One Bad Day (Roman)

[Seth]

3rd Day, Winter of 510 A.V. Three black cloaks swished through the streets of Ravok, booted feet stepping quickly along. Shrouded figures weren't really that much of an oddity in the town, so no one really paid attention to them. Both the Black Sun and the Ebonstryfe often moved about in rather stealthy ways most of the time, so one would just assume it was them. You knew not to stop either of the groups when they were on a mission, and these three men certainly looked like they were on a mission. It was a dreary day to be on one, really. Rain was pouring from the sky, with lightning flashing in the distance. The inhabitants of the city wouldn't ever really have to worry about dangerous storms, as Rhysol and his power kept the city quite well protected from even the natural elements. That didn't stop the icy rain from being annoying, though. Still, the men moved on. Marching through the streets at their steady pace, not slowly for anyone. They moved with purpose, and people understood this. The streets of Ravok parted for them. They eventually came to the front of a small house, just another living space among dozens of others. One reached forward and gave the wooden door a steady knock, beating out a little tune on it. The other two cloaks were silent, although one might could feel a bit of annoyance radiating from them. This was a serious mission, and here the one black cloak was, playing out an upbeat little tune on the wooden door. Children did that. After a moment, the lead figure tossed back his hood, lifting his face to the pouring rain, letting it wash over him. He was an oddly young-looking figure, with the face of a teenager, or perhaps a very young adult. The odd thing was that he had stark white hair, falling down over his dark black eyes in long strands. He had a bit of a creepy smile, too. While most people simply smiled, this one had a long grin that stretched from ear to ear, but somehow still managed to not show a single bit of teeth. Taking a deep breath, he rapped on the door again, singing out in a cheery voice. "Roooomaaaaan! Is the doctor in?"

[Roman]

Roman was shocked out of his nice afternoon nap when he heard somebody tapping an upbeat tune on his door. He grumbled at that and got out of his comfy chair, a bit disgruntled at the fact that his nap was disturbed. "Yes I am coming hold on for a moment." He yelled towards the door. Its probably some kid that fell when he was playing anyway. No need to really hurry. He frowned when the sound of rain slowly made his way in his consciousness. Though I wonder what mother would let her kid play outside in this weather He shrugged the question off and hurried a bit more when there was knocked on the door again. "Roooomaaaaan! Is the doctor in?" Roman just frowned a bit in irritation, didn't he already yell that he was coming? Dear god those hyper and impatient kids these days. He pulled away the bolt that was keeping the door close and opened the door. "Yes,yes I am h....." Roman trailed off and paled when he saw the three men standing in the rain. The one that had his face visible smiling from ear to ear, though the most unnerving about the smile was that not even an inch of teeth was shown. He stood there for a few moments and just stared at them in shock and horror, his mind desperatly searching for reasons why they where on his doorstep. His mind however quickly put that aside and reminded him off his manners and the fact that each of tehm could probably break him to pieces so it was best to be polite and cooperative. "Ah well don't keep standing in the rain please come inside." He took a step away from the door making room for them to come inside. "May I ask why you are here at my home though?"

[Seth]

