War.

Re: War.

Postby channe » Tue Feb 28, 2012 9:53 am

We need to be able to trust Kerrak.

Granted, there's a part of her that would love to trust Kerrak al'Nerun. He was once part of the structure that she trusted; he was a man of honor, and he kept his word. To a point.

The burning meetinghouse. A roar, a voice: I will not submit.

She looks towards Aleksei as Glenn talks about the lessening need for a great arcane power. And then, to Aleksei, as he speaks of vengeance. And then Glenn asks about the book --

"Okay. I'll get behind that. Bringin' Rhae to examine Kerrak." She remembers her own.... "examination." "I wouldn't let myself examine the book again, Glenn. That shit was wrong. It's locked up. Nobody gets to see it." She pauses, and listens. "Jons. Jons Feul. He spoke of the Defiler; I would bet he's got some shit in him already, but he's a right enough bastard, worse'n Aeryn." And with that, she swings her head around to see Aleksei.

"And you. You. What the hell was that? Wings? You never told me about no freakin' wings. Wings. God." A pause. "Where is it now?"
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Re: War.

Postby BetaFlame » Tue Feb 28, 2012 11:22 am

He understands Glenn's warnings, of course. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and he knew it. So he would not be using it. He notices the lack of drinking from Glenn and quirks an eyebrow. "Can I.. get you something else?" He was not used to playing host. No one had ever come inside his home, other than Eleanor. "Just because I've accepted what I am, Glenn doesn't mean I am going to take out my wings to fly to the Dagger. No, its a.. failsafe measure. Brains, swords, screaming, hiding, then arcane powers." Seemed like a good order to him. His powers were not going to be misused like his country had for so long. "I don't like my powers, but I can't stick my fingers in my ears and pretend they are not there." At least he was being practical about it, huh? "That said, I welcome your input on it. My.. instict might be to reach for it too fast, and you, either of you, slapping my hands would not be taken amiss."

He does quirk a brow at Glenn. It was quite the assumption. "I would be happy to let you look at the book, if you are willing to follow my guidelines on it. Someone else with the knowledge.. could not go amiss, and I don't fear it taking over you the same way it would anyone else." Of course, he would be there to guard it, that was a given. A guards.. already his mind was working on the problem. "From what I understand in the reading, each person is possessed by one daemon. The daemon is an aspect of the.. Three." He was still loathe to name them, even away from the Book. Names were powerful. "So it is unlikely that anyone else can be possessed. The ward I have on the book now is the most powerful I know. It will stop the thing from leaking anymore corruption into the area and causing more problems. But we will need to recreate the bindings and padlock that held in check before. Whatever was unleashed melted the lot." He didn't mention what it had cost him to create that ward, or what it had cost him. "But really, Agnie is... right. The entire thing is wrong. I don't like the feeling of it crawling around in my head, but.. I am the most suited to carry the load." What's a demonic mind corruption on top of a split personality and a Celestial living in his head, right?

But the confession that Glenn wanted his wards was.. extreme, to say the least. "Of course, Glenn. You two might be my only real friends here, so anything I have is yours. But what am I warding against?"

Agnie made him blush. He actually BLUSHED over her question, covering it with a sip from his cup. "You.. remember that, huh? Well. I will tell you the story, later. Perhaps over dinner at somepoint?" Did he.. just.. ask her on a date? Either he was trying embarass her as much as he was already, or he really had changed over night.

Despite it all he seemed.. comfortable now. It was easy to realize you were an idiot when looking into the past.
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Re: War.

Postby Glenn » Tue Feb 28, 2012 12:52 pm

"I'm fine Aleksei, thank you." He didn't want to drink anything in this house. Couldn't be too safe here. That said, his leadership was obviously exemplary. Agnie wasn't going around calling herself a whore anymore, nor was she rushing off to make amends all by herself. Aleksei wasn't making big claims about showing Myrken all of his power or whatever else and now he'd even talked the scholar into showing him the book. "Yes, of course we won't look at the book, Agnie. not a chance. Nope. Not until at least tomorrow. I still want to see the note that came with it." She'd protected him from it once and look what happened. "And Aleksei, I do know some good hiding places, if it comes to that." The cellar of the Dagger was out now, though. Glenn would be happy not to go back there anytime soon.

