RP:Redhale's Ritual in Vailkrin Arena

From HollowWiki

Background

This is part of the Recruiting For Redhale story arc.


After a long an arduous journey, the entourage reaches Vailkrin.

With the last of his materials received, Redhale proceeds with the ritual.

Redhale's Ritual in Vailkrin Arena

Jolie had eventually woken and found herself reverted to her human appearance, naked and awfully grateful for the garment that afforded her some modesty. She'd thought for a moment she'd had a dream in which she was at a banquet where all the food had beards and screamed.. until her half-waking eyes set upon the remnants of the dwarf she'd devoured in wolven form. Groaning, she struggled upright, caked in blood, and picked a bit of bone from her teeth. Whether Cornelius was still there or not, Jolie was adamant that she needed a bath and a trip to the local shops for new clothes, so it was some time later she walked back into the arena looking far less gruesome, making her way to the place where the three dozen captives she'd arranged for were crammed into the cages, the poor souls perhaps more terrified for Cornelius' hypnotic poisons wearing off.

Cornelius watches her head off with a smirk, keeping a close eye on the prisoners until she returns

Jolie said to Cornelius, "That's better.. is all well here?"

Cornelius chuckles "Well, we're minus one dwarf thanks to your appetite, but otherwise, all the cargo is secured." He straightens his sleeves.

Jolie eyed him. "I must've been peckish." She frowned. "We ought to find Svilfon... "

Redhale swept into the arena to both interrupt the discussion his clanmates were having and put a cease to the sheepish moaning the prisoners were making. If it wasn't his intimidating appearance, all writhing robes and looming figure, that shut them up then it was the waves of power that rolled off him, energy sprouting from him like a pair of great wings. It was this same aura that seemed to tremor when he spoke, so that his words seemed to be spoken from the ground itself rather than from the throat of a man, "Who you ought to have found is me. I'm lucky I have others more ready to report to me, lest I had been kept waiting longer." His tone was civil enough, but he still seemed in a bad mood. He may have been a little peckish himself.

Cornelius keeps his mouth shut, and maintains a blandly neutral facial expression. In a situation like this, he'd let Jolly-girl do the talking. He was just hired help.

Jolie cast him a narrow look, "Well, aren't we Lord High and bloody Mighty these days.." The necromancer had faced worse; Redhale was a not yet as terrifying as the Pool, or the creature that posed as a nasty Trick. She hitched her brows at the masked man, jerking a thumb toward the cages. "And you're welcome."

Redhale wasn't bothered by Jolie's attitude. While he was a proud man, he knew better than to try to intimidate the woman, "Yes, yes, I'm sure you travelled a long way to get them here, and your help is invaluable, but the longer they sit there groaning to the skies the more people are going to come take a look." They weren't groaning, not anymore, although several were openly weeping. Redhale approached the cage and let his consciousness sweep over them, stopping on a particularly healthy looking young man, "That one." He pointed at the prisoner, "You, come here." The man's face twisted from a look of fear into that of confusion, and the dark being who had beckoned him let out an exasperated sigh, curling his hand into a fist and pulling it back towards his body. A mighty series of crunches indicated the breaking of many bones as the victims body was forced between the bars that he had stood behind, first his ribs collapsing inwards, then the soft pop of his skull caving under pressure, and finally a great crack as his hips slid towards one another. The act cause an uproar of panic amongst the people within the cage but Redhale seemed far calmer as he turned about, half of his victim's body still hanging awkwardly out of his robes, "So." He mumbled, "Any problems along the way?"

Cornelius smiles blithely as Jolie flicks him a meaningful look "Well, old bean, we did lose a dwarf, which I really must apologise for. Got eaten along the way, you know. Dangerous journey, and all that. Otherwise, no injuries to myself or Jolly-girl, and Svilfon, well, we'll know how Svilfon fared when he makes contact. We parted ways in Sage Forest."

Jolie coughed softly, needing to raise her voice above the wails of the horrified prisoners. "Little trouble with the elves. No other passage safe enough to bring that many through, though." She grinned to Redhale forefinger wagging toward his robes, "You have a little something on your... Anyway, mostly without a hitch." She would not speak her worry from the plucky wizard, who was gods-knew-where and probably not feeling very well. "That's three dozen.. minus two - we lost an orc, troublemaker - makes ... thirty-four usable captives."

Redhale wheeled about at Cornelius' words, the crunching of bones and slurping of blood ceasing for a moment as he spoke in outrage, "You led this lot through Sage?" A glance shot Jolie's way, her words apparently not making him feel any better "Waved them about right in the elves' faces? They could have followed you right here!" He had lived amongst them once, a long time ago. Some memories had faded, some had doubtlessly been twisted, but he knew for a fact that in Sage even the trees were on the elves' side, and they would whisper rumors with the wind, and the folk who lived amongst them would listen. His masked face then scanned the area, the pair broken legs which stuck out sideways from his form flaring out as he whirled around and the thick chill in the air falling heavier upon everyone nearby as his mind reached out to search for any spying eyes.

