Got The Life

[Silence Sei]

Loose ends needed to be taken care of.

As a leader, Sei was fully aware of this. He had spent much of his time as a strategist cleaning up various messes left behind that other generals and leaders were too busy to bother with. It did not matter if it was dealing with a traitor, helping refugees move, or even laying the groundwork for several of his masterful traps; Sei was always the one to gain some closure for any organization the mute had been a part of.

This was important because an army required a unite front to succeed. There was to be no whispers of a mutiny, or rumors of a better life somewhere else, such things would cause a great break in the ranks. It was for these reasons that the Avatar of Alerar gained his notoriety, often rewarding people far better than any general in the country's forces. On more than one occasion, Thoracis nearly found himself double-guessing the mute's decision to promote one soldier over the other. Such thoughts were silenced when both of the warriors seemed to perform at double their original potential on the fields of war. It was quite obvious that Sei Orlouge was good at handling situations that could become rather messy.

Yet, there was one loose end that still bothered the mute. Sindareth Vordutin, Thoracis' superior at the time, had ordered the telepath to locate a certain drow. This drow had managed to find his way out of the army, and escape into Corone. Sei had quite the time tracking his target, often spending several nights waiting for the next report on the situation. However, he always kept tabs on the drow known as Izvilvin, always making sure that the 'unforeseen hand of fate' guided him in his journey home.

It was Sei who originally informed the assassin's guild Step of Izvilvin's abilities. It was Sei that had suggested to the wizard Sasarai that Izvilvin be sent to Fallien, and it was Sei that made sure the note asking Izvilvin to return home was kept safe. The mute had done so many things for the drow without either of them realizing how much of an impact the events had on Althanas as a whole. Now, Izvilvin was returning home, and Sei would be waiting.

Sei needed people who were loyal, people who could get the job done. Sei needed Ixian Knights who would not question the telepath's authority. Izvilvin fit the bill perfect in this sense. As such, Sei would help the drow in any way that he could. Then, when the time was right, Sei would invite the assassin into his home, to be part of his elite team. Step was gone, Sasarai was gone, and the note had been delivered.

It was time for a home coming, and the Former Grand Strategist of the Alerar Armed Forces would be the first to welcome the older warrior back...

[Izvilvin]

It was a brief journey across the eastern sea for Izvilvin Kazizzrym, who had traveled these waters many times before.

That familiar breeze never really changed. That same salty taste assaulted his nose and invigorated his taste buds, threw his hair back and crept and snuck through the gaps in his clothing to cool his body. The wind hit him hard and fast throughout the night and long into the following day, for Izvilvin couldn’t possibly sleep on the eve of his return to Alerar.

Unaware of the lingering eyes of those who passed behind him, eyes possessed by curious passengers who knew not who the drow was – or why he refused to move – Izvilvin stared longingly out toward the distant port. He might not have blinked in an hour. Alerar was not home. He’d been born there, yes, and had grown up there until his early teens, but decades of life in the Kachuck Mines helped him forget the face of Ettermire altogether, and the faces of his Father and Mother.

This wouldn`t be his first return to the land of his birth. He`d come back once with Alydia Ettermire, whose name alone continually reminded Izvilvin of how much he wanted to avoid that city. Together they had eliminated Step, liberating the warrior drow and setting him free. Freedom, however, left an unexpected void in his heart. He no longer had a purpose. He could return to Fallien and his room in Jya`s Keep, protecting people and the Jya Herself, but that land, too, was stainted with the blood of his closest comrades.
And then there was that letter he`d received. He’d held it close to his heart for a few days, but destroyed it just before embarking on this trip; he was traveling to start over, after all. Starting over was an idea he would have found ridiculous just two years ago.

When the time came to disembark at Kamma, a small port town to the Southeast of Ettermire, the other passengers gave Izvilvin room to do so. Though he wouldn’t harm anyone without provocation, they didn’t know that. What they knew was that this was a dark elf who had stared obsessively out at sea for many hours at a time, and he had more steel on him than all of Scara Brae.

Kamma was a small town, if you could even call it that. People didn’t live there. It was just a checkpoint between cities, a convenient port for those who chose to avoid the busier destinations. There was a large inn which doubled as a tavern, and a building for the port’s purposes; filled with seamen and the like. The smallness of it made it all the easier to spot a man in the distance, seemingly waiting... who would have been easy to spot anyway, with that shock of orange hair.

[Silence Sei]

Sei stared at Izvilvin Kazizzrym from the other side of town. Not that there was much of a town to stare at him from. Only a handful of houses littered the checkpoint. Grass blades and weeds were peaking out from the dirt road that had been made by travelers passing through. The biggest attraction to the city was the inn that doubled as a tavern. Sei wondered how Althanas had so many of such double-businesses without there being just one franchise on the whole thing, but quickly shook the thoughts off. He was there for Izvilvin, not to question the logistics of things.