"I'm glad you agree, Agnie. It's settled. And Aleksei, you're going to be protecting my betrothed," who just happened to be a powerful mentalist. "from the chance that Kerrak is possessed too, and part of this or worse. She's going to tell us if he's telling the truth or not." There were some things that Glenn did not risk, and for Rhaena he would put aside his disdain for the arcane arts.

Glenn could tell the story of those wings right now. He had his secrets and everyone else's. That's what he did. But, no, he also had people skills which Aleksei so painfully lacked. He'd let his friend do the telling, whenever or however he wanted.
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Re: War.

Postby channe » Wed Feb 29, 2012 1:44 am

Most suited to carry the load, hm? Of course Agnie's not suited to carry any load; she's quiet, but the thoughts from before haven't quite left her yet, and she's still feeling dirty. She just listens to Aleksei from her perch on the chair, drumming her fingers against her knee, until he asks --

-- she just stares at him, mouth agape. "Of course I remember that. I was kind of busy at the time, but of course I'm going to remember feckin' wings sprouting up from your back. And Gawd, we have a couple devils running around the woods and you want to ask me out?"

She then turns her gaze on Glenn, studiously not answering Aleksei's question. "And you. Not until at least never. If there's still power left in that book, still one of the gods in its bindings, you are at risk of getting one of those things in your head. And the last thing we need is a Governor who likes to go around quartering people for fun. No, I'll read it before you do. The note's in my box at the Meetinghouse, though -- as far as I know, it's just a note, not some sort of devil's funhouse."

She snorts, finally standing up. "So it's settled. We go get Rhae an' hit up Kerrak's house immediately."
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Re: War.

Postby BetaFlame » Wed Feb 29, 2012 2:34 am

Aleksei finishes his coffee and as Glenn tells him what he wants him to do, there is a very brief flash of concern. Wonderful, if he has to Unseal again.. the results could be very bad. Four times in three weeks. He idly wondered what the record was back home. He knew the First Knight Unsealed twice in the same week, but he was the First Knight. Aleksei was only the Third.

But, he would endure. It's what they did. The coffee is placed on the table, and he just lofts a brow at Agnie. "What? Dinner because I don't want to tell my story here, since everyone and their brother is afraid to come in this house because of the previous owner, or tell it in the middle of the Dagger is too much?" He seems confused, but regardless he rises to his feet and heads for a small cubbord on one of the walls. He opens it, and inside there are ten vials of the same gold liquid he consumed in secret at the Rememdium. He tucks it into a belt pouch, before closing and locking the cubbord again. Hopefully, he wouldn't need it. Hopefully, Kerrak was just a wack job that Agnie didn't like, and not possessed. If he is... for a moment, his hand just drops down and rests on the hilt of his sword.

"Alright, Glenn. Lets get this over with. I'd like to do some more research today. I haven't met Kerrak yet. Anything else I should know?"

Notably, he hadn't mentioned his own wings over much. In the back of his mind, he can't help but wonder if Glenn found it odd, compared to what he already knew about Aleksei. A balt of salt and a new stick of chaulk were added to the pouch at his waist, and he walked over to grab the overcloak, tossing it over his shoulders. He was as ready as he could be, so he just lofts a brow at Glenn. "I am ready to do this. If you don't want to do it now, I want to go draw more warding circles around that cursed book." He had wards to keep the book in.. now he wanted to make wards to keep the daemons out of the room. The last thing they needed was for one of those creates to steal the book.
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Re: War.

Postby Glenn » Wed Feb 29, 2012 4:20 am

For someone he had come close to kissing just an hour before, he seemed rather willing to give her up. Of course, that wasn't hardly what it had seemed, probably. "Alright, here's what we'll do then." Best not to argue with her more about the book right now. They didn't have time for a fistfight. "The two of you go and sure things up with the book. In the meantime, you explain Kerrak to Aleksei. I'll go and get Rhaena and we'll converge at Kerrak's shortly."
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Re: War.

Postby channe » Wed Feb 29, 2012 4:55 am

Glenn leaves Agnie standing there -- so she simply picks up whatever personal accoutrements she's brought in, and fixes Aleksei with a stare. "Dinner's fine," she finally says, unable to meet his eyes for a moment -- and then she does, and there's warning there. "But don't go thinking anything of it."

