The Black City [NC-17]

[Atrum Daemon]

“That’s an outrageous price to ask!”

“I’m sorry, but that’s my fee. The greater the risk on the job, the more I have to charge. You want this done bad enough, you could always set up a pay plan with the Broker instead of paying me directly.”

“Th-that won’t be necessary. I can pay you. I was just…surprised was all.”

“All right, then. Bring the money next time and I’ll do it.”

Velkin stared at the back of the noble’s head with a smirk as the man left his small office. He leaned his wooden chair back on two legs and propped his feet up on the top of his desk. Striking a match, the assassin lit the pipe he held. He chuckled lightly as he blew out a plume of smoke. He’d led a very rewarding life the past years. His work for the Broker and his job as an assassin both ensured that he was never strapped for money.

“Now then,” Velkin said, letting his feet fall back to the floor, “let’s see what the web has turned up today.”

Holding the pipe in his mouth, Velkin turned his attention to a bundle of hefty envelopes sitting on his desk. They all bore the seal of the Broker and had come from all the informants who had turned in new information.

***

“How familiar are you with Mittgott, Commandant?”

“Only that a good deal of our boys have colonized the northern section and are currently infighting over who is the ruling family, my lord.”

“There’s more that needs to be looked at now. Apparently, a black city has appeared in the sky over Mittgott. The informants we have within the nobles report that scholars have documents that say a group of “champions” can keep the denizens of the city from destroying Mittgott. If that happens, who is to say they won’t spread here. Take two others you trust and go to Mittgott. Make sure that city falls.”

“Understood. Any ideas on who I should take?”

“Hmmm…Take Scharl and Joder with you. And, Delox…I expect nothing less than completion of this task from you three.”

“You have nothing to worry about, my lord. We can handle any task you have.”

***

The man’s ebony armor made him an obvious sight in the small town. No one could see his face beneath the full helm despite the long, diagonal gash in it. The crowds in the town’s market quickly parted to let the knight in black through. He didn’t turn his head to look at any store windows or merchant booths or even to observe other people. His gaze was set on the road before him as he literally just passed through the town. The only one’s not looking on in apprehension were a group of bounty hunters in the town’s tavern who watched intently as the black armored knight passed through town.

The fight lasted only a few moments. The bounty hunters confronted the knight outside the town and attacked. The knight easily cut all the hunters in half, spilling their bloody entrails onto the dirt road and continued walking like nothing had happened.

***

From high in the mountains, something awoke in a long abandoned shrine. A gemstone beacon began to glow at the heart of the shrine. A beam of bright blue light shot into the sky and a special call was sent out. A call only those chosen to be Champions would hear and be compelled to answer.

[Earl Greyfox]

A slim figure seemed to melt from the shadows in the far corner of Velkin's office. The figure coalesced into someone familiar to the man. It was one of his comrades and his partner, an unusual girl by the name of Jade. She wore a deep purple kimono with large pink sakura flowers and a soft pink underkimono, both held closed by a pale gold obi with a red cord in the center. Her hair was very long and the exact colour of a raven's wing, shiny blue black. Her eyes were distinctly almond shaped and a bright shade of violet. She leaned against the wall where she had formed, her arms crossed against her chest and one leg bent with her foot resting against the wall, exposing one of her shapely and pale legs. "Konichiwa, Velkin," she said with a smile. "How is business today?"


~

"So, Scharl...What's this I hear about a crazy voyage?" asked a sultry voice familiar to the old Hellion. It was, of course, his old friend Luna Wolfsbane, the notorious pirate captain. "You gonna need a ship? Eh, eh?" She smirked, walking up behind him and draping her arms loosely over his shoulders somewhat seductively. The woman sitting next to Scharl, a fair elf maid with long wavy black hair and light green eyes, glared at Luna, as if to say, "Hands off, Werebitch!" Luna smirked at Aniya Silverleaf, the elf looking at her with such reproach. "It's not like I'm going to steal your man, girly," she said. "I don't think mine would appreciate that very much."

Aniya glowered, but nodded; she had to deal with this all the time, but she still never got used to it.


