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The Next Stage of the Game. (Blink, Elekta Kount, and If Thou Invited)

Started by Wrathwyrm, May 12, 2017, 03:06:59 PM

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Wrathwyrm

[OOC: As this is the gathering of possible strong fellows to a cause, you can ask for invites, of course.]

Overall, The Sparrow's Inn was a good place for one to set up as a base of operations, so to speak.  As the town of Shadowmere was a relatively central kind of town with government buildings, resources, and so on...you could find yourself in the middle of everything you generally needed if you lived here.  This inn, being the sort of place setup to have tennants staying upstairs and food-and-drink accommodations downstairs with a nice open fireplace, one could get immediately cozy in this homey environment.

Sano had good reason to stay here, even good reason to stay forever, but things had to be done.

For those not in the know, Sano Alistair had been - until more recently - traveling around to see what sort of potential people he could hire for a mission, one mission to kill one extremely dangerous target.  He had been to Adela and Essyrn before finally trudging his way into Serendipity from the south, to find himself in the middle of the Jadenshire region.  That, as they say, is where it all changed.  Not the mission, per se, just the way it was handled and how much he needed to get through it to reach its conclusion and live his life.

You never know what you're going to find on a quest like this, what OR who, in fact.

It was in this area that he met a rather powerful and potentially dangerous shadowmancer.  That alone would easily get his attention, but it was also a fact that she was a bright and beautiful lady, on top of that.  The only thing about her was that she had another personality in her head, a shadow from the realm of shadows.  Despite all that, they grew close and Sano had decided to stay around, and use Serendipity's messenger bird system to get word around that he needed people for a mission.  It went kind of like this...

HELP WANTED

Strong and capable fighters and magic-users desired.
All disciplines may apply, though response may vary.
Multiple positions to be filled for eventual mission.

Further details to be found at The Sparrow's Inn.

Ask for Sano.

Dozens of responses had been made, from people who were either...{A} not interested and officially saying so, {B} interested at first but not after a few details were given, {C} very interested but not strong or careful enough to be of use, {D} clearly boasting and exaggerating and thus making them useless, or {E} proposing marriage.

The last one, by far, had been the most disturbing.

It had been from a woman who thought his rally to a quest was actually some sort of poetic declaration of love from a would-be suitor.  She was apparently some distant noble from the coast of Serendipity and completely unaware that Sano's message had been neither meant for her nor poetic in ay fashion.  Still, that didn't beat the other issue.  You see, while he and Nashya Belvedere - the afore-mentioned shadowmancer - were combing through these letters, some of the prospectives had failed to respond at all, making them wonder if they were going to show up in person or what.

Well, one of them surely was.  He just didn't know that this Goldswith 'chap' had actually been the brown-haired woman that had been quietly watching him busy at work, waiting for an opportunity to speak.  And who knows what other sort of person was gonna show?

Elector Count of WAAAGH!

The door to the inn, all eyes flew onto the stranger. A massive, old man in full plate armor stood blocking the entrace, a large heater shield on his right hand, his left carried a great mace, which rested upon his left shoulder.

The man had wore an eyepatch on his right eye, damaged from a curse brought upon by a mage he killed, an aged but properly groomed mustache hung above his mouth.

The man scanned the inn as all eyes were on him, before he reached for somthing on his belt.

A crumpled piece of paper was held up, wrinkled, but the words were as clear as day, it mimicked those of Sano's message.

"Who 'ere sent this?" the man's voice boomed through the inn. "Well?"


Wrathwyrm

Yes, even Sano - who was dressed in his normal dark day-clothes - had paused to get a look at this grizzled warrior march in with full plate, shield, and mace.  Part of him went 'Not again...' because there were these guys who had challenged him with their show-offy skills and bravado that he didn't need...and he had to handidly beat them to get them out of his hair.  Fortunately, another part of him had to note that this did not look like some sort of flashy dumbass in armor.

