Closed Murderer

[Luke]

Winter 12, 124

Kage was walking through the forests of the basin when he noticed something land on his shoulder. It was a bird. A wooden bird that leaned up to his ear and whispered a message before fluttering off. He groaned. Work? Now? He walked briskly, following the bird as it made its way through the forest. They eventually came to an official looking building that he knew well.

"Oh is it time already?" he thought as he entered.

It was indeed time. Morðvargra the murderous aelf was finally being assigned to him. She was a wisp now, and serving as a Vitae mage's tool was part of her sentencing. Kage knew her profile already. Most people did, really, since she was one of the few murderers of their kind. Mordva looked so innocent and sweet as she floated weakly in the small room. She was cyan in color and looked like most other wisps – a sphere of energy.

"Be careful with this one," Kage was told, "Morðvargra… even as a wisp she is a handful. We have syphoned her to keep her in a weakened state to prevent her from acting out."

"Understood. I will do this quickly then," Kage said, holding out his hand to touch the wisp. Mordva shuddered like she was in pain, then it started to convulse. It tried desperately to escape, but it was too weak to go anywhere. Besides, there was a team of aelves here to ensure that nothing went awry.

Kage wrapped a sliver of his own soul around Mordva and grew a wooden body around it. He staggered and had to be caught by another aelf lest he fall onto the floor. He immediately felt the symptoms of mageburn hit him like a truck. He felt her throat tighten and his nose start to run.

"You're maintaining too many tethers," someone commented.

"Yes, yes, I know," Kage said as he gingerly got to his feet. He gave a forced smile to the one who had caught him. "I would have brought some saolite with me, had I known ahead of time. Alas…"

"Let me assist you in getting home at least," he said as he accompanied him outside. He created a wagon made out of wood, pulled by a wooden horse.

"Thank you, I'll be fine once I get home," Kage forced out as he climbed into it. It was hard to be polite when one was drained of their life force. He curled a finger at Mordva who silently climbed in after him.

Kage was happy to be home. As soon as they hit the boundary of his property he started sucking the saol out of the nearby flora to help restore a little bit of his reserves.

: mathstuff

~1.1 reserves
-1 master saol to raise a green knight
-.01 to raise as a basic treant
-.04 apprentice to create the body

0.05 remaining

 

[Engill]

Engill sucked her teeth when she saw Galinn arrive. Despite her usual power and boldness Galinn now resembled a leaf which had been mercilessly battered by the wind. Engill had come to recognize this as a sign of using too much magic.

She thought Kage you've gone and done it again

Engill breathed out both frustrated and concerned.

She followed the wagon at some distance. At the edge of Galinn's property Engill halted to watch while Galinn started extracting saol from nearby vegetation. The plants showed unmistakable signs of being drained yet the changes remained gentle.

Engill walked forwards keeping her arms crossed. "What happened to you?"

She had not heard of any commotion so why would she feel the need to exert herself so? Something must have happened that was related to his job which was so secretive that even she didn't know what was going on most of the time.

 

[Luke]

"It's nothing," Kage said snappily as he took in a deep breath. He gave a silent command to Mordva to stand at attention outside the house.

Fluffy came out a few moments later upon seeing how tired Kage looked. "Do you want to…?" she started, but Kage interrupted by walking up to her and putting both hands on her shoulders. He wrapped her in a mesh of branches that he used to start sucking the saol out of her. He immediately started to feel better and only stopped when Fluffy started to get weak knees.

He turned to Engill, this time smiling slightly. "I'm getting old and sometimes I feel like I'm not quite as strong as I used to be. It might be due time that I try exploring methods of increasing my saol reserves. But enough about that. I'm sure you've heard stories of Morðvargra. She's to serve me now, for the betterment of aelheim."

He took a deep breath and patted Fluffy on the head. "Anyways, I've got business to attend to. I've got to get the rest of the mine set up and ready. We're working at about half capacity, according to Röskva. She's told me that I should get two more colossal treants up and running and that I need to connect with a grovewright to equip them with better weapons. It's quite a lot of work to do..."

A cold breeze made him shiver and pull his coat more tightly around his body. He did some rough math in his head and thought that it just might be doable this season if he had help. Thankfully, he did have help. He had been slowly building up a new team to make mining a lot more efficient than ever before. He had been more of a brute force kind of person when it came to the activity in the past. Now? He thought he might actually be able to pull off a larger operation than he'd previous considered.

Kage stopped staring off into space and looked back at Engill. "Oh right, like I said… Lots of work to do. You're welcome to come along if you wish."

