Research

[Durp]

It took a few minutes for the other man's name to register with him. By now Gosha was well down the road and his jog had slowed to a mere walk, his wicked grin completely gone along with his frustration, he was just out of it, now. Hey.. Alaric Arafachnan, found him. Step one, completed. He began to smile softly to himself. Now all that was left to do was finish the job at some point.

Yes.. That would be the more difficult part. He was still considering lying to his employer, telling him that Mr. Arafachnan was already dead or something. But he'd need proof.. probably.. He'd work on that later. If he were to go through with that idea, anyway. Alright. He had to kill this guy. Or.. get someone to kill him. Just generally make him not alive any more. Gosha ran through some ideas as he went down the road, having little successful ideas. He kept looking over his shoulder, being the paranoid fellow that he was. Gosha was just making sure that he wasn't going going to get hit as he was walking. Nothing wrong in that, now is there?

Gosha hadn't slept in a while. Sure, that was nothing new. And normally, it wouldn't be a big deal. But he was feeling the effects of sleep deprivation a little more than he would on a normal day. He was worn out, physically and mentally. He was unable to think straight, he was probably close to losing his mind, too. He hoped this wouldn't be like the day he forgot his name. Now that was bad.

"Maybe if I lie down.. somewhere, I could get a little sleep.." He muttered to himself. He was pretty sure that he could sleep. He hadn't for a few days, maybe even a little more than that. He veered off of the road quite a ways and practically fell over. Wow. Did the ground ever feel nice this morning.

He didn't quite care if karma came and got him back, if he got kicked in the head as he laid there. As long as he was able to rest a bit. He didn't care, and he wasn't really able to care. He was more focused on "ground" and "sleep" at the moment. It took a while, but eventually he was asleep. It took a much shorter time than the several hours he was used to. Now if he could keep this up for an hour or more. That'd be just great.

[Kinetic Asparagus]

The fire was pathetic. It was barely enough to heat a single piece of meat, and the sodden wood was making it hiss and spit. But Alaric really wasn't bothered anymore...

Small world, Alaric thought as he swung himself onto Aodh's back. Everything was already packed so he took off immediately, his mind churning over all the possibilities of exactly what Gosha was supposed to be doing.

I knew I shouldn't've gotten myself involved with a mage... he mused, speeding down the road the way Gosha had gone. It didn't take him long to spot the telltale, careless signs of a shattered man who had stumbled his way through grass - the stalks were bent, the wild flowers were unsettled... there was even a stray footprint in what looked like dung.

The soft plants muffled the horse's footsteps as he followed the path left by Gosha and, indeed, the noise Alaric made as he softly dismounted next to the silent sleeper.

Pity, Alaric thought, I thought he'd've been a snorer...

Alaric drew his sword and kicked Gosha awake - violently, in the ribs. Half a second later he was crouched next to him, the blade was at the scrawny man's neck, essentially pinning him to the ground.

"Apparently you have some sort of business with my employer," Alaric smiled mockingly, tipping his head to one side. His face dropped and he leant back a little, allowing Gosha enough room to move but certainly not enough to run away. "On the horse. Now."

[Silvarn]

"Take your poison. It is more venomous than your treachery." Silvarn spat at his newest employee, curtly tossing a handful of gold coins at the sleazy man.

"A pleasure, I'm sure, sir. If ever you have need of my services --" the slimeball groveled as he scrounged the wooden laboratory floor for his payment.

"Get out." the mage snarled.

The greasy man scurried out of the laboratory, bosoming his prize.

If it was one Silvarn abhored, it was disloyalty. Yet, as in this case, it had its uses.

Tracking down Gosha's employer was not difficult at all. Few elite mercenary groups existed in the region, and fewer still had dealings with the gods-forsaken village of Alaric's origin. Once learning the organization's headquarters, Silvarn needed only to drug one its members and infect him with Scorcahr. Within 24 hours, Silvarn knew all he needed.

"Damn. They are good." Silvarn swore once Scorcahr gave his full report.

But, how did we upset them? We have had our share of run-ins with assassin circles; but, I have no recollection of encountering this particular group. Scorcahr whined.

"Wait..." Silvarn mused, suddenly tense.

We blabbed, did we not? Scorcahr voiced his thoughts.

"No. We did not tell them anything, did we?"

We did not have to. I remember one of those particularly old alchemists. The one with the blue beard, remember? He must have deduced what we set out out to synthesize.

"And he sold his information to Gosha's mercenary group --"

And they want it for themselves. They sent Gosha to kill Alaric so he could not retrieve the needed supplies.

