RP:Sending a Message
Summary: "Smiley" enacts a little vengeance on behalf of the witches wronged in Larket.
Date: October 19th, 2017
Fortress Gate
The old twelve-foot fortress wall is gone, replaced by a stronger one almost twice the height. The solid steel gate is barricaded from the inside and guarded heavily with archers stationed at the parapets above, ensuring only those with need to enter do so. Just inside the walls rest the makings for ballistae and catapults, ever ready for quick assembly in the ill-fated moment they may be needed. The inexperienced young men are now more seasoned soldiers, their confidence augmented by the addition, albeit temporary, of foreign forces to this fortress, home base and training grounds for the rebel army. The old cobbled path leads directly back to northern Larket, whilst the formidable gate gives way to the interior of the fortress, beginning with the warrior training grounds. If one were to take in the view, the ramparts of Cenril can be seen far to the east, with the treacherous eternal forest to the north and magnificent Sage forest to the south. The castle's protectorate begins to move, however, so perhaps you should move along if you aren't a soldier yourself.
A pair of Larket Knight guards is here.
"Smiley" had been casing the Fortress for a few weeks now, her primary interest focused mostly on three things; Who came and went, how many guards were on hand, and when they changed shifts through the rise and fall of the sun. It was extremely late into the night and the moons were new, meaning that the numbers of guards were diminished and she would have the comfort of the shadows to do what needed to be done. Some time back she had received a note that spoke of a need for help, a modest reward for any involvement the assassin could muster. It seems somebody had been spreading rumors; And rumors are mean. Mean people must be punished.
"Three on the front wall. Two on the ground. Be swift. Be ruthless. Send a message." SiN spoke to the maniacally masked assassin. This tainted side, this corruption, it had been making itself known more and more these days. Her influence over Smiley was getting stronger, and as the youth was always seeking companionship, manipulation was never a problem. "Okey dokey artichokey!" the leather clad madwoman retorted in her playful singsong voice. "Okay, you guys get ready! It won't be long before the shift change!" she spoke, to three ebon dressed men. They had been brought along to help out with the heavy lifting and setup once the main objective had been completed. With a unified nod, the trio got their supplies ready, awaited Smiley's lead.
She would start first at the northern corner of the fortress wall, suctioned glove and footpads helping her to scale the steep incline in near silence. When she finally reached the top, she would carefully peak over the parapet and note the position of thee three guards stationed on this side of the fortress. First guard. This one would be fairly simple; In the blink of an eye she would appear through a black mist coated with an energetic viridian energy, right behind the young man, one of those specially crafted daggers shoved through the bottom of his jaw and up into his brain. Gently, the guard war dropped into a prone position so that he would not be visible to any that looked his way.
The second of the three guards on the wall would be a lesson in experimentation. From a pouch attached to the belt on her hip, a fine powder was taken into her palm. She would slowly creep up, once more using the specialized ability to blink from one side of the archer to the other. With that initial disappearance, the guard started to turn to his right, the powder let loose in his face, and as she materialized on the other side of him, she would quickly fall onto her stomach to avoid detection. The archer seemed perplexed with what had just happened, and as he took a breath, the powder penetrated in body. He would sneeze, drawing the brief attention of the archer on the southern corner of the front wall. As the distant aerial guardian turned back to his post, Smiley rolled over onto her back and waited- And she would not have to wait long. In testing, this substance showed great promise, and she prayed to whatever gods that were or weren't watching over her that the actual field test would prove just as successful. When the assaulted man turned back toward his post, Smiley watched SiN manifest, whispering something into the archer's ear. Would he feel her presence?
