In the confusion, the shadowed character departed the pub. Princess Aleiya and Rozen watch as Athenos writhes on the floor, twitching and grasping his side occasionally. With a sudden cry of surprise, his seizures halted, and he lay on the floor, panting hard. Aleiya felt his pulse, "he's still alive," she murmured, dragging him to the bed and resting him on it and waiting. She was no longer clammy, but rather indecisive, battling internally with whether she could carry Athenos or not. "We can wait here," she said with sudden finality, "we'll be safe for a little while." She stares at the shattered door. So far no one had walked by and noticed it. She sighed. "We'll pay for the damage in the morning, hopefully he'll be awake by then."

Dan stepped out of the bar, sword drawn. Onlookers laughed, not understanding his motive. He saw Martin and the guard talking quietly, and a flicker of something silver pass their hands. He faced the bar, sword still drawn, muscles tense. The pain from the night before lingered weakly in his muscles. He lowered his sword. A drunk man stumbled into him, discreetly dropping a slip of parchment into his hands before walking on.

Read note and go back to guard; Say something along the lines of sorry i grew weary and my madness got the best of me .

Edit : Error Fixed

Her mind clouded in though, the female exited the shady-and rather bizarre-place, clouded in though over what she had heard. It was her opinion that she could obtain a rather big profit, from either helping the princess, blowing her cover, or even blackmailing the so-called palace guards. She discarded the last two as reckless, and rather risky, not worth the effort at all. She was about half a mile away from the place already, so she decided to continue onto the room she had rented, at a small inn, located in the outskirts of the city. Her pace hastened, as she pulled her cloak's hood back up, to hide her features once more.

It had been a long day, but at least, she knew what to do next. Shaidar was now sitting on top of the filthy and hard mattress. She propped herself up with both of her arms, which were located at both sides of her seated figure, and walked to the small washing stand of the room. She gave the non-perfumed water a disgusted look, and proceeded to clean herself the best she could, as the circumstances were.

Dan unfolds the note and reads it:

This message is not intended for the carrier.

Please tell your associate that I am willing to lead him to the woman he seeks.
If he is still interested, I will meet him at the Three of Hearts, an hour after midnight tomorrow evening.

Signed,



He folds the note back up and returns to the bar. Martin and the guard appear to be wrapping things up, and Martin discreetly puts the metallic object into his pocket. "Where did you run off to?" Martin asks, annoyed.

"Sorry...my madness overcame me..." Dan said dumbly. The guard huffed.

"You sure you can trust him Martin?" the guard said. Martin hesitated.

"Yea, I guess," he finally responded. He turns to Dan. "Alright, here's the plan. We have to break into his house" he said, nodding at the guard, "and we have to remove the metallic objects in the basement. But we must do it tonight, and we can't let any of the Tanners see us. Are you in?"

Athenos awoke. But there was no pain. He tried to move his left arm. Nothing. He looked down; his arm was gone. This was not surprising. The place he had sojourned, and the pain, was far too vividly recalled.

But this place could hardly be.

There were great monoliths floating in the sky. It seemed a chaotic orchestra, how they drifted in so different of directions, but not once colliding. And no sun to be found, just an ubiquitous radiance, but not the heavens: in place of the sky laid a great white expanse, much like the mortal realm's night sky, inverted in color.

Now standing, he could feel a wind brush through his hair, as if he was gently flying. And there was a certain warm sensation in the air, like an ethereal magic. He had seen many strange places, but he did not remember a place such as this.

Before him was a great pedestal, made of white marble and obsidian accent. Gold inlay circled the edge, crafted exquisitely into runes he had never seen before. Perhaps a language even more ancient than the gods. However, its magnificence was scarred by a great fissure through the middle, splitting it in two. And the center cradled an aperture, crafted as if struck by a mighty force, just large enough for him to slide through.

