An Unstoppable Force (Razkar)

by **Ignotus Everto** on December 1st, 2013, 5:47 am

"Oh! Apologies." the Nuit said gingerly, "Please, replace 'murder' with whatever word is more appropriate to you."
So Myrians didn't like the word "murder." He would have to file that information away for later.

To Ignotus' pleasure, the warrior seemed more interested in telescopes than getting into a fight over semantics. "Many things." he replied with a wistful smile, "There's a world up there in which living balls of water do battle with sentient shadow creatures, you know."

Soon the topic turned back to the job being offered. This simply caused Ignotus' smile to grow.

"There is a very dangerous man in Sunberth," he explained, "This man wishes to throw Zeltiva into chaos. Call him an anarchist agent. I want you to find and kill him."

'You may do so in any manner you see fit." the wizard continued, suppressing doubt with a light fog of credulity, "Be it in a duel, an ambush, a squirrel attack, I couldn't care less. As long as he ceases to draw breath, I'm happy."

Hopefully that would appeal to the man's war fever. Otherwise... Well, there were other avenues available.

by **Razkar** on December 1st, 2013, 5:36 pm

Razkar's eyes slid over quick as a dagger drawn from a sleeve as the Nuit's words became just a little more sardonic than he cared for. But... he supposed he could understand. The morality of the Children of Myri was largely incomprehensible to outsiders.

This one doesn't strike me as being easily given to incomprehension.

Then he spoke again and Razkar nearly looked the thing square in the eyes. Living balls of water? Sentient shadows?

"Surely you jest?" He murmured, instinctively looking up as if doing so would provide a clear picture from a million miles away of such a battle. "Impossible... but... so are many things in this world, I suppose..."

With almost unseemly speed, the conversation lurched from speculations on other worlds to killing-for-pay on this one. Razkar nodded slowly as he took in the information, eyebrows quirking upward at the end. Sunberth? Hmm. Well, that was a happy coincidence.

There didn't appear to be any conditions on the how, either, but Razkar couldn't resist a slight smile at some of Everto's words. Something about the man said that what Everto really meant was "This man wishes to throw Zeltiva into chaos that I cannot take advantage of".

The Myrian remembered his meeting with Justus. The way he'd mentioned Everto as a... power-broker, in a very literal sense of the term. The Denvali had been consumed with concern and compassion for those less fortunate than him; this Nuit seemed the polar opposite.

He has power; he wishes to keep it and increase it. Everything else in the world is merely a tool or an obstacle.

Razkar frowned. So strange. He knew this, and understood it... but it didn't matter. Provedan, Valini, now Everto... all powerful men with deep pockets and zero appreciation for human life. Well... such was the way of the barbarians. That did't make Nuit a liar, did it?

"Then I have only a handful of other questions," he said carefully as they came to a massive and yellowed map spread across one wall, tendrils of stars all linked together into skeletal shapes of monsters, giants, beasts and gods, "Firstly, of course, how much? Then, where can he be found... and what challenge will he pose? Does he have protection? Bodyguards? Power in the wyrd? Only a fool rushes to battle with an enemy he does not know..."

The Myrian's words became a mutter as his eyes grew fixed on something, something... familiar... and then a grin split his face like a jagged saw and he stuck out a finger, pointing to-

"I know this one. We call it "Dira's Eye". It is the only star in the sky that does not change..."

His smile stayed but his eyes glazed, remembering those scattered nights when the choking canopy of Falyndar gave way enough for the glittering star-scape above could be seen. But neither cloud nor rain nor endless turn of season could dim or hide that glowing beacon.

"Always watching us, and guiding us, they say." Razkar kept smiling, and it didn't waver an inch when he added nonchalantly: "Do you wish me to bring his head back to you as proof?"

by **Ignotus Everto** on December 8th, 2013, 5:40 am

"I can introduce you to one if you'd like." the Nuit chortled, "But let's get back to business." and, after a spell of thought on Razkar's part, they did.

Ignotus rattled off the answers to the Myrian's inquiries as a bank teller sorted coin; "That would depend on how soon and how definitely he's killed, but I think something in the vicinity of two hundred mizas is reasonable. Sunberth is not a very ordered city, so you may need to find him first. I don't know of his protection or abilities, but I do know he's marked by Sagallius. Expect him to put bodies between the two of you."

His attention was soon drawn to Dira's eye- both a fascinating bit of culture, and a useful navigational aid. He had to give it to the savage; its stores of knowledge were most helpful. "If you'd like. I could also supply you with means of communication, if you're impartial to golems. Alternately... I think, if you should prove successful in this mission, there's a most lucrative relationship to be had."