"It is not they want it for themselves: they simply do not want us to have it. They probably believe tearing a hole through the dimensional fabric of this world would bring demons or worse into it."

Finally, something to liven things up a bit.

"Though, if your information is correct, Gosha's bribe is going to cost us more than just a pretty penny."

Then we just synthesize more, right?

"And have Tamasha's enforcers breathing our necks when we begin collapsing their economy?"

Has it stopped us in the past?

"Good point."

What if Gosha resists the fiscal temptation?

"I am certain Alaric could persuade him otherwise."

And what of our traitor? How do we know he will not double-cross us?

"I have certain...precautions in place. Death is always an effective one."

You laced the gold coins with venom, did you not?

"You know me well, Scorcahr." Silvar answered with a nasty smile.

Four days remaining, two if Alaric wanted his reward. Not much longer to wait now. Silvarn allowed a shiver of excitement to run down his spine. He was certain, this time, home was just around the corner.

[Durp]

((ooc: Erm.. I know I am usually late to post, but this time I have an excuse! I lost internet for a good while. And it's back now!))


Gosha was just floating. Where he was at the moment was unknown, just very annoyingly white and bland. But he was comfortable. And happy. It had suddenly occurred to him that he was dreaming. Which was rather odd, because typically you don't realise you are asleep whilst asleep. But he didn't argue, he couldn't, and plus, if he could, he wouldn't.This blank floating dream was better than most of the ones he had normally.

Oh.. wait.. what.. what's that? Is that a brick? On fire..?! Why, yes, it seems to be one! One moving at a startlingly fast pace toward him. Well, isn't that wonderful. And... Smack! Right in the face!

And with that Gosha was awake. He had just enough time to look around before having something hit him in the ribs. It was a deep, heavy, thuddish sound. No cracks, though.. that was good. But he would certainly be sore for a while. But he'd have a neat bruise, if there was any bright side to being kicked in the side. He yelped in pain, sounding similar to a dog being thrown against a wall lined with barbed wire.

To say the least, he was startled. But he wasn't completely unused to things like this. After finding his wits after they'd been so lovingly kicked out of him, he hastily looked 'round to find whomever was there with him. Though he was on his stomach, facing the dirt, and was pinned by a blade, it didn't take long. Crouched beside him was Alaric. Wonderful.

"Really? Well! Isn't that just dandy?" Gosha had absolutely no idea what Alaric was talking about. He only remembered doing businesses with with one person. Or, rather, one person representing one group. But, still. The group he was hired by surely wouldn't hire someone they wanted dead. Unless there was some other person in the mix... He didn't consort with anyone else though.. so what now? He was confused, angry, and still in a bit of pain. To look on a bright side, he did have a small bit of sleep to run on.

"If you wouldn't mind," He began, taking advantage of the little room he was given to move he tried to pull his coat so it would cover the little letters on his neck, and failed miserably, "telling me who your employer is and what businesses I apparently have with him?"

Gosha was up now, and did as he was told, despite wanting to do the exact opposite. For now he'd play along. Maybe later he'd find a chance to run off.

[Kinetic Asparagus]

"I would mind actually," growled Alaric, pulling himself up behind Gosha after sheathing his sword. "I very much hope you're used to riding bareback, otherwise this may be a little uncomfortable..."

He dugs his heels into Aodh's sides and took off, back onto the main road.

He was unsure what to make of Gosha's apparent obliviousness. On one hand, he could quite easily be bluffing. He was very clearly an intelligent man (or at least quick with his tongue) and so the lies could happily fall from his lips like silk. In that case, he would know exactly where Alaric was taking him, and what for... in that case, Alaric's sheer physical prowess could definitely help uncover a few facts which he was uncertain of himself.

Halfway through thinking this, he noticed how unusual it was that he had accepted Silvarn's command to bring back Gosha without a second thought. Of course, the money would have played a considerable part, but even then... it was strange for him not to overevaluate every possible outcome.

Then again, he decided, returning to his original train of thought, it was much more likely that Gosha was as much of a (and he grimaced at the word) pawn as himself. Whatever Silvarn was doing, Alaric was, by now, almost certain it wasn't quite legal - if Gosha had merely been hired to interrupt his work he was unlikely to know much about it.

The particular part of the world which he had been in disturbed Alaric a little. Nobody would want to go near Silvarn, that much was apparent... and Alaric much doubted his employer would have anybody else working so far out of the region of Tamasha. It was fairly safe to assume that Gosha had been looking for him.

