Fable - Ask War is the Father of All Things

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen was quite glad that her artificial hand and further honing of her Withering Chain Conjuration enabled her to use it for utility in this manner. Rather quickly was she discovering that, yes, she was not very fond of perilous jumps and falls through the air. Figure out how to land, Alistair had said to her right before their dramatic entrance over the walls of the Godendrung. If she been without her Chain then? Likely "a very rough landin," as he so bluntly put it now, would have ensued.

Brenna, in a leap of faith, dove over the tower's edge. Goodness, there was not a fear yet which could give her pause! Well, any significant pause. Kristen would have done the same, looking up to Astra's tapestry of stars and sending up a prayer to Aionus and kissing any holy symbol she had on her person, if what stood between her and "a very rough landing" was her precision in shooting through a runic circle.

Kristen jumped over the edge of the tower and descended in a controlled fashion, more and more Chain snaking out of her upstretched palm. A strange feeling, to be tethered so, but likely in a year's time it would be second nature, almost like an willful extension of her arm.

Her feet touched the ground of Godendrung, and her Chain detached from the roof and retracted quickly into her palm. Most of the current fighting was on the other side of the tower—a perfect opportunity to weave through the huts and longhouses unseen. If they could reach the Smokehouse without fighting a single orc along the way, all the better.

"With stealth should we proceed," Kristen said.

Alistair Krixus Brenna

 

[Brenna]

As she passed the golden circle Brenna felt herself slow. It was an odd sensation and the only way she could have described it was to say that her stomach felt as though it continued at the original speed whilst her body hung behind. Fortunately, she did not have time to really dwell on the nauseating feeling with the ground still approaching at a sweat-inducing speed. Spying the snow back she had seen when glancing over the edge Brenna shifted mid summersault. The drastic change in weight and the swing changed her direction just enough that in her bear form she hit the compact snow and slid the rest of the way down on her belly to where Alistair had already landed, with Kristen joining a second after.

Shaking our her shaggy fur she shifted again and flashed the pair a grin.

"This way to the kitchen," she started off at a jog.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

The Smokehouse, as Kristen was thinking of the place, was much larger up close than she was anticipating. It was made from limestone, long and rectangular in a simple and brutal block, with but that single chimney belching smoke on its roof as any sort of decoration. Brenna's words rang with a terrible truth, for the place had the feel more so of a prison than any kitchen Kristen had ever known.

The journey to the Smokehouse had been smooth, evading as they did the seemingly endless reinforcements of fighting orcs from the underground, pouring toward the battle with the Nordenfiir in waves. But the Smokehouse itself? Kristen couldn't tell what may lay in wait beyond those big, reinforced doors.

Goodness, they almost looked like castle gates, these doors.

With only a perfunctory effort, Kristen tried them. But her push produced nothing. They weren't just big and heavy; they were locked or barricaded as well.

Her initial glance was to Alistair, but...they did have another option, didn't they?

"Brenna," she said then, looking to the other girl. "Lars isn't the only one adept at breaking down doors, I would wager."

Alistair Krixus Brenna

 

[Brenna]

Brenna stepped back to get a proper look at the doors. Lars was a goofball and a Nordenfiir eager to prove his strength; whenever he smashed something open nobody hardly blinked now. It had made an impression in Kristen though it seemed though such a thought was odd to her, when these people could use magic. Meagre shows of strength must just appear... well... brutish. She wanted to prove they were more than mere strong beasts but... well smashing the door open did seem the quickest and most easy course of action.

With a nod she shut her eyes and her body was once again engulfed in the blinding kaleidoscope of colours. She shook out her coppery fur before standing up on her back two paws and giving the door a tremendous blow with both front paws. Again and again until the great wood cracked with her fourth strike, splintering inwards with a sickening crash.

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair would never understand the north's aversion to magic. Nearly all of them could turn into bears, which was downright incredible. Animal transmutation was not an easy form of magic and usually took specialists to accomplish.

