• Closed • Turn the other cheek

[Gangui]

Vhalar 50

Gangui had always been good. Even in his darkest hours when his mind and spirit was in disarray, he always seemed to come out of it with soul intact. Even during the most painful of situations -- the moments were he doubted everything he was doing -- he still held on strong to this very nature.

No physical torment had broken him. No psychological inoculation had rattled him long. No confusing false history had persuaded him permanently. It was all due to a decision to not have a breaking point. To be as strong as steel!

Nothing had pushed him as far as the Run. Vigilant and forthright he faced chaos and death. Crossing into an unknown-world had shook him. It took days to let the dust settle, but when he did he was ready to proceed into what he surmised would be the beginning of the most difficult thing he had ever done in his life: convince a foreign nation to give him the reigns of an army.

The first step on the long road to success was taking on work in this hospitable land.

Putting his honor on the line, Gangui signed a contract to do a terribly dangerous job. He needed to do a good job no matter what the cost. The task was simple enough; break into a bandit lair and retrieve a cask of ancient wine that was said to be fermented piss of an immortal or something. Those details didn’t matter to Gan. That wasn’t what made the mission dangerous. The problem was that two contractors had been hired: one to break in and load the wagon and the other to cover their backs.

It was a terrible idea to say the least, but apparently it made sense financially to the customer. Gangui couldn’t understand it, but in the end of his day it wasn’t his decision.

Early Morning

The sky was devoid of any light in it’s chaotic blackness. Apparently it was morning time though despite no sun or moon or stars to denote the time.

Armed and armored to the teeth, Turkey Company stood at the appointed meeting ground waiting for the other contractor to show up. Their goal was to coordinate the attack. There was a brazier illuminating the area, but no one would not be able to see the details of the flickering faces until they were standing mere feet from each other.

Standing at a makeshift table, the mustachio had the contracts laid out, as well as a map of the area. Gangui’s troop stood behind him. He sensed the presence of the other contractor approaching from the darkness.

“Hail, friend, ” He announced quietly, with a genuine smile on his face. He couldn’t tell who it was that was stepping into the torch light, but he wanted to start the relationship off on the right foot.

[Noth]

Noth had always struggled with himself. The avian blood within him flared at unusual and unfortunate times, whispering promises of violence and self-satisfaction, and it had been a struggle throughout the entirety of his existence to ignore it whenever it attempted to promote a path that was ultimately self-harming. There was little doubt that whilst he had originally respected the local laws of the land, he was driven by a force of greater importance to him than mere legislation. After the demise of his late adoptive father, he had found purpose, had latched onto it like a lamprey to a fish, a parasite to a warm body, and from that point onwards, he had never allowed anything to divert him from it.

He had been wounded to a degree of severity that would ingratiate him to the hardened veterans of a great many conflicts. He had even lost the flesh of his hand in a particularly gruesome duel, and whilst it had granted him access to a plethora of otherwise unavailable talents… he at times still reminisced about the sensation of true flesh making contact with the fragments of the world, unable to properly associate the new spiritual appendage with the touch of things that he had felt in the past.

Much like his opposition, he was driven, though, perhaps his own devotion was a touch more fanatical than Gangui. After all, what use was existence if the purpose of his life could not be accomplished? What use was life, or death, suffering, or relaxation if it all ebbed into nothing, and the purpose for his existence failed to be complete.

Perhaps it was that same driven spirit that had brought him to Yaralon in the first place, aware that he would need to face a great deal of tribulation and uncertainty, but not caring for the implications of potential demise, because his life was not as important as what needed to be done. He had crossed a great swathe of land, slaying many unnatural and unusual mutations and deviations of creatures, using his equipment and his wile and his vicious spirit to win where possible, and the aid of his wing and the strength of his steel to survive when victory was far out of the realm of possibility.

He… had not ventured alone, and the sacrifice of those others who had come with him on the journey would forever be remembered in the annals of history, but their spilled blood only serves to intensify the desire that the hybrid felt for accomplishing his goal at Yaralon: To acquire foreign agents who would ensure that his soldiers were trained to the greatest degree possible, to forge what were once the scum of the world into martially-capable warriors.

