Dreadlords Villain and Violent

[Vittoria Larrainth]

"We are sitting ducks out here." Initiate Eliza Wylls cursed softly from her vantage point, peering through the cracks of the ruins of the chapel herself and others holed up in. There was a hunt under way in the trading town found in the lands between the Anirian Territories and the Savannah, bounties to be collected. "The best course of action is to move out from here and return to the outpost near Vel Hetren."
Vittoria furrowed her brows, giving her composure one of pure disagreement. It was rare for her to show such telltale signs of what she thought, but keeping still and hiding also went against all that she stood for as a hopeful to becoming Archon. "We should have left the moment we learned of their presence here in Satriya."
Eliza bristled, turning to look at Vittoria. It was in fact, rather brave for the girl to oppose Larrainth, and so openly, but after what King and Vittoria did to her on their last mission together forever changed Initiate Wylls' patience for Larrainth heir.
"Yes, we know. We made a mistake and fucked up the rest of this mission by staying."
Vittoria widened her eyes, a feigned innocence to her facade. "Then let us correct it and leave."
Eliza glanced about the room, hesitating. "What about the drop off?"
"You saw Tannin's workshop, I doubt the drop off will still be happening, Wylls."

But to walk these streets at any time of the day meant they would be spotted. There were a few dozen hunters about the small town, but evading them would prove difficult if they had hounds bred for this very reason for hunting. Magic was potent, unmistakable to these hunting hounds, and just the day before two of them brought down a youthful boy and mauled him for his small lick of magic. It had strengthened him, gave him energy that did not deplete so quick, and was the protégé of the smith.

Gods knew if he would ever recover fully from such an attack and return to the forge.

"We need to calculate our exit, work together as a team... but that also means separating may happen if we want to survive." Vittoria stood, walking up to dais that creaked beneath her feet. She spun to look back at her colleagues, taking into account who was present and began determining whether or not all of them would survive leaving this place. "The best way to leave Satriya is to overwhelm them."

Vittoria could tear down the entire town with just her magic alone, but there was something burning in her gaze, something fueling her heart's beating as she spoke of fighting back and being unafraid to wield their magic.

 

[Saderzaine Vult]

Saderzaine couldn't help but agree with Eliza and her assessment of the group's we-are-fucked meter, given all the heavily armed bounty hunters out looking for valuable bodies. The boy had a sneaking suspicion that their statuses as last-year initiates might be cause for costing a pretty penny, which only added to the issues of the current situation. Priority number one then, as far as he could see, was finding a way back to friendlier territory. "You have a good idea there, Initiate Wylls, but that first requires-" He would pause as fellow initiate Vittoria gave a less than enthusiastic look to the girl and thusly sparked her fury.

The boy watched as the normally neutral (as far as he could tell) Eliza veritably glared at her, the context missing in his eyes but something still clear: They had history. Such a clash was not one he wanted to get into but he was perfectly fine with watching and judging from the sidelines. It turned out to be quite the wasted effort by Wylls, though, as Vittoria quickly turned the tables and set her foot down. Indeed, the Queen had her station in his mind for a reason and did not disappoint. With that conversation out of the way, things finally turned to a subject everyone could contribute to.

Their enemies were threats, no doubt about it. Those who made their living hunting those with magic didn't last long for no reason, and needed to be approached with extreme caution. Their original objective had been denied to them, so damage control was the last graceful move. Objective number one was to get out alive and live to fight another day. Not exactly how he had wished the mission would end, but better a failure with a chance to redeem themselves than a corpse. The academy had evolved enough to recognize that, at least. "Initiate Larrainth, I have a suggestion for you. I'm well aware that you can handle yourself, but for those less deadly perhaps a pairing might be in order. That way if we end up separating we won't make so many...pieces, I suppose?"

However, Vittoria had also suggested that the best way to escape alive was to...fight? He gripped onto the long steel handle of his spear and felt a small shiver of fear find its way down his spine. He then looked at the Queen's expression, however, and realized that perhaps such an inanely risky tactic had more than just her usual superior confidence behind it. "Another thing. I believe that this means quite a lot to you, but please remember that our top priority is getting everyone out. That means you as well. Realistically if not sentimentally, we are all too valuable to the kingdom to let ourselves be taken by some slimy band of hunters."

With his position out in the air, he simply leaned back and waited to be overruled, or possibly not. There was no use arguing at the present juncture anyway. Instead he listened to the breeze run past the bow hanging at his side and focused on the tiny hum of the wind moving the string.

Vittoria Larrainth

 

[Felix Nevarre]

Felix knew nothing about a drop-off or any mission. He had been a last-minute addition to this group having been told that he should serve as guide and liaison...That was working about as well as one would expect when you paired a guard with a group of initiates.

Still, he found himself in this abandoned chapel hiding with the rest of them. Felix had taken a spot in the corner as he was busy organizing his medics kit. Thankfully, no one had been too seriously injured, yet. However, seeing the way this conversation was going, that might not last long.

