• Mature • 6. Cold Hearts [FYW Event Chapter 6]

[Strange]

Chapter Six
Cold Hearts

121 Vhalar, Arc 719

From the cells of solitary confinement, to the dining hall of revelation about Niflheim and Overseer Grimnir and her spellweavers, to the riot started by Ferret the Becomer, to choices made and the parting of ways…

…you find yourself with a path forward.

A way to potentially escape from this cold, confusing prison in a frigid land ruled by the logic of spirits and fears unknown.

Praetorum and Amaris, you find yourself on the heels of the young androgynous biqaj: Zourvy. Lockpick, assassin, and once bonded by the mark of Qylios to their sister, Vy.

Zourvy led you through the halls, to the storage rooms where you were able to recover your belongings and weapons. A plan is in motion, to take the role of guards, and sneak out of Niflheim together.

Unbeknownst to any of you, and unknown to Zourvy, the biqaj known as Vy has not succeeded. She was captured, along with the flayer Abra.

Victor, you refused Sneabru’s offer to lead you out from this place. For your noble ties should bring you special treatment, and so it has… the Spellweaver Angud has given you a chance to prove your worth. By serving as a double agent, to spy on Ferret and the others, you will be granted high status and rank in the Syns once everything is finished.

You have been given a sword, a dagger, and the guard has put you on your way in the direction of the others.

Navyri, you chose to follow Ferret into the alchemy laboratory. You discovered much through the stressed mage who has been in Niflheim since the 19th of Cylus. Despite this, there are still more questions than answers, more mysteries than knowledge, and yet…

…Ferret has a plan. He aims to take the six vials of solution from the bread, to poison the Spellweavers with the food, and enact his revenge.

All of you follow the paths laid before you…

…and find yourselves together once again....

...in a dour room of stone and dripping moisture, an abandoned space left no more decorated than the cells you came from, shackles upon the walls and stripped humanoid bones in the corners.

A shattered pile of skulls sits in the center of this small room.

You arrived in waves.

First was the ugly ithecal, Sneabru, who settled in the far corner with a pilfered dagger in his hands.

Second was Praetorum, Amaris, and Zourvy led by the guard, Rolf. Somewhere along the way, through the winding paths of a secret passage carved from stone, Anos vanished... why or where is unknown. One moment he was there, the next he wasn't.

Rolf quickly took off as soon as they’d made it to the meeting spot.

Zourvy greeted Sneabru with a simple wave, and handed over some leather clothes to the ithecal, then proceeded to spend the rest of the time pacing and rubbing at their forearm. Wearing a catsuit of dark leather and heavy boots, with a belt filled with lockpicking materials, knives, and needles, Zourvy seemed put together by every measure except their attitude. Praetorum would know that under the fitted sleeve was the tattooed band of a faded Celarion mark.

Third, arrived Victor… alone… with sword in hand and deception on the mind, and a fair amount of explaining to do when Sneabru hissed at him.

For nearly a break, the group remained like this. Sneabru in his corner, sharpening the dagger with a whetstone while glaring at Victor. Zourvy pacing while rubbing their forearm. Victor, Praetorum, and Amaris left to each other to account for what had happened so far.

“Something is wrong,” said Zourvy after the long break of time. “Where is Vy?”

The stone door slid open and…

Lastly, Navyri arrived. Somewhere along the way, through the winding paths of a secret passage carved from stone, Alex vanished... why or where is unknown. One moment he was there, the next he wasn't.

At her heels, Ferret soon entered and shut the door behind him.

“Are we all here?” asked Ferret, vials still in hand.

“Not Vy,” said Zourvy. The petite biqaj handed over the bag of possessions from the storage room, to Ferret. Zourvy looked at Navyri and asked, “Did you see her?”

While Ferret looked through, then changed into a warmer pair of clothes, he looked over the group with his brilliantly blue eyes. His gaze lingered on Victor, then he shook his head and declared, “Where are the guard uniforms?”

“Vy isn’t back, I told you,” insisted Zourvy. “I should go look for her.”

“Noooo, sssstay,” hissed Sneabru.

“If we don’t have uniforms, how will we ever get out of here? And what about the ithecals, they can't hide their tails in armor, can they? Ferret? ...Sneabru, what are we going to do?” asked Zourvy, a slight expression of confusion on their tattooed and scarred face as they looked between the two other prisoners.

“Whatever. Forget the uniforms. There’s a small cave-in, through an old stairwell that leads to the Overseer’s quarters, we’ll go that way,” said Ferret while he pulled on some short boots.

