House Vharzyym

[Anonymous]

Kerath stood with the same almost smile he had worn through the entire encounter as the large man tensed and called him an asshole.  As the words left his mouth, Kerath knew that there was no turning back for the traveler.  The warmaster of Vharzyym had been directly insulted, and Venorik would not stand in Kerath's way if he wanted to kill Yuuki.  Nothing the little one could say could possibly save his friend now.  

As the big man walked towards him, Kerath felt adrenaline begin flowing through his veins.  Battle was inevitable now, and nothing was more enjoyable to the warmaster than bloodshed, especially against a great fighter.  Although Kerath doubted this one would proove any real challenge.  Kerath simply turned his head to look at the man as he spoke his intention to leave.  Then, in one lightning-fast motion, his left hand sword was out, barring the door in front of him.  Smiling completely now, Kerath motioned to the walls on either side of the long table, and the myriad of weapons adorning them for decoration.  They were all fully functional of course, and were always kept ready for the time when they would be needed.

"You have insulted me openly, with the supreme overlord of Vharzyym as a witnees, and cannot possibly be allowed to leave this room alive.  By all means I should remove you r head from your shoulders right now.  But I am feeling rather generous today, and am willing to make a deal with you.  You see the wall there?  Take whatever you wish, and we will duel for your freedom.  If you kill me, I give you my word that you and your companion will be allowed to leave.  Venorik here will grant you imunity from the forces of Vharzyym, and you will not be harmed.  You can even keep the weapon you kill me with."  Kerath glanced quickly towards Venorik, silently assuring him that his plans would not be ruined.  He then just as quickly returned his gaze to the large man.  "And if I prove victorious, your companion swears to serve as a Vharzyym spy in Connlaoth.  Or, you can choose not to accept these terms and you and your friend will be killed and left to be eaten by carrion birds and wolves."  Kerath lowered his sword to his side.  "These are your choices.  Pick one."

[Anonymous]

A large overly loud sigh was giving when the melter of the sword he knew nothing about barred the door. Did he have to do that? Did this fellow have to pick a fight with someone he knew nothing about? These drow, sheesh, fight first, think later… Or… Don’t think at all. Yuuki opted for the second not thinking at all one, that was more believable from what he’s seen. With a soft snort of amusement, Yuuki watched the fellows smirk turn into an all out grin. He wasn’t very pretty when he was grinning, the contrast between black and white was slightly creepier then he expected. Yuuki cringed in fear of the horrific smile of doom. Sending quick glance to either side of the room Yuuki didn’t look impressed. He only used his sword, or his fists, and since his sword was out of the question…

�Look, Mr. Drow… I don’t want one of your… Weapons did you say? I only liked my sword, and since you had that melted down for nails… I’d rather bash my fists into your pretty nose. “

Yuuki walked a little closer, a smirk on his lips and his hands at his sides. The only thing that had been remotely metal was his sword and the toes of his boots, the rest of his outfit was leather, and dust coloured clothing. Tilting his head to the side, Yuuki listened, already finding loop holes but Yuuki chose to ignore them for the time being… He’d yelp at the one who speaks before he thinks in a little while, after Yuuki bashes his fists into the others face to make him less pretty. Yuuki could always hope it would douse his ego to be not pretty anymore. Yuuki took a few steps back and grinned like a Cheshire cat, bending slightly at the knees the black haired man looked at the sword with a big of a smug smirk.

�Well, I have one thing to say to you… You really should know your enemy before you pick fights…�

Dark blue eyes neared black as they narrowed and looked only at the fellow, a sort of tunnel vision that was only for the drow that spoke before he thought. Should Yuuki have told Dear Drowsie of the loop hole? Nah, maybe Yuuki would let him win, that would get his ego up, sure… But it would also give him a false sense of security that no one could beat him. Yuuki was sure he’d at the very least break his nose, or split his lip or something. Fingers curled and uncurled as the man in dust coloured clothing eyed the sword the other man had. Sneaky bastards. With Yuukis, luck those things did something other the swing and cut things.

�You’re the one who started this by not being able to take a little insult... Well, ladies first.�

Yuuki fluttered his eyelashes and held out his hands then curled his fingers in a 'come here' motion, the universal signal for “Come on�. This was going to be fun.

[Anonymous]

The big, black-haired man didn't want to use one of Vharzyym's enchanted weapons?  Well that was just fine to Kerath.  He lowered his gesturing hand.  

