Arc:Seven Dwarves All Around Me

Note:

This page may contain spoilers regarding certain dwarf curses and what The Oracle has been up to. If you would like to be involved, please contact Eleanor. All characters, classes, and alignments are welcome and encouraged!

While exploring the length of her metaphorical leash, Eleanor—Fox to her guild-mates—landed herself in hot water with her mistress of the shadows, the All-Seeing Oracle. After finding in her sticky-fingered possession the hag's favored weapon (the Major Wand of Pain), El knew she had to lay low—at least until she was confident that the wand's forged replacement could fool their discerning eye. Much to the rogue leader's eventual chagrin, The Oracle was very much aware of the swap and had been scheming to humiliate the spell-thieving upstart.

Fox resurfaced several months later, and when the Guild started taking on new clients again, The Oracle ensured the All-Seeing Syndicate made it into their supposed ledger. Furthermore, the hag sent a private client on her behalf to lure the Guild Leader into her complex web. The Guild took the bait and plotted out the contracted hit of Vejemir Stonewall, a dwarven merchant visiting Cenril with his entourage of six kith and kin. However, what the Guild had not anticipated was that the massacre of all seven dwarves would trigger a curse—and that The Oracle herself had poisoned all of them first to secure this outcome. Ignorant of the fateful evil already starting to work its magic, Eleanor nevertheless felt a growing sense of sickening dread.

When Leoxander came to her and said he needed a job, she knew he was the only one she could trust with her treason plotting. She offered him a bounty of 25,000 gold pieces if he could help her pull off the toughest assassination yet: Decapitating the Syndicate at the source. Given how many had already tried to kill The Oracle and wound up dead themselves, a great deal of arguing followed. Tensions escalated, and more of Eleanor's transgressions stumbled from her lying crimson lips. Leo's wolf showed up, and El took a bold chance to lure the human forward in the wolf's skin. Fortune favored her, and she took another risk with the wolf that night. However, she was not yet ready to share her secret weapon.

In the meantime, she waited patiently for the client to reach out. When they suggested the rendezvous take place at the scene of their previous crime, a whole bevy of alarm bells tolled between her temples—gathering up a select few guild-mates, Eleanor dove head-first into an obvious trap. Still, when The Oracle placed her taunts upon the table and then disappeared without a trace, the client and innkeeper in tow, the rogue was left with more questions than answers. It is up to the would-be assassins to unravel the cryptic clues before The Oracle's vindicated path of vengeance destroys everyone.

Prologue: To Summon a Storm

Meet At Low Tide, where Fox and Inks bring Malus into the Guild, and they plot to reconvene for a job.
Water You Waiting For, where Fox, Inks, and Malus race to a hidden cove to retrieve a box for a client before their client's enemies can get to it.

Chapter One: To Kill a Dwarf

To Kill a Dwarf, where Fox, Inks, Lanara, and Arlyeon meet to discuss an alchemical hit contracted by the Guild with the promise of a guild invite for the recruits upon its completion.
Pick Your Poison, where Lanara picks apart the clues left by Callum and Meri in the hunt for the pièce de résistance, and they can finally brew up their alchemical draught.
The Whispering, where Lanara and Arlyeon ruthlessly slaughter a bunch of innocent dwarves; the sky goes bang in response. Fox and Inks look on and make judgy faces.

Chapter Two: To Plot a Murder

Bad Things Happen in Basements, where Eleanor and Leoxander fight, kiss, and plan a murder.
Nothing Fecks With My Baby, where El and Leo break and build a few bonds.
Third Eye Blindsided, where Fox attends a meeting she thinks is with the Guild's latest client. However, it turns out The Oracle is behind the contract. After suggesting there's far more to the story that Fox doesn't understand, The Oracle disappears behind smoke and mirrors once more, taking the client and kidnapping Cenril's innkeeper in the process.
Legit Concerns, where Fox summons Inks and Malus to pay them for past jobs; meanwhile, the rogues take the time to let their leader know they're tired of her secrets and the threats they pose to their family.