“The Overseer’s quarters?” repeated Zourvy. They stopped pacing and looked at the mage. “Why would we… I thought the way out was through the docking foyer?”

“It issss,” mentioned Sneabru. “What aaaare yoooou doing, Ferret?”

“You think we’re actually going to escape?! By waltzing out of here?!” Ferret snorted. “We’d get a trial’s worth away, if we’re lucky! No. Our only option is to take Niflheim.”

“Take… Niflheim?” Zourvy looked over at Sneabru, biqaj eyes flourishing in green colors of the irises. They placed a hand on a knife at their belt. “That's not what you told me! That wasn’t the plan! You said we were going to leave! I just want to get out of here, with Vy! Where is she?!”

“Ssssour… eassssy…” hissed Sneabru. The ithecal got up to his talon feet, tail swishing.

Guidelines

You are all currently in a small stone room that is serving as a meeting spot.

Discuss as much as you like between each other in IC dialogue (within reason).

Victor, during that break of time, you're going to want to make a very good case to Sneabru about why it is you didn't go with him and yet, now you're back.

You may do, say, behave, act however you like.


Remember…

• play to the level of your skills (if you want a chance of success).
• you do not have access to...
  • any domain magic.
  • any marked abilities.
  • any mortalborn abilities.
  • dreamwalkers: you are unable to access Emea.
• some passive visual mutations will show, more active mutations will not.
• some Blessed markings will show, but the abilities remain inaccessible.
• you are unable to dream, thus when you are asleep, you are blacked-out unconscious.

!

Message from: Strange

Hello Party! You’re all together again, what a coincidence! Keep your wits about you, read the guidelines. Stat-dependent actions will be checked in the background. Deadline for this post round is January 26. You may post as many times as you'd like (min. 250 words per post), and out of order, to facilitate any IC dialogue exchanges between PCs. If you need to pass the round or leave the event, contact me prior to the deadline to let me know. If you have any questions, concerns, or issues, please PM me.

[Praetorum]

Date: ???

Status: Starting to plan

Weapons: Scythe and Tower Shield

Armor: Platelike-Leather

No Current Magical Effects

Rolf the turncoat led them through a long winding tunnel of stone, dark and dank and entirely too short for Praetorum. Busy keeping his head ducked to avoid smacking it against the ceiling, Prae only caught a brief glimpse of Anos before he slipped away—at least, that was what Prae thought had happened. The ithecal said nothing, despite his disappointment; if the man thought his chances of escaping were better on his own, Prae wasn't going to stop him. 



After what felt like an eternity, they emerged into miserable looking room, strewn about with humanoid remains. The only occupant, at least when they arrived, was Sneabru, the wyvarnth who had sat with them at their first and only meal-time. Prae nodded to him in greeting, then went to the center of the room, and pushed the pile of skulls to the side, using his tail almost as a broom to sweep them all into an unobtrusive corner. 



Reaching into his domain bag, Praetorum pulled out the various weapons he had taken from the storeroom, as well as one coil of rope, and piled them neatly where the skulls had been. The other escapees were welcome to take whatever they might need from the pile, and were likely to find, if not their preferred type of weapon, at least something they could use. 


Finally, he turned to Amaris and Sneabru. "Since we have a moment to breath, this seems as good a time as any for introductions. If we're to escape as a group, we'll need to know what skills we have collectively. So, if you'll forgive my bluntness, what can you do without magic or mark? I'm a fighter, as you can see; scythe and shield, mostly, but I can take up more or less any polearm without issue. I have a crossbow in my possession, but I'm not a particularly good shot, I'm afraid. I can also hold my own weaponless, but best it not come to that."


As the other escapees began trickling in, Praetorum would ask each the same question, building up in his mind a rough idea of this team's strengths and weaknesses.

For players and NPCs

Prae will ask the same question, 'what can you do without ether' to everyone who comes into the room. If they ask, he will tell them his name and that he fights well unarmed, and with scythe and shield, and is a mediocre shot with a crossbow.

!

Message from: Strange

Sneabru answered the other ithecal's question: "Sneabru issss sneak. Disssappear and am sssshadow when want to be. Daggerssss, I kill with. Clawsss, I pick with. I fool, and trick, and know how to make hoooomans think something is what it isss not." "I was Sssskadiri, spy, until they found out about Sneabru's sssparks. I tell them it does not change me, they do not listen. I tell them it helpssss my missions, they do not care. I am good shadow, good soldier, they disssslike me anyway. Say I cannot control my magic, but they do not know. It is liesss."

