Open Chronicles The Only Answer

[Hahnah]

He was an elf named Idreth, and tonight Hahnah would bear terrible witness to his murder.

* * * * *​

Hahnah spent a long time in Alliria, and much of it she did not like. Her trepidation of cities and settlements had not fully abated, even if she had first arrived in the company of a friend. And though Alliria was not a place like the dreaded Vel Anir, a great hive of humans, she found that her general apprehension of Humankind was replaced by something else. Concern. Worry for the good people of Alliria, those elves and dwarves and races whose names she did not even yet know but whose goodness she believed in regardless. They were living in proximity to the profane, the scourge of Arethil, the cruel and sinful Humankind and their legion of beating hearts caging untold evil. They were all in danger, those with good in their hearts, whether they knew so or not.

Speaking with Idreth however, when she met him one quiet night, was time that she did enjoy in Alliria. He was an elf of some five hundred years. At the noon of his life. He lived close to the Shallows of Alliria, on the edge of the Outer City. He suffered from insomnia, as Hahnah had come to find out, which was why he was up that fateful night sitting outside of his small home. He had seen her going by, saw her ears of half-elven length, and called to her. They spoke. And they had spoken many a night following.

Idreth, other than his insomnia, seemed a man at peace with the world. He was always smiling softly, eyes relaxed. He was something of a baker, and made bread and pastries and small cakes which they ate while they talked through hours of the Allirian nights. Though Hahnah refused his invitation to sleep in the guest room (she had no accommodations herself), she had come to trust him.

Idreth had many stories from his years, and none more fascinating to Hahnah than of his time with "the Fellowship," so he called them. Perhaps they had no true name. But they were elves of Falwood all, and they did what Hahnah considered an insurmountable good in the world: slaying humans. Specifically those of Vel Anir. They were a response to the encroachment of the Anirians into Falwood throughout the years, and Idreth had been one of them.

Until he quit.

It baffled Hahnah. Why would he do such a thing? He was a full-blooded elf doing the most noble thing one could do upon Arethil: cleansing it of the profane. And so she had asked him about it.

And Idreth had let out a deep sigh. Said, "I do not think...that a long life, in and of itself, is a blessing. You see all that changes, but, more importantly I do believe, what stays the same."

"I still do not understand."

He lifted a hand for patience. "The years ground me down, Hahnah. I thought I was one of the lucky ones, one of they who still lived and could still fight for the sake of the Falwood. I even had the hubris to think that, with my elven lifespan, I'd live to see the victory we so sought. A Falwood for all Elvenkind, and sanctuary from all else."

"That is a good victory. Peace would come with it."

Idreth just shook his head. "And that's what I thought. Something like, 'if only I can kill enough humans, then the war will be over. Then I won't need to ever again. Then everything will be better.'" Another round of shakes of his head. "That never came. It never even felt close, when I finally did step back and took a good look at it. A hundred years had gone by, two hundred. I stood on a mountain of human corpses and for what? Where was that peace I had promised myself? If anything it seemed farther than ever, like I'd spent all those years falling away from it."

"It will come," Hahnah said, earnestly. And in this her belief was (crumbling) steadfast.

Idreth looked at her with one of his warm, genuine smiles. "Don't you see it, though, Hahnah? Don't you see that I have it now? It was ready for me to claim the whole time. All I needed to do was put down my sword and embrace it. I still have my nightmares, my sorrows, and my Fellows likely think me a coward or lacking of spirit, but...it's over, Hahnah. The war is over. I ended it. What I had thought before...it wasn't the only answer."

* * * * *​

And this night, Hahnah was again walking down the sloping road to Idreth's home between the Shallows and the Outer City. The moonlight was bright in the clear black of the night sky, a marching of stars in the slow cadence across that dark canvas. Only sparse torchlights outside and candlelights and hearthlights from inside homes, through windows, interrupted that silver streak with splashes of orange that formed small island shapes and cast deeper shadows.

Idreth was not sitting in his chair in front of his home when Hahnah arrived. She stood staring at the empty seat for a moment.

When she heard a slight noise from behind his house. Some words. Not spoken in Common. Spoken in Elvish. A voice she did not know.

Hahnah, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end, approached along the side of Idreth's house quietly. Eventually she came to the back corner. Behind Idreth's house and others along the row was what was called the "Slush alley," where the contents of many chamberpots were often thrown and washed away eventually down to the waters of the Alliran Strait.

In the Slush alley. Idreth. Down on his knees with his hands behind his back and his beaten face bowed. Five men, tall and lithe, in dark clothes--cloaks, shawls, hoods, masks that covered all but their eyes. They had vests of gear. Masterwork weapons. An intense air about them. One, behind Idreth, had his hood down. Pointed ears. He was an elf. They were all elves.

"We take care of our own," said the unhooded one in Elvish.

Then he raised his hand and the wings of a wrist-mounted crossbow snapped out from his sleeve and he pulled the thumb trigger and shot Idreth in the back of the head. The miniature bolt was buried to the fletching in the bone of his skull. And Idreth keeled forward. Collapsed without ceremony in the grime of the alley.

Hahnah gasped. Clasping her hands over her mouth. Utterly shocked.

And they all saw her.

