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* Dawn emerges from Queenie's room at the Sunrose looking distinctly rumpled. One might form the wrong impression from his visit if his hands were not stained with pencil dust and ink blots, or if his expression was less businesslike. <Dawn> ::He pauses as he crosses the lobby, then turns up the stairs instead of leaving the building. He knocks on Breezy's door and has a short chat with the boy, then moves further down the hall. He listens at Toffy's door for a moment, then knocks.:: <Toffy> ::the sounds of faint, repeated thudding stop, and Toffy calls in a faintly breathless voice:: Come! * Dawn opens the door and looks around cautiously before crossing the threshold. "Working hard, I see." * Toffy goes to the rough shingle of wood he's nailed to the wall and yanks out four fairly well-clustered daggers from the target, and a fifth that's gone wide. "Keeps me busy." <Dawn> Aye. ::he eyes the divots in the shingle and the wall around it:: Not too bad. How long have you been at it? * Toffy shrugs a shoulder and eyes the slant of light hitting his floor. "Not too long. Hour, maybe. He said practice, so... I'm practicin'." <Dawn> ::nods:: Very good. How're the lessons going? Getting along okay? <Toffy> Not too bad. He's a little... ::shrugs:: talks like a toff, sometimes, don't see the point in it. But... ::turning away to put his knives aside:: I think I c'n learn a thing or two with 'im, at least. <Dawn> ::grins:: I'd think so, aye. You might have to learn to talk hightown yourself, you know. It's important to be able to blend in- Ah, I'll leave the lessons to him. I was just down here on some business, thought I'd stop in and see how you and the others were doing. <Toffy> He's really... ::clears his throat:: C'n I ask a question? <Dawn> ::folds his arms and leans against the door:: Sure. <Toffy> D'you... do this a lot? The training and everythin', I mean. It just... Angel said, Snowman had a lot of the trainin' of *him*, and... how long has all this been going on? ::the unstated addition in his tone is "right under my nose without me knowing it?":: <Dawn> *This* guild? ::thinks:: Forty years? I'm not clear on the history, really, because we- I only moved here maybe ten years ago, now. The training of up-and-coming criminals, that's been going on for as long as there've been crimes to commit, I'd guess. <Toffy> ::eyes wide:: Yer shittin' me. Me da-- ::he closes his mouth:: <Dawn> Your da? ::his eyebrows go up, an expression of mild interest:: Go on. <Toffy> Nothin'. Just that me da said Marsember was a pretty clean town, 'cept for the Island. 'Cause of the Harpers, n'all. An' I know there's always some stuff goin' on, but Tower... I thought his setup was something new. Kept thinkin', the Harpers'd pull 'im down soon enough.... <Toffy> ::shrugs a shoulder listlessly, staring at the wall:: Mebbe jus' none of 'em left here, no more. <Dawn> ::snorts:: They're here, believe me. And I've no doubt they'd have pulled Tower down, if we hadn't gotten to him first. That was one of the reasons we had to get him. If the Harpers had started nosing around, they'd have found their way under *our* skin, too. <Dawn> That's why we're so small, so specialized. Why we're so cautious about who we bring in. ::he scowls briefly:: Tower should've never happened. <Toffy> ::hesitantly:: Breezy told me... he was from before? Why... why'd you have a beef with 'im, then? <Dawn> With Tower? ::sighs:: It's a bit of a tale. <Toffy> ::gestures to his one chair with a lopsided grin:: I've got time, if you've got time. <Dawn> ::smirks and leans more comfortably on the wall:: Let's see... A while back - probably before you were born - the man at the top of the Marsember Guild was Sable. He was a glowing prick. <Toffy> ::snorts laughter:: Y'could see it in the dark? <Dawn> Ha. Wouldn't know. Before my time. But he treated his people bad, and his second - his brother - wasn't any better. <Dawn> So