The man chuckled, nodding as Roman invited them in, absentmindedly brushing at a few of the wet white strands that were sticking to his face. That smile remained the whole entire time, directed right at Roman, as if humored by something the doctor didn't know. The two cloaked figures followed, closing the door behind them, taking a stand on either side of it. They didn't bother to remove their hoods, nor did they bother to make any pleasantries. They simply stood there, dark and dangerous, managing to give off an intimidating aura even if they were nearly a full foot shorter than Roman. The white-haired man wasn't quite that short, but still was a couple of inches shorter than Roman. It didn't seem to bother him either, really. One would think that the creepy smile never left his face. "Thank ya very much. For lettin' us in, I mean. Even if those brutes back there aren't that good at expressin' their thanks, I do have some manners!" The guy chuckled, spying a nearby chair, striding over to it and glancing over at Roman. "Might I take ah load off?" He chuckled and sat, not awaiting permission." Yawning a bit, he shook his head, sending a few drops of water spraying all over the place. Glancing back up to Roman, the grin stretched wider, a single eyebrow raised at the doctor. "Why am I here? Silly doctor." He leaned forward, eyes glittering. "Ya know why I am here." "Ya done went and killed someone, Roman! The son of... ah, what was his name? Brisc? Ah, yeah, that was him. A respected noble asked ya if you could do a particular task that would save his son... And well, ya said ya could do it. And you didn't. Mighty low of ya, doctor. The noble sir doesn't like unkept promises. I am a friend of his. He asked me to take care of ya." The sir chuckled, shaking his head, clucking his tongue like a mother disappointed with her young son. "So, I'm gonna take care of ya, I suppose!" The two men suddenly stepped forward, cloaks flowing out behind them as they moved, their faces shrouded by the shadows of the hood. The white-haired man continued to speak, his voice singing out teasingly, that grin definitely still present. "Don't worry, tho'. I ain't gonna kill ya. I mean, that would be murder, right? I can't murder ya!" The two cloaked men reached Roman, reaching out hands to grab him. The white haired man still sat, a few paces away, smiling brightly, his eyes flickering with amusement. "Not yet, at least."

[Roman]

Roman felt uncomfortable when he felt the white haired mans gaze on him and didn't even try to fool himself into thinking he wasn't in some kind of trouble. "Thank ya very much. For lettin' us in, I mean. Even if those brutes back there aren't that good at expressin' their thanks, I do have some manners!" The mans chuckle made Roman's hair on the back of his neck stand up. The guy brushed past him and walked towards his chair. "Might I take ah load off?" The guy just chuckled in that creepy way again and sat down not even bothering to wait for his reply and shook his head splattering droplets of water all over the place, not even being a bit considerate to the person who's house he was inside. The man glanced back up at Roman his grin became even wider. He slowly leaned forward a malicious glimmer in his eye's. "Ya know why I am here." Roman just god a confused look on his face as the man said that. "No actually I...." He was cut of when the man began to speak again not even having cared to listen t him. "Ya done went and killed someone, Roman! The son of... ah, what was his name? Brisc? Ah, yeah, that was him. A respected noble asked ya if you could do a particular task that would save his son... And well, ya said ya could do it. And you didn't. Mighty low of ya, doctor. The noble sir doesn't like unkept promises. I am a friend of his. He asked me to take care of ya." Roman paled when the man brought up his failure of a few weeks ago, his discomfort and sense of oncoming doom not in the least softened by the behavior of the man. "So, I'm gonna take care of ya, I suppose!" Roman instinctively took as step back as the two masked men advanced towards him, their faces still hidden by the hoods, but didn't take any other action to get away from them, knowing they would have absolutely no problem with breaking parts of his body to keep him here, they would probably enjoy it to. While the white haired man continued to speak the tone suggesting that he was troughly enjoying what he was doing. "Don't worry, tho'. I ain't gonna kill ya. I mean, that would be murder, right? I can't murder ya!" Roman cast a frighted glance at the man, the flicker of amusement in the mans eyes,the amused smirk frighting the crap out of him. "Not yet, at least." "Well if you aren't out to kill me for that slight then what do you want from me!"

[Seth]

