Scion of the Dragon
Zander's eyes open and a hand goes to his belt automatically, closing around the ritual knife that hangs from the waist of his black Chiton. Paranoia. That should worry him- his rest is to uneasy for a boy of his age, his mother's voice is practically ringing in his head, old and withered and always with the smell of olive oil. Her hands where always soaked in when she finished cooking and laid out the table for when her boys got back from a hard days work.
No. Not now. Think now. This is why he avoids sleep in the first place, it's so troublesome.
He sits up, surveying the area, tension in his shoulders. Unfamiliar. To unfamiliar. This is not his tiny basement flat. That's obvious....but where is it? Where is he?
edited 26th Aug '13 1:23:11 AM by LMage
"You are never taller then when standing up for yourself"
Maggie casts an eye over the man and the strange creature in the alley with her.
"Who the bloody 'ell are ye two, and why are both o'ye 'ere with me?"
Josiah felt around his face, feeling the foci of his veil around it, making sure it was all still up and the Aryan populace wouldn't take unkindly to his more... colorful appearance.
He thought his joke was really funny, putting a smile on his face. That smile died as he turned back into an alley to come face to face with one of the Erlking's minions. Not his mother, thankfully, or he would have gone immediately for his bow, but that was an almost agreed upon ritual. Much like his face, it was veiled. He couldn't veil his pistol but he veil his coat that he put his pistol in, and forget carrying his rifle around!
Besides killing his smile, the only sign of his discomfort and surprise were small shows in body language. He wasn't attempting to hide his emotions, he just wasn't very good at showing anything either. He gave a nod and a shake of the hand to the goblin, characteristically mute, and ready to hear and deal with what he had for him. The Erlking and his court weren't exactly as bad as the Winter Fae, but they weren't Summer proper either, and Summer proper wasn't anything to disappoint to begin with.
Then he spotted the woman and now his face pursed with mild surprise.
edited 26th Aug '13 5:05:13 AM by God_of_Awesome
Maggie noticed the man staring at her.
"Wot? Wot r'ye starin' at, boyo?"
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
Anton came awake almost immediately. His hand, tight around the hilt of his warden sword in slumber, relaxes as he recognized the voice. Getting up from the chair he'd used as "bed", he moved his shoulders and neck, hearing a slight popping sound. Großartig.note
"I'm awake." he informed Rhian, strapping on both his Warden sword back to his belt and adding the larger Sword, before slipping back into his jacket and fastening his cloak over it. "Lets go."
"You can reply to this Message!"
Josiah stared at her and then at the goblin, gesturing at her with a questioning look.
Rhian nodded, but not before giving him a dubious look. She put her jacket on and made a small show out of concealing her Webley revolver and her wand, making sure either was within reach. She drank the contents of a small bottle which turned her short black hair into a straw blonde.
"You might want to walk out in front. You speak German better than I do."
The goblin grinned. "Welcome, welcome, Summer faeling. We have work to do."
He put a hand on Josiah's shoulder and grinned. "I am afraid my name is quite impossible for you faelings to pronounce, but you may call me Doc. Ordinarily I would serve as the batman to the Erlking's mortal champion, but that tiresome Finn would not have me. So I am here to assist you instead. We have a target for you, you see. Very important."
As Zander looked around, he could see a shape in front of him. It was dressed head to toe in a large grey robe that obscured its form, and it was impossible to tell a gender from the disharmonious tone.
"Welcome to Germany, Voice of Hades."
Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
"Sure, sure." Anton said and took point.
"You can reply to this Message!"
Cephalopod Lothario
Zahir stands perfectly still, taking in the scene. Every detail. Looking around carefully. Dark robed figures. Fellowship. Weapons under robes, likely. Looking for hidden people. The sunlight prickled on his skin, feeling too hot. Too close. That was alright. It pushed away the thirst.
He letting his mind flash through possibilities, combat strategies. Angles of assault. It helped keep him focused.