He felt something. A presence, perhaps, emanating from the opening. He peered into it. The light inside was far dimmer, but it was still visible enough to see. He slid into the opening. There was a descending stone staircase, makeshift in appearance. With curiosity tempting him, he continued.

As he descended, the air thickened and the presence became more potent; even sinister. It was a kind of raw power that was becoming palpable in sheer intensity.
A few hundred steps, or perhaps more, he had not been counting. The bottom. The stone was still plain, but suspiciously smooth, and there were crimson sparks appearing and vanishing around him: manifestations of the surrounding energy. He could feel their heat, but was undeterred. A small door, made of solid silver, was before him. There was no handle or lock. He placed his hand on it. The metal gave way, as a liquid, to his form.

He walked through the door. Before him, the source of the power. Behind impressive metal bars was the demon, in its true form.

It glared at him, the air around him becoming even hotter than it had already been.

"So this is what they have done to you," Athenos mused, "and this place..."

"It is no realm of the gods, Athenos" the demon's voice boomed, venomously emphasizing his name.

"And it is no realm of the mortals," Athenos continued, unaffected by the demon's attempt to intimidate, "It is a realm of spirit."

"Why not set me free, perhaps we could make a deal?" the demon offered with a tone of satisfaction, eying his missing arm.

"I will not be persuaded through bribe," Athenos stated defiantly, stepping closer, "you know what comes next, dark prince." He took another step forward, growing in confidence.

The demon stared.

Athenos reached for his knife, grabbed it by the blade, and squeezed. Warm blood trickled from his hand.

"That ritual is forbidden among the gods," the demon chuckled.

Athenos reached through the bars. His hand slipped into the demon's chest.

"I am no god."

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Jun 1 2012, 3:06 am by Sacrieur.

-Memorize the note and place it in my pocket
-Talk with the guard and martin to get a more concrete plan
-Tell him something along the lines of "i will not participate in robbery; there has to be another way."

Athenos' hand moved fast, his brain working like clockwork. He had the distinct impression that he had done this ritual before, but with his left hand, as phantom pains reminded him bitterly. He felt his emotions mix with the anger of the demon's - his own sureness at the ritual, the demon's agony as he was bound, and their mutual anger, the demon accentuated every time Athenos had ever felt slighted, the minute he fell from the heavens, the moment he realized just how feeble his human body was...

His vision clouded suddenly, overcome with the poisonous rage he and the demon shared. They bonded for a frightful second...the ritual was nearing completion. He forced his eyes to stay open, sealing the demon inside him, but the demon struggled. Athenos had the sudden impression that he was put on display, that rafters above him were pointing and jeering him on, begging him to crawl over and die before their eyes, money flashing from hand to hand as they continued their hideous laughter. But...we can defeat them now...you must only name your price... Athenos felt himself presented with the options of temporary vision loss or temporary loss of use of his left arm. That he was given a choice told him it was a weak demon, powerful by a mortal's standard, but subpar by the gods. Time was running out. The jeering and laughter got louder above him. Surely it was just a hallucination, meant to taunt him, he thought as he tried to make out faces. They were all so familiar...his parents, of course, the two that called him brother although he knew better by now, a host of his parents' closest allies. What would they be doing on this plane?




Shaidar washed herself carefully, keeping one eye on the window. She was being watched by an elderly man. He seemed very interested in what she was doing, but she had a feeling he was more than a pervert or drunk. The sun would rise in a mere amount of hours.



"Fine," Dan said, "I will help. But surely there is another way...a way that doesn't include stealing?" The guard scowled and looked at Martin. Martin looked at Dan.

"We can't let Tanner know that Parker here," he pointed to the guard, "is trying to unload anything from his basement. We have to make it look like it disappeared out of no response of his own."

"Why does what the Tanners say matter? This is robbery!"

