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Welcome to the world of Fortuna, a land of fantastic proportions. This is an original fantasy roleplay that takes place in a world developed over nearly a decade of work and collaboration. We aim to encourage all participants to have a hand in the stories of the characters here, and the world around them. Your choices are key - so make them with pride. You decide who wins the wars, you decide who becomes King, the world is ours, and together we will bring it to life!
Post by Maldrem "Wight" on Nov 16, 2017 13:05:06 GMT -7
Time to make 'em Squirm
H e had to say, the imagery didn't get much better than this. Kali accosting their dwarven host, making him look terrified. Leigh sitting him down in a guest seat while she seated herself at his desk and made a mess of it. Colossus taking a stance behind Leif, the size difference between the two being incredibly stark. Leif probably hadn't expected an orc to be storming his home tonight; if he had, he'd have doubtlessly staffed the place more heavily and prepared the kinds of weapons that were better suited for battling an orc's thick skin. Mal was of course glad that he hadn't. It had made their job easier, and Colossus already looked pretty banged up as it was. He'd definitely carried most of their offensive.
But now it was time to really make the man squirm. He thought he was in deep shit already. Pissing off Kali was high up on a list of things most people who knew her wouldn't want to do, and that included Mal. He'd been very worried about her reaction to his necrosis stunt, after all. And on top of that, Leif now had armed pirates holding him hostage after attempting to double cross them. He had every reason in the world to be scared. But at Leigh's signal, Mal grinned and sauntered over (with as much grace as he could muster on his leg), knowing he was about to make it so much worse.
"You know, Leif, a smart criminal mastermind like you is the type of guy I'd expect more from," he started, sighing exaggeratedly. "You'd think someone like you wouldn't underestimate another pair of criminals, just because they're pirates. You weren't prepared at all for us tonight, big boy." He now stood directly in front of the seated dwarf, and crouched down with his elbows on his knees to look him in the eye, smirking all the while. "And you also underestimated the kind of connections we might have. But that's alright. We're used to people looking down on us. It makes victory all the sweeter."
Leif was looking at him with an intrigued, cautious look now. He was probably trying to size up what exactly Wight was to him. Between the four of them, he wasn't the angry Satyr that Leif knew, he wasn't the half-tide elf who'd held him at gun point, and he wasn't the enormous Orc holding him still. What kind of threat was Wight?
"Now I'm sure you are a smart guy, so lemme just ask you this: how do you think a quartet of pirates managed to sneak right past security into Aissic, while loaded up with all kinds of weapons, during the Festival of Peace? What would we have needed to make that go smoothly?"
A small spark of understanding lit up in Leif's eyes, and his caution turned to clear concern. "Entry papers."
"Now you're getting it!" Wight replied happily, one finger raised to tap the dwarf's nose. "And now, the million gold question: who do you suppose we must have gotten those from in the past?"
"I can see what you're trying to do," Leif grunted back, narrowing his eyes in a glare. Wight could see a trace of panic there, but the man was likely trying to stamp it down with sheer disbelief. "You're trying to convince me that a lowlife like you has any pull with her? Please. You're hardly the first thief who bought papers once and then tried to pretend you had an in. Stop trying to threaten me, boy, negotiations are already on the table. You want the airship? Fine, I can offer it to you. But you won't get it with me being dead. And you wouldn't be here unless you needed it, so I'd advise you start changing your tone. I get the impression you value that ship a lot more than you want to kill me. But that's something I can understand; choosing profit over the convenience of murder. Now are you smart, or not?"
Wight listened to the dwarf talk, let him have his little piece, and found it amusing how with every word spoken Leif seemed to get braver. As though giving himself more confidence. Reminding himself that he still had power here. His life was under no peril if the pirates really wanted what they claimed to. And as soon as they were gone, he could double up on security and never relive this moment of vulnerability again.
Or so he thought.
