A Small Price To Pay (Closed, Attn Des-Bal)

[The Demon City]

The Harbors of the Demon City were divided into two sections. The Upper Harbors were made of the massive docks that supported the defensive navy of the metropolis, massive concrete blocks jutting from the coast and supported by walls of steel, connecting to the walls of the city itself by means of massive gates. Along the flanks of these walls were the Lower Harbors, where less conspicious doorways existed to allow for commercial and personal business to take place. Normally the modest steel beams were meant for outgoing vessels, but today a pair of locals patiently awaited a delivery.

One of the locals was of giant stature, his bronze skin and the top of his head hidden by what looked like a Blues Brothers costume. He held in both hands a large metal crate, and the dock could be heard growning whenever the seven-foot henchman shifted his weight. "How much longer?"

The other man, while wearing the same outfit, was incredibly thin and a sickly pale shade. Barely breaking four feet in height, he found himself constantly trying to keep his hat straight. "They'll be here when they'll be here. We have the gold, so the mortals will come."

[Des-Bal]

The van stopped abruptly and an armed guard quickly hopped from all four doors as well as the rear of the vehicle. They quickly checked their surroundings before pulling the girl from the back her wrists zip tied behind her back and a burlap bag over her head. Four stood by the van with their heads on swivels while one pushed the girl along stopping twenty feet from the waiting men. He spoke with a thick accent.
"You a'e he'e about eh transaction?" He asked.

[The Demon City]

The pair turn to look at the men. They had been warned that the mortals were a paranoid lot, but this seemed rather excessive. Still, given their master's understanding of the mortal nation's politics, every precaution helped. With a gesture from the smaller man, the giant bowed enough so that he could open the case for it, revealing the gold bricks. "The material doesn't have as much value locally, and combined with difficulty on the conversion you may find a little extra. Consider it gratitude for the lack of questions. So... My associate brings the payment to you, then comes back with the purchase?"

[Des-Bal]

"Not a movie." He said "Bring case girl goes over why not same time." A lifetime in Veredammatter Plattz had wrought hell on any semblance of proper English so he elected to communicate in a universal fashion. He tapped his gun against the back of the girls head and pushed her stumbling forward blind and confused. "Walk." He said sharply.

[The Demon City]

After receiving a nod from the smaller man, the giant makes his way toward the foreigners along the road connecting the Lower Harbor docks. He moved along the water's side, while the smaller man quickly positioned himself along the wall. Despite the girl having a bag over her head, he still gestured eagerly for her to approach, likely to obscure the length and pointedness of his fingernails. "Come, child, follow my voice. You'll want to avoid the big man with the small temper, especially so close to such a dangerous drop."

At that comment, the larger man spared a glance over his shoulder and snarled loudly at his associate, continuing his walk along the road and turning his attention to the girl. Such a fragile looking thing... He'd have to watch her, make sure she didn't do anything reckless.

[Des-Bal]

After receiving a nod from the smaller man, the giant makes his way toward the foreigners along the road connecting the Lower Harbor docks. He moved along the water's side, while the smaller man quickly positioned himself along the wall. Despite the girl having a bag over her head, he still gestured eagerly for her to approach, likely to obscure the length and pointedness of his fingernails. "Come, child, follow my voice. You'll want to avoid the big man with the small temper, especially so close to such a dangerous drop."

At that comment, the larger man spared a glance over his shoulder and snarled loudly at his associate, continuing his walk along the road and turning his attention to the girl. Such a fragile looking thing... He'd have to watch her, make sure she didn't do anything reckless.

Run. Run. RUN! The command was blurred by chemical restraints and sounded a bit like jars through the haze. She quickly decided that trying to escape by running drunkenly on her wobbly legs while blindfolded and bound would be impossible. She'd have to follow instructions for now, just until the pirates were out of range. She tried to control which direction she tipped in to bring her closer to the voice.

[The Demon City]

The giant nodded approvingly as the girl seemed to be following her instructions, picking up his pace after passing her. Once his larger compatriot picked up momentum, the pale man smiled eagerly, cautiously stepping closer. "That's it, keep coming closer. Follow my voice. Keep coming closer, good, good..."

Sparing a final glance over his shoulder, the giant man arrives at his destination a few steps ahead of the girl. He glances down at the foreigners almost appraisingly as he lowers the crate. "It'll take two of you to carry it, or a cart. Would you prefer I simply set it in the vehicle?"

