DnD-style roleplay!

[Nail Strafer]

The beaver's eyes widened, while his mouth fell open at Chadin's words. It was as if Chadin had physically slapped him. Augustine figured this guy wasn't used to getting back-talked like this.

"I'll have you know that the master of the house just happens to be my father! And while he's sick, I'm in charge of this place! I am Gordon Lanigiro, heir to the Lanigiro Manor! You WILL show me respect while I'm here!"

One of the guards meanwhile approached while the beaver was blubbering away with his own bloated brevity. It was the badger who'd promised to ask about letting them into the house. Augustine said nothing, as the badger tapped Gordon on the shoulder. The beaver whirled around very suddenly, terrified as if the badger was a thief instead of a loyal servant.

"Dear me Franco! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sorry master." The beaver cast a little sideways smirk and wink at Augustine and Chadin. "But your father's complaining about you being too loud. He can hear you from all the way up there."

The badger pointed up at the large third story window that Gordon had indicated a bit earlier. He returned his attention to the two guides.

"By the way, Master Eric says you two can come right in."

"Great!" Augustine said, grinning at both Chadin and the badger. He tightened the strap on his rucksack and started marching for the front door.

Gordon, meanwhile, stood off to the side, looking rather stupefied at what Franco had just said.


[Gotta say I bought skyrim recently. Kind of wish I played this before starting this RP. Would have been a good source of ideas.]

[Rampage]

[LOLOLOLOL I hope you got it for PC. I've heard there are some fantastic mods out there for it.]

Ah, so the beaver was the son. Suddenly many things became that much clearer. Chadin was just about to rebuttal the beavers rancid ramblings when the badger returned with a request from the resplendent ruler of the household for the ridiculous wretch to respectfully clap his trap.

Chadin discreetly winked back at the badger his own thanks and pointedly made certain to disregard the arrogant beaver as he walked past with a grateful "Thank you" Franco the badger.

[Ouch, I think they'll revoke my artistic license for that alteration. Let's see how long I can keep poking the bear shall we?]

[Nail Strafer]

[No, Xbox 360. They started pricing Skyrim (with all DLC included) at WalMart for $30, so I decided it was time to jump on it. You get my last PM, by the way?]

As the pair of adventurers walked past with Franco, Gordon stood there, stupefied. Shaking his head, the richly-dressed beaver hurried to walk alongside Franco, as he cast snide glances at Augustine and Chadin.

"Wh-wh-what is this?! My dad NEVER lets guests in here! You must have heard him wrong!"

The badger shook his head, suppressing a smile. He never really did like Gordon anyway.

"No, I'm pretty sure he did say that. In fact, he wants an audience with these two to thank them for their hard work."

"WHAT?!" The beaver's mouth gaped wide open, exposing his teeth. "But he won't even see me!"

"Hmm...I wonder why that is." Augustine spoke up from behind them, having a vacant look in his eyes as if he really were confused by the question.

They arrived at the front door, as Franco opened the door for them. A rich foyer lay beyond, with scarcely any light beyond torches on the walls and a chandelier with candles in the center. In the flickering light, elegantly embroidered tapestries hung from the walls. Most of them showed scenes of the surrounding countryside. In the center sat a polished, carved wooden table with a large vase of flowers, no doubt picked from the flower gardens outside.

Beaver continued casting dark looks at Chadin and Augustine, especially towards their feet. Confused by this, Augustine looked down, and realized he was walking into the hall with very dirty boots.

"Oh! My apologies! Do you have slippers or anything like that?" He started to slip off the shoes.

[Chadin]

[Ah too bad about that. Oh well. Anyway, if your last email was about that fanfic, then yes, I did. And yes I would be curious to take a look see if you want]

Chadin continued to ignore the snobbish beaver's withering glares as he followed Franco to the front door. He couldn't hold back a chuckle as Augustine made his sarcastic remark.

"If the master wishes to see us, I trust then that Geoffrey has managed to make some progress in helping him?"

That grin turned into something of a frown however as he saw the very fine lobby beyond. Unlike Augustine, Chadin didn't wear boots. His cloven hoofed feet didn't need them. With that in mind, it had long become habit for him to seek some kind of floor mat he could wipe the worst of the muck and dirt from his feet. Glancing back and forth, he waited patiently at the threshold before asking: "At the very least is there a clothe I could use to wipe my feet with?"

[Nail Strafer]

"Master Eric seems to be feeling better, now that you three have arrived." Franco beamed Chadin and Augustine a smile. "Geoffrey's barely started his treatment, but the fact that you're here has lifted his spirits quite a bit."

Meanwhile, Augustine politely left his shoes outside, to keep them from dirtying the interior of the lobby any further. Gordon sighed at Chadin, as he pointed at a small bar jutting out of the ground, next to the front door. "Wipe your feet on that."

He shook his head in disgust, turned away, and headed inside. "Bloody, uncivilized woodsmen..." He tried to mutter under his breath.