: mathstuff

Kage:
-1 expert cast of saol and I'm guesstimating that I ended up with around +1 net master casts of saol?
~1 master reserves remaining
Fluffy:
~1.5 master reserves remaining

Previously:
-1 master saol to raise a green knight
-.01 to raise as a basic treant
-.04 apprentice to create the body

 

[Engill]

Engill showed a sudden sharp look when Morðvargra was mentioned. She glanced at the treant before extending her hand to bind the woman with wooden cuffs. Mordva's wrists became trapped by roots which burst from the soil to form thick wooden cuffs. She understood these bindings would not stop the murderer if she magically escaped but she also didn't think that she would disobey her orders. But that wasn't the point. Engill needed to demonstrate her position in this matter.

"I really wonder if it is safe to let her remain present in this manner." She spoke with skepticism when she asked the question. "You think she would follow your orders without problem? She will not take the chance to attack when an opportunity presents itself?"

She released her breath as she shook her head and proceeded forward. She would help but she did it only because she knew he would push himself too hard without her assistance. Although she spoke with disapproval her voice revealed a hidden concern about the situation.

She turned her eyes back to him while her forehead developed a small wrinkle. "I'll come. Are we taking a portal?"

Reserves:
3
Expert Floramancy in Grove (Free)

 

[Luke]

"Yes, a portal," Kage said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "And you shouldn't worry about her. So long as I have reserves, I'll be able to keep her in check. And on top of that, she's been drained quite thoroughly so even if she does break free, she won't be able to do much of anything… for now. If that's not enough to calm you, remember that she probably barely remembers who she is or what she's done. So don't worry, she's in good hands."

He couldn't shake the worry that he was running low on his ability to maintain more treants. It would definitely be an issue if he attempted to keep raising more of them. He might have to turn to contrivances and exalts as well as cut back on his work duties if he really wanted to expand in his current state. No, he had to keep a positive mindset. He would increase his reserves somehow. Whether by committing to an ascension or perhaps by taking on some training to properly learn a new arcana.

That could all wait for later, however. He still needed to meet with the grovewright, and they were probably already waiting. As if on cue, a friendly looking aelven woman waved and called out to him.

"Hello, Kage?" she asked. She had a large book in her hands and an array of tools at her belt. She looked like she had just come out of a workshop. She was pretty with slightly curly hair, a normal aelvish skin tone, and a thin stature.

"Yes, that's me," Kage said. You must be Hjaldra. I apologize that I wasn't able to make it to our appointment on time."

"No worries, you've contracted this time with me so whether you make good use of my talents or not is your business." Her words held a little bit of sarcastic bite to them, showing her true feelings, but she did seem sincere that she was willing to look past his tardiness.

"Anyways, I'm here. I thought I'd walk with you to the mine and go over some designs with you."

And so they set off. Hjaldra struck up an explanation as to what kinds of tools they would be able to help him with and how they could make modifications to make the tools especially efficient. Most of the conversation went over Kage's head. He didn't care about any of that stuff, and to be honest he didn't know if he would even be able to grasp it if he tried. But he did think that the woman sounded smart. Smart enough to trust with this project of his, even if she wasn't the best help he could find.

All the while, Mordva would follow along, barely conscious but fueled by energy that wasn't her own. She marched like a soldier who had no choice in the matter. It was only when Kage stopped to wait for his turn for a portal that Mordva spoke.

"Where am I going?"

"To a mine," Kage told her.

"Why am I… restricted?"

"Because you have done something very bad. This is part of your punishment. Do not fear, this is not your permanent fate. You can one day earn your freedom. I am not the worst aelf you could have been paired with."

"O… okay."

"What would you like to do?"

"I want to… rest, I think."

"No time for that, I'm afraid. Though, while we're on the topic… you are forbidden from entering mageburn. If I ever find that you are as tired as you are now without my explicit orders, you will not enjoy what I will do to you."

With that, he stepped through the portal.

 

[Engill]

Engill released a breath and she moved her shoulders to dismiss her anxious feelings. Kage had confidence to control the murderer even though she had misgivings, Engill had to accept. Since he believed he had control over Mordva, there was no reason to push for more information. Engill stood ready for it Mordva to escape. She always was.

It was uncomfortable the feeling she had in her when the murderer was there. Engill moved her fingers, breaking the wooden restraints into pieces that fell to the ground. It had not stopped Mordva from fleeing, but the pointless restraint had made Engill feel like she had accomplished something, "okay," she said begrudgingly. "I will have to rely on your ability to handle this situation. But I'll be watching."

She looked at Kage as they walked, focusing her eyes on his concealed signs of fatigue. She believed him if he felt old, but he looked the same as when they met.

She paused and asked, "Would you need more treants made for you? I can make the bodies but two more big ones is a lot for you to take control of. So I have a feeling it's time I learn how to use it properly, so I can be more helpful," she said. She crossed her arms and waited for his response. She would perform the work without complaint either way.

Engill approached the artificer. The book in her hands, the tools at her belt everything about her screamed practicality. Engill could admire this quality of the artificer.