No doubt there would be other heads that needed bashing or bodies that needed bringing... And duping slavers was so horribly inconvenient.

by **Razkar** on December 9th, 2013, 5:52 am

When the price was offered, Razkar thought he knew what was expected of him, both as a mercenary and the rude savage the world took him for. Namely, to name a higher price. Three hundred, maybe? Perhaps four hundred, since this... commission, would involve him hunting a single man across a city that he'd heard was near-designed to hide men who wished to live in the shadows.

Threats, maybe? Boasting of his abilities, what his true worth was? Yes, of course... but as the rest of Everto's words washed over him and soaked into his mind, Razkar caught the last sentence as... promising. Two hundred was not just payment for services rendered. If he handled the job promptly and efficiently, it was but the opening gambit for greater things.

No need to be greedy. It's never about the money, after all...

"Two hundred." He repeated, then nodded firmly. "Done. But tell me more about this... Sagallius? He is a god, I take it? What abilities does he bestow?" He frowned a touch, repeating the Nuit's previous words. Something about bodies. "Can he control the will of others? Force them into my path? Not that this is... overly-problematic. As I said before, I wish to be prepared."

Then he remembered something else, something that made his shift a little in his stance, base curiosity getting the better of him.

"Golems? You mean the... men of clay and stone from legend? Would they not be a little impractical and conspicuous, lumbering at my hip throughout Sunberth?"

Of course the Myrian had no idea that a golem could be the size of, say, a pigeon, but where would the mind be if it did not ask?

"And when will I be receiving payment?"

by **Ignotus Everto** on January 4th, 2014, 9:59 pm

"Essentially, yes." There's no need to explain its precise workings, thought Ignotus. The Myrian had the information he needed. Besides, he himself might need to lay some strings in the future, and it would be disadvantageous to say too much.

Golems were another thing Ignotus had the pleasure of feeling clever about. "Think smaller, and airborne. A hawk, perhaps." the wizard said with a faint smile. "I hope you don't find reanimated corpses offensive." It would be unlikely for a raptor to be attacked in the air, and it didn't need to be built to last.

Finally, there was the matter of payment. In this the Nuit's tone was quicker. Businesslike. Nothing really interesting in money, after all. "You'll be paid when I get word of his death. The money will either come by said hawk, when it returns to where it was sent from- or it will be handed to you directly if you choose to return for further employment. The choice is yours."
OOCHa! You thought I forgot about this, didn'tya? But uh... Yeah... Sorry I took so very, very long.

by **Razkar** on January 5th, 2014, 4:17 am

Razkar cast a quick glance at the well-dressed power broker. His simple answer belied complexity... but the kind he was unwilling to share. Or perhaps Razkar was just being overly-touchy?

Never be to sure with the Dead Walkers. Their minds and souls are older than some of the gods. How, then, would they know the ways of mortals?

"Think smaller, and airborne. A hawk, perhaps. I hope you don't find reanimated corpses offensive."

"Not at all," Razkar said lightly, allowing himself a slight, enigmatic smile, "You are not the first Nuit I have worked for, after all..."

He let the sentence hang, studying a fresh chart instead, letting the Nuit stew over that sentence. If he chose to, anyway. Razkar knew men like him... men like Justus and Leo Valini... they adapted quickly. They never let their surprise show, and all new information was absorbed into the web they had for minds and the abacus they had serving for hearts.

Still... nice to see him shaken, even if it's like an ant kicking a mountain.

"You'll be paid when I get word of his death. The money will either come by said hawk, when it returns to where it was sent from- or it will be handed to you directly if you choose to return for further employment. The choice is yours."

The Myrian took a good deal of time studying the star chart as he considered his answer. He just wanted to shrug and tell the Nuit to donate it to a petching orphanage for all he cared, but that would ruin his reputation as a sellsword. Still, there had to be something, so-

"When he is dead, I will send the bird, and you can return it with my pay." He grimaced briefly, but it never really touched his eyes. "No worry about it being attacked, or losing it. Doesn't need to sleep, or eat, or rest, or get tired and drop the bag. I should be returning to Zeltiva at some point. When I do, perhaps we shall talk again..."

Little else was to be said. Razkar's eyes were fixed on a constellation best observed in late Summer above Taldera, but his mind was already crammed with ideas and strategies... and his eyes with images of this worthy, god-favored enemy dead at his hands.

Worthy challenges. The best of enemies. Only they would satisfy the Goddess-Queen. Gold and jewels and slaves and finery... all would lose their luster and collapse into dust and history. But glory for the Mistress Of War... that was the highest gift a Son could give his Mother.

"Anything else, Everto?"

by **Perplexity** on November 15th, 2014, 3:03 am

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Ignotus :

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