~

Orange eyes looked up from their work towards the mountains. "Huh?" she muttered, seeing a beam of blueish light. Something in the woman stirred, and she knew what had to be done. "So this is what I was created for?" she asked herself, running a finger across the hard edge of one long and pointed ear. "Maker, I wish you were here," she muttered. "So many things need to be answered..." The orange orbs looked back to the fine work at the Doll-Creature's hands, two overlarge pistols taken apart to reveal their finer workings. "Meh...no use wishing. He's cold as the dirt he's buried under." Ace Jenkins, for that was the humanoid Doll-Creature's name, had taken to talking to herself since she had no one else to talk to. Not since he disappeared...She hated being alone. She had thought of getting a dog or something, but animals tended to be able to sense her inner sadism and avoid or dislike her. And of course, she didn't have friends, because...well, she wasn't exactly a friendly or pleasant sort of person. She disliked living creatures and the only time she found them pleasing was when she was causing them to writhe in agony. "Honestly," she sighed, cracking her knuckles and then getting back to work reassembling her Magus Arms.

[SikstaSlathalin]

The smell of freshly spilt blood swirled around the nostril of a curvaceous young woman with hair, cat ears, and a long twitchy tail. She smiled lightly at the red liquid dripping off her diamond tipped claws. She flicks her wrist cleaning her claws of this Deader. With a skilled eye and paw she begins setting up the area to look like a mugging. The ripped purse of the man, a bloody knife, and heavy boot marks in the mud running away from the scene. Happy with her work she goes invisible and starts off to collect her payment.

She'd been killing in Malta for awhile, she's made a name for herself not just as the latest in the line of Black Cat killers but as the best so far. And one of the best Hired Knives in the city. She got the job done clean and with no evidence but what she places. And with all the crime running around the streets it was a lot easier then in her village. Where almost everyone knew everyone else. That kind of familiarity made killing hard, that's why she liked the big city lots of chances to make a killing well killing. She's even been approached by someone claiming to be working for the Broker, but Tella's intuition told her different. She snubbed the man and went on her way well she tore his throat out but she still went on her way. Even if the Broker sent one of his minions to recruit her she's a wild cat and hates being under anyone's yoke, unless she can profit from it.

After a short while she finds the house of the Employer. Using her keen senses to scan the area she sense three guards. Two on the doors and one walking the roof. Should be no problem for an invisible Assassin but it's better to know things. She leaps to the street and scurries to the alley and cuts her way through the window into a closed living room. Looking around she follows her nose to her Employer. She enters a velvety bedroom where an old man is seated in a large wing back chair made of the same velvet as the rest of the rooms appears to be. Creeping up she runs the back of her claws across his neck and makes him jump out of his slippers and the chair. With a graceful motion she slips into the chair and makes herself visible putting on an devious smile.
"Hello James I'm here for my money." The old man turn and looks her over resting his eyes on her cleavage. A sensual smile crossed her lips. All men oggle she learned that at 13 and just used it to her full advantage.
Your mo-money? Did -did you kill him?" Tella lets out a sultry laugh.
"I always finish my good man now the money." With a shaky had he points to a bag of gold on his desk* The Beast-woman walks to he desk swaying her hips with the natural swing of a cat knowing full well the old man is watching. she grabs the gold and balances it in her hands counting the coins. He should know better then to try and double cross her but some men are stupid when they deal with a woman. Satisfied with the payment she ties the money to her belt and goes invisible again leaping out his window. She scales the wall and reaches the roof when she feels some strange ringing in her ears. It's almost hypnotic. Having the presence of mind to return to her safe house and pack some things she throws a couple of bags of gold a change of clothes and some basic camping things into a molted gray and black knapsack. She follows the nagging ringing where it takes her.

[Govannon]

Avernus Lugus stared at the hundreds of charred, twitching and bloody bodies that littered the ground around him. They weren't anything special, just soldiers common flesh and blood human beings that, without magic to aid them, didn't stand a chance against Averernus' arsenal of spells. But they were not the reason he was here. No that reason lay in a cave just to the north of where he was now standing, along with his target.

