RP:An Interrupted Exchange

Part of the A Dream of Tyranny Arc

Ryder Sanctuary

Linn wore his usual gear on his trip out to Cenril today. Going this far east was a fairly rare occurrence for the enchanter as of late, though it didn’t take much to hear the rumors of the recent assassination. It was enough to set him skirting around the edges of the city away from activity, or straight through the crowds no one was willing to make a mess in. His target of interest was really the only one he had in Cenril (Well, maybe one other, but that was minor.) which took him right to Desparrow’s home again. With a couple knocks on the door to announce his presence he would enter if allowed in, or wait otherwise, asking to see the lycan when he could.

The doors swing open before Linn could even lay a hand on them, the enchantments on the place making the building itself aware of the intentions of those both approaching, and already inside. To anyone's surprise, the place has been gutted, the foyer wall separating it from the main hall, as the same for the kitchen's wall had been torn down, the stairs leading to the second floor balcony and the balcony itself was torn down leaving the doors and rooms in tact, just no normal way of accessing them. The maids still bustled about, but the furniture had mostly been moved to one side and there was still the remnants of corpses and blood getting cleaned from the full moon a few nights previous. Des stood there in the center of his grand hall, azure hues taking it all in while beaming with pride. Wolves moved about but perhaps it would be noted the strapping lads, three specifically, that kept themselves around the lycanthrope at all times, never looking directly in his eyes and usually keeping their heads bowed unless specifically addressed. Naked to the pants they wore it was impossible to know that they were previous Cenril guards, but it was obivous they were sires due tto the large marks between shoulder and neck. The way they behaved was as if they revered their alpha, it merely made Desparrow look even stronger, "Ah, Linn.. Its has been so long, I was beginning to worry that you may never show up. I will say it is quite about time. I think I know what brings you, but why not fill me in anyways eh old friend?"

Linn turned his head around the rather blown-out house to take in the destruction. And the blood. And… Des’s attitude at it. Next his gaze wandered around to the sired humans before he breathed out a tight sigh. He knew people who hated vampires, and the reasons that he saw for it were rather… similar to the ones he saw right now. “It’s not that hard to guess.” He managed a light, maybe surprisingly civil response. With a motion around the condition of the room he continued “And you’ve been quite busy it seems.” Understatement of the week. Even the month maybe. “Sage doesn’t feel so heavy where I found you before either. I can only guess that was your work too. So that leads me to wonder, just how much is in those crystals you have now after I’ve been gone so long?” Right now he had no hostile intent, though he was maybe a little… put off by the recent developments.

Desparrow rose a finger to the air as if upon mentioning the crystals he had been reminded of something, "Ah.. Of course." with that he turned and made off towards his locked room which held all manner of his magical tomes and objects away from the greedy hands of those who might want them but continued to talk as he did so, "I have indeed Linn. The plans are going along quite nicely. So horrid, I had made plans with the Mayor, a meeting, and the night before I was to meet him his home was attacked! I had actually been wandering about the city at that time but I was too late to do anything about it, in fact these men right here were unconcious, or barely alive but at least still breathing.. I did the only thing I could think of to immediately spare their lives. It was such a tragedy but after that I had to vacate or else I'd might have been taken as supect to the horrid crimes. All the blood, it put my sense of smell into shock and I couldn't go further in." he sighed, now in front of the door and fiddling with the lock before it slide to the floor with a heavy clang. "I couldn't even see the status of the mayor.. I just know that the next day.. he was dead." spoken with an expert false somber tone, as if he truly was sad that the events occurred. When he came back out of the room he was hauling in both his arms a large purple stone that had grown exponentially since it had been left in Des' care, in fact it was nearly the size of his torso, having been fed every collectable drop of magic in the forest, all the excess that Des himself gave off and then some for.. two months? who knew, but it had been long enough and every source he could find where there was extra he stored in this massive vessel.