"You haven't been here long, have you?" Said Parker with a snort. "The Tanner family has a lot of sway on the streets. I would never want to meet them in a shady pub...like this." His eyes darted around suspiciously. "Look, they're blackmailing me, alright? They see me helping someone get the stuff out of my basement, they'll raise the alarm, and although I am an upstanding member of the guard, well, he has more sway on the streets than I do. He can blackmail or harrass a lot of people into testifying against me."

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Jun 1 2012, 6:29 pm by Fire_Kame.

Reply with we first have to do some research on any rivals of tanners that way we can plant evidence of his enemies. Although we should probably use someone who deserves to be taken down.

The pain ended. Athenos awoke in a small room, terribly furnished. But it was all real, was it not?

He saw the princess slouched over in a chair beside him. He blushed slightly upon realizing how beautiful she was in the sunrise. How much time had passed? Was this the inn?

His thoughts were disrupted as he felt a very real left arm, hidden under the blankets. Had it all just been a dream?

He sat up, the pain in his ribs now gone. But his left arm was not as he had left it. Where it was once human flesh, was now replaced with foreign demon flesh. Its dark red skin and black claws stuck out like a sore thumb, despite being proportioned properly to the rest of his body, inscribed with an elaborate black tatoo. Looking closely, he could see the ink made out small runes, similar to the ones he had seen before.

It had not been just a dream. He had spent three days in terrible agony as the ritual was completed; a pain that he would care not to remember.

His memories were slightly blurred, as another's were fused to his own. The demon's name was Njorthrbiartr. A very powerful demon, but not always so, he could recall splices of being mocked for being weak and unworthy.

He wrapped his arm, if only to hide its appearance before readying himself. But what to do about the princess? He could not abandon her. He moved her to the bed before sitting in the corner and entering a meditative pose. It came more easily, this time.

Martin considers what Dan says and then responds, "The Tanners don't have any enemies. Well, none substantial enough to stand against them. Almost everyone in town hates them, but no one wants to speak up. Why, what do you have in mind?"

Tell them something along the lines of we should try and recreate the monster attacks; i can create a black sludge in my lab and with some stuffed animals i may have in my house we can recreate the monster coming and eating the metal... for this to work we have to get some metal bits to throw on the floor of the tanners house.

The guard thought back and thought. "Well, recreating monster attacks in my basement would look convincing...but you only have a few hours before the sun rises. If Tanner sees the stuff in my basement tomorrow, then I'm doomed. Are you sure you can recreate the sludge by then?"

Unconvincingly say yes

Sorry forgot to post but...

Afterwards go to lab to gather some animal parts i may have lying around and begin creating the black sludge.

After a couple of hours, Dan runs to Parker's back door with the animal parts drenched in black oil. It isn't an exact replica of the attacks, as this oil dries. But it should convince anyone who would come looking around later. Martin is waiting, mostly hidden by the shadows. "Great you're here." Martin whispers. "The sun will be up in an hour. We have to be fast! What's the plan?" he looks down at the oil drenched animal parts and back up at Dan. Dan looks down at them, and back at Martin. "Never mind that, we're losing time. Come on, I have the key, we just need to sneak into his cellar..." Martin turns the key and carefully pushes the door open. When they get in he takes out a lamp and lights it. On the ground before them are several pieces of metal of different sizes. Martin cries out, obviously recognizing the pieces. "Without these the ...ux...unit..." Dan tries to keep up with what he's saying but can't understand him in between the sound of clashing metal and Martin's mumbling. "Well don't just stand there! Drop that stuff and help me haul this...stai-...uh...metal...away!" Dan drops the sludge and animal parts, and tries to lift a few pieces. They're distinctly shaped, and look as if they belong to a single unit. "Come on, we need to get these outta here before people start waking up!" Dan sees Martin slip a small piece of metal, painted white, and rectangle for the most part under his jacket. Although Dan does not have time to make out what it says, he sees some very distinct lettering on it.