He looked tough.  Proper tough.

Namely, he looked like a man who had seen war and survived that war, been through hell and then forced hell to go through him, in turn.  That looked a little more promising, and to make matters just a hair better, he held up a letter, which was unmistakeably one that he had sent out, one of the copies of the flyers he'd posted here in town.  Sano stood up and raised the fork from his latest meal by way of acknowledging to the man that he was the one.

"That would be me.  You must be Sir Goldswith-"

A brown-haired woman in one corner of the room almost choked on her tea for some reason.

"I've been hoping to get a hold of you."

Sano, you really shouldn't jump to conclusions...

Elector Count of WAAAGH!

The man looked around, before turning back to see if anybody was behind him.

Seeing no one, he turned back to face the boy, before his voiced boomed again. "Are you speaking to me, lad?"

Wrathwyrm

Well well, confusion all around!  Sano blinked, somewhat perplexed for a moment, then nodded.

"I'm talking to you if you're talking to me."

Slight pause here, and a clearing of the throat.  Not just his throat, but that of the woman across the room.

"I sent out a bunch of these messages, but some of the people I sent them to never responded.  Sir Goldswith was one of them.  I figured he'd show up first because he's apparently local, from Falial.  Doesn't matter.  You're here, and you look like you could do the job."

There was some kind of sigh from the woman as she headed upstairs for some reason.

"So, who are you?"

Elector Count of WAAAGH!

The man smirked, he put the paper back into his belt, then he slowly strolled for the bar counter.

Stopping short, he slammed the palms of the shield hand onto the counter. "Your hardest drink." before pushing off with his palm, leaving a few coins on the counter.

He looked back at the rest of the bar scene, who immidantly went back to what they were doing. The strange man then turned his head to the boy, before walking over to the table he was sitting at, he pulled up a seat for himself. Taking his mace off his shoulder, he reversed the grip so the head faced downwards, and then set it on the ground besides the chair with a *thunk*.

He then sat down, his armor clanked a bit as he sat and the chair creaked under his weight, but it held as he leaned forward with his free hand and looked the boy in the eye with his good eye.

"You want to know my name lad?" the man breathed out. "The name's Volkhard...you must be this Sano lad."

Volkhard then leaned back a bit, cracking his neck a bit, before leaning in, and said "So, Sano, what is this mission of yars?"


Wrathwyrm

The eyepatch'd man paused to order a drink from the innkeeper.  The lady owner of The Sparrow's Inn did not appreciate the manner in which he ordered said drink, but after a few seconds shrugged.  He was paying for it, after all.  While he was setting off to sit at the table Sano was at - not far from the fireplace so he could burn the reject responses - she would be blowing the dust off of an old bottle with no label.  Stronger than some very very very old scotch, more powerful than Bear-Hugger's Whiskey, and rougher than the back of dire Hedgehogs...it was The Stout With No Name.

Anyway...the man had introduced himself as Volkhard, under the assumption that he was speaking to the man mentioned on the flyer, which was true.

"Yes, I am that Sano lad, and the mission-"

"Is what I've been waiting to hear for some time now."

CLANK!  Sano and Volkhard would find a brown-haired woman with similarly-colored eyes standing there with a bigass sword - a thick-bladed zweihander - that had gradual serrations leading towards two parallel endpoints.  She was in casual pants and a shirt, the presence of this sword indicated that she was not a casual user.

"Umm...you've been here the past few days and you're just getting my attention now?"

"You looked busy.  Can't blame me courtesy."

"Okay, who are you?"

At this, she smiled and held out one of his flyers.

"Why 'Sir Goldswith', of course, but you can call me Rena."

Aaand about now - in the middle of that faux pas - would be the best time in the world to have our lady shadwmancer show up, right?