 

[XoChitl]

Hahnah

Coin. That’s what XoChilt was here for. The head of some elf. However, by the time the Raev had manage to slink her way behind Slush alley, more than a handful had gathered under the darkness and had dragged the old knife ear out onto the piss and shit stained corridor.

Hiding up along the roof of a nearby home, XoChilt kept herself low, her large lightly furred ears giving a twitch at the sounds of bone hitting flesh.

Oh, they’d done a number on him. Beat him black and blue. Eyes swollen shut and blood dribbling and splattered out with tears and spit. Distaste would curl the Raev’s upper lip; a bit too handsy for her taste but a bounty be a bounty.

She’d been half considering how to perhaps manage to somehow patchwork together when they decided to just up and bolt his head.

That’s when all of them heard it, the gasp. Keeping low, Xo’s right ear gave another twitch and her large yellow eyes immediately searched the dark.

A girl? Blonde hair, young. While her night vision allowed Xo enhanced eyesight, she did not need that to register the shock in that sudden gasp. Nope, she wasn’t here for the bounty. Not that there was enough time to spare any more thoughts; the one who shot the bolt Idreth gave a garbled order, “Git her!”

Immediately, those dark shadows went lunging after Hahnah.

 

[Tera Lynx]

Tera had a tough day... And a tough evening as well.
She plied her trade as a doctor, a physician that didn't use magic to treat her patients. Magical healing was expensive to receive let alone learn, so Tera had applied herself to the mastery of medical science and found herself in very high demand. Those of the middle class and lower could rarely afford the high fees of magical healers, but her fees were just right up their alley, even a few of the upper class who were more prudent with their coin sought out her expertise.

After she had spent the day tending to the sick in the Inner City she had to make her way to the Outer City to make house calls, and then to the slums for her more charitable work.
It was a full day of tending the sick and feeble with "modern" medicine and she was beat.
She looked forward to her soft bed back at the inn where she stayed and a warm meal as reward for a good days work, perhaps she'd even buy herself a mead just as a little bonus!

She was daydreaming about a quiet evening when she found herself walking through one of the filth alleys... And stopped when she noticed a group of elves standing over a beaten corpse that she couldn't make out in the lengthening shadows. Their backs were to her, except for one, another elf, female, obviously not with this group of hooded men. Their attention was on the rather shocked looking elf so they didn't immediately notice the rather shocked looking human behind them!

Tera quickly assessed the situation when the supposed killers began advancing on the woman. Tera was used to life or death situations, even when a patients heart had stopped she could remain calm and do what needed to be done. Now was a different situation, but she felt the same calm.

Thrusting her hand into her medical satchel her fingers instinctively found the bottle of Ether. She covered her mouth with her medical mask to keep from breathing the fumes before popping the cork and tossing the bottle in the midst of the five elves, the bottle smashed (Which she'd regret later) and the highly potent fumes immediately threw the killers off guard. The Ether is a highly volatile anesthesia, in the open air with this dose it likely would knock a few out at worst, or cause violent hallucinations at best for them.

Immediately Tera ran past the surprised elves and took hold of the lady elf's hand... No, a half elf? Either way now was the time for running, not questions.
"The Ether won't stop them for long, we shouldn't be here when they come around!"

 

[Kyla Scathach]

A woman sat at a bar. In the shallows this was no new occurrence. Many women sat at this same bar. Ordered the same drink. Even drank from the same mug she sipped from now.

“Can’t say I’ve seen her. If something turns up I’ll let you know.” The barkeep said to the woman.

She nodded slowly and paid her tab before taking her leave.

“Watch your step around here. Not good to be out and about around this time. From the slush alley to here is gang territory.” He told her. “I know.” Was the calm cold reply that greeted his warning as the door shut behind her. Her two handed claymore clinked behind her as she walked the quiet streets. No one disturbed her.

Any thugs simply took one look at her hate filled eyes and turned back around to slink into whatever hole they crawled out of. She had been staying with Idreth for the past couple of days. She had heard word her sister was here and had come looking.
Bum lead..Waste of time..
Heike was off on her own mission.

Kyla had hers.

Kyla had told her she would send word when she found her thinking the trail would be easy to follow. Her sister would be found in a few days at least.It had been two months.

Gunhild was moving in strange ways. Going to strange places. The demon must be leading her. It ate Kyla up inside thinking about it. She wasn’t the only one looking for Ferelith either.

Their middle sister Brynnhild and her ilk were looking for her as well. Considering her resources and Kyla’s lack of any..She had a feeling her other sister was having better luck than herself.

So she had asked an old client if she could stay with him in the guest house while she searched for leads. Idreth had been a lot like her. They had met when both had been consumed with their own personal wars of vengeance, and for that they had needed weapons. Kyla had sold them to him and his group.

Seeing herself as no more human than a sword or shield or any other man made tool for war. Kyla and her gang had been no different. Tools for war cast aside. They felt no more connection to humanity than any other race. The wolves had lost the right to that long ago in their own ways. They had no issue with Idreths crusade and he in turn understood their plight and had no objection to their human appearance.

The relationship was beneficial until he left.

Quit.

Lost the stomach for it.