Cornelius corrects Jolie's math with a murmured "Thirty-three, now", with a slight flick of the eyes to the mangled corpse of Redhale's... meal?. Other than that, he lets Jolie explain about the elves.

Jolie winced, nodded, shivered, wished she had not taken that cloak to the cleaners... "I got the first dozen flown in. But the only passage from Venturil other than over the mountain is under it - and better Sage than bloody Kelay. Svilfon put them off the scent, and I'd have known if we were followed," she tapped her nose with the tip of her finger. "We told everyone they were poachers, on their way to Gualon for hanging. Except the public service announcement in Craughmoyle.." here, she rolled her eyes toward Cornelius. "Pretty damned smooth, for the numbers we managed." A mumble here, "Plus ten.. makes forty-four... and I'll throw the snack in for free..."

Redhale slurped one of those leftover legs inwards like a thick strand of spaghetti, beginning to calm himself a little, "That is a lot of poachers, but I suppose I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't trust in your abilities… I wonder if I should raze the camp in Sage anyway…" Not far from where he had grown up, that would have been, "No, that will only give them something obvious to complain about." He let out a sigh and crunched away at the remains of his meal, a few final sheets of blood falling over his robes. How he managed to devour a whole body without removing his mask or cloak was baffling, but the bizarre ways in which his body hunched and twisted probably had something to do with it. Approaching the cage once more caused the prisoners to shrink back against the far wall, most likely crushing those at the back somewhat, "Do they know what awaits them?"

Cornelius grins devilishly "Penal gangs and roadworks, I told them. Feel free to abuse them of the notion"

Cornelius does not let on that he has no clue what these damn wretches are wanted for. At the moment, he assumes they are food.

Jolie added, "Any repercussions will not come back on you, but rather ourselves - if anybody recognises us under our brilliant..." a dark look at Cornelius, ".. disguises. You've met Cornelius, yes?"

Cornelius smiles in an unconcerned fashion, quite accustomed to Jolie's glares, confident that they would have been recognisable by description whether they'd gone with her ridiculous pseudonyms or not. 'Captain Horatio' and 'Poncy Blowhard' indeed. He still imagines hers to have been 'Waspish Mcsharptongue'.

Redhale turned about from his second, more lucid inspection of the stock, "Perhaps, he doesn't feel familiar, and I haven't been good with faces since…" He gestured towards his own face, or rather the mask that covered his lack of one, "But a friend of yours is a friend of mine." So long as Jolie stuck around to watch his interactions at any rate, "Mind you, if he's just in your employ…" His mind turned to the witnesses of the last delivery.

Cornelius narrows his eyes somewhat, and appears perhaps a bit too physically relaxed as he straightens his cravat.

Jolie’s turn for smarmy smiles. She studied Cornelius quietly, just long enough to make him fidget with that neckpiece a little more. "He's one of us." Is all she'd have to say. "Cornelius Von Penzance, an associate from my childhood here in Vailkrin. Quite the bird-lover. Corny, this is Redhale. He's an old friend, too."

Cornelius smiles thinly as his hands move from his cravat. Sharp eyes might catch, for the briefest of moments, a glint of something shiny before he drops his hands to fold them over his chest once more "A pleasure, old bean. Any friend of Jolie's is a friend of mine, of course". He does not feel the need to add that this doesn't make them any more trustworthy in his eyes.

Redhale gave a slight shrug before tipping his head in the smallest of bows, "He doesn't look like the Vailkrin type, but if you vouch for him then I'm sure he'll find welcome wherever he may travel across these dead lands." No handshake was offered, whether the man would understand why or not he didn't know, but he didn't especially care. Instead he was eager to empty the large cage, and finally addressed the prisoners directly, "I must apologize, my guests, for my earlier outburst. We don't get the warm blooded type here all too often." His voice was warm and honest, and layered with more than a little flattering illusion. Still, these people had just seen him chow down one of their lot, and all that he could achieve without driving them completely mad was a kind of dumb confusion, "I must also apologize for the bars, but I simply don't know if I can trust you." A murmur of confused banter, "However, if you promise to be nice, and do as I say, then I'll let you out." Putting them in a good mood might have been impossible, but they would be quick to promise even without the glamour in his voice.