She introduced herself as 'Engill'. "Do you like your job?"

Her eyes moved towards the artificer's tools and she was developing a strong interest in them. "What other products do you have specializations in making other than mining equipment?" Because there might be a future need for their skills, it was useful to know what other abilities someone has.

Kage's dialogue with Mordva was heard by Engill, but her expression was neutral. She was grateful she was a good girl because the way Kage commanded Mordva through his authoritative voice with absolute control made her feel scared. Just thinking of being a slave like that drained her completely.

 

[Luke]

Kage nodded to Engill when she expressed her faith in him. He didn't know if kids nowadays learned the steps taken to obtain Vitae or not. It wasn't exactly a pleasant process to become so attached to something that losing it caused you to make an unbreakable pact.

He said, "I wouldn't say no if you made them for me, but as you said it will take quite a while. But I think it will be doable within the season. If you want to learn how to use Vitae, however, that is not something I can directly help you with. There are aelves who are much better equipped to help you through that process. That said, I don't think you getting it is going to be help in the near future. I'm hoping to round out these operations in the next couple months, far faster than it would take to gain mastery over vitae. So don't worry yourself with getting it for my sake."

To Engill's question, Hjaldra said, "it has its ups and downs. I was an apprentice up until five years ago but now I'm working independently. I'm hoping to make a name for myself with this project." She continued, "I can make most things you'd expect. Guns, gadgets, you name it. My previous project involved making luminpetal wings that could be worn to fly around."

"Yes, her resume is quite impressive," Kage added. "I wouldn't mind having some guns commissioned, but the tools take priority."

Hjaldra beamed and said, "another order! Great!" Having someone like Kage going around with a pair of her weapons was going to be good for her reputation.

Once they went through the portal, they still had a ways to walk. They were near the mountains and would hear the sounds of the various mining operations going on in the distant. Kage was hardly the only aelf who was putting treants to work. When they came up to Kage's section of land, he commanded the treants to come out present themselves.

Hjaldra frowned at them and said, "This is what you've been using? Oh brother, we're going to need to do a lot of changes." She opened up her book and started pointing to various pages. "The designs should be like this to be optimal. And this here… is what the tools will look like. I will help during the tool crafting process and with the Geomenite I'll be able to make them very efficient."

"I see," Kage said, scratching his beard. "It looks like design standards have changed over the years."

"Yes. There's only so much land to go around, so it's good to be efficient. You might be able to get triple your current yield if we make these changes."

"Triple… that would be nice," Kage said with a hint of disbelief in his voice. He had to give her the benefit of the doubt, though he suspected she just wanted him in a good mood. "Alright, let's get started then."

Together they drafted a schedule to properly manage reserves so that the current treants could be modified and two more could be constructed, but not yet risen until Kage figured out a way of expanding his spell reserves. They also worked out a schedule for making tools with geomentite, though Hjaldra would be doing nearly all of that portion.

Kage had Mordva read the schedule and told her, "you're to assist Hjaldra here as necessary. When you're not busy with that, I need you to work on establishing good security parameters around the mine. We don't want any Vokhai bothering us. And when you're full on reserves, produce gristle for me. Store it safely do that I may use it later."

"Yes… of course…" Mordva said absent mindedly as if she were in a trance.


Math:
Mordva will produce 81g gristle every week using 1 Master reserve for the rest of the season. 11 weeks total


2012 WC

 

[Engill]

He was right, naturally; learning how to use Vitae wasn't something that could be rushed and certainly wouldn't help their current plans. Yet, she had thought about getting it for quite some time. It had a power to it, a permanence that she did not know how to fully grasp. For now, she would table that desire. More pressing matters were at hand.

She shifted her weight a little and said at last, "Fine. For now, I won't pursue Vitae. But I haven't forgotten it entirely." He got a pointed look from her before she exhaled and rolled her shoulders. "I will focus on what we actually need for now. I'll start building the new miners."

The artificer Hjaldra mentioned her previous project, the luminpetal wings and Engill listened intently. That was a far cry from the simple mining tools so she had real talent. She wasn't an apprentice fresh out of training, she had ambition. Engill could respect that. Guns didn't interest her.

The mood changed once they stepped through the portal. The distant mining sounds carried in the air. Kage commanded his treants to present themselves and Engill watched quietly. The massive creatures obeyed, but they were clearly outdated. Yes, they were functional and strong, but not efficient. Hjaldra didn't waste any time pointing it out, flipping through her book and pointing at designs that were obviously superior. Engill felt insulted because she had done a lot of the work and her best had not been enough.

Engill leaned over slightly to look at the pages, the differences in structure and function not lost on her. Hjaldra was right, the current treants were not nearly as optimized as they could be. With a few modifications, they could output much more than they did now.