"Unfortunately for you, my friend," Wight replied lazily. "I do in fact know Reina de Castillo quite well. I'm sure it made you feel better to tell yourself I was just lying to you, but..." He trailed off, chuckling once as he toyed with one of his horn rings. "You see, she actually had a message for you, for me to deliver. And had you given us a chance to talk before you immediately turned your blades on us, maybe you would have gotten that message before you went and did something stupid. See, she wanted you to not touch us, to not even dream of harming us, because I'm quite special to her. Said that if you turned on me, she'd turn the underground into a war zone and personally see to it that the flesh was seared from your bones. But looks like you already went and did that... the Queen of the Underground isn't gonna be happy, my man."
Leif was not looking happy, and Wight could tell that he was trying to find a tell, a sign that this was a bluff. He just smiled back gleefully, waiting to utter the words that would seal the deal.
"You honestly expect me to believe any of that?"
"I do," he responded simply. "And in fact, just to make sure that you do, she told me a little something. Said it was a name that only she has always used to call you, back in Muerte. A phrase that let you know she meant business. Something to make sure you knew these were words came straight from her lips. Now let's see, what was it? Ah, yes, I believe her exact words were--"
Wight saw a look of absolute terror in Leif's eyes, and for a split second wondered if it was somehow from something he'd already said. But then, there was a knife lodging itself between the dwarf's wide eyes, plunging deep into his skull. Leif's head immediately went slack, and Colossus let go of him in evident shock, his own eyes widened as well. Wight stared, dumbfounded, for all of two seconds and then turned on his haunches to look behind him.
Salza was there, leaning up against a wall in the office with a smirk on her black-painted lips, arms crossed.
"No me pruebes, Codicioso," she stated.
Leif's guard looked to be frozen where he stood, perhaps not processing what had just happened. Colossus and Mal were both at a loss for words. Even Leigh and Kali seemed shocked.
"Wight," Salza said, nodding at him. "The Lady sends her regards. She's bound to be pretty happy about how this turned out. Couldn't have asked for an easier, cleaner hit on Leif Jorgenson than this. Unexpected, but not unwelcome. Good that I followed you."
Kali hasn't been allowed to kill the man, but she felt pretty satisfied with the way things were going now. At any rate she enjoyed watching him realize he was fucked. he deserved it of course after what he'd done to them. Leigh sat at the desk and Leif was sitting at the chair in front of it in a delicious power reversal that warmed the heart, but as they all talked and talked some more and then did more talking, Kali took the opportunity to begin bandaging some of her more serious wounds. Her fingertips were cold, which wouldn't seem out of place in Aissic except that Leif kept his little hideout sufficiently heated for his rich pompous ass and she knew it meant she should try to stop losing blood. She would patch herself up properly when they had more time, but while they were here waiting and talking she was pretty good at battlefield medic-ing her wounds. She had to be after all her time getting beat the hell up.
It was in the middle of tying a bandage around her left arm and tightening it with her teeth that an uncomfortable silence fell, which caught her attention just as a woman said something from behind them all. What? Besides not understanding what she had actually said, she realized now that everyone was incredibly tense and.. wait, was that a knife in Leif's head? That got her attention much more readily and she was immediately prepared to fight this newcomer, though at that moment she spoke to Wight and admitted to following him, and said something about a Lady and yadda yadda yadda.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration and turning to Mal. "Wight you fucking piece of shit you magic necrotize me and tell me I can't kill this fucking dwarf after everything he did and then this fucking drama queen assassin has been following you this whole time and kills him anyway? What the fuck!" She rounded on the woman next and continued her tirade, and it's about this time that Colossus realized she was definitely going to get herself killed. Kali didn't know who this woman was, but Colossus had met her just long enough to realize she was not someone to mess with. "And you, what the fuck do you think you're doing? You better have a fucking airship beca-" Colossus' hand clapped across her mouth then while his other arm circled around her torso, trapping both her arms and holding her back while she struggled and continued her muffled shouting into his hand.
