Fate - First Reply Let the Good Times Roll

A 1x1 Roleplay where the first writer to respond can join
No, they never did, but that did not mean that they could not be afraid. No matter how powerful, smart, or mysterious a single person was, they would always succumb to the might of many. To the might of the Dreadlords.

It really did not matter, as it seemed that the being would stay out of this business, leaving Alistair to complete this matter.

As he moved forward several runes lit up across his clothing with arcane light. When Alistair reached out and grabbed Gerard by the scruff of his shirt, he displayed a level of strength that did not match his lean frame.

Gerard pathetically slashed out with his own blade, but Alistair was too quick. With no need to prolong this showing any longer, Alistair rammed the dagger into the back of the man's neck severing the spinal column and instantly killing the man.

The large lifeless body plopped to the floor before Alistair turned back to the only other living people in this room. Only a slight splattering of blood was flecked across his cheek.

"Well, I am glad we could get through that with ease. Sorry I had to bring you along Aeyliea, but I really was in a hurry. I was on a tight schedule...and I figured you might enjoy that."

Aeyliea
 
She stood unruffled by the brutality and the lethal efficiency on display. She looked at the body on the floor for a moment, then looked back to Alistair.

She shook her head in response. "Two years ago, it would have been a start."

A start. The circumstances would have been different, though; the two of them would have been on different sides of the fight, and the number of bodies would have been much, much higher. For both sides. She looked to Traveler, who was standing now. They did not cut an imposing figure at all, shorter than everyone else in the room. Whatever the source of their confidence remained hidden; the leather-clad sorcerer carried not even the threat of a first-year initiate about them.

They bowed to Alistair, and then the dead man on the floor. "Such delightful hospitality," they murmured to themselves. "Pity they knew nothing of the Elders that were."

With that Traveler turned around and walked out of the room in a pall of silence. It was only after they had gone that Aeyliea noticed the pall of dread their presence evoked. By its sudden absence.

"Vexing," she said of the now absent sorcerer.
 
Alistair watched the enigma go his magical eyes watching the strange signature leave. It was clear that being practiced magic, and a decently strong version of it, but he was not aware of exactly what. He certainly had enough confidence that it would be shocking if he weren't strong.

He sheathed his blade before turning back to Aeyliea, happy to see that she seemed less tense with the Traveler gone.

"Yes, very strange...He won't be finding anything about your Elders if he is asking Anirians, no matter how close they are to the Savannah."

Vel Anir's magical understanding was extremely modern and basic. Even if they found something on the Elders, they would find out how to use it for military purposes and then no longer look into it.

A real shame.

"These Elders, they are the dragons you referred to, correct?"

Aeyliea
 
"The Seven," she said. She was looking the way that Traveler had gone with something inscrutable in her eyes. "The Seven are dragons. They are not elders, they are what your people would call gods and goddesses."

Why now? Why would Traveler let slip some fragment of what it was they were looking for now? She had been employed by them for a year and scarcely knew more now than she did back then. Why let it slip in front of her after being here at this place and this time?

Just another mystery without any ready solution.

"What was it that the mayor," she started, then looked at the body on the floor. "...former mayor have been doing, talking with the others in the Sea of Grass?"
 
Alistair did not want to bring up their earlier conversation and his belief that gods just did not go and die. However, dragons in their own right were impressive and sometimes garnered worship from some communities.

But, they could be killed just like any man. In fact, he had a friend that made it a hobby of hers to kill dragons that thought themselves unkillable.

"Gerard was guilty of illegal smuggling in supplies through the city and keeping all of the profits for himself, also letting in things that are highly regulated in Vel Anir. Not to mention using a few of the tribes to get rid of his political opponents by letting slip when they would be passing through certain areas. Along with a whole list of other crimes, but...nothing inherently magical that I can think of."

Aeyliea
 
She cocked her head to one side. Magical things were important to her employer, but she had a feeling that it was not artifacts or arcane knowledge that they sought. The ever-present shadow in her head had quieted since the initial display of magic from Alistair.

"I do not know. We have been circling the edge of the desert and the savannah for months." She shook her head. "Well, whatever he did means nothing to me. He would not have been dealing with my kin, regardless. Not more than once, anyway."

She turned and started toward the door from the room. "Can we get drunk now? It smells of dead man in here."
 
Almost like a switch being flipped, the serious and professional Alistair reverted back to the smiley and kind merchant that he had been when they first met.

"Of course, I could use a drink. However, drinks will have to be on me tonight as I believe the city will still be pretty chaotic. Tomorrow things may be under control."

He stepped into rhythm next to her as they began their journey out of the mansion. Many people were still running around with no idea of the two dead bodies that would surely be found at some point, but by then it would not matter.

"Maybe I will find what your master is looking for, first, just to spite him," Alistair responded jokingly.

Aeyliea
 
"If you can figure out what it is, then let me know," she replied wryly. Her grasp on humor was not one of her strong suits.

It was a constant source of frustration that she didn't know what it was that Traveler wanted, and that the enigmatic sorcerer would never say anything that was not strange or mysterious in some way or another. She might have made an issue of it with them, except...

...except every now and again - for a moment here and there - she caught some faint glimpse of the monstrous power contained within that leather shell. She had killed a lot of mages over the year and while she was not familiar with every discipline, she was familiar enough with many of them.

