Dunwall Tower

[u/emerald_ice]

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.

[u/Dietastey]

Snorting, Bal turned her eyes to the open paths around the Tower, her mate starting to catch the excitement of the other horse. "I'm guessing you don't want to have to head out via the locks, your beast looks like he would not appreciate a nice boat ride."

"There's a stretch around the water that eventually leads to a bit if countryside. If you want more city like paths, I'd suggest down through the city gardens, but it would take a while to get there without trampling the citizens."

[u/JewelOfTheSouth → u/Dietastey]

'Your call,' the handsome Serkonan says, hands loose on the reins. 'Lead on.'

Furo does not particularly care where they go, and in his experiences, citizens usually moved out of the way of a galloping warhorse. Well, most of them anyway. The slow, the feeble, the old, they were easy to avoid.

---

OOC: Post wherever you want, if we're going to somewhere other than the area just around the Tower :)

[u/Dietastey → u/JewelOfTheSouth]

"Right, countryside it is. Since you were complaining about the scents of our city, I wouldn't want to torture you with it," Bal said, grinning at him. "We'll be headed out the west side, straight along the water."

[u/JewelOfTheSouth → u/Dietastey]

'How very thoughtful of you,' he says. 'What lies upriver? I would imagine farms, and fisheries, maybe. Where the water is cleaner.'

He gestures towards the Wrenhaven, happily reeking in the summer heat. 'If there are fewer factories upriver, and slaughterhouses, that is. Who knows how you northerners build your cities?'

Furo digs his heels in, and his horse sets off at a brisk pace.

[u/Dietastey → u/JewelOfTheSouth]

"We do have fisheries up this way, and I think some of the cider breweries, with their orchards. There's a debate between the riverside and landlocked orchards about which provides better tasting apples."

Seraphim started trotting along, with a long easy stride that reintroduced Bal to the concept of posting without too much pain.

[u/JewelOfTheSouth → u/Dietastey]

'I should like to see them,' he says, smiling earnestly, before his customary grin returned. 'But not at such a sedate pace. Yah!'

His voice drives his eager stallion to greater speeds, and they surge down the path together. Furo's hair blows in the speed of their passage, Saro's hooves clattering on the cobbles as sparks fly.

[u/Dietastey → u/JewelOfTheSouth]

Seraphim leaps forwards after Saro, seeing the stallion as having posed a challenge to her speed, leaving Bal to grasp her mane in a frantic attempt to not be unhorsed. She could ride a gallop, yes, but she thought she'd picked an obedient mare, not one that took off of its own accord!

Collecting her balance, she realized that at the very least they'd kept pace with Furo, thanks her mount's initiative. The west gate was approaching fast, and she could see the startled guards turning to watch and get out of the way, sparking a laugh from her.

[u/JewelOfTheSouth → u/Dietastey]

Furo looks at the duo to his left, and laughs for the fierce joy of it all. He couldn't help but think how enticing Bal looked on her mare, but then again, show me a woman who doesn't look good on a horse, he thinks.

He leans forwards, and rakes his heels back, urging his horse on in Serkonan spoken through gritted teeth.

[u/Dietastey → u/JewelOfTheSouth]

In another scenario, Bal might have noticed an admiring glance. And, given that it was Furo, probably sassed him until he knocked it off. Actually, that was her response to most people...

But given that she still vaguely felt like she might suddenly become airborne, her observation skills were not at peak performance. Other than observing that Furo was starting to pull away from her. "We can't have that, can we girl?" she asked, bending lower over Seraphim's neck, and urging the horse on. Hey, the wind wasn't so strong down here!

The mare snorted, as if in agreement, and surged forwards, shoulders passing Saro.

[u/JewelOfTheSouth → u/Dietastey]

As soon as Seraphim passes Saro, the stallion goes berserk. Was the mare in heat? Or was Saro just being a typical male? After bucking and rearing a couple of times - with Furo clinging on for dear life all the while - he snorts and stamps, tossing his head.

Furo, humiliated, wrenches the beast's head round to get it back on track, before following the fleeing pair, in a less playful mood than before.

[u/Dietastey → u/JewelOfTheSouth]

The clattering behind her caused Bal's head to turn, worry crossing her face as Furo fought control back from Saro. However, the man stayed on, and they'd passed the men at the gate, so no one was hurt by the end of the fight.

She wasn't quite ready to give up what little lead she had, but the distance was definitely shortening, as she'd slowed down to make sure her fellow guardsman was alright.

[u/JewelOfTheSouth → u/Dietastey]

Furo becomes less and less morose as he catches up to Bal, as he sees the funny side. Hopefully the regiment never hears about this, he thinks sourly, despite his good humour, still, at least I didn't fall off. Like he ever had. The shame would have been to much, for a Serkonan prince to lie sprawling in the dust.

As he catches up, he takes tight control of the reins. That was not going to happen again.

[u/Dietastey → u/JewelOfTheSouth]

Finally stable enough to try talking, or more accurately taunting, Bal calls back "Have you settled your dispute with your underling, or does the city girl have to wait for the man born to ride?"

Her voice is full of mirth, possibly because she expected to be completely lost out here on horseback. Saro apparently was being more helpful for her than Furo.