Of course, the Yari people, while they seemed to adore currency in its many forms; for, they were a city of mercenaries and professional hagglers, after all, held a deep-seated respect for the martial capabilities that a person possessed. It was evident to him that he would likely have to showcase his own talents for such destructive qualities in order to facilitate a meeting with himself and whichever advising personnel would inevitably accompany him back to Etzos. That was simple enough, he considered, given that the Yari had a great deal of dueling regulations… but at the same time, he was not at all interested in the idea of having to fight through an entire lineage and their associated friends, and that was certain to occur if he simply picked someone at random to slay.

While he had been somewhat unable to find a completely independent job, he had managed to sign on for a particularly simple operation with one of the local contracting groups, and it had taken little time to locate their headquarters, and become at least somewhat acquainted with them. They were not, perhaps, the most traditional mercenary organization, but instead seemed accustomed to grabbing independent persons, and slamming them all together into a loosely-affiliated conglomeration. Naturally, the lion’s share of the rewards for their services were kept by those in charge of such an operation, but trickles of nels and other items had long-since ingratiated the mercenaries to the service of the group.

The job itself seemed to involve the theft of an item which presumably contained some manner of divinely affected fluid. While the details were somewhat sparse, it was plain enough to see that it would sell for an absolute fortune to any of the more scholastic institutes in the world, or perhaps even be used to synthesize some measure of alchemical concoction should one find a suitably talent mixer. There would be two separate contracting groups, each with a specific goal, which would likely be discussed at their meeting place.

As darkness fell once more upon the city, throwing it into a pitched blackness, the twilight hybrid, geared up in the usual war-gear he had brought along skulked through the shadows with his compatriots. Eventually, the group would come to their appointed meeting place, a lone brazier allowing for some semblance of actual coordination and conversation to occur, though it still drowned the outskirts of the arranged location in darkness, making it somewhat difficult to perceive the exact details of others.

There was… a familiar voice which called out from the meeting place, and crimson eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he stepped free from the shadow, the remainder of the group joining him in the light, barring a few particularly stealthy individuals. “I suppose that’s one thing to call someone.” He tittered, his voice laced with a sarcastic venom, free hand already stroking the mace at his side, ready to draw it in a moment’s notice should the fiendish bird need to defend himself. Were he in Etzos in the company of his soldiers, he might have attempted to slay Gangui here and now… but this was not Etzos, and the unfortunate and rag-tag band of mercenaries were not his to command.

[Gangui]

The sight of the sunken red beads behind the feathery visor slits halted every productive thought going through the mustachio’s mind regarding the mission at hand.

Gangui quivered in fear...

Competency hierarchies were created in order to tame the chaos that was the state of being in Idalos, but did little else. This was a fact that was simple enough to observe throughout the wider world. It was the curse of being human. The curse that the Immortals had given them: the inability to create an a system without their help. In short, humans were made to be slaves. Their very natures contrived in such a fashion to beg on life and limb and subject themselves the will of the Immortals: to be beasts of burden. It was written into the annals of human blood.

However in Etzos, a human counter-strike against this tyranny had commenced in 338. The first Heroes to settle the Southwood River Delta had broken free from this curse and had established a system that for the first time in human history not only tamed the chaos, but also produced wealth without their bloody immortal masters. It was not perfect though, because despite being successful in creating wealth without the yoke of their creators it still produced vast droughts of inequality.

Yet here was an Avrial who sought to shatter such a hierarchy simply because of the inequity in his own position, not mindful to the reality of the situation, consumed by his own resentful attitude towards the world. A fool who was going to ruin the only standing solution to the problem of generating wealth without the immortals

...And these thoughts brought the mighty mustachio to the breaking point of fear itself.

It drove him down with such negativity that he felt like killing himself at the mere thought of Noth and everything that he represented. Face to face with him now all his confidence buckled. The instinctual reaction of fight-on-sight that he had been training himself for had been shattered at the mere beady red glare of the foul avriel’s gaze.

The Turkey warriors behind Gangui now stepped into the brazier light. They were armed and armored, but too stricken with fear to do anything without their leader’s strength. Their tabards were stitched with the golden symbol of the Burning Tunawa, a tribute to the horrendous sacrifice of their valiant comrade.

Taking a deep breath the wroth that was his bubbling courage came forward despite the terror of Noth’s presence. There was only one thing he could think to say to Noth now. His voice was low and sad and trembling with sorrow, but not meek, “Why… why did you kill Niv?”