Traveler's magic stank of chaos and disorder. It was unnatural and did not belong in this world or on this plane. "Seven seasons, and still no clue. Only thing that I know is they will not enter the Savannah proper."
 
Alistair nodded in understanding, "He must be afraid of something in there."

What that could be was anyone's guess. There were numerous ruins, artifacts, and ancient beings in the Savannah. In fact, one of those ruins and its arcane progenitors was where Alistair had received his eyes.

"This may be intrusive to ask, but why are you working for him? It doesn't sound like you enjoy the...them."

He was more than aware that slavery, magical contracts, and the like were common enough on this side of the world, but the Traveler did not seem like the type to chase after her if she did run away.

Aeyliea
 
She glanced at Alistair and then away uncomfortably. She was not especially proud to admit the reason aloud. She did so anyway.

"Fear," she said quietly. "I have... felt the wellspring of power hidden within them. I have left before, and they simply found me later and offered me more coin."

There was also the implied threat, never spoken aloud. Traveler knew of the creature that was coiled in her head. Her soul, she feared sometimes. She felt like they knew about the cavern in the middle of the Sea and the fallen Goddess therein. Fallen, dead...but not dead.

She could feel the ancient consciousness stir, silent as it had been for the last year.
 
He nodded in understanding, Al had not felt the wellspring of power, he had seen it. The thing certainly could back up the talk but...something just did not add up.

"If he wants you for the thing inside you, then he could just hunt you down whenever he wanted it. It seems cruel to just drag you along everywhere. Have you ever just denied him?"

Not necessarily in complete denial, but more like they just did not want to travel with them. Because honestly, the Traveler just gave off a creepy vibe. For Alistair, it was more apparent because of the aura of the chaotic magic he could see, but even someone without that sixth sense could get the sense someone in a full leather suit was weird.

"Of course, it is just a thought. Ultimately, it's up to you."

Aeyliea
 
"It feels like there will be a reckoning when I finally do," she admitted. "I know nothing of their abilities or strengths. It would be... rash, to risk a confrontation until I know something."

She pulled the pouch of coins from her belt, and opened it again. She withdrew a single coin, and held it up to the light. The coin was silver, but the markings on it that did not match anything seen on Arethil. Or at least, nothing seen on Arethil in the modern day. Not that Aeyliea would know that, but it was possible that the Dreadlord was much better travelled.

"So much coin for no reason. I do not understand...money, as you do. But... none have paid me as such before this creature."
 
"True, but why does it have to be a confrontation? The least you can do is just ask what they expect from you because...the only thing holding you to them might be your own fear." He suggested.

Alistair was content to drop the subject there, but then he spotted the coin Aeyliea took from her pouch. Very quickly he snatched the coin without even asking as he looked closely at the ancient piece. Was this Azlanti, or even Luminorian? No, Alistair had not managed to find a trace of them since the ruins. However...it was similar.

"Where did you get this Aeyliea?"

Aeyliea
 
"I don't know. I just feel like...like there will be one."

Intuition was all she had to go by. The creature that was Traveler was too enigmatic.

"I have asked them. They do not answer with anything specific. I need to stay close, and I will know when I am needed. Every now and then, they ask whether or not this bit of knowledge is factual. They ask if I have seen this thing or that thing out on the Sea." She shook her head, clearly frustrated.

"And that is what they pay in. These silver pieces of metal. Most ask questions about them, but..." She shrugged. Whatever most merchants thought of them, they readily accepted them after examination. Never once did Aeyliea think that maybe she was being fleeced. Never before had she ever stopped to consider the value of the coins, let alone where they came from. "Why?"
 
"Fair enough, just room for thought," Alistair mumbled while putting his full focus on the coin.

After a few moments, he realized Aeyliea had asked him another question. "Oh, nothing. They are so old that they would really only be worth their weight in silver, so nothing really changes. However...the design is familiar."

Alistair moved to pull a gold coin from his pouch and offered it to her.

"Do you mind if I trade you for one of these? While not of equal value, I want it for research purposes."

With the coin, maybe he could go back through and look at his Luminor notes and see if anything has some similarities...And if that did not work then he could always go speak with Kasim and library spirit Anna.

Aeyliea
 
The gleam of gold meant little to her. She nodded and handed the silver coin over. In his hands, the coin held some faint trace of ancient magic in it. Even though the silver had not tarnished, whatever magic had been in it had. The passage of a great many years had faded it to the point of it being impossible to say what it once held.

"Re...search?" It was an unfamiliar word to her. Science was not a thing that was done out on the arid plains. Such magic as there was had been handed down from Seer to Seer for millennia. "What are you searching for?" she asked as a result of her lack of comprehension.
 
"Answers, I suppose." His magical eyes strained to try and see past the coin at the feint ticks of magic inside of it, but it just wasn't enough. He would have to look at the council through some of his equipment back at his lab to get any strong readings.

"While older than us, the ancients were masters in their own brand of magic, so anything that I can deduce from this little trail could greatly improve our own understanding."

He securely put the coin away into his rune-guarded pouch before smiling devilishly, "Maybe I actually will try and find out the Travelers' secrets before he ever gets the chance."

They had arrived back at his stall, where his employee had gone off to enjoy his own drinking. It looked like any soft of customers had been dispersed with the appearance of the fake fire. That meant plenty of wine and spirits for them tonight.

Alistair motioned at the variety of drinks, "After you."

Aeyliea
 
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