Blink


It had been a long day at the winery and so Nashya was anxious to get back to the inn for a little R&R. Her hopes though were quickly shattered as she opened the door and saw a large man and the brown haired woman at the table by Sano. The man was sitting while the woman stood with an extended hand. What in tarnation had she missed?

Making her way towards them she began to piece it all together... so she thought. "This must be Sir Goldswith" she thought as she looked towards the large man. Her eyes then trailed towards the infamous brown haired woman she had pointed out a few days before. Fortunately she had walked up at the perfect time because before she could even ask everything was cleared up.

"Rena" the woman's name falling off of her tongue as she toyed with its tone. This of course explained so much. For a few days now Nashya had noted that this woman had been extra interested in all of their conversations and now she knew why.

"Still don't know why you are even bothering with this" her inner voice chiming in as Nashya made her way behind Sano.

Resisting the urge to answer she pulled up a chair and drug it beside his. "So I assume both of you have taken interest in his mission?" The question directed at both of them as she pulled up a chair to sit beside Sano.

Elector Count of WAAAGH!

"Haha, splendid!" The big man boomed, before saying under his breath."This may be intreasting after all."

The old veteran turned to Sano and leaned forward onto the table, before he asked in a slightly quieter voice. "So, what is this mission you speak of?"

Wrathwyrm

The sword-wielding woman nodded at Nashya, even as the older man boomed.

"That would be the case, yes."

Like the man asked, what exactly was the mission?  Everyone could now take a seat at the table for the explanation.  Before he did, though, deep-brown in a glass was set before Volkhard.  Judging by the way it curled nose-hairs upon partaking of its scent, it had to be his drink.  Good luck!  Sano did his best to ignore the drink's as he outlined the mission.

"I have already told Nashya of this, but the situation is thus: I've discovered the existence of a powerful vampire in Connlaoth, one whose power makes the presence of Mordecai a detriment rather than an advantage, since they would be helpless against his abilities.  Now, I want you to know, you're not doing this for Connlaoth, so don't worry yourselves over patriotism or lack thereof.  This is because he assaulted a friend of mine, tortured and damn near killed her with a blood curse.  This is retribution, and I'm footing the bill."

So, they were hunting after a vampire for personal reasons, with no political motivations at all.  with the fact that he wanted to remove this creature from existence, they would be technically helping Connlaoth, but to be fair...any part of the world could be threatened, just as easily.  The creature was a true monster.  Rena spoke up now.

"I don't really want to discuss politics either.  It's more the people I'd be concerned about, alleviating them of a tremendous threat.  How dangerous is it?"

"Enough that I'm a talented Ferromancer and I needed to find some help with this.  Maybe alot of help.  Keefe, the one who was assaulted, taught me everything I know, and he bested her.  It's not something you can battle alone, so I needed to find people with true strength, yet with the sense to know that they can still be killed.  Now, have I found some of those people or what?"

Rena smirked at this.

"I have strength and fear in abundance, so we're good here."

Blink

There wasn't much to say as she sat there quietly. Seemed Sano had this under control as far as she could tell. Even if she wanted to say something it wouldn't benefit the mission Sano spoke of.

(OOC: Sorry for super short post guys. Feel free to skip me for now. Some stuffs has happened IRL)

Elector Count of WAAAGH!

"Thank you, lass." said Volkhard as he grabbed the drink and chugged, before his laughter echoed through the inn. "Haha! Tis Been a while since I had somthing this potent."

Wiping his mouth then lowering his voice, the former Master Sergeant asked. "So vampires in Connoloath? Eh? Them Mordecai lads are really slacking since I left..." He said that last part under his breath. "Well, lad, sounds like you've got yourself some tough vendetta on ya hands. Luckily for you, I've been looking to do somthing for the next couple of days..."

In truth, Volkhard almost didn't want to return to Connoloath. There were too many memories back there.

But on the other hand, what the lad said was concerning. If the fancy Mordecais can't deal with this problem, then someone had to. It wouldn't sit right with his conscious if he decided to back off now.