Jolie added her own persuasive tone to the comments, the one she'd learned to use during her centuries as a predator and had mastered long ago, "Yes, for you have your opportunity now to work your way to freedom. Imagine it, a little hard labour - and you'll never have to worry about manacles and bars again." Well. She wasn't exactly -lying- to them. "Come now.." green eyes asked Cornelius to stand by. "Good fellows. Cornelius, I'll need you to stand next to me, quite shortly." She made her way to certain protected place on the runic grid that was embedded in the arena's dust.

Cornelius nods, adding his own considerable charm to the mix "See? What'd I say, fellows! Less than ten percent of you dead, and the rest on the work gangs. Better than a hangman's noose in Gualon for the lot of you, eh? Feel free to thank us later." He nods subtly to Jolie, a slightly bored expression stealing over his face as he moves to stand by her side.

Jolie noted the expression, a soft smirk curling her lips, for she knew what was to come. "Don't move off this spot. And best cover your ears when I speak," she whispered, eyes on Redhale expectantly.

Cornelius pulls out some earplugs and inserts them.

Redhale pulled the lock from the cage as if it were made of loose wool and let the door swing open before sweeping across the sand to the position he had taken not so long ago, "If you'll make your way to the center of the arena so your health may be inspected…" But of course one of them bolted for the exit. Redhale only let out a low chuckle as the ground beneath the would be escapee ruptured and a particularly grisly set of bones clawed its fingers into the person's legs, sending them tumbling onto their face before they were dragged screaming back to the rest of the group, "Or the warriors of old could herd you there. It really doesn't matter to me."

Jolie watched Cornelius , frowning. That'd explain his blank expression and ear-fidgeting while she waxed lyrical about the wonders of Leoxander.. hurrumphing softly, she returned her attention to the business of the moment.

Cornelius credits his moderate skill at lip-reading for her not having realised this earlier

Jolie waited, then, for the signal that she may begin her incantation. Redhale let out a hacking laugh as a few more spindly servants clawed their way out of the ground to usher the small crowd to their proper place in the center of the arena, voice calling out in common only once more, "Watch this now, you'll like this." And then the light show had begun, paths of glowing power spiraling outwards from the man and drawing the runic circle that had been laid beneath the arena on the sands above it. The dark man didn't even gesture with his hands, and in an antagonizing feat of pride only muttered the incantations in his own head. For those not versed in the ways of magic he looked but as a dark herald for darker powers, the ghostly light seeming to weave its way across the arena of its own accord.

Cornelius murmurs softly "An enchanting display..."

Jolie blinked - this was certainly going a deal more smoothly than the last rite. Impressed? She surely was, but not a little disconcerted by the apparent increase in Redhale's power, far beyond what she'd known it to be. Her lips moved in a silent expletive that perhaps Cornelius might read fairly clearly.

Redhale had always been one to put on a show, and if people believed that he had called the spell into action by will alone he wouldn't say a peep about it. In fact that was exactly what he wanted them to think; if anyone did spy them, or heavens forbid escape, the stories they would tell would all include the phrase, "make sure you stay away from him." The truth was hidden beneath their feet, in the carving on the foundations of the building, and in some nasty little scrap of a spell that would probably cause those in the mages guild to spit in disgust. Still, Jolie would be expected to do her share of the work, seeing as she had volunteered, and her half of the circle remained somewhat dim.

Cornelius continues to watch impassively, wearing the bland expression he had trained into his facial muscles over many a year. He manages this even though the runes on his sleeves seem a little brighter, and there is a small patch around the ring finger of his right glove which seems to be somehow darker than the surrounding leather. He takes it all in, but shows nothing, waiting patiently for the denouement.

Jolie shook herself, mentally, and got to work: those incantations slid off her tongue like oiled and poisonous living creatures, flooding outward one by one to illumiate the second half of the circle, a frightful indigo glow that could barely be termed 'light'. This time, she was not so pale afterward, not so shaken, as though she had become more accustomed recently that particular energy. But as yet, she had no way to connect the foul book she possessed to any of this, and supposed it was simply a matter of having been there, done that, when she felt less drained than enlivened. Her gaze slid to Cornelius, checking on him, and then to the unfortunates whose existence was not so much in peril now as on the verge of being horrendously and unnaturally.. prolonged.

Redhale simply beamed. The captives were packing themselves into a tight group in the center of the ring like cattle frightened by a storm. The new flush of energy Jolie added to the spell gave the runes enough light to bathe their shocked faces with its unnatural colour and brought out their teeth and eyes like small glowing gems of white. A slight updraft rose off the swirling lines as well, although it was no heat wave. Indeed, the air was freezing cold, and sapped energy from all those little lives it touched. Before long the people on the outside of the group began to collapse bonelessly, completely unconscious. Their potato sack impressions whipped up a new frenzy in those still standing, but within moments they too had fallen to the floor as if each of them had taken a swift blow to the back of their head.

