Titia's early adventures

[Titia]

Three boys and a young girl sit in circle inside an isolated farm, a set of cards is displayed in the middle of the circle.

The boy in front of the girl is naked but for his underwear.

The girl turns a last card

"Queen of Spades! Get it off..."

The look on the face of the boy in front of the girl suddenly changes.

I know that look. It's the look of someone who though he'd see a gal naked just to realize he's going to loose his last piece of cloth. I smile, at least I owe him that.

"NO WAY I'LL REMOVE THAT PIECE!"

That's the usual reaction.

It's the frustration for the most part of it, in a few second it should be shame. Only, that one has been bragging all afternoon about how good he was at cards and how he'd see me naked in no time. So he might become furious because for now, I'm the one getting a good look and his two friends are laughing.

"YOU'RE CHEATING!", yells the boy in an angry voice

That is true I recknon. But he nas no way to know that for sure. I'm too agile, too fast in card manipulation for him to know I've been looking at the card distribution when shuffling. Besides, any young adult willing to see a thirteen years old girl naked deserves to loose, whatever it takes.

"No I'm not, you've just been unlucky and maybe it's me you'll see naked next time. Meanwhile get it off or I'll let all the village know of our little game"

I went too far. That's all me... I can't keep my tongue sometimes. I shouldn't have threaten him, it would have gone easy. Now I've given them a clue I also had some blackmail ideas for not telling their stupid, ever giggling, fiancees.

"GET HER GUYS"

The two other boys suddenly take the girls and hold her arms tight

Crap!

"AND HOLD HER, WE'LL GET OUR REWARD ANYWAY"

"Let me GO !"

That was pathetic. I sounded like my little brother when I get the chance to tease him. Think!

"Get her up, I want to see what looked so promising"

He's cooling down and getting overconfident again, let's buy some time...

"I know I'm a bit mature for my age but I really didn't plan for that today. Maybe we could discuss this?"

The girl smiles, trying to hide her fear

"And what would you have to discuss? How you told us three you wanted to show us how grown up you were? What would be expected with your reputation? Whatever you say noone will listen to you Titia"

Right... my reputation. I guess mom was right, it does get useful to have a good one sometimes. Meanwhile come just a bit closer, I'll trade you a good look at my breasts for my knee in another pair of yours...

As the half naked boy reaches for the girl's chest and starts to open her dress, her right knee rapidly moves up and strike in a way no heir would ever to be expected for him. Using the confusion, she moves back her right foot and hit the foot of the boy on the right.

Oups.. I think I broke something in there...

Finally as her right arms is let free by the second boy, the girl turns it to the nose of third boy, hitting hard, once again and forcing him to let her second arm free

Free! Get out girl, get out now !

As the girls rushes for the exit of the farm, holding her opened dress in one piece, she ears the naked boy yelling something about getting  her and making her regret this

Right count on that, next time we meet I'll have a dagger with me!

[Titia]

Titia was not the average easy farm girl to deal with. While most girls of her village were only inspired by finding a good husband and founding a family - eventually marrying a noble man from Tursh for the wildest dream of some of them - Titia wanted to see the World. Alone.

Trying to figure out things others thought to be boys games like using knifes or tracking rodents, she found herself less often near girls of her age which led a lot of stories, not of all kind, run on her account. Titia didn't care despite her parents constant disapproval and warnings.

But it was not until she was visiting Tursh market with her mother one Sunday that she discovered what would change her life: when she wanted noone would notice her and at most people would remember a young eleven years old girl smaller than average with a bright smile. She could become almost invisible in crowded places and follow almost anyone undetected.

It first appeared at a fruit merchant. As she was waiting while her mother was discussing with a friend of hers, she took one of the apple right in front of the vendor. Fearing being yelled at, she rapidly put apple back but also noticed something wasn't quite right. The vendor wasn't just looking at her, it was like he was looking through her. Then he just turned back and went greeting some other customers like nothing happend.

This phenomena needed more experimentation by Titia's standards.

Leaving her mother chatting with her friend she moved to the stands across the market place. There was a fat merchant who never liked her, what could be a better practice target?

