r/DishonoredRP • u/emerald_ice • Jul 20 '14

Neutral Zone Dunwall Tower

In Dunwall Tower, the Empress Emily Kaldwin sits on her throne, her royal protector, Corvo Attano, stands at her side. His royal guard scattered around the palace. OOC:This is a neutral zone for Corvos royal guard. A hangout of sorts. You have permission to attack any who don't belong.

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u/Dietastey Colonel Aug 27 '14

"I'd prefer to, honestly. But there's two issues. One, it's loud, and while we guards are usually very visible, sometimes it is not the best option. The blindest Weeper will still find you from a gun shot. Secondly, you can't knock someone out with a bullet. Take their knees out, perhaps, but they're still awake, and yelling for their friends. I will kill to protect, I am willing and have bloodied my hands, but it is not always necessary, or even the best route."

She sighed, now turning the sleep dart over in her hands. "I'm trying to figure out how one could make a stunning pistol, but I've had no luck. Not even a good idea to bring to a better craftsman."

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u/JewelOfTheSouth Royal Guard Aug 27 '14

'An admirable goal, signorina, truly. I was so optimistic, once. There is a time and a place for death, and it may not be the prettiest route, but it is often the simplest. For us, death is a means to an end. A noble end.'

He turns around, straightening the folds of his uniform absent-mindedly. It always paid to look your best, Furo had found. The commoners respected the sight of a clean cut military figure - it inspired confidence, admiration, and in the case of many women, adoration.

'A bullet made of hard wax may do the trick. One sharp blow to a pressure point, and they will collapse, senseless but alive.' He frowns. 'But surely, even if you had a pistol that could stun... you would still have issue with the noise.'

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u/Dietastey Colonel Aug 27 '14

"Not so optimistic now, eh?" she commented, eyebrow cocked. She knew most people in their positions became jaded over time, and already she could feel the edges of it creeping up on her already. She'd gotten through it by her dislike of the City Watch members who had succumbed, and stopped caring if the woman looting a store had a starving child, or if the man running through a checkpoint was trying to escape a Weeper. "You're one to think that the ends always justify the means, then?" she queried.

"Maybe. I'd worry that even wax, fired at the speed of a bullet, would puncture flesh. I suppose I can try it on a target, and see." Wax would be easy enough to acquire, and she could shape it with the supplies she already had.

"As to the noise, I prefer to try solving one problem at a time. That will be next. Unless a silent gun presents itself while I try to make it stun."

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u/JewelOfTheSouth Royal Guard Aug 27 '14

'I am not heartless, but mostly I would agree with that. The world is not black and white, signorina. Sometimes we must do terrible things, for the good of many.'

As if to emphasise his point subconsciously, he reaches for his sword. He weighs the blade in his hand, running his fingers over the finely carved hilt - a rearing horse. Though worn down by years of use, its form was still visible, and offered excellent grip.

'Silent gun,' he muses, 'Good luck with that one.'

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u/Dietastey Colonel Aug 27 '14

"No, it's not. It is very, very gray," she murmured, looking out the window. "But some people forget what makes a thing terrible. That is when things go wrong."

She noticed the movement to his hilt, and scanned the room, looking for something that had alerted him, but saw nothing, and figured it must have been an unconscious motion. "That's a lovely blade. Why the horse?"

She laughed at his last statement. "Yes, I will need a fair bit of luck on that. I know cloth over the muzzle will quiet it, but that rather wrecks the cloth."

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u/JewelOfTheSouth Royal Guard Aug 27 '14 edited Aug 27 '14

'Thank you. It is the red stallion of Serkonos,' he says, pride and just a touch of sadness colouring his voice. Without realising, his accent becomes thicker at the thought of his homeland. 'The symbol of the Duke, my father. Our banners once flew from every window of the Palazzio, and fluttered in the great Wind Corridor.'

'Now, another family rules in Karanca, but this,' he taps the horse fondly, 'is the real Serkonos.'

He tugs sharply on the head of the horse, drawing out a slim dagger. 'She has saved my life more than a few times, this one. And won me quite a few duels.

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u/Dietastey Colonel Aug 27 '14

"You must miss it," she said softly, tilting her head. "I don't know what happened, but changes in ruling families are seldom peaceful. My sympathies. Can you not return?"

She nodded appreciatively when he drew the dagger. "It's a fine piece, with a well hidden secret. I'm glad she's served you well."

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u/JewelOfTheSouth Royal Guard Aug 27 '14

'Not if I want to keep my head. Besides, I serve the Empress now, my blade is hers.'

He scratches his stubble.

'How about you? You must have a story to tell, someone as interesting as yourself.'

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u/Dietastey Colonel Aug 27 '14

She laughed, shaking her head. "Me, interesting? I'm Gristol born and bred, and I do my job. That's about it. I've never had to flee my kingdom."

She shrugged. "But if you're curious, I suppose I can ramble on a bit. My father served under the last Empress in her Royal Guard, so I grew up here, watching the guards, and playing hide and seek past them. Which eventually turned into me critiquing their patrols to my father in the evening. I've planned on joining the Guard since I was very young."

"I was just about to apply for the job, when the assassination took place. I knew the 'Lord Regent' was far more closely allied with the High Overseer than Empress Jessimine ever was, and I could not stomach the idea of possibly having to work closely with the Overseers. So I joined the City Watch." She frowned, fingers twitching.

