Kesir's room is about three meters by five meters, the long side facing the exterior wall. The window and door are roughly in the center of the room, with a desk on the nothern wall, and the bed on the south.
Currently, Kesir is meditating on the floor next to his bed, and Aliele is standing just inside the window.
"It's generally considered polite to knock first." Kesir responded calmly. "And to use the door." Kesir rose, turning to see the intruder.
Dracos
Aliele looks on in surprise at the person standing before her. Her first instinct is to stuff a dagger in his throat to insure his silence but Kesir's reaction(talking politely to her instead of shouting for the guards or coming at her sword first) makes her eye him consideringly. This is an inn, perhaps she just happened to arrive in a room that amazingly enough wasn't occupied by an Imperial. Although what kind of guest would react this calmly to an intruder coming through their window was another question entirely.
Still, perhaps he'd know what room the commander was in. The question of whether to kill him or not could come after finding out what she wanted to know...and whether he was an Imperial or not. Easy enough to find out. "I've come to speak to the commander of the garrison here. Would you mind telling me where he is? I thought this was the room I was supposed to meet him in."
"I see. Come in." Kesir responded warmly. "It's a cold night and I have no doubt that it is unpleasant."
Dracos
apologizes for the delay.
Aliele enters the room keeping a careful eye on Kesir. She doubts he believes her but figures he probably won't do anything until he knows for certain one way or the other.
Kesir let her in, the very picture of hospitality. "Now, let's see, this must be urgent news, if you're in such a rush, no?" He headed for his door with calm steps.
Dracos
"Indeed." Aliele fell in step behind him, keeping a careful eye on her surroundings. "An unexpected complication that I'm not at liberty to discuss." Aliele already had an idea about what to do in her head, but first she needed to get to commander to impliment it.
To Kesir, looking at the girl who appeared at the window, it's relatively obvious that she is one of the key pieces in the puzzle he faces. Also, it's not ordinary for people to come in through second-story windows.
To Aliele, there's immediately something odd about the other man in the room. She normally has a very keen insight into the presence of concealed witnesses nearby, and she did not notice him before she was at the window.
In the hall, someone coughs, opening their door and trudging into the hall, footsteps leading away.
"Let's see...now which door was it." Kesir played slightly forgetful, pondering. "Hum, well, let's...hum, I just realized, I didn't catch your name." he prompted.
Dracos
"I'm called Eliza. I'd inquire as to your name but to be honest if I don't get this information to the commander soon something bad will happen." Aliele looked out the window fearfully as if she expected a big army to appear out of nowhere. She wasn't sure how good he was at reading people but hopefully by keeping him rushed she'd find the commander quickly and give Kesir less time to indulge his curiosity until it was too late.
Kesir lead into and through the inn hallways and away from the windows, nodding. His demeanor not shifting from a calm pace as he went to intentionally the wrong door, knocking loudly intending to awaken more than just the resident.
Dracos
Aliele didn't trust Kesir anymore than she trusted any Imperial but since she had been found anyways she might as well see where he lead. She kept a straight face at the loud knock figuring as long as she got to the commander she could get out before anyone could do anything although it was too bad that her original plan was going to have to be changed somewhat. It looked like more killing and less information gathering would be involved. Oh well, perhaps there'd be sealed orders or something she could grab on the way out after stuffing a knife in the commander's eye. Eyeing Kesir's back, Aliele considered whether it'd be best to let him live or not. It'd probably depend on whether he turned out to be one of them, the fact that he seemed to know where the commander was indicated what his fate probably would be.
Kesir is not really sure who is staying in the room that he's knocking on the door to. It isn't the commander, but it is an officer (everyone in this inn is).
The door is opened, as people in neighboring rooms mutter loudly (the walls are very thin), and a woman in a robe that can barely be termed decent answers the door, just opening it a crack to peek out. "Yes?" she whispers.
"Oh, so sorry. I thought this was the innkeeper's room. This young lady was quite urgent about delivering an important message and well, I've just arrived so I don't recall where he is to ask. do you recall where the innkeeper's room is?"
Kesir played the dumb, expecting that it would be seen through, but at the same time leaving the possibility that he was leading her to the commander. Hopefully the officer will pick up on it and the woman will be able to be captured alive.
Dracos
The woman blinks at this, and shakes her head. "I do, but he's a drunk, and won't wake up until long after sunrise," she replies. "I know where everyone stays, though. Who do you need to find?"
"She said the commander... Um... Which were you trying to find, Miss Eliza?"
Dracos
Pity. Guess he saw through me after all. Well this was expected. Aliele moved up to the woman. Speaking softly she replied "I'm looking for your commander." As she stood next to her, Aliele swiftly drew a dagger from her left sleeve and pressed it against the woman's throat. "And if you'll both be so kind as to be silent, you should live to see the coming sunrise. Now lead. Any attempt to make noise or warn the commander in any way will have....unfortunate.....consequences." She eyed Kesir, who she deemed by far the more dangerous of the two. "And if you try and stop me she'll be dead before you look at me funny. So stay in front of me please."
Kesir's eyes shifted slightly from genile to serious. "Unfortunately, I cannot allow you to do that. Your goal of assassination here would merely sow discord and provide reasoning for even more troops to be sent out. The commander, a good man or not, is but a man who can and would be replaced would you kill him, only with a force more seeking of vengence. I was attempting to arrange for your peaceful capture as I have little desire for needless death. You would only be arranging for the suffering of many others, innocent in your conflict were you to slay the commander. I will offer you the chance to flee or surrender." Kesir remained calm, his body ready to move should the woman kill the woman and try and go for him.