Chapter Three: To Build a Castle

Not So Crystal Clear, where Fox calls on Malus to help with some after-dark herbology.
Spilling Secrets, where Malus shares the freaky details about the crystal-plant hybrid he's been experimenting on for the roguish guild leader.
Reserved for RP:The Nameless Plants, where Fox and Tail search for an abandoned palace and a new home for the guild's latest pet project.

Chapter Four: To Heist in Society

Enjoys: Long Walks on the Beach and Devising Dirty Deeds, where El and Leo hole up in a familiar beachside villa and begin plotting a greedy scheme.
Dressing the Part, where El and Leo prepare for their upcoming dastardly deeds.
Flank Hoags With a Side of Scheming, Please, where Leo, joined by Rona, wolfs down a bite at a familiar hangout and the two discuss "the plan."
"Steal it, if you have to." where Leo and Rona address the final flaws in their plot and make their move.
"Go on... Fly free." where Leo and Rona execute a skillful deposit.
Deliver, Post-Heist, where Fox summons Hound and Inks to the Bank of Rynvale to discuss the Rogue's Guild's recent business acquisition, and the trio makes plans to further expand their retinue, multiple meanings implied.

Chapter Five: To Catch a Hag

Unfinished Business, where Eleanor shows off some new business plans, and Leoxander offers up an idea that could change the course of their fight against The Oracle.
The Handmaid's Tale, where El and Leo head to Frostmaw for his final showdown against Shishi, and Loravelle reveals the lengths the Blue Demon has gone to ensure his win.
This space reserved for Leoxander v Shishi 2021 Titans of Winter Tournament Final Showdown.
Hound Goes to the Pound, where Leo, Lita, and Meri fight some Third-Eye Thugs, and things go terribly wrong.

Chapter Six: To Burn a Witch

Reserved; It's been a year since the roguely birds went up against the Oracle's henchmen and Hound was abducted. Did Inks and Jackal successfully hunt down the remaining Third-Eye Thugs in the sewers of Cenril? Did Fox track her former partner's location to find the Oracle and take her out? Or did Hound broker a deal with the hellbent hag to secure his freedom? So many questions arise on the spellrogue's crimson lips, yet as with many things in the cloak-and-dagger business, answers remain elusive...

Who's Who

This space reserved for a list of characters both played and non-played and their apparent roles.

The Story So far

Note:

The text below may contain spoilers! Please treat this information as OOC only, where applicable.

In the fetid underbelly of Lithrydel prowls a rheumy-eyed hag known as The Oracle. Few know of her, but many feel her presence, especially in Cenril, where rumors of the hag's exploits lurk in nearly every dark corner. When Eleanor showed up in Cenril almost five years ago, she was just one Third-Eyed Thug among many. Eleanor pledged her wits and weapons to the "All-Seeing Eye in exchange for protection from her past." And in almost no time at all, she had become her second-in-command and closest confidante.

Sometime later, Hudson enlisted Eleanor's help with a side project he had going on with Emelyan. When it launched into a lucrative business pushing affected alchemical alterations, The Oracle took her cut. With collaboration from more than a few dirty hands, Hudson, Emelyan, and Eleanor's influences spread through the city and went so far as to leak into Larket and bits of Rynvale.

When Hudson's enterprises took a more political turn within Cenril, The Oracle appeared content to continue with their prior arrangement so long as it suited her. Meanwhile, Eleanor retreated into the shadows with her partner, Leoxander. He took her into his crew, and together they reconstructed the Assassin's Guild into the Rogue's Guild, which Eleanor ultimately took over when the wolf in Leo pulled him away.

With Rogue Leader's mantle now on her rune-painted shoulders, Eleanor frequently finds herself at odds with her "All-Seeing" mentor. Although money still passes into the right accounts between them, tensions build as Eleanor tests the length of her leash, including, but not limited to, stealing one of the hag's more powerful commissions, the Major Wand of Pain, before disappearing into the shadows once more.

Resurfacing many months later, Fox began taking on new clients on behalf of the Rogue's Guild again. One such client to come across her desk was Yeort Dearbrin, a modestly wealthy Cenrili merchant who required their most discerning assassination services to deal with a dwarven business colleague and rival. Although the pay was a little on the lower side for a job that demanded such precision in its delivery, Fox took the contract and thought it would be an excellent excuse to lure in new Guild Members.