[Des-Bal]

The giant nodded approvingly as the girl seemed to be following her instructions, picking up his pace after passing her. Once his larger compatriot picked up momentum, the pale man smiled eagerly, cautiously stepping closer. "That's it, keep coming closer. Follow my voice. Keep coming closer, good, good..."

Sparing a final glance over his shoulder, the giant man arrives at his destination a few steps ahead of the girl. He glances down at the foreigners almost appraisingly as he lowers the crate. "It'll take two of you to carry it, or a cart. Would you prefer I simply set it in the vehicle?"

"I can manage." He said scratching at his nose.
OOC: I ran the numbers and a case containing that much gold would only weigh about eighty pounds.

[The Demon City]

OOC: It's a heavy case, and the big guy is mildly racist.

The big man shrugs and hands the case over, standing ready to assist if it's too heavy. The pale man, meanwhile, smiles eagerly as the girl comes within arm's reach and he moves forward to grasp her forearms, his grip firm without being painful. "Wonderful! Yes, such a good young girl. Tell me, child, are you injured at all? Your health is of considerable concern to my master, among other things."

[Des-Bal]

He struggled with the case groaning loudly as he threw it down in the back of the van with a thud. He gave a whistle and the sentries retreated into the vehicle and quickly drove off.

As the drugs began to wear off her thoughts became more rational. Admitting she had not been harmed in transit would be the worst thing she could do. She prepared to make herself cry and forced her lip to quiver. "My ankle!" She said in her best helpless voice. "I think it's broken!"

[The Demon City]

"Broken, you say?" The bag over the girl's head prevented her from seeing the pale man's mocking smile, but he was careful to keep his tone sympathetic. "In that case, my associate should probably carry you to where you can receive proper medical attention, yes?"

At that, the pale man whistles and gestures for the giant to hurry up. Dropping the earlier act of a foul mood he nods in agreement, and the girl could hear thundering footsteps coming up behind her. "Yeah, yeah, keep your hat on. She anything but meat if it's broken?"

"So cruel, so cruel!" The pale man pats the girl's shoulder assuringly. "The master is patient enough to allow her to heal."

[Des-Bal]

While this was still certainly not Lytchfield and therefore infinitely better than Lytchfield being eaten gave a frightening insight into her captors. She began to run through possibilities in her head as to a method of escaping as soon as the blindfold came off. Being given time to heal or being seen as weak and frail could provide the perfect opportunity to run until she hit water.

[The Demon City]

As the girl weighed her options, she'd feel the giant's hands scoop her up from behind, cradling her in his arms. She can hear an admonishing hiss from the pale man, who manuevers toward the girl's legs. As he speaks, she can tell that the pair are walking. "Reckless, reckless! You brutes have all the finesse of a drunken human. Now, child, which leg of yours was injured, left or right?"

[Des-Bal]

"Right," she said. Right right right right. She'd have to remember that.

[The Demon City]

"I see... Let's have a look." The pale man wasn't actually bothering to look, though. Any injury would have resulted in discoloration by now if left unattended, and more importantly the girl's drug-addled swagger across the docks didn't show signs of a limp or a tumble. Still, a show would have to be made of it. The longer the girl clung to one lie, the more she would depend upon it in her being a discipline issue. "Mmm... I'm not seeing any noteworthy difference between the two ankles. As luck would have it, the master has a fair bit of medical knowledge and was planning on examining you anyhow."

"Door."

"Ah, yes, of course." The girl could hear a clank of a metallic handle being turned, and the slow screech of metal on metal is quickly drowned out by the roar of a busy city. As the giant begins carrying her toward the noise, she might be able to hear the pale man over the cacaphony. "Be sure to hold her high enough so that we can cut off the offending limbs of anyone trying to handle her. It's been too long since foreigners have graced our shores, and some of the bloodlines have forgotten the value of good first impressions."

"You're one to talk." She can soon feel herself being lifted up considerably higher. "This hurt?"

[Des-Bal]

"No." She said slightly muffled by the bag. She tried to establish a new plan, with her pre-established lie degrading and more doors being entered there were more and more potential mistakes while escaping. She was troubled by the implicit lack of foreigners, blending in would be nearly impossible when she did manage to get clear. No time for that now, she had to be afraid if she behaved as they expected she would be given that much more of an edge. "Where am I?" She asked in her best weak and terrified voice.