Sei first took notice of the arsenal that was upon Izvilvin's form. He was well equipped for any situation, that much was certain. Sei then took notice of his target's features, noting how much he had seemed to evolve during those years that Sei had kept him 'in training' so to speak. Sei wasn't proud of some of the actions he had taken to get Izvilvin to this point, but he knew that they were necessary. Life was a chess game, and Sei was the king piece; Able to see all, but not able to do anything without the help of others.

Izvilvin slipped into the tavern/inn rather quickly. Sei followed without hesitation, taking a bit longer than his 'apprentice' had to get there. This was Alerar, after all, and Sei was praised as a hero due to his helping Thoracis during the war with Raiaera. As such, Sei was accustomed to having to greet the people, making sure the shocked bystanders knew that Sei Orlouge was human, so to speak. He was just a man that others could aspire to be with enough training.

Inside the tavern, Sei took immediate notice of the closeness of everything. The front desk of the inn and the bar for the tavern were no more than fifteen feet away from each other. There were sailors and warriors sporadically placed all over the area, enjoying them a good drink after a good travel. Sei's eyes darted back and forth across the room. Izvilvin seemed to have disappeared from the vision of the mystic. Smiling, Sei took a few steps forward, waiting to see if Izvilvin had been expecting him.

[Izvilvin]

The warrior ignored the man for the time being, his stomach rumbling. He slipped into the tavern and let his eyes take it in. It was small, certainly, but he hadn’t expected anything more from a dock town such as Kamma.

Izvilvin had noticed the orange-haired man beginning to walk as soon as he did, a telltale sign that he would be followed. He’d expected some conflict in his homeland, but hadn’t anticipated it so soon. Rather than worry himself over it – he might have been wrong, after all – Izvilvin sat at a table facing the door and quickly ordered some food and water.

Sure enough, the man entered moments later. Deftly and silently, Izvilvin rose from his chair and slipped behind a column supporting the roof of the place, his face just peeking out from it. The man was pale as if he were a Dheathian ghoul, and had exotic weapons Izvilvin had only limited experience with, but his demeanour gave no dangerous impression. Either he wasn’t here on dirty business or he was an expert at controlling his body language. Izvilvin stepped out from behind the column just as his food arrived.

“You were waiting for me. Yes?”

[Silence Sei]

Sei stood his ground, remaining firm in his disposition. He had expected no less from the man he helped train for years. A smile formed across the mute's lips as he turned to face his target. He nodded to the drow as he shifted his eyes around the room for a moment. Luckily, most of the residents were too busy getting tore up to give much attention that one of their hero's was in the room.

"Indeed I was," the voice entered Izvilvin's head, echoing as if it were one of his own thoughts, but with a 'voice' that was not his own. Sei took a few steps towards the far table, the one that had food placed upon it with nobody there to eat it. The mystic could only assume this table either belonged to the assassin, or somebody who was currently using the lavatories. The former seemed much more likely.

"My name is Sei Orlouge, if that name means anything to you, perhaps we could cut to the chase?" Sei was being pretty blunt and straightforward in his words. He had an army to run, an army he was sure Jensen Ambrose was currently trying to irritate to the fullest of his capabilities in the mutes absence. "I am assembling a team together. I have watched what you could do from a distance for a long time, Izvilvin. I think you would have a place on my team, given your special talents."

Sei was sure not to let anybody else in the room hear his 'words'. He had sent the message only to Izvilvin so the crowd wouldn't flock to them in order to praise Sei. Not that the mute thought they would, now that he was conversing with the drow, but it was good never to take chances. "From the way I see things, you owe Thoracis a debt in order for inadvertently freeing you. Let's say I'm collecting the debt on our former lord's behalf."

[Izvilvin]

The warrior was instantly uncomfortable. He'd experienced this kind of communication before with an old ally, and he could never overcome the feeling of invasiveness when someone's voice simply entered his mind.

He couldn't hide the wince that came with the man's words, though it couldn't be obvious whether it was the mental telepathy or the words themselves that made Izvilvin so uncomfortable. He moved with Sei to reclaim his seat, motioning tentatively toward the empty chair so the man could sit if he wished.

"I heard your name before," he said, unsure of how to communicate, in common, that Sei's name was familiar as if he'd heard it years earlier. "But I do not kill for money. Or for a bed."

He took a bite from a steaming flank of meat that had been delivered. A quick one. "And I don't owe debts, except to some close friends."

A moment passed then where Izvilvin seemed to look through Sei Orlouge. Something was ticking in the drow's head, his memory pumping hard through decades of information to provide him with what he surely knew. As quickly as he'd zoned out, his eyes focused once more.

