Location:Southeastern gate "Feeling the "holy" spirits fill the area around me I begin quickly moving the girl out from her prison whilst slowly opening up the note that I was given earlier today. In the western gate area lies a small cache of goodies brought in to aid the witch hunter. This includes a second set of armour and weapons for himself it would be a good idea to remove these things to benefit the witches if he loses his weaponry or armour. After having read the message it seems that more than one storehouse was created to store these goodies and thus it is likely that there is a third somewhere either in the castle or in the temple the two most heavily guarded locations. "Girl are you ready to move as we do not have long before agents of the inquisition come to check on this locale. The girl still seems dazed maybe she took in some of that paralysis gas that was thrown around anyway I had better carry her. After having escaped the city due to the large commotion caused slightly earlier I head towards the Western gate. Location: Northernmost slums - ghost "It seems that the other guards have escaped from here it would be best if I remove myself from this town for a while then I do not wish to draw to much ire to myself." Crash returns back to her own territory and begins trying to make a mess in the city especially at the central markets. Location witchhunter: western market
Location: Southern Craftsman District "Oi, why are you out so late boy?" A passing guard asked me, the smell of alcohol apparent on his breath. "I'm returning home sir, I got held up reading" I say to him, holding up my journal slightly. "Be on your way then, its dangerous at night" he said seemingly without a care, and continued on his route through an alleyway After continuing for awhile, I smelt something quite peculiar, something... familiar. "Another witch... this should be fun, why don't we go introduce ourselves" I say looking to the empty space by my side. I smile before entering the tavern - phasing through the wall of a presumed storeroom, my small fangs visible for only a brief second before I enter. @Quaesitor
Rye Town, Central Market --- Ariel Ariel manifested in the centre of his territory, back in the town that had been ravaged a few days prior, and looked around, sensing an intruder immediately. Ritsu had sensed someone trying to enter the walled-in region, and he had too. Without having to be asked, he took off on his own --- the territory Ritsu had dedicated to him was very precious to him, and he wasn't going to let someone else mess around, especially not with her hard work. Take shape as a mixture of two forms, that of a weretiger with large wings, Ariel approached the intruder. "State your name and purpose. I will not ask again." @TiggerBane ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Western Craftsman Zone --- Ritsu While she wanted to go out to collect information, it wasn't going to be convincing if she used the streetes, since she wasn't supposed to be out wandering after midnight. Therefore, Ritsu used her old ways, climbed the roof stealthily, and headed for a random tavern. She wasn't planning on entering, however, for she had detected someone --- a witch --- running through the streets like an idiot, and decided to stay hidden high up, watching as he entered the Tavern. From where she was hidden, however, she could see quite a few details...including a group of heavily armed guards rounding the bend, heading for the same tavern, with an old friend amongst them. She snickered. "This will be fun." @Haitaka @Quaesitor Witch Hunter Location: Southern Craftsman Zone (Tavern)
Location: Southern Craftsman Zone (Tavern) The only thing I gain from the tavern owner is senseless babbling and spit in my face. He really knows nothing. This whole thing was pointless. But, well, now I have a place to lie low at. That helps. I relax and grasp my Hookah, deeply inhaling its smoke. And freeze. Things don't seem... to look good? For me? I am pretty much screwed. Extremely screwed. "Damnit." In a panic, I stand up and see if there is anything I can do. Hostages? Fanatics don't care about hostages. Run? Doesn't seem likely. Fight? Am I suicidal? I don't want to fight! I hurriedly swallow a bit of all of my antidotes and start to recklessly toss out various potions, spreading multiple gasses in the entire tavern. Paralysis, poison, you name it I have it. Then I hunker down behind the bar and look at the tavern's door through a small hole. Someone tries to open the door. It is locked and doesn't budge. Seconds later, the door is kicked down, and guards flood into the room, only to drop quickly from the effect of my potions. But then the witch hunter enters the tavern, immediately spots me and fires a bolt straight at my eye! Before I can stumble backward or dodge in any way, the bolt pierces into my right eye, and I scream out in pain. As I curl up from the pain, I vaguely hear steps getting closer. The witch hunter? I can't fail now! I pull myself together and toss a few of my insect bottles in his direction, and vaguely see how not a single one hits him directly. And even my carnivorous grasshoppers can't properly attack him. I scramble backward, tossing potion after potion at him. Explosive oil, acid, aphrodisiac, whatever I grab. Then a bolt pierces my leg, and I scream out from pain again. Witch Hunter Location: Southern Craftsman Zone (Tavern)
