On the Trail of the Bloodsucker [Aurin]

[Talisman]

At his words, the large greenskin nodded in confirmation. Dreyfus had in fact done that, though he had clearly not accomplished it. And because he hadn't accomplished it, well, that was why he and his crew had come. Skarner had promised, and when he promised, it was delivered. Unlike some, when they said they were going to do something, they damn well meant it.

Voreth did indeed notice the scars, and he could guess what they came from. An experienced warrior knew what to look for, and an observant one could put together the connections so that they could see the signs of the body and how they came together. But you didn't survive knife fights without getting better at them, or finding ways to make others worse at them. He could respect that.

"You're not wrong about that," the Ork took a pull from his glass. "Honour is cheap with people like that. Anyone that will sell out their own for personal gain without a second thought can't be trusted, but you can trust how they'll act with the pattern." At Aurin's offer, he nodded. "I have a small team with me. Two of them can hide and stay hidden, the other will need to come. She's got the tracking nose." He didn't think that that would be a problem, and it would probably just mean more remuneration for Aurin, but it was worth being up front about.

In any event, they could check the estate, look to see if there was one of the bloodsucker's tricks in there - Skarner had told them to look for what he'd called a bloodseed, and make sure there was nothing that would let the bastard out of his prison when he was captured. This seemed to be as good a place as any that he might have stashed one, and they could investigate.

If Aurin was willing, he'd go and get them, and meet him back in his office within half an hour. That gave him time to prepare as well.

[Aurin]

When Voreth and his party returned, they were met by another redhead, but he spoke in Aurin's voice.

"The people in that village know me as Ernst Klein. If you would please refer to me as such while I wear this guise, I would appreciate it." His smile was Aurin's, and then even that shifted. The voice too was changed when next he spoke. "And now I will just work some camouflage upon you..."

When he was done, Voreth looked entirely human. While Aurin could show a bit of an artist's streak with his glamours, for these people and this purpose, he merely shifted skin tones to those more pleasing in Zaichaer, removing other non-human signifiers, and made their clothes seem of Zaichaeri make.

"It were probably best you let me do most of the talking unless you can manage to sound more Zaichaeri. Villagers tend to be leery of strangers at the best of times, and these are not those. Not yet. The Dornkirk-Angevin axis seems to be making progress, at least economically, but these people are still hurting from the deprivation and, you know, being a herd of snacks for a Vampir."

When they were ready, he opened a portal into a grove not far from the Monteliyet country home and the village that had grown up around it during the Eclipse. From there, they were able to hoof it into the village. True to his word, he introduced them to those in the know, translated questions and answers as necessary—offering context when their words did not make sufficient sense.

Eventually, the tracker nodded to his raised eyebrow, and he led them back toward the grove and his normal spot for traveling. Having a specific spot he used more than once made it all the easier to find it among the infinite strands of the slipspace.

As Voreth was nominally in charge and Aurin merely a facilitator, he asked, "What's the plan?"

[Talisman]

When Voreth had returned, it was with three other Orkhan, two of which were female. It was one of the females with an excess of scales - might have been that she had more dragon blood in her than most - that was apparently coming. She was a Summoner, and the shaggy looking dog that was with them was no normal dog. The fact that its eyes were glowing white amidst silvery hair "Ernst it is," Voreth nodded. "We'll be quiet. You can call me Oskar, and she'll be Ada. Dog can be Fritz." The summoned spirit looked at him rather incredulously, but if it was going to protest, it decided it was beneath him as 'Ada' laid her hand on his shoulder. The other two would be quiet, and mostly searching for any sort of coffin-sized container in the place that might hold what Skarner told them to check for.

He'd had long enough and screwed around long enough that the Vampyre may well have decided to try to cheat his punishment for failure, such as it was, by preparing a cloned body for himself to try to leave his cell once he was in it. If they were anything, they were thorough. At the village, they got the basics, and Fritz would investigate the mansion while the other two checked the grounds - basement, outbuildings, the insides of the place, and it was declared clean of a bloodseed.

When they were back outside in the grove, Voreth looked to 'Ada', who looked to 'Fritz'. The beast bared its teeth, all of them that were that much longer than they had any right to be. "We have the trail. And now we hunt. Do you want to ride with us, or shall I check in with you at your office when we find him?" the Ork wanted to know. In any event, he had a sack of coins for Aurin as a partial payment. Favours could be worked with and traded, after all.

