RuneScape Forum Archive | ^+^ The Age of Nhur ^+^

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“Kaz,” he said to himself. Looking around, V noticed that the Shade woman wasn’t in his sight, and sighed. Damn, he thought to himself. He knew that if he tried he most likely wouldn’t be able to find the Shade if he wanted to since the damn place was so big, and on top of that she could be from anywhere in the empire as well. Oh well, he thought. He might try to track her down later if it was possible, but in the meantime he had bigger problems to worry about, so he tucked the bag into his belt and moved on.

V made his way through the throng of patrons gathered outside the bar, this time managing to not run blindly into anyone by accident. He soon found himself staring up at a bouncer, who was a well muscled Minotaur with stubs where its horns should be, and a stench that suggested tons of booze and other less savory things were poured on the creature at some point.

Then again, for all he knew, it was most likely true considering the Dragon was one of the more infamous bars in the area thanks to a loose policy on a patron’s general conduct.

The bouncer looked at V as he came near the door and snorted, which scattered a small cloud of flies that V hadn’t noticed hovering around the creature, and asked in a crude voice, “Age?”

“A lot older than most of the people here,” V replied.

“Izat some kinda joke or sumthin’”, the bouncer asked.

“No, it means that I’d rather not say, if it’s fine by you”

“Well, you gotta gimme ye’r age if you wanna get in. Now, age?”

V sighed. He figured he could probably fight his way past the Minotaur, but what good would that accomplish besides starting a bar fight? So he decided to just answer the creatures question instead. “Over 300. Happy now?*

"Sure, but I know fe’r a fact that nobody lives that long. What race you be, old man?” the bouncer asked.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Jun-2010 02:50:25 - Last edited on 20-Oct-2010 21:16:41 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“Hell, like you’d believe me if I told you the truth,” V said. The bouncer glared at him menacingly. “Fine, vampire.”

“Like hell, you liar!” it shouted. “Everyone knows that vampires can't stand the damn sun!”

V looked the creature in the eye with the same malice the bouncer showed him earlier. “This is the Shadow Plane, you idiot! The sun here is more obscured by the atmospehre than on other worlds, so my spells protect me.”

The Minotaur seemed to consider his words carefully. V knew that Minotaurs weren’t exactly smart, but they weren’t stupid either, and V was pretty good at mixing half truths into his answers to the point where they were somewhat believable, so chances are the creature was smart enough to not want to test its luck in ticking off one of the walking dead and ending up as a corpse in some random alley later because of it.

“A’rig’” it answered at last. “Go on in.”

V stepped past the bouncer, and found himself in a well lit, and somewhat cool, room. As he suspected would be the case, the room itself was more of a giant space carved into the cliff, although a wooden bar and matching stools were present in more than one area, and few areas were apparently cut away as well, most likely so the serving maids and bartenders could get into what probably passed for a kitchen area in the back.

Many races filled the stone room, from Shades and Elves, to a few dark skinned Dwarves, and even a few Rakshasas and some kind of bipedal lizard-men were in their own scattered groups having a good time.

He chose a table near the back of the bar, and after a while V almost wondered if the contact he heard of in the streets of the capital was even present. A voice came from behind him. “Lookin’ for someone, stranger?”

V turned with a start, and found himself face to face with a dreadlocked shade wearing sandals and a black trenchcoat made of dragonhide. He also noticed that the trenchcoat was unbuttoned, which displayed a barely visible scar on his chest.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Jun-2010 02:50:58 - Last edited on 20-Oct-2010 21:17:42 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“Actually, yeah, I am,” he replied. “If it’s no problem for you, I’m kind of waiting for someone.”

The shade looked around and said, “Well, I know a lot of people around this place. Maybe I can help. He wouldn’t happen to be some kind of informant by any chance, would he?”

“If he was, why the hell would I tell you?” V asked.

“Good question, and one that deserves an answer. But I can’t talk here. Too many ears, if you catch my drift.”

V nodded in understanding. “Let me guess. You probably have some sort of secret room or alleyway that has protection from these ‘ears’. Am I right?”

“Is that a problem?”