[Victor Amielle]

Victor walked into the room, a sword in his hand, a dagger hidden under his clothes and his cheek still throbbing with pain. The noble looked much less put together and arrogant now. He looked … as if he had taken a beating which was exactly what had happened, and he had the facial expression to match.

He looked at the people present, let his gaze drift across his new surroundings that were far less inviting than his previous accommodation (there was a pile of skulls there, for Delroth’s sake) and looked back at them before he decided that he was well and truly fucked.

Angud had talked about Ferret and two others, including Navyri. Where had the rest of the people come from? This was either much bigger than Angud and her colleagues thought, or she had withheld information on purpose. Either way, it didn’t bode well for him.

If they found out that he was a double agent, he would be dead. He could probably handle one or two people – but not half a dozen. He couldn’t double-cross Spellweaver Angud either though because she would definitely kill him. He also didn’t want to. He actually liked her, even though he was under no illusion that she was using him in some way.

Angud had mentioned Lyngheid. Lyngheid was the closest thing to a friend that he had in Melrath. She was a member of the Syns, and her father was a Spellweaver just like Angud. Those degenerates would probably kill them both without second thoughts if they got in their way.

They were dangerous, they were insane, and they had no self-control …

He’d begun to have a bit of a bad conscience before, but really, there was no reason for him to have one, apart from where Navyri was concerned, maybe. She was a Tarouz after all.

How was he supposed to get out of this alive though? Angud’s plan had been much easier in theory!

