Private Tales The Vicar of Suffering

[VigiloConfido]

"Today, you think?" Khadija Han asked.

Clarissa Mejeure leaned up against the wall beside the sealed basement door. Light from above trickling down the stairs. She said, "If not today then, tomorrow."

"You said that yesterday."

"Oh, I know, love."

Kha shook her head. Checked the dwarven clock pendant around her neck. Looked back to the door. Iron. Faintly glowing magical etchings upon it. They were careful, the Black Circle. As careful as they could be, anyway. They weren't above Claire's particular charms. Two of them, at least. Still, they were secretive enough that she had put in more effort than usual. She managed to learn the three important things that the Luminari needed to know to get this done.

First, that there was a powerful magical catalyst in their possession to begin with.

Second, that they kept it here in the Senior's home and had the door sealed with magic.

Third, that they all wore similar pendants.

And the plan came together over time. Claire advised right from the onset that the Black Circle weren't going to be pliable or sympathetic in the slightest to the Luminari's cause. They didn't care about much, but what they did care about, they did so intensely. So talking was off the table.

So taking the catalyst by force was it. Problem? The Luminari didn't know which of the five members of the Black Circle was magically sealing the door, or if they were taking turns, or what. It was too risky for Claire to inquire about. And assassinations of some or perhaps even all five members seemed a touch...loud. Think about it. Elbion at large didn't know anything about these men and what they did in secret. That, and assassinations could be good for the short-term gain of the catalyst but terrible for the long-term effort against the College. Assassins could fail. Be caught. Talk. Betray. Blackmail. Wouldn't that be ironic, looking at it now?

There's the conundrum. All five members of the Black Circle needed to die (mostly simultaneously), but at the same time, it needed to look like they weren't being targeted, and the Luminari needed to stay distant and secret from it all.

Tick. Tock. What's the plan, ma'am?

Well, Kha prided herself on it when she finally put it all together. It was no big secret that the members of the Black Circle were friends in their 'normal' lives in Elbion. They even met together every day at noon in a tavern called The Midnight Dream for lunch. Wasn't that cute?

Then Claire mentioned those pendants. Kha asked if she could swipe one without blowing her cover. Claire did. Brilliant. Turned out, there wasn't much to them. Some small, seemingly innocent magic in them that just helped put you into a meditative state if you stared at the pendant for a long time. But! But! Upon further, closer inspection, a little hint of dark magic. Smothered in center, so to speak. The Black Circle just couldn't help themselves, could they? Kha knew a thing or two about devious enchantments, and, well frankly, about making a counter enchantment to violently react with the concealed dark magic within the Black Circle's pendants when in proximity. Oh yes. Freak accident, you see, citizens of Elbion? Happens all the time in the city of magic.

A few small tests here and there and...and...there it was. Now the Luminari just needed some unassociated 'volunteers' to carry these sister pendants imbued with the full-strength counter enchantments to The Midnight Dream at noon. Trajan steps in, helps with the list of potential volunteers. Excellent call on the half-breeds by him; Kha wouldn't have even considered that angle. Full-blooded xenos would be too risky and unpredictable, and it was preferable to not coerce full-blooded humans into it.

Enter Luc the Unlucky and Anima Contra. Two prime targets of opportunity. Despite that magic trick Anima pulled that almost brought the house down on everyone...well, it worked out splendidly, didn't it?

Now it was all in motion.

Hopefully the sealing magic faded immediately after the right Circle member died. She'd even settle for soon after.

Kha wondered a bit as she waited. Just how powerful would the reaction be when those two entered The Midnight Dream? The sister pendants didn't blow up in testing, sure. But that was with a crippled version of the counter enchantment. For that matter, Kha wasn't even sure of the exact nature of the reaction the Black Circle's pendants would have. Violent, destructive, deadly, yes, that much she knew, but of what kind and the magnitude, especially with two counter enchantments coming into proximity? Maybe it'd be enough. Maybe not, results too chaotic, something like that. Even if they lived through it somehow, Claire assured Kha that the Black Circle would react rashly. Very rashly. They weren't being taken alive if they thought their secret was out, to put it mildly, she had said.

Well...surely the talk on the streets of Elbion when Luc and Anima finally arrived would be deliciously fulfilling. Ah. Kha did love her work.

If they arrived.

Kha waited alongside Claire. Tapped her foot.