She pauses, and grazes on whatever food Aleksei's brought out. Apparently, it doesn't bother her as much as it did Glenn, but then, Agnie never really had many dealings with the devious tailor -- only his psychotic girlfriend.

"So you're actually a knight. Tell you the truth, I didn't see that coming."
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Re: War.

Postby BetaFlame » Wed Feb 29, 2012 5:10 am

He just nods as Glenn leaves, and as Agnie gives her answer, Aleksei just kind of half smiles at her and shakes his head, "Of course not, Agnie. If I thought that sort of thing was something you were actually interested in, you made it fairly clear when you tried to get me to take your sister to some dance.. or whatever party in a barn is." Frankly, that baffled him a little. Barns.. tended to smell oddly. Mostly like horse. It did not seem like a good place to spend a romatic evening.

"Oh, I am. Knight is a different title where I am from. It loses a bit in translation, though. There are only twelve Knights of Rodel, but there are many knights of the realm. But tell me. What was the bigger surprise, wings or me being a Knight?"

He just waits for her at the door and if she leaves with him, he shuts and locks the door behind them. He starts back for the meeting house, mind half considering the wards he would put around that room. "Let's go make sure that damned Book stays where we put it, and no one goes in to play with it. You are free to bring the food with you, of course."

"So. Who is Kerrak, and why do you look like you bit into a sourfruit when you say his name?" He just offers her one of those warm smiles that he gives everyone while he waits on her.
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Re: War.

Postby channe » Wed Feb 29, 2012 6:04 am

"It's not that, I just -- I'm not --" she throws up her hands and rubs her temples for a moment, leaving the sentence unfinished. "It's a barn dance, and it happens to be fun."

She picks up the coffee Glenn left and takes a long draught before pulling on her coat and following him out the door. It's been a long night and the day is going to be even longer. It's past dawn, now, and the streets are beginning to fill up with people and their business, most of them unaware of the events of the previous night. "I... I guess I'm not that surprised. It's hard to surprise me, these days. I figured there had to be something going on with you... nobody comes to Myrken unless they got something going on they don't want other people to know."

Another pause, as she adjust the ties on her jacket. "Kerrak al'Nerun, former Baron of Almark, I think. He's from Thessilane, but had a lot of ties here in Myrken. About six years ago the local guard, the Order of Straka, kind of imploded for a number of reasons, and the Governor at that time signed a contract with his mercenary company, the Brotherhood of Janeiro, to provide defensive services. Back then there was no Constabulary, so they kind of did all the policing work, too." She avoids a snow pile. "A lot of the old Straka people joined up. See, Thessilane was an ally then, before the Duke got a bug up his ass about being King himself. I joined up, too, when I had a falling-out with my own teacher, Ariane, and Kerrak took an interest in making sure I knew what was what, kind of filled where Ariane used to be, gave me some goals in life. That's where I met Aeryn -- he was Kerrak's lieutenant."

She pauses. "What do you know about channelers?"
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Re: War.

Postby BetaFlame » Wed Feb 29, 2012 6:11 am

He just grins a her being a little flustered, settling the cloak around his sword. It had been a while since he blatantly wore one, and it was taking a little getting used too it. At least he was tripping over it, though. He walks with her as she explains things to him, and listening with pursed lips. He soaks the knowledge in like a sponge, putting it together into a complete puzzle as they walk.

"Channelers? I know they are a different type of mage. They are only in that one region, as far as I know. I know there is no mention of them in the histories of Rodel, and I didn't see them in the other places I traveled. Men tend to go a bit batty, right?'

Either he didn't know the full extent of the problem or he was being a master of understatement. He is making a direct line for the Meetinghouse, walking fairly quickly. All the people milling about make him a little nervous, and he doesn't want a guard stumbling across that book.

"Am I to assume that Kerrak is one, then?"
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Re: War.