Thinking back at what she did in front of the first merchant, Titia adopted a casual attitude and walked toward fatman's shelves. Performing as she was not even there she passed in front of him and took one small items then walked away... to be yelled at within seconds by the man.

Apologizing, she put back the item and a bit of distance between the suspicious merchant and her. So it wasn't being casual in my movements at all, she thought. What else did she do?

She focused on her target. That was the only answer. When she took the apple, she was certain it was one her mother wanted and she took it.. to show her she was a good girl after all. She needed to be convinced it was her for people not noticing she was taking something that wasn't.

Fearing the fat merchant would be watching her too closely, Titia selected another target. The baker.

That piece of cake was hers, clearly, it had been cooked and put on the shelf only for her own pleasure.

Titia walked toward it, focused and determined. The baker watched her come closer and closer whith the same empty look as the fruit merchant. The piece of cake was in her hand minutes before the baker would even realized it had vanished.

This was an open door to all kind of exciting opportunities.

[Titia]

"That one, it has to be her", thought Asparen when he saw the little girl appear and sit alone at the bar of the crowded tavern.

It was late and he was almost ready to give up for that night. Then she appeared and at first glance he knew it had to be her. She was young, no more than seventeen it seemed, had brown hairs and beautiful green eyes.

The eyes... Asparen had to own those eyes.

He did his usual approach, taking her to talk after a casual and opportune bump into her when went to the bartender ask for another ale. He was pleased to hear she'd fled from her family few days ago and came to New Targonor expecting a new and exciting life. At least she was not with a pimp yet thought Asparen, pimps always asked questions. He assured her it was soon to be reality, which in a way was perfectly true.

Detailing her yet another time, the assassin could still not believe his luck. She was clearly out of the countryard. Heck she still had some dirt under her fingernails despite an apparent attempt to make them cleaner! Nobody knew she was here, so nobody would ask too many questions later.

He hadn't gained his Darkblade surname not paying attention to details.

He had to be cautious now. His personal and out of the norm apetites had been tolerated by the Houses until now but people had started to ask questions. Especially since he had claim the eyes of two girls connected with one of New Targonor's rising leutenants of the Imperial Trade Organization. Word was he had been marked and was chased by the House of the Deads but he knew this was all a rumor and that the so called Executionner House had never existed. It was all a fantasm created by the House Masters to have some levers and safeguards over the underworld of New Targonor.

Yet better be cautious and this little farmgirl's eyes would be his soon. Nobody would miss them.

A couple of beers later Asparen offered the girl to share his room for the night. Without surprise she accepted, after all she had no place to live in New Targonor yet and he was kind enough so she would feel safe with him. Excitment was filling his head now and they started the climb the stairs to the second floor of the tavern.

His room, rented for the night under a false identity, was in the end of the corridor. It was also the only one out of which he would be able to escape with the eyes without being seen since outside was just a backalley.

Once in the room he could barely restrain himself. But Asparen knew he had to wait for the poison he had put in her last beer to take effect and put her half asleep. It was the main reason his very first eyes escaped him... the girl got scared at the last minutes and fled out of the room forcing him to escape out of the window as fast as he could. Remembering that first time, he had always used some small doses of Water of Life ever since. The only thing was that the poison took his time when swallowed so, while sitting on the bed, Asparen started to talk the girl a bit more.

Understanding she was not feeling right - one of the poison's side effect - he showed her a bucket on the floor, serving her some excuse about how strong ales in New Targonor were.

"Heck she is really sick!", thought Asparen as the girl started to throw up. It wouldn't matter much though, the poison was in her bloodstream now.

Only when the girl moved back toward the bed and him did Asparen noticed something was wrong. Her eyes had changed and now only showed a cold and contained fury. It is also at this precize moment that the old assassin realized he was completely paralized.

[Titia]

I had taken days for Titia to find him. As a result a poor girl had died in an horrible way. One too much for Titia.

Asparen had been marked for month now but he was smart enough to blurr his traces and never leave consistant leads. But this was to be expected, he was not an appointed member of the Darkblade elite for no reasons after all. Worst, it could have go on if he wasn't leaving that constant signature of removing the eyes of his victims, the Gods only knew for what purpose. People had started to relate what seems to be gruesom and random murders at first and now the underworld was fingerpointed... which was not good for the business. Attacking two girls belonging to Bastor "shorty" Strongarm had sealed his fate: Shorty was famous for many things but leaving his activities being disrupted was not part of it. He had no sens of humor either.