Smiley crossed her fingers and held her breath, that eerie mask aimed in the test subject's direction. She was pleading for this not to fail. Suddenly, without so much as a protest, the powder bombed archer turned toward his comrade and drew his bow. The arrow was knocked, string pulled tight, and it was let loose with steady aim. The arrow pierced the other archer's skull, instantly causing him to fall and slump over onto the edge of the parapet. The murderer in question then unbelted his dagger and slit his own throat post haste. Smiley was pleased. Very pleased. "Yes!" she whisper-exclaimed, one fist raised into the air. SiN, however, was not thrilled. "Don't get too excited, child. Look." Smiley looked up to where SiN had pointed, that archer that had been slain by his friend had slumped a little too far over the edge and began to fall. "No no no no no!" she cried. "Huh? What was that?" A voice called out from below. It seems that the Knights had heard the body fall just into the wooded area at the base of the fortress. "I'll go take a look. Wait here." Smiley quickly got up and onto her feet, peering now over the edge of the fortress just in time to see one of the two knights leave his post. "Ohhh no. This is bad. Thiiis is really bad." She looked to SiN, and SiN's blackened lips twisted into a sinister smirk. "Better be fast."
There was no time to think any of this through. She had one chance to make this right. One chance. That's it. Otherwise, it was all over. Like a suicidal lemming, Smiley dove off the edge of the fortress and aimed for the still stationary knight at the front of the gate. As soon as she was close to demise, that signature blink would kick in, bringing the woman atop the armored man in an instant. She rode the momentum of the fall as she landed upon his back, the force of which causing the knight to slam his head into the earth with enough impact to knock him out cold. Then as soon as she could muster, she got up and sprinted off into the direction of that investigative nuisance. "M-malcom?" the man called, having found the fallen body. Before he could react however, the psychotic assassin was already at his back, executing the knight much like she had the first of the three archers- by driving that infernal dagger up through his jaw and into the skull.
"Alrighty! Go get the stuff! Hurry hurry. Two bodies over there. Watch this one though. he's still alive, mmkay?" she spoke once she made approach to her three accomplices. "Rope?" one of the men asked, holding out two coils. Without a reply, Smiley took both coils of rope and threw them over he shoulder, once more returning to and scaling the wall to the parapets. Once topside, she would drag the archer at the northern corner all that way down to where the suicidal corpse lay, near the center of the wall. Both coils of rope were then tethered to the top of the wall, the other end tied into a noose around the dead archer's necks. Both bodies were tossed over the side so that they hung just over the fortress gates from the outside- So that any to enter or exit would see the dead men as plain as day. Once satisfied, Smiley scaled back down the wall to find that most preparations had gone swimmingly.
The archer that had fallen was opened from belly to sternum, his blood and innards used to paint upon the front of the fortress walls. On the northern side of the gate were the ordered letters T,Y,R and on the south side of the gate were the letters A,N,N,Y- The message loud and clear for any that would read it. Smiley's hands clapped together rapidly and she gently squealed to herself when she saw the morbid graffiti, turning then to see an even better surprise waiting for her. In the middle of the pathway, before the gate, a makeshift stake had been erected. The body of the dead knight, and what was left of the archer were placed at the base with the kindling, and tied to the stake, the unconscious soldier. "Yay! Good work! You're all super duper! Now go... get out of here.. because it won't take long before the battalion gets here. Head to where we agreed, you'll find your payment waiting." Gloved fingers wiggled in parting to the accomplices before Smiley turned to finish the job.
"Wakey waaakey, it's time to baaaakey." the lunatic chanted in a sing song tone. The back of her hand sharply snapped across the unconscious knight's cheek, and he roused, still quite dazed from that tremendous blow to the head. "Wha...?" The mask that hid the assassin's features lifted and she let those cold, manic eyes pierce his own. That sweet and charming tone shifted, the sinister persona of SiN showcased with lips curled in a sadistic sense of glee. "Pray to your god or goddess that they shall show you the mercy I am about to deny you." One slender hand reached down to her belt and from one of the pouches she removes a small glass orb filled with a black liquid. SiN takes a few steps backward, slides the mask back over her face, and throws the item with great force against the knight's armor. Whatever was in that orb immediately ignites and turns the knight and both corpses into a hellish conflagration; His screams of agony stirring even the deepest of sleepers from their peaceful slumber. By the time soldier and citizen alike would arrive to witness the gruesome scene, the assassin would have already vanished into the forest to make her escape.