Welcome to Gaia! ::

The city of Gambino is known for its brash juxtaposition of living types. On the east side of the city, people live in luxury, and buildings like Gambino's mansion and the Bank boast the immense wealth contained there. However, almost exactly halfway through the island, the slums start, filled with poor beggars and sailors. This is the side with the docks. The change can be noticed immediately if one goes into the middle of the large market held in the center of Gambino; the stalls go from beautiful and with items made of gold and silver to dirty booths and cheap wares. Gambino, the mayor of the city, assures his people he is trying his best to help the poorer people of the city. However, many suspect he is also a leader of crime in the city and is simply trying to make as much money as he can.

Important Places:
Gambino's Mansion- Gambino has an immense, beautiful mansion. Some say it is made completely out of gold and silver. He only lets his highest advisors and most wealthy friends inside his mansion, and guards it with a passion. hill leading up to it is lined with dozens of guards, guard dogs, and protection spells.
Marketplace- Gambino is the best city in Gaia for trade. The large and famous marketplace boasts hundreds of stores and is the most diverse marketplace in the world.
Bank- The bank holds some of the richest people's money in the world. It is a beautiful building and is key to Gambino's wealth.
Docks- A stark contrast to Gambino's Mansion and the Bank, the Docks are filled with beggars and poor sailors. It is infested with crime and pickpockets, and can be quite dangerous. All ships must first go through the docks to get to Gambino, except for Gambino's own, personal ship, which is a reason why many people in Barton refuse to travel to Gambino.

Kharan indeed was watching the people, a sneer of disdain on her face. She, like Eradiel had been told to take some time off before the real trouble started. So rather than wander on her own, she followed Eradiel. She had visited Gambino many times before, and in her eyes it never changed. The people were the same. Their motives were the same. Their planned out actions always ended up the same.

Kharan didn't herself know why she watched the people all the time. Probably, she reasoned to herself, to demonstrate to herself again that the people were cattle. Looking at the avenue, she saw a man's distraction and knew he'd hit the slightly intoxicated woman on the other side of the street. He saw a knife wielding deckhand and knew that he would kill the next whore he could afford. She saw two shoremen playing chess and after a minute of watching knew that the man on the right would win with a rook, three pawns, his king, and a knight left compared to his opponent's two bishops and a pawn. She saw Eradiel and knew he was torn between the desire to be back at HQ preparing and following Lumitae's "order." She knew that the seagull currently flying in over the ship's mast would roost atop the tavern. She knew that if she shot it, people would look over for a second, shrug, and go back to following their paths, nothing changed.

Reaching down, she pulled a coin from her pouch. Heads, heads, tails, heads, tails, heads, tails, tails, heads, then that fat drunk man would come over and try to take it from the "little girl" Sighing, she flipped the coin.

Heads...

"No, no bother," Eradiel said sighing to himself. "It's not like I'm doing anything anyways."

The swordsman stood and turned towards the young woman. He idly caressed the sword on his hip, "And I'd think I'd look more like a pirate than a sailor. Is there something I can do for you?"

He continued pondering his his internal battle of returning to the Clan's headquarters or following his lord's suggestion.

Eradiel leaned close the young lady, he smelled the pleasing aroma of perfume and his eyebrow rose. He was more than familiar with the feeling growing inside him, a feeling that numbed the minds of warriors. His rigid training caused his subconscious to leap in alarm. His conscious mind however was prepared for things of this nature.

With his face only a couple of inches from hers he spoke. "A man in my business has no time for pleasures other than battling, and I highly doubt you'd be interested in that."

Despite the inherent humor in that line, his voice never wavered from it's monotonal rythm.

Err, I said I stood up. sweatdrop I'll just assume you did that where I was just sitting. biggrin

Eradiel glanced towards the blades strapped to her leg. He allowed his gaze to linger a bit. After all, she needed to be baited a bit into saying more.

"It seems you are more inclined to that than I had said." he said without much surprise. "Then again, no innocent lass would approach a man armed to the teeth without possesing an adventurous spirit."

He pulled his long ponytail around his shoulder and adjusted the straps along it, making sure they were all in place. The length of hair itself hung to about his mid thigh.

"As for the name, it's Eradiel. And I'm no pirate, that work should be left to those with... less scruples." A few soldiers shot the swordsman glares, and that was just as he suspected. He now knew there were at least half a dozen scallywags on the docks at present. An important thing to know at this point. "And yours would be?"

He had tensed when she walked behind him. She was lucky he hadn't tried to dispatch her. However, he was sure she was up to some sort of elaborate game.

"I'm afraid that I don't know of anywhere... nice. I spend most of my time on duty, and my recreational time is spent training or contemplating life." With a jerk of his head he flipped his ponytail back behind him with a snap. "That being said, I don't seem to being doing either right now. Perhaps you know of a nice place..."

Her back was to him, so she couldn't see the glance he shot to Kharan a liittle ways off. He however, did not take a step.

Eradiel did not watch her leave, rather he watched the deckhands who watched her leave. He did see her blow him a kiss. This caused him him to smirk wryly.

She was either up to something, or really was a free spirit. Either way, she did not have a place in his life at this moment. Something inside told him he'd see her again. People like her tended to noticable.

"A name is only a name, a first impression however..." he mused to himself.

Kharan had stood behind Eradiel the entire time, simply observing the interaction. Eradiel's actions she'd predicted, modifying them once the smell of the intoxicating perfume hit her nose. She herself had stayed back through the entire thing. Since she was used to being an observer, this proved little inconvenience.

Once the woman was gone, Kharan stepped over the fat drunk who lay at her feet, out cold, and looked in the direction the woman had gone. Vision worked as it did all the time. The arrogant swagger, the graceful movements, the bleeding beggars left along the path she took, the daggers worn to casually for simple self defense, all of these spoke to Kharan.

The demeanor, movements, and weapons told Kharan she was a fighter, and well trained too. The swagger of her movements told Kharan she had arrogance, which when combined with the other factors meant she probably had something hidden. Probably allies judging from her actions. A powerful warrior who probably has powerful allies meant a clan member. The beggars and their injuries lead her to the final conclusion.

"Death clan," Kharan said plainly to Eradiel.