-Half-step forward, palm-heel strike at face, draw knife, upward strike through sternum into heart.-
He nods, not breaking eye contact with the man in front of him. He trusted the Fellowship more than anyone else in the world, but it didn't pay to let your guard down. Ever.
edited 26th Aug '13 10:46:56 AM by DrTentacles
Maggie eyes the creature with a certain degree of trepidation.
"Wot d'ye mean, I'm a bloody Summer faeling?"
Josiah pointed at her and then shook his finger. He then placed his hand on his chest and inclined his head.
He turned back toward Doc, "I am afraid of you, and disappointing you, the consequences that come with it. But I am more hateful of being an assassin. The exception is if this target is deserving of it." He tilted his head to the side, looking away from the goblin and upwards to the sky in thought, "I don't know, in fact I doubt, that you personally sympathize with my moral code. But I would surmise that you are... adept enough in manipulating mortals to understand it."
The Wildest of Ronins
Boris the bear skulked in the shadows of the trees just outside the clearing. He pondered to himself what this meeting was about and did his best to listen in from the edges of the clearing.
Click Click Boom Boom
Combat mode, engage
James continued to scan the surrounding area as he walked as he had been doing for several minutes. I don't like this place, way too many things those trees could be concealing. Well at least there's no possible way it could be koblods. The other wizard said something and snapped James of of his reverie.
"Yes? What is it?" he asked politely.
-dramatic music ensues-
Today Karl wore the form of an elderly man in tweed. He hadn't expected any offers of work and had planned on simply enjoying the afternoon. But work was work and he couldn't afford to pass on it. Karl put down the paper he was reading and finished off the last bite of the pastry in front of him while considering the stranger.
He usually received letters or calls setting up meetings with clients. The fact that this man had found and immediately identified him in a brand new guise meant he had some way to track Karl. It was possibly a mundane technique, but if the stranger was tracking him via The Art, then it was likely he had some kind of thaumaturgic connection. Such a connection could easily be used to send hostile magic his way. The shapeshifter filed that information away and decided to treat this man with caution and respect.
Karl finished off his coffee before finally speaking in a faint Bavarian accent, "Always a pleasure to meet with a prospective client. How can Karl Nacht be of service to you today?"
The man in front of Karl nodded. "Right to the point, excellent."
He leaned forward a little, careful to avoid Karl's gaze as he did so. "I have something I want retrieved. The local...authorities, have something in their possession that I would very much like to own for myself. A book."
The man in front of Zahir nodded. "Your partner's whereabouts are unknown to us. You will have to discover his fate on your own." He looked around. "You must not tarry any longer than you have to. We cannot risk being compromised. If we already have been..." His voice trailed off. He didn't need to say more.
The would-be Warden spoke again, his tone curt and professional.
"We're almost at the exit to München. Once you are there, Warden Walter and Wizard Weaver will meet you and provide you with tactical information about the city. Once you have found them, give them this envelope. It contains your orders. Burn after memorizing them."
He handed James a sealed envelope. "If the two have been compromised, help them before you try to carry out the mission on your own. There is a reason we are involving so many practitioners."
The goblin smiled at Josiah. "You mean to refuse, then? Delightful! I could always use more subjects to...experiment on. I don't get to experiment on many faelings, I'm sure it will be most enlightening!"
Rhian and Anton navigated through the streets in the early morning light, going past people who were leaving for work, most of them wearing factory workers' overalls or similar clothing. Both of them stuck out in their longcoat and jacket respectively.
"It's not much farther," Rhian said, in German. Her accent was quite good, for someone who was not a native. "And thank God for that, these are the most conspicuous disguises we have ever come up with."
Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.
Josiah felt fear, obvious to any empath, but the connection between his emotions and the rest of his brain was a sluggish one, "I mean for you to tell me who and what this target is. And then I will do my honest best to avoid a painful existence at your hands."
edited 26th Aug '13 1:44:37 PM by God_of_Awesome
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
"Its not like we had much options at the time, remember?" Anton answered, keeping his hands calmly at his side, ready to grab his swords as needed.