Postby channe » Wed Feb 29, 2012 6:29 am

"Yeah. I don't know why they're only found in Thessilane. Some kind of wacky breeding program, maybe. Anyway, Burel has a pretty tight hold on them. That's why he's such a threat -- the Duke can blow up whole nations with that kind pf power. They're required to wear uniforms, behave a certain way... mostly because if they don't, they go mad. And eventually, they all do. Every single channeler, as far as I know, expects to be murdered by his brothers eventually for the safety of all. In many ways, the mageranks of the King's Own are a direct response to this threat." That's more than she's said about her former masters in a while. "But from what I know, Kerrak didn't know he was a channeler. And then there were drow." She waves her hand. "I don't know what went on with that; I wasn't exactly in the inner circle. But, to make a long story short, Kerrak was on the Council as defense minister. He went nuts. Burned down the Meetinghouse. Betrayed his Brotherhood. He was eventually put down by his best friend. It was pretty awful."

Agnie's shoulders shudder a little; she shakes her head. "A few months ago, someone raised him from the dead." A pause, to let that sink in. "His power seems to be well in check. Since his son was Baron, he kind of swore off Thessilane and nobility and has been living here, and he's now on the defense committee with me an' Renea." She pauses. "So you can see why it's best to tread lightly around him."

They reach the Meetinghouse, and Agnie converses lowly with the guard at the front; he waves them both in.
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Re: War.

Postby BetaFlame » Wed Feb 29, 2012 6:42 am

"Breeding program? We have something similar where I am from. People like me are the product, though I was not a product of the breeding program." He follows her into the meeting house, and heads for the room with the book. Chalk in hand he starts scrawling a ward on the door before they even go in. These wards.. are different. He's using what he learned from the Book to creating something to keep the Eight out. "Hm. So he was dead. Interesting. Did his death and resurrection make him less mad than went he went crazy and burned the place down?" More symbols are written after he speaks for a minute, then he pauses again.

"Is it only the men? Can women channel?" He turns his head to look at her, staring at her with those inquisitive eyes. "And if he is possessed and I have.. to deal with him, what should I know about what he can do?"

He wasn't afraid. He'd killed his fair share of magic-users. That was what he did back home as the Third Knight of Rodel. But, it was better to know than not know.
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Re: War.

Postby channe » Wed Feb 29, 2012 6:53 am

"Rodel. I've never heard of it. Where is it?"

Down the hallway to the room. All of it should be as it was just a few hours ago; Agnie stops cold at the door.

"Only men can channel, yeah. I don't know why, but it ain't my area," she says, stepping back to allow him to scrawl on the doorjamb, the door -- stepping back further, probably, than is completely necessary. "He channels fire. He burns shit. He'll be able to burn you. Me. The whole building. Hell, channelers cratered a whole feckin' town once. That hole outside o' town? The one called Golben? Channelers." She shivers, and pauses, and looks at her shoes.

"...Dealing, as you say, with Kerrak. 's my job."
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Re: War.

Postby BetaFlame » Wed Feb 29, 2012 7:07 am

"Rodel? Go south. Get on a boat. Go south till you can't see the mainland, and sail south about another day. You'll find a large island. That's Rodel. Now run like hell, before they kill you." He sighs and finishes the the first set of wards, before he turns around to face her, eyes seeking hers, hoping she won't look away.

"Agnie. I spent years back home hunting all sorts of mages. Fire mages, blood wizards, necromancers. I don't care if he blew up an entire fucking flying country of monkies. Glenn asked me to make sure his fiance was safe, I will do that. Somehow, I don't think that Glenn would ask you to 'deal' with a powerful channeler alone." His eyes search hers then he just smiles and shrugs at her "He asked Renea to help you? That would make the most sense. Two members of the Defense Council to kill the one crazy one, right?" He goes to reach out and pat her shoulder, then remembers how she reacted at the tavern, just drops his hand. "Till we know what she is doing, can I serve as your second, then?" He doesn't mind being the backseat, so long as Agnie isn't facing down a raging fire wielding mad man alone. What kind of friend would he be?

"So. You going to unlock the door for me so I can finish?"
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Re: War.

Postby channe » Wed Feb 29, 2012 7:16 am

"... breeding programs. Wings. Killing. Sounds like a place I'd be glad to leave." She blinks for a moment, and then rustles in her pockets for the key. She puts the key in the lock, turns it with a click -- and then her hand hovers over the knob, and she looks back at him with a very serious gaze.

"Aleksei," she says, "there's something you should know about Myrken Wood. Here, we're all the crazy one. If you got my back, I got yours."

With that, she pushes the door open and walks in first.
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