The full moon was coming. Only a few days left. Maybe even just a couple.

Huh. Claire was right. Imagine that.

Almost like a broken clock.

* * * * *​

A pre-noon sun peeking through the clouds.

Business as usual at the harbor of Elbion.

Vessels coming and going.

Small fishing boats to large galleons.

And a new ship approached.

Like all the others.

 

[Luc]

Swim... Oh how he wanted to argue that idea... Swimming. The water was sure to be cold. Was that his only complaint? Cause for argument? Could he drum up a better idea. Surely there was a better idea. Yet as approached the water, these better ideas he was so sure existed did not come to him, nor his comrades as all were silent.

"We swim..." He said begrudgingly.

Luc watched as the ships came and went and keen eyes carefully selected their victim. Victim... Victims... There will be many.. And I am fine with this... We are fine with this. The thought failed to stir and emotions of regret in his heart and Luc truly knew at that moment there was no turning back for him. For them.

"That vessel... It's large and sits low in the water.. Ripe with wares and supplies I'd imagine... Which means a large crew. The larger the crew, the bigger the distraction... Once we are in the city proper we will head for the Midnight Dream...." Luc believe he knew where it was. "Anima.. Maybe you should give me your pendant... In case something goes wrong, no sense in both of us being caught... I go in with the pendants.. Drop them off and then when what happens happens... We vanish..."

It was a piss poor plan. Not even a plan. Just a outline of what they would have to to do. Perhaps while they were on the blighted ship, he would be able to string something together... But until then, this was what they had.

"For now however... We swim."

And so the halfling waded into the water and as the chill his him like a smiths hammer, he cursed himself for not thinking of a better plan.

 

[Nayella]

Oddly enough the Water did not seem to bother Nayella one bit. In fact, as she waded into the river a smile tugged at her lips.

There was something familiar about the cold enveloping her, the chill that ran up her spine. It was a pleasant sensation that reminded her of home. Nayella originated from a set of Islands far to the north of Elbion, so small and unbecoming that they were hardly included in any maps at all.

Her people were of the hard sort, and swimming in rivers like this was one of the few activities the children there did for fun.

To her, this was almost a way to coax those memories forward. A nostalgic thought of time before she had been shipped away to Elbion in order to contain her magics. Briefly she wondered when she would return to those islands, if she ever would. Her lips set into a frown as she completely submerged herself.

"Follow me." [/color[ Nayella said as she ducked beneath the waves and began to swim.

The ship Luc had chosen was perfect for their plans, so much so that she wondered if the boy even knew. Over the last months he had become more experienced, or perhaps just more watchful. She supposed that the need for survival would do that to anyone, but he was a far cry from the person she had met on that first day.

 

[VigiloConfido]

There by the water they waited. The penultimate act of chaos waiting to be birthed. A mild, primal comfort in the anticipation of it. All that they had done on the journey to Elbion: finite acts in a finite world. A certain beauty that the infinite could never know in that.

Her name. Spoken.

She glanced to Luc. A smile, wan though it was under the weight of dread. And she clutched the pendant around her neck and took it off and handed it to him.

"You will be careful, won't you?"

The burden. Willingly taken on in whole by Luc. Even through the uncertainty of it all. But there was no time for worry, her obsession left a simmer instead of a boil.

Luc and Nayella entered the water.

Anima took a few steps in. Froze for a moment as the chill whipped up her legs and coursed through her body. A renewed determination. A few more steps. Deeper now. A gasp as the water consumed her to the waist. A shivering doubt. She never liked the cold. Teeth and eyes clenched. Further still into the river. Swallowed by the water up to the neck. Another quaking gasp. The smothering of the tiny core of warmth at the center of her body, beset on all sides by the lonely chill assailing her skin.

Follow me, said Nayella.

Meager movements. Surely she was the slowest swimmer of the three. But Anima followed, despite lagging behind. Nayella's head disappeared under the surface of the water as they neared the vessel.

One last gasp of the sweet morning air.

And Anima disappeared in whole along with her.

 

[Luc]

The cold embraced him like a familiar shadow. It clung to his bones and saw through him. He was naked under it's gaze. Powerless to the current that threaten to take him. He could give up this facade of bravery. Just allow himself to be swept away at that moment and just... Just what? Leave it to Nayella and Anima? Abandon them like I have been abandon... No... No I... I will not become that.