Martin pushes past him and out into the town. They are minutes from sunrise, but no one has woken up yet. They stagger quickly past the guard posts who don't seem to make notice of them, past the Three of Hearts Pub, and a little ways off the main road into a sparsely wooded area. The sun creeps up. Both Martin and Dan are covered in sweat. "I think we did it. You don't see that oaf Tanner do you?"

Dan looks around. They seem to be alone. He looks down at the pieces they recovered from Parker's basement: Three pieces of metal siding, two of which were identical. The two identical pieces had large holes in them, with fractured glass sticking out jaggedly. The third one didn't seem to fit in at all, but it was formed similarly. Something else dropped out of Dan's hand. On one end, it looked almost like a large screw. On the other was a white substance that coated it. A little prick stood out at the top of it. Dan turned it around in his hand, not able to make heads or tails of it. Martin took it from him. "Oh no...oh no oh no. This is not good. This is not..." Martin starts mumbling again.

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Jun 3 2012, 7:12 pm by Fire_Kame.

When she finally finished washing herself, she proceeded to get dressed, disregarding the male completely. Suddenly, just having finished with her clothes, she shoved the window open, and reached with her hand onto the neck of the old man, pulling a small knife from a hidden sheathe, and applying the blade against his skin, applying enough pressure for it to be felt, but not to actually pierce the skin. "What do you want?" she then asked, in a low, dangerous tone, almost a whisper; of course, the sound was loud whatsoever, since she couldn't help the natural volume of her voice.

The old man didn't even flinch. "I have news for you, m'lady, from my master. He says that the King has been kidnapped..." he starts. Realizing Shaidar is not impressed with this, he hurriedly continues, "and in his absence the guards are getting restless. There is a man, the captain of the guard, he wants to usurp power. You're revenge is at hand! Isn't it honor that you want to return to your family? Here is your chance...you can be the catalyst in a gruesome revolution that names you as successor to the crown!" He pauses. Noticing that Shaidar has not killed him yet, he places a small package on the window sill of her room. "A token of good will from my master. He sends you his best."

Her hand slid carefully onto the package, and gave it a tiny brush, using nothing but the tip of her fingers, wary of poisoned spikes, or such traps. Her eyes didn't move from the male in front of her for a single second, intent on his every movement. "And tell me, who exactly is this 'master'?" she inquired, without moving the blade from his exposed neck.

-Tell martin to take a deep breathe and silently tell me what is wrong
--If it requires us to hide do so accordingly
--If we to talk to someone about it go to whoever we need to go to

The old man smiles mischievously at Shaidar. "The letter...you will need to open it. I have been asked to wait until you do." Shaidar feels the package carefully.There is a lump wrapped in something soft, and a firm parchment sitting right above it. She opens the package with one hand, and pulls out the parchment. It is sealed with a flourishing FJ that peels off easily under her fingernail. The old man sighs in relief. Risking her gaze to drop from him, she reads it quickly,

Sister,
Yes, sister. You may not know this, but we share the same mother.
I was born years before you. I will not bore you with fool court politics,
So let it suffice to say that our mother abandoned me to a widow on the
southern border days after I was born.

We have much to discuss. Our agendas fall into the same end result.
Follow the man that brought you this letter to Castleedge. From there,
He will show you the old trail that will lead to my court. Together we can
bring to fruition your desire to rule Kriste. As for I...we will discuss this
later.

Please note that you will need a living sacrifice to finish your journey
into my kingdom. I suggest to you the man with you, named Gordon,
for he has already failed me thrice. It is up to you to find someone else
if you so choose. Wear the amulet enclosed. It will allow you and those
in servitude to you pass my guards unharmed.

I look forward to your arrival,
Fabian-James





Dan watches Martin pace for only minutes before trying to calm him down. Martin stops, and gathers his breath. "What's wrong? Do we need to hide?"

"No, no. No, we can't hide." Martin says suddenly. "And nothing's wrong. I mean on our end. Our plan went off without a hitch. It's all up to him now...we need to bury this stuff. Right here. Come on, help me dig a hole."