In The Cards

When behind enemy lines one frequently useful tactic is to sow dissension or take advantage of already existing enmities. Many people will be all too happy to fight between themselves rather than pay attention to you, and they will cheerfully answer their own questions with whatever answers they wish to hear.

Excerpt from 'Interview With An Assassin'

"You there! You think you are someone, don't you?" The voice was harsh, aggressive and insistent. Clearly the speaker didn't really care whether the answer to his question was 'yes' or 'no'. He was spoiling for a fight and wouldn't settle for anything else.

Oh well, Dekaras thought. It had to happen sooner or later. Might as well get it over and done with. The assassin turned around slowly and regarded the man who had addressed him with a sense of mild curiosity. The bandit was a rather typical specimen. Fairly large and brawny, not particularly bright. This was a minor bully, not one of the true bandit leaders. He probably could be vicious in a fight, but in a random, disorganized way.

"Certainly I think I am someone," Dekaras calmly stated. "Everybody is. For example, you are an idiot with the approximate intelligence of a mindflayer's latest meal, and you smell like a Tanar'ri's unwashed armpit. On the positive side, you are also a rare freak of nature. I have never before seen a man able to walk backwards on his hands and project his voice so that it seemed to emerge from his nether regions. That is certainly an extraordinary talent. Oh, wait. My mistake. That is your mouth after all and not your…posterior orifice. And I suppose that means that is actually your face. My sincere condolences."

The bandit's mouth opened and closed soundlessly for a few moments as he worked his way through this. Then his face turned a reddish purple with rage and he drew his sword. "You…you're calling me a…a…BUTTFACE?"

"That was the essence of it, yes. Whereas I, of course, am the person who is about ten seconds away from teaching you more than you ever wished to know about the sad frailty of the human condition. Unless you'd like to change your mind and walk away right now."

The bandit, whose name was Rarhk, wasn't very interested in this. He ran at his enemy, sword waving and spittle flying. Like most of his peers he relied heavily on the advantage of numbers when fighting. In a one-on-one affair his strength and brutal ferociousness usually served him well enough, but he didn't possess much technical skill. So he charged like a maddened bull at the taunting voice in front of him, almost blind with rage, planning to use his bulk and wider reach to make short work of his lighter enemy. Alas, his sword whistled impotently through empty air, and then there was a searing pain in his belly, a pain like nothing he had ever felt before. The sword fell to the ground, forgotten. There was a hole in his tunic, a large hole. Blood against his fingers as he pressed both his hands against the hole, hot blood. And…other things. Protruding, slimy things like a wriggling nest of serpents trying to break free. Was it the snakes who were biting him, he wondered. Was it they who were making him whimper with excruciating pain?

"What…," Rarhk moaned. "What?"

"Judging by the color, texture and length I'd say it's your upper intestine," Dekaras said in a dispassionate voice, his black eyes as expressionless as those of a serpent as he watched the mortally wounded bandit. There was wet noise as something landed on the ground. "Yes, definitely so. Do be careful not to…" The bandit stumbled and a scream that sounded inhuman in its agony tore through the air. "…trip over it," the assassin finished the sentence. He hastily moved forward, cutting the dying man's throat before he could scream again. Then he turned his head to blast the watching bandits with an icy glare. "Funny how few are wise enough to walk away," he said. "So. Does anybody else require a lesson in practical anatomy or are we quite finished with these childish antics?"

Most of the bandits looked pale and wary, some even seemed ready to soil themselves as they met the calm gaze of the assassin. A few looked genuinely approving though, and those were the ones that really disgusted him. He much preferred to deliver a clean kill if possible. At this moment that wasn't the most practical approach though. These men respected strength and viciousness above anything else, and that was what would make an impression with them. By making this one death as bloody as possible he would scare enough of them off that he wouldn't have to spend much time on petty little challenges for dominance like this one. However, he also needed to establish that these little caravan-robbers would be safe enough if they behaved themselves. He didn't want them to decide to gang up on him after all.

"I trust you are all able to learn from the sad mistakes of others," Dekaras said, now lowering his voice to a soft drawl. "Do so, remember your manners, and we shall all get along just fine. If not, well let's just say that I don't take kindly to provocation. Does anybody have any questions?"

Some of the bandits shook their heads in mute fear, others hastily muttered their negations. Eventually they all drifted off. All of them but one. Dekaras knew him by sight. His name was Raiken, and he was sub-commander of half the Black Talon forces. His counterpart's name was Teven, and by all accounts the two men were fierce rivals. They probably would have liked nothing better than fighting each other to the death if it hadn't been for the leader of the Talons, Taugosz Khosann, also known as Taugosz Tenhammer. A hard and hot-tempered man, Taugosz would tolerate fights between the ordinary bandits as means of relieving tension and 'culling the herd' of all but the hardiest, but he wouldn't stand for his two lieutenants openly going for each others throats.

So Raiken and Teven had found other ways of competing, and constantly attempted to outshine each other, whether it came to raiding, looting, recruiting, gambling or drinking each other under the table. Tension ran high in the bandit camp due to this, and then there were the hobgoblins. Fierce marauders calling themselves 'the Chill', they stayed in a separate part of the camp, away from the others. Dekaras was planning to take a closer look at them later, once he was firmly established among the Talons. That task still wasn't complete though.

