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Thread: Cleaning House

  1. #1
    Administrator

    EXP: 87,404, Level: 12
    Level completed: 81%, EXP required for next Level: 2,596
    Level completed: 81%,
    EXP required for next Level: 2,596


    Lye's Avatar

    GP
    3,226

    Name
    Lichensith Ulroke
    Age
    32
    Race
    Human
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone

    Cleaning House

    Silence has always been a companion. It is something has always brought me comfort, confidence, and strength. Now... Now, these damp, cold walls and dim lighting filled me with restlessness. It had only been a few days since returning from Keribas where the other Sanctum heads made it painfully apparent that my leadership is not only questioned here in Slavar, but around the other Sanctums. Were it not for Scarlet, I doubt these neanderthals would have opened the gates for my return. Head hung low from the edge of my bed, I turned my attention to the battered cloak and armor hanging on the mannequin by my desk. I moved my shoulder to check for stiffness - much improved since I arrived. The events overseas left me more battered and bruised than anything on Althanas. A learning experience to be sure. The few days of rest had returned my vigor save for a few noteworthy aches.

    I lifted myself off the bed. As I walked to the mirror at my desk, surrounded by neglected notes and half-finished alchemy projects, I noticed a small missive out of place. I lifted the parchment and scanned the contents. A letter written in Scarlet's handwriting. The contents weren't meant for my eyes but were written to me. Questions, anger, discontent. I owed her plenty for her work during my leave but the last few lines made me straighten my posture.

    "They don't respect you anymore. They don't fear you anymore. You've lost the Hand. Advencia is now my..."

    I stopped reading and set the letter down to see the man in the reflection across from me. Hair long and knotted, circles under green eyes darker than the bruises on my chest, and a myriad of scars filled with the knowledge of my failures. Pathetic. I've known for a long time I don't fit the mold of a leader. These hands are all that's needed to carve the necessary path. I creased my lips into a grin.

    "They're deluded," slipped out as I looked at my palms.

    Too many brainless idiots made their way into these walls. Too many sheep and a pen built to keep them contained. None of them pose a threat to me, not a one, but as these selfish bastards stand shoulder to shoulder, they feel more confident. I don't know if they simply fear Scarlet more than me or respect her. It doesn't matter. The herd has grown too large.

    I looked up and grabbed a small stiletto usually purposed for letters. I took all I could of that knotted, pale hair into my fist and severed it in one clean sweep of the blade. The weight lifted literally from my head and fell to the floor. I looked younger, already feeling more like myself. With a dull thud, I buried the blade into the letter just along the line of "You've lost the Hand."

    I'm going to make the most of this night, I thought as I began to strap into my armor. If I've lost the Hand, then it doesn't need to exist anymore.

  2. #2
    Administrator

    EXP: 87,404, Level: 12
    Level completed: 81%, EXP required for next Level: 2,596
    Level completed: 81%,
    EXP required for next Level: 2,596


    Lye's Avatar

    GP
    3,226

    Name
    Lichensith Ulroke
    Age
    32
    Race
    Human
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone
    Salvan nights were long and dark, a requirement for the arctic climate. The bitter cold kept even the most hardened indoors at its worst during the twilight hours. The few that still walked the compound either pursued entertainment or fulfilled their duty as watchmen or guards. The majority of the watch posted themselves along the large pinewood wall. Obviously, they were to keep a lookout on the treeline for movement. Humans, sure, but the Crawlers as well. Around this time of day, their lanterns would dance in the thickness of the woods. It often reminded me of the bugs in the Coronian forests, but significantly more deadly. It took a keen eye to discern the difference from their artificial light and the natural flicker of a flame. Knowing their attentions would be focused on whether or not a glow in the forest was this or that, it gave me the luxury of free movement in the shadows.

