The Empire Naughty Nobility | Ragash

[Eirene Akanamar]

To say the events of the past week had unfolded fortuitously would be an understatement, or at least so much was the case where House Akanamar was concerned. The lasting night had brought its own amount of grief to the powers of the Empire, and the public's distress alone had distracted them from a great many things that were taking place in the now very abundant shadows. Paired with the monsters that had appeared and seemingly vanished all in one night, it was safe to say the Imperials were... occupied.

The first and foremost was their reclamation of one of their most prized assets - Iesha, sister to the Vizier of War, and a terrorist. It was years ago now that she was arrested and Nak'Ehim of House Akanamar was killed for conspiring against the Empire. But the House deflected any bad press associated with him, guarded behind his association with them as being just that - he was an associate who acted alone. Nak'Ehim was never revealed to be of Akanamar blood, and was one of the few who'd never had their ears clipped. This proved particularly useful after the rise of the Empire, where Nak'Ehim was able to associate himself with the imperial abtati who had taken prominence with the Empire's rise.

As for the Akanamars...

As far as anyone was concerned, ever, they were not abtati.

---

"Is she ready?"

"We'll leave as soon as she is... that dark elf bitch cut her feet clean off and she hasn't walked in years," Eirene replied, he head turning back to the doorway wherein Iesha was being tended. Iesha had been with them for a week now, having been sprung just a few nights after the eclipse began, and had only just been fitted with a pair of feet... such as they were. They were arcane transplants, they would never be the same as the original. But they were certainly better than nothing, especially after so long... But finally, after sharing a few more idle words about the evenings plan, the doors opened, and a cloaked figure emerged escorted by a number of maidens who were about their charge.

A wordless, barely lifted wave of the hand.

Eirene nodded to her, and drew her own hood up over he head before saying her farewells to her kin and departing with Iesha. As they moved through the estate, there were several other hooded figures who fell in behind and joined them. As they arrived at the manor's gates, a couple of them took up torches while the rest checked their gear, and some even drew their weapons.

There was a scream in the distance, shouting and dogs barking. A week and a half of this lasting night had driven many to near madness, and violence had become rampant throughout the city. Eirene and those with her fully expected to if not encounter trouble of their own, at the very least bear witness to the aftermath of someone else's. And though Eirene and the Akanamars were no strangers to criminal activity, it was unlikely any of the troublemakers in the streets these nights had any association with them. And if it wasn't one of the many would-be criminals running about, then perhaps it would be an even greater threat. Unbeknownst to the public and likely much of the Divan, the noble houses were in strife. There had been more than one assassination attempt since the events at the palace just three nights ago.

So, the closing of the Akanamar Estate behind its tall walls and its locked and guarded gates, and the armour of the guards, it was all for more than just show.

They took one final moment and Eirene placed her hand on Iesha's weary shoulder, and then they departed out through the manor's gates into the streets. It was imperative they get her out of the city, and though the small arrangements of docks at the river in Ragash was hardly anything resembling a port, one of the boats heading downriver would do nicely to deliver Iesha to safety. At this point, it was simply a matter of getting her there. The ride had already been arranged.

---

 

[Aura Qajan]

"Has she said anything today?" Aura asked, taking the seat by her mother's side.

Shiri, her older sister, gave a shake of the head and left the room.

The children had been taking turns to watch over Esver, sitting with her for a few hours at a time. The healers came and went as they pleased.

Qajan was a wealthy house and could afford some of the best in the city, but after the long cold night their guild was stretched.

Esver would be awake and talkative at times and fast asleep for long periods. The bruising around her head and neck told a story. The healers had explained that the head took much longer to heal than a limb.

Aura placed a hand over her mothers. Ever made a quiet sound, but barely moved. The contact, she realised, was probably the most affectionate contact they had shared in years.

Esver did love her children, but they were also pieces on the board. Like any piece in any game, some would need to be sacrificed.

"Imnsorry I wasn't there," Aura said quietly. She had been struck by the guilt, even though it was her mother that had told her to go to the Palace Wall.

There was no reply.



"Lady Aura?"

She blinked her eyes open. She was still in the chair at her mother's side. She immediately sat forwards, placing her hands into her lap and assuming a proper position in front of the house staff instead of being laid back.