He had to find a way though!

~~~
When Sneabru hissed at him, he briefly considered hissing back at him out of sheer frustration before he realized that doing such would likely be counterproductive; besides, a lord of Lysoria didn’t hiss. That freak Sneabru whose Common left a lot to be desired, was the one he would have to be the most careful about. He had seen him leave with the guard.

He let out a sigh and remarked in a bitter tone that he didn’t have to fake because he truly felt like that, “I thought they would treat me differently because my brother is the Lord of Lysoria. I thought the guard would take me to him – or at least somewhere I could wait for him. They didn’t care about my family though. They just wanted to lock me up again and hurt me. So, when an opportunity presented itself, I took it. I even managed to acquire a weapon”, he admitted which was more or less exactly what had happened and rubbed his injured cheek that felt as if a bruise would probably form soon.

“I’m sorry for being so rude to you, by the way. That was unwarranted”, he apologized softly – because acting like that during the riot had definitely not been a good idea, he realized a little belatedly.

Unless Sneabru wanted to know more details, hissed at him again – or did something much worse than hiss at him – he would just stay back for the next little while, watch the proceedings and not get in anyone’s way, but politely answer any questions that were directed at him while he wondered how he was supposed to get them to betray the plan without them growing suspicious. Fortunately, it didn’t seem as if he would have to do a lot of lying and persuading. They discussed what they had in mind quite openly.

When they talked about taking Niflheim, he couldn’t help but remark, “I’m not sure how you expect to take Niflheim. You might be able to handle the guards, but each Spellweaver rivals a hundred men – and we are less than dozen. We’d have to disable their magic first, and none of you seem to have the necessary items with you. I have some experience with such”, he added, thinking of his Aberrant lover, Jonathan Burr, and what they had likely done to him before they had executed him.

“I’m just concerned”, he explained, in case they took issue with his comment and decided to be mad at him – which was something that he definitely couldn’t use right now. If he were on their side, he’d act the same though. How did they plan on getting rid of the Spellweavers?

Angud, he remembered, had told him to claim that he knew how to get into Overseer Grimnir’s private chambers. They had just mentioned the Overseer, but it would probably make him look suspicious if he immediately said everything that he was supposed to say, he realized. So, he simply waited for the other wannabe escapees to arrive – and watched with surprise as the other Ithecal, Praetorum … removed a lot of weapons from a bag?

Where had he acquired a magic item?

“I’m a swordsman of some skill”, he replied as Praetorum asked them what they could do without ether – which was exactly what he was. He was quite skilled with a blade.

► Show Spoiler

Victor has Expert Blades.

[Navyri]

"What if I fall?"

Oh but darling
What if you fly?

Date

Navyri stepped through the room with reluctant steps, attention bouncing among the entourage and she twisted at the sound of Ferret sealing them in. A tension coiled around her stomach at the closing of the space- or was that the hunger? - and she exhaled a low breath as Zourvy passed her companion a bag.

Their eyes met and Navyri could practically felt the Biqaj radiating tension, “Did you see her?”

Navyri glanced at Ferret who was now dressing. See who? Perfect brows knitted as she resisted the urge to snatch away the domain bag herself. After a beat of consideration, she shook her head and tried to choose her words carefully, mindful of her disadvantage in dress and situational knowledge, “No. The Yari’s not here either.”

A larger Ithecal - one she recognized from the dining hall, was quick to ask of their capabilities and she crossed her arms, just as the others argued behind her. Ferret had been keeping lies of his own, rallying them to an endgame the others had not anticipated.

Damn it.

Navyri took the opportunity to rummage for supplies, slipping the bag into her own possession while Ferret defended his plan and Zourvy readied to cut his lying throat. She pulled out a white blouse and woolen leggings, black but warm. Around her, while the men argued, she took her knife and cut from the shoulderblades to the hem, glancing at Praetorum who mentioned his skill in polearms and hand to hand combat.

The dark haired woman tore her rags off and began to redress, the extent of her tattoos visible as she stood naked atop the pile of bones, “If something happened, taking Nieflheim will be your best chance of saving Vy,” she added, tugging the pants over her ass and looking down to find them too big around the waist. She sighed, dipping into bag to pull out a rope, “Of course, that’s assuming Ferret’s plan works and we’ve already had that discussion. I think-” Navyri worked on creating a makeshift belt, dark hair spilling forward, “They’ll be expecting something. You, the most. Troublemaker.”

This, she directed towards Ferret, who had no doubt spent the most time aggravating the Overseerer and her lackeys. Navyri slid the shirt over her head and settled the cut back on either side of her wings, tying the ends around her lower back, “Up close and personal, I am devastating. In every sense of the word.” Fucking, fighting. Navyri had learned quite a bit in her fifty five arcs, “I am strong, enduring, with a blade, and even more so, without.. I am light on my feet and I speak five or so languages. I can fly and possess night vision. Aren’t I impressive?”

Navyri smirked, although there was little mirth there. She crouched to pick up a long bone. A femur, maybe. She turned towards Victor, “You should be concerned.” Her blue eyes were ice as she approached him, “I was on my way back, to Soren’s. Where we met, remember?” Her head tilted as she watched him, wondering how someone could be so foolish to think these people might actually care about his political status in a city so far away. This operation was much bigger than either of them, they had both seen the riot, “They planned it. Methodical. Stalked. Chased. Beaten. Starved. And they’ve done much worse to them. I am no mage. So is it this?”