He would admire Brenna's abilities later as he began to cast a simple spell that sent a strong gust of wind into the door helping crack it even more, while pushing the smoke inside the building deeper inside, not allowing it to leave. They might as well be prepared to take advantage of the smokescreen already inside.

Alistair took out a dagger and his runesaber. If the VIPs were inside then there was no longer any reason to hold back his magical energy.

Kristen Pirian Brenna

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Coughing was the first thing Kristen heard once the door was down. Alistair sent a gust of wind indoors and the smoke, disturbed from its normal patterns and conduits, now billowed out freely, creating something of a haze. Various cauldrons bubbled, furnaces blazed, racks of meat were smoking over contained firepits.

There were Blight Orcs inside. Lightly armed and armored, not like the ones charging into battle with the Nordenfiir, no, but equipped so they looked well enough the part of potential prison guards.

Orcs. And one human. A man, middle-aged, black hair, equipped like a rogue or skirmisher rather than a front line warrior. Though Kristen could not know it, his name was Ulren Varchek. And he was the man who had done the deed back in Vel Anir. He was the Duresh to Mina and Jiya's kidnapping.

Kristen gasped lightly in surprise when she locked eyes with him.

"You there!"

Ulren turned. Started to run the opposite way as the orcish guards raised their weapons and began to charge the Initiates and the Norden girl. He would be hurrying toward a set of stairs which led down into Godendrung's formidable Underground.

And the chase was on.

Alistair Krixus Brenna

 

[Brenna]

As the Orcs roared and ran forward so did Brenna. The bear was almost a head taller than some orcs and eye level with the others, yet with her paws the size of a human head and teeth as sharp as knives she had the slight advantage over their advisories. She fell upon the first orc whose war cry turned into a strangled scream as her great jaws sunk into the soft flesh between his neck and shoulder, slinging him across the room and taking a chunk with her. The second was upon her in an instant and then the third, the group attempting to pile on top of her in order to subdue her. But Brenna had seen these tactics before and she fought with single minded focus.

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair would have thought the man to be the next ingredient in an orc stew if not for Kristen's shout and the man taking off into a run. No way Alistair was going to let him go. He sprung into action, activating several speed and mobility runes across his skin and clothes and then shot off after the man.

He activated his runesaber just long enough to slice at a few of the orcs as he ran by them, but he could not focus on any one of them. Instead, he weaved around them as he followed after the man with the intent of a hunter.

They were on the clock. Alistair knew that if Duresh made it deep into the underground of Godenrung then they may never find the man again. He even attempted to throw a stun bolt at the man, but just missed above his head. Duresh was quick and light on his feet.

Kristen Pirian Brenna

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Alistair went shooting ahead, at a speed faster than Kristen could possibly hope to keep up with. So as Brenna fell upon the first of the orcish guards, Kristen decided to approach and dispatch those who were coming in last. Two specifically were charging right for her, hatchets raised, saliva streaming from their wide open, bellowing mouths.

Kristen thrust out her porcelain hand and sneered, uttering a Curse, "Compelled are you to kneel."

The two orcish guards stumbled in their charge, their legs shaking. They resisted, struggled fiercely to shake off the effect of the Curse and remain standing, but in the end the magic overcame both of their wills. Both orcs dropped down to a kneel so hard and fast that the bones of their knees, from the sound of it, may have fractured.

So immobilized, they offered little resistance. Kristen hadn't the physical strength to face a Blight Orc head on, but like this? With them debilitated so? She sliced off their hatchet wielding hands as they tried to defend themselves and then skewered each of them in turn, driving her sword into them and kicking them off of the blade.

Lagging behind Alistair even more after having been delayed, Kristen nevertheless took off running after him and Ulren.

* * * * *​

Ulren threw down a barrel as he passed, knocked over a stack of crates, hoping each might prove some obstacle to Alistair.