It was Gennold, one of her mother's senior advisors. And occasional lovers, Aura reflected, but that was a wide net. He was often known as the warmaster. He knew nothing of fighting, but was always called in to close council when the house was in crisis.

"There is something we need to discuss."



Aura pulled her hood tight around her face. There was a hand of the house at each shoulder.

Gennold had wanted to send a group of house guards as escort to therl River to clear the delinquints out of their way.

Aura had known true fear at the Palace, but she did not fear the common street criminals of Ragash.

 

[Eirene Akanamar]

Ragash's long history is marked with change. For centuries the cities of the sands warred against one another and even their own selves at times, and though the heads of state changed quite frequently, there were those that were constant. Politics was an evolution of lies, but blood told different stories.

The Noble Houses of Ragash were, many of them, long standing and even timeless in the eyes of many. There were some who had came and went, whether it be they went bankrupt or were killed off. But then there were those like house Qajan, Merira and Akanamar, all of whom seemed as old as Ragash itself with pockets as deep as their families rich histories. But while the likes of House Qajan and Merira were far quieter and more drawn out in the plays they made, House Akanamar had always seemed... aggressive.

---

The darkness in the streets alluded to more than just the lack of light. There was chaos in the air, and if she was completely honest with herself, she was enthralled by it. These were the results they sought, this is what they were after or at least, this was the beginning of it. But though these were the results of their own machinations, it did not excuse them from the risk of danger. And as it would happen, it found them. Only, it was unfortunate for their attacker far more so than it was for them.

It was a shame really. Not the death of their would-be attacker, they were better of because off that. No, the shame was in the one she'd come to think of as a sister. Iesha... watching her now as she ruthlessly gored the man who'd come at them with a knife was enough to see how much she'd changed. How much they'd changed her.

But it wasn't even that, as she was always relentless. It was the way she was laughing...

A few moments passed and Eirene finally had to stop her, putting a hand on her shoulder, whispering sharply, "sister! We must go, we haven't much time!"

When Eirene's hand touched her, Iesha froze in place - hand full of the dead man's shirt, knife held high, her eyes fixed on his lifeless stare. There was wet warmth on her cheek...

Sliding her knife back into its place she quietly got up from where she'd been kneeling over her prey, and departed from there with her entourage. It wasn't long before they came to Baal-Asha Square on the western side of the city where the docks were only a few short moments away. The square was littered with debris. Storefronts were boarded and covered, and here and there was the odd fire with one or two individuals sitting nearby. None of them took any notice of the Akanamars entering into the square.

"Come, Dariu is waiting at the docks for us."

---

Aura Qajan ​

 

[Aura Qajan]

The chaos frightened her. Aura had never known the city to be in this state. The house now lacked the guidance of its matriarch at a time when no one in the city knew what to do. Not even Medja, not even the handsome Vizier that one of her sisters had been given the enviable task to seduce.

They were slowed by taking a careful path to avoid trouble, but still made good time. In the night their gray and black cloaks made them walking shadows.

Aura tried to keep the images of what she had seen in the darkness beyond the Palace out of her mind. Normally she was the dangerous creature to fear at night. On her mother's orders, she had now murdered four people to further their goals.

"What are we looking for?"

When they reached the river they had climbed up to the roof of a warehouse that would usually have been full of grain. Now it was empty and unguarded.

"I don't know," she replied, holding up a hand for silence.

 

[Eirene Akanamar]

"Come, Dariu is waiting at the docks for us."
​

Only a few steps forward and she lifted her hand, causing their number to freeze in place. Eirene may have had her ears mutilated when she was but an infant - as all her family, save those fortunate few - but she still retained an aspect of her heightened hearing. Someone was speaking. Her eyes tracked across the ruined square, and finally stopped upon a lone individual sitting at one of the various fires that littered the surround. She listened carefully, as too did her brethren as they also took notice. Likely Iesha, with her untouched ears, could hear quite clearly.

But as she listened, her ears seemed to attune, and she heard the shakily whispered words...

"...their eyes... why... were they looking at us... like that...?"
​

It was strange, whatever it was he was saying, so she turned to Iesha who she could see was smiling broadly.