At the time Kyla had thought him a soft fool. A coward giving up on his dream. Now that Kyla herself had let go.

Tried to move on.

Started a family..

Helped people..

She saw how foolish she had been. He had always been right. Stupid knife ear maybe some were indeed wiser than she gave them credit for.

As she drew closer to the house. Maybe she could bribe him for a late night scone and tea leveraging some of her old togey pipe leaf.

She looked up to greet him as he would be sitting in his chair in front like always. When she looked up however..

He..

Wasn’t?

Her mind was automatically firing on all cylinders. What had happened?! She rushed forward. Her arcane magic causing her red tattoo to glow as she launched through the door cracking the solid oak and throwing it from its hinges.

“Idreth!?” She called. Her mind racing.

Signs of struggle were everywhere. Whoever had caught him had found he was not an easy man to sneak up on...It was the blood that scared her. Who’s ever it was had taken quite the beating.

Words spoken..

Behind the house?

“The ether won’t-.” Kyla didn’t hear the rest. Sinking into a lunging stance she launched herself into the back wall. And through it. She spotted them two running from a group. Whatever happened she needed answers. Right. Now.

The others were incapacitated by the ether. She even got a good bit herself even standing close. She ran after the fleeing twosome.

“Stop!” She barked forcefully. Easily catching up and attempting to tackle the slowest of the two. If successful they would tumble for a moment before Kyla would attempt to come out on top.

Knife drawn instantly. “Don’t move or your friend will take this blade through her eye socket! I swear it on the tomb of the dying god. Do not test me!” She

“What happened? Where’s Idreth. The elf that lived here! Where!?” She snarled. The red wolf was angered.

“Answer me!”

The pain in her voice spoke of loss. A good person felled before they could fully enjoy the peace they had found.

It wasn’t fair.. She would make those responsible pay dearly. Starting with these two after she decided their possible part in this.

 

[Risa]

Having scavenged around the lands of Illiria and having found nothing the young girl now set her sights on the city itself. She went through garbage bin after garbage bin, it was already late afternoon. Despite having nothing Risa did not like rummaging through garbage, eventually she decided to do the one thing she disliked even more: Asking for food from tavern owners.

Risa passed through a dark alleyway to get to the first tavern she knew where to find. Slowly opening the door she peeked inside, she saw the usual patrons. Then she saw a woman with red hair she hadn't seen before, she decided to enter. Imediatly the people near the entrance fell silent and gave the young girl a foul scowl, she was used to it by now. The feline made her way to the bar, her eyes fixated on the woman with red hair when she suddenly was jerked back by her arm.

"Leave! You're giving our tavern a bad name by coming here all the time! Go beg somewhere else!"

The waiter yelled at Risa as he dragged her towards the door, threw her out none to lightly and slammed the door. Taking her time soaking up the pain the girl stared at the door for a moment and stood up. Her sharp ears could hear all the chatter going on in the tavern, it seemed like she hadn't influenced the atmosphere at all. Wondering if she should go back in again she started reaching for the doorknob when she heard someone approaching the door, quickly she hid herself in the alleyway next to the tavern.

She saw the woman with red hair leave the tavern and decided to follow her, perhaps she could get some food if she stayed with this woman.
She followed her constantly staying in the shadows so she was not to be noticed untill they reached a house she was all too familiar with.

"Here? Why would she go visit this crazy old man?"

Risa looked around and noticed some other people, a half elf with blonde hair, a woman in a cloak who seemed to have feline tendencies, a woman in a robe with dark hair and of course the woman she had followed here.
She then noticed a person who had been kneeling falling over with two dark figures standing in the shadows behind him. She heard the gasp and noticed the confusion going on, people were running, shouting and some were even trying to capture the shadow figures.

Out of pure instinct Risa followed the half elf who was now being dragged along by the woman in the robe. Risa made sure to stay at a small distance. Perhaps if she could help them in some way they might give her something to eat, it had been 2 days since her last meal.

Hahnah Kyla Scathach Tera Lynx XoChitl

 

[Tera Lynx]

As they were trying to make their escape Tera yelped and ducked to the side when the red haired woman broke through the wall of the house beside them, momentarily in shock that someone could do such a thing with ease she shook herself and started running again.
Not heeding the command to stop and only focusing on running they ran a short ways through the alley. Tera could see the street at the end of the alley when, as the slower of the two, she was expertly tackled from behind by the red haired woman.

Tera went down hard, she attempted a brief struggle to escape till she heard the rasp of a knife being drawn. Like a surprised sheep she froze, not daring to move lest she find that knife exactly where the red haired woman promised it would be.

“Don’t move or your friend will take this blade through her eye socket! I swear it on the tomb of the dying god. Do not test me!”

Tera desperately hoped that the half elf she just tried to rescue wouldn't say, "I don't know her!" and kept running... That would be a sad way to go out.

“What happened? Where’s Idreth. The elf that lived here! Where!?”

“Answer me!”

Tera blinked, "T-the elf?" She must be referring to the unfortunate elf laying dead surrounded by some other elves groggily trying to collect themselves. Still trying not to make any sudden movements and quietly praying that she didn't pee herself out of terror she pointed back down the alley, "Murdered... we need to run!"

