry, my manners are a bit... missing. It's been a long week. I'm Frazil.

With everyone mostly mistunderstanding his question for wanting to learn mostly about White Claw, rather than Sartana, he shakes his head without saying anything. White Claw was only the secondary thing that had im curious.

Yet, he does ignore it for now, then hearing out Airgetlam and Sartana, talking about the bounty and what happened in order to get it done. Air's part was sounding quite normal, but the way Sartana puts it, Jian only can conclude that the man sitting across of him either is ignorant to danger, insane, too strong or too dumb for his own good... or there could also be the possibility that some parts of the Story were made up.

Jian scratches his head a little. White claw... A name that could fit into the typical pattern of how People nicknamed each other in the east. It's common that great leaders, men or generals that took a great part in certain historical Events were given names to call them by. But hearing this... well, them an doesn't sound even close to great, if he was such a pushover Sartana describes him to be.

"A set of stairs...", he simply adds afterwards, looking at everyone sitting at the table with slight disbelief. What a way to end it. And if some really weren't dead, just wounded, him being passed out, wouldn't he be a dead man with those wounded men finishing him in that state?

Yet, he keeps most of his thoughts to himself, the part of White Claw being dead seems to be true, no need to pry further. Instead, this reminds him that he still has that other track to follow together with Airgetlam.
"Mhh. Airgetlam, maybe we should continue yesterday's investigation about this very odd man that wants us to bring back a girl, which incredibly sounds like Clarent. We're in town right now after all...", he then adds after those thoughts. "Or we could, with White Claw dead, see if he has some links that have gone missing to prevent getting in trouble."

Finishing the last of his meal, Sartana put it aside before wiping his mouth and standing up. Addressing the small group that had gather around them he said “I was planning on making a return trip the caves to see to some unfinished business. Your al welcome to tag along but I’ll probably be taking off just after I stock up with some supplies.” As he spoke he took out his black note book and started a list of items needing replacement.

Airgetlam turns her attention to Jian again, and proceeds to address his concern.

"Hmm... Well that's true we still have that job that needs to be taken care of, but this lead..." She looks down at the table, then looks back up, dividing glances between all three of them.

"We took up a job and as much as I'd like to get down to this, or alert the others, they'll find out on their own, and we have some time before you take off. Just so you know um... actually I don't believe I caught your name, nor do I believe I gave you mine. I'm Airgetlam if I haven't said already. I apologize if I'm repeating myself. Anyway, there's a man who specializes in selling weapons and usually has some ranged firepower. Davros Kole, if I recall, I may be mixing him up with somebody else. He'll probably still have that protraction rifle on that display, hard to miss."

Frazil stays pretty silent after her initial comments. She's in tag-along mode, following Airgetlam.

Finishes his list and closing his book, Sartana nodded his thanks before leaving. He was going to need to buy a few more boxes of ammunition at least and maybe something heavier to help clean those tight corridors, he thought to himself as he began looking for a clothing store.