To Leash A Kelvic

by **Amoux** on August 14th, 2014, 7:47 am

Slaver's Row, 1st of Autumn, 514 AV

Amoux felt ill. He stomach churned and squeezed as she was lead through Slaver's Row, the man leading her a large and rather dim goon of the slaver, Malum. The ache of stomach had nothing to do with anything she had eaten, but instead the implication of her coming task. The poison itself, Wildleash, was simple, a mix of mushrooms and the blood of a Kelvic. The effects of the poison was what had give Amoux reason to pause. As a woman who valued her freedom and self control over much else, playing a part in stealing that from someone, even a slave, filled her with shame and anxiety.

"In here." The muscle grunted, shouldering open the door to a dank bar. Amoux slipped past quickly, ignoring the man's sneer and the sick feeling in her gut. Think of the miza's, their offer is good. She schooled herself, back straight and face impassive as she forced back shivers, following the goon through a room and down a narrow, steep staircase that opened to a dark dungeon. Cold seeped through the walls of the dungeon, she'd neglected to bring a jacket, and she realized not for the first time that she could easily disappear without a trace down here.

Malum waited below, broad and repugnant, the intimidating shadow of Kostaja lurking behind him. Amoux had done her research before accepting the job, and she knew of the violent and near evil reputation. Malum grinned and stepped forward as to meet Amoux as she approached.

"'M glad you could accept my offer, Miss Amoux." He grunted, thrusting out a large hand to shake. Amoux hesitated for only a moment before reciprocating, but drew her hand away quickly, earning an amused look from Malum. "I'm glad you could accept my price." She replied, too nervous and guilty to inject her usual sassiness, quickly averting her gaze as Kostaja met her eye with a predatory smirk.

"He's this way." Malum announced, apparently having decided that the formalities had gone on long enough. He turned on his heal, Kostaja falling into step beside him and began to lead Amoux further into the dank dungeon. They bent their heads close together as they went, whispering back and forth before shooting Amoux a conspiratory glance over their shoulder. Oh Gods, what have you gotten yourself into! Amoux blanched, steps fumbling slightly.

by **Amoux** on October 14th, 2014, 3:03 am

Amoux cleared her throat as the men led her past cells, leading her to the very end. She fixed her eyes to Malum's broad back, doing her best to tune out the low whimpers and shuffling from those cells they passed. Finally they reached the end and Malum stepped forward and opened the cell door, beckoning for Amoux to enter. Inside was dark, and she could just make out the form of a man at the opposite wall, arms shackled above his head. "Your patient." Malum said with a smirk as he entered to light the lamp hanging from the wall. Victim. her mind argued as she glanced around the cell, looking for anything to occupy her thoughts rather than the bruised and bloodied man.

"I'll have to cut him." She said, wanting to get the most important matter out of the way first. Malum nodded, shrugging indifferently.

A stout table was set in the corner of the cell and she set her kit on top, opening the lid to pull out her cheap mortar and pestle. A bag of green and brown mushrooms were nestled next to it and she pulled those out too. A small knife followed. "I'll need someone to hold him." Malum nodded in agreement, nodding to the two men either side of him, who moved forward. Kostaja lurked in the corner, watching with a dark, curious expression. Setting her shoulders Amoux set the pestle aside and walked to the slaves side with the mortar in one hand and the knife in the other. Swallowing Amoux's eyes searched the struggling man, looking for an area that would be less visible when the man was to be put up on the stage. Finally she settled on his upper arm, near his armpit. She swiped the blade over the area, quick and shallow and pressed the mortar against the skin to collect the blood. The Kelvic winced slightly but made no other noise, eyes accusing and hateful as he stared at her. Amoux avoided his gaze and turned back to the table, setting the mortar down on the table.

Shivers of revulsion crawled up her back as both Malum and Kostaja drew close to watch her work. She emptied the mushrooms from the cotton bag, folding it neatly and placing it away back in her kit. She cut them roughly in half before dumping the handful into the mortar, retrieving the pestle

"Hmm, an interesting scent, not at all unpleasant." He murmured. Amoux simply hummed in fake agreement. To her the mix smelt of dirt and rot.