Location: Southern Craftsman Zone (Tavern) After phasing into the back room, I hear screams of pain only seconds later. "What the?..." I say as I open the storage rooms door and see troves of guards collapsed on the ground and a man dressed in white holding a crossbow towards a woman dressed in revealing red clothing, who is on the ground clutching their injured eye 'Gather me some blood' I tell my spirit as I begin walking toward the man in white, making sure to avoid all of the unconscious and paralyzed guards and patrons. "Excuse me sir?" I ask as innocently as I possibly can, "Why are these men on the ground, and why are you hurting this woman?" I asked trying to stall for a little bit of time, as I see my spirit nicking some of the patrons and guards in my peripheral. "..." the man dressed in white doesn't reply to my questions, but instead turns the crossbow on me and fires. "What?!" the bolt pierces my shoulder sending waves of pain throughout my small body. My blood begins to travel down my arm before reaching my hand. "You will regret that my friend" I say as I hold up my injured arm, the blood that reached my hand beginning to gather in the shape of a symbol. As this happens the nicks in the skin caused by my spirit begin to ooze blood, which gathers in front of my hand. The man dressed in white tries to shoot another bolt at me but gets pushed by my spirit, as this happens all of the blood that gathered falls to the ground and re-enters the bodies of the now deceased guards. "Go Blood Knights, hold him off!" I shout in my boyish tone as I grab the woman who had begun crawling on the ground, and try to help her escape. @Haxagen
Location: Southern Craftsman Zone All my efforts are futile, and the hunter keeps getting closer and closer to me. Just as I am about to despair, I notice how a child enters the room. What? Who? As I am still lost in confusion, the hunter starts shooting at the child, and after the child casts a strange magic, the corpses rise and attack the hunter. That... is he here to save me? I'm not going to die! The child - a boy, as I discover as my other eye stops tearing up and I start to hear something other than my pounding heart for once, helps me up and I limp away with his support. "Thank-thank you." I manage to say to him between hisses of pain and heavy breaths. Then I look back, only to see the hunter calmly dispatch corpse after corpse. With shaking fingers I grab a special potion and toss it in his direction. While it lands rather far away from him, its effect still works as intended, and a cloud of smoke quickly fills the tavern, allowing us to escape. Witch Hunter Location: Southern Craftsman Zone (Tavern)
Location: Southern Craftsman Zone "Don't thank me just yet" I say as I try to run with my small body, "if my hunch is right he'll be on us soon" 'Where can I go?' thinking to myself I tried to think of a hiding place where we could rest for awhile. Eventually I decided the best place to hide is in plain sight. "We're moving to the right" I say as I pull the woman with me towards a larger building more towards the center of the Southern Craftsman Zone. A sign hanging over head enter our sights. 'Guard Headquarters, Southern District' A small smile reached my lips as I whispered to the woman, "I hope your good at acting" as I said this I pushed open headquarters door "Help!" I yelled, "Somebody help" as I cast a low level glamour spell to influence the opinions of the guards about us "Whats all this ruckus?" a large man asked exiting what appears to be an office "We were attacked by a group of men down the way, they got her in the eye and leg" I said as I handed the woman over to one of the guards. "By a group of men huh?" the large man asked, "And why did they attack you?" he asked with a sense of disbelief "I believe its because I am the son of the Hornraven household, and they tried to kill my attendant to get to me" I said secretly casting another glamour spell towards the man, making him more inclined to believe me. "I see... my apologizes sire", the man said as he yelled at some of the guards, "Get them patched up! If the young noble has to suffer any more grievances tonight its on your heads!" Witch Hunter Location: South Eastern Gate
Location: Southern Craftsman Zone Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit! It hurts! My eye! Curse the hunter! I hope he just dies! I limp after the boy as good as I can, shivering from the pain. Then I remember that I have various drugs, and take a quick sip from one that will help me feel less pain. Then, I notice how we get closer and closer to the guard headquarters. At first, I try to convince myself that it is just a coincidence. Then, the boy opens the headquarter door after advising me to act. I just stay silent, trembling from a mixture of pain and fear as the boy hands me to one of the guards. I stare at him with my left eye, almost begging to not be left alone with the guards. What if they find out the truth? What if they find out? I... I would be killed. But, somehow, they agree to tend our injuries. I do not wish to remember or describe the treatment of my eye and leg in detail, but it hurt way too much, and I am now left with an eyepatch over my right eye. At the end of it, I am just tired and exhausted. I have been awake for the whole day, got my eye shot out and almost died. I just want to rest. But the boy doesn't look tired, and with our current situation, I am his... attendant. I am grateful that he saved me, but I am afraid of him as well. "What... what are we going to do now?" I ask him. With hunter location: Southeastern gate