[Aurin]

From a purely investigatory standpoint, Aurin-as-Ernst was quite impressed with how they searched without ruffling the feathers of the locals. Of course, he helped, but mostly with communication that was more than a few words and occasionally distracting people. He wondered if Arry would believe him if he described their methods; likely Hilana would not, and would wonder why he was aiding and abetting them, if not why he wasn't killing them. She was a bloodthirsty little bitch, but it made the sex better.

It didn't take him long to consider and decide once the offer was posed.

"I spent some time in Gel'Grandal learning how to track and, eventually, execute Vampire," he said, still using the Kathalen word for them. "I knew Monteliyet was here, and I wanted to know how to eliminate the threat if he threatened those Zaichaeri I consider my people." He grimaced. "And now that I know he has traveled even to Kalzasi, where more of my people are, I am glad I did. I will go with you if you will allow it. I can fight, and I can remove or alter your illusory guises at need, as well as expedite our movements once we need to leave this lost city.

"Lead. I will follow. I will not slow you down."

And he would not.

While Aurin had always been a shoe made for the city, he had made a point to take Torin and young Timon out into the wilderness surrounding Kalzasi to learn—all of them—how to survive without civilization in the event they had to do so at some point in order to survive. He imagined they were going to go through some terrain much rougher than where they had camped, or even scaling the canyon walls of what had become Torin's Stardew Valley, or exploring it before Sivan had made friends with the gritaeri who ruled there.

He was adaptable.

[Talisman]

For whatever reputation the Ecithian hordes might have had for destruction with Hilana, this crew was professional, and Voreth clearly ran a tight ship. The four of them had no interest whatever in stirring the pot with Zaichaer, and since this place was under its purview... discretion was key. They seemed well-prepared for the task, and whomever Voreth answered to must have been someone worth knowing there. Whatever they were hunting him for, the why, for that matter, hadn't really ever been discussed; but quite possibly Dreyfus had gone back on a deal he had made in Ecith, and that was why he was going to be dragged back to face whatever version of justice they saw fit to impose upon him in the humid jungles.

In any event, that was one less problem for Aurin, once he was found and removed from the equation: less risk to those he cared about.

While the redheaded man made his decision, the dragon-scaled Summoner, 'Ada', called upon contracts she had established before. What came out of that portal was a number of beasts that seemed to be some blend of reptile and wolf - it was hard to tell if they were bipedal or quadruped, because while they stood on their hind feet, the front ones were close to the ground and certainly within reach. They had longer furred tails, perhaps for balance, and jaws that looked like they could bite a man in half. There was one for each of them. "Will you ride?" Ada wanted to know, looking at Aurin. If affirmative, she would draw one more from wherever she had found them. If he was uncomfortable, he could double up with another one of the group.

At his rendered decision, Voreth nodded. "They're a pain in the ass to kill, until you understand their nature. Once you understand that, they're easy. Their biggest weapon is their biggest weakness, and that's the Rune that makes them what they are. Negation, if your mastery is stronger than their mastery of Vitalis, can shut it down. And once they have no access to it, they can't heal. They can't fuck your body. They're limited to whatever other skills they got... and that makes them touchable." One by one, the warband would climb up onto the backs of the creatures, with Ada and her tracking spirit in the front. They took off, and now that they were in motion, the summoned mounts ran on all fours. But their physiology would be helpful for climbing and mountains, and they might well have to go through some rough terrain.

There was little need to communicate once they were in motion, following single-file. The creature in the rear used its tail to sweep the tracks, buffeting air to make it more difficult for someone or something to follow them. They would be going around Zaichaer, it seemed, as the hound that ran in front of them was taking them to the other side of Zaichaer. Aurin's disguises would be helpful for anything that might have been watching or observing. It would be many hours before a break would be taken, and when they did, it would be to rest after navigating chunks of mountain. Which hadn't been as difficult as it could have been - the other male Orkhan was largely proficient with Elementalism, and what might have been hazardous without it was passable and far less treacherous.