He reached the steps, hurrying down them two or three at a time.

Damn it, he had been warned something like this might happen. Seemed the Vestigare had found someone and coerced them. Ulren knew through his handler that the benefactor (Garron Banick, though Ulren didn't know it) wanted there to be some time before any ransom or demand was sent. The benefactor had wanted Mina and Jiya for other reasons first.

But the work wasn't done yet.

Well, too bad. Ulren's priority was getting out of here alive. He could get back to his family and tell his wife to burn everything and then they could vanish from Vel Anir—in this line of business, always be prepared, always have an escape plan.

So what he needed was a hostage.

Ulren reached the bottom of the stairs. Ran. As fast as his legs could carry him.

Alistair Krixus Brenna

 

[Alistair Krixus]

His target was fast, it was hard to tell if it was physical or magical, but Alistair was keeping up if not gaining a little. Even so, Ulren made it difficult for Alistair, constantly throwing obstacles in his path. However, Alistair was more than quick enough to dodge. There was a reason the foundation of any good swordsmanship was footwork.

Alistair continued to throw stunning bolts at the man, but he never really had an easy shot. They were ultimately nothing more than potshots taken to try and spook the man.

"Stop, or I will switch to deadly force!"

It seemed useless to even say, but he would try everything at this point. All that mattered was that he did not lose sight if his target. The shouting served another purpose. Kristen and Brenna could follow his voice.

Kristen Pirian Brenna

 

[Brenna]

Brenna finished off the last squealing orc by brutishly ripping the things head from its shoulders. Blood marred her snout and her paws leaving behind large red footprints as she loped after Alistair and Kristen. With her greater stride it wasn't long before she caught up with Kristen and given the Orcs size the halls of the cookhouse were well equipped for a bear to run freely down its halls without concern of getting squashed, so Brenna decided to stick with the form she was in.

Catching up with Kristen the coppery warrior snatched up the initiate by the back of her thick coat hood and turned to half throw her up onto her back. They would travel much quicker and Brenna had the scent of the pair in her nose now. With a grunt she surged ahead.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen, where before in her yesteryear she would have panicked, took suddenly being tossed atop of a bear in remarkable stride. She held on with her artificial hand, held her sword out to one side like a seasoned cavalrywoman with the other, and leaned into the surging forward momentum. This grace could readily be attributed to her conscious mind being wholly set on chasing down Ulren, for in his capture did the lives of Mina and Jiya rest.

* * * * *​

Ulren, slippery with his movements, made himself a hard target for Alistair's stunning bolts. Through the underground corridor his body twisted and snaked as he ran, bolts streaking by far and bolts streaking by close.

Cells lined the walls, their doors of crude iron bars showing that some were empty (and with the kitchen above, here stood dire implications), some had but a few prisoners, and some inexplicably were packed full of prisoners. By the firelights in the tunnel their faces were to a man, to a woman, miserable and haggard.

But Ulren needed to reach a specific cell. Down by the end of the corridor. He didn't know what kind of deadly force this mage (oh how he hoped it wasn't a full Dreadlord) could wield, but he didn't want to find out.

He ran. Hand already in one pocket for the key.

And there. With lightning fast motions he had the cell door unlocked and thrown open, and Ulren ran inside.

When Alistair would round the corner, here is what he would see: Ulren clutching Mina Pirian (dressed in disgusting rags was she, and heavy bags were under her eyes) like a human shield, a knife pressed to her throat. Ulren had a face of hard stoicism, Mina a restrained look of fright.

"Let's make a deal," said Ulren.

Alistair Krixus Brenna

 

[Alistair Krixus]

It only had way through the chase that Alistair realized, he was not just running away. He was a guest in this city, just like them, and running into these underground tunnels without a guide could be just as dangerous for him. No, the kidnapper was running toward something.

Alistair tried to increase his speed, but it was a complicated process. If he tried to increase speed by increasing his steps without supplying more magic to his speed runes, it would just mean that he would trip and likely face plant, it was a careful balance that he was hesitant to disrupt while he was also trying to stun his target.

