An Exercise in Escalation (open)

by **Elias Caldera** on May 10th, 2014, 10:45 pm

The lies, they were so shameless, so bold and brazen that it had nearly sent Elias over the edge into rashness. Despite his building anxiety, the young man had said nothing. He was gobsmacked, and two things had done it. First, it had been Inoadar. The threat the sly man levied against his accuser had stopped Elias dead in his tracks. If he was willing to see them both burn, it would be Elias who would truly suffer the worst. The novice's mind had fixated on only one thought at that point, only one man. Ansel Lazarin, the mage hunter. He had only seen the infamous marshal only once during his apprenticeship initiation, and the hunter had scared him then, even if he knew he would never be his target one day. Now that he had control of his djed however, things had changed.

They would lock Inoader up in some hole somewhere, but as for Elias, Ansel would feed him the Ebon Lord for breakfast. The mage didn't even want to consider what kind of horrors than entailed. The impending threat of death however, was only part of the problem, the other was the new comer.

The two had talked, Inoadar and the pale one, trading empty, bitter words with each other. As they did, part of Elias was hoping the white haired man would draw his sword and cut down the poisoner. A dead Inoadar would make Elias's suddenly very difficult day a hell of a lot simpler. In the back of his head he heard a cry of shocked outrage at his plot for having one man murder another. That voice was quickly quieted by a much more boisterous one that agreed it had to be done. Elias could only watch in growing apprehension as he studied the katana wielder more closely. Those too long arms, the black nails. When the creature smiled, Elias made note to look for the fangs that hid within. His breath caught when he saw them, then again when the monster unsheathed his blade and swung at the poisoner. Elias took a step back, caught off guard by the sudden attack, and cursing at both the fact that the fool had failed to kill anybody, and that his sword was plain, useless wood. He cursed his luck. A Symenestra that wasn't going to murder somebody, and it just had to be the one Elias ran into. Holy shyke, that thing helped me earlier...

Needless to say, it was all very disconcerting, but with another fang bearing smile, the pale creature departed, leaving only Inoadar and Elias alone. You! The mage spun around in sudden alarm. He had not noticed the commander stirring at all, but the man's eyes were coming to life once more, though admittedly they seemed to dive in and out of consciousness. "Stop... trait-..." He wheezed for a second time as he struggled to find his feet. He fell with a groaning thud, slumping back against the pillar. He resigned himself to pointing a wavering finger at the traitor as he struggled to stiffen a fit of bloody coughs. At least he hoped it was pointed at Inoadar, the thing shook so much it just as likely could have been meant for Elias.

The Caldera turned to his armed counterpart then, clear unease and hesitation in his brown eyes. He motioned at the commander and kept his voice low. "Now how are you going to squirm your way out of this?"

by **Daegron** on May 15th, 2014, 7:55 pm

_

"I'm glad you enjoyed it.." he mumbled with gritting teeth. She didn't even sweat crossing the gap, her jump compared to his clumsy leap, was a graceful flight. He followed her stumbling and crawling. His wheezing breath was getting a bit better but his feet were so heavy to drag. It wasn't long till they reached a relatively wide alley that looked safe enough. The green smoke was slowly rising upwards, leaving a mass of breathless or suffocated victims on it's wake. The last angry shouts or terrified screams were fading in the distance. He squatted, sat down and looked up at her lithe figure. He had a few ideas about that flexible body of hers.

He was still unable to understand how all that mess was created, or how it had grown into such a pandemonium. It wasn't random, nor did it seem to be premeditated. From the uttering of a single word, to a spreading madness, ending with a tragic aftermath. Everyone was calling each other a traitor, and the soldiers were after someone before everything escalated, so he took a wild guess that perhaps "Inoadar" was a person; one apparently hated and wanted by the Ebonstryfe. And if that was the case, he felt envious of the power that this name carried and could only imagine what kind of destruction this Inoadar was able to cause.

"I am impressed by your nimbleness. Never had the pleasure of meeting such a graceful acrobat, though frankly you could land a little lighter..." he chuckled and almost burst into a coughing fit. A few deep breaths later he went on.
"I'm Daegron.... and you are.." he said and stared straight into her amber eyes,

The horn echoed once more. And this time it was very close. In the distance he could hear the sound of plated boots marching on the hard platform floor and the clinking of mail that escorted it. Reinforcements would soon be there...