A hand caught him by the throat first, cutting off the last few words he tried to speak. He was roughly slammed into the nearest wall, the wood feeling as if would crack under his impact. It was enough to knock the wind out of him, and because of the choking grip one of the men had locked onto him, he wasn't able to pull in air. The next man came, burying a fist into his stomach, lifting him off of his feet and sliding him up the wall a few inches. More precious air would be knocked out of his lungs, and once again, Roman would find that he was not able to suck any in. As he was lifted, the man holding his throat had to let go, stepping back to observe his work. It was odd having to beat up on one so tall. Roman would soon come sliding back down to his feet though, and once again the hooded man stepped forward, reaching up to grab him by the throat, slam him to the wall, and cut off his air. At this rate, they would suffocate him quicker than he would be beaten to death. Throughout it all, if Roman dared glance over toward the white-haired man, then he would easily find him. Grinning like a madman, seeming to find some kind of sick joke in the current situation. Finally, after what would seem like an eternity, the hand dropped from his throat, letting him fall to the floor. Any struggle up until this point would have been slapped away, almost laughingly so. A punch or a kick wouldn't even faze the two men attacking him. Underneath those robes, they were wearing armor. Underneath that hood, they were wearing a helmet. Ebonstryfe. The white-haired man chuckled, slowly rising from his chair, gracefully crossing the room to approach Roman. As if acting on an invisible unheard cue, the one of the men reached down, grabbing the collapsed Roman by the hair, dragging him forward. The other man grabbed a handful of his hair too, and yanked him around, forcing him on all fours. They kicked him in the rump, smashing his face into the wall, bloodying his nose. He was being manhandled. He had no other choice. He had no combat options. So there Roman laid, on all fours, his face smashed into the wall. The men behind him, watching quietly, their eyes locked onto the fallen man they had just abused and beaten. His nose was bloodied, perhaps broken, but otherwise, he just ached. This wasn't over, not by a long shot. The clinking of armor signaled that this was indeed true, and suddenly, Roman would find his pants and underpants ripped off, all at once. What was this? What were they about to do now? A cold tip of steel suddenly slipped between the crack in his bum, placing itself directly on that particular entrance to his body. If he dared try and back up an inch, he would be in for an incredibly uncomfortable time. The white-haired man leaned down, licking his lips, placing them right beside Roman's ear. One of the cloaked man stood there, longsword extending from his cloak, holding Roman hostage. The other one merely watched, quiet. The white-haired man spoke, whispering directly to Roman, the tone as amused and light as it had been before this sick abuse started. "I was hopin' you had a wife. I figured that would be where I would start. But, ah well. I suppose I can enjoy a man, too. Let's loosen you up, yes?" The man stepped back, chuckling, letting Roman absorb the words. It would only take him a moment to understand what he was about to be "loosened" up for. "Or..." The man spoke again, his voice slyly leaking out, sounding even more devious than before. "...Or ya can hear me out. Would ya be interested in hearing me out, Roman?"

[Roman]

Roman's eye's nearly bugged out of his sockets in surprise when the one of the men grabbed him by the troath cutting cutting him of in mid of his sentence. A second later he was slammed into the wall of his house a punch immediately ramming into his stomach forcing all of the air out of his lungs and the man lifted him up so that his feet where dangling a few inches above the ground. Roman struggled to take a breath weakly kicking with his feet at the man, though they didn't even flinch when the kicks hit, if they hit at all. The man who was holding him up against the wall suddenly stepped back, dropping Roman back on his feet. Taking the opportunity he gasped for breath, his eye fell on the white haired man, the sick grin on the man face made him almost crap his pants. He didn't have any time to think somehting about it though, because the man once again grabbed him by the throat and repeated the entire torture before letting dropping him again repeating the torture again and again for what seemed like hours before finally dropping him on the floor leaving him gasping for breath Roman shivered in fear as he heard that dreadful chuckle again. Both of the men bend over and grabbed him by his hair throwing him on all fours and slamming his nose into the wall a crack signifying that it broke. blood slowly began to sleep from his nose. More worried about trying to get enough air in his lungs then anything else he didn't really resist as they ripped of his pants. Though that did immediately change when he felt the cold touch of steel on his but. "I was hopin' you had a wife. I figured that would be where I would start. But, ah well. I suppose I can enjoy a man, too. Let's loosen you up, yes?" Roman went pale both in disgust and fear as he heard the man say that. Both for considering rape and the thought of being raped by a man. "Or..." The man spoke again in a tone that made Roman sic just from hearing it "...Or ya can hear me out. Would ya be interested in hearing me out, Roman?" Roman nodded both the treat of the two armed men and the knife at his but convincing that declining was a VERY bad idea. "Yes, I will listen to your proposal." Roman said his voice coming out unsteady from his fear.

