[Mkguild] Oberon #6

[Mark Ewing]

Here's the sixth tale of Oberon, it takes place during the Equinox Festival.
I hope it is a pleasant read


A Good Time, A Bad Time


Oberon Snowcat

Shortly after I got up I got dressed, I wore my cleanest kilt and vest as
well as one of my more elaborate swordbelts, and finally my ever present
black cloak, though this one was made of black velvet with red interior.
Once I was properly dressed I placed at least a fifty garets, a couple dozen
suns, and a few other small coins in my belt pouch before I headed out. I
stopped at the mess hall to pick up a little something to tide me over until
I had a chance to get something more filling down at the festival grounds.
On my way out of the keep I banged into the thrice dammed Snow's Tinsmithy
Sign. This must've been at least the twentieth time that I had managed to
bang my head into this sign. Sooner or later I was going to bang my head on
that thing when I was a bad mood and then it would probably end up being
chucked halfway down the corridor by an irate feline. Once I was passed that
sign I quickly made may way out of the keep and down to the grounds where
the main festivities were taking place. I wandered around the tents looking
at some of the wares that were on display. I was completely flabbergasted
when I arrived at a tent that had a sign that said FADGER and standing
behind the counter was someone that I wasn't expecting, the fox scout Misha
Brightleaf, standing behind the counter. I glanced at his waist and was
mildly surprised to see the weapons and belt that I had given him a little
over two weeks ago.

"What's this about Misha?" I asked him. He pointed to a pair of clocks
sitting at the counter and then replied

"I make the interior of the clocks and Will Hardy, the Keep jeweler makes
the cases that my parts go into." I looked over at medium sized carved wood
case clock with a few tasteful gold and silver details and asked said

"I've seen a clock like that before not too long ago when I was serving a
Baron in the city of Komley though his was a little more elaborate."

"That clock was a special commission that the Baron ordered from us for his
manor house in the city. This clock on the other hand wasn't ordered and is
currently for sale here though I would warn you that it isn't all that
cheap."

"Well the last time you visited my place you saw my horde and you commented
that I didn't have a taste for the finer things in life so I might try and
break that habit here and now." The fox nodded and his one remaining ear
twitched before he finally mentioned to me the fact that the clock on the
counter was worth somewhere in the area of 220 suns. This was always the
part of getting a contract that I had always enjoyed, the bargaining over
the price. Misha started by saying

"This clock is an excellent bargain at two hundred Suns"

"I'll give you two hundred"

"Two Hundred! For such a piece of artwork?"

"Two hundred and one, but if you think that you're going to get any more out
of me you're joking."

"Ak! Why don't you just take my purse and make it a real robbery."

"You Insult my honour fox."

"You insult mine cat! But as I consider you a friend I'll suffer and accept
a mere two hundred and one." I reached into my belt pouch and pulled out a
handful of coins. I counted out forty garets and one sun which I handed to
the fox

"Can you have it delivered to my room?"

"You rob me of a decent price and now you want me to deliver it to you? I
will do it for the price of twenty extra suns."

"Twenty Extra Suns!! You'd think that I wanted it to be hand delivered by a
valet in a special coach. I just need it delivered in such a way as it still
works and looks like it does now. I"ll give you five."

"Five? I won't even let it off the counter for less than fifteen."

"Come on what do you think I am, a bottomless well of money? I'll give you
seven suns and not a copper penny more."

"You have a chest full of coins. I might consider it for 10 gold."

"I might need that money for something else, you ever think of that? I'll
give you seven suns and a moon"

"I have to eat and put clothes on my back and you are stealing money from
me. 8 suns."

"You are pretty well off for someone who is destitute. I'll give you seven
suns a moon and five crescents."