Recently a certain outcast group of humans had been getting more and more troublesome. Led by a powerful warrior this group had been raiding more and more caravans more and more openly, and as the groups wealth grew, so did their power, eventually taking over a section of the mountains for their own use. Eventually, one of the shipping magnates had gotten tired of having his messengers show up dead next to empty and broken carriages ad had requested Avernus' services. Avernus would have done it for free, but the magnate didn't know that, and he smiled thinly to himself, feeling the full coin-purse on his hip as he walked toward the cave.

The bandit leader knew that he was coming of course, but then again, most people usually did, a downside to the strategy of using exclusively the 'destroy small islands' class of spells. Still, the bandit was rather surprised when just shortly after cresting the hill and coming into view, Avernus collapsed without warning. He was even more surprised when he was smacked in the back of the head by a rather large hard covered book he had acquired on a recent raid and he was rendered fairly speechless when the book stopped hovering and fell into Avernus' bag.

Picking himself up off the ground, Avernus smiled broadly. The puppetry had been a success, he had gotten his book back. The thing had been on special order for ages, and when it finally shipped it got stolen by a bandit king. Avernus, in his own opinion, was not a lucky man. Now all he had to do was take care of the idiot that was still standing in the mouth of the cave and begin the long walk back to Malta.

"Alright, I don't know why you came here" the target shouted, drawing a broadsword from its scabbard, "but you killed my men, and that is an offence I cannot let go unpunished! Let's finish this like men! For the honour of those that you have slain today!"

Avernus responding by calling down a fireball that wiped out not only the bandit king, but the majority of the mountain as well.

No one ever accused Avernus of fighting fair.

[Atrum Daemon]

“I’m just as ignorant about this voyage as you are, Luna,” Scharl said, brushing her arms off of him. Scharl was a decently tall man, though not obvious as he was sitting, with neck length white hair that fell slightly in front of his thin face. He was rather slender and his left arm had been replaced some years ago with a metal one.

“That’s because I haven’t told you about it,” Delox said, striding into the common area with the young mage Joder in tow, “basically, Lord Hellion wants us to go across the sea to Mittgott and make sure they succeed in preventing their own destruction. Apparently, it was prophesized that when a black city appears over Mittgott, life there will end. Lord Hellion fears this will spread to other continents. He wants you, me, and Joder to go check it out.”

“So why does Luna know?” Joder asked, brushing excess dust off his robe and sprawling into a chair.

“Well, we need a ship,” Delox said, “and Luna is the only one I’m gonna trust to take us that far. And I figure Aniya will come since she rarely doesn’t follow Scharl into this kinda thing.”

“Sounds like a good time,” Scharl grinned, standing up and stretching, “best go get our stuff, Aniya.”

He mad a small motion with his head to her as he headed off to the room they shared. They had been talking in a small common area courtyard within a large military compound that they all lived in.

“I need to get some things as well,” Joder said, standing as well. Joder was a slim youth of average height. His most distinguishing features, among other Hellions at least, were his black hair and the black, runic symbols that covered his whole body. Both were a result of the genius mage’s own experiments.

Delox rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. Delox’s age did not show in his face or his form. He had a build similar to a fencer and his grey-silver hair was kept shorter than Scharl’s. “You should probably make sure your crew is close at hand,” Delox said to Luna, “we’re going to want to leave soon. Oh, by the way, that Mkvaan character stole one of the smaller boats from your ship and took off last week.”

***

“Promising,” Velkin replied to his younger comrade without looking up from the papers, “I think you and I might have some work to do. Broker wants us to locate and follow the Champions that are gonna start poppin up around. Oh, and we‘ve been contracted to kill General Torfan. I vote on doing the killing first to get some immediate money for the other thing.”

Velkin stood from his chair, putting out his pipe and tapping out the ashes. “Pretty easy jobs to get done, I think. What do you know about Torfan?”

***

The Black Knight’s sword caused the ground to break apart as his strike missed the hooded creature attacking him. He quickly changed the direction of his sword and swung it upward, catching the creature in the waist and rending it in half. Dark blue blood sprayed into the air and splattered the knight’s armor as the two halves hit the ground. “Traveling these roads is getting more dangerous these days,” Dante said to himself as he sheathed his sword.