[The Demon City]

"Different cultures give it different names." The pale man's voice was a solid meter lower than before, having taken on a slight tone of irritation. While it may seem to be due to her question, his gradually relaxing tone suggests the offense was from another source, most likely the giant calling him out on some unspecified misdeed. "To put it simply, it is the demon city."

"Not as bad as it sounds."

"My associate is quite right in that regard. We are not an immoral culture, simply an amoral one." At this point the girl might feel thin digits caress her arm, a sensation quickly cut short by a rush of displaced air, an inhuman scream of pain, and the giant carrying her pausing to stomp on something a few times. "Our abundance in certain resources and lack in certain others just makes our deals come off as suspicious."

[Des-Bal]

Demon city? Government officials had talked about brief interactions with creatures claiming to be demons and there were of course countless tales of Johnny People-Eater in an evil desert kingdom but it was all written off as tactics to distract the public from serious social issues and children's stories. The intentions of demons weren't as certain as those of slave traders she found herself pressing for more. "What do you want with me?" Earnesty came to her panic now.

[The Demon City]

"To get you to the boss."

"What my minimalistic colleague means is that we don't have much interest in you beyond the role you play in fulfilling our orders." The larger man pauses midstride, then takes what seems like a cautious step back. She can hear what's unmistakably a nervous chuckle from the pale man before he continues speaking. "There is a very complex and strict hierarchy in the city, as you're about to learn."

Then, a new voice. It seems to come from a level above the girl even after the height of the giant man carrying her, with volume as though amplified by a speaker with a heavy bass. "That it shall. Do my senses deceive me, or is that a human in the arms of that brute?"

[Des-Bal]

Hierarchy complicated things, killing an overseer or head of household would warrant few repercussions but a leader would almost certainly turn the price on her head into a blank check. She focused on the new voice trying to further access the situation.

[The Demon City]

"That she is, although she isn't ours. She is to be delivered to one who exceeds even your rank, exemplar." There is a clear tone of defiance in the voice of the pale man. This results in a chuckle from the new arrival, and if she listens carefully the slave can hear the street clear in anticipation of a conflict. "Don't let your proximity to the border cause you to forget your place!"

The laughter suddenly stops, and a loud percussion can be heard overlapping a brief crunching noise. The giant slowly sets the girl down on the ground, keeping one hand on her shoulder. "Stay close, human."

A snort of irritation comes from above, and the girl can feel the giant's hand trembling. "Human, human... It has been too long. Tell me, child, what is your name? Answer swiftly if you don't want to upset me."

[Des-Bal]

"Talae." She said quickly. Stepping on toes with Red Eclipse was one thing, their payment depended on her condition, but here she would have to feel out her captors before doing anything rash.

[The Demon City]

"Talae... Yes, rolls off the tongue." The newcomer allowed himself a moment to chuckle at a thought. "Brute, hand the creature over. She's a bit young, but it's been simply too long since I've indulged in a human's womanhood."

"That'd be going against orders from one that outranks you." The giant shifts Talae behind him in a manner that seems to be protective. She can still tell from the trembling in his voice that he is extremely frightened by the current situation, however. "I ask you withdraw that command."

[Des-Bal]

GEK, Groin, Eyes, Neck. She repeated the mantra in her head preparing to defend herself as young girls in Plattz are always taught. Even with a rudimentary knowledge on how to defend herself she began to deeply regret having not watched the militias train. Events were progressing to rapidly to keep track of. The voices were too numerous but the last one seemed to inspire fear. She'd have to keep an eye on this one.

[The Demon City]

OOC: It's only the two voices.

IC:

"Heh." The booming voice came lower, enough that it seemed to be just short of contact with the man that had been carrying Talae. "You know your manners better than the serpent. What if I don't intend to withdraw my command?"

"Then I will command you to do so." The new voice was decidedly female, with an unusual echo effect. Her tone was stern, but at the same time patient. "Brute, I will be taking your master's package, to be returned within less than two mortal days. As I am of higher standing than he, I trust this won't create any complications."

"None." The giant shifted to face the second of the new arrivals, a tone of relief in his voice. "Permission to depart so I may inform my master?"

"Granted." A gentle, apparently human hand places itself on Talae's shoulder. "Come toward me, Talae. Even with the hierarchy, the streets aren't safe for a human such as yourself."