"You can reply to this Message!"
Cephalopod Lothario
Zahir nods again, already turning to go.
"I'll find him. Contact by dead drop in the allyway outside the bar. There's a loose brick. Two feet in from the street. Marked with crossed arrows."
He pauses. Something smelled off. Glances around the clearing. Couldn't see anything yet-but he had a sense. A feel of being watched. He had learned to trust instincts, after three years hunting. He makes a hand gesture to the rest of the Fellows to indicate that he was going to circle around, then starts to walk away, calmly, casually, looking around, listening for noise. His hand slides into his coat, taking holding of a throwing-balanced stiletto.
The Wildest of Ronins
Boris narrowed his eyes as he watched the group, somewhat suspicious of the situation. He didn't think they were nazi scum since they were meeting in the woods instead of a bunker or the like but that didn't mean they were allies. They might be Kemmler's men but that still seemed unlikely. They didn't feel that unnatural.
Click Click Boom Boom
Cephalopod Lothario
About thirty feet from the clearing, Zahir steps off the path, into the underbrush, still looking around for ambushers. He moves up, leaping to a low-hanging treebranch, and moving along from tree to tree nearly noiselessly, his other side helping him keep his balance.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a shape. Heard leaves crunch. There was a man, crouched low behind a tree, watching the clearing where the rest of the Fellowship still was. He starts to move closer, sizing the man up. He didn't looks-or smell-unnatural. Human. Male. Dressed in factory clothes. A workman, perhaps? He didn't smell like a workman, now that Zahir was closer. Not metallic enough. Not smokey enough. He was carrying a large backpack. Apparently unarmed. Maybe a runaway, of some sort.
Move above, drop down, drive stiletto down under clavicle at angle. Pulmonary damage, punctured Vena Cava. Possible carotid damage as well.
He shakes his head slightly. It could just be a factory worker on a hike. A civilian. He had to be sure. He draws the knife, hiding it behind his body, holding it by the blade for a quick throw, still perched on a tree-branch, fifteen feet above the ground, then speaks, voice low, soft, his german faintly accented.
"Who are you?"
edited 26th Aug '13 2:48:59 PM by DrTentacles
Scion of the Dragon
"Tell me." Zanders asks as he brushes off his chiton glad he had gone to sleep his his ceremonial dress instead of bother to undress like usual. "What apparition of the Gods has to the power to pluck the Voice Of Hades from Athens in his sleep and awaken him in Nordic lands, hm?" He keeps his hand on the knife at his belt but doesn't draw it.
"You are never taller then when standing up for yourself"
Combat mode, engage
James nodded as he took the envelope. "Understood. Are extraction details in here too?" He then noticed that Jack seemed to be distracted. He snapped his fingers in front of the other man's face several times. "Hey! Are you paying attention?"
-dramatic music ensues-
An idea came to Karl when the stranger avoided eye contact. Wizards of the White Council were said to be able to read your soul through your eyes. The ones he had met before always seemed to avoid eye contact. Maybe they wished to avoid such a soul reading with everyone they came across. He wasn't sure why anyone would choose to give up such a crucial advantage in negotiations. Perhaps it was painful, disorienting, or taxing in some way. He couldn't say for sure. If the man was a wizard and wanted a book, could it be some kind of grimoire? He had never seen a wizard using one, but it was possible they had such spellbooks. He couldn't say for sure on that point either.
Karl made a mental note of his hypothesis that it was a wizard seeking a grimoire in case such things became relevant later. The shapeshifter answered with a low whisper, "The National Socialists have the book then? You want me to infiltrate wherever it is they're holding it, surreptitiously pilfer it from them, and bring it to you? Do I have the right of it? If so, you should be aware that such a dangerous assignment will not be inexpensive for you."
edited 26th Aug '13 5:43:53 PM by Millardkillmoore
The Wildest of Ronins
Boris tenses when he hears a man speak from above him. He turned to look up at the man in the tree, squinting his eyes to try and focus them better through the glare of the sun.