The House of the Dead had been designated to carry on the execution with an unusually high completion fee given the nature of the target. No specific member of the House had been given the task: competition was open to all. This too was unusual. Shorty wanted to set an example.

Luck had first been on her side as Asparen's Darkblade ring had been recognized on his hand by a bartender who was a friend of hers. He had come to his tavern the day before, stayed late alone and went out without even using the room he had rented. Titia immediately recognised a predator not finding a suitable prey and knew he would come back.

Deciding to see for herself, she went that very night and there he was, sitting at a table, spying on the assistance and patrons. Titia observed him from a distance, discretely confirming the ring was the right one and hoping he would not notice she was a bit small and thin for a male Qalian merchant. Concieling her chest was not much of an issue with a long and tight piece of cloth, but her hairs and pale skin were another story and the sari and make-up would not abuse somone used to see people in Khal or Agrahm.

But he was too busy checking an unlucky girl alone at the bar to notice he was detailed himself. She was thin too and had blond hairs. She looked lost and afraid. She somehow reminded Titia of her first days in New Targonor ten years earlier. This could have been me, she thought with disgust as she observed Asparen casually walk to the girl like a two legged snake.

It then all went surprisingly fast. Titia had planned to follow them in the room and kill him as he would go to bed with the girl and was away from his weapons. Waiting a few second after they went upstairs she started to move toward the stairs. Arriving at the door of the room she knew he had rented the day before, she set herself ready with her own weapons and rushed through the door... to enter an empty sleeping room.

No way!

Her head filled with both frustration and rage, knowing the poor girl's life was now probably over,  Titia backed away from the room and started to move as calm as she could toward the stairs. She could not let his friend know she was there, nor that she knew all along a dangerous murderer was in his tavern. Better not be there when the girl's body would be discovered either, all she could allow was that an unknown Qalian character was around.

There would be other times. It was now a matter of revenge.

[Titia]

Titia was sitting in one of her safehouses, reviewing the events of the past evening in her head. A girl died because somehow she felt confident her target would be too obsessed to notice her. This assumption was a terrible mistaken and the young rogue was not used to make such errors.

The facts were simple: the girl had been found in a room not even close to the one Asparen had rented. Since it was not his room he had to kill her quick or he had rented it with yet another false name. Or did he have an accomplice? Titia decided this was very unlikly given the gratuity of the murders and their caracteristics. So it was rented using another name she didn't know about, probably one he was changing and using anonymously every time. That way there was no possibility to predict where the murder would occur and save putting an a cop - or an assassin - in every room (unthinkable) no way to be in the room ahead of time. It was smart and the preparation was carefully conducted despite the brutality of the conclusion. Tita had to give him credit for that.

Somehow Titia also knew the murders were performed very fast once he had taken the girls inside the rooms but so far she couldn't figure out why. The careful review of the last evening clarified this as well. Noone ever heard a scream, even the night before the floor was quiet. It meant the girl was incapacitated which could really only be done two ways: physically or chemically. If Asparen was taking their eyes, there were good chances he wanted the girls to look at him until the very last second - Titia cursed the man once again - which made the first solution not desirable for such a sadistic behavious. So it was a poison of some sort, most likely one put in the last beer, when he was sure the girl would follow him.

The most surprising was he wasn't really hiding. Following the discovery of the body the previous evening, most customers fled and she realized he was among them, predenting to be as shocked as the others... for some reasons nobody really noticed he was the last one seen with the girl... Noone really ever notices those girls, corrected Titia mentally. Never under estimate the power of hiding in plain sight either, this example was to be remembered. As a result she could follow him to discover he had another room rented in another tavern and Titia could bet it would be the next murder scene.

She now had a location and a timeframe (even if his murders were getting closer with time, Asparen was now taking three to four days most likely depending if he found a suitable victim or not) and with these two elements she could start to plan a more sophisticated execution than a simple rush in a room.