[Noth]

The hybrid had expected an almost immediate outbreak of violence. That had been his experience in the past when facing Gangui and his rather fanatic entourage of Turkeys. They followed him around as if though they were his hounds, and while he was well-aware that their cause was relatively just, and that they meant well, he couldn’t help but dislike them to an extent. Not because he necessarily disagreed with every notion of their mission statement, but because they opposed him and his attempts at rulership over Etzos, and thus were preventing him from saving the world from itself and the dreadful Immortals who manipulated so many persons across it.

If only he could possess the power that he needed… if only he could take hold of the reins of Etzos’ army and use it to begin annihilating foes hither and thither, then he was certain he would be able to acquire enough support to remove the Immortals from their power. Rhakros, he mused, would likely be first given its relatively close location, and the fact that the Etzori despised the Rhakrosii people almost as much as they disliked the godlings themselves. Such fanaticism was irritating and disturbing, thought the Avriel, well-aware that a good portion of that city’s population would gladly give their lives in defense of their Plague Lady.

Crimson eyes settled upon a simultaneously familiar and foreign symbol, and the brief flicker of a frown caressed his features as he recognized what it depicted. He could rather distinctly remember hurtling the tiny Tunawa into the flames for her transgression, and he could even remember how her friend, Ellen’wyn had valiantly attempted to stand up to him, only to be knocked aside like so much detritus. He had chosen not to slay her for her defensive transgressions, but the Tunawa had already been eliminated at that time for her own errors. He had never believed that he would be questioned over why he had done what he had done, but instead expected fully to be met with solely violence and ill-intent, and now, as the voice of his arch-enemy fell a few octaves in sadness, he found his own heart being clenched.

How many persons had he slain in his righteous crusade? How many people would still need to be claimed by the jaws of death if he was going to save the world… and perhaps more severely, how many was he willing to condemn to such a fate. It was not as if though he was inherently an evil being who sadistically enjoyed the suffering and demise of others, but instead he was merely the orchestrator of what would become the greatest liberation that mortal-kind had ever had from their divine masters, and the cost of such change was spilled blood and burned sap.

“You’ll recall that you fought me in battle, that you’ve opposed everything I’ve fought so hard to accomplish, resisted against the paradise I wish to bring about.” He grunted, raising his right hand for the man to view, encased in his Null Gauntlet. “You’ve taken from me too, and so, I sent an assassin whose sole purpose was to extinguish you and your resistance.” He paused briefly, not bothering to elaborate further on the identity of the assassin or the exact details of her operation. She had clearly failed, but that was no reason to potentially burn a future asset. “Niv, as I’m told, was responsible for saving your life. That made her a hostile medic… and so I disposed of her.” He didn’t want to say the word ‘murder’. He didn’t enjoy being classified as a murderer, even if it was a far more truthful title than Prince.

“Why are you here, Gangui? Why have you ventured out to Yaralon? Intent on finding more mercenaries to fight against me, here to gather funds for your personal vendetta?”

[Gangui]

Gangui’s mind began to turn inside out, the center would not hold. Fear itself seeped off of the tyrant in heavy, black, glue-like goops. It globbed, grunted, and gloobed it's way forward, crushing the air around them. With each word uttered from the crow’s mouth the glue like substance crawled up the turkey’s legs. It made his muscles turn to stone and crushed his innards under its immense pressure.

The dark sludge squeezed and squeezed and squeezed! The warrior’s head was going to pop!

However… all that Noth would see was a bearded face slowly turning red from lack of breathing. A pulsating vein on the temple. A bulging neck becoming puffed up. The crow couldn’t even finish his questioning before the turkey exploded in interruption.

“No-- No--” the voice was hoarse and from the gut, his eyes began to bulge red. Noth had made way too light of the whole Niv situation and glancing over it was like a dagger in his face.

In gutteral Ith’ession now, “Gammok etpathyik aspacio kavovec!” Fuck you for breaking conduct.

Noth was an evil villain, however the killing of the truly innocent on the basis of revenge for his own failed stratagem was something that even Noth shouldn’t have been stupid enough to pull.

Despite the fear squeezing him to death, Gangui spoke with courage and vitriol.

