RP:Dead Body Dealings

Part of the The Lesser of Two Evils Arc

Main Graveyard Area You now stand in the main area of the graveyard, various tombstones and grave spread out across this place, many of the graves have been dug up, and empty caskets lay about the cold ground. Why have they been dug up you may think, but it's clear this place is hardly ever used to rest the dead, but more of a recruiting grounds for the necromancers that inhabit this town, somehow it feels disturbing to you, unless you happen to be a necromancer yourself? To the south is an old looking temple of some kind.

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Ranok would have arrived with the Spectre, the body of the dead blue dragon strapped to the belly of the ship. The ship's ability to move was limited by the rather desiccated corpse, of course, but it seems the rebels didn't really wish to tangle with the apparent weapon of war. Ranok stood at the helm, dressed as he always was...save one difference. For one, his normally bone white armor plate was now an unsettling shade of crimson, and secondly, static seemed to be following him wherever he goes. Every time something touched him, it'd get zapped.

Kasyrs' arrival was through an alternative route, the revenant having taken a detour to a particular island- if only so he could take advantage of the little known portal to Vailkrin it guarded. Really, it at least made return trips from Rynvale convenient. It's this particularily expedient manner of travel, and the fact that it's dropped him off at the heart of the city, which allows the Kensai to be present currently. Not that he's doing anything particularily regal or important, since he's slouched up against a tombstone.

Redhale had hauled himself out of the library, attempting to bat off a particularly enthusiastic book with every second step. The thing continued to snap at his heels when he stepped outside to look up at the airship and it's luggage, the dead dragon filling his bony ribcage with fuzzes that were at least tepid. He drew alongside Kasyr while continuing to stare at the fallen beast, "It must be my birthday."

Ranok gives his crewmen a few orders. Steady the ship, make sure those ropes were holding firm, and a few other things of maintenance. He wasn't going to get off the ship, not yet. Mostly because the delivery required the most important thing: payment. Which was, of course, what Kas would likely be expecting.

Kasyr casually stares up at the airship and its cargo, before his head tips off towards Redhale, "Well, we -are- business partners et all, et I figured, if we already had one..we might as well obtain a fresher one. ..Feisty fellow too, en fait." The revenant pauses at about this point, before he tips his head down and begins to rummage for a cigarette from behind his ear. "Mind you, birthday implies this es free- et whilst it certainly es on my part. Well, er. I sort of ..had no way of getting it off rynvale in any sort of practical manner." That didn't risk starting a war with Rynvale, or at least getting Luffy potentially banned from there...or plowing a hole through the wall through sheer 'happenstance'. "So, there es, apparently, a delivery fee to be discussed."

A large, leather-bound grimoire appears in mid air and falls to the floor with a thud, several black pages tearing themselves free during the descent.

Redhale 's mood soured instantly, "Delivery fee? Paid to this guy? How about letting him decimate our allies?" He let his voice ring louder so that Ranok might hear it from where he stood so proudly, "I don't know how living memory holds up but I believe he owed us at least a hundred souls. This dragon is good for…" He paused to dramatically deliberate, "Maybe forty? …Does that mean he should be paying us for this delivery?" Redhale had never been one for making friends, or not as far as anyone living today could remember. He brought his voice down in volume once more to question Kasyr privately, "What does he really expect in payment, anyway? Doesn't seem to be the bookish type…"

Redhale 's voice trailed off only because his grimoire had decided to flop down in between to gravestones, and the dark man's composure suddenly broke as he dashed towards it, his robed body streaking forwards in odd arcs to avoid the crumbling tombstones as he grasped for his book.

A large, leather-bound grimoire flips a few of its own dark pages before slamming shut and disappearing.

Redhale swore loudly as he scrambled over the empty patch of dirt.

Ranok can't really hear Red, as the airship was about a hundred meters ish in the air, the standard 'docking height', thus why its used so much. If he could, though, he'd balk at the low estimate of the dragon's worth, even despite the absence of most all of its blood. It was worth, maybe, 70 men, 60, lowest.

Kasyr shrugs broadly, before he draws one hand over his mouth to cup the cigarette, while the other hand draws just beneath it- thumb and middle finger making a snapping mission. This, in tandem with a quietly murmured cantrip, sets his cigarette alight, by which point he bothers to elaborate, "Didn't say. That being said- for the moment, he brought us the dragon, et if we play this right, we can use him to ferry all those bodies from Gamorg over to us, as well. You know, in tandem with the services he's already rendering against his debt." A thoughtful hum, and the Kensai simply proceeds to puff his smoke, acting as though he hasn't noticed Red's total lack of composure.