Post by Leigh Haskell on Nov 16, 2017 14:53:18 GMT -7
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[attr="class","wavesundtext"] While Leigh had brought Mal onto the team for many reasons, the chief was his swagger. Leigh was brusque and direct, she could get people to talk, but it was always through force. Mal was threatening in his own way, but more easily massaged what he wanted to get out of others. Leigh would never personally want to do things his way, but it was damn useful in this kind of big operation. Somewhat admirable, even, she might think.
At least, until his charms seemed to ruin the entire fucking plan.
The blade pierced between the dwarf's eyes like it had sprung forth from within, killing their only route to an untraceable airship. Leigh had her gun raised to where the dagger had come from within seconds of the strike despite her surprise, and took in the view of a casual looking woman who made her see red, especially as she dared to give Leigh nothing but a glance before shifting to Wight and explaining exactly how he'd fucked this all up for the Grail.
There was a part of Leigh that was angry at herself, too, of course. How had she not realized they were being followed? Sure, it wasn't her specialty, but she wasn't a dumb-ass. She should have seen signs, heard footsteps, fucking something. She regretted letting her team chat it up as they traveled to Leif's, she wondered if maybe they hadn't one of them would have heard footsteps, she considered that it was her bad leadership that had cost this plan.
She then wondered if maybe the woman was an ajatar, who had simply hopped into Mal's shadow and joyfully tagged along for the ride. It was a nice thought, since it would have meant that they didn't have a bat's chance in a rockslide of detecting her. Whatever the woman was, Leigh's anger became focused on one thing. Not Mal, not herself: Just the woman. And it wasn't just Leigh's anger. Kali was rampaging, too, and before Leigh could give her Orc the command, Colossus was already keeping Kali out of trouble. Mal didn't look pleased, either, and Leif's guard was particularly perturbed. In fact, Leigh was pretty sure the man had pissed himself a little. She would have humiliated him further if she didn't have fish to fry.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Leigh's voice was measured in her usual deadpan tones, but the way her consonants spat and her vowels made such deliberate shapes made it clear she was only controlling herself for the sake of her crew, "You couldn't fucking wait until we'd gotten our ship?"
Post by Maldrem "Wight" on Nov 16, 2017 15:31:56 GMT -7
Oh shit oh shit oh shit
T his was not how this was supposed to go. Mal liked to think he was a very quick thinker, adaptable to changes, and good at diffusing most situations with his wit, charm, or if all else failed, a carefully-placed blade. But right now? He had no idea what to do.
Salza had tailed him. Salza had killed Leif before they could get what they wanted out of him. Salza now stood in a room with four of them, which would seem like great odds for Mal and company. But Mal also knew her, and he knew that they were all too injured to be of any use against her at the moment. Not even Colossus, knowing the powerful skill Salza had at her disposal. If Kali thought that Mal's little necrosis trick had been excruciating, she didn't know what a real talent with that magic could do. And Colossus, bless his intelligent orc head, was keen on making sure she didn't find out. He restrained Kali quickly enough, but Leigh had her pistol trained on Salza now, and was livid.
Mal couldn't blame her. Hell, he was livid at himself for creating this opening. He didn't think he'd endanger the mission by telling Reina who he was dealing with, and yet here it was. This was his fault. He had no idea what he was meant to do.
"Leigh," he spoke up, his voice taking on an edge of trepidation that he rarely used. He hoped that that alone would be enough to tip off his interim captain. Don't mess with her. Not in this state.
Salza glanced away from him, back at Leigh, listening to her verbal assault, and demonstrated all the usual ease Maldrem knew her for. When Leigh was finished, Salza simply rolled her eyes.
"Oh would you relax? And put that thing away. You'll get your ship. Hell, you'll probably get a lot more than that."