up came Il Roche. Broke Sable and took over. Snowman worked for Il Roche. Things started to get better. <Toffy> Snowman-- the Snowman I met? <Dawn> Aye, the same one. Told you, this was before my time. * Toffy whistles. "Waaaaay before your time, then." He nods. <Dawn> Anyway. Snowman had a wife. And he took under his wing this kid - 'bout your age - who eventually grew up to be Angel. But Sable'd had a kid. Lyegen. Lyegen skipped town when the war came up between his da and Il Roche. Disappeared. <Toffy> ::eyes wide:: Angel's been doin' this since he was *my* age? <Dawn> He didn't start out where he is now. He was just a thief, then. Pickpocket, I think, though you'd have to ask him. <Dawn> My partner and I moved here from Suzail - there's a guild there, too, and if you think *this* guild is secretive... That one operates right under the king's nose. Well, the Regent's, now, but Azoun had a major bug up his ass about shadowguilds, so things were always jumpy. * Toffy nods, listening raptly. <Dawn> ::frowns briefly:: But that's off-track. 'Round about the same time my partner and I moved here, someone killed Snowman's wife. Messy, and ugly. Damn near broke him. I'd only met him once or twice, so I didn't pay attention, then, to why he packed up and retired. <Dawn> Bunch of stuff happened, then, bang bang bang. Demons and... Oh, merciless gods, messes. Guild changed hands a couple of times, and ended up in mine. Then Tower showed up, started setting up to take me down. <Toffy> ::cocks his head:: Didn't know you had a p-- ::eyes going round again:: Did you say-- *demons*? <Dawn> ::grins:: Aye. Ugly fuckers, and mean. We had to literally make a pact with the gods to get them off our asses. * Dawn eyes Toffy briefly, then shrugs and hikes up his shirt. He draws a finger across four parallel scars that run nearly the breadth of his chest. "Lucky I survived." * Toffy gapes at Dawn, saucer-eyed. "Did you..." His voice cracks, and he tries again, an awed whisper. "You *met* Tymora?" <Dawn> ::laughs:: Not Tymora. Angel's patron goddess. Nacheyla. <Toffy> ::blushes a little and mutters:: Ain't heard of *her.* <Dawn> 'Sokay. She's pretty smalltime. I'm sure Angel will tell you a bit, eventually. <Dawn> Anyhow, while we were pulling Tower down, we learned some interesting things. Such as - Tower was really Lyegen. He'd got it through his head that Marsember's guild *belonged* to him, just 'cause his daddy'd held it. <Toffy> Ah-- so *that's* what Breezy meant when he said he was from "before." <Dawn> Aye. Also turns out that Lyegen was the fucker who killed Snowman's wife, back when. So the grudge went both ways. <Toffy> ::blinks, sitting up straight in a sudden "aha!" moment:: So... that's what Angel meant, then... 'bout bein' like Tower. <Dawn> Aye. <Toffy> ::a little grumpily:: I really wasn't gonna hurt 'er. <Dawn> I know you weren't. But there's things you just don't do unless you're ready to follow through, and that's one of them. <Dawn> ::half-smiles:: A man gets a little... unreasonable, when his woman's concerned. <Toffy> ::nods sententiously:: Women're trouble. <Dawn> ::laughs:: Sometimes, aye. <Toffy> So... you killed 'im 'cause of the grudge? Or, both grudges? But... you don't do things the way he does things, either. Why not? I mean... we're criminals, yeah? <Dawn> I wanted him dead because he was trying to muscle in on my territory. Snowman killed him over the grudge. Alliance of desires. ::he grins briefly, then looks serious:: There's a host of reasons for not doing things the way Tower did them. <Dawn> First - it was bad business. He was causing a stir, and it wasn't going to be long before the Purple Dragons were swarming over us. And the Harpers, too, if the Dragons couldn't root us out. It's bad to fuck with those folk. * Toffy twists his lips together bitterly for a moment, but nods. <Dawn> Second - the guild exists to make money for its members. We make more money, faster, if we're