by **Amoux** on October 27th, 2014, 11:32 am

"You need to let him down before I administer it." Amoux murmured, keeping her head down and concentrated on her work, grinding the mushrooms and blood into a paste. "If he changes while shackled in that position he'll likely break quite a few bones." She looked back to Malum and watched as the heavyset man gave a nod to one of the thugs, who then moved forward to unshackle the Kelvics wrists. The man slid to the floor, arms going around himself as his eyes darted back and forth between the cells visitors. Lips pulling down in a frown Amoux focused back on her poison. "Once the Wildleash is delivered he'll begin to change uncontrollably. It'll last for a chime or so, but once it stops you'll only have about a bell before the passive behavior wears off." Twisting to reach into her kit Amoux pulled out a small jar, using her knife to push most of the paste into it. She set down the mortar and turned from the table, jar in hand. "This has two doses left after I administer this first one, so if you're not successful in selling him today, you can try again. You simply have to smear it into an open wound." She said, handing it over to Malum. "Now if you'll stand outside the cell." She directed to the men, turning back to retrieve the mortar and knife. "It can be dangerous to be too close when they shift, you could be injured." Amoux explained over her shoulder as she gestured to the thug to accompany her to the slaves side.

"Hold him." She directed to the thug, crouching by the Kelvic. Amoux pushed the guilt and shame she was feeling aside as she let her curiosity overwhelm her. She'd never seen Wildleash in action, and she was interested to see if the descriptions she had received were accurate. The thug moved forward, pining the man to the wall so that Amoux could lean forward, the remainder of the paste loaded onto the knife, and press the Windleash into the would she had already cut. The slave grunted, attempting to buck the thug off, and he glare at Amoux accusingly, spitting and snarling at her as she drew back.

Taking a deep breath Amoux stood and returned to her kit, packing away her gear quickly before joining Malum and Kostaja outside the cell, the thug following her out and pulling the door closed behind him as they watched through the bars. "Are we in for a show, Miss Amoux?" Kostaja asked in a low murmur as he stepped in behind Amoux, watching over her shoulder.

by **Amoux** on November 23rd, 2014, 8:29 am

"Hmm, not exactly the word I would use." She grit out, shoulders tensing anxiously as the man behind her simply laughed in reply. Back in the cell the Kelvic man had pushed himself into the corner of the cell, eying them all with a wary expression. Amoux studied him carefully, tracking each little twitch and movement while attempting to keep an eye on the rise and fall of the man's chest. It was difficult to see properly in the dim light and from her distance and she mentally kicked herself for not thinking about that before hand.

Suddenly the man let out a grunt and fell forward onto his hands, blinking rapidly. Amoux drew as close as possible to the bars, face all but pressed between them as she watched with rapt attention.It occurred to her that not only had she never seen Wildleash in action, but she had never actually seen a Kelvic change forms either. The change was quick, and happened with far less floridity than she would have assumed. There was a brief gleam of swirling lights and by the time they had faded a rather large scraggly dog had taken the mans place. Slumped on it's side the Kelvic mutt had little opportunity to do much more than huff and whimper before the change had taken over him again, replacing him with his human form. A grunt and a the man was gone once more. Amoux watched, transfixed, completely forgetting the men behind her as she strained her eyes to attempt to see through the lights to the changing form.

Her concentration was broken when Malum stepped up beside her. "Not bad work," he grunted to her, watching his slave. "I have to admit, I was more than a little skeptical, thought we might end up throwing you in one of these cells instead!" He laughed, thumping her on the back with enough force to squish her into the bars. Amoux stepped back, finally tugging her eye's away from the Kelvic and rubbing her face, hopping that she didn't have any bar marks on her cheeks. "Uh, yeah, glad you decided not to..." She replied, felling sick once more. Here anxiety at the situation was overpowering her curiosity and she stooped, picking up her bag and pulling the strap over her shoulder.

"Anyway, I should be going. The shifting will last for a chime or two and after that he'll fall unconscious. Once he wakes he'll be completely passive and fairly weak. It only lasts about a bell, so you should do whatever it is you needed to as soon as possible. If you run out of time you have the other doses, but I suggest you give him a day or two to recover or he could die of exhaustion." Swallowing heavily she watched as Malum considered her thoughtfully for a moment, doubtlessley deciding if he would be able to hunt her down should the poison fail. Finally he nodded to Kostaja, who stepped forward. "We thank you for your service." He murmured in what he no doubt though was a seductive tone. Instead it sent tremors down Amoux's back. Reaching into his coin purse he pulled out a small bag of mizas, handing them over to Amoux. "A pleasure meeting you, perhaps our paths will cross again."

Amoux twitched out a half nod, half shrug and accepted the payment with a hurried "I can show myself out.", rushing from the dank and miserable building to empty her stomach on the sidewalk outside.