Dreadlords The Long Road

[Cenric]

"No." Cenric said almost instantly, wanting to spare Livia that fear at least. "If Gilram was here I think I'd already be dead."

The man hated him, and would hate him only more when he found out Cenric's part in the death of his beloved. He shook his head and turned the card over between his fingers, considering for a moment before he crossed the room and offered it to Livia. "Her name is Viviana."

He explained.

"She was in my class of Initiates." They had hardly been rivals. Cenric had been a nothing compared to her, well, compared to most. But Viviana had been exceptionally dangerous. Well known for slaughtering their classmates out on mission. "She's been working for Gilram for years."

Cenric continued with a frown. "Even before the Revolution."

A frown tugged at his lips.

"I'm not really sure how she managed to find us." A fact which clearly concerned him. "But if she's followed us here, I suspect she doesn't have a better lead than us."

Otherwise why leave the note? Viviana was playing a game, hoping to use them to find the artifact so that she could then take it. A feat she was more than capable of, given her relative strength compared to Cenric's single body and Livia's own gifts. "It would be best to...avoid Viviana. Especially at night. Her magic is one born of darkness."

Cenric explained, not trying to be ominous, but simply factual. The Dark, the Abyss, the blackness of the night was what Viviana made manifest.

 

[Livia Quinnick]

Even with the assurance Gilram was not here, her anxiety did not ease straight away. In fact, she still regarded Cenric with the same hesitation in her eyes as he spoke of his classmate. Eventide was nearing, perhaps only a couple hours of sunlight left. Livia loathed to think they would remain in their quarters all night, if the card she now read knew where to be delivered, then Viviana would come here the first moment shadows stretched the furthest as the sun dipped below the horizon.

"Do you think she knows about me?" She asked, holding out the card to return to Cenric. "About why I am here with you?"

Do they know how valuable she is in this race to find the artifact?

"We should move, perhaps even split up. If she is here alone, we will see who she will seek out first, no?"

 

[Cenric]

"She'll just kill us both." Cenric remarked in a rather droll tone. Clearly somewhat annoyed by the woman's presence here. "At night she can be pretty much anywhere at any time."

That was a bit of an exaggeration, but the bloody woman could step through darkness like it was a fucking doorway. "I doubt she knows who you are, probably just assumes you're one of the Initiate's Amelie recruited."

Cenric said, not realizing the slip of his tongue.

"She won't make her move until we have whatever the artifact is. She's not smart enough to find it herself. This..." He gestured to the card. "...Is just her playing with us."

Viviana always did enjoy the game.

"Which means...we shouldn't have to change our plans." Cenric continued, shrugging.

"You should still scry, narrow the field of view, and I'll still grab that curator." They still had to get the artifact after all. "And while we do that, we figure out how to kill the bitch."

Gods would that be satisfying.

 

[Livia Quinnick]

Something about this bothered Livia. It made her worry for Cenric, to know something of his past was now here and present. That this Viviana could know Cenric well enough that she would easily seek him out like a known presence. The thought of parting ways with him to do their respective tasks did not bode with her now.

She cleared her throat. "Alright..."

Taking her tea cup, Livia gave Cenric a half smile. "Give me an hour."

Scrying seemed easier when she was able to submerge herself below the waterline of her clawed-foot bath. Without the noise of crowds, the feel of her clothing brushing against her skin, or the smells constantly fighting for her attention, in this lukewarm bath, she was at peace and connected with her mind. If it were a larger body of water, Livia would have been weightless.

She could feel her magic settle, the needle of the compass aligning to a neutral position and ready for her to scry. She recalled that feeling, the connection, she had to the artifact she had only glimpsed a few times. Tried her best to capture it's presence once again and watched as behind her eyelids, the vision of Tel'Ketos opened up before her. Her magic tugged her in a direction, calling her down bustling streets, crowded pubs, quiet pockets in homes, until finally, she saw a door made of redwood.

It was ornate, something that seemed not to match the rest of this free city, but nonetheless boasted something that had her intrigued.

But as she took a step forward, the connection severed.

Livia lifted her head, gasping for air loudly as she pulled herself to hang over the side of the bath. The image was seared into her memory, her magic alight with recognition and already directing her towards it. Within minutes, she had dried herself off, had dressed once more, and now left her rooms as she braided her damp hair. "I got a lead."

 

[Cenric]

Though it was always easy to take another body, Cenric had long ago learned there was an even simpler method of gathering information; money.

Spreading around coin to the right people was practically as good as getting someone's diary. People, especially people with routines, were an easy thing to track. If you had the right questions, the right answers almost always presented themselves.

As Livia spent her hour in the bath, Cenric spent the same time in the tavern below.

A few purchased drinks, some pieces of silver slipped into the right hands, and that was that. The Curators name had been an easy enough find, his house even simpler so. By the time Liv came down from her rooms and into the tavern proper, she would find her companion lounging in one of the corner booths.

He motioned with a hand as soon as he saw her. "I've found our curator."

Cenric said as she sat herself down.

"Well, I know where he is at least." They would have to wait until the evening to actually grab him. The museum had too much security.

 

[Livia Quinnick]

Livia gave Cenric an impressed look.

"A lead and a curator." She nodded, taking a seat and finished securing her braid with a length of stretched leather. "Well, suddenly I am gaining confidence in all of this again."

Livia was eager to get going, to do her searching in daylight so she could be sure she was not being watched from the shadows. That paranoia, that worry, it was going to have her magic working actively to alert her of any presence nearby.

"Alright, how much time we got?" She asked, peering around to see if anyone might take an order for a drink. "My lead takes me somewhere to the eastern side. Redwood door, something more cottage style than whatever is here in Tel'Ketos. Cannot see anything beyond that but the artifact has a strong presence behind that door."