Their eyes met, and Iesha could see the confusion in Eirene, and she said with a widening smile, dipped chin and fluttering eyelashes, "he speaks of my pretties."

Eirene turned away almost in shock. Whoever that person was must have been there at the palace, otherwise they had even bigger problems on their hands. But judging by how calm he was... or rather, stationary, it was a likely conclusion, else he'd likely be running for his life. And upon seeing and hearing the effects those monstrosities brought, watching as the person rocked back and forth, she too remembered that night. From her place on the balcony across the palace's square, she'd seen the whole thing.

She was committed to their cause and the extents they went to in order to fulfill it. But even though she knew that they had been tools for their own purposes to further their goals, there was simply nothing about those... things, that she did not despise.

That she did not fear.​

Pretties, was hardly how she'd describe them.

Drawing in a deep breath, she motioned them forward, and they made their way through the debris-strewn square on through the next street, passing by several storehouses. They emerged from the shadows of the tall buildings into simply better lit darkness and started down toward the river where there were several modest docks and a few small boats. And from in their midst, either hearing or otherwise sensing their arrival, a lone figure appeared with a torch in hand lighting their way.

---

Aura Qajan ​

 

[Aura Qajan]

The torch being lit drew their attention. The small Qajan party hunkered down low as it moved through the night, eventually showing a small party emerging from the city.

They were here to observe, not to necessarily interfere. Aura was keen to prove herself and get a closer look.

Watch me

The hand signal had to be provided up close, the night was too dark to pick out the complex movements over any distance.

Aura dashed ahead, feet making barely a sound before she jumped. She kept a distance, but soon ran out of building. As they group headed down the bank towards the river Aura had to decide whether to drop down to group level.

She turned, heading to the building away from them to make a descent unseen and then started to pick a path down the bank parallel to the small group. She couldn't recognise anyone, not from this angle.

 

[Eirene Akanamar]

The quiet at the docks was far more ominous than the usual silence of night. There was an unnatural chill in the air, one which had been growing as of late. There was a lack of vibrance. Even the way the boats rocked against the docks was different. As Dariu had waited there he'd grown increasingly unsettled. His gifts had made it difficult for him to remain lingering without direction with the state of things in the city. So instead he'd remained on his boat below deck, which among those others docked could be considered something great, but only as far as something that could travel safely downriver.

It was from within there that he perceived the hour, and felt the presence of those for whom he waited.

And he rose, emerging topside and stepping out onto the dock where he lit his torch and moved to meet the Akanamars and their prize. And as he emerged, he beheld that which his eyes showed him - tethers of unseen and dark light, woven like lattice and strung all throughout the air and across the sky, shimmering and twisting like strands of liquid glass. He could see those unseen forces of magic both directed and wayward, and there was not a part of what was taking place in this city that was not weighed with the burden of these spells and curses as they did their quiet work.

As for them, he could tell them first by their colours, which only became clear once they had drawn close.

"Eirene," he said as he approached, "I trust you found your way without trouble?"

"Dariu, you know as well as I do there is nothing left in this city but trouble."

Iesha's smile almost pulled her hood aside for her, but her hand drew up and did so first.

"Dariu, you Anirian filth! Oh how I've missed you," she approached him with a deceptive interest, and promptly hung herself from him, much to his obvious discomfort.

Their hooded companions were poised, but their attention was for the most part on Dariu and Iesha's awkward interaction, watching as she probed him for information on how he'd been in a peculiar display at such a time.

Eirene's eyes cast back toward where they'd come. She'd grown apprehensive about lingering, but at this point it was more or less out of her hands. She was to stay here while Dariu ferried Iesha off to the sea, and then, Salitra. She only needed them to depart, and she and hers could make themselves scarce.

---

Aura Qajan ​

 

[Aura Qajan]

Aura kept herself low to the ground. Each step was careful. Heel to the ground, then toe as the water hissed against the shore. Then she slowly shifted her weight onto her front foot and repeated the process. It was slow, but virtually silent.

She pressed herself to the ground when she was close enough to make out the people ahead of her. The approach was wasted when they proudly announced their names. Aura might have made those out from further up the bank, the gentle breeze carrying their words.

