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Old 10-05-2003, 10:26 PM   #80
Ealasaide
Shadow of Tyrn Gorthad
 
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Location: The Fencing Lyst
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Sting

Kaldir

Kaldir entered Bree from the north. He passed like smoke through a little known hole in the great hedge and moved silently through the sleeping town, keeping to the shadows and watching closely any who still walked the streets. The most activity, of course, was in the vicinity of the Prancing Pony, but Kaldir did not choose to enter the inn. He was more interested in the traffic outside the boundaries of the inn yard. For a brief time, he watched the outside of the inn as the usual assortment of travelers, drunks, and tradesmen made their comings and goings, but seeing nothing there that interested him or spoke to him of Naiore's presence, he moved on.

He had not gone more than a block away from the inn in the direction of the eastern gate when he heard the approach of two men coming up behind him. Noting that they were as yet unaware of his presence, Kaldir melted away into the shadows and listened. The voices of the two men were familiar: one he recognized as belonging to smalltime thief and pickpocket, the other as belonging to one of the town bullies. Both men's names escaped him for the moment, but Kaldir was not interested in them. What interested him was the topic of their conversation. Someone called Ferney. Both men were quite drunk and leaned heavily on each other for balance.

"I'd still like to know where that Ferney's got off to," muttered the pickpocket with a drunken slur. "'He got tossed from the Pony afore we could get there. I was a-countin' on him, y'know, to get us a bit o' action."

"He's cut us out," answered the bully. "I know he has. He's had somethin' major coming on for days. I could see it in his eye. He's cut us out."

"Bob down at the pub said he saw him leading a horse outta town. Gelding. No saddle or nothing."

"He's cut us out," growled the bully again, but Kaldir had heard enough. He waited until the two men had stumbled away down a side street, arguing amiably about the best way to get their revenge on Ferney for ditching them, then he stepped into the street. Using the light of the moon and the few streetlamps that still burned, his practiced eye scanned the confusion of footprints approaching the eastern gate for any indication that the gelding with the malformed shoe had passed that way. Unseen by the gatekeeper, Kaldir slipped over the gate and out into the darkness beyond, his eyes still scanning the earth. He traveled a fair distance toward the southwest, in the direction of the Barrow Downs, but the dim light did nothing to aid in his search for Ferney's trail. Finding nothing, he was just about to turn back toward Bree, when he heard the heavy crunch of a man's footsteps approaching out of the gloom, angry muttering accompanying each step. Concealing himself in the shadow of a large boulder, Kaldir waited and listened.

"Who does she think she is now, anyway?" grumbled the voice. Kaldir recognized it instantly. Barrold Ferney. He had had some business dealings with Ferney in the past, mostly having to do with information that could be bought for a price, or fugitives whose locations could be given up for an even bigger price.

"...ain't here to protect her... bow to Naiore...lost with the rest of 'em." Kaldir watched as he rubbed his chin and glared back over his shoulder to the west. "Could go find me find me some ale..."

The grumbling went on as Barrold made his way past Kaldir back in the direction of Bree, kicking the earth and spitting generously as he went. Kaldir trailed him for awhile, hoping for another mention of Naiore, but there was none. Finally, Kaldir decided to make his presence known to Ferney. He would be far more likely to learn something he could use in conversation with the man than by trailing behind him and listening to the stream of disgruntled rubbish Ferney spewed on his own. Kaldir left the trail that Ferney had been following and, cutting across the open ground, emerged a few yards ahead of him on the trail.

"Greetings, fellow traveler," Kaldir said pleasantly, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. One could never be too cautious when approaching vipers like Ferney in a dark and lonely place.

With a surprised grunt, Ferney halted instantly. "What? Who's that? By garn, you should know better than creeping about in the dark like that. Good way to get yourself killed." He started walking again, toward Kaldir still, but Kaldir could see that Ferney's hand had gone to the hilt of his dagger.

"Come now, Ferney," answered Kaldir. "Is that any way to greet an old associate? You've given me some excellent information in the past. I'd hate to see our association end badly out here in the middle of nowhere."

Ferney hesitated again. The moon had earlier gone behind a cloud, but now it sailed forth and bathed the two men in a silvery light. Ferney's eyes narrowed as he recognized the Ranger's scarred features. Then, he smiled a rather oily smile.
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