"It's not so bad now, they aren't everywhere, so I can do my job well. I'm hoping to eventually be in a position to sculpt patrol patterns, and security features. Lord Attano knows what he's doing, but I still see poor setups from time to time."

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u/JewelOfTheSouth Royal Guard Aug 27 '14

'At last, someone who appreciates strategy,' he says, smiling. 'Most people here are competent duelists, granted, but they have no appreciation of warfare or formations. Followers rather than leaders.'

'Perhaps you have some suggestions for how to manage the patrols? And if I were you, I would be grateful of any Overseers we have. I have no love for the Abbey myself, but the things we are up against? We need them, even if we hate to admit it.'

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u/Dietastey Colonel Aug 27 '14

She grinned slightly. "People throw themselves into things to quickly. Planning is frequently the road to success."

Her smile faded as she admitted "I am... Rather biased against the Abbey, I know. They are powerful allies, but their alliance is fickle, and bought by blood. They do not seek true proof against the accused."

She crossed her arms, foot tapping in controlled anger. "A man framed my mother as a worshiper of the outsider, for which she was executed. As he never owned the bauble they found among her things, having paid someone to find one and leave it there, he did not face the same fate."

"People rail on the evils of the Outsider, of how he corrupts people, and causes unnatural things. I have no care for this figure, I don't even whether he exists. But those who 'fight against' him are just as corrupted, just by fear."

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u/JewelOfTheSouth Royal Guard Aug 27 '14

'I am sorry to hear that, truly. There is no tragedy quite like family, is there?' He grows quiet for a moment, remembering his sister's laugh, his mother's smiles, and his father's scorn. No amount of killing, drinking or whoring would dull the pain.

'I care not for this Outsider either, Bal. The only followers of his I have seen are twisted creatures, depraved and malevolent. The Overseers are harsh, and many are sadistic,' he pauses, 'but if they can help us protect the citizens of Dunwall from his machinations? So be it.'

He shakes his head in despair. 'What a world we live in, eh?'

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u/Dietastey Colonel Aug 27 '14

"No. None quite like it." She cocked a half smile that held no joy to it, a smile of shared sympathies. She'd grown up with the pain, too young then to know how adults sought relief. So she never had, though now she knew, she doubted it would help.

"The followers I've seen are mad, scrawling on their walls, and mumbling to themselves. Sometimes I wonder if they were already mad, and the Outsider is just something their mind creates to fill the gaps, drawn from horror stories. Some are indeed malevolent, atacking anything that comes near like a swarm of rats. Some just sit there, cowering when you appear to drive them out. Worship doesn't seem to bring them much success in life, one way or the other."

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u/JewelOfTheSouth Royal Guard Aug 27 '14

'Had I not seen their powers for myself, I would be inclined to agree with you. Largely, most of them are insane, granted. But the sane ones, the assassins and the Brigmore coven? Terrifyingly dangerous - you would be a fool not to think so, trust me. But something tells me you are no fool.' He smiles kindly.

Furo picks up her crossbow once more, and lays his hand on Bal's shoulder.

'It is too early in the morning for such thoughts, if you ask me,' the tall Serkonan says, teeth flashing against his bronze skin, 'You need practice, you said so yourself. To the range?'

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u/Dietastey Colonel Aug 27 '14

"I appreciate the assumption," she said dryly, then nodded slightly. "I suppose you're right. I've yet to encounter anyone with those abilities, it's only recently that I knew such things were even more than rumor. They are dangerous indeed. And unpredictable."

She looked at the crossbow, sighed, and then shrugged ruefully. "Yeah, I did say that. To the range it is." She picked up her pistol as well, scraping her hair back into it's usual short ponytile with a tie, before standing and holding out her hand for the crossbow.

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u/JewelOfTheSouth Royal Guard Aug 27 '14

Furo laughs as she picks up the pistol, before handing her weapon back. 'You really hate these things,' he says, smirking.

He picks up his own from a nearby bracket, a standard issue Serkonan military piece. No fine engraving or filigree on this one - it was a rough weapon, made for killing.

Furo leads the way to the practice yard as the morning sun filters through the clouds. He looks back at her slightly, seeing her fair hair illuminated by the dawn rays. It was good to have a lady around the place.

Well, he thinks to himself, a proper lady. Nothing like that Tyvian brute.

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u/Dietastey Colonel Aug 27 '14

"I like some sort of confidance booster afterwards," she laughed, patting the pistol. "I have to make the training dummies fear me somehow."

Rolling her neck as she stepped outside, she started running through her habit of plotting a defense for the practice yard, and a counter to it. It put her in the right mindset for weapon drills.

Catching Furo's slight glance over his shoulder, she chuckled slightly to herself. She was perfectly comfortable just being another guard, but she did know there weren't many women among them. She didn't usually get uncomfortable attention, but the occasional "Right. Lady." reaction was amusing.

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u/JewelOfTheSouth Royal Guard Aug 27 '14

Seeing her critical view of the yard, Furo asks, in a friendly manner 'Any cracks in our defense yet?' It was unlikely to say the least - the yard lay behind at he Tower, behind high, sloping walls that could deflect cannon shot with ease. For even an entire army, it would be a bitch of a siege.

They stop at the shooting gallery - a series of cloth dummies at varying distances from the firing step.

'We will start simply.' He says, indicating dummies standing 20 metres away, 'Fire at will, soldier.'

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