“Aowa payuatika Fosters,” You killed the truly innocent friend of Fosters,

“Iarpayuatevon uazi, uyou?” And you'd like a platform with me?

“Mwpo voyo gammoko tyrannos delbhan!?” Upon the corpses of the sweet babes of Etzos you want to parley, tyrant!?

[Noth]

"It is the fool who puts faith in false saviors." - Blind Guardian

It seemed evident to the hybrid before the outburst even began that he had managed to offend the warrior in some form or another. The way that his face began to turn a distinct shade of red, the way he had clenched himself in such a fashion that even the vessels under his flesh seemed to bulge with irritation. They were both clear signs of anger, of outrage over what had been discussed, and yet, meeting them was only the cold and predatory gaze of the Avriel. He didn’t feel aggravation or anger or absolute disgust at having encountered Gangui, even as far away from their homeland as they both were, though it was certainly less than satisfying to have encountered him.

There was a sort of poorly spoken denial which echoed out from the warrior, and the hybrid raised an eye only a moment before he was faced with the sudden jabbing fluency of Ith’ession. The sudden accusation was that he had managed to break an unspoken rule. The hybrid was uncertain whether or not Gangui was merely upset at the loss of one of his allies and friends, or whether he genuinely believed that there had been a breach of some unknown contract of battle. It was not as if though they had ever sat down and compiled a list of acceptable and unacceptable actions, nor was it reasonable to assume that they ever would do something of the sort.

He spoke further, stating that Noth had been responsible for killing a truly innocent person, described as the friend of Fosters. He had been unaware that the small Tunawa had had such influence in the town, though it had been altogether quite simple to slay her. The only resistance that he had even faced at the time had come from Ellen. Perhaps the Tunawa healer had been adored by her town, but certainly not to the extent that they had been willing to stand up and fight and die for her.

There was a further accusation, highlighting the absurdity of his attempts at parley though the two were so diametrically opposed on an ideological scale. Crimson eyes locked onto Gangui for a few moments, a gentle sigh of exasperation whistling through his mouth as he contemplated whether it was at all worth it to even attempt to work with the mercenary. Those who had invited him to come along had all been stunned into a sort of silence at the violent confrontation going on before them, or perhaps they were merely interested in what the outcome would be of the argument.

“I would never harm a child, Gangui, nor would any of my men.” He answered in Ith’ession, much to the frustration of the watching mercenaries who were, apparently, unable to understand the conversation now that it had switched into a foreign tongue. “I kill who I must kill. Don’t think that I’ve been deprived of the opportunity to kill far more of your friends than I have, or that I’m lacking in ability. I know who they are, and where they live, and what they do, but they have not crossed me in the same way that Niv had.”

“I’m not here to change your mind, or appease your sensibilities. I’m here to accomplish a mission, and then go home.” He stated plainly, crossing his arms about his chest.

[Gangui]

Noth’s denial of Niv’s innocence shattered Gangui’s discipline. Impulsive hate shot through his body like a bomb; a deadly mixture of the black gloop-glop seeping from the tyrants body and the fiery embers of righteousness that burned deep within his gut.

Gauntleted fingers grabbed the table that stood between them. He paused for a moment before the eruption of anger that was about to commence. Gammok-it. He ripped the table in a burst of violence, a roar of anger resonating from deep within his loins, sending the wooden table tumbling away.

“I curse you to hell, Noth,” The white in his eyes quivered as he looked into Noth’s beady evil little red pupils. Anger in its most pure form embodied itself in the bastard son of Faldrun and Etzos. Gangui was the man who had severed his ties with the Immortals, but who needed them now more than ever. The fiery Aukari blood finally got the best of him.

As the loud, crashing table settled the Yari native-born mercenaries and the Turkeys, stepped forward into the glow of the brazier. Their shadowy faces flickering in confusion and readiness. They all wanted to know what was going on.

Gangui pointed a metallic finger at Noth and announced to all who were present in the common tongue, “The Avriel has admitted to killing an innocent baby, but not only that he has no remorse, nor any intentions for penance!”