_

by **Inoadar** on May 16th, 2014, 4:05 am

Inoadar's voice crooned with sarcastic regret. "Oh, I'm so very sorry, sonny. Clearly I misunderstood your threatening stance, your suggestion of criminal behavior on my part, and the sword you are obviously wanting to show off. I got it in my head that you had some kind of hostile intent...so silly of me..." Inoadar felt that he was safely out of reach of any strike the white-haired stranger could make from where he stood. And even though he had no doubt that his lack of sword training was probably evident in every aspect of his current position, he was not about to show fear to this punk.

It was no great stretch anyway. He had not had any intent to start trouble, and certainly no intent to assault a commander of the Ebonstryfe. The necessity of his action with the poison served to justify it. Any "mis-truths" he had to contrive, that could not be disproved, were worthy of being the truth if it got him out of this predicament. He dropped the sarcastic tone. "Think what you want. I don't answer to you. I'm not covering up anything. Just ask my friend...there." He indicated Elias, making a decent, if not entirely successful, attempt at covering up the fact that he did not know his "friend"s name.

The stranger laughed slightly and appeared to accept defeat, when he suddenly moved in a blur and froze Inoadar in place with a fan of the wind on his neck from the tip of his sword. Even the fact of it only being a practice sword took nothing away from the deadly quality of it. What difference if he died from his neck being broken by the impact, as opposed to slashed by the edge? Inoadar had no reason to think it had been a miss on the stranger's part. Such a near miss could just as well be an indication of great talent. The remark about "benefit of the doubt" only added to this impression.

The white haired sword-wielder hooded himself and backed off, promising threats of future encounters, and giving the name "Inoadar" the sense of being a profanity. Inoadar's momentary apprehension surged into resentment. 'Who does this kid think he is? He's not even human!' Thoughts of his connections with the Slavers' community came to mind. 'Maybe I'll be watching you...junior'

Just then the commander's weak voice growled with effort as he again leveled the charge of 'traitor' aloud. Even though his weaving collapse back against the pillar made it difficult to determine who it had been directed at, Inoadar had no doubt that he was the target. Elias took the words out of his mouth with his comment about 'how would he squirm out of this.'

It was time to go into an entirely different kind of act. He spun and knelt before the commander, placing the tip of the sword on the ground before him and extending the hilt as an offering. "Lord Commander, sir. I have stood guard over you in hopes of gaining just a chime of delay from your...doing what must seem like a clear duty. I AM Inoadar, I do not deny it. Yet by the covert proclamation of...whoever the Black Sun agent, Marcus Ahysen answers to...I am bidden to continue acting as a subversive element with the alias of "Nolan Parnell". This is to make it possible for me to lure troublemakers to justice. This DOES put me in unfavorable conditions at times, with soldiers that are not privy to this arrangement."

The Commander snatched the sword away from him, though he was still too weak to use it. Perhaps this was the motivation that caused him to allow the poisoner to continue. Perhaps he still meant to strike Inoadar down when he finished his spiel. In either event, he took a deep breath, settled back against the pillar and waved weakly. "Go on..."

Inoadar took a deep breath, "There is much that I may not speak of. But if you will only refrain from summary execution, I will not resist arrest. I am confident that the authority which keeps me in play in this capacity will send word to effect my release. If not, then I will accept my fate. Anything I suffer in the interim will simply be punishment for those actions which first gained me the stigma of 'traitor. For I am shamed to admit that I did not recognize the glory of Rhysol when I first arrived. But I have seen my error, and embraced my correction."

He knew that he was basically acknowledging that he was accepting being jailed and beaten. But the fact was, he truly believed it to be deserved. He had wronged Rhysol, and yet, the great lord had pardoned him. Who was he to level complaint at his lord for harboring a grudge against his past treasons? And to assuage this grudge with occasional suffering? And besides that, it had been long since Inoadar had truly tested his ability to endure pain since leaving the Second Edict of Nyka, weak apostates of weak gods though they were.