***

“Finally found you,” a voice said above Ace. A shadowed figure crouched on the edge of the roof of the building Ace was in front of. His hands gripped the edges and he swung himself forward, letting go of the roof and arcing over Ace to land in front of her. His body was athletic and well toned. A tribal tattoo spread down the bicep of his left arm, which was left exposed along with his right by his sleeveless shirt. He wore black pants that were tucked into black boots and a sword was across his back. Or rather, the hilt and broken, useless blade of one. His grey-white hair fell in front of his face, thinly veiling his dark eyes and lightly scarred face. He spread his gloved hands in a gesture of greeting and said: “Long time, no see, Ace.”

***

If Avernus was the perceptive type, he would be able to note the sizeable number of black cloaked creatures watching and following him. In truth, they’d been at it for days and were getting impatient with just following the mage. The hooded things knew it was a long trek back to wherever the mage was going. They also knew they were not supposed to attack him unless they were discovered.

[Earl Greyfox]

Aniya stood and followed Scharl out, not saying anything for now.

A well muscled figure was sitting in the courtyard playing a rather old and beat up guitar. The aqua glow from the magical gem embedded under the skin of his right palm illuminated the strings which he strummed so perfectly. The song was a simple one, a tune he'd been working on for a while. His name was Zanadiel Rybenstern and he was a Bard. His long white hair was tied back loosely with a red ribbon of sorts and he was shirtless, though he wore a long deep green mid-calf length tapestry coat with black velvet lining that showed on the fancy collar and sleeves that turned back to the elbow from the wrist. He glanced up with red eyes as Aniya and Scharl passed by looking purposeful.

Luna sauntered over to Delox and inserted herself into his arms, purring sultrily. "Hey, hon," she said, somewhat seductively.


~

"Oh, goodie," said Jade, smirking. "What do I know about Torfan? Not much, honestly. Just gossip."


~

"Vaan?" asked Ace, incredulously. She stood from her work and looked at him oddly. Then she pulled her fist back and punched him in the face, sending him flying backwards with the force. "You fucking bastard! Where the hell have you been for the past three years, HUH!?" she demanded, advancing on his prone form.

[Govannon]

If Avernus was the perceptive type, he would be able to note the sizable number of black cloaked creatures watching and following him. Avernus, however, was not the perceptive type. To be fair, the reasoning behind this was understandable. The majority of mages, lacking the combat experience of warriors and the guile of rogues, relied on spellpower to detect when an enemy was drawing near them. They set up an elaborate labyrinth of wards and alarms, or they enhanced their own senses to superhuman levels in an attempt to reveal an enemy's location. The first, and as of this point last, time that Avernus had attempted to use this type of magic had caused both of his eardrums to rupture, as well as blood to begin pouring from his eyes and mouth. The experience had left him hospitalized for two months and was the defining cause of his instituting the minimum required power rule that he followed to this day.

While this reasoning was undoubtedly good, however, it did absolutely nothing about the fact that he remained blissfully ignorant amount the cloaked creatures that were following him. He remained ignorant throughout the majority of the travel back to Malta. He didn't realize that they were watching him as he set up his camp and cooked his meals, or as he settled in to read his new spell book before sleeping each night.

He didn't realize, that is, until one night, just a few days travel from Malta. He was midway through his book when one particular spell caught his eye. It was supposed to function as something of a magical radar, showing people in the casters immediate surroundings, as well as their intent. What really caught Avernus' eye however, was the fact that the caster could pump as much magic into it as they wanted to increase the radius. The 'no maximum mana' spells were the ones that Avernus liked best, and on a whim he decided to give it a try.

After saying the simple incantation, Avernus smiled as a ring of blue light shot out away from his body and at least a mile in every direction. The smile lessened as he began to receive the information that the pulse collected. Dozens of flashes of red appeared in his mind, grouped together in the trees not far from his location. Sometimes, "Oh, shit" just doesn't quite cut it.

[Atrum Daemon]

“Let’s make a professional note,” Velkin said to Jade as they stood back to back surrounded by Torfan’s guard, “to check these places out ourselves every time from now on.”