The spark of life drummed in his chest, a reminder that he had a purpose. Yes the water was cold and threaten to cease his limbs. But the burn of life was strong. So as he waded into the water and swam and grew tired, a fire began to burn inside until he did not feel the cold. He did not feel the dark. He felt ready to go on. As did the voice in his mind.

You are committed to this, child? The voice asked him. The one that helped him with it's knowledge of magic. for weeks as they traveled he tried to reach out for it but could not attain a firm grasp. In the abyss of his mind, it was a faint whisper but now it spoke once more. And he would respond.

Aye I am, he replied.

Then I shall aid you.... For now follow the which, wrought chaos upon this land, and when the time comes, hand the reins to me.. I will ensure you... And the other two survive this...For we have much to do.

Much to do...? The question was not answered but Luc was smart enough to know, that what ever they did today, was just the beginning for what was to come. It seemed swimming through frigid water was the least of his troubles that day.

 

[Nayella]

The hull of the ship weighed heavily above her as she reached it, her hands touching the slitting prow for just a brief moment.

She could sense the wood, it's steady corrosion, the touch of rot which had already set into the make up of the vessel. Briefly she wondered if she could do the same to this ship as she had done to chains which had bound them.

The moment of consideration was fleeting.

It was not why they were here, it was not why they had swam all the way out into the bay. Her fingers tightened, and then slowly she allowed herself to surface directly by the vessel itself. Fingers caught the wood, and a small glow of magic surrounded her palm.

She touched the surface of the wood, rotting out just a bit of the hull to create a small pit mark. She did so again a little higher, and then again.

Slowly the Blight Witch created a ladder, climbing it until she reached the railing of the ship and pulled herself over the side.

 

[VigiloConfido]

Walter sat at a table inside The Midnight Dream. A cup of hot tea before him. Hood of a traveling cloak pulled down low over his face.

He watched the first of the Black Circle men come into the tavern. Watched him take the seat he always took. Watched as the barmaid approached him and smiled and called him by his first name and watched as he smiled back and ordered his usual drink and watched as the barmaid went through the motions of fetching the drink.

Everyday they came. Like a ritual. Just as Claire had said. And they would drink and eat and talk of matters trivial and matters ordinary and matters that were of course. Simple citizens of Elbion, associated with the College to varying degrees. Nothing special.

Walter shifted in his seat. Looked down at his tea.

It had to be worth it.

This whole ordeal.

The Luminari.

Everything.

He was a good man.

He was.

* * * * *​

The cold. Biting into her skin. The smothering water. Even dread itself was submerged and drowned by it. Thoughts of higher order dissipated to ash and drifted away. All became effort. The basest way of being. The animalistic struggling against the harsh elements of the world.

And Anima swam. Moving her arms and her legs and staving off the invasive numbness of the cold. Pushing back against her own limbs betraying her. Locking up. Freezing. The mock play of death.

Luc and Nayella were doing fine. Better than her.

And that was good.

In it a source of strength, encouragement, readily on loan.

Yes.

And Anima swam.

Nayella reached the ship. Surfaced. The huge hull before them all.

Anima reached the ship in her own time and surfaced from the water and gasped a shivering gasp stealing as much air as she could from Arethil, that sweet and wonderful air, and she clutched desperately onto the wood of the hull to find purchase and to let herself be propelled by the movement of the ship. A slipping of wet hands against slick wood. A reaching for her knife. Driving the tip into the wood. Only so much. No support, and the knife made for a poor handle. Out it came and away she drifted. Sheathing the knife. And more swimming to keep up alongside the vessel.

And there a makeshift ladder from Nayella. Up some along the hull where once Anima had been before drifting back.

More effort. Animalistic swimming.

Finally a handhold on the first blighted-out groove. And Anima pulled herself up and out of the water.

A quivering mess, hanging onto the side of the ship.

"You..." A sniveling. "Loathe swimming..." Chattering of teeth. "Don't you?"

Luc would be fine. Yes. He had surely done better. Command over water will have served well.

So Anima climbed up after Nayella.

The heralds of a tragedy for those aboard.

 

[Luc]

He had done better yes, his mind subconsciously welcoming the embrace of the cold water and he wore it like a second skin soon after. He was behind Anima, climbing up the odd ladder Nayella had created while his own power drummed to life, pulling the water free from their clothes to aid in drying. He reasoned for what was to come, they would have to be comfortable at least and being a quivering mess wouldn't do for.