“Not really, but I’d like to think you’re reasonable enough to consider the fact that I’m not stupid. I’ve already killed a few people who tried the same card on me as an excuse to kill me and loot whatever valuables I have, and I’m not afraid to spill more blood if I need to.”

The shade seemed pleased to hear this. “Even the blood of a certain Mahjarrat who took control of the Shade Empire not more than a month ago?”

V was stunned. Luckily for him, the lower part of his face was still covered with his scarf, and he hoped that the shade couldn’t see the look of surprise in his eyes through the shadows cast by his wide brimmed hat. How could this total stranger even know his objective? he wondered.

He chose his words carefully. “Let’s say that’s a possibility. What’s the big deal?”

“The deal,” the shade answered. “Is that I do believe that an assassination attempt was already tried by a rebel group that sprung up following this guy's ascension. I wonder, maybe you’re one of them. But for some reason, I don’t get the feeling you’d follow the orders of a deposed general and his cronies.”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Jun-2010 02:51:42 - Last edited on 20-Oct-2010 21:18:43 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

V raised an eyebrow. “It’s nice to hear that you think so highly of me, but what does that have to do with anything?”

The shade laughed, and replied. “Let’s just make this short, then. You want the emperor dead. The rebels want the emperor dead. You’re not a rebel from what I’ve seen, and unless you have some really powerful equipment you’re packing, I don’t see you succeeding at all in killing a Mahjarrat and his guards. So it looks like you’ll need help, and a lot of it at that.”

“Alright, let’s say I do need help. What can you do for me that my contact can't?*

The shade laughed again, and this time V noticed that for some reason two of his upper teeth were pointed. “Who says I’m not the contact?” he asked. V realized the guy had a point, since he only knew from an earlier conversation with his employer that the contact was a frequent patron at the Dragon and little else.

It was decided, he thought. This guy apparently knew what was going on, so it looked like he had little choice but to trust him for the time being. “Alright,” V said at last as he stood up. “Let’s talk about this ‘help’ I might need.”

The shade seemed pleased at the decision. “Good, good. Let’s take a walk so we’re away from prying eyes and ears.”

~^+^~

A hooded man walked into the bar once he convinced the idiotic Minotaur bouncer out front to let him through. He looked around, and decided that whoever he was sent to help must have been running late or something, so he took a seat near at a table near the entrance so he could get a better view of those coming and going.

After waiting a while, he saw a man in a red hat with a matching cloak and scarf of sorts leave with a dreadlocked man in a black dragonhide trenchcoat. They did*’t seem to notice the hooded man as they passed him. Once they were out of sight, the man stood up and left the bar, taking care not to be seen by anyone important.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Jun-2010 02:52:36 - Last edited on 20-Oct-2010 21:19:39 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

He managed to follow the pair successfully for a while, and soon enough he was watching them from a vantage point he had found on an old building overlooking the alleyway they were talking in. He couldn’t hear much of anything, but he figured he knew what was going on.

The man turned, went to the opposite side of the building which faced an empty alley, and jumped to the ground below. He pulled a small necklace, which depicted a purple equidistant cross surrounded by a circle of the same color, out of a pocket in his cloak as he went, and rubbed it as he began walking through the crowd in the street with the stealth of a practiced thief. A voice came into his mind as he walked. “I take it the situation is perilous if you’re contacting me directly?”

“Yes,” the man thought to the voice. “It appears that the agent I was told about has sided with the enemy, although I’m not entirely sure.”

“Tell me, are you aware of this agents methods?” the voice asked.

The man hesitated. “Not intimately. Why do you ask?”

“Fool!” the voice raged loudly in his mind. “How do you even know that the agent has defected if you’re not aware of how he operates in the first place? For all we know, whatever you saw could be his way of getting to the goal!”

The man grimaced in mental pain as the voice continued its tirade of insults and questions. “I’m sorry, Lord, but I’d like to think that you should be aware of any potential threats to the Master's goals.”

“I understand that, but you’re not positive there’s a threat in the first place! How do you expect me to take that seriously?!”