"I was watching that," Raiken said. He was a lean man with a leathery face and sun-bleached hair like thinning straw. His voice was slow and steady, but as he spoke he constantly fingered the hilt of his sword, a sign that he wasn't quite as confident as he would like to seem. "Impressive. Most impressive."

Dekaras made a point of carefully cleaning and sheathing his own shortsword before answering. "My thanks," he said in a neutral voice. "I thought it a rather pointless little squabble, myself."

"Oh? Then I would really like to see you in a disagreement where you are emotionally involved."

Trust me, you wouldn't. You really wouldn't. The assassin gave the Black Talon a look of polite disinterest, but said nothing. After a moment the other man looked slightly uncomfortable.

"I have seen you around before," Raiken said, "but I don't believe I know your name."

"Adahn," Dekaras said, having selected the alias previously as easy on the tongue and suitably neutral in flavor.

"Adahn? What else?"

The assassin smiled thinly. "What else do you need? One name is good enough for me, and ought to be so for anybody else as well."

Raiken chuckled quietly to himself. "Very well, Adahn. I like your style. And you certainly have made an impression with the lads. Now tell me, who was it that recruited you? Taugosz himself? That dirty little rat Teven? Or one of the…higher ups?"

Higher-ups, Dekaras thought. Interesting. This Tazok that Edwin mentioned would be one of them, I assume. I will have to find out more about this later. Out loud he simply said "Who do you suppose?" and favored Raiken with a meaningful glance.

"Then it was that bastard Teven!" Raiken exclaimed and angrily slammed his fist into his hand. "Trust him to bag one of the most promising recruits I've seen in a long while, the dirty sneaking scumbag!" Then he lowered his voice into a companionable whisper. "Tell you what, my friend. I have a profitable suggestion for you. It would suit my…aspirations…to let Tenhammer assume certain things. It may happen that you hear my name mentioned rather than Teven's as the one who…discovered you. Just keep silent on the subject and you will find that I can be a grateful man to those who aid me." He surreptitiously showed the assassin a small purse and shook it to make it jingle merrily.

Dekaras smiled inwardly. He had hoped for something like this, though he hadn't dared fully count on it. "Why not?" he said and accepted the money. "It doesn't sound like a particularly difficult task. You may trust me not to gainsay you."

Raiken gave him a feral grin. "Excellent!" he said. "I thought you seemed like a clever man. I shall be happy to see more of you in the future." He nodded and walked off, looking very satisfied with himself.

The sun was climbing higher by the minute and noon was approaching. Many of the bandits had already headed off to get their midday meal, or else where resting in their tents. There had been a large raid a couple of days previously, and the men were enjoying the spoils of their victory. Dekaras wasn't quite ready to follow their example though. During his conversation with Raiken he had thought he had glimpsed a shadow where none should have been, a presence at the corner of his eye, though too far away to listen in on what was said. If he was correct in his assumption the watcher would make himself known soon, one way or another. The assassin lazily strolled towards the spot where the man was hiding. "Yes?" he politely asked once he were close enough. "You wanted to see me about something?"

There was a brief gasp and then the watcher caught himself. "Aye," Teven said. "So I did." Teven was a small man, and with his twitchy face and beady little eyes he did bear a certain resemblance to a rat. He was still a dangerous opponent though, compensating for his small size with speed and agility. "I been watchin' ye," he said.

"So I gathered," Dekaras said in a thoughtful voice, tapping a long finger against his lower lip. "And what did you see, pray tell?"

"I seen a fella smart enough to know what's good for 'im and to know which way the wind's ablowin'." Teven gave the assassin a sidelong look. "What's yer name, eh? Are ye…close friends with tha' dirty rotter Raiken, then?"

"I barely know him," Dekaras answered, quite truthfully. "And you may call me Adahn."

"Oh, aye? And are ye tellin' me he's nay the one that recruited ye into the Talons?"

"You have a right to your own opinions," Dekaras said and made himself look a trifle bored.

"Oh, so it was him then. As I thought. I know me business. But somethin' tells me his claim on ye ain't that strong… Here's the deal then, an' a sweeter one ye'll never find. Ye're good at killin', a blind mole could tell that. Taugosz will like ye, I think. Jus' pretend to be deaf an' dumb when ye hears me tell 'im about hirin' ye, an' ye will nay regret it." He smiled slyly and produced a bag of coins that he shook to make it clink.

"I suppose that could be arranged," Dekaras said and accepted the bribe, forcing himself to maintain a neutral expression despite the humorous nature of the situation. "I'm not above easy work."

"Good on ye!" Teven said and heartily shook the other man's hand. "'tis all settled then. Raiken will be mad enough to choke, the filthy sod…" He was still chortling happily as he disappeared around a corner.

What an interesting turn of events, Dekaras thought to himself. Next I'll probably be hired by the Chill. He smiled to himself. Everything was working out perfectly so far. Raiken and Teven now both believed themselves to have lured him away from the service of the other. In the event of an argument they would both call the other a liar, while both assuming themselves to be the one at fault. He had hoped that their legendary rivalry would be enough to goad them both into this, and apparently he had been right. That meant he could safely leave them both alive for now and continue to play them against each other if necessary. His position among the bandits was reasonably secure for the time being. Now to start taking full advantage of it.