"Don't let my looks fool you. Seven suns and 7 crescents." I stuck out my
hand and said

"You are a most astute bargainer Misha, I admire your skills." He shook my
hand firmly and replied

"Thank you. And so are you." I let go of his hand and then looked at the
rest of his merchandise before I said

"I'll be in my place at roughly four-o-clock so that would be a good time to
drop it off." Misha nodded before he asked me

"Are you going to enter any of the contests? I'm trying my skills in the
archery contests. As usual."

"I don't think I will this time. However, in the next festival I might get
involved, this time I just want to see what is available."

"You should try. You'll do good in the sword fighting. You will wind up
facing the most powerful and skilled fighters in the Keep." I looked down at
the sword sheathed at my side before I replied.

"Right now I'm not really dressed for swordsfighting."

"So? Go get dressed. It is all with blunt weapons anyway. No one gets
seriously hurt."

"You mean that I will have to use weapons that won't balance like my own?"

"We can't afford to have people hurt or killed. But remember everyone is
going to have to use the same unbalanced weapons."

"That might even things out. Will I be able to use two swords if I want to?"


"Yes. What weapons you use is up to you. Sword and shield,  axe and shield,
two swords, or whatever you want."  I grinned, a particularly vicious
expression, before I replied

"I think that the swordsman in the Keep are about to get a pointed lesson in
the art of humility."

"That look on you scares me my friend!" He commented. He continued by saying
"I think the other keepers are in for a lot of trouble." I laughed softly
with the tip of my tail twitching in sympathy as I walked back towards the
Keep where I would get changed into my work clothes. I didn't put on my full
heavy belt and double baldric but I did put on my armour, considering the
fact that people would be swinging weapons at my body. Once everything was
in place I grabbed my cloak and headed out of the room down to the field
where I would be doing a little fighting. When I reached the field I found
my way through the crowd until I reached a square that had been roped off.
On one side of the square there was a large tent with a man standing in
front of it. I walked over to the tent and the man looked at me and said

"I guess that you are here to sign up for the swordsmanship contest." I
simply nodded in acknowledgment before I asked what the prize for first
place was. He shook his head before he replied that we would learn what the
prizes were in due time. I nodded slowly before I told the man that I would
go on into the tent. Inside the tent there were at least twenty competators
all looking over a selection of weapons laid out on a table. I went over to
the swords and slowly began to test each one to check the ballance and to
see if was something that I was going to be able to use. Finally I selected
a fine pair, a two handed great-sword, and a single handed broadsword. With
my selections made I went over into an empty corner and slowly began to
practice my forms. I wasn't just planning on being competitive, I wanted to
win this contest. It wasn't so much the prize that I would win but instead
the pride that would come with the victory. As I thought about that I
finished my basic limbering up so I dropped down onto my knees and began to
meditate, clearing my mind of all distractions so that when the time came I
would be able to fight with a clear head.

"Next up we have Vincent, and Adòn Naharél competing." I just vaguely heard
a voice shout. I slowly stood up and headed out of the tent to the roped off
square where we were going to be fighting, Vincent, as it turned out was a
large man with braided blond hair and a fearsome expression on his face. In
his hand was an equally fearsome looking double bladed axe similar to the
one that had gotten me stuck at the Keep in the first place. As soon as I
entered the roped off square the man charged me, hair flying in an obvious
attempt to overpower me with his first rushed attack. I calmly beat the
attack aside and began to go to work on him. Three minutes later he needed
some assistance to make his way to the healer's tent where he would be get
his leg set in a splint.

Each time I went into the square and faced off against someone almost pitied
them because I was so focused on my goals. What wasn't so great about the
contests was the fact that I was creating a bunch of full beds in Coe's
tent. I didn't seem to be able to beat someone without breaking some bone or
other in their body. The only opponent that really gave me a pause was a
frenetic little shrew who wielded her rapier with almost blinding speed. She
actually managed to get away from the fight without breaking any bones
though she did have a few contusions on her body. I didn't get away from
that fight unmarked either. I was going to feel a few of those hits that she
had gotten past my guard in the morning when I got up the next day.