A growl interrupted the man as he was about to speak. He turned around, and saw nothing, but he did notice that he was in an unfamiliar place devoid of any people. “I’m sorry, Lord. But I fear I’m not alone. We’ll need to finish this later.”

“Very well. Don’t bother contacting me again unless you have something worthwhile to report. The Master will not tolerate this kind of conduct from his men.”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Jun-2010 02:53:25 - Last edited on 20-Oct-2010 21:20:39 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“Understood.” The man finished. He looked around expecting to find the source of the growl, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. He realized he was at a dead end street, which was surrounded by normal wooden dwellings. He also noticed that nobody was around, which was odd for the Bazaar in the daytime.

Another growl sounded, this time coming from an alleyway to his right. The man drew a weapon, which looked like a metal tube with arcane markings on it attached to a crossbow handle, and cautiously stepped towards the source of the noise.

As he neared the alleyway, the growl sounded again, and this time it seemed more feral than the last. The man pointed his weapon at what he thought the source of the noise was, and fired. A small blast of pure magical energy shot from the weapon with a small pop, and as it streaked into the alley he heard it hit something, followed a small whimper. The man rushed into the alley, and saw the corpse of a young shade child torn up and bloodied by a bag of trash that was cut open.

“The hell…” the man said. He knew for a fact that what he heard was no child, and he knew that the weapon couldn’t tear a body up like the one before him since it was without the proper enchantments. Before he could wonder what thing could be capable of such a brutal act, he felt a searing pain in his back as he was forced forward and down to the ground by a sudden weight.

~^+^~

“Alright. So do you understand the plan now?" the shade asked.

V nodded in understanding. “Yeah. I end up helping them bust out of the Keep, and they accept me as a member. Sounds simple enough.”

“Good. I’ll take you there in a day so we can prepare. Remember, if anyone that’s not a rebel gets in the way, kill them. The Emperor can’t learn that the rebels have reinforcements from our...mutual ally.”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Jun-2010 02:54:37 - Last edited on 20-Oct-2010 21:22:24 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“I understand. I must go now." V said. He left the alley, and as he turned onto the only street in sight, he heard a small pop, followed by a slight magical ripple in the air. He looked around, and saw that nobody seemed to notice, or at least care about it. For all they knew, it could easily be the natural vibrations of one of the many races in the Bazaar, but as for V, he felt something...odd...about it.

Deciding to investigate, he began to follow the sensation and headed south. He passed a few housing buildings and shops, and eventually found himself stopping at intersections and side streets to pick up the vibration again, switching paths as needed.

He eventually found himself on a dead end street surrounded by wooden housing buildings, with an alleyway to his left. He heard a faint lapping sound emanating from the alley, and cautiously stepped towards it. Lesser beings might have been unable to see in the dark alleyway, but to V, it was light enough for him to make out a dog-like shape bent over something.

The shape seemed to notice him, and immediately sprang forward with a sharp howl. V immediately stepped to the side, and saw that the shape belonged to some kind of werewolf with curved horns that looked like its skeleton was coming out of its fur to form some kind of armor.

The creature growled in frustration as it realized it missed, and charged at V. He managed to dodge the creature again, but as he did the creature changed direction in mid charge and hit managed to flip him over into the alley with surprising ease. He landed in a pile of garbage, but managed to push himself out of it and dust any stray trash off of his clothing and armor.

V looked towards where he was last standing, and saw that the creature had apparently taken interest in something else near a different building. He thought it was odd behavior from something that just tried to attack him earlier.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Jun-2010 02:55:11 - Last edited on 20-Oct-2010 21:24:01 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Looking around, V noticed that there were two bodies in the alley. The one near his feet belonged to a child, which was bloodied and dismembered, and the other one which lay a few feet away belonged to a hooded man, who was holding a strange device like his life depended on it. V rolled the body of the man over, and saw an elf looking back at him as the hood fell off of his face. It looked like he was alive…..barely.

The man saw V, and his eyes widened in horror. “You…you….tell me, are you really a traitor, or loyal?”