Interesting how things work out, Alaric smiled to himself. Well, he could take care of himself... but it'd be an awful lot easier to do so if Silvarn told him what he should be looking for. If he was killed, that'd be it for Kathee, given the state of Keremin and the farm at the moment.

How far up into the circles of the underground did this operation of Silvarn's go? Alaric had had dealing with nearly every level in the past four years, particularly around Tamasha... perhaps his various connections could be used as leverage to get Silvarn to tell him exactly what was going on?

He contemplated all the way back to Tamasha.

xXx

Alaric pushed Gosha off Aodh outside the abandoned blacksmith's. Silvarn could get his last few supplies in the next three days, he still had his allotted time. Gosha was there, that was the point. Silvarn's note had been worded such as to not specify that Alaric could not make use of the rest of his agreed fortnight.

He dismounted himself, drew his sword as a threat to Gosha, and threw a rock at Silvarn's door. Using his free hand to pull out his bag of supplies and an itemised bill for Silvarn, he waited for it to open.Is this alright, me just skipping out a whole load of... nonsense in between? If it's not either post or PM me and I'll change it, I don't want to be stealing your narrative or anything... I'm just trying to move it along ;D -

[Silvarn]

Silvarn, in his enthusiasm, failed to consider the time of day. He nearly wrenched the door off its hinges, then immediately recoiled, hissing, when the bright sunlight struck his pallid skin and grey eyes. He gave himself a moment to adjust to the stark change of climate, then ventured out of the laboratory.

"Have you got them, then?" Silvarn asked, his cold dead eyes fixed intensely on Alaric's. With a minute flick of the pupil, Silvarn caught sight of the bag clutched in his employee's hand. He wrenched the bag out, delving his face into it to see its contents better.

He reemerged momentarily, his face a mixture of seething and disappointment. "You have three days remaining. I pray you use them well and find the rest of my necessary supplies."

With his free hand, he gestured at the stranger in their midst. "You must be Gosha," he correctly identified, thanks to Scorcahr, "We have matters to discuss once Alaric takes his leave." the mage gave the thief a meaningful gaze.

"Three days, Alaric. You had best be on your way. I thank you most profusely for bringing Gosha to me. I think he and I will get along quite nicely." Silvarn could not prevent a nasty smile from spreading across his face.

The mage indicated for Gosha to precede him into the "abandoned" blacksmith's shop. Just as he was to follow his guest in, he froze, completely rigid. The tendons in his fingers and the muscles in his face and neck stood out. His grey eyes sparked with electric frustration as his mouth contorted into livid ire.

"Damn it all." Silvarn snarled as he rounded on Alaric. Or rather, in his direction. "How many?" he asked the thief.

About twenty. They must have seen Gosha being taken as a hostage and simply followed them here. They want us dead, apparently.

"We should have seen this coming." Silvarn growled as he shoved past Alaric and dodged past the horse. His hands suddenly crackled with chill silver energy as he flexed his long fingers.

We were hoping for excitement, no?

"But not like this. I was hoping to not have to kill anyone." Silvarn answered with a tinge of regret.

At that moment, twenty mercenaries rounded the corner, marching menacingly toward the blacksmith's. They halted a fair distance away from Silvarn's raging form. The captain strode forward and delivered an ultimatum, "Unhand Gosha and surrender all products of your mad experiment. Do this, and we shall merely imprison you and not end your life here and now."

"Dare and die!" Silvarn spat back. "I am not giving up my chance to return to my home on the whim of a rabble band of swords-for-hire, whose loyalty changes at the drop of a gold coin! If you want to end my experiment, then you shall have to end me first!

"And woe be unto you fools, for none shall stop me!"

[Durp]

((Yep. :D Moving on is a good thing. It's good to keep things going.))

Gosha'd nearly fallen on his face whilst being pushed off of Alaric's horse. Keyword there; nearly. He had caught himself and just stumbled off to the side, where he could regain his sense of balance and stand normally.

He took a moment to take in his surroundings. Tamasha? Yeah.. that was it. Actually, he recognised where he was at the moment, more specifically, he recognised the blacksmith's shop. He'd passed it a few times in the last week, actually. It never failed to make him want to get away from it. Then again, though, there were a lot of buildings that did that to him. He thought nothing of it.

Gosha then saw whom he reasoned to be Alaric's employer. The one whom he apparently had business with. Something about him just didn't seem.. right. It was probably the dead, grey eyes.. Yeah. Anyway. Hey, he was being addressed, maybe he'd find out why he was here, he had his guesses, but it was best to be certain.