Bows and crossbows were definitively not an option. The first one being large and too easy to notice, the second one too difficult for Titia to handle: despite being in good shape she just didn't have the physical strength to use one with an expert hand. Moreover distance kills were not Titia's favorite for this task, the rogue now wanted her target to know who and why. Last but not least, she needed to prove it was her that did the execution. Time was missing to investigate how Asperan was doing to swap rooms the night of the murders and hitting in the back would leave the 'why' and proof unresolved. And I would not even be sure to prevail in such a case, Asparen was an experience oponnent, not easy to deal with if he was given a single clue he had become a target. Considering this last part, it had to be done when he was overconfident and getting close at such time only really meant one solution.

I have to become the prey.

[Titia]

Using he body as bait was not unfamiliar to Titia.  Getting close to a target, male or female, sometimes required some sens of self sacrifice and at twenty seven - looking ten years younger - she was attracting enough not to be rejected when pushing the right buttons. It also provided additonal information sometimes and, after all, from a target point of view it was not such a bad way to go. In this case she was reluctant though, Asparen ways disgusted her, but not finding a more suitable solution she finally decided to go for it.

The minute she entered the tavern two nights later, she knew she'd caught Asparen's attention. It had been difficult to fake but teenager on the run was goor enough a prey to get him interested.

Suspecting that Titia had spent the day before making sure she would become an acceptable one. Finding clothes had not been difficult: her own from the day she feld herself would fit. On the other hand, getting that unmistakable dirt - but not too much - on her got a bit more difficult: it tooks a run in the wilderness near the city and two baths (but not washing the hairs) to get it right. That was for the front view. For rogue setup she decided to go without a single weapon (too easy to spot with the clothes she would wear) and selected a poison of her own instead.... revenge was so sweet when you were using your opponent's own tricks! As it was a special case, she decided to go with some Elven Sleep:
the poison was slow to act (about ten minutes) but had no taste and an incredible capacity to pass through any stomach shielding she knew. It wasn't a killer poison though, it petrified the target just enough so it could breath and feel things. The killing had to be her own hands.

Looking shy and anxious instead of eager to proceed while he was talking her had been difficult. Worst, after two beers the ricinus oil Titia had swallowed to slow Asparen's poison to enter her body was not getting along very well with her stomach. Ignoring it was getting difficult but she'd come in late to make sure he would be eager to go upstairs.

The third beer was the one. She saw him put something inside despide an impressive display of agility.  He'd just didn't noticed she'd done the same in his previous pint, too focused on her eyes he was.

She now was sick. The Water of Life, she now was sure it was the poison he was using, made it even worst. As they entered the room she immediately looked for a bucket and forced herself to unload all of her stomach inside.

Titia was not happy, she hated this and she hated having to go through it all to get to Asparen. Time to show my true face, the hell with consequences! she furiously thought getting herself on her feet, away from the bucket, and looking at Asparen.

Who was now completely paralyzed on the bed. Titia smiled. At last.

"No need to try to resist", Titia said taking a chair from a corner of the room and moving it against the door to make sure it would prevent anyone to open it. "You just shouldn't be that harsh with girls, in particular those who are protected. Now is time to put an end to this".

Moving around the bed, Titia went to the lantern put on a small table and reduced the light. Asparen was now clearly angered but was just unable to move a single finger. With the room in the dark, noone would really see what was going on from the ouside. She started to remove all of her clothes.

"Don't get any ideas, she said with half a smile, you're not getting anything tonight save death. I just don't want to be soaked with your blood when I'm done. Now where did you put your weapons? Surely under the bed... you're so predictable in the end, Asparen".

And there they were. A short sword, a dagger and a couple of throwing knives. Not much but sufficient. Titia selected one of the throwing daggers and moved to the other side of the bed, hed naked body staying half in the shadows.

"Well shall we start, monster?"

Looking down on Asparen's left hand, a full smile enlightened her face.

"But before going into details, I need your ring".

[Titia]

This one was even worst than the other murders. The body of the man had been found early in the morning, in a room that should have been empty. Two young trainees of the guard had to flee from the place, looking horrified.

There was blood everywhere in the room. The wrecked body lying in the bed was barely recognizable as a human.