Linn waited patiently, rather nervously eyeing the three new lycans that stood in front of him as Desparrow went off to retrieve the stone and spoke. He had been thrown into quite a state of suspicion as of late between the last ‘celebration’ in Xalious and his dealings with a few other people he knew, and Des’s speech was met with the same inquisitive mood that he had taken to the rest of them. No conclusions came, neither belief nor denial, but he was picking apart the details mercilessly to figure it out later. When he returned with the mana crystal Linn couldn’t help a low whistle at the size of the thing. He knew the lycan was pushing the storage quite a bit, but not –that- much. “Damn.” Came a rather impressed response. “Something that big is rather… dangerous to keep around. If just for all the attention it will draw. You can keep a piece to have something to keep building on, but I’ll need the rest to work with.” Last time he saw something like this was a loooong time ago. Back when he got his first little introduction to magic…

Desparrow had watched the thing grow day by day and had actually grown fond of a specific area, an outcropping that he found aesthetically appealing and therefore when setting the stone down on the nearest table he was quick to break that specific piece away, a bit more than half the size of his hand, "I hope you don't mind that I take a bit more than you may personally feel comfortable with. I actually planned on moving to Hilde's side, and seeing what I could do if anything at all to aid her cause. Cenril is rapidly deteriorating; the mayor is dead, there are murders in the strees, gangs disappearing, and drugs funneling in. There is too much that I just can't keep track of but I hope to get the civilians out as soon as possible, and those that resist well if they can't be forced let them be damned when this place goes to a whole new circle of hell." he sighed, a spark of anger in his voice, the city he grew up in as a child was no where near as bad as this and there was just no way to turn back the tides of time and the damage they have done. A convincing visual performance with the appropriate emotional cues right on time. "Linn.. I almost feel like its hopeless, but I know, with my friends, my allies at my side.. we can change fate itself and turn this around. Maybe the city will fall, but from the ashes of ruin, I can try to build a New Cenril, one that embodies new ideas, but the old image, the one I remember as a child." by the end of that sentence he had acquired a somber tone before turning his sorrowful gaze to his friend. "I'll be honest, Frostmaw really isn't my fight but I'm actually hoping that if I offer my services, maybe I can get something in return to help here."

Linn nodded towards the section Desparrow broke off, his mood turning urgent. “Keep that. I’ll move the rest out of the city. With everything going on the last thing you need is rumors of –that- being around.” The emotional show put on didn’t seem to faze him all that much. The only thing remaining in the enchanter was a cold calculation of just how to prevent this much power from blowing up in their faces either literally, or by its mere presence catalyzing other events. “I can keep it safe, if we need more of it as a supply for anything I’ll retrieve it for whatever we’re going to do. Besides, you’re going to grow more of it over time.” Almost as if on cue, the door swung open for a few nosy souls who were wondering just what the urgent tones were about. It was a gang of the local ruffians of all sorts of shapes and sizes, and looking past the mithril-armored enchanter at the massive mana crystal they were instantly taken aback before one of them called out “We’re RICH!”. The statement was almost some kind of rallying cry that brought them storming into the home, Linn immediately rushing forward to avoid getting trampled before making his grab at the massive crystal. “This is what I was talking about!” he justified as he tried moving the thing to a safer, or at least more tactically defendable position.