He managed to get off one more stun bolt that looked like it would be a surefire hit, only to have the man cut the corner at the last second and dodge it. Alistair cursed under his breath.

The prisoners they passed looked desperate, and they needed to be released, but he had to focus on their mission. He could always come back for them later, that is what he kept telling him.

Alistair slid to a stop outside the cell he had seen Ulren slip into, only to find him with Mina Pirian. He held out his hands to show that he was unarmed and that he was not trying to perform any magic. His eyes shot to the dagger in his hands and then to Mina's eyes. He tried to smile to assure her that things would be ok.

"Agreed, you hand her over and none of us have to die today. In fact, you give me some information, and you will be even more rewarded."

Kristen and Brenna needed to hurry up.

Kristen Pirian Brenna

 

[Brenna]

Brenna skidded to a halt. To the left was where the scent of Alistair was stronger, no doubt he had gone through the slightly ajar doorway from which light spilled into the hallway. But Brenna paused because along the other way she could scent something else human. It stood out amongst the typical orc scents because it simply shouldn't be there.

"Which way?" she rumbled, though would have no way of hearing Kristen's response.

 

[Jiya Luana]

Jiya cursed and let the hammer drop from her hands as cramp speared its way up her arm to her neck. She was getting sloppy in her work due to tiredness and sloppiness was not what her captors wanted. Not if she wanted to get home in one piece along with the young Pirian girl. She was so close to completing it though, this anti-magic weapon her captors had thrust upon her to make. The blueprints she had been given had been old and complex and Jiya doubted the invention it alluded to had ever existed, but she had persevered with the knowledge and tools she had and now...

Now she was almost done.

The orc who stood guard smirked when she dropped the hammer and scratched his backside.

"No stop, only work girl."

"I thought I heard--"

"WORK," he cracked the whip in the air above her head.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen leaned forward and with her sword, bringing the weapon into Brenna's ursine peripheral vision, pointed to the left. She thought she had heard Alistair's voice coming from that direction! There seemed, if she wasn't mistaken, faint scorch marks from his stun bolts along the wall as well (hopefully it was not wishful thinking). That had to be the way he went!

Kristen, of course, had no way of knowing what would be on the right.

* * * * *​

"Give me some kind of assurance," Ulren said. "And you'll have all the information I can provide."

He gave Mina a slight jerk, wrestling her a touch closer to him.

"Without that assurance, I'll be a man with nothing to lose."

The implication for Mina a deadly one.

Alistair Krixus Brenna

 

[Alistair Krixus]

"You have my word. That is all I can offer for the moment...We will even ensure safe passage for you when we are free of this city...Just, let her go"

He tried not to move as much as possible. It felt like any sort of movement might make this man even more nervous, like some sort of caged animal.

"What we both know is this. You release her and you will be unharmed, but if you hurt her in any way and there is not a chance in all of the hell that you walk out of this room alive."

Alistair did not speak in any way to show it was a threat, but more so fact. Alistair had reinforcements coming, while Ulren did not.

"We would all be able to talk more freely if you put the knife away."

Brenna Kristen Pirian Jiya Luana

 

[Brenna]

Of course, a bear hurtling through the door promptly put an end to any such further peaceful discussions. Wooden shards that had belonged to the door splintered in every which direction and Brenna's mammoth form crowded in, blocking out the dreary light that filtered in from the hallway. Ulren froze, his mouth slightly agape, as did Mina, and a brief silence pulsed before Brenna opened out mouth and let out a thunderous war-like roar.

 

[Jiya Luana]

Both Jiya and the Orc paused as the roar echoed down the corridor to their room. The thuggish prison guard gave her a look that suggested he blamed her for the inconvenience of having to look outside, before picking up his cudgel and stepping out.