 

[Hahnah]

Aderyn did not take any pleasure in killing an old comrade. But kill Idreth he did. Taking care of their own, indeed.

Idreth was something of a legend within the Fellowship, and even outside of it. Perhaps some might argue about using so strong a word as "legend" to describe him, but Idreth's deeds and devotion were nevertheless renowned. He'd names bestowed upon him through his years of service: the Beating Heart of Falwood, the Spear of Fal'Addas. And it was dreadful to see him now, dead, in a city as detestable as Alliria and a locale as wretched as the Slush alley. It was not the manner in which an elf like Idreth should have his death, but it was necessary.

Idreth's legacy would live on, if all went according to plan. It was known, unfortunately, that Idreth had "retired." It was less known that he had found his new home in Alliria. And it would be known that he was murdered by vengeful Anirians--Aderyn and his elves would see to it. A final service, one could say. Idreth's death would serve as a casus belli to inflame the passions of the Falwood, to perhaps pounce on Vel Anir and make significant gains while the human stronghold suffered its own internal strife.

But the crafted lie needed to be maintained.

So the gasping half-elf, Hahnah, whom Aderyn and the other four Fellows noticed, would need to be silenced. And that, too, was a shame.

And it was then that he and his Fellows were taken by surprise by the thrown Ether.

* * * * *​

Hahnah saw in her terribly alert vision the bottle being thrown and its shattering. The vapors. The four masked elves recoiled immediately, their training superb and their reflexes keen. The unmasked one, Aderyn, coughed harshly as he could not avoid inhaling a small dose of the ether. He stumbled back. The four masked elves shot their left arms up toward the rooftops and concealed grappling hooks fired, lines of twined mithril brimming with an enchantment of wind attaching and then yanking the elves up and away to the roofs and out of sight. Aderyn, his movements lagging behind the speed of his Fellows, nevertheless fired his grappling hook as well and disappeared in a less graceful manner into the defilade of the rooftops. None of their number had yet spotted XoChitl.

Hahnah, on the ground and still reeling in shock at what she had witnessed, did not know and did not register where the cloaked and masked elves had gone. Her fragmented awareness knew of Tera, a human perhaps; knew that the same had taken hold of her hand and that they were running; knew from a fleeting glimpse that there was also a small one--a child--with animalistic ears somewhere vaguely behind her.

And then knew of the entrance of another. A tall red-haired woman, also a human. It did not register that Kyla had come bursting through the wall of Idreth's home. One moment Tera was up. The next, she was down, Kyla on top of her, a knife out. But Hahnah was still living several moments ago, still seeing the bolt plunge into Idreth's head. An elf...killing another elf...in a manner that was profuse with sin. She did not understand. She did not understand.

Kyla was saying don't move. Hahnah was not even looking at her or Tera. Through them, perhaps, in a gaze that stretched to some deep subterranean horizon. A hollow voice that hardly sounded like her own. A statement of her own horrified disbelief rather than a direct answer for Kyla. "They killed him..."

And it shortly after this that her strained and narrowed awareness allowed her to be cognizant of what else Kyla had said. Tomb of the Dying God. Hahnah's eyes came back into focus. And they settled on Kyla, bemused and intrigued, this like an abrupt and brief interruption to her shock.

Tera pleaded for them to run. Risa was still close behind. And somewhere, unseen atop the roofs, the agents of the Fellowship were inevitably moving into position. For the ultimate good of all Elvenkind, they needed to silence all who had witnessed Idreth's death. And in this they would stop at nothing.

Risa Tera Lynx Kyla Scathach XoChitl

 

[Kyla Scathach]

Kyla’s eyes narrowed. “Murdered..” She seemed to accept this. It made sense. He had always run with a rough crowd. She understood all too well.

“Go.” Was all she said picking up the woman by her shoulders easily and shoving her away. The half elf was barely her concern. These elves would never take in a half breed. Kyla turned on the group just in time for a shadow to lunge into her. It was her turn to be tackled but the elf regretted his action in an instant as Kyla wrapped him in an bear hug and crushed his rib cage.

She dropped the gurgling corpse as almost a challenge to the others. “Which ones next.” She spat finally taking a moment to draw her sword. She swung the hefty two handed blade with only one.

Were there always that many of them?

 

[Nycto]

Hahnah Kyla Scathach Tera Lynx Risa XoChitl

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Nycto appeared. He seemed to emerge from the shadows, and that he did indeed. Night time was his domain. He was stronger at night, anyway. Nycto wore his all-black, long clothing, with his black gloves and boots. The mask sat on his face, the cold, dead eye holes seemingly reflected the darkness. His silver hair was the only identifiable thing on his body, everything else was hidden by his long clothing, and his mask. No skin or anything showed on him.

Nycto had been in the area because he had been coming to ask Idreth some questions about... something, and because as far as he could remember, he used to live in Alliria before the experments. At least, that's what he thought and remembered, but those memories could be false. He couldn't even trust his own brain.

He knew Idreth from after the experiments, since afterwards, he wasn't Human anymore. Again, he thought he was Human before the experiments, but his memory was extremely fuzzy and disorganized. Idreth had accepted him because even if he had been Human, Nyct definitely wasn't a Human anymore. So, they had gotten along pretty well, but Idreth always had that little hint of doubt for Nyct, but if it was because of what he was in the past, or what he was now, Nycto had no idea. But he had always mildly accepted Nycto.