"Very well.  Brave of you to fight with no weapon.  Foolish, but brave.  Regardless of what I do or do not know about you, I assure you that you will feel the bite of my blades just the same."  Kerath took a step forward away from the wall.  He was boxed in:  His enemy in front of him and the wall behind.  The man was large and most likely slow, so circling around didn't seem like it would be too dificult if needed.  Initiating a fight when one was in the poorer of two positions was one of the first things young warriors were taught not to do.  But Kerath had known that before he ever said a word to provoke the man in the dust colored shirt.  He had speed and superior training and reflexes on his side, if not brute strength.

"By your movements I assume that you accept the terms of our engagement,"  Kerath told the big man as his second blade spiraled down his arm, hilt resting comfortably in the palm of his hand.  Kerath decided to ignore the second insult and settled into a loose dueling posture:  Legs planted, right lightly ahead of the left at shoulder width, knees slightly bent, right sword pointing up, slightly forward, and tilted to the left across his body from waist level, and left swordarm hanging loosely at his side, blade tip resting an inch above the ground.  He decided to begin with a quick jab with the right blade aimed at the man's torso halfway between his naval and the bottom of his neck, so as to probe the man's defenses, his left blade coming to cover his own body.  The man obviously thought himself an able hand-to-sword combatent, and Kerath wanted to get an idea as to how to procede, watching closely for the signs that he was being duped by purposely bad technique or speed.

[Anonymous]

Well, for the first time Kerath was speaking a hint of truth. Yuuki was a fool, a big fool, but not using a weapon wasn't completly foolish or brave. The black haired man felt as though he had enough skill to keep out of the way of the sword that the drow held on his arms. For a few seconds Yuuki's mind went blank, what the hell was he doing?! Fighting a skilled drow warrior when all he had was a thick skull and skill to back up his fists. But this was a little unexpected, okay not really, but he was good at acting for a reason. So, pretending he was really surprised that the drow was so fast, even though Yuuki followed the swords movments so that he could bend slightly so it only cut him... It still hurt like a bitch and he gasped. The sword was more sharp then he antisipated. Stumbling back a few feet Yuuki rubbed his hand over his chest which was now bleeding  and leaving pooling red marks on the dust coloured cloth.

"Well, damn, that was unexpected... I guess you don't suck after all. There's more to you then I first thought, pip-squeek."

Yuuki tilted his head to the side and smiled a very feral smile. Noticing the swords were infront of the drow, which meant it was between them, Yuuki scowled and looked past them. Well, the most Yuuki could do was knock his feet from under him, but then he could get stabbed. Getting stabbed hurt so that was out. Yuuki licked his lips and cast a quick glance over his shoulder to look at Niaaki, as if calling for something, a look of wild desperation in his eyes. Niaaki would read the signs and know what was going on. The kid was used to this so unless Yuuki was dead, he'd know not to panic. In Yuukis books, panic was bad. Looking back at the drow that he was fighting, Yuuki held out his hands palms up and curled them into loose fists, his eyes not leaving the sword the was closet to him.

What the hell was he supposed to do? Sure Yuuki was used to using brute force, but unless Yuuki could think of something other then that these sneaky bastards had this little bout of fighting in the bag. Which they wouldn't have in the end, Yuuki would at least break the bastards nose. He was positive he could do that. Breaking his nose, splitting his lip. SOMETHING. His bottom lip was pulled into his mouth in a nervous movement and he began to stalk towards the drow again. The blood at his chest had clotted and wasn't bleeding anymore, but it stung like all hell. Well, this is it or nothing... In a not so desprate move of 'victory' Yuuki headed towards the drow at a full sprint then stopped, and looked like he was going for a quick but powerful punch of sorts  of his own in the drows lower chest before he dropped down in a half spin and hooked his own leg behind the drows knees and pulled sharply. Doing a neat backwards summersault he was on his way back up and doing little bouncing steps, ready to dodge a sharp end of a sword. Yuuki was bigger then this little man, pulling behind his knees should make him fall over... Then again, this little follower of Mr. Socks probably has some secret power that dosn't let him get hurt. Now that would suck.

[Anonymous]

Satisfied that he did indeed read his opponent's speed and skills correctly so far, Kerath pulled the sword back in quickly after cutting the man's chest, placing the sword in a mirror image of the left, angling both in slightly to cover his torso from a counter-attack.  The black-haired, large man was able to get almost out of reach, and only suffered a small flesh wound.  No matter.  Kerath had shed first blood, a great phsycological victory every swordsman strives to achieve over his adversary, and the cut had obviously caused the man some pain.  Kerath loved other beings' pain.

