#baurus

“Baurus? Some help over here?” Arri called but a moment later, though she kept her voice down so the patrons upstairs would not come running. This here would be a nuisance to explain to Luther already, who would then have to alert the city guard once Baurus and Arri were in the clear. Enough of a mess as it was, Baurus supposed, without any additional witnesses. Not that the agent had left them with much of a choice. Leaving his hiding spot, he walked over to the Imperial, who was doing her best to not get blood on her borrowed clothes, looking around for some fabric to wipe her dagger on and eventually settling on the agent’s trousers. Baurus still didn’t know where she’d hidden that blade, and decided he didn’t want to know anyway; best not to ask her about it. “How did I hear him, but not you?” he wondered instead, because he was certain he had only heard one person coming down the stairs instead of two, and while he was not interested in finding out where she’d learned certain things, he did have an interest in how they were done. He was sure that this information would be of help to him in the future, and it was a lesson learned – his ears could betray him at any time. “I move very quietly,” Arri shrugged, and the Blade raised an eyebrow at her, which was only met with a groan. “Fine. I matched my steps to his, copied his movements as far as I was able, drew my dagger at the same time he did his. And it helped that he wasn’t exactly an experienced assassin. One of those would have noticed me right away, would’ve known to look in the shadows.” She nodded at the would-be murderer’s blade now lying uselessly on the floor. “Biggest part is still moving quietly, and reading the other person’s movements, though. Not something you Blades are trained in, huh?” “Not as such, no,” Baurus admitted. “The latter part, yes, that is something every fighter needs. The former, not as much. Some of us are, when there is a need for us to work undercover. I was … not meant for it. But desperate times call for desperate measures, right?” “Fair. Just do me a favor and try not to apply what I tell you when you’re back in your clunky armor. Anyway, Breton bookworm here’s not going to tail anyone ever again.” “He wasn’t much better at espionage than me, after all,” Baurus said, “or I would likely not have noticed him as quickly. But if I see a man sitting in a corner for three nights in a row, pretending to read a book but barely even turning any pages, even I get my suspicions.” “Must’ve been one of their low-level men,” Arri sighed. “Bit worrying how he was so ready to murder someone when he’s just a nobody. Have you learned anything of note while you’ve been here? You’ve not left the city, I take it?” Baurus shook his head. “No. The assassins who killed the Emperor were part of a Daedric cult called the Mythic Dawn. Apparently worship Mehrunes Dagon, but something tells me you already knew.” “Hard not to, given your future Emperor made me run halfway across the Deadlands to close the gate the cult set up in Kvatch before he saw fit to let me drag his royal behind back to Jauffre. There’s only so much lava and brimstone you can walk past before you take a hint.”

If you are interested in a commission please contact me @nerdyerror!

commission for @fashionablyfyrdraaca ♥

Thanks for the ask!

Arri, despite all her swearing and yelling, could be surprisingly quiet. A short trip through the Imperial City Sewers was, admittedly, not an ideal opportunity to get to know someone, but what he had gotten to see back then had given Baurus the impression that she was brash and loud and constantly drawing attention to herself. Then again, her sheer ability to fight just as well as any trained warrior, and with the first weapon she’d come across, had led him to believe it had likely not been her foul mouth that had landed her in that cell. The way she fought was not like any soldier he’d ever met, however, though not due to lack of discipline. Rather, it was… less straightforward than Baurus perceived his own fighting style, or that of his fellow Blades, to be. It was hard to describe, and certainly not something she had learned through traditional means – it seemed like her way of approaching combat was cobbled together from many techniques and tricks she had picked up wherever it was that she’d come from. Baurus had not the slightest idea where that was, and he did not ask. That woman was an enigma, to be sure. And yet he did not dare ask her too many questions; she could scare a lesser man half to death, he supposed. He had neither heard nor seen her approach, and if not for the opening and closing of the door of the boarding house, would likely not even have noticed her arrival at all, but she slid into the seat next to him at the bar like she was a regular in this place. The few patrons that were around this early in the day paid her no mind, and the owner merely greeted her and took her order before moving on. Arri looked quite different from when he’d last seen her. Her hair was tied back now, and she was wearing practical but sturdy clothing that he thought he recognized as Jena’s. The two of them were of a similar height, and Jena had likely lent the clothes to Arri, pragmatic as she was. He doubted Arri had had the time or opportunity to go buy her own between delivering the Amulet of Kings to Jauffre and returning here, blending in or no. He didn’t know where she kept her weapon now, but he knew she likely had at least one on her person. It was just as well, because he could use her help in making sure that when he left Luther Broad’s Boarding House, he was no longer being followed.

this polycule sucks dude