Between the mounts, Aurin's ability with Traversion, and the Elementalist helping with the mountains, they were making good time. Time that might normally have taken people weeks was being traversed much faster than one might have expected - of course, Aurin's bloodthirsty Solunarian hook-up on a wyvern was far more the exception than the rule. They weren't following any normal set of tracks - the hound that Voreth had called 'Fritz' was tracking Dreyfus' aether, and the closer they got, the faster it went.

Ada came to an abrupt stop as they were in the mountain pass, and not far below them, they could see a city in disrepair. It was nearly blending in with the rocky mountainside below. All of it felt wrong, felt sick, and those with Semblance could practically see some sort of death magic oozing out of it. They would stop, and the group that had run single file while in motion would fan out in order to study the walls of what looked like a city in total disrepair. "This must be what he went looking for," Voreth remarked, leaning forward and scrutinizing it. You didn't have to be a mage to know that this place was fucked ten ways to Searing...

"He's down there," Ada indicated a direction, as the hound that they had followed so faithfully was looking in the direction that she indicated. The only trees that gave cover were rotten and withered, husks on the verge of crumbling.

"And now the fun begins. Remember, alive. Fucked up, but alive. Skarner said he's got Kinetics as well as the other one to watch out for. We can set up wards and lock the area down. Anything else we can handle... and keep him from trying to run." Voreth nodded to his group. They may have traveled a considerable distance over a short time... But they were going to strike while the iron was hot, it seemed. The faster they got their target, the faster they could all get out of here.

[Aurin]

"I'll ride," he said.

Aurin unraveled the bit of his aether weave that made up the illusion of Ernst's scent so he would smell like himself before cautiously approaching the animal, trying to take cues by observing Ada and the others.

"I've sembled him enough to know he can't semble back and that his connection to the blood rune is stronger than any ward I can make, and I don't think it's boasting to say that most can't juggernaut their way through my wards. I could make it more difficult to connect, though. But hopefully you aren't relying only on my trick." He grinned and nodded.

The beast was steady, so he had little trouble climbing upon its back. It was certainly different from riding a horse, but he sembled the creature to gauge how it reacted to little changes in his posture, the pressure of knees and ankles, and the like. They were going to get on well enough, he supposed. He got the sense that the creature considered him a slow member of the herd or similar, and so it was patient with him.

Once they were traveling, the Orkhan-in-disguise didn't speak much, and that was all for the best. Aurin's attention was largely intent on developing simpatico with his mount. It seemed content to follow the leader, and they joined the line. Their pace was hurried, but they slowed for the more difficult terrain and so few were the moments where Aurin hid a fear of sudden death under a poker face. In any case, between artefacts and his own tricks, he could survive most falls.

When not focused on his mount's mood, he did try to get a true Sense of it as well as where it came from. Since he was also minding the slipspace so he could get back here at need and get the small Orkhan horde out once their mission was complete, he was also trying to get a sense of the slipspace from whence these creatures came. It was not an easy task, and he didn't know which plane or realm they came from, but he was fairly certain that he would be able to impart that Sense to Sivan or to Hilana so they could call mounts at will.

She already had her unruly camel and he knew her to have ridden wyverns, but variety was the spice of life.

"Ugh." Casting his sembling eye down from the mountain pass made him want to vomit. Something was wrong down there and it seemed categorically different from how the Monteliyet house and the shantytown around it had seemed, though he was still not an expert on Vampire.

When Voreth glanced his way after giving initial orders, 'Ernst' nodded, although his form shifted again into someone different, not one of his established personae, but dirty blond, brown eyes, stockier, and older. These Orkhan now knew Ernst Klein was, in fact, Aurin Kavafis, but Ernst Klein lived mostly near and around Zaichaer, where they were unwelcome. He didn't imagine Monteliyet would matter much if they were taking him back to Ecith for judgment for whatever he had done, but better safe than sorry.

He was just one more human in this band.

"I will follow." He did wonder if they were going to dismount, though, and whether he would be able to stretch. He was numb from nuts to ass and down his legs; that was only small comfort knowing it was going to hurt like a motherfucker as soon as he could feel them again.