"Excuse me? You know we can still hear you." Augustine said, following him inside. Since it didn't look like Gordon had as much power here as Augustine originally thought, he felt it would be OK to gently poke the beaver a bit.

"I'll say whatever I want!" Gordon said, angrily stopping in front of Augustine and barring the doorway. "This is going to be my house in however many years, after all!"

[Chadin]

"Bloody uncivilized?" Chadin said with mock hurt as he politely wiped his hooves on the indicated bar.

Despite the insulted tone, Chadin finished wiping his hooves with great propriety before traipsing over to the beaver, his mannerism befitting more of the up-tight beaver than a rough-and-tumble woodsmen. He stopped in front of the beaver with an flourishing, overdramatic stomp of his hoof on the carpeted floor, using his taller stature to tower over the smaller beaver. "I'll have you know that I don't have a speck of blood on me." Chadin's facade finally broke as he cast a snarky grin at Augustine. "Though, I wouldn't be surprised if there's some blood on my fist after breaking that thief's nose, eh, Augustine?"

It was a pity, frankly. At least the current master of the house had a sense of gratitude. The fact the master's son wasn't grateful for the arrival of help for his father worried him deeply. Given his continuous reminders of his future inheritance, Chadin wouldn't be too surprised if Gordon had actually been looking forward to his father's untimely end. And his accelerated inheritance. A dark thought best left unspoken. Even if the pompous fool didn't have as much authority as he clearly believed he deserved, he could still potentially cause them trouble if provoked too hard.

"Now then, are you going to let us speak with the master of the estate or not?" Chadin asked, folding his arms across his chest.

[Nail Strafer]

The beaver unconsciously took a step back as Chadin towered over him. Still though, he kept his face set firm as stone as he tried to look tougher than he actually was.

"You...you don't frighten me deer." Gordon's breaking voice betrayed his real feelings though. He pointed a wavering finger at Chadin's face. "If-if-if I get so much as a scratch from you, I'll make...make...sure you rot in this town's jail and the stockades for the rest of your miserable existence."

Answering Chadin's question about seeing the estate's master, the badger walked over from a hall in the back of the room.

"Master Eric's ready to see you now. Gordon, get out of our guest's way, please. You know your dad wouldn't like that."

Sighing, Gordon stepped aside. No use arguing with his father's wishes he supposed. Meanwhile, Gordon sulked off towards another doorway, not bothering to say anything else since he'd been completely overruled by his father.

Augustine had to suppress a smile at watching this rich kid get taken down a peg. He quickly followed after the guard.

[Chadin]

Chadin watched the trembling beaver retreat through the doorway to some other part of the house. Good riddance. Glancing over to the guard, Chadin followed him to their ultimate destination.

[Nail Strafer]

The pair would be led up an ornate, red-carpeted staircase, and then down another hallway with the same red carpet underfoot. The hallway ended at huge, carved oak doors flanked by two more guards. They opened the doors as Augustine and Chadin approached, bowing as they passed.

Inside, they'd see a huge bedroom. Off to one side, a fire burned merrily in a huge fireplace, illuminating the darkened room with an orange glow. However, the sunlight was starting to filter in through the window they'd seen from the front lawn. The light fell onto the shiny, brown fur of a beaver seated upright in a four-poster bed, on the wall opposite the fireplace. He wore a luxurious crimson, silken sleeping robe. Geoffrey sat off to the side, as he kept a close eye on his patient.

The human and beaver turned to look as Augustine and Chadin stepped in, with the beaver casting a huge smile exaggerated by his two wood-cutting teeth.

"So these are the two who brought you here, Geoffrey?"

"Correct, sir," Geoffrey said. "I never would have gotten here without them."

The beaver tried to sit as upright as he could, since he realized he was somewhat slumped against his pillows. He wanted to look a little presentable for his two new guests, as he gave them a warm smile.

"Greetings! My name is Eric Lanigiro, and I thank you for bringing Geoffrey here. I'll make sure you get a rich reward on top of what Geoffrey is paying you."

Father didn't look that much different from son really, aside from traces of gray in the rich brown fur. Speaking of which, the smile faded away.

"I apologize for the behavior of my son. He just doesn't understand what went into building this place."

Damn right... Augustine wanted to say, but held his tongue out of politeness. Instead, he settled for what he thought might be a more innocent statement.

"Well, I'm sure he'll grow out of it before long."

[Chadin]

"Thank you, Sir. You are most generous." Chadin replied with a respectful bow as Eric offered them a further reward for their services. He certainly wasn't going to turn down a little more money here or there if it meant he could live comfortably during the winter months.

At the mentioning of Eric son, Chadin stiffened with resentment. If he had his way, he'd abandon that pompous beaver deep in the woods and watch him realize just how little his money and status meant out in the wild.

Quote:"Well, I'm sure he'll grow out of it before long."

"One can only hope... erm, no offense, Sir." Chadin added hastily as he realized he might have been stepping over some unseen line.

"I trust Geoffrey is taking good care of you then?" Chadin quickly carried on, changing the subject.