The Commander growled, "Help me up." Inoadar quickly made to aid him, supporting the man's considerable armored weight as he got to his unsteady feet. The soldier took a few strengthening breaths as Inoadar waited to see what he would do. The Commander suddenly twisted to grab the poisoner and slam him against the pillar, bringing the sword to his throat as his eyes bored into his prisoner's.

Inoadar knew he could have defeated the man's effort to subdue him this way, but restrained himself from doing so. It was entirely possible that the Commander recognized this, because the tableau remained tense for a few moments until reinforcements began to make their presence known. "Parnell' is it? That name rings a bell...'Ino Vations', and that new Nitrozian medical place." The Commander slowly lowered the sword. "I know you, 'Mr. Parnell'. I know where to find you. I will research your standing in this town, as judged by my superiors. If I find that you have deceived me in any way, you will wish I had done you the service of cutting your throat here and now."

by **Elias Caldera** on May 19th, 2014, 2:01 am

An odd and deeply disturbing speculation struck him as he stood listening to things he knew he probably shouldn't be. Would... Could the Stryfe actively incite pandemonium at the expense of their own city? Would they go so far as to engorge the fires of a riot within their own districts to sate their lord's ravenous hunger for such chaos? It was something he hadn't ever considered before until now, but the idea, as crazy as it may have sounded, wasn't sounding all that crazy in the end. He may not have been a full fledged soldier, privy to the going-ons and plots of the druvin or the ebon lord himself, but everyone new that the black guard that valiantly watched over Ravok were particularly lax, especially to the eyes of those looking in from the outside, in their enforcement of the law whenever they saw fit to be. He wondered then if that extended so far as to allow things like this, this quartermaster's riot or whatever they would call it a few days from now, to not only go on, but begin in the first place.

Elias gazed down at the commander, the armored soldier breathlessly listening from his unwilling seat upon the floor to the same man that had irrefutably put him there in the first place. Inoadar, he thought, a unique name if nothing else, and one that went along with a serpent's silver tongue the likes of which the young mage had never before had the displeasure of being subject to. For a moment, only a brief one, Elias himself had actually believed him. A spy? Honestly! He could have almost laughed outright, but the fear of the captain's attention held shut his lips tight. As soon as that Stryfer could manage to get his feet back under him and his sword in his hands, he was going to cut the poisoner in two, Elias could see it in the man's gray, hardened eyes.

"Nolan Parnell."

Elias froze, his mind blanketed in a stillness born in the impact of confusion and utter shock.How... he murmured to no one but his own cavernous, rumbling mind, how does he know that name? The novice had taken a step forward, unbeknownst to even himself, but thankfully it had gone unnoticed, just as his dumbfounded, glazed over stare had been. He swallowed hard, the taste of his own tortured throat nearly causing him to gag. He was left unsure of what to even think in the absence of what little certainty he had managed to hold unto. That name, it was meant to belong to one that would be found at the behest of Elias's choosing, not the other way around. Why was he here? How could he be here? He looked over the man once more, brown eyes absorbing his shadowy frame as it bent over the commander. The black blade he once wielded with such unnerving and unconcerned vigor was now once again the hands of the ebonstryfe officer, though the man had yet to rise, and even more surprisingly, yet to impale it through Inoadar's chest either. "Go on." The grizzled old stryfer had acquiesced, and Elias found himself awkwardly agreeing in tandem. He wanted -needed to hear this too.

Half a chime later, the commander was on his feet and Nolan's pale throat was at the edge of his blade's eager tip. He's not from Ravok, was all Elias found himself thinking, even as he watched the events unfold. 'First arrived? it had to mean Nolan Parnell wasn't from Ravok? No, Inoadar wasn't. Suddenly, just like that, it all clicked. What a fool Elias had been, what an absolutely gullible idiot. The charade the man in black had been building brick by eloquent brick all at once fell to pieces at the Caldera's feet. He knew then would he had to do, regardless of how little he enjoyed the prospect.