"Are you not a bit old to be climbing trees?" was the Russian's response in impeccable German. His accent was apparently non existent.
Click Click Boom Boom
This is where your story begins, in the German town of München. A new factory seemed to spring out of nowhere a scant few days ago. No-one seems to have figured out that the appearance of the factory coincided with the slow disappearance of the town’s inhabitants. Nonetheless, the townsfolk know that anyone who enters the factory gates never makes it out again, and that nobody has ever seen who works inside.
Those who are in the know, of course, are aware of the truth. That black magic is performed within, that dead spirits and rotting flesh stir within the walls of the factory, and that it is protected by powerful magic and creatures whose names are best left unmentioned. A new day slowly creeps over the horizon, briefly bathing the entire town in a bright golden sheen as the sun creeps over the early morning sky.
Anton feels an insistent tug on his shoulder, demanding he awake from his slumber, and shortly after, he hears a familiar female voice in his ear:
“Wake up, Warden. We’re supposed to welcome the new arrival.”
Meanwhile, in the forest, outside the city proper, a group of people sit in a circle around a campfire, each one clad in dark hoods, with only their arms and the tattoos they all bear visible. The only one who stands without a hood is Zahir, letting the little light that passes through the trees reach and warm his skin.
One of the hooded men steps forward until he stands barely three feet from Zahir. In a deep baritone voice, he says: “You know what must be done.”
In the shadow of the clearing in which the meeting takes place, a figure skulks around the edges. Boris had arrived in the forest not long before, but the campfire had attracted him. Now, he quietly observed the proceedings in front of him.
On a relatively quiet road inside the Nevernever, James walks alongside a man who looked to be in his thirties, his features gaunt and sharp, and his black hair bound up in a ponytail. He had a sheathed arming sword on his hip and a wizard’s staff in his left hand.
He looked back at James and Jack, eyes moving from one to the other in a gesture that could be taken as uncertainty or disapproval.
They walked down a small dirt path with large, impenetrable-looking forests on either side of them. The trees were an unnatural dark grey, and their leaves were pitch-black.
“We’re almost there,” the figure said, speaking English with an access that was difficult to precisely place, but Scandinavian in nature. “Wizard Clark, Wizard Williams, your attention, please.”
Around this time, Zander was roused from his sleep by a voice he did not recognize. Though the voice itself is soothing and calm, it carries with it an eerily grating disharmony, like someone singing out of tune, or a note played in the wrong key.
“Voice of Hades, rise. Rise, for the dead call for thee.”
In a café in the middle of München itself, Karl was seated at a table in the corner of the room. Suddenly, a man approaches him. On first glance, he didn’t look particularly imposing, a man in his late thirties or early forties, of medium height and build, his hair short and blonde. He was dressed in a suit of grey casual clothing, and used a small walking cane to carry himself, walking with a pronounced limp. The man sat himself in front of Karl and stared straight at him. When he spoke, it was German, with a pronounced Schlewswig-Holstein accent.
“To business, then. I have a job for you.”
Josiah was given the mother of all greetings when he arrived in München.
Namely, in a secluded alley in one of the city’s residential districts, he came face to face with a large, lantern-jawed, burly, vaguely-human thing with massive, bat-like ears.
A goblin. Wearing a comically oversized labcoat.
It walked over to Josiah almost casually, extending a hand and flashing a broad grin.
“Welcome, welcome, little faeling. We have work to do, much work to do.”
This was around the time Maggie arrived in the same alley, for completely different reasons. She’d managed to shake off the patrol that was chasing her, but she could feel her powers slowly ebb away, having come into the alley to rest.
Where she was met with a man with a pistol and a goblin in a lab coat. Probably not the people you would want to meet in a dark alley. The goblin grinned.
“She arrives. Good. Good. Soon we can begin.”
edited 26th Aug '13 5:56:28 AM by math792d
Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.