Redhale was being asked for cash and had missed his book again, so while the angry hiss he emitted as he made his way back to Kasyr's side might not have been completely warranted it was perhaps at least understandable, "All right, well wave him down would you? We can't just drop the thing from up there, nor can we throw random objects up to him in an attempt to pay." Really, going up to the deck wouldn't be too hard, as he had illustrated previously, but they'd have to pull closer to the ground sooner or later, so his booming voice shot up towards the ship, "We promise not to kill you, you can come down."

Kasyr snorted at that one. "Well said, Monsieur."

Ranok finally leans over the deck railing. He hrms. The thing was, he couldn't. Not without a little bit of craftiness, at least. The slowfall on his boots worked fine...but the armor he wore was a little...jumpy. The truth of it was that all that blood was functionally 'eaten' by the armor, to fuel the intelligence that laid within. Every move that threatened his life made it expend some of that blood in order to 'counter' it. Jumping to ones technical risk of death surely counted. But then...it was hard not to waste in order not to look even a little showy. And a dragon had a *lot* of blood. The expense wouldn't hurt. And they'd probably get tetchy. With a sigh, the man vaults the railing and just leaps off. The response was fairly immediate. Short as the fall was, it was generally lethal. Streams of electricity trail off the man's body, the armor's response to the lethality of the fall. Functionally an imitation of what Kas liked to do, that being to use the fields of electricity to counter the magnetics of the world, it proved to be a fairly safe drop, albeit a very sparky and flashy one. Once landed, Ranok straightens his duster back up, smoothes back the hair that suffered from the static, and nonchalantly says, "Hello. Let us dispense vith de puns, eh?" A preemptive cutoff to the inevitable pun 'nice of you to drop in...'.

Kasyr just lifts an eyebrow at the display, before offering an offhanded wave to the man, "Et the shenanigans, non? What es it that you want? Since you were alluding to being paid, en fait." The kensai offers up a yawn after that, before he stretches out against his tombstone-turned-recliner and settles back a bit more, "You have something in mind, oui? Or were you actually intending on haggling?"

Redhale groaned at the prospect, "Please don't bother me with haggling. If you are expecting anything at all in return for this seemingly owed favour either your desire must be extremely reasonable or you must be completely crazy; either situation should come to a swift resolve." He really didn't know what Ranok was expecting, which was an odd feeling considering he was usually in tune with everything going on around him, "If you want gold I must tell you such is thin on the ground until this conflict is resolved, and the same goes for manpower."

Ranok waves his hand, letting loose a few errant curls of electricity. Just about then, a trio of lights would be evident over his shoulder. Three motes of electric blue light, bobbing and weaving around. The man's head shakes, "Hy hef liddle need for gold, really. But, vell... Hy vas hopink to ask for a favor, yah." The trio of lights spins tightly around an invisible central axis. "Don' be so surprised. Dis...var effort hain't kompletely my business, doze men owed repaeed in odder meddods. Hyu must be tinkink literally, but dis airship patrollink iz as mhenny eyah und ears as hyu've lost, at de least. Und ve kan see a bit more. However, dat iz a schlight issue." The hand lowers, back to his side. "De SCHpectre iz made out uf paper. Simply put...it kan' be involved in dis konflict for much longer. Hy've seen a bit uf de scale hyu're fightink on. Dis schip...hain't a var schip. However...vun kannot deny de use uf hevink aerial support dat doesn' need to eat, schleep, or, uh..." A glance to the dead blue dragon sitting underneath, "...be reanimated. For dat effeck...Hy vant to build a schip. Und Hy'd like zum help."

Kasyr lofts an eyebrow, "And in return for helping you, you'll continue to fulfill your end of the bargain, albeit, with a ship that es not...made of paper, oui?" The revenant pauses here, as though waiting for confirmation, before he quite promptly starts speaking again, "Mind you, Red has just finished mentioning we have a shortage of men- so, I suppose we'd be at a sort of impasse before we even began. Unless, of course, you had a means of providing us some..replacements...so that we could allot some individuals over to you with a clear mind, et all. J'en sais pas, those Gamorg folks, peut-etre?" That said and done, the Kensai simply goes back to contently puffing on his smoke.

Redhale tried not to let the fact that he didn't much like the thought of more ships floating through the skies influence his response, "My people are not mechanics," Most of them weren't, at least. Really the undead were a mixed bag, "And if you haven't noticed, we tend to deal with the earth more than we do the sky. Even if I had enough men to lend to your construction, they would be more likely to build you a church than an airship. You want fancy trinkets, you should be talking to the gnomes." He didn't turn gnomes; they couldn't swing heavy things very well.