Besides, be a fun challenge, eh?

"You'll have my mace and my shield at your disposal." Volkhard finished. "But tell, where was this? And what do you know about this vampire?

Wrathwyrm

Sano could have sworn that smoke shot from Volkhard's mouth as he drank that drink...

Naturally, the shadowmancer needed not say much of anything, unless she had a point to interject in, for now.  She'd heard all of this before the two of them had even gotten involved.  Still, as a normal human, Sano did not hear the mutterings of the old soldier.  Rena did, but did not say anything at the moment.  It made sense to her that a man like him would want to protect his home.  She found Sano's reasons for doing this understandable enough.  Strange that he seemed to be avoiding the point of helping Connlaoth.  Just to keep them from worrying about it involving them in the war, or something else?  More immediate questions were asked by the old Connlaothian.

"I'd like to know more, myself.  I'm in, but I need to know the details."

"Alright...  What I know."

As he began, a cup of tea was placed down in front of Rena.  Apparently, she'd been hand-signalling for it behind her back.

"This was in Matron's Hollow, but I don't think he'll be restricted to that.  Keefe was in the area to put down a slave trader.  She's generally against oppression of magic, slavery, harmful abuses of power...  After finishing the job, she was accosted by this man-thing, a bald and yellow-eyes warrior that conjured weapons out of thin air, negated or deflected every move with precision, and kept up with her until he could get in a proper strike...where he set upon her a curse to torture her with her own blood until it burst from her body."

That, admittedly, halted Rena from taking a drink of her tea.

"What happened to her?"

"I managed to save her, and she told me about him.  He's strong and fast, and the weapons are not natural metal, probably straight conjures.  He can be quiet and he can probably stealth very well.  I know he targeted her because she had targeted Mordecai, in turn.  He thinks of the country as his hunting ground, so keeping Mordecai alive while his own power remains unaffective gives him an edge.  You may not like this, but we can be sure that as long as he wants to live and thrive there, he'll act against anyone deliberately targeting them."

Elector Count of WAAAGH!

The old veteran started to chuckle, wasn't a light hearty chuckle, it was a darker, almost sinister chuckle.

It wasn't the alcohol, least not yet, but one would be forgiven to think it was.

No, it was what the boy had said that made him laugh so hard. The very idea that the very thing that the Mordiecai had sworn against were benefiting in the wake of Mordiecai own shadows. It was a morbid irony when you thought about about how much pain the Mordiecai's ideology brought upon all the people of Connoloath, but if you've seen what Volkhard's seen somthing like that only made too much sense not to be funny.

"I am assuming finding this bat freak isn't as easy as knocking on his front door." said Volkhard as his chuckling ceased. "You have plan for finding this vampire?"

Wrathwyrm

That laugh definitely told Sano that Volkard was on board.  He had no problem dealing with a vicious monster in the borders of Connlaoth.  For now, it seeemed like Rena was in, as well.  How long would that last, though?  It all depended on this next bit, which was the plan.  Sano had a plan, alright.  It was almost certain to work, given what it was that lured him out to attack Keefe.  The veteran asked about it, right off, and - although he'd alluded to the answer a moment ago - Sano explained.

"I have a plan, one as simple as can be.  He gave it away when he attacked Keefe.  He's keeping Mordecai alive, or at least from dying too quickly, for his own purposes.  If someone targets Mordecai specifically, he'll have to put that person down."

He'd explained this part to Nashya, as well, but upon hearing it, as well, Rena was surprised.

"You can't just go attacking Mordecai, Sano.  You become an enemy of the whole country."

"I am an enemy of the country.  I am what they fear and hate, so not only do I have little problem with it, but I'm glad to.  Aren't you against their laws, living in Serendipity?"

"Yes, I am, but I won't destabilize a country over a personal grievance.."