But now... now he was dead.

And Nycto had lost one of the few people that perhaps understood him best.

Nyct might constantly be in pain and agony, but this... this was a new blow.

Nycto stepped forward, towards the group that was being chased. It comprised of a half-elf, two humans, and a feline looking girl hanging further back from them. They all seemed to know Idreth in some way or another. One of the Humans were taking on the incoming attackers. Nycto knew the type of crowd that Idreth had hung around in the past. These people hated humans, and would no doubt hate the half-elf too. They would stop at nothing to eliminate all witnesses. Thankfully, the red-haired woman seemed to be putting up a decent fight, already killing one of the attacking elves. Bad news was, Nycto could hear more elven agents on the roofs of the buildings, coming towards them, thanks to his enhanced senses.

Nycto clenched his fist. Now they'd done it. Suddenly, he disappeared back into the shadows, just as suddenly as he came, seemingly completely vanishing.

But then, he appeared behind the pursuing elves in the alleyway, using the shadows to move once again. He pulled out a knife, and expertly stabbed it upward through the back of one of the elves' skull, piercing through the soft part, straight through to his brain. The elf collapsed, dead. Then, he lunged at another. This time, he didn't even use any weapons. He pulled off his gloves, showing that he didn't even have any skin, his skin seemed to be replaced by pure darkness, of shadows. Suddenly, his hands changed shape into sharp, claw-like hands. Then, he was on one of the elves. He used his claw hands to rip through the elf, shredding him apart in a massive display of blood, a ripping sound could be heard as he tore through one of them. Then, as the shredded pieces of the elf hit the ground, his hands returned back to normal, and the gloves were back on. Once again, he disappeared into the darkness, and reappeared next to the group being chased. Suddenly, Nycto summoned a large, pitch black void, seemingly drawing upon the shadows. The void lay over the group of elves chasing them. The elves within the void would be cast into pitch black, unable to see at all, and lose their sense of direction.

He turned to the humans, the half-elf, and the feline girl. "We need to leave, I can hear more on the way." He told them.

At least today was going to be fun.

 

[Hahnah]

Spoiler: OOC

Bump for activity. I'm still interested in this if anyone else is. A super strict turn order might not be so good for this many participants--I'm okay with something slightly more loose to prevent the death of the thread. I could also post again to get things going once more, if need be.

Nycto Kyla Scathach Risa Tera Lynx XoChitl

 

[XoChitl]

Spoiler

Hahnah

I am still super interested! Just got crazy busy with work this week. I'll post tonight!

 

[Kyla Scathach]

She watched as a wraith of a creature began to dismantle the attacking force impassively. She was no stranger to ferocity and brutality. She often commutes both with her bare hands frequently. So she stood her own ground. Ready for it to come for her as well if it inclined itself. However it seemed the masked beings actions were to protect them. Despite this she eyes the masked being callously. Her eyes still hard with vengeful anger.

“I’m not here to run.” Kyla said simply. She didn’t know if the others listened and in all honesty she didn’t care.

They were none of her concern.

She had seen powers like this before.

One didn’t employ themselves to mages and mercenaries of all kinds and not find the dark side of the arts they practiced. He did not frighten her nor did he give her any reason to heed his warnings. If more came that would suit her needs just fine. “I came here for the help and company of an old friend. I would be with him now wether they come or not.” She said walking towards the house. An old rusty shovel sat leaned against the back wall she had just burst from. He had used it for light gardening.

“He was there for me when I needed him most. I would do the same.” She finished as she simply plucked the shovel from its place and walked over to his body.

“You always hated the muck out here. Let’s get you out of it..” She said with a sigh. Her tone and body language seemed to show she was simply talking to a friend that was sleeping. Never for a second betraying the true sadness that entered her heart seeing him lying there.

Pulling him from the slurry she laid him gently on the ground and began to dig. Shadows already seeming to converge around the area.

More were indeed coming.

Kyla’s Strength allowed a hole to be dug quickly. She was covering the man before the first shadow landed behind her. She patted down the dirt ignoring them even as they came to attack.

A quick swing of the shovel and a crunch of the elf’s skull was all the warning the others needed. She was well aware of their presence. “I don’t have all night.” She spat.

“So if you want to start coming two at a time it would save us a lot of grandstanding and the dogs will get to feast on your collective meat bags far quicker.” Four came at her then. Swinging her sword and shovel she battered them away, but not before a few attacks landed. She sank to her knees as the attackers fell back for a moment. A slash across her stomach causing the most problems. She gasped for air trying to hold in her guts. “You..Could have left him be. He was no threat..” She wheezed as one of the assailants stepped forward to finish her.

“Physically? No.” He answered. “But the example would do more damage to our cause than any rebellion, or drawn blade.” The man drew a short sword readying to cut off the kneeling woman’s head.