She nudged herself off of her leaned position on the wall, stepping over to Leif casually and plucking the blade from his skull. He immediately slouched down and fell to the floor, while she wiped her blade on the upholstery of the chair he'd been sitting in before tucking it away. "As you probably heard Wight here filling in our recently-departed friend, he's got an in with the Queen of the Underground. And this little bug Jorgenson has been making a nuisance of himself for a good long while. It's only natural I'd want to follow along considering that. Leif's usually a lot more guarded than he was tonight. You unassuming lot gave me an opportunity I couldn't pass up."
She looked down at Mal, who had not risen from his crouch yet, and smiled somewhat darkly at him. "You should be happy The Lady didn't decide to come here herself. Remember what she said? 'The next time she sees you'. Doesn't matter when that is."
This had Maldrem gulping. He nodded once. "Yeah."
Her smile returned to a more genial one then, and she clapped her hands together lightly as though she was resolving some minor business. "Well, fortunately for you all, The Lady is also someone who always pays her debts, even if certain other miscreants don't do the same. She's bound to be incredibly grateful that you've all helped solve a problem that's had her at a standstill for a while. Sooner or later she'd have probably just had us storm the place, but that could have involved a lot of losses on her side... a bit messy, yeah? This way was much better. And because she pays those debts of hers, I can even personally guarantee that you'll get that airship you were after. If we can't seize Jorgenson's stock due to some dumb-ass magic he's put on them, I'll just ask if she can give you one from her collection."
Okay... Okay. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all. In fact, this might even work out better. Leif's ship's were supposedly untraceable. Reina's had to be just as good if not possibly better. And she knew all there was to know about the trappings and inner workings of government and bureaucracy.
Things continued to seem a little tense, and Salza raised one of her eyebrows incredulously. "What, still not good enough? And here I thought the dwarf was greedy." She shook her head as she stepped over Leif's corpse and made for his liquor cabinet. His guard was still standing nearby, but he clearly didn't want to move (and had definitely pissed himself). She helped herself to some of the dwarf's scotch, then plopped down on a vacant seat in the room, legs crossed. "Wight did tell you guys that he secured you official documents, right? Getting into Artavia will be a breeze. Hell, I'll even put a good word in with The Lady and ask her to give you some more weapons. Maybe an on-board magic-jammer - apparently all the rage in Artavian security lately." She took a sip, smirking and muttering 'nice'. "Now, will that do? Or do I have to shovel over a sack of gold before you'll unclench your assholes and have a drink with me? Celebrate, would you?"
Kali was glad at least that Leigh seemed to be on the same page as her, because first of all what the fuck and secondly yes, they still needed an airship. The woman, meanwhile, was so nonchalant about it all that it made Kali's blood boil. However, when she said to relax because they would still get a ship she did find herself at least less angry than she was before. If they still got a ship then the only thing the woman had robbed them of was killing Leif themselves. Which... technically they weren't supposed to do anyway. Kali 'harumph'ed into Colossus's hand. Just because they weren't supposed to kill him today didn't mean that she couldn't have killed him some other day, but now she couldn't kill him ever because he was already dead.
Kali stopped fighting Colossus, though the orc knew better than to let her go right away so the two of them stood there listening as the mystery woman explained what was going on and again promised them a ship and called them 'unassuming' which kind of pissed Kali off again but then she threatened Mal which made her feel a little better. How did Mal somehow have an 'in' with whoever 'The Lady' was, but also looked like he was about to shit bricks at the thought of the next time he saw her. There was definitely a story there and Kali wanted to know! If it was good enough it might even make up for the loss of her chance to kill Leif.
The woman walked over and got a drink before sitting down and asking if she had to shovel over a sack of gold before they would have a drink with her and celebrate. Kali wiggled in Colossus' grip and the orc let go of her then. She suspected he might have actually forgotten he was holding her while he was distracted by the badass assassin talking. She couldn't tell if it was because he was afraid of her or attracted to her. Maybe both. She wiped the taste of his hand off her mouth and grimaced. "I'll take the sack of gold and a drink, since you're offering," she replied. The scotch would taste a lot better than orc hand did, though not as good as revenge against Leif would have.