"Neither would I.  Killing a Mordecai wouldn't upset the country more than it is already.  It's in civil war.  Now is the only time that would be overlooked, except by him."

"So, you want to kill a Mordecai to lure him out.  What happens if he won't come out?"

"Unlikely though it is?"

"Sure.  On the off-chance, if you like."

"We're not hunting another, if that's what you mean.  We kill a Mordecai, and if he doesn't show, I use it as a warning to others and make it sound like I'm some sort of terror-inducing assassin or anarchist, when all the while I want one thing, to irritate the bastard into coming."

"You're willing to take that kind of risk on yourself?"

"I believe in Keefe's reasonings, Serenipity's too.  I don't care what Connlaoth thinks of me.  I don't even care if, after it's all over, they thank me."

Elector Count of WAAAGH!

"Son, you clearly have not thought this through." said Volkhard, almost snorting to himself. "Your plan is simple, but there are too many varbales that could or could not happen that we can easily control with some forethought.

Volkhard leaned closer. "I think you are putting too little weight on becoming Connoloath's public enemy. I don't like the mordecai nobs, but let's say we do manage to attack a mordecai, what if the bat freak doesn't come out? If I know them mordecai lads, it's that where you would find one of those sods lurking, more will follow, meaning more of them will try to crawl up our ass with nothing to show for it."

Volkhard leaned back, crossing his arms. "And what about afterwards? Hm? THey will still come after you. Judging from the way you describe yourself, I assume you are a magic user. Do you really think that the Mordecai will let this go without someone to answer for it? What if they more of them show up during our encounter with this bat freak? Your powers would be useless against a foe with his powers safely intact. And what of your friend? Is she safely out of the country or must you transport her out? There are too many variables that could change and jeopardize this mission on the spot."

Volkhard sighed a bit, closing his eyes to think for a secound, before continuing. "There are more ways to combat an enemy besides head on. In fact, I dare say he may expect us to do such a thing. If we want to find a way to counter this enemy, we need to know him. Do you know anything else about this bat freak? Do you know of his kind? Do you know of the way he truly fights? Does he have more prey he "hunts", or are those who attack mordacei his only targets?"

Wrathwyrm

Sano gave him a look of 'Get real' in regards to him having 'not thought this through'.  He had thought about it plenty.  However, he let the man speak, and then he would either invite him to give a better plan or tell him why his plan works.  All depended on what he had to say.  So, he waited on this, and it seemed like it was mostly about Connlaoth's actual security and about the vampire being interested or not.

Well, I wanted a healthy amount of fear...

Not for this aspect of things, though.  Mordecai are at least human, easier to handle.  Some of these issues Volk was mentioning, he'd addresssed or thought about.  Other parts were not actually important because - for instance - he'd obviously check to see if there are more Mordecai around than a single one, and how far away.  The last part irritated him, slightly.

"You know, I tell you that a veritable expert in combat was bested by this thing, and then ask me if I know how he fights?  Of course I know.  She did tell me.  He is a creature of battle.  He produces weapons with his magic and commands other powers like dark lightning, transformation, great strength and speed, and so on.  He probably loves the war, so he'll prey on those with the strength to fight, but with him preserving Mordecai, he probably enjoys having power over them."

He glared at Volkhard more pointedly now.

"You think I haven't worked enough of this out.  Honestly, do you really think I wouldn't scout out an area first, get a feel for how things could play out and who would respond?  This isn't a broad daylight affair for everyone to point and scream about.  This is an assassination, quiet and mysterious, with rumors and anonymous warnings.  Before we even begin, Nashya will be able to tell with her powers if there's another Mordecai even close to our location.  It's not my plan to slaughter them, just make a ripple in the pond that only the vampire can track.  He attacked Keefe over Mordecai when she had killed a slave trader.  Obviously, he knew, when other people did not."

"What about your friend, though?"

