Lackluster Dealings

[Draconian]

It was a rare day, or evening in this case, that Cadreinth was away from his desk, let alone out of the building. It had been gloomy for days, the reports he'd read was that were was an upward tick in cult-like activity and he just didn't have the time for that. There was a difference between shitty kids being weird and playing with magic and cults.

Cadreinth couldn't think of any cult-like magic he tried as a kid, but perhaps that was because he was busy all the time. Now though, his cloak on and hood up, he meandered the streets. The rain was loud on his hood, the whole thing a little too fancy looking to be out in the bad weather. Still, the water beaded off of it, enchanted that was it. A dagger sheathed at his thigh, rapier at his hip, if it weren't for his too opulent brown cloak, Cadreinth would look like anyone else.

Additionally he's heard rumours of some fire wizard passing through. No, that wasn't right. Someone claiming to be the embodiment of fire and lightning. Cadreinth 's boots were loud on the ground as he walked to the tavern that this person was spotted at last. Were they staying here? The name escaped him, and while his informant mentioned it was a woman, Cadreinth had met some waify men in his time so who reallynew.

The door opened to the establishment, the air warm and inviting. The smell of food reminded him he hadn't eaten since breakfast, so wrapped up in his sneaking-out plans he'd forgotten. Still, he took a seat at a table with his back facing the tavern keeper, front facing the door, before he removed his cloak and sighed, pressing his hands to his face and trying to rub the sleepiness away.

Cadreinth wasn't a bad looking man, his face was narrow with high cheek bones, lips that easily fell into a smirk. A straight narrow nose and golden green eyes that gave a nasty glare for how vibrant the colour was. Pale but with a rosy blush at his cheeks and slightly pointed ears, Cadreinths only real feature that stood out was his opalescent hair, swept back out of his face. He left his cloak behind him on his chair and he sighed and pat his pockets, finding his coin and going to the counter.

"One drink and whatever hot meal is available to you," his voice got a little more loud, trying to draw attention "I'm also looking for someone, a woman. Deals with fire and lightning," Cad placed the coin on the counter and the tavern keeper eyed it wearily before giving him his drink, a bowl of stew and pondering on information. "I can't say I seen anyone," the tavern keeper said, taking the coin, "but rumours been tumbling 'round about a girl who's been taking care of some of the darker dealings." The tavern keeper shrugged, the 'dark dealings' not lost on the High Lord "I can't say I've seen her, but I've been hearing people talk and everyone's gotta eat."

Cadreinth nodded and went back to his seat with a sigh, taking a drink and tucking into his food. Did he leave a message for this girl? Did he just sit here and stare at the door until he couldn't anymore? His own informants said she'd been spotted here, but the tavern keeper just gave conflicting information. With nothing left to do but eat and pout, Cadreinth did both, on hand holding his head up while he ate unenthusiastically.

[FROSTCestrell]

Sorcery. A tool made by the truly powerful ones, which allowed them to influence mortals without their direct interference. After all, Sorcery was pure power, in whatever form and situation it came to play. And if there was one thing that every mortal she ever met had wanted, it had been power. The power to control the destiny of others or, in the case of the stronger minded individuals, the power to control their own destiny, free from others secret schemes. For Akira, power was a momentary construct. Always used situational and in order to fulfil her goal. Sadly, the mortals she was pursuing as of late didnt see power, or sorcery as the same thing and fell back into the old cycle, getting corrupted by the forces they were able to conjure and shifting the balance. And while Akira wasnt exactly able to tell how their doings were influencing the world around them, everything within her felt that they needed to be stopped.

Naturally, such a strong feeling of dread warranted nothing less then a response which was equally as destructive as it was intense, which in turn certainly had made thetownsfolk share one or another story of her.