Ranok nods at Kas, "Dat vas de implication, yah. Dis...nev schip, Hy hef in mind. It vill be more potent. Dis vun iz in near konstant risk uf attack. It hes kannons, it hes men...but it's simply too big. Too fragile. A merchant schip vith guns on it." The man steeples his fingers, "Hy realize technical prowess iz a...uh, rarity, among de deceased, yah. But vat Hy *also* onderstund...iz dat de ondead are very goot at followink directions. Meanink dat dey do de heavy liftink und basic konstruction vile Hy hendle de finker details. If dey kan build a church, dey kan build a different sort uf tink, yah?" He fishes a whistle next from around his neck, "Hy belieff Hy kan help, a liddle, vith de men problem. To an ekstent. Besides knowink vere, eksactly, de mass graves in Gamorg are...und hevink de actual koin to pay for dem to be oneardded, Hy heppen to know vere a hendful uf dragon skeletons on de plains are...und, perheps, a fev veek old red iz. Onless dat insectoeed vampire tink got to it. Hy'd hef to check. Oh, und..." He blows the whistle in a series of chirps, and pulses. Overhead, there was scurrying on the deck. Kas, no doubt, knew what was coming. A dark shadow was shoved off the deck and thuds nearby, *just* missing a headstone. It was a Doorknocker. Ranok gestures back to it, "Dey're big. Dey're klumsy. But dey're also very schtrong. Dey make goot defense, or schock und aff ground based tactics. Vith a liddle luv in de terms uf magical defense department..." He trails off, obviously implying that a little arcane knowledge on wards wouldn't go amiss on their lethality.

Kasyr turns his attention towards Redhale, one hand extended towards the man to waggle, "I suppose the most logical thing to do, would be to afford him the extra aid -after- he evens himself up with men, non? Obviously, we'd be able to spare them, then, since we'd no longer be at a deficit." When that's addressed, the Kensai simply draws his attention back to Ranok...and then over towards the Doorknocker, when its' introduced. "I might have something for it, en fait. I'll have to check a book of mine. Et see if a certain individual cannot be reached." After all, whilst it would be useful to get Markos' direct aid, just getting the instructions so someone else could do it, would be equally acceptable.

Redhale continued to grumble; between the ongoing conflict and his runaway grimoire, not to mention perceived insults towards his kind, he was rarely pleased these days, "Once the conflict is over we can lend you some men to do the heavy lifting, but don't count on them for detailed work; their fingers likely wont be up to it… Once the ship is built I don't want to see it in these skies without my permission." He grumbled something that likely referred to the battle at the bridge, "And if the thing doesn't end up working, then it's on your for poor decision making, not us for poor workmanship; that much has already been admitted." He turned to Kasyr to say something in more hushed tones.

Ranok shakes his head, "Hy'm afraeed dat 'after de konflict' kan' really be done. Dis schip hain't gunna schtay around in de air, for more reasons den vun. Its owner iz gettink tvitchy. De idiot gurl kan' tink her vay out uf a paper bag, but she's annoyink enough, und rich enough, to make it an issue." It wasn't like Ranok couldn't hire men to make a ship. He wanted undead because, first, they were free. Second, there was no such thing as 'hazardous working environment' to the undead, and thus all sorts of lovely corners could be cut...among other reasons. The effort for this would be to get another working warship into the conflict. Going up to inspect his own creation. Inspecting the joints on the legs, he says at Kas, "Und hyu'll hef to tell me more. Hy might be able to settle for knowledge, as alvays." The machine/golem shuffles slightly as its pilot goes through the motions without Ranok even asking. Normalcy at its finest, one could suppose.

Kasyr tugs at one of his ears, before simply shrugging, "Well, one way or the other, we can't really do anything until the deficit in troops are made up for. Vraiment, I don't see a problem with lending you individuals, should you start to grant us a -surplus- of bodies, but well. Until that point- we're still trying to make up for the original losses." The revenant shrugs at this point, before casually drawing a hand over to his cigarette and waggling it, "Knowledge wise, I can't really provide just yet, until I find out what the creator said. Although, I was thinking a few things that might empower them mobility wise, however. Since..that's what I'd take advantage of, if I had to fight one." Another shrug, and the Kensai quietly tilts his head over towards Redhale and mutters something back.

Redhale turned to Kasyr, "Surplus of troops? How many men would we need before we could consider we had a surplus? What would happen if we miscalculated that number? No, I cannot give up troops while we are at war." He returned his attention to Ranok, "This is the kind of haggling I didn't want. You already owe us and now you are asking that we weaken ourselves in a time of war. What I am offering is a favour. I don't need your ship in the skies so if you wish to run off until a better one can be built be my guest. What I do need is blades in the skulls of certain vampires, and in order to do that I need hands to hold those blades." Preferably those hands would be attached to bodies, and preferably there would be a lot of them. Another short comment was spat out to Kasyr.