Location: Southern Craftsman Zone "For now", I say answering her question, "We get prepared" with that I begin to walk towards a shop with my 'attendant' I tow. "That man, the one dressed in white", I say looking at all the shops which have closed for the night, "I'm assuming that he is a hunter, and by that in turn you are a witch" stating this I find one of the shops I was looking for. "For now I will use my title and status to keep you as safe as I can, but I will need something from you also" I say as I knock on the door of the shop. After several minutes an aged woman answers the door. From her disposition she seemed to only be in her forties but the wrinkles on her face told a different story. "Yes, how can I help you?" the woman ask as she looks and me and the woman who I have yet to ask a name of yet. "I'm sorry to bother you so late as night, but my attendant and I were injured in an attack earlier" I say as I gesture to the blood on our clothes, "and I happened upon your apothecary hoping that you might have a remedy to prevent infection" saying this I use a low level charm spell to influence her judgment "Oh my thats terrible", she said with a small gasp, "come in, come in, make yourselves at home" she says gesturing for us to enter. "Thank you for your hospitality" I say with a small smile, revealing my smallish fangs the moment the door closes behind us. 'This should serve us for a time' I think to myself as I plunge my fangs into the neck of the older woman, making her my thrall. "Well then, miss... I haven't asked your name yet", I say after a small period of time, "What I wish of you is more of those concoctions you had earlier, and now you have lab to do it" I gesture with a small smile as I wipe my mouth. Witch Hunter Location: South Eastern Gate
Location: Southern Craftsman Zone We get prepared? For what? I limp after the boy, nervously following him through the streets. Then, he asks the obvious question. "Yes, he is the witch hunter, and I... am a witch." He needs something of me? We are at an apothecary... why? Then he smoothly talks his way into the apothecary, and... sinks his fangs into the woman's neck!? He's a vampire!? This... is worse than I thought. As I stand there, startled, he turns to me again. And asks me for my name, and for some of my concoctions. "I'm Saahira el-Fawaz, a witch of The Fountain of Eternal Youth Coven. With the tools in here, I'll be able to make all of my concoctions, but..." One of my hands briefly touches my eyepatch. "I will have to get used to only having one eye before I will be as accurate as before. But I should still be able to make my potions." And maybe, I could even do something about my eye, but... I don't think there is much hope for it left. There should be some residue of the bolts in there, and they seemed enchanted, so, yeah, I have lost my eye. Forever. I hand some of my potions to the boy, state their effect without concealing anything, and enter the laboratory to produce more of them, and get used to having only 1 eye left. Witch Hunter Location: South Eastern Gate
Location: Southern Craftsman Zone "Well then" I say moving my new thrall from in front of me, "I suppose its only proper to introduce myself in kind" giving a slight bow I introduce myself. "My name is Macer Hornraven, son of the Hornraven family" I say with a slight smile showing my innocent expression. "So from what you have present to me it seems I have payment for your services" I say with a show or my fangs, "How does immortality sound to you?" I ask with my innocent smile still plastered to my face. "In any case lets stop that from getting infected" I say pointing at her eye, "this might hurt a bit" The moment I say this black blood begins to flow down her damaged eye as it it were a single tear drop. Black blood from her injured leg also begins to flow upwards, meeting the blood from the eye forming a small spherical shape in the air. "Can't have my 'attendant' getting sick on me" I say with a small laugh as I sit in a nearby chair. Witch Hunter Location: South Eastern Gate
Location: Southern Craftsman Zone Macer Hornraven... a noble vampire? I had heard rumors, but they really are true. Then he mentions a payment, which I hear with delight. Then, he offers immortality. It takes a few seconds until my shock fades. He looks so young and innocent, but... he really is a vampire. While I am still thinking about his offer of immortality, he cleanses my wounds, which is accompanied by a short, piercing pain. Rather fascinated, I stare at the floating sphere made up of my blood. Then I start thinking about his offer again. "With immortality, you mean the, you don't age anymore kind of immortality?" That is too good to be true. "Where is the catch?" It can't be that easy... can it? I also still feel like I owe him... "If I accept, what is going to happen? Once I am immortal, will there be anything I have to be wary of?" Witch Hunter Location: South Eastern Gate