“We don’t leave our fellowship anymore than someone leaves a family. They never truly do until they die.” The sword came up. “But you can rest easy now eh? Consider his debt repaid.” He said with a mirthless chuckle. the sword came down. “Damnit.” He cursed as the sword only sank halfway into her neck. The woman was clearly dead, but the embarrassment was felt by the eyes of his peers upon him. “First beheading there Jonah?” One piped up as he hastily began to try to pull the sword away. Looking about for the offender. The sword remained motionless as he continued his effort.

“It must be.” A raspy voice agreed as the atmosphere died like a candle being snuffed by a night breeze. The man looked at the reason the sword was so hard to pull free. The woman’s hand resting on top of the blade holding it in place. She stood shaking his hand from the handle. Her claymore moved like lightening incarnate as it separated his head from his body so cleanly the cut took a moment to appear. “That’s how you behead someone.” She said simply. Yanking the short sword free and standing. Her wounds healed, and she only looked angrier.

 

[Nycto]

Spoiler: OOC

Bump for activity. I'm still interested in this if anyone else is. A super strict turn order might not be so good for this many participants--I'm okay with something slightly more loose to prevent the death of the thread. I could also post again to get things going once more, if need be.

Nycto Kyla Scathach Risa Tera Lynx XoChitl

Spoiler: Spoiler

Yeah I'm still interested, just waiting for everyone else to post.

 

[Hahnah]

What Hahnah saw was horrifying to behold.

On a foundational level, she still refused to believe what the elves of the Fellowship had done. That they had killed Idreth. Within her narrow worldview it did not make sense, and a terrible fracturing between what she "knew" to be true by virtue of long-held belief and what she had witnessed divided her mind. Elves were a people who did not carry the profanity of sin. But these ones had killed Idreth. But elves were good people. But they killed him. They were good. They killed them. And it was this clinging to her rigid view of the world that won out, for it had the weight of years behind it, empowering it.

Thus, the horror when she saw Kyla--a human--squeeze the elf who leaped at her so hard and with an unnatural strength that Hahnah could hear his bones snapping.

Thus, the horror when she saw in fleeting glimpses Nycto--a human, or human-like thing--butcher the elves on the rooftop.

Because they, the elves, were good people. And they were being killed by the profane, the sinful, the scourge of Arethil: Humankind.

Hahnah backed away when Nycto spoke and Kyla replied. Backed away until she was pressed up against the side of Idreth's small home (what remained of the side wall). Her palms were flat against, and though she needed her hands to summon her sorcery to defend herself, she couldn't tear her palms from the wood. And what if she did defend herself? She already knew from her forays into settlements that violence within them prompted the response of armored men--guards. These guards would care not for her account. They would be human, and she was an elf (if only half, and that half only stolen from Zael). She would not be able to kill all of them. They were as much of a threat as the red-haired woman and the masked magic-user, despite the former walking away--back into the Slush alley--to do something.

And so her shock at Idreth's death, horror at seeing the other elves slaughtered, and terror that she would be targeted next combined dreadfully to keep her locked in place.

"Stay away from me," was all that she could manage to say.

Kyla Scathach Nycto Tera Lynx XoChitl Risa

 

[Tera Lynx]

The lady picked her up like she was nothing, another enhanced soldier type that Tera was familiar with by now.
Tera breathed a sigh of relief that she wasn't about to die, but then screamed when an assassin appeared out of nowhere tackling the lady, but he died about as quickly as he appeared.

Tera tried to calm down enough to get her wits about her enough to run... But when the shadows detached from themselves and started fighting assassins Tera just about lost it, she screamed again and with the last of her wits she clapped a hand over her own mouth, grabbed at the half-elf, turned and ran out of the alley feeling a distinct trickle running down her leg. This was turning out to be quite the horrific night.

She ran around the corner and out of the alley, whether the half-elf was with her or not. This wasn't her scene and she didn't know how much more she could take.
So it came as a mercy that she was unconscious before she even hit the ground when an assassin flew out of the shadows kicking her in the temple and sending her to the ground like a limp rope.

 

[XoChitl]

Hahnah Tera Lynx Nycto Kyla Scathach

There was so much commotion. The Raev's large, furred ears gave additional twitches, picking up on the sound of feet bounding over the nearby roofs. Three beings. Perhaps part of the assassins from earlier?

Crouching low, the Raev would give a silent curse. With these angled roofs, there were precious little places to hide. Glancing down, where the gutted body of Idreth lay, Xo made some quick decisions. Perhaps if she could somehow may her way down now that everyone else was distracted?

Well, at least that had been the plan. Bounding silently closer, one of the elves came near. Picking up on the tang of a sword being drawn, Xochilt's fingers came up. Three glowing magenta feathers manifested in between her knuckles. Sharp as knives, the Raev let them fly, aiming towards the closest elf near her. They struck, two at his chest and one at his throat. As he fell, Xo went scooting forward, attempting to catch him lest his fall would make a sound.

 

[Nycto]

Hahnah XoChitl Tera Lynx Kyla Scathach Risa

Nycto looked at the red-haired woman as she spoke to him.

“I came here for the help and company of an old friend. I would be with him now wether they come or not.”

Nycto stared at her for a second, mildly surprised. "You too, huh?" He said to her. "Me too. The old geezer was probably one of my closest confidants, and now... he's gone." He continued, clenching his gloved hand into a fist, before opening it again.