She used the femur to tap at his arm where she knew his blessing waited. The same one they shared and stepped closer, leaning forward to whisper in his ear, “This place wants to exploit us. We must choose our flock wisely and take our leap of faith if we wish to survive.”

Navyri pulled back, twirling the bone in her hand while she moved closer to the largest Ithecal, “Whatever we decide to do, we need to be on the same page. Clearly, the Overseer or whoever is willing to turn on their own," she waved towards Sneau and his story regarding his previous job placement, ”Say we go to the this cave in... then what?”

[Amaris]

Clothed now, and armed, the mixed blood followed after their fellow prisoners and the guard. They were reminded, only a little, of Faldrass as they ran through the halls. It only served to put more urgency in their step. They would not see the same fate; they hoped they didn’t.

Amaris slowed as they entered the meeting ground, gaze sliding over to the much smaller ithecal. They’d organized this — or the man Ferret had. They had not been privy to how Slags Deep had worked, but knowing that there were prisoners capable of this here caused wonder as to how the other prison hadn’t fallen to the same fate. But that didn’t much matter now. Amaris glanced over as other prisoners filed in, Ferret the last and shutting the door behind him.

Agitation settled as they listened in to the trio’s conversation, mainly on Zourvy’s part. “Perhaps she was delayed.” It was a weak offering in a situation like this, but it was something. They could understand the fear of losing a sibling you were close with. “Or she took an alternate route to get here.” Another offering, slightly better.

“My name is Amaris. I’m not much of a combatant.” They raised the nub of a hand sheepishly, gaze cast down a moment. “But I am a competent enough healer. I should think I could fix up anything manageable quickly. Or at least tend to anything serious with first aid.” They might add that they had a fraction of their father’s strength, but what good would a fraction do here? Praetorum would most definitely be useful in that regard, but the importance lay in everyone being able to contribute something. At least, that was what they thought.

The winged woman made a point. Several, actually. “I am no mage, either.” It might seem like otherwise with the way their hair glowed, changed color. “I don’t understand why they’d chosen me; I assumed it had been some sort of mistake, but I fear that they don’t make mistakes here all that often.” Amaris glanced in Rolf’s direction, but said nothing. “If they are expecting us one place, I don’t think it would be in our best interest to go there.”

They shifted their weight from one foot to the other. They missed Fiver. The hare would have had something endearingly childish to say that might calm them some. Or distract. They wouldn’t mind being seen as crazy for talking to hare just for that smidgeon of comfort. “Maybe the cave-in would be better? They won’t expect us and we’ll escape. But...Zourvy’s sister...we should at least see if we can get information where other guards might have last seen her.” Amaris turned to the biqaj, much smaller than they. “Then, you would be able to know that she is safe, maybe.”

[Praetorum]

Date: ???

Status: Thinking

Weapons: Scythe, Shield

Armor: Platelike Leather

No Current Magical Effects

So, two scouts, two fighters, a healer, a jack of all trades, and a Ferret, whatever he could do. This was a decently well rounded group, which was perhaps not quite what they needed in this situation. 


Not that anyone seemed particularly clear on what exactly was needed; it seemed Ferret had lied to his companions about their goal here, and now the group was in complete disarray. 



First things first; Vy. Prae would not let another lose a sibling like he had, not if he could help it. 



"You lot know where Vy would have gone after the riot, yeah? Sneabru and Zourvy, if you think you two could make it there without getting spotted, you might be able to track her from there." He turned back to the others, wanting to get ahead of any pushback they might get for that idea. "Obvious enough that Zourvy's not going to leave without her, so better we take the time to find her than be down by two people. And having anyone who knows your plans in the spellweaver's grasps is dangerous; the woman with three eyes... she was an attuner, I think? We won't be safe if she can root around Vy's head."


"As for the actual plan... you're going to have to explain your plan in a lot more detail, Ferret. How can you guarantee that just taking down the overseer will let us take control of the prison? This place hardly seems the most competently run, but only a complete shambles of an organization would collapse after the death of their leader. Control ought to just pass down the chain of command." 



Prae frowned, considering. "But if we could hit at whatever is keeping everyone from their marks and magic... It would be complete chaos. We might even be able to bring down the prison, free everyone here, if all of the prisoners had their powers restored. Even if they manage to seize control back, it would weaken them greatly, and we likely wouldn't be the only escapees; they'd have to spread very thin to recapture us."


Prae shook his head. "That's all in theory, anyways. Those of us who are new, we don't know enough about this prison. How many prisoners, guards, spellweavers; What sort of backup they can call for, why they even captured us in the first palace. Whatever you can tell us about this place, now is the time, while we have a moment to breath and plan."

[Strange]

Victor concerned himself with the seemingly insurmountable task put forth, and rallied himself to hold strong. It was a good thing that none of the group could read the Lysorian Lord’s mind. When he made his case, to Sneabru and Zourvy and Amaris and Praetorum; Sneabru’s lizard face scrunched in a momentary expression of disbelief.