Location: Southern Craftsman Zone "Immortality is the single thing your coven covets more than all others", I say with a blank face, "except perhaps the safety of your coven masters daughter" I gesture my hand and bring the sphere of black blood closer to me, warping it into a crystalline shape. "I will be honest with you", I say as the blood begins to clot in the air, " immortality is both a blessing and a curse" "Watching those you love die before you, watching the rise and falls of kingdoms, knowing that only you will remain..." I say with a tinge of sorrow in my eyes, "However, thats only if you don't gift them the power too" I say as my face curves into an innocent smile "I offer you my gift in return for your services" I say as the crystal shard of blood completely hardens, "and I offer then same to any who chooses to work for me" I place the crystal in the hand of the woman, Saahira. "However, once the choice is made you can never go back," I say as I begin walking back to the chair, "Once I turn you, you will be mine" sitting in the chair I look back at her, "the price is presented, and the choice - as always - is yours" I say with an innocent smile. Witch Hunter Location: South Eastern Gate
Location: Southern Craftsman Zone I listen to him with rapt attention. "Neither do I love anyone, nor do I care about kingdoms. All that matters to me is immortality and pleasure. Drinking, eating, smoking, lust... that is what I live for. Half of my potions are drugs or aphrodisia and I divine things by smoking herbs." I sit down and face Macer Hornraven, leaning back in my chair. "If I can gain immortality working for you, then I do not see a reason to refuse." After thinking for a few more seconds, I make my choice. "As long as I can still have my pleasure, then I am yours. What do I have to do?" Witch Hunter Location: South Eastern Gate
Location: Southern Craftsmen Some time passed after Hyacinth woke up. Knowing that she would not be able to do much with her current state, she spent her time holing up within a building inside the southern craftsmen zone, studying the Grimoire of Life she had just found. In the end, she managed to learn a few healing magic, although the fact that it was the opposite of her dark magic was not of help. With the new healing spell, she was soon able to fully recover from the backlash of releasing the seal on her demon. But realizing that she reached her limit on studying the grimoire, she decided to look into the current situation of the city. Hence, she now sat on a wheelchair, pushed by Paimon draped in a cloak. If she could, she would have preferred moving through the sky, unfortunately, she could feel the tenseness in the air, clearly indicating how on guard the city is. After some thought, they decided to enter the closest place which would have the latest update on the situation, the tavern. On the way there, Paimon detected a life sign from a familiar being, one which emitted a baleful air. But seeing that there was no direct malicious intent directed towards them, he ignored it and continued to push the wheelchair, soon arriving at the tavern. Entering the building, they directly approached the tavern owner standing behind the counter. "What can I get you?" The owner said, looking weirdly at Hyacinth sitting on a wheelchair, not expecting a disabled person to enter his tavern. "Information." As Hyacinth said those words, she looked directly into the eyes of the owner with her eyes glimmering with an enchanting light. "Yes... information... what do you want to know?" The owner said, as his mind was sent into a daze from Hyacinth's spell. Witch Hunter Location: South Eastern Gate
Southern Craftsmen Zone --- Ritsu While it was quite amusing to watch, it also meant that she had to go somewhere else. As expected, the combination of a witch hunter and two witches didn't really do the tavern any favours. Even from high up, she could smell the faint traces of multiple potions; information would have to be obtained elsewhere. Sighing, Ritsu watched the Hunter leave the tavern warily, bloodstains clinging onto his armour as he headed elsewhere, and decided to leave as well. The closest tavern in the vicinity was a tempting notion, but still, there's a chance that the sounds of fighting had alerted them, and entry wouldn't be easy. She'd have to go to the one further away. With a series of quick little hops, the black witch had already made her way several buildings away, heading quickly for her new destination. "Oh? What's this?" Unexpectedly, the tavern that she was heading for already had another witch inside. Curious, Ritsu made her way into the tavern via the front door, as well, and spotted the demon first. "Oh! You're the one who was tangling with the Witch Hunter a while back at the Market. And you must be his master, then." Witch Hunter Location: South Eastern Gate
Southern Craftsmen Zone "Oh! You're the one who was tangling with the Witch Hunter a while back at the Market. And you must be his master, then." Hearing those words which seemed to be aimed at him, Paimon turned towards the source, finding a familiar girl standing there, the girl in hood who emanates a baleful air. Noticing that something caught her demon's attention, Hyacinth also turned to look. "A... witch?" As she muttered, Hyacinth took a close look at the witch, soon realizing that she was one of the two people they saw outside of the inquisition warehouse. Though hesitant, Hyacinth asked, "May I... help you?"