"Yeah.. unfortunately, I am." He offered a short, half-hearted laugh, for no particular reason. Just that it fit.
He shuddered a little as he saw the other man smile. Not that he was afraid.. just slightly disturbed. That's all.

Gosha proceeded to go into the blacksmith's as he was directed, and decided it would be a good time to ask a question, for some reason or another.

"Hey.. um.. why exactly am I-" He turned back and then saw them. the twenty-odd mercenaries behind him. He was able to recognise two. "Oh. Never mind."

For once Gosha reasoned it would be a good idea to shut up and watch. He was going to say something probably stupid or sarcastic. (he just waved at them after he'd heard his name uttered by one) This was probably one of the smartest things he'd ever done: just shut up. He was now just standing in the doorway, actually unsure of what to do now.

[Kinetic Asparagus]

Silvarn's disappointed expression when his head came out of the bag infuriated Alaric, and he was in such a bad mood for having been riding for six hours he almost let his temper go. How dare he? Alaric's original estimation had been realistic, and tight. Now he'd lost what was going to turn into a day for travelling, and the mage had the audacity to react like Alaric was shirking? He was so very tempted to let fly, and had it been anybody else - or, more accurately, somebody who wasn't paying him - he would have.

He was so incensed, he didn't even pay attention the rest of what Silvarn had to say, until he barged past him. Angered further, Alaric spun around after a moment or two, quite prepared to start a fight - even with a mage - but froze when he saw the oncoming hoarde of mercenaries.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gosha wave as they delivered their ultimatum. Looking again, there was definitely recognition in his eyes...

How stupid could he have been? He should have noticed that somebody was following them... he had been far too caught up with his theories about Silvarn. Somewhat ironically some of his questions had now been answered with Silvarn's furious reply - he was making some means of passage, or something similar.

He slid over to Gosha as quickly as he could, and said, 'Inside, now, don't touch anything or he'll kill you.' He gestured towards Silvarn. 'Trust me. If you have any tales to tell you can let them out when this lot are dead.'

On that, he took up a firm grip on his sword and strolled over to stand nearer to Silvarn. If the mage wasn't going to back down - which he quite clearly wasn't - and the mercenaries weren't going to turn around - which they quite clearly couldn't now - then he could at least have a little fun.

Twenty armed and armoured men? Interesting odds, I may possibly even be somewhat exerted...

[Silvarn]

"Archers! Drop back!" the captain barked, sending seven of his mercenaries running away from the conflict, only to stop, turn, and ready their crossbows.

Ooh, those nasty contraptions. It is astounding you humans devised those things before the demons did. Scorcahr hissed.

"I am giving you one last chance to surrender peacefully, mage." the captain drew his sword, issuing the silent order his mercenaries should do the same. "What say you?"

"You will never take me, dead or alive!" Silvarn snarled. His body tensed, then he dove into the soldiers in blind rage.

He went straight for the captain, just as the captain planned he would. His bodyguards stepped in front of their captain, swords raised and poised to strike. Silvarn paid them no heed, instead charging his fists his crackling silver energy.

He went at one of the bodyguards, and with astounding swiftness, placed a hand against the soldier's breastplate to steady himself, then drove the other fist straight through him, creating a slight static effect around the point of impact. Once it emerged through the soldier's back, Silvarn unclenched it, releasing a bolt of silver lightning which collided with the captain and dropped him to the ground, convulsing violently while arcs of silver electricity danced about his body.

The soldier who had Silvarn's fist through him was unharmed by the mage's blow, save for a very unpleasant pinching sensation in his stomach, but the image was too much for him to bear, and he swooned when Silvarn withdrew his fist.

As the unconscious soldier fell to the ground, Silvarn smacked his head with a roundhouse kick, ensuring the soldier's comatose state, then spun once more and sent the other bodyguard hurtling several yards with a magically-enhanced kick.

"How did you make me do that?" Silvarn asked the unconscious soldier in astonishment.

After all we have been through together, that surprised you? Did I never mention I once consumed the soul of a martial artist? Scorcahr whined with obvious glee.

"Whatever the case, do not forget his training. We shall need it." Silvarn's body involuntarily dropped into a rigid fighting stance as Scorcahr manipulated the mage's muscles.

Three mercenaries down...

The archers prepared to fire theirs crossbows at Silvarn, who touched his forehead in response. The crossbowmen's faces became suddenly dull as they turned their firearms on one the charging soldiers.

Four mercenaries down, sixteen to go. This should not be so difficult.

Unless they have a mage as well. Scorcahr finished his master's thought.