Mobrukk made sure to turn the heavyset key in the lock before he left; he wouldn't chance it being unlocked for even a second without him there to guard the door. The humans had already tried to escape twice and they had orders to peel flesh off their bones on the third attempt. But losing flesh meant the work happened slower on slaves such as this, and so whilst he would have enjoyed it, in the long term he knew it would not please his masters.

Hefting his weapon onto his shoulder he set out in a trot for the direction the roar came from.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen had to duck her head or else see it bashed against the top of the cell's jamb. During Brenna's roar she locked eyes with Mina, saw the knife at her throat, and alarm raced down her spine.

"Don't!" she yelled.

Ulren was, quite literally now, backed into a corner. His eyes shifted between the bear and Alistair, the latter being the one with whom he saw his only chance. "Stay back! Tell that thing to stay back!"

Alistair Krixus Brenna

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Fuck....so Brenna was definitely not a diplomat. Alistair quickly moved into action, holding his hands towards Brenna in her bear form. He was sure of pronounce, not wanting to risk that she would not understand him this time.

"Calm down, Brenna. We are talking. We are all calm here."

No, they indeed were not. The tension in this room was so thick that he could cut it with his sword. No matter how much Alistair reminded himself to stay calm, even he was beginning to feel his adrenaline starting to rise.

"She won't hurt you...No one is getting hurt here, but you need to hand her over...I can't help you if you don't hand her over."

Brenna Kristen Pirian Jiya Luana

 

[Brenna]

Brenna in contrast to her companions was enjoying herself immensely; she had never had an opportunity to roar in someone's face like that before! Now she understood why the Nordenfiir enjoyed it so. Seeing someone quite literally piss their breeches was highly amusing. If any of them had spent any times in the taverns of the great North they would have found what Bre had done no more than a drinking call.

Still, the Summerlanders didn't seem quite so amused so she gave a giant sigh and shifted back. In such a small room Ulren had to shield his eyes briefly against the brilliant light. When Brenna appearered instead of the bear she glanced up at Kristen perched upon her shoulders and tapped her thighs.

"You can get down now."

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen got down off of Brenna's shoulders almost as an afterthought, her eyes squarely fixed on Ulren and Mina. Her cousin was so close, so close, and yet with that knife to her throat she might as well be in some far flung corner of Arethil. Would that Kristen had access to blessings from Aionus, something which could save Mina if her throat was slit! Curses, Conjurations, she would not tempt chance by trying any of them, lest Ulren's reflexes prove the better and she would be forced then to watch helplessly as Mina bled out in some dingy, decrepit orcish cell.

"Out in the hall," Ulren said. He was taking no chances. "I'll hand her over once you let us out into the hall."

"Why?"

"Because I'm trapped in here, girl. And I trust you about as much as you trust me. At least I have a chance out in the hall."

Kristen couldn't help but to be uneasy; that selfsame tension that Alistair felt was doubled in her, and it trembled beneath the goosebumps running along her flesh. Brenna was numb to it, but still, one poor decision from any of them could spell disaster for Mina.

"We're backing out. Okay? We are doing so...slowly..." Kristen said, turning her face and thus her lips toward Brenna as she spoke but keeping her eyes locked on Ulren and Mina still.

And she did as she herself said, backpedaling out into the hallway slowly. As it happened, Kristen couldn't know of Mobrukk, whether he was near or far.

Alistair Krixus Brenna

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair slowly began to back out of the room along with Kristen and Brenna. He was careful to always show his hands, but he also kept talking, trying to draw attention to a conversation and not any...throat slitting.

"This could be easier. You could also tell us your employer. Help us bring him to justice, that would ensure that you remain safe. No reason for you to be in danger for someone else's misguided schemes."

That seemed like an obvious choice to Alistair, giving this man a way out, but he knew his kind. What was the value of a contract killer, or in this case a contract kidnapper if they could not keep their mouths shut...but still, there was always a chance.

Kristen Pirian Brenna