By now, the Blight would begin to take hold and following that, the crew would begin to feel sick. Moments afters the crew began to feel ill, they would have to signal via flags that sickness had taken the ship. Then, the ship would be towered into a isolated dock and from there, they could truly set off to work.

"How soon before those on board are ill?" He asked, his voice carried upward upon a gentle breeze. He reasoned Nayella had enough of a connection to know this. He didn't want to chance being spotted hanging on the side after all giving how crowded the shipping lanes were.

 

[Nayella]

"Not long." Nayella whispered quietly as her hand gently scrapped against the deck.

A Blight Witch.

That was what she was. Not many knew the meaning of the words, not the real one anyway. A few might recognize the artifact on her skull or the mark of her magics, but most were ignorant. They thought her a master of entropy, decay, but it was so much more than that.

Her powers worked slowly, growing only with time. She smiled slightly as she reached out. Already she could feel it working, her power seeping through the ship. Tiny needles pressing into vulnerable skin. It would start with emptying the stomach, then pustules would form, and slowly it would grow worse and worse.

Disease spread quickly.

The three of them hid on the deck of the ship, tucking themselves away for hours until eventually the sailors began to succumb. Everything after that happened fast, an alarm bell was rang, messages were sent from the ship, and within an hour the vessel was surrounded and towed into a small isolated part of the docks.

By the time the vessel was moored cries of agony could be heard from below deck, the sounds of desperate sickness. Anima, Luc, and Nayella were left alone, undiscovered and standing in the middle of a ghost ship.

 

[VigiloConfido]

Mortality. The slow crumbling of all things. This inevitable fate accelerated by Nayella's magic.

They could hear it, the three of them as they stayed hidden on the deck. The sounds of the sailors realizing then the true meaning of their finite lives. The constant state of being, all they had ever known and enjoyed for so long, slowly being disproved with each retch, each heave, each cry of pain. There a terror the divine could never know. The cessation of everything, felt deeply and seen clearly, marching relentlessly toward he and she who could not outpace it.

Anima glanced to Nayella and Luc as the vessel was towed into the isolation dock.

Shouts from the dockworkers off of the ship. Distant and muted.

"Stay back! Stay back, greenhorn!"

"Get that line secure and get clear. Let's go."

"Wait for the mages. No idea what kind of miasma's on that ship."

Safe and unseen. For now. Anima had not ever been to the Elbion harbor before, let alone sneaking in or out through it. Her reliance upon Luc and Nayella total.

They were so close now. The city before them, beyond the confines of the boat. The task's end within reach.

Her hand twitched.

Anima whispered, to Luc and Nayella both, making ready. She said, "You will follow."

 

[Luc]

And he would lead.

They had moved closer now, from the harbor and escorted all the way to the isolated dock which was enclosed that to a stone housing that surrounded it. The water could even be drained if called for which would allow for the ship to be set aflame and safely handled in case the sickness aboard was to much to handle. it was a practiced that came into affect thanks to plague times however it had not seen much use as of lately. Well, until Nayella of course.

Luc watched as they neared the housing which looked like a massive storehouse which could easily accommodate the ship come into view. Once in, sneaking about would be far more harder, which meant they would have to vanish before then.

Wind hex, placed upon the ground and sky... The familiar voice filled his head and before he could question what it meant, his mind filled with a imagine. Extreme pain which caused him to gasp invaded his skull as memories not his own flooded with in. His brain was on fire, his skull to tight against the gray matter in his head and for a moment he felt as if he could die. And then it past and he was blinking away tears.

And smiling. It was maddening but he knew now what the voice spoke of, and thanks to a memory... it's memory, he began to pour mana into the wooden planks of the ships deck.

"Follow close behind, do not dally." He cautioned the pair.A green aura burned into the wood carving a intricate design as the hex was placed and with out further explaining, Luc stepped upon it and shut upwards. A gust of wind carried him high up, past the the ship posts into the clear sky. He loved this. Giving in to his magic... The freedom of using the wind. For a moment he forgot what they were tasked with and instead focused on the beauty of the view before him. The City of Elbion stretched out before him... it was theirs for the taking.

As gravity began to claim him, he looked down and saw the ship continued on with out him. No worries, he would be able to time this. Second hex forming behind him, he was shot forward and sent flying before the ship where he would land upon the roof of the stone housing.