Elias approached the commander, djed bubbling up to the surface of his core once more. How unlucky Parnell had been that the commander knew of him. How unlucky he even seemed to even know -what Elias quickly surmised- was his ill named place of businesses. It didn't sound like the commander intended to kill his unusually accommodating captive however, but still, the mage worried of what Inoadar would resort to revealing about him if only to lessen the intensity of the interrogations that the stryfe would surely subject him to if taken prisoner. Not only that, he needed 'Nolan Parnell' free as well.

"Commander." he said, his words wary and consciously respectful. The man pivoted around, more angry than he had been surprised. He knew I was here... "Your point is made, but now you need to hurry." He turned and motioned to the tide of black steel and bad intentions now storming into the courtyard. "Those men will need your guidance. You must warn them of the smoke before they run headlong into it." As if to emphasize his hypnotic suggestions, Elias coughed. It had been involuntary, but it seemed to reverberate through his magic, and the threatening soldier stifled a crimson cough of his own a tick later. "Who are you!" he demanded furiously, his countenance twisting into a gnarled and conflicted grimace. "What is your name!"

"Just a loyal citizen. I am of no concern." He told the commander carefully, pushing as hard as he could. "You must be quick, lest your brothers and superiors remember you as worse than just the man who lost control of his own demonstration." That seemed to do the trick, but the abrupt sensation of embarrassment and failure flooded through his aura probably helped a bit as well. The commander took a step back, his attention focused now on the swiftly forming ranks of the reinforcements across the plaza, the battered, burning remains of the riot standing between him and them. The man lowered his blade from Inoadar and instead impatiently waved it at Elias now. "Get out of here." He snarled halfheartedly as he appeared to delve deep into thought about his next actions. As for the hypnotist, he was happy to oblige, and Elias turned away, his eyes met with those of Parnell's, one last knowing glare shared between them before departing. His withdrawal was marked with the last words the Commander had intended for Inoadar before he too left the man, miraculously both alive and free of chains.

"Remember what I have said, Mr. Parnell. Remember what I promised, because I swear, if nothing else, I am a man of my word."

by **Raven Nightfoot** on May 20th, 2014, 12:58 am

They reached the safety of the alley, finally, and Raven looked across the canal in the direction they had just come from. In the distance it looked and sounded as if the chaos was finally beginning to subside, chaos that she still had no idea about what had started it. Perhaps it wasn't that unusual, it was the city of chaos after all. It seemed that at least some of the ridiculous and narrow_minded Syliran warnings had some traces of truth in them.

Raven turned her attention from the thinning green smoke in the distance to the clawed man that had led her out of harm's way and found him sitting on the ground, still trying to catch his breath. He spoke, complementing her jump and then, in the same breath, insulting her landing. Talk about bitter-sweet. She was about to make a smart remark when he burst into a fit of coughs which made her give up on the idea, instead settling for crossing her arms and smirking down at him.

"I'm Daegron.... and you are.."

Her smirk grew slightly as the man, Daegron, introduced himself and asked her name in return. "...Leaving."
she said simply in her usual teasing tone, a matching expression on her face as she turned and began walking away from the man, her hips swaying slightly from side to side as they always did. She took several steps before turning to face the man as she continued walking, backwards now, "Till next time love." she said with a seductive wink before turning around and walking on.

Her day had turned out to be interesting at the least, she may have lost a particularly large bag of coin, but the interesting escalation of events had certainly made up for it. Once again the horn sounded in the distance behind her as she strutted in the opposite direction. Ravok, the city of spontaneous riots.

by **Inoadar** on May 20th, 2014, 3:43 am

Inoadar's eyes narrowed as he divided his gaze between the departing soldier and the remaining figure of Elias. He had no doubt he'd just witnessed that same mindtwisting djedcraft ability that he was convinced had been used on him before. He immediately ran down every detail of the current situation to see if anything directly related to himself was out of place with what he felt was normal.

The very fact that he took this cautious approach was consistent with his usual approach. He could see that the Ebonstryfe Commander still harbored suspicions about him. It was more the attitude he showed to the cloaked man he'd just been speaking to that stood out. He'd demanded the man's name, and had settled for being told it was not important! Not only would no commander accept that answer, he would drag the man off as a possible subversive for trying it.