Noth did not bring his troops with him to the foreign land. All the men working with him were silver marked and golden marked veterans of these shattered lands. Raising his arms up Gan addressed them, “Men of Yaralon, you have all came here today to work, so I apologize for what I am about to do, however it is of the highest importance that I address this criminal,”

He turned towards the evil avriel again, “I challenge you to a duel to the death,” he stared at him with white in his eyes, vitrole dripping from his mouth like a ravenous dog, “On the grounds of killing the innocent and pure Tunawa child Niv and crimes against mortals!”

The Yari men began to step even closer now, intrigued with the sudden change in events. Their knotted and scared faces now illuminated by the fiery glow. Gangui did not have to say much else. His time in the strange lands had taught him that the Yari did not care much for words. They cared more about acts and the unspoken languages of warriors. Gangui’s words had gravitas and his voice echoed in truth. His display of anger was legitimate and forthright, with not a shred of being contrived.

Nothing needed to be said, everyone knew what to do next, even Gangui who had witnessed duels occurring previously, but had Noth? A Dastrion, one of the Yari men, stepped forward in silence and looked at the challenger. Gan started to unstrap his armor, looking at the judge in the eyes, “We will battle as the warriors of old intended: no armor and one weapon!”

The Dastrion grunted and looked towards Noth now waiting for the Avriel to prepare.

[Noth]

Noth had slain many people throughout his tenure as Prince of Eternal Mercies, and he remembered almost all of them. Certainly, some had been so obscure and meaningless that they had been forgotten amidst the constant tide of spilled blood and rent flesh, but all of the ones that had really mattered, all of the ones who had managed to speak, to breathe, to force him to acknowledge that they were alive before he unmade them… he remembered all such ones. He even remembered Niv, the tiny Tunawa, the curious and friendly thing that she had been before he had eliminated her for her transgressions. It was a pitiable action, detestable in the eyes of many, but it had been necessary, and necessity forced him onward.

It seemed that Gangui thought along similar lines, though he failed to see the perspective of his opponent, an unsurprising development given their past interactions. The table between them was hurtled aside, and the crimson-eyed hybrid watched him with carefully, curious and cautious about what his next actions would be. The inevitable utterances of damnation were nothing too dreadful to suffer, and he took them in stride with little more than a shrug of his inhuman shoulders, but he didn’t expect things to end there.

There was further condemnation as the Turkey spoke of his deviant wickedness, of his attack upon Niv, attempting to draw some measure of empathy or compassion from those gathered by describing the wholly adult Tunawa as a child, and further concluding that he was unwilling to show any measure of remorse. That wasn’t entirely true, he did feel a measure of internalized guilt over most of his slayings, but attempting to lecture the hotheaded man over any aspect of morality was surely a losing prospect.

It became evident what would occur only a moment before the challenge had been issued, and the hybrid bit his teeth together with a hiss. They had fought once before, and he had lost his hand in the process, though in the end, he had gained a far more valuable ally. Nevertheless, he didn’t savor the opportunity of matching Gangui in martial prowess once more, and he certainly didn’t wish to underestimate him as he had in the past. The man was mentally unstable, irreverent to the highest degree, but he was no weakling, and his zeal only made him altogether more dangerous, for it meant he had a point to prove to the world.

Admittedly, Noth had been rather busy throughout the past many trials, but he had spent at least enough time in the city to observe a couple of duels hither and thither. Over fifty trials was a long time to spend in a city as detestable as Yaralon without perceiving any semblance of violent misconduct, after all, and so he wasn't surprised at the appearance of the… he couldn’t quite recall their name, but the person who would facilitate the duel. The call to arms came with a particularly discouraging rule, and the hybrid cocked his head to the side briefly before uttering,

“You would attempt to deprive me of my right hand? Surely a warrior such as yourself does not require such a handicap that you would steal away my limb from me?” Crimson eyes glared in wicked delight at the taunting, “No, I refuse your terms, each and all. If you want me dead, then you will fight me as I stand, and I the same to you.”