The  man spoke something, some inflamatory statement Kerath presumed, but the drow barely even noticed.  He was in the state of mind he reserved for battle, his most absolute focus, and nothing would be able to insight him to anger now.  Kerath was beyond anger.  All there was now was the thrill of the fight, and the natural bloodlust excentuated by his time in the abyss.  All his senses were straining to take in any bit of information, anything that could become a factor in the battle.  His mind was racing with possible assets and threats.  Kerath was, as you could call it, "In the zone."

The man glanced quickly at his companion.  Kerath knew better than to think it was just some look of reassurance or some other human sentiment.  They either had some sort of plan they had used in scrapes before, or it was a plea for assistance.  Kerath doubted it would be an order to run.  Even this oaf didn't seem that stupid.  "Watch the little one,"  Kerath thought at the top of his mind as he shifted his gaze to Venorik for a moment.  Hopefully Qee'lak'streea would notice the thought and pass it on to the supreme overlord.

Then, suddenly, Kerath's mind was wisked back to the fight.  The man had curled his hands into fists and come charging at him at full speed.  Kerath kept his position the same, knowing that it was still the est defensive posture, and, actually, being slightly curious as to what the man had in mind.  As the man prepared for a punch to Kerath's chest, he still remained still.  The move could possibly be a feint, and Kerath could always intercept it in time if it wasn't.  Naturally, he wasnt surprised when the man stopped and attempted to hook his leg behind Kerath's knee.  He moved his sword down to block the leg, catching it on the side of the blade, and use the momentum to move himself out away from the wall somewhat, taking away his foe's advantage of superior position.  This move left his swords somewhat out of proper position for defense, so Kerath chose to press the attack.  He lunged in with both blades, the left slightly higher and seven inches to the left of the the right, aiming for the man's stomach.

[Anonymous]

This was going perfectly! Yuuki was losing, just like he had planned, the cut on his chest stung a tad, but other then that he was fine. Until mr. mindreader, or so Yuuki assumed, dropped his sword blade a bit to bite the back of his left leg. Why his left leg? because thats the one he was using to attempt to trip the short thing. Ah well, don't judge a book by it's cover. Yuuki had still been close to the ground when the fellow took a few steps to towards the wall, which mean Yuuki could still do his pretty summer sault away from the pointy stick weilding maniac. But, that also meant Yuuki had enough time to spin to the right side to avoid the blades that would have made he bleed like a stuck pig. Yuuki wasn't winded, and he wasn't "In the Zone"... He was being Yuuki, which meant he didn't need any past experience to fuel his love of fighting... It was probably heireditary, that and the fact he was a young man who probably had to much "pent up rage" even though it was more of a need to prove himself then anything... So, winning wasn't really on his mind, he just wanted to show the drowses up, which he'd be able to do anyway.

In the seconds between Yuuki spinning to the side and him standing up, he got ready for a back roundhouse kick, going lower then usual since his opponent was around his shoulder. A flash of guilt ran though him at the thought that this person was the same size as Niaaki, ah well, can't have all his opponents be tall. In the midsts of being in the kick, assuming this drow could read moves, even thought Yuuki had been sure not to make any kind of sign besides being nervous, which was just to throw them off anyway.

Time to make them want to kill him more.

In a blink of an eye, the big "oaf" wasn't beside the drowsie anymore. Yuuki had still been in the middle of his kick when he "poofed" minus any noise and smoke, so, when Yuuki reappeared he was behind the drowsie and millimeters from the side of the drows head, his heel ready for a blow. Now, if this fellow managed to dodge this little trick, which was a very evil trick... Yuuki would probably go onto plan B. All in all, Yuuki loved being a teleporter. Poor Drowses didn't see it coming. Hurrah for species that look like humans, except for some exceptions... But the drow would'nt see those unless they stripped him, and the black haired "oaf" wasn't to keen on a bunch of flaming drow men seeing him naked.

[Anonymous]

Venorik Couldn't keep from laughing when the large one started walking away, and he wasn't suprised when Kerath reacted to the insult. He didn't understand how the human could even think about beating Kerath in battle, but he knew it would prove interesting nonetheless.

 He knew Kerath would shed first blood. He had all the faith in the world in his warmaster, and, as far as drow went, best friend. Qee'lakstreea was reading the fight, and in the midst of it picked up Kerath's warning. Venorik had seen it too, as had Balkin, who he could see fiddling in his pockets for spell components. The supreme overlord wanted no interferences with the duel. His eyes caught Balkin's as the high priest looked to him for approval, and Venorik halted him. He had something better in mind.