[Seth]

"Good, good!" The man made a signal with his hand, and the two cloaked Ebonstryfe stepped back, the sword withdrawing from the rather horrible place it had been positioned. The white-haired fellow remained bent at Roman's side, speaking into his ear, though at a normal tone now. The sadistic whisper had been dropped, thankfully. "These fellows right here needs some help, ya see." The white haired man cocked a thumb at one of the dark robed soldiers standing behind him, who gave a short nod of his hood, confirming the fact. "They was ordered to undertake a short little quest before they could do their Crucible, ya see," The man chuckled, waving a slim hand, as if discarding the importance of such a task. The two Ebonstryfe at his side shuffled a bit, perhaps a bit uneased that this man would treat one of their honored traditions with such... disregard. "Point is, like I said, they were given a task. There is a particular apprentice that needs... disposed of. Basically, this Paladin within the Ebonstryfe doesn't like him. This Paladin thinks the apprentice would be more useful to him if he was dead. This Paladin practices an art that requires body parts... the more powerful and unique, the better. So, thing is, my friends here were tasked with killing him, and ripping away these body parts for this Paladin to use." The whole thing was pretty confusing, but Roman was just having to do his best to keep up. All of this Ebonstryfe talk wasn't something the doctor would be familiar with, but he would just have to listen. What other choice did he have? "I heard them discussing their plight, and I decided to be a good ol' guy, and help them out." The man's smile turned into a soft giggle, but he kept speaking through the chuckle, his eyes locked on Roman. "I knew about you. I figured that maybe you could prove useful. I will assure the people that want you dead that you are being put through a much more... horrible fate. And you will do what we ask. In this case, you will help us dissect this body in the most pristine way possible. Do you understand, doctor?" The white-haired man gave Roman a pat on the head, giggling again. His last sentence was mocking, and it was quite clear that he knew Roman couldn't have possibly understood all of that. There was too much talk of magic, and Ebonstryfe. He would be able to understand the one thing that mattered, though. These men were calling on him to skillfully take apart a freshly killed human body.

[Roman]

Roman sighed in relief as he felt the cold steel being taken away from that....place and when the two guards took a step back, letting him believe he pulled trough the worst. he pulled his pants back on as good as he could at the moment, his hands still shaking from the horrifying experience a few moments ago, and pushed him up to a crouching position. Roman quickly focused his attention on the white haired man's words, just listened when he spoke and didn't bother to ask and clarify on anything that wasn't related to what he was going to have to do. Knowing that he was better off not knowing the things that he didn't understand then to ask for clarification. The less you knew the less reason they had to slit your throat when you where sleeping. Though roman got a sinking feeling in his stomach when the man mentioned killing and ripping away bodyparts, whatever he needed to do he knew right now that he wasn't going to like it, what sick man needed flesh to make art? There really where twisted people in this world. "I heard them discussing their plight, and I decided to be a good ol' guy, and help them out." Roman's hair stood on an end when he heard that giggle again. "I knew about you. I figured that maybe you could prove useful. I will assure the people that want you dead that you are being put through a much more... horrible fate. And you will do what we ask. In this case, you will help us dissect this body in the most pristine way possible. Do you understand, doctor?" "Yes sir, I understand." Roman said, in a nervous voice, though he scowled when he got that pat on the head. He didn't get even half the ebonstryfe stuff he talked about ,but he knew what to do. Dissect the body he was given and don't ask questions. Though there was a slight problem with that, he didn't have the tools required for that task, deciding that asking about something related with the task he was giving wouldn't be that dangerous roman nervously spoke up. "Well I have a slight problem with the thing you asked me to do." Roman winched at how it came out, it sounded like he was trying to get out of the job he was offering. "I mean not with the job its self but.... I don't have the tools to dissect a body, I never had to do it in the last few years and it didn't look like I would have to do it anytime soon so I never bought the tools. They where rather expensive and if they weren't going to be used then it was rather pointless to spend money on it."