Despite the expression, however, Sneabru hissed in response to Victor’s apology, “You were fool to trusssst those who imprison you. Thisss place makesss most a fool.”

It was all the Ithecal said about the matter though. There were more important things to attend to, and having an extra body with a sword wasn’t a bad thing when the numbers were already so egregiously uneven.

Ferret and Navyri joined the group and the discussion focused on the plan to take Niflheim.

Victor made a good point as to the obstacle ahead in such a plan. “We’d have to disable their magic first, and none of you seem to have the necessary items with you. I have some experience with such”

“We have these,” insisted Ferret and he held up the vials to show them off… though he didn’t explain what they were or what they did.

Praetorum, the leader and warrior.
Sneabru, the sneak and shadow.
Amaris, the competent enough healer.
Victor, the lord and swordsman.
Zourvy, the lockpick and assassin.

Navyri, the…

…undressed…

Ferret seemed to get distracted momentarily by this. So did Zourvy. The two glanced at her while she changed into the blouse and leggings, then the two Biqajs looked at each other with a momentary glance that reminded each of them that they were on the same side. They both wanted to escape, after all. Ferret’s gaze returned to observe the visible tattoos.

When Navyri finished her opinion on things, and called Ferret a troublemaker, a smirk crossed the Becomer’s features. He shook his head as if to regather his thoughts. Regardless of it though, it seemed he’d calmed from his previous tension.

Navyri, the devastating Naerikk.

When Navyri finished account of her many skills, Sneabru piped up, “You ssssshould lead ussss.”

“What?!” asked Ferret and Zourvy at the same moment, their voices overlapped, as the Biqajs both looked at the ugly small ithecal.

“I sssssee when ssssomeone knows what needsss to be done,” explained Sneabru. “Important, willing to do it. Sssshe isss.”

Amaris had brought up a good point: “If they are expecting us one place, I don’t think it would be in our best interest to go there.”

Zourvy appreciated Amaris’ decision to look for what had happened to their sister. They nodded in return to the other androgynous individual.

And Ferret, the… whatever he could do.

Praetorum spoke up again, this time to agree with Amaris and Zourvy on the matter of Vy.

Sneabru hissed quietly and said, “It issss opposite where we are… Vy wasss to go to-”

“I said I should have gone with her. Qy’s braid, I should have never split up from her,” said Zourvy in a clearly upset tone of voice. They rubbed at their forearm, where the mark hid underneath the leather. “It was too much. Her going to the guard barracks all on her own! She needs me!”

“Better one than more for that, less likely to get caught,” interjected Ferret.

“What do you know?” snapped Zourvy defensively. “You lied about what we’re even doing!”

“Never know who to trust…” muttered Ferret, though he looked at the vials rather than looking at Zourvy when he said it.

“It would be dangerousss, very,” said Sneabru to Praetorum. “All of the guardsss are likely back in their holesss…”

"As for the actual plan... you're going to have to explain your plan in a lot more detail, Ferret.” Praetorum turned the attention back onto the Becomer.

Ferret glanced up to make eye contact with the tall, broad ithecal. He snorted and said, “Not just the Overseer. The Spellweavers too. We slip these potions into their food or drink, wait for them to ingest it, then we strike! It’ll work, it will. Any more details than that are useless!”

He paused, then when the ithecal didn’t seem convinced, he continued in a reluctant and hushed tone, “They’ll ingest the potions, their magic will wane, we’ll cut their throats, and… I’ll regain my magic and create a totem out of the Overseer. My magic will return. I will become her and then I shall have control over the prison. Long enough to make a difference.”

Sneabru stepped over to answer Prae’s question about numbers, “Prisoners are many… Guards are fewer… Spellweavers, rare. Very rare. Have only ever seen that which you also have seen.”

“There used to be more,” said Ferret. His gaze fixed on the vials in his hand. It was seemingly a surprising statement, for Sneabru and Zourvy looked at him with slightly widened eyes.

“Back… back in the earlier trials, before youse both were here. There were very few guards, and a great deal more mages, mostly Syns. Of all titles, too. It was different then. Different from what it is now. It’s why there are places like this, forgotten rooms that used to serve as places of study and waste and similar. Back when the Overseer was called Archmage Grimnir, and now…”

“...now there is only the three.” Ferret added, “They study us. All of us.”

“Niflheim was never meant to be a prison. This is a research facility.”

!

Message from: Strange

Hello Party! Victor, you have not been discovered yet. Navyri, you have Sneabru's support to lead the group. Praetorum and Amaris, you have Zourvy's gratitude. For the next round, you may post as many times as you like (min. 250 words per post), and out of order if needed. I strongly suggest you discuss as much as you can between your PCs. If anyone attempts to leave the room, posts can react up to that point and then must stop (and not assume anything further). As agreed on the Discord, we'll be going faster and more open-ended with the event rounds. So the deadline for this round is February 09. If you need to pass the round or leave the event, contact me prior to the deadline to let me know. If you have any questions, concerns, or issues, please PM me. Next Mod Post will be on February 10.

[Victor Amielle]

When Navyri took her rags off and changed into better clothes, Victor looked at her for a moment before he abruptly pulled his gaze away again and pretended to be exceptionally busy with something else. Unlike most of the people that were imprisoned in Niflheim, he cared about good manners a great deal. He didn’t want anybody to think him rude or lewd.