 Qee'lakstreea was gleeful when he felt Venorik's wishes. In an instant, his energy was centered around Niaaki's mind. In less than a two seconds after Yuuki had looked to his counterpart, the force that was Qee'lakstreea attacked his mental barriers. This would cause great pain, but he would be able to show nothing but an odd face, for the demon had taken complete control of his psychological and nueral functions, an easy task for the being which expended no energy on a wasteful physical form. When he was done with the worthless being, he, as the demon described it, "twisted", throwing the small one's mind out of wack, unable to function properly, or even at all,also causing his neural system to become obselete in the process.. The tanar'ri had destroyed his mind, and it would take a very long time for it to repair itself, and even then there would be side effects.... once he woke up. Even that would be a while, unless the demon wished it otherwise.  Balkin knew what had happened. He had heard that the demon could penetrate minds- he had penetrated his once - but he had never seen such a display of psychological power, had not believed the supreme overlord could acheive such a thing. And Venorik hadn't even blinked, but still held his usual smirk.

 He wanted no interferences.

[Rhindeer]

Somehow, Niaaki had known his excuse wouldn't work, and hadn't really expected these drow to just let them waltz on out just because they wanted to. Let's see here...one, they'd been lied to and sent into a trap. Two, they'd been backstabbed and poisoned and knocked out. Three, they'd been tossed into a cell. Four, they'd been asked to join their organization. Hmm...yes...if they had gone through that much trouble and drama just to bring them here just to "ask" them to join their organization, they certainly wouldn't be letting them prance on out unscathed! No, that choice they'd given them hadn't been much of a choice, not when they'd been threatened with death not moments before! And stabbed and stuff. Niaaki did wonder why on Earth they had gone through all that trouble in the first place to bring them here...they didn't know the drow, and they didn't know them. Why would they want them?

Eh, they probably did the same thing to every traveller that entered the village...that was probably why they had so many members...they seemed desperate enough...bah! Well, an army made up of people that didn't want to be there to begin with was not the most useful army, anyway! Nor the most loyal. So nyah.

Well, anyway, even though Niaaki doubted they'd be allowed to leave, he still jumped when the drow's sword whipped out to bar their path. And he still couldn't hep but be disappointed...he just couldn't help but have some vague hope that things would, for once in his life, be somewhat easy...

Too bad. Things only continued to complicate.

The drow challenged Yuuki to a duel, and...the stakes were...not cool...

But that wasn't what caused him to develop the sudden urge to bash his head against something very, very hard. Nooo, he had all the faith in the world in Yuuki. He was worried about Yuuki, yes, and knew Yuuki would accept the challenge and that there was nothing Niaaki could do to stop him--Yuuki had more testosterone than ten men stranded on a deserted island with only one woman--but he had faith in his companion. They'd been in fixes before, and Yuuki had always gotten them out. Hey, they'd managed to survive for the four years since they'd met each other, and Niaaki knew that for all Yuuki played the fool, he was a strategist. Of course, that didn't really make Niaaki worry any less...because battles were always uncertain...and he didn't trust that these backstabbing maniacs would fight fair. Nor did he know how strong or experienced they were, or what they were capable of...and the stakes were high.

He didn't want Yuuki to get hurt...or worse...

However, what caused him to want to bang his head against the nearest wall was Yuuki's refusal to take a weapon. WHAT?! Good Gods, was Yuuki INSANE?! ARGH! He knew Yuuki loved his old, long gone sword, but it wasn't like he'd be cheating on it if he used another sword or two for this duel! The other guy had swords! Two! Now, Niaaki knew he could do damage with his hands and feet, and knew just what he had up his sleeve, as well, but swords against fists? Not cool! It would be better if he just swallowed his pride and took a weapon! Their lives were at stake here.

"Yuuki!" he all but growled, shocked, but Yuuki wasn't listening to him. He was in "fight-mode" now. And Niaaki knew how he loved to fight. Sighing, giving up, he gave his friend's arm one last squeeze. "You better not die..." he grumbled before releasing him and backing off, getting well out of the way.

Argh! He and that old sword! Did he really think he'd be unfaithful or something if he used another one? Idiot! If he had taken a sword or two, Niaaki could have helped him! But nooo, he chose not to. He really better not get himself killed...if he did, Niaaki didn't know what he'd do. Probably run right into the frey to try and help, and if he got killed in the process, well...at least he wouldn't be alone. Yuuki was his best friend and family all wrapped up in one person. If he lost that, he didn't know what he'd do...