Dracos
Peaceful capture? Is he serious? Aliele almost laughed out loud at the absurdity of the situation. "Well seeing how they're sending out whole armies to finish us off as it is, I guess a few more soldiers really won't make a difference will it? I'd advise staying out of my way in the future." With this Aliele drew her dagger across the woman's throat while pulling another dagger out and tossing it at Kesir. She quickly ran for the window, her plans ruined for now.
The hostage gurgles in surprise before she collapses to the floor, dead.
The room does have a window, but it's not empty. An officer is lying on the bed, apparently just waking up. The window is directly behind him, just over the bed.
Kesir's hand lashes out as he slides slightly to the side, grabbing at the hilt of the dagger and twisting his arm to quickly reverse it's direction, sending it flying towards the window. Immediately after releasing, he moves swiftly, heading such that he'd be in position to strike at her if she dodged back, moving for a powerful spinning kick towards that area.
Dracos
The girl is much faster than Kesir, but she also has to contend with the half-asleep guard sitting in front of her exit.
OOC: My internet died. It's back now. For how long I don't know as it's still going up and down periodically. Why it's going up and down and not my TV I don't know(last time our cable acted up it hit both our TV and internet).
IC: Aliele leapt, slamming her foot into the officer's throat. She really didn't have to but a dead imperial or two was such a satisfying feeling. As Kesir threw her knife back at her she just swiped it aside with the other dagger she was holding. There was no need to reclaim it as she had plenty more where those came from. She then continued towards the window, drawing a long thin needle from her hair with the hand that wasn't holding a dagger. Lets see if his training covers poison.
A kick easily opens the window, revealing the empty street, and pre-dawn grayness in the eastern sky. If Aliele's memory serves, one of the guards overlooks this window from above. Still, there's more imperials in the room that already know she's there, so sneaking by is probably out of the question at this point.
OOC: Okay, since I can't seem to touch base, I'll just play it off that interpretation.
IC:
Kesir moved with his momentum, transforming his missed kick into a strike against the floor to wake up those below and push him quickly up, drawing his sword to strike against the threat he could sense in her hand in blue flash as he moved in an unnaturally high flip above her, his feet brushing the ceiling.
Dracos
OOC: Oi, I thought you meant you were doing a spinning kick if I went towards you which is why I just continued the run towards the window. :oops:
IC: I wish I had brought Crimson Moon, alas for it's lack of concealibility. Alliel ran forward as Kesir leapt into the air. Since he was in midair she threw her poisoned needle at his eye, dodging wouldn't be an option so that would force him to to parry it instead. She continued moving running up the wall to the side of Kesir.
Kesir's eyes widened imperceptively as his blade, already in motion before she threw it deflected the needle, his feet seemingly unnaturally walking on the ceiling as he spun around in a spinning slash at her, the immediate danger dealt with and the secondary danger now the primary concern.
Dracos
OOC: Assuming I can deflect it easily since I was already striking at it before and using kinetics and the fact I just did a rather strong leap to the ceiling to momentarily walk on it.
Kesir deflects the thrown needle as he hits the ceiling.
The man who was previously asleep falls to the floor and tries to crawl underneath his bed. At the same time, the door is kicked open -- hard enough to send it crashing to the floor.
Li Bao is standing in the doorway, two of his men behind him carrying their shortswords. All three are standing in the puddle of blood from the slain prostitute.
Li Bao's famed tiger-spear is in his hands, and his eyes widen at the sight of Alliel. "Murderer!" he shouts, his voice boomingly loud considering his somewhat wiry frame. He steps into the room, apparently ignoring Kesir.
OOC: A tiger-spear is a weapon that resembles a pitchfork, except that it only has two tines. It's sometimes also called a 'mancatcher', since the tines are spaced far enough apart that they can be used to pin someone to an object. Additionally, a person's body can fit between the tines, and the weapon can be used to keep someone at bay without hurting them. That being said, Li Bao doesn't exactly have a reputation for mercy, though he's got nothing on 'Tzen the Butcher', whom the Emperor had to order to take an extended vacation, which is now entering its fifteenth year.
Kesir, flawlessly, shifts his step slightly so that whether or not the blow he's delivering connects, that he will land between her and the window, trapping her.
Dracos
As Kesir leaps to the cieling and launches his spinning slash at Aliele's head, she twists sideways and parrys, blocking his kick with her arms. The blow sends her flying....right at the window as she had hoped. As Li Biao enters the room, Aliele and Kesir are both moving towards the window. Apparently it's a race to see who'll get their first, and to ensure her success Aliele starts pulling knife after knife out of various spots on her body and sending them all at Kesir except for two.
Kesir's sword-strike slams into Aliele's arm, but the knives hidden in her sleeve deflect the blade -- at the cost of a couple of nasty bruises, and a bit of numbness in that limb. However, Aliele's accuracy with trajectories is not without merit, and the backlash indeed shoves her out the window.
One of her knives is hopelessly chipped, now, and with her left arm still hurting, she can't throw as many knives as she'd have liked. But a good dozen wing their way towards Kesir before Aliele needs to worry about landing.
Kesir swiftly lashes out with his hand, grabbing the wood window covers and quickly closing the window to catch the daggers in the wood. It'd likely ruin the Inn's window shutters but it'd be the surest way to keep the daggers from hitting anyone behind him. As soon as his ears count enough thuds to account for all the daggers, he opens the window to try and follow.
Dracos
The wooden shutter slams shut and then thuds as the daggers all crash into it. When the window is opened again, the assasin in on the street, and one of the guards on the roof has spotted her.