organized. It means we can provide protection for each other, and safe havens, and guaranteed service. Lots of benefits. We do NOT exist to make people's lives miserable. <Toffy> ::grins a little:: 'Cept the guys that piss you off. <Dawn> ::half-smiles:: The guys that really piss me off, Toffy, aren't miserable. They're too dead to be miserable. * Toffy grins wider. <Dawn> But the truth is... if we're not happy with how things are running, we don't make money. If the sheep are too unhappy about their fleecing, then we don't make money. It's in our best interest not to make too many waves. * Toffy thinks about it for a bit, looking uncertain. "Chins was makin' money." <Dawn> ::flatly:: I don't deal in unwilling whores. Especially kids. <Toffy> ::swallows:: Yes, sir. <Dawn> ::more calmly:: For that matter, no one in this guild has a job they aren't willing to do. ::cocks his head, eyeing Toffy:: What've you heard, about me? <Toffy> ::shrugs:: Not too much. You head the Guild. You're a mage, and you can do lots of stuff with fire, like we saw. You've got a lot of girlfriends. I heard Angel's girl was yours, too, 'til you gave 'er to 'im. Some of the kids say... you do this a lot. Rescue 'shine, I mean. And some of 'em say you've got some kinda ghost or spirit or somethin' workin' for you. Not sure if I believe that. ::cocks his head curiously:: Didn't know you had a partner, tho'. <Dawn> ::nods:: Most of it's true enough. My partner... died a few months back. And I don't usually do rescues on such a grand scale. <Toffy> But you do 'em? ::studies Dawn with narrowed eyes, and asks boldly:: Were *you* ever 'shine? <Dawn> ::grins briefly:: Gonna have to special-order your fucking pants... Aye, I was 'shine. Not even Guild-sanctioned; it was the shadowguild rescued me. <Toffy> In Suzail, then. ::cocks his head:: Does the Guild here sanction it? At all? <Dawn> ::pauses, his jaw working, then nods shortly:: One, and only one. Kid I rescued who kept running away to go back. <Toffy> ::his lip curls a little, but then he thinks about it, and shrugs:: Well... all sorts, I guess. <Dawn> ::snorts and nods:: I keep him quiet, though. There's a few who'd throw a fit, even knowing he's willing. But he's clever, and a good earner. ::grins briefly:: Eight gold is pocket change. <Toffy> ::raises eyebrows:: I was gettin' by on coppers an' toss-offs, before. Maybe a few silver. Th' sort that carry gold weren't th' sort I could afford t' go after. <Dawn> Aye. Bigger risks and bigger bait for bigger catches. Believe me, I know. <Dawn> ::looks around the sparse room:: What do you do when you're not with Angel for lessons, or practicing? <Toffy> ::shrugs:: There's chores t'do, around the house. Payment for stayin' here. <Dawn> ::nods:: I meant for fun. My apprentice is about your age, and it'd be good for him to meet some others. <Toffy> You got an apprentice? ::looks a little uncomfortable:: I just... hang out. With Finger, mostly, 'coz of I know him. Sometimes I go out, take a look around. Ain't... never really had time for hobbies, or nothin'. <Dawn> ::half-smiles:: Fire mages don't just grow on trees. His name's Calis. Have Angel bring you 'round sometime. Bienca can get you started on locks, and you can meet him. I think you'd like him. About everyone does. <Toffy> ::grins a little:: 'Course they don't, they'd burn 'em down. <Dawn> ::laughs:: There you go. <Dawn> ::eyes the slant of the sun coming in the window:: I should get going. I need to look in on Duck before I leave, too. <Toffy> I'll come by when Angel wants a break from poundin' me into the mats. ::hesitantly:: ...Dawn? Um... Thanks. I think I... I think I know a little better, know. * Dawn does not smile. "Aye. Don't let it prey on you." He almost smiles, then, as he opens the door and steps back out into the hallway. "See you." * Toffy waves, and turns back to collect his throwing knives again as Dawn shuts the door. |
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