"Destroying the town would kill hundreds of civilians."

Felix only realized he had spoken out loud several seconds later and looked up in surprise at all of the initiates. There was clearly a level of concern that he held about all of this. Maybe, the young guard did not hold the highest opinion of the Dreadlords.

He quickly buried his head back into checking his supplies.

Vittoria Larrainth Saderzaine Vult

 

[Fabien 'King' D'Amour]

Minor setbacks rarely seemed to be this big of a deal, but here the group was all holed up like rats in this abandoned building. It was insulting, really.

Vittoria had the right idea, as always, stifling the hesitancy of Wylls. He was surprised she still had the gal to talk back to Vitt after everything that had happened. Some degree of respect was to be earned from that, at least.

Vult's contribution, however...

"You have the order wrong, Vult. If you find yourself slain here today then you likely weren't that valuable to Vel Anir after all," King said venomously as he sharpened his rapier.

While Vult seemed to think very little of his fellows, Felix seemed to think them monsters. He was only half right.

"We don't need to destroy the town, Nevarre, just our pursuers. Kill them and both we and the town go free..." his lips curled upwards into a devious grin. "Call it...'liberation.'"

 

[Marcia]

Marcia was in two minds about it all.

Literally. Only half of her was actually inside the ruins with them. The short Initiate sat cross-legged on the floor, her eyes firmly settled on the polished surface of her shield, which was propped up against the wall. It would have been no surprise to the others in the ruined chapel that her reflection was absent, instead lurking outside to scout for danger as a presence invisible to the hunters' eyes.

She could feel herself testing the limits of the tether; the distance between the girl and her mirrored self stretched like elastic on the precipice of snapping back.

It gave her an excuse not to engage in the conversation; being in two places at once could be quite taxing, but the truth was she found there would be little point in making any meaningful suggestions for a strategy whilst in the company of the twat troupe. Marcia was more than happy to let somebody else tire themselves out on trying to have a civilised conversation with those condescending, cut-throat vipers.

When Sader assumed the role and attempted some form of reason with Vittoria, she was sure to loudly and deliberately snort when the words 'that means you as well' left the saintly Initiate's lips. He probably believed that too, bless his cotton socks.

Their token guard piped up, a voice of peace who had escalated the notion of a fight to the idea of destroying a town and its inhabitants and one that D'Amour weighed in on with all the smugness of an obese cat lounging in the sun. In truth, Marcia agreed on the notion to fight but might have spewed at the thought of chiming in on the side of those shitebags.

"Shit or get off the pot, guys," she unhelpfully remarked, her stare never budging from the shield.

 

[Vittoria Larrainth]

"Destroying the town would kill hundreds of civilians."

Vittoria had listened to them all speak in that calculating silence she always adopted. Her eyes were sharp, calculating, as if waiting for the right moment to sink her teeth into someone that spoke nonsense.

"We don't need to destroy the town, Nevarre, just our pursuers. Kill them and both we and the town go free..."

King spoke her thoughts, as he often did. They thought the same, operated the same. They were a unit, deadly yes, but even without their magic and might, they were soldiers of an elite education.

"I did not make any mention of destruction." She tilted her head, watching the Anirian Guard that had accompanied the Initiates and Dreadlords tasked with this mission. He was easy on the eyes, she was not blind to admit it, but that went against her forming opinion of him. Not useful, except he was a healer. Not a Dreadlord Healer the likes of Proctor Urahil, but he would suffice. "Only as a last resort would I clear any path that leads back to us. Now how is that for self preservation, Vult?" Her eyes swirled like the stormy seas as she looked at Vult briefly before glancing back at the Guardsmen, daring either of them to challenge her word.

It was only unfortunate Nevarre was separated from the other Guards, most likely in the company of the Dreadlords that went to Tannin's workshop an hour before the Initiates had arrived. The door had been kicked down, the contents of the workshop ransacked, and no sign of the Dreadlords or the Guard that had been tasked with making contact. The Initiates were to arrive with three carts, loading up each one quickly before making their way back to the road leading towards Vel Anir.

Only that plan never happened.

The bounty hunters lay in wait, forcing them to separate from some others. Hardheaded fools stayed back to fight, but the sounds of those hounds made the rest keep on running without looking back.

Now holed up in this chapel, Vittoria glanced at Marcia. Scouting the perimeter, yet that did not alleviate the worries wrinkling across Wylls' face. "The hounds will not scent us here as long as Markesson's ward holds up."

Initiate Markesson stood by the door, peering through it and ignoring them all. He was a quiet one, and Vittoria was happy to keep that distance.

"We create a disruption enough to keep them alert and hunting for us all night. Ensure none of them rest. We will not operate in pairs, but in two groups. One to distract, the other to procure means of travel for the rest of us, however that may look. If anyone protests, tell them Lady Elise Virak will compensate them in due time."

The name of her cousin would hold more weight than that of her own.