Usually it started with clouds. A bad weather which was approaching, carrying the scent of autumn with it as silent indicator of what was coming, that being a time where all things were tested. Would they prevail? Or would they perish under the forces of nature? The next indicator was rain. While slow and soft at first and starting to rain down harder and harder up to the point where it was raining literal buckets as time progressed, it was the only mercy that the goddess of thunder and fire was able to give. A quiet vow to only destroy what needed to seize existing. And finally, it was Akira herself, standing in the rain, completely drenched, cltohes hanging down from her body and not distinguishable from nothing more then a mere beggar, wouldnt it have been for the glowing eyes, which seemed to radiate determination and the glowing tatoo's on her arms.

After that... the inevitable happened, and as the fight ensued in the alleyways of one of Jadenshine's less fortuante districts, her fight was already drawing attention by looks alone. Naturally, the people which werent directly involved werent too eager to stand in the way and sought out a place that gave them the feeling of being protected and sheltered. And what better place was there then the tavern, to get this kind of feeling?

Inside the tavern, Cadreinth's wait was cut short by the sounds of men approaching the door, trying to make an effort to cross the distance as quick as possible. As soon as the door opened and the rain could be seen behind them as sthe scuddled inside, the reason for this phenomenon could be seen easily. The weather had changed within minutes.

Once inside, the men made an effort rid themselfes of their drenched, cold overcoats and hanged them near the fire as they talked to each other:

1: "Bloody friggin hell! I swear it was sunny just an hour ago or so!"
2: "You tell me... tis' is the third time this week that this happens. It almost feels
   like someone cursed this town!"
4: "Oh shut it, both of you... weather always had been like this, this time of the
   year."

As the trio talked to each other and their babbling seemed to rail off to become a full fledged argument, only interrupted by ordering beverage from the tavern keeper, the third one remained oddly quiet, looking out of the window towards the south as if he was expecting something to happen. Finally when lightning struck, he was prepared, and his expression had changed to an unpleased one, even before the thunder could be heard.

[Draconian]

Cadreinth was unprepared for thunder and he'd been giving the contemplative man a long look. The flash and while he was expecting it, it sounded a little more loud. A little unsettling. Probably just the mood of the place.

He lifted his cup to his mouth and placed it back on the table before he made his way over. "Greetings," Cadreinth started giving a polite smile, "you're looking troubled, friend. Might I ask what has you looking at the storm so... intently?" Maybe, just maybe that woman was involved.

Little steps to the end goal. Very little steps. Cadreinth was an inch away from hiring a private investigator instead and just going home. People loved money. Surely the fire-lightning woman did, too.

[FROSTCestrell]

Looking away from the window as he was spoken to, the man's eyes slowly got wider as he got torn out of his thoughts. Looking at Cadreith with suspicion and even fear in the corners of his eyes for a few seconds, he calmed down quickly and caught himself once more as he answered reluctantly: "I-... i just dont like lightning anymore, is all."

Looking back to the window again but moving his hand towards the chair close to him, he offered a seat next to him as she continued: "I saw some things... just know. When you see something like that, you shouldnt go outside until it passes... trust me."

[Draconian]

A scoff.

Cadreinth looked out the window, tilting his head and blinking at the thunder and lightning. "Trust you?" He sat, an eyebrow raised and his head tilted in slight confusion. He looked outside the window and a streak of lightning cracked the sky.

"That just makes me want to go out into it more, what's the worst that can happen?" Cadreinth looked to the gentleman beside him and gave a smile and pat his leg before he stood up. Going back for a moment to get his cloak and pull the hood up. Pausing before he went for the door, he glanced at the scared man on the chair.

"Unless you have a good reason why I shouldn't besides 'trust me', which, I'm sorry to say, is a very weak reason." A wolfish smile and a raised eyebrow, "It's just a little bit of bad weather. Nothing to be afraid of."

[FROSTCestrell]

Letting the hidden insults pass him as he continued his watch, the men efentually let out a long and low sigh as he mumbled: "Its your grave then...", before coughing slightly and looking away from the window for a few seconds to catch Cadreinth's gaze once more, presenting him with a question: "When was the last time you saw something like that then? Or... lets ask something else: Those storms happened recently, right? Havent seen anything like that for the whole 20 years i am living here, except for the past few weeks."