    One man propped himself against the post that kept the thatched roof above him. His arms crossed leisurely over his chest to keep him warm and a small iron pick worked between what was left of his teeth. I can only assume his thoughts wandered as he peered out into the treeline. He was far from his bow and blade. The lack of weight on his shoulders and waist would be welcomed as he relaxed. I didn't know him. Some faceless conscript likely banned from Knife's Edge for one unsavory act or another. Maybe a man who initially invested himself in the idea of stripping those in power of their false entitlement? Either way, I would reflect on him later: the first.

    Oh, how I relish that tuft of warm breath in the cold. You can see it - the vitality, life. Not just breath either but blood as well. My hand reached up from the cloak of night and covered the muffled cry of discomfort certain to escape his lips. My blade of war slipped between his ribs smoother than into its own scabbard. Through the lung and into the heart, I could tell my steel hit home when the blade's tendency to drink blood couldn't keep up with the amount frantically being pumped along the groove in its spine. And there it was, that visible wisp of vitality lifting off the small spill on the floorboards.

    I wanted to see it through, the final light that fades from the eyes, but time was a scarce resource tonight. I'd seen enough of death's whispers that this one, the first, wouldn't look much different. I pulled him against my chest. He griped the hand around his mouth with one arm and I felt the jab of his other elbow prodding my ribs. I felt mild discomfort, not from his attempts to break free, but as my bones shifted form and skewered him via impromptu iron maiden. There are 24 ribs in the human body. All of them were now also in his which quickly took the fight out of him. They retracted, I returned a well fed blade to its scabbard, and slowly lowered the first to rest. Not out of respect for him per se, but for that of the stillness in the air. I had more work to do, afterall.

  3. #3
    Administrator

    EXP: 87,404, Level: 12
    Level completed: 81%, EXP required for next Level: 2,596
    Level completed: 81%,
    EXP required for next Level: 2,596


    Lye's Avatar

    GP
    3,226

    Name
    Lichensith Ulroke
    Age
    32
    Race
    Human
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone
    The cover of night made movement akin to skimming over water thanks to my close tie to the plane of shadows. Like swimming - come up for air, claim a life, go back under, rinse, and repeat. With the enchantment on my steel honed with blood, each entry into flesh took less and less resistance. Skin and muscle felt like water on its edge and bone no more than warm butter. One by one, I visited the watchtowers. Despite the rush of adrenaline I get from drawing out a kill, I kept my movements efficient, fast, and precise. Just below the atlas, the first vertebrae of the spine, is the sweet spot; just between the second and third. The second is usually what breaks at the noose, sheers between the third and that's it. A blade, however is a little more reliable than hoping the bones break and give enough force to damage the central nervous system. Just a little in and out at an upward angle and you have a carcass. The beauty of it all is the immediate result. No "augh you bastard!", no "what the?!", no screams, no retaliation, and if I'm lucky, I'll hear that slight intake of breath before the diaphragm goes slack.

    Killing is easy. Too easy. Find a few key points, put something there that doesn't belong, and it's done. The moral consequence is the biggest hurdle for most and I'll admit the first few lives taken were out of necessity. Who was that person? Were they missed? What would they have accomplished? After a while, it's no different than livestock or hunting for sport. Just meat. Something to test my skills. Something to prove I'm superior. After that comes the hardest part: getting away with it. One? That's easy, hit and run. Several, well, that's why positioning is key. One, I propped up with his arm around a post as if he was using it for support. Another, make it look like he's sitting. Had to hold up a few with possession magic because if one of the goons on the ground takes a look up and his two brain cells work together, he might realize there are no guards in the watchtowers. I need to ensure suspicions are not raised until I'm nearly done.

    And that's why the dozen who were put on watch are already gone from this world with a few set to fall from their watchtowers once I release them from my shadowy grip. That's also why the two posted at the gate need not be dealt with. In fact, they'll ensure a clean get away. Diversion, a very important trick I learned early on.

    With the eyes in the sky blinded, I turned my attention inward. My first target would be somewhere I can maximize damage with the least amount of movement - somewhere target rich. Which, at night, is simple: the barracks. Always an easy place for a kill. They're either asleep or as vulnerable as they can be aside from taking a shit. Another easy ,albeit less enjoyable, place to snuff out a life.

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