Desparrow actually gave his chunk of the crystal to one of his maids whom promptly put it in Des' back room before reapplying the padlock for the security of all its contents. It was then that the thugs had the gall to break into -his- home which up until this point he had no fear of happening at all. Anger boiled beneath his calm appearance and as he looked to his fledglings and gave them a nod towards Linn whom had retreated, they quickly formed a barrier between the thugs that may get past whatever defense Des was going to set up, and Linn with his rather large and valuable piece of material. In seconds the rage took over, his face beet red before he exploded out of his own skin, structure altering in seconds compared to the normal pace that may have taken a full minute and at the end stood before them a thirteen foot tall ebon-furred lycanthrope that Des had only some control over due to the fact he was a being of exceptional willpower. The thugs were equipped with things they had looted off their victims of robbery, and worst case murder which now with the offense of breaking and entering and attempted burglary, their punishments grew until Des felt it was more than fair to slaughter them all here. As they rushed forward Des too got on all fours and charged, head dipped and instead breaking straight through the center, taking stabs and cuts along his body as he passed but knocking the three in front of him to the ground and threw those closest to his shoulders off balance. The moment he reached the door, many of the thugs advancing towards his youngest recruits and Linn he would have to make a sacrifice but for now would decide what Linn was going to do before making a decision.

Linn passed from sight around a corner soon as he could before setting his pack down, having to break the crystal multiple times to get it into a form that would fit inside before donning his hood and iron mask to shield the rest of himself against the coming assault. While the bag had gained a good deal of bulk when he came back out to the fray, it seemed to lack the corresponding weight. Regardless, he had his own weapons drawn now, a curved black knife maybe a foot and a half long, and the trick-shield that he always used. And he was just as bent on killing the thugs as Desparrow, making his way in with swipes that immediately resulted in spatters of blood with a grim mercilessness. They had to die not really for any sort of justice, but just for the disaster it would wreak if word got out about the existence of this crystal. That they were scum and criminals and probably going to die to Desparrow anyway just lightened the fact. His will was rather clear: No escapees.

Desparrow was making quick work of anything that decided to flee, Linn obviously holding his own quite well. The first three that had been knocked aside by his charge with dispatched with claw swipes towards the throats, and with their piecemeal armor for who knows where not even fully covering them appropriately it caved under the force of his strength and the bite of his claws. One after another cloth and flesh gave into sprays of blood which to the fledglings was an assault on their rapidly improving bodies, senses included and forced them to back off. The problem with having a beast of such ferocity standing up against the weaker, it could easily instill hopelessness and absolute fear into those that would dare raise a hand towards him, while the fury in his eyes and white of his teeth spelled death for those that get too close. Steering clear and making sure none of his blows or his bulk got in the way of his ally, he took a more supportive role, preventing the escape and felling two more thugs that had meandered too near Des in their effort to try and escape Linn, their end described as nothing better than gripped by whatever limb had been grasped and throwing them across the hall by it and like that they would ragdoll with or without said limb still attached to their body until they reached death with a crunch on the tile floor some distance away.

Linn began moving with unusual speed and agility as he struck down the thugs, stopping, turning, and starting his motion again as if almost weightless, his will directing his body with serious disrespect for physical law and intuition. Whatever state he had been set into was possibly just as intimidating as Desparrow’s however there wasn’t much time to fear his focus before he cut down whoever it was set on. Before long there were no traces of standing thugs, a number of scattered glances thrown out to confirm the fact. “This was what I was afraid of. I need to get out of here now though. Put this away.” With a rush he switched directions… off to the sea before diving into the water. For a few seconds he didn’t surface before he burst back out of the water much faster than should be possible, his hands grabbing onto the surface as if it were solid with a great expression of shock. The shock only intensified once he realized he was sitting on the surface of the water, causing him to plunge right back into the ocean before he came back up as if treading water. “Umm.” He stammered out loud, completely confused at just what was happening; he didn’t try a spell like that, let alone know it! Shakily he put his hands back on the surface before climbing up and out, running off across the ocean to Sage to continue his way westward. Whatever this was, it was working.

Desparrow watched the remainder of thugs fall, and as Linn left, the way he moved left a question in Des' mind but it was quickly pushed away as he decided what he would do with all these new bodies, and another flood of blood on his nice floor. If he was into rituals and blood magic this would be a paradise however he did neither and made it little more than annoying. Still they would sit there for now; maybe he'd stake them to the front of his house as a warning for anyone else to keep the hell away. Who knew!