Ranok glances at Kas, "Mobility, huh. Dat might be useful. Find me later." Then, to Red, "Vell, Hy'll see about helpink hyu schuffle bodies. ...kan hyu at least gimmee zum ondead dat kan dig a hole? Eksavatink hennyddink in Gamorg now iz...uh, onsafe for de livink. Vith enough hends, it kan be done und over vith in a sinkle night. It'd be for a sinkle night. Hyu kan schpare enough hends for dat, surely? Dis iz for hyu, not me. Keep dat in mind." That, at least, was the complete truth.

Kasyr gestures from Redhale to Ranok, "Et bien, I suppose that works- since it gives us a means of quickly bolstering the ranks. I don't see anything wrong with that, as long as tu can assure that this will transpire quickly enough." That aside, the Revenant simply pushes away from the gravestone he's been sitting at, if only so he can start meandering over towards that Blue. More or less, it's him withdrawing from the conversation, beyond one last, "I'll see what I can do, Monsieur Ranok- but no promises. The man I'd need for that project es hard to get ahold of."

Redhale let out a long, grating breath, "A small number of men can be offered… Perhaps ten. Their transport is up to you, though I suppose you wont have a problem with that." Assuming the airship wasn't too grand a way to move a small group of men for a task as simple as digging, "Now, why don't we get that dragon down here."

Ranok claps his hands together once, "Tonight, den. Ten men dat kan do de diggink. It's betta dis vay. Less qvestions asked. Ve'll see vat ve kan do. Henny preference on body parts, eh? Maybe a schoppink list uf, uh, parts?" He was mostly serious. He had no idea what constituted as desirable to a necromancer. But, that aside, he gestures to the area at large, "Chust tell me vhere to put it, und ve vill be on our vey."

Kasyr casually hangs his coat up on a gravestone, before the obligatory less-than-pleasent-and-fairly-gruesome manifestation of his wings occurs. From there, the Kensai simply hops into the air and proceeds to fly up towards the dragon, effectively intent upon inspecting his deceased prize.

Redhale hadn't even said a word when ten painted faces marched in from the north, still wearing sturdy, blood splattered armor; apparently the undead soldiers didn't care about hygiene, "Might want to keep it behind the citadel; we should be able to keep Lucien and his men from getting this far into the graveyard, and it would be better to surprise them."

Ranok blows the whistle again, a different series of chirps. A bunch of ropes descend. Ranok hooks them to the Doorknocker. Amusingly, his little display cost him a bit in convenience, that's for certain. But lifting several hundred pounds of metal was a different proposition from lifting several tons of dead flesh. The undead got a ride as well, since they needed to be aboard. Once aboard, though, Ranok would swing the ship around to where it's meant to go. The ship lowers itself even more, so, so very carefully. This close to the ground, an errant and stiff gust of wind could push the thing into something else. The ship wouldn't be badly damaged, but whatever it hit probably couldn't really say the same. The ship was larger and had inertia, after all. As for the dragon, it was perfectly fine. Lacking all its blood, having a severed brain stem, and looking slightly roughed up from the windy trip and any additional roughhousing Kas and Sato pulled on it, but otherwise intact. Once only about twenty feet in the air, the ropes were all cut about the same time, and down goes the dragon with a fairly hollow thud on the ground. It was made of tough stuff, it could take it. Not like it was going to get any deader, and that was as close to the ground as it could be made. The ship wastes no time in beginning its ascent.

Kasyr just flys down as the ship does, seemingly indifferent as to the whole process as he continues to effectively glide around and scrutinize his prize. Really, the damn thing seemed as intact now as it did before. It's only with that final thud on the ground that the Revenant brings himself back down to the ground, if only to scoop up his coat and sling it over his shoulder, "It checks out to moi, et al. So I suppose I ought to wish you luck with this- since now I need to do a bit of research, et all." Which is to say, unless otherwise stopped, the Revenant is likely going to meander off, though not before he waves to Red and offers a, "Et hey, Satoshi mentioned that if this brute should die again, you'll have a skeleton to replace the one in the library...if that ancient does not provide, en fait."

Redhale crept on over to the dragon corpse to inspect it more closely, his attention soon narrowing so that he could assess what needed to be done for the dragon, and what the dragon would be able to do for him. Kasyr was regarded with a distracted wave and Ranok didn't get a farewell at all, although he probably wouldn't have noticed if he did.

Ranok || With a snap and a lurch, the airship departs Vailkrin airspace in a fairly straightforward fashion. Ranok was returning Redhale's sentiment, or had indeed not noticed that he wasn't bid farewell.