The Illustrated Corridor: Arzin
Arzin looked on as the scene took shape in front of him, his lips pursed thoughtfully. The houses on both sides of the alleyway where he found himself were painted in various drab colors, and several of them had plaster peeling from their walls. There was refuse piled the alley that gave off unpleasant smells, and the general appearance spoke to the fact that this was run-down neighborhood.
Soon enough Arzin's competition appeared -- three men, all dressed in black leather armor. One had a dark beard, and the other two were clean-shaven. Each of them appeared to have a strip of colored cloth tied around their left arms in the area of their biceps -- one had blue cloth, one red, and one yellow. Arzin supposed that might be a way for them to tell who was whom at a glance, in darkened conditions.
~Well, this can't be *too* bad~, the man-at-arms reasoned. ~After all, they only have knives, and I have a shield and heavy armor.~
That said, it bothered him somewhat that even though his attackers presumably could size up the situation just as well as he could, they strolled forward with the easy self-confidence of men who had done this sort of thing many times before, and who did not anticipate running into anything that they could not handle this time around.
~Most likely they are not just low-level ruffians, then.~
It did give Arzin considerable comfort that he would be fighting in a narrow alleyway. ~That should limit -- at least somewhat -- their advantage in numbers,~ he reasoned.
Red-cloth took the lead, closing with Arzin at an almost leisurely pace. When the threesome was approximately ten yards away, Blue-cloth suddenly darted up the side wall of one of the buildings lining the alleyway, reminding Arzin of nothing so much as a spider dashing up a wall in pursuit of a tasty fly.
His mouth gaping open, Arzin could do little but watch as Blue-cloth passed over his head (still clinging to the wall), and then dropped lightly to the ground behind the man-at-arms, landing with all the grace of a confident feline.
~He shouldn't be able to do that!~ Arzin mentally protested. ~I'm going to need to have that fixed.~
Then it occurred to Arzin that he had heard tavern tales about shoes and gloves that allowed one to climb like a spider. They were almost prohibitively expensive, of course, and were well out of the price range of most sellswords.
~But not for well-paid assassins,~ the ex-soldier thought to himself, feeling a little frisson of doubt running down his spine.
~Have I faced off against a team of assassins, here?~ he found himself wondering. That would certainly explain his three opponents' air of easy confidence, and the fact that they seemed to be working together as a well-trained team.
Arzin himself had never encountered such people, although it was rumored that nobles and people in positions of power sometimes found it useful to employ them to deal with inconvenient adversaries.
~Two in the front, one behind me. Things suddenly got trickier.~
No sooner had that thought crossed Arzin's mind than a door in a wall along the right-hand side of the alleyway was suddenly flung open with enough force for it to slam against the wall. A wizened hand -- so quickly did it flash out of and back inside the doorway that Arzin could not positively say that it was even Human -- shot out with the speed of a striking snake. Yellow-cloth was moving in formation behind red-cloth, but now the man was whisked away through the open doorway, with the door slamming shut behind him.
~What was *that* all about?~ Arzin wondered. ~Will that aid or hinder Yellow-cloth? Whatever is going on, he is out of my line of sight at the moment.~
Lacking both the time and the facts to resolve that question, the man-at-arms quickly slammed his back against the wall of one of the houses, so that he could angle his sword against Red-cloth and his shield against Blue-cloth.
"Come on, then," he snarled, "let's dance."
OOC: 11:27, Today: Arzin rolled 5 using 1d6. Deadly Roll: Knife Fight in an Alleyway.
Comments: Talon, just as a gentle reminder, Arzin has the "Counterattack" Move activated for this Adventure. Depending upon how the various Rounds play out, I may elect to negate some of the Chip Damage that he would otherwise suffer. Thanks. :)
This message was last edited by the player at 17:39, Mon 01 Apr.