• Graded • Getting into one's skin...

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Nauta F'mos Geey
Posts: 374
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2015 2:56 am
Race: Aukari
Profession: Chefling
Renown: 219
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Getting into one's skin...

80 Vhalar 716


Raellen had not forgotten F'mos had so easily decided to not see his task through. The capture of the scython thief was successful but the Fence needed a degree of thoroughness from its agents and, the fixer expected the Aukari to report back. The order for him to return to the Curly Hare was received immediately after he concluded his business at the stables, the worried look of the messenger enough to communicate the need for F'mos to comply.

Upon his arrival to the Curly Hare, F'mos was directed to Raellen who gave an earful about his disrespect. The Aukari of course never respected the organisation or its agents as they were nothing more than crooks joined by profit. The City Guard of Sirothelle he served with previously? That was something to respect which he had no issue with as it embodied order and kept the citizens safe. If respect enabled it to function properly, respect was something he would give wholeheartedly.

Nevertheless Raellen brought F'mos to one of her 'neutral grounds' after she finished her lecture. Like the agent which helped deliver the thief F'mos captured to Raellen, the grounds were just part of the many precautions the Fence had to separate its activities from to the Hare. The Aukari's distrust towards the fixer and the organisation was evident, and proof of his worries of being close to Raellen instead of the fact he was being led through the Underground.

Whether it was to reassure F'mos or to demonstrate the Fence's reach even Underground, Raellen pointed out some interesting things to her underling. First for anyone who needed to navigate the Underground, the signs hidden among the graffiti which sullied its construction. Signs the Aukari saw as random acts of vandalism until their significance were explained to him. Of the markings, there were those consistent enough for the Aukari to admit there was some familiarity to them...

They were of course, the symbols of the big players in Etzos. The most important pointed out to him belonged to the Fence and the Black Guard, for obvious reasons. Raellen did not have to remind him to avoid the latter marked places, unless F'mos wanted to be hassled by guards which no member of the Fence should willingly approach. There were others not even Raellen could identify spread all over, along with new signs put up by upstarts which would likely not survive the season, as demonstrated by one specific set of symbols being covered up by another in an obvious turf war.

From the symbols being pointed out to him, F'mos eventually realised he was being led towards something of significance to the Fence, something he should have realised sooner if not for Raellen's intimidating presence. It was evident that not everyone felt the same for his superior; the unusual sight of the Fence's fixer greeted warmly by some of the Black Guards they passed. She even stopped for a neighbourly chat on one occasion!

F'mos did not participate and kept his distance even if bits of conversation he picked up were interesting- something about how Raellen should take advantage of the chaos of the bounty on Vuda's lost items. It was something even he knew, as the Kettle's patrons looking to turn their luck spoke of their plans to find them. Of course, none were closer than these Black Guards who intimated a group deep Underground who collected the items, not for the bounty but for their own purposes.

However the bounty was not on Raellen's agenda that trial and instead, continued to educate him about the Fence and the Underground. The lesson proved more useful than the rumoured bounty as more information was made available to the Aukari to figure out from the signs, they were headed to an Underground safe house for the Fence and, one of the more important ones as the signs indicated.

Despite the safe house's importance, it looked like any other passageway he passed. Somehow this detail did not stop Raellen who quickly knocked on the door. F'mos was unsure if it was another thing he needed to learn because it had a sort of a rhythm to it but, it was something he could test if he ever needed to use the safe house because the weasel which opened the door had a quick look around before the pair was rushed in.

To flaunt her greater position in the organisation, Raellen had F'mos wait at the entrance with strict instructions to remain there until she returned. The Aukari eventually grew bored and tried to take a look around but the weasel did not allow him to pass any further. He would not even engage in conversation when F'mos asked about the Fence, Raellen and the safe house with only a finger to his lips in response. The fixer was truly demonstrating her hold over the Underground or at least, the Fence.

Boredom grew to dread once the Aukari heard the yells. Within a break, Raellen returned and found F'mos shakened and asked if he knew transpired. "Bitch, fod-sack, skich, whore, rookid, shit" were but some of the words the Aukari repeated, among the others he heard from the agitated voice in the room. He knew Raellen would be offended but he used his status as an alien as justification for his error, although he already knew "they're the bad words?!" he learned from bars, despite his feigned ignorance. It was an effective method to learn when he was insulted even if he did not know the language, as long as he could tell when the tone was loud and angry.

Everything he said to Raellen though, he meant. He did not have the greatest opinion of her, especially after the yells he heard.

Which turned to be the thief he captured. While F'mos was not violent with the capture, the thief looked worse than ever, no doubt because of Raellen. He made no comment as did not want to be the next person on that chair and watched Raellen smack the thief around some more until she finally asked about the capture. Flynn- the name of the thief, revealed F'mos put something into his food and if not for that dirty trick, he would have beaten the Aukari and escaped.

The Aukari of course did not want to reveal his knowledge of poisons, even if Raellen grilled him for that information. Once she finished her queries, she ordered F'mos to take over Flynn's torture. To 'make an example of him' so the other thieves in Etzos would not make the same mistakes which troubled the Fence. "I'm just a lookout?" F'mos pointed out to get out of it, which no use as he had proven himself capable enough after he captured Flynn.

Raellen unconvinced, he tried to divert the idea from him making poisons, to the poisons being bought when he pointed out, "I got nothing to make poison." F'mos already decided he would not display any knowledge but slipped up and told Raellen, "if it's pain you want, we can buy Buzz" which was one of those poisons everyone learned starting out which for the Aukari specifically, was to learn how different poisons can conflict with each other as Buzz and Fuzz would.