Post by Leigh Haskell on Nov 16, 2017 16:16:22 GMT -7
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[attr="class","wavesundtext"] There would be no celebrating for Leigh. She didn't trust this nameless assassin any further than she could throw Colossus, which was a whole whopping zero feet. She did, however, trust Mal somewhat (perhaps more than somewhat, but she wouldn't tell him that), so she lowered and holstered the gun she had stolen from the dead guard. Her shoulders remained tight, however, and she made a point of walking the opposite direction from the 'party' happening around the annoying woman.
Leigh didn't like the situation. She felt like there was too much that could be turned around into an 'IOU' situation for the Grail, despite the fact that this was Wight's contact. Here, have these documents. Here, have this airship. Here take these weapons, and share a drink with me. Here, why don't we throw in a little something extra. You helped us get rid of a rock in our shoe, and after we've plied you with favours we'll come a-callin' for the next job. It reminded Leigh of prison. You'd butter them up before you took them for everything.
"No weapons. No gold. Don't go out of your way. We'll take just what we came for. Any bonus we've earned can grab from here, since I doubt he'll be needing it anymore. Your Lady can keep her gratitude."
Post by Maldrem "Wight" on Nov 16, 2017 16:50:08 GMT -7
All's well that ends well?
"She's a tough one, isn't she?" Salza remarked to Mal, lips quirked in interest. "Not many people would walk away from a deal as sweet as I'm offering. I'd call it ungrateful if you seemed like a stupid bunch."
She took another sip of her drink, seeming to leave it unsaid that she at least didn't think them stupid.
Mal stood up (with some difficulty, he probably shouldn't have crouched), and let out a breath. "Salza, I definitely... appreciate the offer. And hey! Glad we could help you out with your little problem. But if you really want to repay us with something, how about... Well, Reina's gonna be unchallenged down here now, isn't she? So how about the next time we need to do something here, you help us out a little?"
Salza gave him a look that reeked of incredulity. "You're asking me to tell my boss that we should owe your crew some unnamed favor the next time they're in town?"
Wight, to his credit, stood his ground. He tossed a look at Leigh, hoping in some way that his look conveyed his sense of apology over how this had unfolded. He'd accept a berating for it later. But for now, he had to salvage what he could.
Salza snorted and looked off to side. "Fine. It's not unreasonable, considering what this'll mean for us. You've got my word then, Mally, I'll make sure to let her know. But Wight." She returned her gaze to him, staring dangerously. "This changes nothing for you. Your debt is an entirely separate matter, and no favor is gonna sweep it under the rug. You're on borrowed time."
She just had to air that dirty laundry in front of everyone, didn't she? Bad enough that Colossus already knew. Colossus was at least silent.
He grimaced and nodded again. "I know."
Salza's expression brightened again. "Then we're clear. You lot can help yourself to Jorgenson's coffers before you go. Take whatever you can carry, we'll clean up the leftovers. Also, Satyr girl: you seem eager to kill someone, so if you want suggestions, there's a perfectly good guard standing right over there who'd have probably liked to see you dead. You can do that, or you can go ahead and have that drink with me since your leader seems so against the idea. Big guy? How about you?"
Colossus had to admit that after all he'd been through tonight, a drink didn't sound half bad. Leigh's bad mood be damned, he decided to grab the whole bottle that Salza had helped herself to and lumbered over, ignoring the now terrified guard and leaving Kali to do what she would from there. He and Salza started chatting at that point, and frankly speaking Mal would have taken the time to be shell-shocked at Colossus being conversational if not for the fact that he was still wallowing in his own sense of guilt over everything.
So instead, he shuffled quietly over to Leigh, who seemed to be turning her attention away from Salza's self-started party, and spoke to her in a low voice.