"She never lived within Connlaoth's borders, isn't there now and is probably recovered by now.  No worries there.  I know you're not liking this, but consider the mentality of the one who subjected my friend to this for a moment.  He did not tear the life out of her or even just kill her.  He went out of his way to make her suffer, but in a way that says 'You are completely beneath me'.  That's arrogance.  He did not expect her to live, or did not care, but deemed it necessary to show himself because of his bloody habits.  That is a self-assured being, which lends more credence to his coming out once the deed is done.  Once it starts, we give no mercy, strike as hard as possible so he has less of a chance to fight back."

And now, he needed to order a drink, because his throat was getting dry by talking.  Rena was trying to get a handle on Sano, at this point.  He looked like a man who'd thought of nothing but all of this since the incident.  It was revenge, as he'd said up-front, but it didn't quite have the ring of obsession because of all the thought he had put into it.  The part Rena didn't like was attacking the Mordecai, for reasons that she'd said.  What it sounded like, though, was that unless they wanted to be in a big battle, their vampire wouldn't just come out, otherwise.  That was a problem...

Elector Count of WAAAGH!

"You know what son?" said the man as he leaned back again, to cross his arms. "I will let you handle this because I am too old to argue."

"However." he raised a hand and a finger. "I am not going to take part in this "assassination" of yours. I may not like  the mordecai but they are still me kinsmen, and I don't kill anyone unless they're's a proper reason. Besides, as you can see clearly, I am no assassin."


Blink

Clearing her throat Nashya thought it finally time for her to chime in. "If I may?" Nashya declared holding up a hand.

"Perhaps we don't have to assassinate any Mordecai." Allowing her eyes to dart between the three Nashya wanted to be sure she had their attention. Of course, she was pretty great blending into the background, but now was not a good time for that.

"Sano mentioned I am a shadowmancer... assuming you were listening that is. However, what he failed to mention is that one of the many duties I am assigned with is creating an illusion." Slowly Nashya let a smile appear on her lips as her idea came to light.

"Do you think the vampire would fall for the illusion of Mordecai being slaughtered? Would keep our hands clean while drawing it out. Not to mention that we wouldn't have to worry about a Mordecai disabling our magic. It's a win-win as long as it works."

Nashya then looked to Sano, hoping he would find her resolution useful in some way.

Wrathwyrm

The mood of the meeting had soured, with the argument between Sano and Volkhard.  The young Ferromancer was certainly trying to keep himself civil.  The veteran wasn't offensive.  He just didn't like a criticism that didn't offer an alternative in its stead.  If a thing has got to be done and the methods involved are limited, telling others 'No' and giving no solution to the matter just isn't helpful.  Fortunately, Volk settled on not wanting to be part of the actual assassination, a neutral agreement that Sano could live with.  He honestly didn't care about Morecai at all, and if Keefe wanted to resume her assassinations after this, it would be with his blessing.

Rena was about to voice her own decision - she didn't want to unless they had no viable choice - but Nashya clearing her throat bade the woman to stop.  Upon asking to interject, Sano nodded, gladly taking a break from being speaker as he got his drink, which was an ale.  He listened intently as she came up with an alternative which might serve...  Sano pondered it for a moment.

"It would have to be a good illusion, every human detail.  You'll have to fool his vampire senses..."

He cleared his throat, taking another swallow of his drink to get his voice back entirely.

"It has to look right and sound right, every gasp for breath and every heartbeat, if you can.  With a group like ours, we could cover for the scent, at least, but the rest has to be on the nose, and I still don't know about magic."

At this, Rena smiled.  She was liking this alot better than a true execution.

"When I get near a Mordecai, my sword is still awake and all the physical traits of being an elf hold steady.  My magic sense goes south along with my casting because it's a talent that my mother taught me and passed down.  Presumably, the reason he's fine with Mordecai is that they don't affect him in the slightest  He might not know the difference."

This was not a guarantee, mind you, but it would certainly be more useful if they really didn't want to kill a Mordecai.

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