Smart? She thought that she was smart though? He had two degrees from a reputable university. He doubted that she’d ever even seen a university from inside. He reigned in his arrogance though and decided not to make a comment. In the current situation, pointing out that she was definitely not the best would do more harm then good; besides, a part of him actually liked how confident she was.

His appreciating her confidence didn’t change anything though.

She was still in his way.

“I remember”, he remarked curtly as she approached him, bone in hand, like some sort of savage, winged warrior, and inclined his head. “I learned my lesson.” That was all that he said on that matter before he turned to listen to the other wannabe escapees. To his surprise, the Ithecal, Praetorum raised the most important and intelligent questions out of all of them.

He wanted to say something and point out that people that had managed to capture all those mages and marked were hardly incompetent, when Ferret held up the vials. His eyes widened.

“Alchemy?” he wanted to know and raised an eyebrow. He was not particularly familiar with that science, but he assumed that the vial contained some sort of alchemical concoction. “That might actually work”, he decided – which was the truth. He’d been thinking of paradigm cuffs and similar items, and he’d been wondering how they planned on incapacitating the Spellweavers long enough to use them. Potions were a far better solution.

Of course, they wouldn’t get a chance to actually do anything with them if everything went according to plan.

Sneabru’s next words stunned him and increased his conviction that he had made the right choice when he had sided with the Spellweavers. Had he really just made Navyri their new leader, because of a little speech, unfounded claims and the fact that he had briefly seen her naked?

He didn’t actually voice his disagreement though. It probably didn’t his mission.

Neither did he say anything when the conversation turned to the matter of Vy. If some of those people left, his chance of survival would increase. Angud had only mentioned Ferret, Navyri and one other person …

“Not all mages are helpless without their magic”, he pointed out as Ferret revealed their plan, which, he had to admit, was marginally less bad than he had thought. If he made comments, as if he were concerned about their survival, they might be less suspicious of him when he finally said what he was supposed to say. “I know mages that are quite skilled fighters.”

“Some of them might still pose a threat. What will happen if they fight back? How many of us will deal with each Spellweaver?” he wanted to know, wondering if Ferret had thought about that.

“What do you think?” he asked and turned to Navyri who might be the new leader.

He found Ferret’s tale interesting, although he was already familiar with the research that was being conducted in Niflheim – Angud had told him what they were trying to accomplish.

Since Ferret had mentioned the Overseer again, now seemed to be a good time to get a little more involved, he decided, trying to ignore his heart that was beating a little faster now.

It had been a while since he had first talked about that particular topic.

“You mentioned that you plan on making a totem out of the Overseer and becoming her. I assume that you are familiar enough with her mannerisms that you can impersonate her convincingly?” he asked before he raised his hand in order to let him know that he didn’t mean to offend him, that it had been more or less a rhetorical question.

He was, again, just concerned.

“If you need a way to get to the Overseer’s private chambers … I didn’t only complain that life isn’t fair because nobody cares about my brother’s ruling Lysoria. I can help”, he pointed out which was, again, not a lie. He had thought about how to leave this place with his life intact – and how to even benefit from his current predicament quite a bit. He knew things that they might not due to his meeting Angud.

[Navyri]

“You should lead us.”

Navyri looked up at Praetorum the same time Ferret and Zourvy expressed disbelief. She had been expecting the offer to be given to the larger Ithecal and yet, eyes were on her. She blinked, eyebrows raising in consideration while a smirk nestled into the corner of her lips, “Mmm, a plot twist. I’m flattered.”

Sneabru believed her to be important, wiling to do the necessary, although it did occur to her that the snake was simply saying that to stroke her ego. Either way, she had managed to keep the boys from slitting each others throats… for now. What did it mattered if the common distraction had been her own body?

Navyri returned to business, “Amaris is right and expectation is boring. We should get information on.. Vy, was it? The whereabouts of your sister.” Blue eyes rested on the scarred Biqaj. Rescue missions weren’t something she saw much value in, but there was an exception to every rule, “We’re unprepared as we stand. Be honest with me, -” Navyr stepped away from Victor, looking for any sign of deception or weakness in Z, “If you leave this room, with or without Sneabru… What are your chances of bringing her back here? We need your head here, with us. Not out there, distracted. You get in, you get out.” Still… being near the guard’s barracks… It felt too risky.

She glanced at Prae and Amaris, sighing through her nose, “It hasn’t been long. If Amaris can give the girl some treatment, we may have another on our side,” Navyri hadn’t seen Zourvy in action outside of the lock picking at dinner but a person who go undetected and break security would be invaluable. Sneaubru was appropriate backup - she had seen so herself and his own claimed skills would aid in the recon mission. In fact, out of everyone here, Zourvy and Sneabru were the only ones who had proven a sliver of trust. It was hard to suggest they should go.

Ferret may have grabbed her hand, but he was easily cast in emotion and she couldn’t risk him running off with the vials…. assuming they even worked as he claimed. He was a known liar and desperate to devour the Overseer… He would need to be kept close. As he had so eloquently said - you never knew who you could trust.