"I apologize. Really and seriously, I do. This isn't how this was supposed to go, and it's on me. It's lucky we're even still getting a ship out of it." He felt absolutely lousy. He'd teased Leigh earlier for her little slip up when they'd made port. By comparison this was a much steeper error which could have had bigger consequences. Salza was a variable agent. She didn't answer to Mal. She could have killed them all if she'd felt like it for whatever reason, and only Mal would probably have been left alive, if only because Reina would be pissed otherwise. In all his years with The Grail, he felt as though he'd never had such an oversight.
Leigh handled herself amazingly well, though. She deserved a commendation for this whole operation. And Mal would be sure to say as much to the captain later. It was the least she deserved.
Kali looked over at the guard, who looked back at her with the most delicious fear in his eyes. She huffed and sat down with Colossus and the mystery woman instead. She didn't want to kill just anyone, she had wanted to kill Leif. His stupid guard looked like he was about to have a stress-induced heart attack already. A lousy kill. But she did want something to drink though. Hell, after this whole bullshit she wanted to be plastered and have to be carried to the airship by Colossus, but she would settle for just one drink for now. There was no telling what other dangers this woman or this city had in store for them and she would be even less useful if she couldn't even see straight. She wasn't in a conversational mood though, so she sat back and let Colossus of all people do the talking.
Post by Leigh Haskell on Nov 16, 2017 17:53:49 GMT -7
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[attr="class","wavesundtext"] She had busied herself with looking for any interesting valuables around Jorgensen's room (there was always a need to fill for useful magic shit) when Mal came over. She had heard his wheeling and dealing with the woman, Mal had called her Salza, and knew that he was trying to patch the problem up, but that didn't change the problem itself. She pretended not to pay attention by observing the details on a ship in a bottle, reminded much of her father and mother's love for the things. Still, despite appearing apathetic, she was paying close attention to the sounds of Maldrem approaching from behind.
He apologized, but that didn't change the fact that Leigh felt her mission had been sabotaged. It was a good apology, as far as apologies went, but that didn't change the fact that he was keeping some secrets that could have much more seriously impacted the operation than it did. It didn't change the--
"Hmph," She said, not to Mal, but to the little ship in a bottle. There was something off about it that became clear as she observed it. It looked like a sea vessel at a cursory glance, but it was an airship, simply with it's more definitive features cleverly disguised by design. An idea entered her mind, a ridiculous one, but an idea none-the-less. Her gut had been right fifty-fifty today, so why not make a bet on it this time?
Her eyes shifted from the ship to Mal standing next to her as sheepishly as Mal would ever stand, and all she could say was: "You owe me one." With that, she turned away from him and went to the picture window behind Leif's desk. It hadn't been terribly strange a thing to find, even with this place being underground. Hell, a lot of people used illusory windows these days even when they could have real windows, claiming that the ever shining sun kept them from being depressed. Leigh would insist that fresh air and hard labour would do the same thing, but the whiners were always basement-dwelling pencil pushers.
What was strange about the window as she looked now, was the detail. She wouldn't put it past Leif to have the highest quality magic, but as she watched people go about their business, fish scales sparkling in the water below them, and a goddamn bug crawl across the window in front of her face, her gut gave another clench.
Leigh moved to the door that Kali and Colossus had busted down, pausing once more at the mantel where she grasped Wight's collar with her hook and pulled him in front of it. "When I tell you," She told him, "Pull the string." The string in question was the one lingering out of the cap of the bottle, the one usually used to pull the sails taut when the ship was done being constructed. The string that should have been cut off, or hidden.
At the threshold Leigh took a quick breath, and then stepped swiftly into the hall. There it was. There was something different in the air. It was stale, the smell of metal tunnels thick around her, despite the wood and fabric built on top of it all. Her suspicions all but confirmed, she returned to the room with a simple command for Mal: "Now."