But, he did know he wouldn't let Yuuki die.

He'd be sure of that.

Niaaki had ended up back by the table, though he didn't sit down. He just stood there, well out of the way, close enough to have a good view, and as far as he could get from the overlord guy. His small body was tense as he stood there squeezing the life out of Butch without even realizing he was doing it. Or maybe he subconsciously thought he was strangling Yuuki. Poor doll, always getting the brunt of everything...no wonder it had so many patches and stitches: it wasn't just the vessel of his magic, but it was a sort of stress reliever, too! Yay for that!

Then the duel began, Yuuki, as usual, being Yuuki and initiating it with a little sarcasm. Niaaki's lips twitched into a smirk despite himself at the "lady" comment, but then the swords were flying, Yuuki was dodging, and--Niaaki tensed. That sword had gotten awfully close the--

And then he saw the blood on Yuuki's chest, soaking through and pooling along the thick leather, cleanly cut.

His body gave a little twitch, and he bit down hard on his lip to keep from making a sound, his fingers tightening on Butch. For a moment, he couldn't breathe. But then Yuuki stood and commented with more sarcasm, and he was smiling, a very dangerous smile...it was a fleshwound...just a scratch...okay...nothing big...he hadn't been impaled...

He released his breath and shifted nervously from foot to foot, meeting the worried look Yuuki cast his way. He swallowed. Okay, Yuuki was just playing...he knew Yuuki's body language well enough, and now he saw that Yuuki was okay, just having some fun. Alright. So far, so good. No need to worry. Yeah...

And then Yuuki went in to attack.

It was shortly after that that it happened.

Without any warning, Niaaki gave a sudden jerk and went thoroughly rigid, body stiff and tense. He didn't even have time to make a sound, no time to even know what was happening. His silver-blue eyes widened, his lips parted only slightly, but other than that, his face was completely blank, eyes unseeing.

But his body was in agony.

Pain such as he never knew was even possible blazed through every inch of his body, a white-hot razor slashing at every nerve center simultaneously. If he had been able to move, he would have been convulsing, thrashing and screaming in utmost agony, but all he could do was stand there blankly, unable to even blink, to even twitch.

And then his eyes rolled back in his head and he crumpled like an unmanned puppet, landing in a twisted heap on his side. He never moved once. The only thing way one could even tell he was still alive was the slight movement of his silver bangs as he breathed, and the vague movement of his chest.

[Anonymous]

The big man twirled away from Kerath's stabbing atack and managed to survive once again one of the movement of the Drow's blades.  Kerath was quickly tiring of this game.  There were more important matters at hand which required his attention, and the invasion of a village offered much more oppertunity for bloodshed than a one-on-one duel.  He decided that enough was enough.  He would put everything he had into this fight, and finish the man.  The human was just coming into a roundhouse kick aimed at Kerath's head.  The warmastercrossed his blades at eye level, simply waiting for the foot to come and slice into them of it's own accord.  It would be impossible for the man to arrest his momentum in time to save himself.  Then, suddenly, the man was gone.  "Vith!" Kerath thought.  He should have sensed the magical power and guessed what would happen.  He was rusty.  It had been so long since he had fought a magical opponent, any opponent for that matter, and his magic sense was out of practice.  Had there been any time to think, Kerath would have known he was in trouble.  As the man appeared behind him, Kerath was attempting to kick backwards out of instinct, but only made it about an inch before the foot struck.  The strange thing was... it didn't strike Kerath's head as it should have.  The drow quickly pivoted and stared in shock at the wall of web that had materialized out of thin air.  Yuuki had been about to send his foot into the side of Kerath's skull, but instead it smashed into the hard, sticky magical web wall with boneshattering force, so that it would be unlikely he would be able to walk properly any time soon.

 "Balkin!" Kerath said under his breath.  He had almost forgotten about the magical amulet the dark weaver had given him almost a month before.  The amulet had been enchanted to produce a wall of magical webbing as strong as a stone wall and extremely sticky whenever a blow was struck against Kerath's body, protecting the warmaster from a limited amount of kinetic and magical energy.  The web would dissapate in a couple of seconds, but until then, the big man would be stuck fast, unable to remove his foot without removing it from his shoe.  Kerath smiled and levitated quickly above the big man.  He didnt have more than two or three seconds, but it was more than enough time.  This surface dweller had proved itself too dangerous to let live, and had made Kerath look like an idiot for not forseeing the teleportation.  "FETE!" he roared at the top of his lungs, ponting his right fist down toward's the man, invoking the magic of Enkyz, his magic ring, also made by Balkin.  A thunderous blast of fire leapt from the ring, a cone of pure heat five feet in diameter blew down on top of the big man.