[Seth]

The man cocked his head at Roman, chuckled again, and motioned for him to get up. "Tools? We'll work somethin' out for ya. Get your clothes on, get whatever else you need. We need to get a move on, I 'pose." There was a flurry of motion underneath the cloak of the white-haired man, and suddenly, Roman would find a folded black cloak being tossed at his head. "There ya go. Put that on, and draw the hood over yourself. It'll help you move along with us, and we can get where we need ta go pretty quickly. Ever been to the Silver Sliver? It is a pretty nice place. Imma go ahead and go there, so you just come along with my two friends here when you are ready. I am kind of thirsty, and I don't wanna wait any longer." The white-haired man gave a short wave of the hand, grinning brightly at Roman. "Ta-ta!" Just like that, with a flourish of his cloak, the man vanished outside. When he left, the two Ebonstryfe let loose audible and visible sighs. Sighs of relief. "Ah, I hate him." One of the hoods nodded, sighing again, slowly sheathing the sword that he had been using to hold Roman hostage. "He makes me uncomfortable too, but he said he could help. I don't want to screw this promotion up." The two men turned to Roman, and pulled off their hoods and helmets, shaking out their long hair. One had a heavily scarred face, with bright blue eyes and dark red hair that nearly fell to his shoulders. The scars were from acne, which still managed to run rampant all over his somewhat puggish features. He stepped forward offering Roman a gloved hand, suddenly showing an odd display of kindness. He uncomfortably cleared his throat, then he spoke, his voice gruff and distant. "Sorry about earlier. I don't have a problem threatening people... But threatening them like that..." He shuffled a bit, then sighed, shaking his head. "This is a once and a lifetime chance, and I don't want to miss it. I will accept all the help I can get, even if that help is... a bit disturbed." The other Ebonstryfe chuckled, shaking his head, wild strands of neck-length black hair flopping around his dark eyes. "Feeling bad now, are we? Wimp." The red-haired one snapped back, his hand still extended to Roman, his voice sharp. "You weren't the one threatening to rape a man with the sharp end of a longsword. Shut the hell up." The man bristled a bit, but then nodded, glancing around the room impatiently. "Whatever. Just hurry it up. Kain should be at the Silver Sliver, and we don't want to miss him. The white-haired freak is probably already there too, and the way he is, he will get bored and then just leave us. We need this."

[Roman]

Roman let out a relieved sigh as the man said they would do something about the tools, he didn't want to loose his head, or get something worse done to him then loosing his head, just because he screwed up whatever organ or bodypart they needed him to cut off. He was snapped back to the real world when a black cloak was thrown in his face however. Struggling a few moments to untangle the garment he followed the freaky mans order and threw it on attentively listening to the mans other orders. An involuntary shiver went over his spine when the man smiled at him and walked out of his house, for some reason he had the feeling that being dead and buried would have been an easier choice. Pushing away those thoughts he looked at the the two men who where still in his home. He was fairly surprised when the two began grumbling about their superior. Though he could understand why they hated him, he only saw him once and was already creeped out by the guy he couldn't understand how they managed to work with him. He was a bit dumbfound when one of the men offered his hand and apologized for threatening to shove his sword up his rectum. Roman warily shook it and gave a small nod, ignoring the other mans barbs. "No problem about it, I don't think I would hesitate to do the same when I would be under him." His eye rested on the mans scars and outbursts off acne for a while, thinking about what could be used to elevate the mans problem, or at least lessen it. Though he ripped himself away form that train of ought pretty quickly it was as the other man said, they couldn't afford to waste time. "Lets go towards the Silver sliver then, I don't want to lose my only chance to preserve my life and I doubt you two would want to lose that promotion." He made way towards the door and pulled the cap over his head to guard himself against the rain, he looked towards the duo and waited for them. oocsorry for the long wait ^^;