I guess that it was about mid-afternoon when I heard the voice of the man
who was announcing each match shout. "Now we have our final match between
Adòn Naharél and the ever indomitable Rickkter." I stood up slowly,
completely centered and calm about the upcoming bout. When I reached the
square I found myself facing a dark furred raccoon morph who was wielding a
pair of slighly curved sabres, one shorter than the other. I crossed my arms
over my chest and bowwed my head in a silent slaute before I took my stance.
This match would probably prove to be more difficult than the others because
this man, or raccoon, seemed to be much more skilled than any of my previous
opponents. At first neither of us moved studying one another with
calculating eyes. Finally in a flowing move to the left the raccoon struck
at my flank with a lightning quick slash. I blocked the blow with the
shorter sword before I unleashed a counterattack with my longer weapon. From
the way that Rickkter used his blade I could tell that he had probably
either been to or learned from someone who had been to the island nation of
Yamato. I had actually fenced a man from that region once before in the past
some ten years ago. Now here I was facing an adept at that style of combat.
However, two could play that game as I switched from a power style to a more
flowing form known as the striking dragon style. I had had few occaisions to
use the style but it was one of my favorites in terms of energy conservation
and efficiency. Every time that either of us found an opening we attacked
that opening with full vigour. I didn't use my full strength though because
I knew that if I did I wouldn't be able to contintue fighting for very long
before I was prostrate with fatique. As it was I was lucky that between
several of the fights I had managed to get some food to provide my huge
muscles something to power them. As the fight wore on I could tell that this
raccoon was definately a worthy opponent the likes of which I hadn't faced
in a very long time. He moved almost constantly in smooth manner that
reminded me of an old Kelmar Swordmaster that I had trained under when I was
a boy. It was a good thing that I had trained with him because I knew
exactly the response to take to this style of fighting. As the fight wore
one I could see that he was tiring but then again so was I, sooner or later
one of us would make a mistake and the fight would be over. Then I saw it,
the raccoon had made a mistake, not an easy one to spot, or one that was
even all that serious but at our level of capability even a small mistake
such as a slighly overpowered slash was enough to end the match. I ducked
under the blow and caught it one the blade of my long-sword before I jabbed
at him with my short sword and caught him in the shoulder. I quickly
withdrew the weapon and saw that even though these blades were blunted that
he had sustained a slight injury that was bleeding quite freely. He stepped
back, sheathed the shorter of his two swords, and put his hand to his
shoulder before he dropped his guard with his large sword and said quietly

"You seem to have beaten me." I slowly nodded before I crossed my arms over
my chest again and bowed before I replied

"You have given me more of a challenge then I've had to face in many years
sir and I commend you on that." The raccoon returned my gesture before he
responded

"You are most effusive in your praise, but to tell you the truth I wasn't
really feeling all that good today. Perhaps today just wasn't my day."

"Don't be so hard on yourself sir you are a great swordsman and I can
personally attest to that." He headed for the healer's tent where he got
patched up before he joined me standing outside in front of the viewing
stand. At the top of the viewing stand was a large brown horse morph in rich
clothing. I quickly guessed that this man was the Duke of the castle and
overlord of the entire Metamor Valley.

"This spring we here were provided a superlative demonstration of sword
skills. In the final these two of Metamor's finest warriors tried to beat
each other. Never in my years as Duke of this place have I seen such a
display of swordsmanship, but alas the display had to come to an end and we
had to have a victor." The same crocodile that had kicked me out of the
throne room stood up with a large object covered in cloth and said