When Mal pulled the string, the little ship in the bottle seemed to now hide all of the things that made it look like a sea vessel, and now looked entirely like an airship. It wasn't just the ship that changed, either, the view from the window was different, too. All of a sudden it was clear they were at the bough of a ship, as the ship was lurching forward from it's position by Leif's private docks. The surge of electricity jolted the room with a shake, and soon the ship was hovering ten feet from the surface of the water.
"This is the ship?" Colossus was incredulous, steadying himself from the unexpected movement and the overindulgence on drink.
Leigh nodded and pointed to the door, "And that's the tunnels. Conjuration. Guy was a big magic fan as it turns out."
"Then why in Brahon's hell didn't he run?" Colossus' question was a good one, and one that had Leigh turning her stink-eye to the still (somehow) living guard.
The man looked like he didn't quite want to answer, but after taking another look at the still (very) not living Leif, he decided there was no reason not to answer: "He was fresh out of scrolls, and was trying to bargain his conjurer down in price, a lot. Even if he used this as an escape, that door was still gonna lead you right to him. Only, he'd be stuck in a room with nowhere else to go... So I advised him to escape through the tunnels, and get to protection."
"And look how that turned out. You're one shitty mercenary, you know that?" Leigh smirked, and the man set his gaze at his feet. "But of course now that means we need a conjurer, or someone who can un-spell or de-spell or whatever the fuck you mages call it, or else we're not getting to any other part of this ship. Solutions, Wight?" The fact that she was asking his input meant she didn't hold a grudge, even if she was angry. It was a damn good sign for Mal.
Post by Maldrem "Wight" on Nov 16, 2017 19:30:58 GMT -7
Fixing the Problem
T o be honest, Mal couldn't be sure where he stood with Leigh right now. She was always hard to read, and determining her good moods was at least something he was starting to get better at, but there was still a lot he really couldn't figure. She was mad at him, at least that much was obvious. But was she blaming him? Hating him? Was she regretting bringing him? All she gave him was a simple 'you owe me one'.
Technically, she kind of owed him one too, back from their little Prison Break. He wondered if maybe they cancelled each other out now. Of course, he wasn't about to ask while he was still potentially in hot water.
Salza was actually laughing behind him, meanwhile, apparently getting along swimmingly with Colossus. If he wasn't mistaken he was pretty sure he had heard Kali make some kind of comment about smashing Leif's face in, and Salza seemed to humor her with that as well. She was being especially social, and Mal might have found it odd or suspicious if it was any other assassin. But this was Salza; she was so comfortable with what she did that she didn't seem to have a need for caution. Mal wondered if it would get her killed some day. He kind of doubted it.
His attention was pulled back to Leigh, though, when it seemed she'd made some kind of discovery. She spent a while studying the ship in a bottle Leif had at his desk, and then gazing out the magic window. Curious, Wight started following her gaze, inspecting the same things she was... and that's when he started to notice what she might have been piecing together. As Wight stared at the window, squinted at it even, he realized... he couldn't feel any trace or pull of magic from it. Like he could feel at the entryway, with the door which had been magicked shut.
"When I tell you, pull the string," Leigh said to him as she handed the bottle over, and then she went to step out of the room. By now she had caught the attention of everyone in the room, Salza watching with interest at what was developing. While Leigh stepped into the hall, Maldrem reached to tap at the window with his fingertips. His suspicions were confirmed: he didn't feel any magic from this that he could eat away at. This was a real window. A real window overlooking a beach.
Leigh came back inside and commanded him. "Now."
Mal did as bidden, and when he pulled the ship in the bottle forward, he could feel as the room they were in lurched. And more than that, he could feel a touch of magic in the bottle. He smirked. Leigh, you diabolical genius.
Leigh made short work of forcing the guard to spill the beans, and Maldrem found himself grateful that neither Salza nor Kali had felt the need to kill him. The situation now seemed pretty clear. They just had to find a way to split the room off from the magic that bound it. And Leigh asked him if he had any ideas about the issue. That, to Mal, was as good a sign as he could have possibly hoped for from Leigh, to let him know that perhaps their working relationship was not unsalvageable.