Word was spreading the butcher who had killed several girls already in the previous weeks had striken again. Yet something was different about this one was thinking the capitain of the guard. First it was a man, second his eyes were still in place. Last his left hand was intact, save for a severed finger where could have been ring.

Word around was the Houses were actively looking for the murderer... and I wouldn't be surprised of that was the last murder thought the Capitain. If the Houses were taking care of it, it was fine by him... better leave this unresolved and be forgotten, it was better for everyone's business.

[Titia]

Titia entered the small room and sat on the floor waiting patiently for her host to show up. There was no chair in this place, only a rug. The room was small and was accessed through a complicated set of doors and small ways between houses in the Thieves Row. It was the "official" safehouse of the House of the Deads, the only one Titia really knew in fact but the girl suspected that under this apparently fragile wooden structure was a secret way to hidden caves under New Targonor and to the smuggling docks.

It was late and the room was half filled with shadows already, the dim light only coming in through a small window. She didn't have wait long before the door open and revealed a face carved with wrinkles. The old man wasn't taller than her but an incredible will could be felt behind his pale and grey eyes. The kind all assassins knew to respect when they saw it. The will to survive.

"Do you have it?", the old man asked politely. Titia knew it was less a question than a remark, having it was just a way for her to officialize something he already knew.

Without a word Titia looked for something in her clothes, not without wondering if she could be quick enough to pull out a throwing dagger and hit the small body not five feet away from her. As always she decided her life was too valuable for this kind of reckless bet. It took her a few seconds to find the present she brought.

"Not an easy target, but you know that of course... Yet I thought you should hear it once from me again Master Drek. Here is the ring."

Giving the ring to the old man Titia felt as if relieved. Keeping Asparen's ring since the task filled her with revultion but it was the only proof she had fulfilled the contract with success and there was no way she could leave it unattended. It was also a symbol of her own rage and what she did. A metalic scent she knew was only in her magination started to fill her nose. The fragrance of blood.

Taking it, her master suddenly smiled.. an uneasy sight even for the seasonned assassin she was.

"Of course I know that, just like any other I sent after him knew. But you're the one who succeeded! Do you only realize how far you went since you first came in this city? Do you remember how you almost became an easy girl on the streets? And now! You managed to handle a Darkblade!, the old man chuckled, and while he was being suspicious on top of that: he had just killed two members of our house that very day!"

Titia knew she would never know the names of the two who fell. Deneb didn't answer her missives lately and a chill started to be felt in the back of her neck thinking his could be rotting in an anonymous grave. Apparently not noticing Titia's slight stiffness, Drek went on.

"You have potential lass. And since you managed to add a Darkblade on the list of your already impressive credentials it's all fair you earn a bit more that the reward for his head."

In a quick gesture, Drek suddenly took something in his pocket. "Here, it's yours now"

Taking the small item, Titia realized it was a small card. Looking closely she noticed it was not just any card, it came from a taro deck.

It represented the Death.

"I'm not sure I understand", she started now irritated by the way she was played. "What is this for?"

[Titia]

It all made sens, really. She already knew being part of the elite of New Targonor assassins required skill and some kind of passing ritual. Killing a Darkblade to become one was just logical.

It was just not something clearly said by Drek but thinking back to it and the wording he used to tell her she was now one of 'the few' earlier that evening made it more than clear. Even the gift was a proof. She had now her card the same way Asparen had his ring.

Despite the warm environment of the tavern she decided to stop in, Titia shivered.

Her card. It was now linked to her and made her unique. It was a pass masters of the underworld of Telon would recognize and acknowledge if her voice ever needed to be heard or if she required assistance in a task. It was something other young ambitious assassins would be after somedays the same way she'd been after the ring. All gifts also came with a curse, something to be remembered.

It also was a sinister and somewhat clever joke as she often used diplomacy as a cover when she was on Qalia. And it was something her master - ex master now - didn't know, she was certain of that. Titia never believed in coincidences. Someone else, someone behind Drek, was sending her a message. It was up to her to collect the pieces and figure it out.

Relaxing a bit as time passed on, the young girl decided her new lastname was something to celebrate. A young man in a group of dockworkers had spent half the evening staring at her instead of joking with his friends. Offering a beer was always a good way to start negociating what side of the bed a man would take.