"Better yet… What about Rolf?” she asked, gaze flickering to Sneabru and then the others, “Could he bring Vy to us instead, say she’s gotta be moved for questioning? Even if its down the hall, we could prepare an ambush. I may know a thing or two about traps and few guards are more easily dispatched than a nest of ‘em. We kill who we need to and take their armor. I just…”

'Don’t have the proper supplies and I’m starving.’

She shrugged.

Victor decided to speak up, “Not all mages are helpless without magic.”

“And not all without magic are helpless,” she muttered, just under her breath, allowing him to finish his point as she prowled the center of the room.

“Some of them might still pose a threat. What will happen if they fight back? How many of us will deal with each Spellweaver? ...What do you think?”

"Depends on your stock,” she answered succinctly, waving a hand towards Ferret, “He resisted mind games and was thrown into a wall by a magic and still bounced back enough to make it here. Funny how they’re enough to rival a hundred men and yet they need so many guards. Either they're protecting themselves or something else. Ferret, what was that you mentioned about the moss earlier?”

She continued her idle pacing, using the movement to freshen her thoughts. Victor sounded more concerned than even herself. Either they got free or they died trying. Reminded of the cannibals, Navyri wasn’t sure they’d make it as long as the others had and she couldn’t risk losing the wings.

Victor wanted to know more and asked about Ferret’s mimicry, “Wait,” her footsteps halted, bone in one hand, dagger in the other. Her blue eyes were scheming, “How?”

She expected one of the others to know more, but him? He had been with her at the tavern more recently, Navyri expected Vincent to have arrived around the time she had, not an expert by any means. So why pipe up about the ability to help when the Overseer’s chambers came into conversation? Navyri turned to stare at the Lord who had shown up alone.

“What else did you do?”

And how had he found them, without the aid of another?

!

Message from: Strange

"Ferret, what was that you mentioned about the moss earlier?” Ferret counted the vials, as if uncertain he still had them all, and answered the simple question, "After I remembered the potions, the bread, I pretended to eat and instead, ate the moss. It's not much, but the moss absorbs moisture from somewhere... so it's filled with water. When the attuner found out, they burned my cell dry of the moss. They try to burn it out, but there is too much for them from what I hear from other prisoners like Sneabru and their cells having moss still. It grows fast, under and between the stones."

[Praetorum]

Date: ???

Status: Planning and Plotting

Weapons: Scythe, Shield

Armor: Platelike-Leather

No Current Magical Effects

Praetorum blinked twice at Sneabru's suggestion, glancing over to catch Navyri's eye. He was just as surprised as her, but made no attempt to disagree. In truth, it didn't really matter who led, especially in such a precarious situation; if Navyri proved up to the task, he would follow her lead, and if she didn't, he would take control. As long as they were all on the same page, they had a chance. 



He returned to the problem of retrieving Vy, frowning as the others explained. If they'd caught her near the guard quarters, that was definitely going to be a problem. If they sent Sneabru and Zourvy into that nest of scorpions, they'd be down three members instead of just one. But not retrieving her wasn't an option, so there was problem number one:


1) Reduce the risk of rescuing Vy 



Problem number two muttered something under his breath about not knowing who he could trust, and Prae frowned. Ferret seemed... unstable, to Prae's mind. The ithecal couldn't blame him, if he'd been here as long as he'd claimed, but still. The biqaj might not take well to his leadership being usurped, or his plans being criticized.


2) Keep Ferret in line, or get all the information needed from him before he disappears.


And there was quite a lot to criticize in that plan. It relied on everything working perfectly, when any soldier knew a battle plan only worked up until the first five minutes, after which something would inevitably go wrong. They would need to access the food and drink, overpower them, keep the guards out of the way, regain their magic, hope Ferret could impersonate the overseer well enough to fool the guards.... Too many steps, too many moving parts. No plan ever went that well. 



Still, the fact that Ferret thought it might work was interesting. If the biqaj knew something the rest of them didn't.... They did need to deal with the spellweavers somehow. 



3) Find a way to disable the spellweavers, or match their powers.



He left Navyri to question Victor on his unexpected knowledge, knowing full well that he was not going to be of any help there. Instead, he turned to Ferret. "Do you know what it is that's keeping us from our magic and marks? And, if you can make a potion to block off their magic, could you make one to unlock ours?"

!

Message from: Strange

"Do you know what it is that's keeping us from our magic and marks? And, if you can make a potion to block off their magic, could you make one to unlock ours?" Ferret stared up at Praetorum, at first in disbelief and then in confusion. His blue eyes brightened. He shifted the vials in his hand, gathered in a fist, then used his free hand to grip at his dark hair while he clearly thought over something. He answered, "It's the powder. They put it in the bread and the soup. But not only that, it's..." The Becomer closed his eyes, trying to gather his thoughts. "Think, think about what they put around us, on each of us, it's not just the bread anymore. Not anymore." He opened his eyes again. "It doesn't work like that. The potion is more like poison. You have to purge it... I don't know how to unlock it, anymore than you could unlock intoxication of imbibed alcohol. And it's not the same, not for the Blessed. Different things. It's different and think... think... what did they keep on us? Around us. Don't trust anything." Zourvy spoke up then, "The shackles. Didn't you find them odd?"