But now he had to step up. Salza was not a conjurer, and even if she was Mal was pretty sure it wouldn't look good to ask her for help right now. And Reina certainly wasn't either, and Mal didn't want to see her until he could clear his debt. He didn't know anyone else who'd be able to handle the situation. Which meant this was going to fall on him.
"I might have one," he said, trying to sound like his usual nonchalant self. In truth, Wight was exhausted. He'd used illusions since their arrival in Aissic. He'd been in battle, gotten injured, and wasted more of his power on Kali. But right now, if he wanted to redeem any part of himself, he needed to do this. "You realize that as soon as I do this, we're gonna be split off from the underground. We won't be in Aissic anymore."More like if I do this."Nobody left any business unfinished?"
His glance at Salza made the implication pretty clear. The woman sighed and set her scotch down, standing up and making a show of dusting off her pants. "I go to all the trouble of offering and now you lot don't even need an airship from us. Way to make me feel bad, Wight; doing all my work for me and not even letting me reward you? I'm making out like a bandit on this deal."
"Hey now," he replied. "I'll still hold you to owing The Grail that favor, Salza. Even if I'm dead when they come calling."
Salza smirked back at him. "A distinct possibility, that. Well... considering everything, I suppose that's fair. Small price to pay for control of the Underground. But she has to be the one who comes asking, if not you," Salza remarked, pointing at Leigh. "I like her attitude."
With that, Salza stepped up over to Leif's body and picked him up, hoisting him over her shoulder. "I'll be going then. You've already got the papers, so we haven't got any more business." Carrying Leif with her, she made her exit. Mal could only assume she was bringing the corpse back as a trophy for Reina.
When Salza had departed, Mal finally returned his attention to the bottle. He could have simply tried investigating the doorway; if he tried, he'd probably be able to find the magic there. But it was larger, more difficult. There were also two doors into the office, and he'd need to work on both. The ship in the bottle though? This model was small. All of the magic, he could feel, was concentrated on this point. So he began to pull the rope again, and once more the room started to lurch.
"W-wait," the guard stammered, looking around. "Let me leave!"
Mal ignored him. Leigh could deal with him if she felt like it. He kept his focus on the bottle, feeling sweat bead his forehead as he devoted the last dregs of his magic to his task. The necromancy started to flow through his fingers the same way he'd channel it through his tail when lock-picking, and he could feel it beginning to bite at the magic in the model. This sort of thing often took several moments when it was a magical lock. And even then it could be tiring. He had no idea what the scale would be for what he was attempting.
He felt like his leg was starting to hurt... badly, actually. It was like his blood was starting to run cold as he kept at it. The barest touches of necromancy he used to drain the pigment in his eyes began to wear off without his notice, the red color bleeding out of the irises and into his pupils and sclera. Black started to bleed back into his hair. It was rather ironic that feeling like he was dying was what was making him look more like a member of the living. Still, he ignored it all. This was important, and he could feel the magic in the ship giving way. If he'd been able to look anywhere else, he'd have noticed that the doorways into the office had started to flicker, like reality was being displaced around them. The ground continued to shake as he pulled, ever so slightly.
Finally, he made one more tug, and he felt the satisfying sensation of something like a snap. The tether had been broken. The airship took off out of its bay just as Wight pulled the model free from the bottle, and the conjuration which bound the doorways broke apart. Wight dropped the bottle and collapsed to his knees, taking heavy, labored breaths and rubbing his numb arms, trying to force his blood to start flowing properly again. A brief glance at the doorway, though, showed him that the connecting hallway no longer led back into Leif's abode. It looked more mechanical now. The rest of the ship had become accessible.
The skin OTHERWORLD was made by JAWN of WICKED WONDERLAND.
FORTUNA-RPG was created by MELLIE. Images belong to their respective artists. All codes and scripts belong to their respective coders. Please DO NOT take anything without the owners' permission.