Eirene Akanamar. Powerful, influential and a known competition fighter.

None of the Qajan daughters let the Ragash community know of their skill. Aura had seen Eirene fight, taking her challengers head on. She was fierce. Aura hadn't been trained that way, she didn't want to cross Eirene in a fair and direct confrontation.

A little bit of her did. The irrational part that grinned when she was bleeding and almost broken. The part her mother tried to keep under control.

Dariu was a name she did not know. Aura remained completely still, feeling Eirene's eyes upon her.

An Akanamar, a sand elf and a barge out to the river. This made no sense to her, but putting the pieces together was not her job.

 

[Eirene Akanamar]

Even for her eyes the darkness was thick, and she could not see nearly as well as she could on any natural night, and certainly not as well as she would have liked. She was cautious of course, but beyond that she had no reason to suspect they'd been followed, especially not with the city in its current state. Who would dare tread these streets? So when she did not immediately detect anything of concern, her attention returned to their gathering.

"It is only a matter of time before the Divan learns to undo this night, we mustn't tarry here-"

"Oh sister, relax," Iesha intruded, "I've only just been reacquainted and you expect me to sail off into the sunset? Well..."

Eirene and Dariu exchanged a quick look, but they had little choice but to entertain their charge. Neither of them really knew what had happened to her after she'd been captured at the battle at the sunken cathedral. Was the loss of her limbs done in battle, or cruelly in captivity? The wounds on her body certainly had been, as no doubt the various other scars also were, but Iesha was one who was far more a stranger to freedom than she was bondage.

What had been so different this time? What had they done to her?

Watching her hanging off Dariu like some promiscuous feline was... discomforting. But she'd have far more preferred to have stood there in mild irritation than feel a familiar dread crawl down her spine. But she did, and it came when an all too distinctive howl cried out into the night - the parasites had manifested, latent, as they and many more to come were predicted.

"Mmm," Iesha hummed, her excitement only growing, "my pretties are waking up! Oh Dariu, won't you stay and see! They are beautiful."

"Dariu, they'll kill us all. You have to leave, now!"

Eirene's attention left them, and while they'd came from the eastern streets, the monsters howling came from the north. She could hear the people who'd been sitting in the square begin to cry out in fear, she heard the thumping and clanging of their clamouring away, and she could hardly blame them. She wished she could do the same just as quick, but she had to stay and stand with her back to the boats and docks, poised to defend. Iesha had to make it out alive. There was nothing else more important.

---

Aura Qajan ​

 

[Aura Qajan]

Mmm, Iesha hummed, her excitement only growing, my pretties are waking up! Oh Dariu, wont you stay and see! They are beautiful.

Dariu, theyll kill us all. You have to leave, now!

Aura wasn't burdened by too much knowledge. She tucked the names away, but didn't understand what was happening. However, it was clear they were linked to the monsters roaming through the darkness. Her mother was careful to ensure that her daughters who were placed out into the line of danger did not have the full picture to fall into hostile hands.

No one spoke too much of their second eldest daughter who had not come home one morning. It was a reminder that if Aura was captured by a rival house there would probably be an underhand trade to get her back, but she might just end up tortured for information and dumped unceremoniously into a river.

Such thoughts kept her cautious.

Tonight, she was not cautious enough.

She stood sharply at the sound of encroaching monsters, fearing that she would end up surrounded by creatures she could not hope to fight. A pebbled tumbled down towards the bank.

 

[Eirene Akanamar]

"Oh Eirene," Iesha called out in eccentric protest, "why can't you let us have a little..." her voice trailed off. Slowly her head turned to one side just so, and then her chin dipped. Those around her likely could not have heard, even Eirene, Abtati though she was, her ears we clipped and likely sullied in their sharpness. Iesha however was full in her elven acuity, and even the still small sound of a tiny pebble gently crashing against stones on its way down toward the riverbank was enough for her to hear.

"...fun," she finished, turning herself around entirely. Through the dark it was difficult even for her to see with great clarity, but with the sparse light that their torches provided she could make out more than enough of the shapes in the dark.

"It looks like we have some guests."

Eirene, and her hooded companions, all turned to take notice.

---

Aura Qajan ​