Jolie mouthed to Cornelius, "This is the fun bit.."

Cornelius arches an elegant brow, but makes no comment.

Jolie's gaze returned to the fallen, eager, expectant - she anticipated less trouble than there'd been last time, when the undead had here and there been out of control and required putting down.

Redhale had made a few adjustments since last time. Nothing major, in fact there were hardly any new runes amongst the concentric circles. Rather, things had been taken away. The victims only needed to die peacefully, so rather than burn out their souls with magic, which tended to yield violent results, they simply stopped and fell. But now they were beginning to stir again: A twitch of an arm there, a blinking of vacant eyes. Soon a chorus of moans filled the arena, but not the moans of complaint the prisoners had been making before; now the sighing cadences were simple exhalations of quickening stagnating air, forced out as the bodies lurched themselves upright and began to potter around, oblivious to the fierce energies still reanimating their comrades.

Jolie resisted the urge to applaud. But the smile she wore might tell Redhale that the necromancer was indeed impressed by this improvement on the proceedings.

Cornelius purses his lips slightly, not quite so enthused by the prospect of more bloody undead in the world. Still, a job was a job, and Jolly Creepy always did like her dead playthings.

Redhale had, in fact, had a chance to test several different set ups before tonight. He didn't want to waste the effort Jolie and her team had gone through. That, and he needed to save as many numbers as he could… Even if his hunger did occasionally get in the way of a perfect plan. He took a step forward, unminding of the obviously harmful light that had taken the life of their prisoners, an act which probably shouldn't be attempted by the other, warmer beings. The dark man spread his arms wide to welcome his new brethren and hacked out a throaty introduction before letting his trusty library assistants herd the new converts away. Redhale continued through the misty light towards Jolie and Cornelius, "Thank you for your help yet again, Jolie. Unfortunately sooner or later the fun must move to business though, no?"

Jolie nodded, watching the 'assistants' herd the newly undead away. "Forty-four captives. Let us negotiate a price.." She did not yet dare to move outside of the protective ring she and Cornelius shared, lest they too succumb to the blacklight magic and join Redhale's ghastly army. "I've heard you've paid ten thousand for a succesful delivery of one... I though it perhaps an exaggeration."

Redhale chuckled at the memory, "I am afraid it is true, but the situation was different. I needed to gain attention or see the subject killed in the name of some god or another, and I know money speaks louder than words in such situations. Each soldier is hardly worth that, but I am more worried in the number of those in your employ rather than the number you have delivered."

Jolie made some quick calculations in her head, allowed for the usual 'Cabal discount'.. Eventually she said, "Seventy-five thousand. And I'll offer my services to you, in your venture to the .. other land." As much she may trust Cornelius, that 'venture' was not her business to reveal.

Cornelius removes his earplugs as they start to discuss business.

Redhale bent down to scoop up a handful of sand, lifting the bloody grit with one closed fist as his other hand held out an empty pouch beneath it. As the grains fell between his outstretched arms they plumped up and shone bright, turning into full gold coins before they landed in the bag he had produced. Soon enough the sack was full and he dropped it to the ground so that he could begin to fill another one. The process went on, even more of a show being made of it than his wordless casting, until eight heavy sacks sat half open at his feet, "You may need help moving all that…" But that was Jolie's problem; his new hands would already be busy setting up their quarters, "But do not hesitate to ask for my aid in any other matter." Not that she didn't already know that, "You too, I'm sure Jolie can put us in contact should you ever find yourself in need of my services." A nod was sent in Cornelius' direction.

Cornelius offers the necromancer a courtly bow "Much obliged old bean. No doubt business matters will bring our paths together again."

Jolie said to Redhale, "There may a matter... in future." A knowing look was bestowed on the Dark Man, that matter already having been discussed. "I'll let you settle your own affairs first, of course."

Cornelius hopes Jolly-girl's damn pet has some strength to it. No way is he playing packhorse.

Jolie still had plenty of influence in the Dark lands, and would no doubt find some thugs to haul her gold to the docks.

Cornelius will of course help ensure the thugs do their job properly.

Redhale set his cloak straight, an impossibility that boggled the mind behind any eyes that looked upon the spectacle, then made a short bow of his own, "Thank you again for your help. Until next time, then." Next time when he would likely be flanked by a full armed guard, or at least be carried in some kind of throne by a small regiment. His mind wandered such topics as his body wandered away after his new playthings.

Cornelius waits until the the Necromancer is long gone before he murmurs to Jolie "You always take me to the nicest places..."

Jolie grinned, "You ain't seen nothin' yet."