General Torfan had been staying in Kaledon for several days, which was lucky for Velkin and Jade since that meant they had not had to leave town to find him. One of Velkin’s sources had provided information about Torfan’s guards and habits. However, the information had been off by enough of a margin for the two assassin to get discovered and surrounded within Torfan‘s rented estate. “I’ll handle this bunch,” Velkin grinned, “once they’ve been blinded, find Torfan.”

Velkin drew out one of his specially made knives with a complex rune drawn on the blade. “Sparkle, sparkle,” he said with a wide grin as he threw the knife into the wooden floor, causing a huge, blinding flash of light. All the soldiers cried out in pain and surprise as they were blinded. In the midst of the light, Velkin drew two more knives and began slashing and stabbing throats. When the flash of light died down, the soldiers that had surrounded the two assassins were lying on the floor, blood pouring from their necks and soaking into the wood. Velkin nodded approvingly at his work before stepping into a shadowed corner to hide for a moment before catching up to Jade.

***

Mkvaan began laughing once he had been punched to the ground. “Haven’t changed a damn bit, have you?” he asked her, sitting up a bit to grin at Ace. “As for where I’ve been…well, that’s a bit of story. I’ll just give you the short version. Basically, after my maker died, I ended up joining a pirate crew and have been with them up until a week ago when I stole one of the ship’s escape boats and got back here. Why do something so obviously dangerous and stupid? Well, I honestly found it a bit lonely and dull without your lovable sadism.”

***

The hooded men, having sensed the spell their mark used, looked to the group leader for orders. The man in the red hood snapped gloved fingers, issuing the standard attack order. The hooded men quickly surrounded Avernus, speaking in a low, guttural language to each other as they moved in a circle around the mage. The leader in the red hood stood outside the circle, observing for the moment rather than just giving the direct order to kill. It was his job, after all, to assess the strength of a potential champion and he aimed to use his men to complete that mission. He waited to see what the mage would do.

[SikstaSlathalin]

She'd forgotten how much different country air smelt then city air. In the city you were afraid to breath deep with all the smoke and who knows what else. Out here in the free air on the lonely road you have no such fears just good clean air. Tella hadn't been out of the city in years, she'd almost forgotten what it's like. She's been traveling for a few days now most of those days were spent invisible but now that she was in the country and pretty much by herself she's dropped the power. She lets out a deep sigh spinning on the road al little watching her long blue dress furl out around her. She let out a little giggle, it's been so long since she's worn a dress and blouse. Her body suit is great for work but not always comfortable, she may have been in relatively baggy clothes but it still didn't stop all the men from staring at her.

She's been using her good looks to get what she wants since she was 16 years old. It's helped a lot but it's also hurt some too. But that's all in the past, right now the only thing on her mind is following that nagging little twinge in her mind to head for the mountains. She sniffs the air sensing something unfriendly she sends a little spell out to try and identify it but it's too far away. Calling her power back she just keeps moving keeping her nose scanning the air.

[Govannon]

Alright, this wasn't anything huge. It was just a group of people that had clearly hostile attentions, were well within his minimum safe distance, and given the notable lack of anyone else around, were probably specifically after him. Great. Still though, Avernus had seen assassination attempts before, and he wasn't completely useless at close range. He had one very simple strategy; if you can't outrun 'em, and you can't outclass 'em, just bury 'em. He had yet to find someone that could sling as much magic in one direction as he could, and that fact had saved Avernus' life more than once.

His adversaries didn't seem to be overly concerned with moving first, something that Avernus planned to make sure that they didn't live to regret. "Lamnia Barathrum" The incantation was simple, but the effect was dramatic; thousands of swords and daggers shimmered into existence behind Avernus, and without another word he sent them flying towards his foes.

No time to see how much, if any, damage the blades had done, however, the standoff had been broken and anybody left standing was sure to be coming after him.

"Rupture Der Erde, Schnitt Der Luft, Brenner Der Himmel."

The earth shook and split, carving paths and gouges through the land in front of him. The wind whipped and cracked, shaping itself into brutal waves and cracking through the air. The sky above the battleground began to rain fire down upon the field, turning it into something resembling hell itself. Avernus stood just clear of the destruction he had wrought, cautious and looking for any sign of movement. He was sure that if the cloaked men had been sent after him, they would have been expecting at least this much.