Inoadar would NEVER forget the trouble he'd had with the lunatic mage, Clyde Sullins, as a result of being likewise "conditioned", to be overly defensive of the strange young man that had called himself "Wrenmae". The first bit of backtalk that Sullins had uttered to the man, Inoadar had gotten right in Sullins' face with threats and insults. He'd rationalized fairly successfully when push had come to shove, and the confrontation had ended with no immediate damage, other than the planting of three highly destructive fire reimancy scrolls in his shop, 'Ino Vations'. They were triggered by any one of several things, none of which Inoadar had any control over, beyond choosing to set them off inside his shop of his own accord.

The one plus side was that he'd come to realize, eventually, how odd his behavior had been during that stretch, and had subsequently witnessed acts of hyp...no...whatever...putting the two together to realize it was what had been done to him. So he now took time frequently to judge his own behavior, and whose interests it most effectively served, in case he'd been affected again. He did not believe he had.

And he was not about to let it happen now. He took a step to place himself more directly in the face of this stranger, his voice low. "Don't try that trick on ME, sir. I'm on to that game." While he knew that the craft would still work on him, it WAS true that he would become aware of it more quickly than most and would make anyone sorry for violating him that way.

He gestured over his shoulder, toward the Commander, with his thumb. "How long do you think it will be before HE realizes what you did? One of those arriving soldiers may be asking him who you are right now. At best, you'll have until he files his report later. All he'll know is that you're someone that pulled that trick on him, probably to help ME escape."

Inoadar smiled without mirth at this last remark and took another step closer, his hand hovering near his sheathed dagger, a weapon far more easily wielded by someone with no formal training. "Perhaps we should take a short walk, to get out of sight. And you can explain why you chose to involve yourself in my business. I don't believe that what you did was necessary, but you obviously did. Why do you care if I live or die?" his hand remained near his dagger. "And why should I care if YOU do? He knows where to find me now. And if he comes to ME, looking for answers about YOU, I need to know if there's any reason I should feel obliged to cover for you."

His voice raised slightly as he said this, as Elias simply passed him with a scowl. His eyes flashed a time or two at the poisoner as he stalked by, framed by a face which grew a little more thoughtful before his steps took it from Inoadar's view.

He did turn once however, before continuing on his way, to call back. "No more reason, I suspect, than that same reason I did not drown you on your feet, Mr... 'Parnell'...simple courtesy."

Inoadar's eyebrows jumped, and his snort of amusement grew to full fledged laughter, which echoed down the alleys behind Elias.

by **Nemesis** on June 6th, 2014, 6:30 pm

Cyric

Knowledge :

Micellaneous :

Daegron

Knowledge :

Micellaneous :

Elias Caldera

Knowledge :

Micellaneous :

Inoadar

Knowledge :

Micellaneous :

Raven Nightfoot

Knowledge :

Micellaneous :

Vayl

Knowledge :

Micellaneous :

____________________________________________

Notes

*Awesome thread, guys - so much going on... loved how all this was pulled together, with such good purpose. I am impressed how each of you contributed the next twists and turns to the plot, and how you each made it your own, with mini sub-plots under the main one. I also like the fact that you didn't all meet in this thread - 'twas clever.
*Can't wait to see another interaction between Caldera and Inoadar... under a less stressful situation I can see their battle of wits being endless.
*Those of you without grades, please check your PMs for one from me, and then I will post your award.

Feel free to PM me with questions, comments, or concerns, if you have any.
Also, remember to either delete your grade request or edit it as 'graded'.
Thank ye!

Skill	XP
Hypnotism	+3
Observation	+3
Reimancy	+1

Skill	XP
Morphing	+3
Observation	+3
Rhetoric	+1
Socialisation	+2
Unarmed Combat	+1

Skill	XP
Hypnotism	+2
Intimidation	+1
Observation	+5
Reimancy	+3
Rhetoric	+1
Running	+1

Skill	XP
Acting	+1
Intimidation	+1
Investigation	+1
Persuasion	+3
Philosophy	+2
Poison	+1
Rhetoric	+4
Weapon: Longsword	+1

Skill	XP
Observation	+5
Running	+1
Seduction	+1
Socialisation	+2
Unarmed Combat	+1

Completed An Exercise in Escalation (open)