Hooking Lanara and Arlyeon with her carefully-placed rumors regarding a job opportunity, Fox presented the client's request: produce a poison capable of being undetected in dwarven ale and use it to kill Vejemir Stonewall. The bloodthirsty recruits concluded that it would be in everyone's best interests if all six dwarves in Vejemir's entourage were taken out simultaneously, especially as Fox sweetened the pot with a side-ante of her own. So when they showed up at the Large Inn to guide the dwarven retinue through an unforgettable night, both recruits had a little something to bring to the table.

The assassination progressed like the weirdest pixie dust trip Eleanor has ever had to bear witness to; two separate poisons somehow made it into the dwarves' gluttonous maws. And despite the sinister crack of thunder as they departed from the crime scene, Minx and Tail officially joined the shadowed elite that night. The following morning, local papers unobtrusively mentioned a visiting troupe of merchants had fallen victim to violent food poisoning after a night of drunken debauchery. When interviewed, the innkeeper apologized for any ill-conceived decisions that night and had reportedly fired the barmaid on duty.

Eleanor kept a close ear to the ground, listening for anything that might direct attention toward herself or her Guild. The longer she thought about the night's events, the more she suspected she might hear even a hint of something from The Oracle or her suspected involvement. Nevertheless, as it stood, things were remarkably quiet. That only further twisted the unease within the guild leader; nothing ever went this smoothly. While waiting for word from the client to confirm the contract's completion, Eleanor decided a good defense was a good offense. When Leoxander showed up in the club's basement wanting a job, and not just any job—well, she had the perfect one for him.

Twenty-five thousand gold pieces if Leo could help Eleanor kill The Oracle. In their negotiations for specifics, more of Eleanor's sins came to the surface, and as the pirate's anger reached a boiling point, his wolf took over. Eleanor tried to reach out to the human trapped inside in a bid to help the divided man. When Leo's consciousness came to the surface in his wolf form for the first time, the spellrogue discharged every ounce of magic she had into an improvised binding spell. The result was Leoxander had full human consciousness. However, the improvised tattoo staining his skin had trapped him in his lycanthropic hybrid form.

At last, the client reached out to arrange the payment. However, alarm bells were sounding in Fox's mind when they requested that the rendezvous take place at the Large Inn. Although she had gone to The Whispering incognito, she was reluctant to return so soon. Trusting the tiny knot in her stomach, Fox discreetly reached out to a select few guild-mates, ensuring that there would be backup were things to go south.

And boy, did they turn antarctic. After attempting to follow the client inside, four of The Oracle's Third-Eyed Thugs emerged from the shadows on either side of the building. Flanking Fox, they tried to grab her and throw her into the trap waiting inside. Thank the gods that she had the prudence to invite a few of her friends to the fight. Inks' garden-variety ganking turned the first thug into a meat salad. At the same time, the psion's partner channeled the portentous storm into stunning the remainder, albeit Mal failed to be as bad as needed.

Meanwhile, Fox's resolve didn't waver. Although a certain wolf pirate had recently survived a dump of her magical energies, Fox used the "repurposing" skills that had probably contributed to this mess in the first place. Able to feast on the powers being pushed through her opponents by Mal, she redirected it and focused it in a blast around her. Both Tail and Fox took advantage of the subsequent chaos and dove through the entrance and into the Inn.

Inside, an unearthly silence greeted the pair of foxes. Sitting at the only illuminated table, The Oracle waited. The rest of the Inn was bespelled in darkness, but as Fox drew nearer, she picked out the innkeeper's kneeling form at The Oracle's feet, and behind her: the client, his face cleft by a sinister grin.

Revealing that the client was working for The Oracle (who probably had no intention of paying up), the All-Seeing Hag hinted at a deeper meaning behind the concurrent deaths of the dwarves. Before the Guild could learn what the rheumy-eyed crone meant with her cryptic speech, she disappeared from the Inn—along with the crooked client and the innkeeper, whose family hasn't heard from him since.

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