Unfortunately Raellen said if that was all, she would have done it on her own. She also revealed she was aware F'mos had bought his own kit recently and could no longer insist he was incapable of making poisons. Unable to hide it any longer, the Aukari gave up and listed some ingredients for a recipe he knew. It was more alchemy than poison, and he left out the ingredients only he had, but Raellen considered useless for them; some of the ingredients were a rarity and would take more time than they had to obtain.

Instead she took F'mos into another room, equipped and stocked with the more common ingredients for poisons. There was no way for the Aukari to get out of it, and he inquired of the nature of the example Raellen wanted but concluded through her evasiveness to mean whichever method necessary. It was good because he did not know how to make the more lethal poisons. Lethality was usually his lesser consideration as he preferred the more... interesting effects of his poisons.

He surveyed the workspace and found at least one poison he could make although when he used it in Sirothelle, it was for pranks and disguises. First, he had Raellen confirm the main ingredient was suitable as all snakes were the same to him, whether for food or poisons. For the latter that trial, he needed a snake which was molting and it surprised him that Raellen even had that in her inventory.

With that, it was easy enough for F'mos to make the poison. He grabbed the snake by the neck and held it down, to fill it with the other ingredients to make 'Second Skin'. First was the grounded cayenne peppers useful to both a cook and a poisoner, which F'mos rubbed into the snake's new skin. As the new skin had not properly formed yet, it was the perfect time to introduce it into the snake's system for it to metabolise within the body.

The process far from complete and even though the snake squirmed, F'mos did not let go. He held fast for the next process which also made use of the cayenne peppers rubbed into it. As a metabolizer the peppers would work through the snake's skin but as a catalyst, the peppers would be able to process the gas from the reaction of baking powder and vinegar mixed together. A reaction completely useless to the Aukari for anything, except for this.

The snake's new skin started to change but F'mos waited until the gas finally took effect to knock it out before he took a knife and cleanly sliced the snake's head off. He peeled off the old skin from the cut and then, peeled off the new skin which was finally dried and grounded up. That was all to making Second Skin and F'mos gave the end product to Raellen and hoped she was satisfied.

The fixer was far from satisfied and berated the Aukari for his 'weak assed piece of shit!' She snatched the poison and mixed it with a few of the other ingredients she had, in a process F'mos had not expected to see at least until he became more skilled. He did however learn from observing Raelenn's additions his Second Skin was not complete, not if it was to do as much damage as possible. Her creation was downright nasty if he assumed right what the additions would do and the Aukari hoped it would never have to make it, ever, because no one needed to suffer that way.

Except Flynn of course, because Raellen rushed right back to the thief and applied the Second Skin to him. F'mos had to watch because Raellen forced him to. It was not how he would normally use the poison, but it was how she would, with Flynn's yells from being cut becoming screams once Raellen splashed the water all over him.

Second Skin made the skin loose for as long as it was not exposed to moisture and the loose skin of the thief which was cut apart, shrunk once he was wet. F'mos shut his eyes to avoid watching the scene and only once it all stopped, once Raellen told him he could leave, he caught a glimpse of Flynn. His flesh was exposed, his skin squeezed into him and, his blood was all over the place.

The perfect example for anyone with ideas of crossing the Fence in the future. F'mos was sure the example was for his benefit too, although he was sure he had no reason cross the Fence. At least while he remained in Etzos.
word count: 2040
But I don't want to cure cancer. I want to turn people into dinosaurs.
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Getting into one's skin...

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Come and get your Loot!

(There's plenty more where that came from)


NAUTA:
Rewards:

  • Story: +5
  • Collaboration: +0 (solo)
  • Structure: +5

These points Can NOT be used for magic.

Knowledges:

  • Alchemy: Baking Powder/Vinegar Used to Help Separate Skin from Flesh
  • Alchemy: Cayenne Pepper as an Accelerator
  • Cooking: Spice: Cayenne Pepper
  • Common: Everyday Insults and Profanities
  • Detection: Learning the 'Graffiti' Symbols of The Underground
  • Discipline: Taking Part in Torture When Instructed
  • Discipline: Staying Put, in Spite of Boredom and Curiosity
  • Flynn: Doomed Torture Victim
  • Interrogation: Often Involves Torture
  • Intimidation: Letting the Screams of Torture Victims be Heard
  • Intimidation: Taking Part in Torture, as an Object Lesson to You As Well
  • Location: Underground Neutral Site
  • Navigation: 'Graffiti' Marks Many Factions' 'Jurisdiction' in The Underground
  • NPC: Flynn: Thief Who Crossed 'The Fence'
  • Poison: Full-Strength 'Second Skin' Formula, Thanks to Raellen
  • Politics: Illegal Factions are Just as Rules-Oriented as Legal Ones
  • Politics: There are 'Neutral' Sites in The Underground
  • The Fence: Keeps Surprisingly Extensive Chemical Sources on Hand
  • Torture: Use of 'Second Skin'

Injuries, Loot, Loss, Devotion:

Nothing to speak of


Fame: 0

This is done too privately.
And would have been negative if anything.


Comments:

I like how you stylize the markings of various factions' "territory and holdings" in the Underground as being worked into the graffiti. Makes good sense.
I also appreciate that you are not aggressively trying to grasp at OP levels of alchemy.
Your advancement is realistically slow and steady.
And your apprehension regarding the nature of your "boss" is also believable.
PM me with any comments or concerns. :D
word count: 263
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