• Solo • Unlikely Allies

[Tio Silver]

Yaralon Marketplace
33rd Ymiden, 719

"This is going to be so humiliating."

Yaralon's marketplace was a bustle of activity in the middle of the morning. The air was awash with the cries of a hundred merchants all fighting to make their voices heard over each other; duelling with their prices rather than weapons. Even in the side alley where Tio and Tasha stood rows upon rows of street pedlars had laid their wares out upon carpets, enticing the shadier individuals who passed through to buy their equally shady products.

"It wont be that bad." Tio assured his apprentice in that too-comforting tone of voice that betrayed the fact that he was slightly enjoying this. "It's just a bit of street theatre. It'll be over before you know it. Now go on, say the lines."

Tasha huffed and rolled her eyes, shooting him a quick glare that seemed to promise vengeance later. Then like an actress in a pantomime romance play she raised a hand in the air and swooned over-dramatically. "Help! Help! I've been captured by an evil necromancer!" She cried, loudly but with a distinct lack of emotion. "He's going to drink my blood and steal my soul! Also he doesn't pay his servants a fair wage!"

Most of the passers-by gave them a quick glance, noticed that it clearly wasn't true, and returned to their business as if nothing had happened. Yet in the distance there was a commotion as people were pushed out of the way of someone running in their direction at full speed. A young man dressed in light black armour, with feathery raven hair and an impractically long black coat, burst from out of the crowd and skidded to a halt between him and Tasha, drawing a short sword and brandishing it at Tio. "Stay back fiend! Have no fear miss, I'll protect you!"

Young and impressionable? Check. Wardrobe filled with nothing but dark colours? Check. Annoying amounts of self-righteousness? Check. Yep, this guy was definitely a Zuuda. Normally Tio made a point of staying away from necromancer hunters, but desperate times called for desperate measures. If he wanted to but a stop to whatever plot Zavious and The Coven were planning he needed professional aid, and loath as he was to admit it the Zuuda's abilities did make them frighteningly efficient at combating the undead.

"Easy there buddy, easy. I'm not really a necromancer." He lied smoothly, holding up both hands to show he was unarmed. "My friend here and I just put on a little show to grab your attention."

The young man in black looked back and forth between him and Tasha, who did not seem at all afraid of Tio or impressed by his behaviour. "You-... You're not a necromancer? But you look so-..." He trailed off and gestured towards Tio's mask, shirt and… pretty much everything else about him.

"Oi!"

"Regardless of my friend's appearance, the fact remains that he is in no way a magician." Tasha continued, picking up the lie smoothly. "We do however have a problem regarding necromancers that we need your assistance with. A few trials ago we broke into a necropolis in Maiden's Refuge looking for treasure, expecting there to only be a handful of undead around. Unfortunately what we found was a large group of necromancers working on some kind of secret project, and way more security around than we could deal with."

"Which is where you come in." Tio jumped in, wrapping an arm around the Zuuda's shoulders as if he was an old friend. "What's your name buddy?"

The Zuuda looked at him warily. "Briar."

"Good to meet you Briar, I'm Tio, and my friend here is Tasha. Now correct me if I'm wrong Briar, but you must know a whole host of other zombie hunters right?"

"We are loyal servants of Famula, not zombie hunters."

"Yeah yeah, same difference. Anyway what I'm thinking is that you could round up a posse of your buddies right? How about we cut a deal here? Tasha and I will guide you to and around the necropolis, and you guys fight the legion of undead and necromancers inside. Then we can split whatever treasure we find inside fifty-fifty. What do you say?"

Briar looked unsure, no doubt suspicious of the offer that had come out of nowhere. Eventually though his sense of duty won whatever moral conflict was going on in his head, and he sighed with reluctance. "It is our duty to combat the forces of evil wherever they may be. I will bring this matter to my mentor, though I promise nothing."

"Fantastic! That's all we ask for." Tio replied, patting him on the back. "If your mentor gives his approval then meet us at a tavern called the Bear and Bludgeon tonight."

Briar nodded curtly and sheathed his sword, striding away back into the crowd. The moment he was out of earshot Tasha walked over to his side and whispered in his ear. "Was all that talk of treasure really necessary?"