[Talisman]

"I know that your skill with Negation is quite sound, you showed me that back at the Cabaret. But part of the reason Skarner picked me to lead this crew is because mine can overwhelm Monteliyet's Rune. But between the two of us.. he's going to have a hard time," the Orkhan's grin was wicked. Aurin's hope of being able to dismount was fulfilled, though, because Voreth slid down from his own creature, stretching his legs and limbs. They were different from what they may have ridden in Ecith, but close enough in terms of physiology that they weren't too far out of the range of what they were used to. One by one, the others dismounted, and the beasts would gather around Ada, who touched each one, thanking them solemnly, and rewarding them with aetherite. She didn't dismiss them right away, as they may need them to put some distance between this hellhole and themselves in a hurry, in the event that it did something to impinge on Aurin's ability to Traverse.

They knew he was a man who knew how to find things, and a man of many talents, but they had no way of knowing the depths of his training when it came to moving and moving quickly. But it was better to be safe than sorry.

None of them were surprised that Aurin took yet another face. "Do you have a name you want us to use for that one?" Voreth wanted to know as weapons, pact and mundane, were being drawn by the other Orkhan, Cammor and Ray, as they'd given names for him to know over the course of travel. Ada had kept the name she had been given for the trip to the estate with its shantytown shacks around it. Preparation and organization was key. They would wait here until the signal was given to close in, tightening the noose so that their prey would be caught like a rat in a trap.

Once Aurin had a few minutes to stretch and recover, he and Voreth would be on the move. The Ork set up a ward for them to help block away whatever that visceral, abhorrent mess that seeped out of the ruins just felt toxic. It might not do anything to them, but for all they knew, it damn well fucking might. It did lend to urgency, though, as they began the process of setting their shields with their mandates - multiple points along a rectangular area to enforce and trap their target in. The Ork would walk him through the process, explaining details and answering questions if Aurin had any - he was working with different skills beyond what the redhead had learned thus far, but it was something he could put away for when he was ready to do, the Fortress and the Injunction. There wasn't a lot of time to get into the big details, but once Dreyfus was captured, they could discuss that at length, if the Railrunner so desired. But for now, there were other techniques Aurin could do, and how they could be worked into a very elaborate web.

They had not travelled this far to go home empty-handed.

[Aurin]

The nondescript new Aurin shook his head.

"'Hey, you' will work well enough. This is just something I threw together in the moment. Whether I try to memorize it or not, well, we'll see."

The grin was familiar from Aurin's face and from Ernst's, and perhaps Voreth and the others could tell the difference now between merely throwing on a new face and embodying a new persona. When Aurin was wearing Ernst's face, the way he moved, the way he spoke, and even the way his face shifted to communication thought and emotion were different. That was, he would argue, what separated an illusionist from a Myshalarai.

He wondered if he would ever meet the Stitchmother, given She was the namesake of one of his covens. He wasn't sure he wanted to, but then he also had quite a few self-destructive behaviors in his skull.

Given the opportunity, he did some painful stretches, enough that his body wouldn't fail him at the worst possible moment.

With his Semblance, he was able to grok what the Orkhan wanted from him and his own tricks, and so he seemed a quicker study than he might have been otherwise. The Fortress and Injunction tricks were beyond him now, but he understood how they worked in theory now, at least, and perhaps it wouldn't take so very long to master them. He would certainly ask more questions when the quarry was caught and the work largely complete.

Then he would take what he learned and probably harass old Ansel Gerhard about it. The man was a Sunsinger, and had offered him a few tips along the way when it came to the shielding trick. Aurin imagined the old battleaxe used it more for actual shielding in combat, whereas Aurin preferred the sneaky-sneaky, stabby-stabby, disappearing act sort of thing, and mostly warded things he didn't want found or touched—like that fucking eberrite key.

Once his part of the warding was complete, however, he turned to the Orkhan, ready.

He idly wondered if Imogen would be attracted to him if he wore a form closer to Voreth's... It was worth a shot.

[Talisman]

Review

Name: Aurin

XP: 15 Points, may be used for the appropriate magics.
Injuries/Ailments: Some stiffness and soreness, but that will go away with treatment or a few days' rest.
Loot: 50 Gold Pieces. Favour from Voreth. Name connection - Skarner. Location - Toxic City of Death.

Notes: I think this is a good place to stop for now. If need be, there will be a follow-up thread in the future. Voreth will remember Aurin's assistance. Good hunting!