“What?” V asked. The creature heard the two, and sprang into the alleyway again. Before it could reach them, V held his hand up, and uttered a word of unholy power, which seemed to make its skin rot off and reform before sending it flying into a building with a loud crash.

The elf spoke again. “Listen...the contact...was supposed to be me.”

For some reason, V felt that he shouldn’t be surprised even though he was. “So you’re in service to my employer?”

“…Yes.”

“Then who was the one who claimed to be my real contact?”

“A...thing...a vampire, but...not a vampire. He’s like your...kind in...some…ways.” The elf shook as he said the words. He held out the device to V, who promptly took it. “I won’t...need this. Take it...it can hurt that...thing...and the man.”

“My thanks,” V said. The elf’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he said no more.

Looking at the device, V noticed that it had six empty indents on the left side of the tube, as well as two runes already engraved on it, one which was faintly glowing and depicted the universal sign of Magik, and another which looked like a normal crossbow bolt. He searched the elf’s tattered cloak, and found what looked like a holding hook for it, and quickly took it and put it onto his belt. He put the device on the hook, and ran over to where the creature landed, and found nothing.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Jun-2010 02:55:52 - Last edited on 20-Oct-2010 21:25:43 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

V walked back into the alley, and took one last look at the elf. He knew that the bodies would be found eventually, but there was something he needed to make sure was done. He searched the elf once more, and found a purple necklace. V put it in his palm, and crushed it in his hands, which left a fine trail of powder in the wind as he opened his hand to let it disperse.

After the act was done, V left the alley and went back in the direction he came from, with his red cloak flapping in the wind behind him as he walked. Many questions filled his head as he went. Should he follow through with the plan he unwittingly set into motion? What would he do when he met the mysterious shade from the bar again? Would he confront the deceiver, or wait for him to make a move? And what’s his connection to the rebellion? And what was the strange creature that tried killing him just now, and why was it this close to a settled area? Wild animals randomly wandering in were one thing, but why did this incident feel staged?

Even with all of those thoughts swirling around in his head, one important worry stuck with him like a thorn. Why would his employer send someone into the field when an agent was already active? He could only think of very few reasons, and he cringed at the thoughts.

His employer either did*’t trust him......or his employer planned to kill him once the job was done.

As much as he wished otherwise, V felt he already knew the answer.

~^+^~

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Jun-2010 02:56:24 - Last edited on 20-Oct-2010 21:26:22 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Back in the magic shop in the courtyard across from the Winking Dragon, the old man woke with a start thanks to the ringing ward he set up at the door. He cleared his eyes, and saw the blurry form of a man dressed in some kind of purple armor (he never knew what it was really called, but the name ‘Katagon’ was thrown around more than once by the guy) standing at the counter before him.

For a while the hunter stood there in silence, finally breaking it with a voice which held sadness...or regret. The keeper couldn’t tell. “I found your damn trinket. But first I want some answers, and they better be damn good ones.”

“Of course, my boy," the shopkeeper replied. “If anything I’m at least a gentleman in that respect. Ask away.”

“What the hell is this thing?”

“I told you when you took the job, a magical talisman. Why?”

“Then what the hell is a He’rkhine?”

The man hesitated for a moment before answering. “I’m not sure I’m familiar with the name. Why do you ask? And where did you hear that name?”

“I ask because this...’talisman’...probably just killed my best friend after a ghost appeared! Did you know this would happen?!”

The old man grimaced. If he did know, Uthalion didn't see any signs of it. “No, I didn't. Now, if you don’t mind, I really need that talisman. If what you say is true, then I need to destroy it.”

“You said you wanted it intact!” Uthalion shouted. “I know there’s something you’re not telling me, so out with it,” he pulled his remaining dagger from its sheath, “or we’ll have words.”

“Listen, you don’t know what you’re getting into,” the shopkeeper said. “Please, just hand me the talisman and we’ll talk this over. I have some explaining to do.”

“You idiot! Do you think I’ll trust you after nearly getting killed by this damn thing?! How do I know you won’t give into the voice? Huh?”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Jun-2010 02:57:20 - Last edited on 20-Oct-2010 21:27:50 by A Mad Hatter

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