He watched as the woman walked over to a shovel and picked it up. He understood what she wanted to do.

“He was there for me when I needed him most. I would do the same.”

Nycto nodded. He understood how the woman felt, because he was in the exact same situation. In fact, the others probably felt the same way. They all had a debt that now needed to be paid, even if the person they were paying it too was now deceased.

As she walked past him back into the alley, Nycto grabbed her arm with his right hand, the glove gripping her. He looked directly into her eyes, his mask peering at her. "Just... give him a proper burial, would ya? And don't die, Idreth would kill me if I let one of his friends get hurt." He told her. Then, he let go of her, letting her walk into the alley.

Then, he turned back to the others. The human woman that Nycto recognized and the half-elf woman were both seemingly having panic attacks, and were in extreme panic. The half-elf seemed horrified both at the death of Idreth, and at what Nycto and the red-haired woman had done. She seemed to be another friend of Idreth. The half-elf's body language was... spiteful, full of anger and hate. At what? She seemed to be angry at everything. The assassins, the death of Idreth, the appearance of Nycto and the red-haired woman killing the assassins, and even seemed angry at the buildings and civilization around them. Strange, could she be one of those human-hating types Idreth had told him about? Nycto had met plenty of those types, but this girl was on another level entirely.

"Stay away from me,"

Nycto sighed at the elf girl's response. He held up his hands, to try and show he wasn't going to hurt them. "I know you're hurting and terrified right now, but you need to listen to me. You can trust me. I was a friend of Idreth. He told me about you and your type. I know you hate humans. But listen to me, I'm not a human." He told her, trying to assure her. "I'm a friend of Idreth, and right now, I am certain that he would want me to protect his friends." Further down the alley, he saw the red hair girl take a sword to the neck, but managed to pull the sword out of her neck, and instantly behead the person that tried to kill her, her wounds healing. Damn, Nycto respected that. She was tough, Nyct gave her that.

Nycto turned back to the two, and recognized the human woman. She was a doctor, he had met her before. Her name was... Tera or something like that. It definitely started with a T. Anyway, she was absolutely terrified, giving a loud scream, and ran out of the alleyway, running around the corner, pulling the half-elf lady in tow. Damn it, he would have to follow them. He looked back at the red-haired woman, and decided that she could hold her own in a fight. She seemed tough, and like she could take on her attackers.

Nycto chased after the two, slipping back into the shadows, becoming one with the dark again, and his physical body disappeared. As he moved through the shadows, he saw Tera get ambushed by an assassin, and got kicked in the temple, falling to the ground, unconscious. He watched as the assassin raised a blade, preparing to strike downward and kill the woman.

Nycto jumped out of the shadows, his physical body reappearing, and pulled out his knife. The assassin swung his sword downward towards the unconscious woman. Nycto jumped directly between the assassin and Tera, and brought his knife upwards to block. The two blades clashed together. Nycto's knife got pushed back a little by the force of the blow, but he managed to stop the sword. The assassin looked at him in amazement, then scowled.

"Haven't you heard that it's rude to injure a lady? Where are your manners?" Nycto asked the assassin, tilting his head, grinning beneath his mask. He pushed the assassin off, sending him backing up. Nycto stood up, and the assassin took a ready position. This guy was definitely skilled. Nyct gathered the surrounding darkness together, and used it to cover Tera. It would protect her from sight and physical attacks.

Nyct then lunged at the assassin, the sword and knife clashing against each other, dueling it out.

 

[Hahnah]

Hahnah saw the raising of Nycto's hands. Heard what he was saying, but his words washed over her to little effect, much like the tide of the sea splashing around a firm rock. Her fright had not relinquished its grip. Nycto was human--he would be human--just beneath that mask, she knew it. He was a killer of elves, and he would kill her too because that was the command of the sin he held in his heart. To this narrative she clutched, whether or not it was true. The shock and immediacy of the moment had boiled away all but the deepest and most fundamental parts of her being.

Tera grabbed Hahnah's hand, and this was like a shattering of the ice that had kept her locked in place. She ran along with Tera. Not thinking. Just in the motion. She knew that Tera was a human, but Tera had not killed any elves that Hahnah had seen--an unspoken, instinctual decision had therefore been made.

They didn't get far.

Back on the down-sloping street that had brought Hahnah to Idreth's home, Tera went down. Kicked in the head. Hahnah's first thought was that it was the red-haired woman, the one who had spoken of the tomb of the Dying God. But this was wrong--it was not. In the blink of an eye that masked human--Nycto--had again appeared from the long shadows and he engaged the assassin.

Hahnah took a few steps backward, thoughts racing. She thought to perhaps defend the assassin, to help him kill Nycto, but she could not see if the assassin was an elf--likely, but she had not seen. But then that terrible fracturing, the split in her mind between what she believed and what she had witnessed. It stifled her from taking action.

She looked down to Tera. Said, "I am sorry. I am sorry." She knew not why she was apologizing. Yet the words came all the same.

Then Hahnah turned.

Ran up the street.

And only got two steps before a handbolt from one of the Fellowship's wrist-mounted crossbows streaked by her. She stopped. Gasped. She glanced around in the dark street at the enshadowed homes and buildings and could not see her assailant.