He rolled into the landing a sprung up, two more hexes encircling his hands as he waited for them to follow behind him. His plan, as mad as it were, was to send them flying to him once they were airborne. He just hoped they could tolerated the exhilaration of the ride they were set to face.If not, hopefully at the least they would not vacate their stomachs of it's contents.

 

[Nayella]

Nayella came crashing onto the roof unceremoniously, landing with a thud and scraping her knees of the rough tile as the wind created by Luc propelled her into place. She let out a groan, fingers tightening as she suppressed the urge to vomit.

She was not made for flying.

The Blight Witch picked herself up on the roof top, glancing up at the city ahead of them. A low whistle escaped her teeth, eyes flowing over the torchlight that seemed to flicker and breath life into the expanse of stone and thatch roofs.

"When I left I escaped through the sewers." She commented quietly to Luc and Anima. "I don't think I've ever seen the city like this."

Shame it was populated by people who didn't appreciate what they had. People who would exploit those below them and take what they could.

In the distance she could feel the echoes of the College. Small ripples within the flow of magic as even at this late hour both students and masters practiced their arts. Her gaze fell towards the distant towers of the school, her thoughts flooding with memories of her time within its walls.

None of them were pleasant. Lately she wondered if that was of her own making.

 

[VigiloConfido]

Preferences. Little discoveries of the self. They lay dormant, as with all things of the heart, exposed by opportunity and circumstance. And comparison, yes. Of past to past. Of past to present.

And the air was far more preferable than the water, wasn't it?

The hex launched her up and off of the boat and once in the air she was pulled toward Luc on top of the stone housing. An unexpected freedom in sailing through the air. No need to fight and struggle against an icy current, the smothering grasp of a callous river. Here her course had already been decided. She need only--

Give in.

Anima landed on the stone on her hands and feet. A grin spreading across her face, a small respite from the mounting trepidation and creeping horror of her return to the city. She looked up and to her side, showing Luc her grin. Sharing with him that tiny moment of thrill. Of...fun.

The expansive city before them on their perch up high. Anima stood, hearing the quiet whistle from Nayella. There a faint spark of emotion from Nayella, that trace of awe. Perhaps all Anima would ever feel from her.

"There are always things awaiting your gaze," Anima said. "Aren't there?"

And she looked to Luc. Wondering what might come.

If his gaze would find Lady Eneer here.

What he might say.

What he might do.

 

[Luc]

He was aware of the rare show of emotion other then rage from Nayella and the chaste glances Anima paid upon him. He stood there, stone faced as his brilliant blue eyes swept over the city laid out before them. His stomach was a storm of emotions, longing intermingled with fear. He missed Elbion. He hated Elbion. Everything that made him came for this very city and as he stood their weighing the pros and cons of his life thus far. For many, Elbion was the shining jewel of magic studies... Progression. Change.

For him it had been a reminder. A reminder of who he was. A reminder of his short comings. A reminder of his poverty. His circumstances. The only light in his life was a caring Master who looked past that and wanted and saw his potential. But... The more he thought of it, the more his brow knitted. Had he not been gifted in magic... Would she still see him? Or would he had been just another face in the crowded orphanage, another helpless mouth to feed. The more he thought of it, the angrier he became. All this time he thought Lady Eneer some Saint.... And though she treated him leagues better then most here, had he not been gifted in magic to begin with she would have likely ignored him. Nothing is this world was truly free it seemed. Everything had a price.

"We three arrive, no more then heralds of chaos and change... Remember this day for we pawns set forth in motion a moment of great change... I speak not of what may or may not come because of some task we were set upon... I speak of taking our own destiny in hand and doing what we must from here on out.. Be it we travel together or by ourselves, may we do it as free folk..." He seemed resolved in these random words he spoke.

"Same as before... We launch to that building and then we can travel via the roofs... I'll make the landing easier this time... If I remember correctly..." He spoke in a low tone as he uncorked his water skin and the water from inside snaked out. His eyes glowed a bright blue as he manipulated the water itself to form a replica, albeit small, of the area they would be heading too. "The tavern is here... Across is an alley with access to the sewers. From there I imagine we can make our escape... Between the plague ship and what ever these talismans are to cause, we should be able to sneak in and out..."

It wasn't the worst of plans and so he felt confident enough it would work, after all, who knew they were even here to stop them?