[Anonymous]

The poor, poor sad little souls… They’d be wrapping their little minds around this one for a long while after Yuuki took off with Niaaki. The two of them would go on their marry little way to whatever their destination was. But that wasn’t what was really on his mind at the moment, the words of course were to foul to repeat and there was enough of them to make a sailor blush after a hard day of swearing. Yuuki should have seen it coming, sneaky bastards these dirt-eating bugs were. Yech. Yuukis respect for the pointy-eared things was slowly flopping into nothing because of these things. Well, Yuuki judged the book by the cover and it wasn’t a very fun book at all. His heel was throbbing with his heartbeat and he was stuck to a damn all that looks like spider crap, not that Yuuki would know what Spider crap looked like… Probably like this wall thing though. The tall surface dweller swallowed bile the rose up his throat by looking at it. Yuckie... spiders.

It was between the three seconds that Yuuki saw Niaaki on the ground and the dirt eating dark elf yelled something that sounded like ‘fete’ whatever the hell that was… Wasn’t there a word like that that meant festival? Ah well, Yuuki didn’t really care because he was tunnel-vision-man on Niaaki who looked to be dead. Which really, really pissed Yuuki off. So much so, he even planted his throbbing heel into his boot so it teleported with him. It happened so fast that even a blink was to long, the only thing on the wall was that pretty burst of flame that Festival-man sent off. Shit! He had magic too?! These Drown sucked!

Yuuki didn’t really notice the burst of flame though, because of the throbbing of his, probably broken, foot, and his intent of getting to his little friend. Yuuki Planted a hand on Niaakis head and did a second double check to see if he had Butch. He wasn’t touching Niaaki so Yuuki scooped up the dolly in his left hand and looked over at his “opponent� who had the magic weapons… Cheap skate.

�See ya later, bitch.�

While Yuuki was giving a mock salute, in not so much as a blink of an eye, both of them were gone. And unless something could catch scents in two completely unrelated places, they wouldn’t trace them anywhere. Teleporting, to Yuukis specific species of teleporter was natural. It gave off no hints of magic, it didn’t even show a glimpse of where they were going. The only thing it did was teleport the person, or persons who had the ability and someone they were touching, his hand to their skin, unless it was familiar and attached to his back… Like clothing.. Yuuki had his hand on Niaakis forehead, so it wasn’t much of a problem..

Well, that was plan B. Yuuki was always so great at bailing them out… It was official, the Vharzyym, Drow, magic amulets, sticky spider poop and just plan bitchy men with their pipes clogged sucked. Assuming from what Yuuki knew about the two males, all they needed was to get laid and they’d be happier. Hmph. They should have a big group orgy to let off some steam… They all seemed tense.

Yuuki hoped that this would make the Vharzyym think twice before sending people to a clan headquarters instead of an inn! Take that, you not so local locals!

[Anonymous]

Venorik watched as the man hit the forcefield that Balkin had created in the amulet. He smiled. Then the man was gone again, in front of his friend who wuldn't be able to function for at least a couple of weeks. He felt he would just let events unfold. That was he, though, not Balkin. The high priest held his staff in hand, and when the large man teleported, he saw him instantly. Both places were right in front of the drow. " H'Theril! " the dark weaver yelled, and an animated web spell was instantly activated, and was around Yuuki before he could take off. Only Balkin could release it for now. It would wear off in about a month, he guessed, if he did end up teleporting with it around him. The nature of the spell did not move, but actually materialized around the opponent. It was, unless they dissapeared, unescapable, unless they had a magic barrier, and the man had no such thing and was right there, about to bend down to Niaaki. He wouldn't let them escape. Even if they did, Venorik had a homing beacon on the weak one after breaking his mental barriers.

[Anonymous]

[House Vharzyym:  10 minutes later]

Kerath was still angry making his way through the citidel to the troop housing.  He just had to keep reminding himself, "What happened is inconsequencial.  It doesn't matter what they do.  It will either be of no interest to me, or will be in Vharzyym's best interests."  Over and over he spoke these three sentences in his mind, if only to keep him occupied enough that he wouldn't give in to his anger and destroy one of the priceless artifacts lining the hallway.  The escape of those two had been wounding to Kerath's pride, but other than that, no real harm had been caused.  It didn't matter where they had gone or what they were doing.  Anything they said to others would be nowhere near enough to cause danger to Vharzyym, and rumours, which always became more outrageous with time, could actually possibly do Kerath and Venorik some good.  But still... and enemy had escaped his clutches, and that never put Kerath in a very good mood.