In a harried desperation that reached down to many levels, Hahnah spread her arms in a beseeching manner and called out, "I am not your enemy! I love all of Elvenkind! Elves are one of the good people of Arethil! They are good! You are g--!"

A handbolt slammed into Hahnah's chest, just beneath the bone of her sternum. The impact forced her to stagger backward, knocked the strength from her legs, and caused her to fall back. Down on her rear end, propped up weakly by her arms.

Hollow were her eyes, save for horror at what just happened.

Nycto Tera Lynx Kyla Scathach XoChitl Risa

 

[Kyla Scathach]

“If you want to keep that thing attached...” Kyla said glancing at the hand and slowly pulling from her arm. “You’d keep it to yourself.“ Her narrowed eyes showed she trusted him about as much as the assailants but the fact he had helped had earned him not being instantly set upon not her trust.

“Seems they stopped coming for now.” Kyla said with a sniff. Sheathing her sword and casting aside the shovel she sat next to the mans grave.

“Nice night.” She said glancing about. Flicking some fragment of bone out of her hair and pulling a crossbow bolt from her shoulder.

She was covered in blood and viscera .

The man she beheaded’s head actually rolled past her down into the sludge.

“Well for what it is at any rate...” She conceded. “You liked these..Always some drivel about “beauty in darkness..” I hated it.” She said with a sad smile.

“Now I really wish I had listened...Because I’m beginning to think you were right..” She drifted off. “At least I hope you were..” She finished taking a few more moments.

“Rest old friend.” Was all she said patting the earth once more and standing with a groan. Ferelith wasn’t here and that was all that mattered. She needed to get a move on dead friend or no. In her line of work she was used to losing people. The older her friends seemed to get the more they seemed to die in fact.

Kyla wouldn’t know.

She had stayed about 20 for many years at this point.

She wasn’t sure she was immortal. She had seen plenty of her kind killed..but it had simply gotten harder and harder to deal with until one day it just stopped. The pain vanished.

She had been made a husk.

The darkest times of her life came after. It was then she noticed she was alone.

Everyone was gone.

She sniffed the air. Risa’s scent met her nostrils along with another’s...Almost everyone.

“I know you followed me from the bar young one. Come out and get some food.” She said to the darkness knowing the girl was near. “And for the one on the roof..” She scooped up a stone and fired it like a streak of lightening. Striking the corpse she was holding up in the head and obliterating it to and explosion chunks. “That was with a rock.” She growled.

“If your with these people I’d suggest running along. If not then come in too I guess..” She sighed. Her face held no anger despite her livid tone. She held a pain in her chest that emotion couldn’t express.

Her eyes held the tiredness of someone carrying a burden they had never been able to bear to begin with.

This stop on the road was another grain of sand on the heap she carried on her shoulders. “You fight and kill. You rip and tear. Yet what do you have now?” Her sisters words crept into her brain. “Friends? Riches? Peace?..Love?” Kyla remained silent much as she had then. “Or just a growing pile of bodies to bury you.” Her continued silence had spoken volumes then much as it did now.

“You hate me. You blame Gunhild.” She said matter of factly. “When we learned it from you.” She spat. “You think yourself better for abandoning your old self. Yet the pile grows.” She let it sink in.

”Embrace who you are Kyla. We are all weapons. Tools. Watching you loath yourself and those around you for killing..” Brynnhildr had struggled for a moment.
“It’s like watching a hammer hating driving nails and mourning all of the nails it’s driven. You can’t leave no more than that hammer can leave a forge. Regardless of its feelings.”

Kyla blinked the unwanted memory away as she began to walk into the house regardless of her invitation or warning was heeded. She didn’t care. She had things to do now, and if more assassins came..

They would neither be the first nor the last and there was still plenty of room for bodies outside. A new more welcome memory jogged in her brain as she entered the home. Before her invitation could be made good on she had something she needed to check.

Irideth had always kept a book. It was always hidden but once she had caught him looking at it on one of her visits. The title was written in elvish but she knew enough to know it was about something dead or dying.

He had only asked one thing of her in the event of his untimely death. “This book is one of the most dangerous possessions I own..” He had warned her.

“If I were to ever die Kyla my friend I ask only that you..Burn it.” Afterwards the book disappeared. She never saw him with it again although she assumed he had never stopped reading it. Just gotten more careful. As she entered his small bedroom she saw the chest it usually sat in. Opening it to find the book missing Kyla

“Hmmm...” ‘d it up for a moment before closing the chest and rotating the lock itself. Not just the keyhole. She was rewarded with a small click, turning it the other way until a second click met her ears and rewarded her efforts with a small, hidden side shelf popped open. “Sly bastard..” She chuckled pulling the book from its hiding place. It was worn. The title no more legible than it had been years before only now a slim book mark marked a place in the massive text. She flipped to it. The same elvish language as the title. She could barely make out the slightest of words.

One word she did understand was the one Irideth had written himself. One word followed by a question mark and circled with a line and arrow drawn from it to a section on the page that had been deeply underlined many times.

Almost frantically..

The one word circled was a name. And a name Kyla didn’t know. “Who the fuck is Hahnah?” She questioned.