"This year the first prize goes to Adòn Naharél. It is a shield that was
created by a group of Sathmore Mages and Metalsmiths more than fifty years
ago on the commission of Duke Thomas's father and is known as the Rampart of
Sathmore." He whipped the cloth off of the object in question. The shield
under the cloth was black with silver and gold markings. When I took the
shield into my hands there was a slight glow from the markings on the
object. When the glow was gone most of the silver markings were also gone,
replaced by a black and white enameled image similar to that which decorated
the small center medallion on my double baldrics. I turned the shield over
and slid my left arm into the two loops behind the metal face and hefted it
properly with my left arm. Even though it was metal I could tell that it
wasn't all that heavy. I bowed to the stand before the crocodile came up to
the raccoon with an object that was also covered in cloth, though even I
could tell what this object was "Second prize goes to Rickkter. It is a
helmet that was crafted here in our keep by our resident Rune Mage Artificer
David and is known as the Helmet of the Just." The raccoon took the
proffered item and placed it on his head to try it out. After a moment he
took the helmet off and placed it in the crook of his left arm before he
bowed to the stand like I had. The third place person was the shrew who had
given me so much trouble earlier on. She received a pair of gauntlets that
enhanced her strength three times, in her case the prize was very
appropriate. Shortly after we all received our prizes we each headed to
whatever we were going to do next. Personally I headed home where I placed
my new shield on the wall beside some of my other weapons before I got
dressed in light clothing before I headed out once more to watch the other
contests.

I was sure to be available when Misha's clock arrived but once I placed it
on my desk I headed out once more to see what kind of things I could
entertain myself with for the rest of the day. At some point in the early
evening I found my way to the Deaf Mule. If anything the 'Mule was even
busier than it had been the night before. I played several games of throwing
knives and imbibed deeply in the ale that Donnie was selling. After what
seemed like a dozen tankards of ale I was really beginning to enjoy myself.
When a loud drunken voice proclaimed

"I think thash they ssshould burn all of she freakssh and shet proper
peoplesh to live in thish plashe." I turned around to see a large very drunk
teamster standing in the middle of room talking to his friends weaving
slightly with a tankard in his hand. I stood up from where I was sitting in
the back of the bar by myself at a table and said

"Sir I would suggest that you moderate your speech here in the Deaf Mule
because you won't find all that many people here who will sympathize with
you."

"Watssh your mouth sshhpawn from Hell." My ears folded against the back of
my head and a low growl escaped my throat. "Look atsh thash. He can't even
shhpeak like a man." I stepped forwards and directed a glance over at
Donnie. He was directing a glance at his bouncer, who was a large brown bear
morph. The drunk turned around away from me before he swung around with
surprising speed with his fist balled up. I don't know what happened next
but I was seeing stars. I responded with almost blinding speed as the
drunken layabout flew through the air with something approaching unnatural
grace before he ended up landing on a table and breaking it beneath his
weight. At that point I felt and heard a crash as something broke across my
back. From that point forwards I don't remember what happened as I simply
responded to all of the threats that I perceived.

I wasn't sure where I was when awoke but I had a strange suspicion that I
knew where I was when I saw the familiar ceiling of the infirmary spinning
over my head like a child's toy. Then my stomach chose that moment to make
itself felt as it attempted to turn itself inside out. I just barely managed
to grab the nearby chamber pot position itself before my rebelling stomach
deposited the results of the night's drinking into it in a noisy belch that
hurt my sensitive ears. When I finished I slumped back into bed, my head
spinning and my abused senses pounding away at my skull like a lutin with a
rusty knife. As I sat there waiting for death to take be so that I could be
spared this pain I heard one of the other people in this part of the room do
as I had done and vomit into a pail. The sound of the person being sick
drove through my head in a spike of pain that was reminiscent of a hot sword
that had yet to be tempered. I was glad when I finally managed to drop off
back to sleep.