As Kerath neared the barracks, he pushed the thoughts from his mind.  He had much more important matters to dwell on.  The building and furnishing of the palace, as well as supplying the troops with food, armor, weapons, and other provisions, had nearly bankrupted the treasury.  The taxes Vharzyym had imposed on Zantaric in return for security and the fixing-up of the village would probably keep the soldiers fed, but an army, especially a growing one, was expensive.  Vharzyym needed money, as well as soldiers and  increased influence within Le'raana.  The answer to all these problems was three simple syllables: La'marri.  Kerath would take a contingent of soldiers, say thirty house guard and fifty drow soldiers, plus his shadows, to La'marri put under Vharzyym control.  There would be as little bloodshed as possible, since an empty village would not serve their purposes very well, and, if the citizens cooperated, they would simply go about their daily lives with little change.  The only differences would be some new taxes and a military presence to add security, as well as the occasional dissapearance, but it should be a mutually benificial arrangement, again, if the citizens cooperated.

Kerath stepped into the barracks, and seeing several higher ranking members of the house guard, ordered them to assemble thirty guards, as well as another fifty drow of the regular soldiers.  As they marched off to carry out his orders, Kerath also told them to fetch Bor'raizok, his former liutenant in Drash N'cothera, so the Shadows of Carnage could be used as scouts for the main host.

[Anonymous]

Venorik appeared in a hallway in house Vharzyym, the 11 year old girl in his hands. He had many things to check up on, and though his little trip was productive, he still had to attend to the many responsibilities that came with being supreme overlord of Vharzyym. Just then, Kerath came down the hallway. He put the little girl down on her own feet, then pointed to his weaponsmaster. "That." he told her. " Is uncle Kerath. He's my top business man."  Then he leans down and whispers to her. " ask if he's busy, maybe he can spend some time with you while I take care of some things." He knew Kerath would understand what was going on. He had to check on the progress in the extensive research facility on the fourth floor. Everything depended on their success. Luckily Balkin and Serennin were overseeing the project.

  He has Qee'lakstreea speek to Kerath. "talk to her for a second, then send her to Gunit for some new attire." As Kerath gets closer, Venorik hands him a note. " Give it to her when you send her there. It will let Gunit know that her expenses are the same as mine. Fare well in La'marri, i go to check the progress of the virus." With that, Venorik patted her on the head, told her that she may do whatever she wants until he returns,then walked around the corner.

[Rhindeer]

Amana didn't know what to think of the man that had taken her from the orphanage, and all without telling the matron, too! That was weird...she almost felt bad for not saying goodbye, but she was glad to be away from there! She didn't think anyone would ever be interested in her...and now someone finally was! Still, she couldn't help but feel nervous. She'd never seen anyone like this man before...and what would her new life be like? Would he be nice? Or would he be like one of those...those mean people some of the other orphans had complained of? Some of the other kids had come from the city and talked about a place where they'd been forced to work by other adults...what if...what if something bad was gonna happen?

He seemed nice, but...she just...she didn't know what was gonna happen. All that time she'd wanted nothing more than for some nice family to take her in. She'd daydreamed about it night and day, to have a family. Now that it had finally come...she was kind of scared...she didn't even know if it was a good kind of scared or a bad kind yet.

The eleven-year-old clung to Venorik's cloak as he carried her into a huge sort of building, rich, fancy stuff all around her. And she swallowed. Was he...a noble or a king or something? She gulped again and shrank down a little, her brown eyes wide as she took in everything. Everything was so big, and it made her feel even smaller.

Another man was coming down the hallway, a man who looked kind of like Venorik. And then she was being put down on her feet. She shifted a little, her legs a bit wobbly with nervousness, and played absently with the hem of her worn dress as Venorik introduced them. Uncle Kerath? The businessman part went over her head--she really didn't care about that part--but what did catch her attention as important was the uncle part. Then Venorik leaned down and whispered to her, and she glanced up at him and gave a small nod. Then gave a start. Wait! He was leaving! Amana didn't even know him well at all, but he was more familiar than the other man, and he was nice. What was her...her new uncle...like?

She watched in a sort of mild panic as Venorik pat her on the head and then left, leaving her with her new uncle. And...do whatever she wanted?

That was certainly new...