Tio nodded. "We needed to provide a motive explaining what we were doing in the necropolis in the first place, and trust me when I say that most people don't question someone being greedy. Better they think us self-centred treasure hunters than realise we're mages. At least then they won't try to kill us."

Tasha hummed cynically. "And what happens when they find out we lied to them?"

"We run like hell."

"Nice to see you've given this your usual level of thought."

[Tio Silver]

That night a large group of men and women dressed head-to-toe in black gathered in the corner of the Bear and Bludgeon tavern. Perhaps they wouldn’t have drawn much attention individually, but when thirty or so individuals dressed in exactly the same colour scheme came together the effect wasn’t exactly subtle. Everything about them just screamed ‘secret meeting’.

“The main antechamber is located around here.” Tio punctuated his words by jabbing his finger at the crudely drawn map he’d sketched out on a beer-mat. “This is where they’re conducting their experiment. I’m not sure what it is exactly, but it involved corpses and some very advanced formed of blood alchemy.”

“Sounds like some kind of special thralls.” The leader of the Zuuda, a grizzled old man with short black hair and a veritable art gallery of scars across his face, growled. “Our best bet is to strike hard and fast before they know what hit them. Don’t give them time to animate these secret thralls of theirs.” He pointed to a line of tunnels that led around the antechamber to a door at the other side. “If we use these tunnels we can attack from both sides at once; catch them in a pincer movement. Necromancers tend to lack personal fighting prowess and usually keep their thralls between them and their opponents. The first group can attack first to catch their attention and trick them into gathering all their thralls to one side, then the second group can catch them unawares from behind and slaughter them while their backs are turned. Judging by your account of the tunnels they shouldn’t have any large thralls with them, and keeping plague-spreaders nearby in an enclosed environment would put them at risk of catching disease, so I doubt we’ll have much more than golems and metalborn to look out for. Maybe a revenant if we’re unlucky, but sheer numbers should offset that.”

Nodding dumbly as if he had no idea what the grizzled Zuuda was talking about, Tio mulled over the plan. It was simple and effective, which would make it easier to adjust on the fly if anything unexpected happened (which, when dealing with magicians, seemed to be a regular occurrence.) It would also give him and Tasha a fantastic opportunity to slip away in the chaos. Zavious would likely use his becoming to escape at the first sign of trouble, but if he could attune to his frequency beforehand Tio would be able to follow him and have their reunion somewhere a little more private.

Which brought up the question of what exactly he was going to do with Zavious once he had him. Killing him was too extreme a punishment for abandonment, but a stern telling off clearly wasn’t going to cut it considering the guy was dealing in some shady business with The Coven. Imprisonment perhaps? The Seekers would be able to hold him, and whatever information they got out of him could help them fight against The Coven.

“We’ll need a bit of time to gather equipment, supplies and mercenaries to reinforce us.” The grizzled Zuuda continued. “If the plan is agreeable to you then we’ll meet you by the west gate at midnight.”

“Sounds good to me. We’ll see you there.” Tio replied, reaching across the table to shake the man’s hand. He rose from the table to leave, and as Tio led the way out Tasha followed behind him, giving the Zuuda a quick farewell wave as they turned back to each other to coordinate supply gathering.

Nobody caught the dark smirk the briefly flitted across her face as she slipped the map drawn on the beer-mat into her pocket.

[Abra]

Tio Silver

Rewards

Knowledges:

Skill:

Deception: Playing an evil necromancer
Deception: Actually being an evil necromancer
Deception: Playing a treasure hunter
Deception: No, I'm not a magician...
Persuasion: Let's go raid a necropolis
Persuasion: Becoming friends with the Zuuda
Persuasion: Agreeing to alliances

Loot:
Injuries:
Wealth:
Renown:

EXP: 10

Feedback

Necromancy might be a bit much, even if it is a bit of street theatre! I’m not surprised that it worked to grab people’s attention. I loved the “same difference” comment with regards to zombie hunters! It was nice to read such a well thought out plan and I hope it works out okay for you lot. Enjoy your rewards!