Much later on I awoke to find myself in the same room, this time though it
wasn't spinning. I did feel nine kinds of awful but at least I could
function. I got to my feet slowly because of the pain that was manifesting
itself behind my right eyeball. As soon as I was on my feet I made my way
towards the door before I met a guard who held out his hand and said

"You'll have to wait here sir until the the Captain of the Watch will deign
to see you. You guys caused quite the mess over at the Deaf Mule. I've never
seen Donnie that bent out of shape about the condition of his establishment.
Hell the lutins didn't cause as much damage as you did." I knew that the
last statement that the guard made was a bit of an overstatement but I let
it stand. Since there was no place else to go I went back to my bed before I
noticed the fact that someone had relieved me of all of my weapons. Normally
I would be enraged at the sheer effrontery of that move but as I was still
very hungover at this point I really didn't care.

Some time later the guard came up to me and escorted me to the Office of the
Captain of the Watch. The Captain herself was an age regressed female with a
no nonsense look on her face. Standing behind me was the large man who had
taken a swing at me. He had his right arm in a sling and a look of profound
suffering on his face. The Captain looked at the two of us before she said

"You and Mr. Parnell here are charged with drunkenness, brawling, disorderly
conduct, and destruction of property. How do you plead?" I looked her
straight in the eyes before I replied with a slight feline whine of pain in
my voice

"I accept responsibility for anything that I may have done ma'am and I am
willing to pay for any damages that I have caused last night." She looked at
me and then pulled out a sheet of paper from the stack on her desk before
she replied

"Well is says here that the total damages to the Mule would cost something
in the area of four thousand suns, can you afford that Mr. Naharél?"

"Yes I can afford that ma'am and I will do so as soon as my personal
belongings are returned to me. I need them in order to do my job as a
scout."

"Very well you will pay the money, but you will also have to serve Donnie in
whatever capacity that he would like you to for four hours on every day that
you aren't on active duty." I accepted the punishment, since it was only
what I deserved. She then turned her gaze on the Mr. Parnell and said

"Mr. Parnell you are perhaps the dumbest individual I have ever seen in this
office in my time here at the Keep. I thought I'd seen it all, but your
sheer stupidity of punching a tiger in the nose is something that I cannot
begin to comprehend. Since most of your fellow teamsters are all laid up
with various injuries, from the resulting brawl I am going to fine you three
hundred suns for you stupidity and you are to leave the environs of the Keep
as soon as possible. Do I make myself clear?" The man nodded slowly before
he stood up and was escorted out of the room. I made my own way back to my
room where I had to dip into my horde to come up with the funds that I had
been fined. When I had finished counting out four thousand suns which I
needed to pay the fine. Once I had the money I got dressed in fresh clothing
before I headed back to the office of the Watch where I could pay the fine.
The Captain was still sitting in her chair reading some report when I placed
the heavy sack of gold on her desk in front of her.

"Here is the money that you fined me to pay for the damages to the Deaf
Mule." She looked at the sack before she said

"Give that money to Donnie. I will see about getting your things back." With
that said she reached into a compartment in her desk and passed me my sword
and dagger wrapped up in the belt that they were attached to. I quickly
slung the belt around my waist before I sighed in contentment before I
headed out of the room to the Dead Mule where I could pay Donnie for the
damages that I had managed to cause in the brawl. As soon as I crossed the
threshold the large bullish man came over to me and shook his head softly. I
held up the sack before dropping to my knees

"Sir I've done you a great disservice by abusing your hospitality last night
and I give you this as recompense for the damage that I did. The only other
thing that I can offer you is my own hands and my swords. The bull looked
down at me for a second before he replied

"If all I ever wanted was money do you think that I would be doing this? No,
the reason I do this is because I enjoy working in a bar. I serve those who
live here and visit here and I am used to the odd brawl taking place in my
bar, but you and those other people did more damage than I am used to. As a
penance for the destruction that you have wrought on my place you will serve
me by going into the back and cleaning off the dishes that are there in the
sink." I bowed slowly and then headed off to the kitchen, still living with
my hangover. As I grabbed the first grimy food encrusted plate from the
stack by the sink I vowed that I would never allow myself to ever get that
drunk again.
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