But she was way too used to the rules the matron had set up, so she wouldn't be acting upon that impulse yet.

Eyes wide, she looked up at the man she'd been left with, and shifted from foot to foot. It was just...quite a different experience suddenly getting a new family, and...she didn't know what to make of it.

"Uh...um..." Well...Venorik told her to ask if he was busy. So...that sounded like what she should do. She didn't move at all, though. She just stayed rooted to the spot, looking quite out of place in her worn dress, her blonde hair tied back in a short, messy braid and a smudge of dirt on her chin. She probably looked out of place, too, simply for being a light-skinned human among drow. "Uncle...Kerath?" She'd never had an uncle before...was it okay to call him that? Yeah. Venorik had introduced him as such. "Are...ya busy?"

[Anonymous]

Through the window, Kerath could see the troops he had ordered beginning to assemble to move out.  Good.  There would be no further delays in Kerath's little sortie to La'marri.  The force would be ready to march within half-an-hour.  Bor'raizok and the rest of the shadows had already left, so as to scout the road ahead as well as the village that was to soon become the newest aquisition of Vharzyym.

"Now," the warmaster said quietly to himself, "To fill our coffers."

He was no more than twenty steps down the hallway when he turned the corner and saw Venorik standing there.  "What in the Nine Hells is he doing now?" he asked silently, seeing the little human girl standing next to him.  It was then that Qee'lak'streea's message flooded into Kerath's mind.  Although still confused as to why Venorik had decided to adopt a little girl, he nevertheless decided to play along.  This was obviously something important to Venorik, although Kerath couldn't see why, and he guessed it wouldn't hurt him much to delay his mission another five minutes.  He put on his best smile (a trick even someone as evil as Kerath had learned how to do magnificantly during his years in noble drow society) and turned it toward the girl as Venorik handed him the note and went on his way.  Gunit's shop was only across the street from the citidel, and wouldn't take up to much time.  Kerath squatted down and tried to keep himself from gagging as he spoke his strange words to the little girl.

"Not too busy to get to know a little girl as pretty as you," he replied to the girl's question, surprising even himself with his his ability to sound sincere.  "I am definitely going to be sick now, " he thought.

"What's your name?"

[Anonymous]

Kerrigan stalked through the many gilded halls of House Vharzyym. That was what they called it, wasn’t it? He hadn’t paid much attention to what the guards had said. Once he had talked one of the door guards into letting him, which wasn’t all that difficult, Kerrigan had devoted his attention to thoroughly scanning the building. As the guard led him through the expansive space in search of some sort of officer Kerrigan’s minds eye flicked over the rooms beyond. Much more was going on in this place than one would first suspect, and there were some rooms which his sight could not penetrate at all! He must meet the sorcerer who cast the protections on this place. He was actually getting a bit annoyed, he had been passed from a guard to another guard to some sort of servant and finally to the guard he was currently with. Unfortunately they all seemed to be having the same problems finding who he needed to see, whoever that was.

He had kept his arms folded and his hood covering his face, so effectively no part of his skin could actually be seen. He had decided that a bit of secrecy might not be a bad thing with these people. Trust no one. He was far to experienced to enter a building owned by a hostile faction and show all of his cards at once. Another winding passage, another hallway, he was tempted to dispose of the incompetent soldier and search the building himself. But no, that wouldn’t do. He intended to make these people his allies, so attacking one of them probably wasn’t the best ides right now, that and he didn’t have the faintest idea who e was looking for.

The guard turned another corner and shouted something out, breaking Kerrigan from his thoughts. The drow ran forward yelling out “Master Venorik! Master Venorik! Wait!� Apparently the guard wasn’t too happy about carting Kerrigan around either. Kerrigan walked after him calmly, keeping himself wrapped in a shroud of woollen robe. When the guard managed to catch up to this Venorik character he stopped, momentarily winded, and bent over holding his sides. By the time the guard composed himself Kerrigan had glided up behind him. “This…..this is…er…what did you say your name was again?� When Kerrigan only responded with steely silence the guard continued, “This man wanted to see you sir.� He made some sort of salute, and then hurriedly excused himself. Kerrigan was busy probing the man before him. He did not move or make a sound, merely searched him inside and out with a magical eye.

(did it work? is at all better?)

[Anonymous]

(wtf dude?)

[Anonymous]

:shock:

[Rhindeer]

[I think the forum might have spazzed on him...? XD]

[Anonymous]

(what the hell....? thats not my post....ill do an edit and replace it, see if that fixes it.....thats just wierd...)