And with that statement, his hand dropped to his mace, preparing for the battle to come.
Equipment List

► Show Spoiler

Plate Armor on Limbs.
Chainmail Chestpiece.
Plate Armet
Null Gauntlet, Masterwork
Bird Ring, Right Hand on Gauntlet
Other Ring, Left Hand, Under Gauntlet
Longbow
Quiver of arrows, of which roughly six are Adamantite Tipped
One Skull Grenade, Fragmentary
Portal Anklets
Adamantite Mace
Strange Necklace (Huntsman's Bloodhound)

[Gangui]

When Noth declined the terms of the duel, Gangui scoffed silently. The white in his eyes still emanated the anger he had toward the evil avian. He could smell the rotting bird flesh under his foul feathers. It was a distinct carrion smell that oozed even from under his armor. Perhaps Gangui was the only one who could smell it, perhaps not, but to him it was real. Indeed, the evil Avriel had no need to agree to those terms, nor would the Yari force him to. Alas, they would not battle as the warriors of old intended.

The Sons of Justice leader stopped unstrapping his chest plate and tightened it back up again. He took half a dozen steps towards the Dastrion, whom was now waiting for Gan’s acknowledgement of Noth’s response. The urge to argue his position was great, but he knew that it would lead nowhere to hold his ground. He paced away from the judge with angry footsteps, looking at the ground quickly contemplating. He wouldn’t allow to Noth to have his way without a fight. Two words exhaled through his mouth, “Fine, but…”

Spinning on his heels, Gan looked at both the Dastrion, Noth, and the other Yari, “This Avriel has been proven to use extraordinarily evil and taboo techniques to sway the tide towards his favor, I demand that he declares one weapon to use in this duel, never mind his armor,” he pointed at Noth’s bow, “He will try to run and shoot me! That’s not the way the Duel of the Spear was intended to be! If he is granted such a privilege then it should be reciprocated, but better yet he should abandon everything except a single weapon and his armor and fight me as I am now as well!”

The Dastrion looked back and forth between them now, nodding at the crazed warrior’s words and obviously agreeing. The ball was back in Noth’s court. Despite having the ability to bring the negotiation to an impasse and forcing the duel to become a no holds barred event, denying Gan’s request would probably prove that indeed the avriel was guilty and without honor in all his conduct.

[Noth]

For all of the calls of dishonor that seemed to permeate the air at the expense of the twilight hybrid, he did have at least a modicum of decency. Certainly, he was not so foolish as to needlessly handicap himself in what would definitely be a fight to the death, but at the least he had chosen not to bother with slaying the aggravating man before him without first concluding their terms and conditions. Admittedly, this was somewhat less of a personal conviction of honor, and more a tactical recognition of the fact that if he assailed the fellow without first determining the terms of their duel, he might be counted as a murderer in the midst of the Yari, and they may find it reasonable to attempt vengeance against him, or else prevent the death of the Turkey.

Noth nearly questioned whether the entire event had been setup in some manner of elaborate scheme by the Turkey when the… referee between them nodded along in agreement with the profoundly stupid requests of the man. Gangui was more than a capable warrior, was he not? Yet, why did he see it fit to try to deprive the hybrid of his abilities? Was he so frightened of him? The answer seemed evident to him that, despite his prior victories, Gangui was still quite terrified of the prospects of his power. For good reason, as anyone would assure him.

“You are a pathetic man, Gangui. You publicly attempt to shame me by accusing me of slaying the innocent instead of recognizing that I have killed only my guilty enemies.” He shook his head in disappointment. “Furthermore, you have the audacity to challenge me to death, and though I’ve made no mention of backing down, now you find it necessary to try to deprive me of my tools? How cowardly are you that you must steal away the sword of a warrior before fighting him?”

The hybrid glanced at those gathered, his crimson eyes peering into their own as he analyzed the crowd. It seemed unlikely that they would commit any sort of interference in the duel, though, it was still never a negative to have their approval. “You speak of my extraordinary evil and the tools which I use for it? Perhaps you speak of the explosives I possess, such as the ones I used just last season to strike down a foe the size of a home, and to assist in preserving the lives of those around me.” It was the truth, and that made it all the easier to believe, even as the Beast flickered in with positively enforced after-thoughts. “Your words are grating to my ears, Gangui, you honorless cur. You speak of travesty, but in many lands, the name of the Prince of Eternal Mercies is not associated with such blatant wicked. It is associated with justice. In Scalvoris, the wicked were punished for their murderous transgressions, and in Rharne the innocent were preserved from the bonds of slavery. Tell me, what have you accomplished that fills you with such righteous indignation? Are you not merely a dog chasing after its treat?”