Pausing and taking a sip from his beverage, before giving the window another careful glance, he looked back to Cadreinth briefly and added: "Point is... this storm... the lightning... it kills. I saw it in front of my own eyes. If you see it as a joke, then go ahead. Just follow the direction of where the lightning comes down and you will see what i mean. Its your funeral, not mine."

[Draconian]

Cadreinth was caught off guard, sure thunder and lightning weren't common and this particular storm was bad, but he wouldn't say the worst in 20 years. Probably. He glanced at the frightened person and gave a solemn nod and held out his hand, fingers pinched together. Pulling them apart and electricity arcing over his fingertips before he shook it off his hand like spiderwebs, leaving his fingertips tingling.

"It's just a little electricity," he gave the other person a clap on the shoulder, "anything can kill someone if there's enough of it." He nodded to the drink as a point and took the threat of death by lightning as a minor hiccup in his search. There was a goal. Cadreinth wasn't about to run away from the one thing all the rumours led to.

"Feels a bit like following a rainbow," he commented jovially before he was out the door. Another crack of lightning followed by the chest rumbling sound of thunder. It was a bit of a blind venture, the rain so bad he would be soaked anyway despite the cloak. Luckily following the general direction of flashes of lightning wasn't overly difficult.

Follow the lightning, the man said, and Cadreinth did so fully prepared for his funeral. Would he know when he got there? "Maybe I'll find a pot of riches," he commented to himself, looking up at the sky and sighing. Waiting for another sharp visual of lightning in the sky.

He was close. The lightning was brighter and he could feel the static tingling on his skin.

[FROSTCestrell]

Back in the distance, Akira was still carving her path through the cities alleyways and a warehouse of sorts, ending the threat that those posed that chose to mess with the greater balance of all things and leaving behind a trail of scorched foodsteps together with the occasional body and the clear signs of a lightning impact. Naturally, her enemies didnt go down without a fight and as such, Akira still needed considerable to to make progress, seeing the sheer numbers, unwavering morale and skills that her opponents posessed. Much less like a cult and more like an army that had expected to be attacked as their pursued their plans.

Still, despite the challenge, they needed to seize existing, if not for Akira's will, then for the locals of this town. While they hadnt made their move yet, the signs were clear. Stashes of weapons, armor and even semi-magical artifacts amassed and readily stored, like an armory, ready to be unleashed at a moments notice against anyone that defied them. Knowing the pattern that they had been operating under before, Akira guessed that their first target would be guards and servants of the city, taking them off whenever possible without losses. Then, after the town was weakened enough, they would initiate a riot, spreading their illusions and lies like poison amongst the poculate and lastly... they would aim for the heart. 

[Draconian]

Cadreinth was a foolhardy man, following the lightning and thunder like he was warned not to. It was the smell that hit him first, the scent of burnt humanoid corpse. Having trained with the military for his role, but never having served, he was mostly unfamiliar with dead things. Least of all things that seemingly died by lightning strike.

His running turned earnest when he spotted the person down on the ground, dropping to his knees to check for a pulse, disheartened to find none. Of course he was alarmed then, to have such control over lightning was a thing he couldn't quite fathom. He could channel it, sure, but to conjure it?

Cadreinth chose not to think of what a nightmare this would be on the paperwork side when he got up and kept moving again. His hood had fallen and his opal hair stuck to his face, his green golden eyes squinting in the dark stormy weather. It was morbid, following charged spots on the ground even more so when he realized he was following corpses too, knowing he was on the right track because of them. The rumours were true. The lady of lightning and storms. Or some such.

The high lord had been running for a while, with his hood down the rain seeped between his neck and his cloak. He'd be miserable tomorrow, he knew that much. "Hello?" He yelled into the darkness, past a particularly charred smelling area. "Hello! I'm looking for the person who killed a fuck load of people! With lightning apparently! Hello!" Was he just chasing ghosts? Spirits? A phantom? Maybe it wasn't a goddess at all, but an insatiable demon. Cadreinth slightly regretted his run, because a demon disguised as a goddess was seeming more likely.