"Sei Orlouge. The war hero."

Izvilvin sucked his teeth.

"Xun dos telanth ilythiiri?"

(("Do you speak drow?"))

[Silence Sei]

"I actually do not 'speak' anything," Sei said, sitting at Izvilvin's table. As he did, Sei reached to his hand and gripped a chakram that was in its leather sheathe. A few moments later, another dish was served at the table; two slices of Alerar cheese cake was placed in front of each seat, the desserts sitting on small porcelain dishes that seemed too small for the cuts. Sei reached around for a fork while continuing to look at Izvilvin before he continued.

"Luckily, when you're a telepath, not only does it stop you from being physically mute, you're also able to translate your own language into the minds of anyone. If you're asking if I understand drow, however, well, the answer should be pretty obvious." Sei stabbed a piece of the cheese cake with his fork, shoveling the nibble into his mouth as if it were the first thing he had eaten in days.

Sei closed his eyes as he savored the flavor of the creamy goodness. Cheese cake was perhaps the mute's favorite dessert, and Alerar seemed to make the best kind of cheesecake, with just the right amount of every ingredient. Sei's eyes focused back on Izvilvin, a smile forming across his mouth as he did so.

"This stuff is quite good, I highly suggest you try it. No reason two war veterans can't have a civilized meal while discussing terms and whatnot, Izvilvin Kazizzrym." Sei pointed towards the seat where Izvilvin's food had been placed, his smile very welcoming towards the drow.

[Izvilvin]

Izvilvin was used to people knowing altogether too much about him, even those who he'd never met, but it was nevertheless something he hated. It didn't help Sei's cause that the drow was particiularly uncomfortable with psionic communication. The first time he'd experienced it was with his friend and ally, Witchblade, who was quick to show its power to him when they'd first met.

He hesitated before trying the cheesecake. He'd long ago become immune to poisons, so he had little to fear from trying it. The dessert was a pleasant surprise, creamy and sweet, but it was not something the drow could see himself enjoying often.

"It's good," he remarked, though his eyes were downcast. It had been so long since he'd through of Thoracis, of Vordutin, that he'd forgotten who the mage was for a moment.

Of course Izvilvin owed him a debt. It was because of Thoracis's leadership that he'd had the opportunity to escape.

"Tell me what you want, then," he spoke in drow. If Sei could understand him, he had no reason to resort to common, which he was much less comfortable with. "Do not try to lie to me or to fool me. If I support your cause, you will have no reason to."

[Silence Sei]

"I don't lie unless I absolutely have to." Sei said, matter-of-factly while taking another bite of his cheesecake. "What I have for you is the truth, simple as that. You may interpret it as you see fit. I guess I should start from the beginning."

"Radasanth is going to have a terrible war set against it. My daughter found a prophecy predicting that nine specific warriors would rise up to the challenge and defeat this coming evil." Sei raised a hand towards his drow accomplice, stopping him before a question was asked. "No, you are not one of those nine warriors. However, I have decided it best if the nine of us stuck around and formed a kind of world-police unit. A group the people can look up to in a time of need. People who one will know will answer the call of distress. You get the idea."

Sei took another bite of the cheesecake, enjoying the soft texture between his canines. The mute closed his eyes and lost himself for a moment. Opening his blue orbs once more, Sei continued.

"I wanted to divide the Nine into nine separate groups, with me having absolute authority over the other eight heads of the group. One of the sub-division I have created is a wetworks team. Now I know what you're thinking, 'Why would Sei Orlouge need a group of assassins?' Truth be told, I just need one. There are evil men in this world, Izvilvin, men who can't be dealt with any other way. It's a burden I alone must bear, asking people to corrupt their souls for the good of Althanas."

A few tears began to form in Sei's eyes. He truly was hurt about having to send out killers to take the lives of others. Such acts were things Sei had always been against. But in the world Althanas was becoming, certain steps had to become necessary to prevent someone like Xem'Zund from ever rising to power again. Sei blinked away the water forming in his eyes.

"Anyways, the only one on the team right now is Cassandra Remi; the girl known as the Midnight Mistress, the Gisela Reaper, and several other names she would boast about were she here. Now, I have faith in the spirit of others to seek redemption, but Cassandra's tainted soul will take more time to work on than others. I need people on her team I can trust, people who I know won't break the one rule of the wetworks team; that nobody can know about it. I need someone like you, Izvilvin. You're strong enough to stand toe-to-toe with Cassandra should she go outside mission perimeters. From what I know of you, you'd be immune to nearly all of her potions, so you could not be easily drugged. For all outside perspectives, you'd be working for her, but in all reality, you'd be answering to me."

Sei knew his proposal was a lot to take in. This was a request to stop and subdue Cassandra freaking Remi if she flew off of the handle as she had been known to do. Sei knew that physically, Izvilvin would be the perfect candidate for an 'Anti-Cass' as it were. However, the drow's heart may not be in such a request, signing himself away to kill people Sei wanted dead. Sei took another bite of his cheesecake before meeting the assassins’ eyes once more.

[Izvilvin]

"Policing, dictating... Making decisions for others," he mused aloud, the raspy tone of the warrior's drow tongue carrying between them. "Policing the world from a standpoint beyond where they can see."

Izvilvin took another bite of the cheesecake. The first bite had melted delightfully into him, but the second and the third declined in quality. The prospect of this new food had him excited, but the more he tasted it, the less impressed he was. How many times had the warrior joined some initiative because the original idea appealed to him, only to grow to hate it?

Similarly, though, as he took a moment to survey their immediate surroundings, the peaceful joy among the faces of some of the bar patrons, he realized he felt the exact opposite of this bar. It hadn't appealed to him at first, but after some thought, it seemed just right.

He'd always loved Radasanth, too. That city had done so much for him. He recalled fighting with Letho and Christina Bredith to protect it, going so far as to betray Step for the first time during their struggle.

"I've only just arrived home," he said after a moment. For some reason, Sei's proposal had him interested. "I need some time. A week, at minimum, before I can begin anything you'd ask of me."

Something about the man told Izvilvin he could be trusted. That wasn't a feeling Izvilvin had often, and when he did, the drow was prone to being burned. However, if Sei's words were genuine, Izvilvin didn't mind the job. He'd be protecting people by keeping Cassandra under control or reeling her in when she wavered.

"One thing," he said. "When I say I am done, I'm done. No strings attached."

[Silence Sei]

"Of course, we are not just policing from the shadows. I plan to get permission to have every member of the Knights be kind of emissaries for us. I already have a few strongholds placed around Althanas, with more coming each day. I have a team also assembled to show the world that we are the good guys, a group I have called 'The Hero Team'. I just have a reputation to uphold, and can not allow my friends to realize all the work it takes to keep Althanas safe." Sei had heard Izvilvin's agreement to his terms, provided the mute could give him a week, as well as his other condition.

"Your terms are acceptable, provided you can guarantee me that you will never tell anybody about the team. I never expected you to be bound to me for life. Heck, if you wish for a transfer at some point to another team, I could arrange for that. I leave it all in your hands. As I said before, your goal is to carry out the mission while keeping tabs on Cassandra for me." Sei took a final bite of his cheesecake crust. The crust was always his least favorite part of the delicacy. Setting his fork down upon the plate, Sei stood and offered his hand to Izvilvin.

"This was an unofficial meeting, however. Nobody will really pay any mind to us conversing today. I do need for the two of us to actually 'meet' somewhere else. Let's say Fallien in two weeks time. I need to gather up some horses, and it seems like the perfect time for a 'chance meeting' to allow more people into the ranks of the knights." Sei wiped a bit of the desert from his lips using his shirts left shoulder as a napkin while still holding out his right hand in friendship.

Some things in life were just too good to be formal about.

[Izvilvin]

Izvilvin warmed to the proposal. If Sei was sincere in his offer and his motivations, the warrior would feel fulfilled in a way he hadn't since his time in Jya's Keep, where he'd protected hundreds from the dangerous desert creatures that hunted there.

"I can keep a secret. If we truly work for the people, if we don't fall into... other businesses, if we don't harm the innocent or taint ourselves with the blood of the good, my blades will be with you."

Izvilvin knew he didn't need to extend a threat Sei's way. The implied alternative to what he wished was enough.

Leaving half of his cheesecake uneaten, he stood, taking Sei's hand into his own. It was a strong, calloused appendage. The hands of a warrior.

"I can arrange for the horses in Fallien," he offered. "Provided we meet in Irrakam. Two weeks' time will be more than enough for me to accomplish what I came to Alerar to do."

Already he was thinking of the letter he would send to Jya's Keep. She would certainly provide a handful of horses for him, no questions asked. He was eager to see her once more, but the reunion would be bittersweet - he would feel an obligation to visit the graves of his friends Laix and Palmer, victims of Sasarai the wizard.

An hour in Alerar, and Izvilvin had a new purpose. What a strange world.

[Revenant]

Condensed Rubric requested.

STORY: 19

CHARACTER: 19

WRITING STYLE: 20

WILD CARD: 5

TOTAL: 63

Short, simple and elegant.

Silence Sei receives 2369 exp and 115 gp.
Izvilvin receives 2252 exp and 115 gp.

Silence Sei’s spoil request for an outpost in the bar is granted, mostly because is serves cheesecake.