Engill nodded as she straightened, "I can work with this. It'll take time, though. I'll have to pace myself if I'm going to make two new colossal treants and modify the existing ones. I will use some of the reserves I have every week throughout the season to make sure the work gets done. Don't intend to burn myself out trying to rush it." She shot a glance at Kage. "Unlike some people I know."

She flickered her gaze back to Hjaldra. "And while I work on them, you will be handling the tools, yes? That is, if we're going for maximum efficiency, those need to be just as well made as the treants themselves. You mentioned using geomenite. I assume that means you know how to forge with it properly?"

If this artificer was as good as she appeared, then this plan had a chance of working. Operations like this needed to be efficient, and if everything was done right, they could increase productivity far beyond what Engill had previously imagined.

Engill listened as they discussed the schedule. Timing would be everything. Modifying the current treants, making new ones, and creating the tools had to be done while keeping all of their spell reserves from being overdrawn. The new treants couldn't be risen yet, until Kage found a way to increase his own reserves.

When Kage handed her an assignment, Engill glanced at Mordva. She could use grist? That was news. The murderer answered in a vacant, detached way, as if she wasn't fully there. Watching her for a moment, Engill frowned slightly before looking away. That wasn't her concern. Engill wasn't about to waste energy worrying about something she had no control over.

Instead, she allowed her attention to return to the task at hand. A full season of work. She could handle that. She had committed to a long term project before, and she would again.

She curled her fingers a little, the tips of them touching her palm, as she got to work. She referenced the plans to adjust the current treants and made them stronger. This took a few weeks. Making new treants took months. She was careful not to use too much of her saol at a time. She was getting so good at making them that she thought she would be a shoein for vitae if she ever applied for it.

 

[Luke]

The plan had been made and all that was left to do was to get to work. Hjaldra left some plans with Engill and went off to do her thing. Roskva, the blueish skinned aelf who was in charge of actually running his mine, came out a while later and spoke with Hjaldra and the group but she didn't stick around long. She was far too busy with her own duties to chit chat for long.

When they were finally alone, Kage turned to Engill before she got to work and said, "I really do appreciate all the help you've given me. We should go on a vacation soon. I'm sure there's many places in Aelheim that you've never seen. I've also been meaning to make a trip to Arcanis, perhaps next season." He was someone who liked to travel, to see different cultures. It wasn't something that all of his kind shared, which he recognized.

"Or, in one year's time… we could finally go through with Förengsrit," he said off handedly, blushing as he did so. Literally two days ago he hadn't seriously entertained the thought, but he now knew that this was something that he ought to do. Even after coming to the realization, he hadn't expected to ask her for quite some time, but he pulled out a simple ring out of his pocket and handed it to her all the same.

Engill would probably know by now that he was not monogamous and he was not without his faults. Yet he had enjoyed their arrangement in a way he had never before in his long life. To meet someone and have this sort of connection after just a few seasons… he never thought it'd happen to him. Maybe this was just playing into his mid life crisis. Maybe he just wanted to get bonded to someone romantically before he died.

He worried too that people might judge them for their age difference. Even if he told people that Engill was the one that pushed for it, he knew not everyone would see his point of view. He pushed those thoughts from his mind and awaited Engill's response. He felt it was fair to give her a year to decide for sure, as this decision was not one to take lightly.

2396

 

[Engill]

Engill took a long breath and took the ring from Kage's hand, turning it over in her fingers. The weight of it, not just physically, but everything it represented, she could feel. A year. He was giving her a year to decide, to be sure, to think it over. But she already knew.

Her sharp gaze softened as it rarely did, and she looked up at him. Her voice was quiet but steady; she said, "I can't wait for a year to pass."

Without another word, she stepped forward and embraced him. She was not the sentimental type, and she gave affection so freely so rarely. But this was different. This mattered.

She murmured against his shoulder, "Thank you." For everything. She trusted him, wanted him, this.

For a moment she stayed there, holding him, letting the reality sink in. At last, she pulled back, and smirked as she put the ring into her pocket. "Don't think I'll go easy on you. There's still that vacation I haven't received."

A year wasn't so far away.

The day after she went home after creating the last treant, she bought 300 grams of saolite. She had a feeling she would need it.

Reserves:
Casting Ascended Draoidh once a month to make 2 Colossal Treants. Also making minor design modifications to 8 treants with spare time.

Words: 1500

 

[Luke]

Engill would do her work while Kage worked more on the logistical side of things. He would spend a lot of his time making sure his treants were doing the right thing, as well as sundering various faelnir in the area that had elevated levels of aetherite reserves to make sure he had a significant supply of dust to work with in the future. He managed to gather over a couple dozen shards from various faelnir over the season.

He'd hired quite a number of employees to help him with his mine, and while they didn't actually mine themselves, they provided many useful skills to help him develop an efficient mine. Throughout the season he would find the time to raise the two colossal treants that Engill had made and he would put them to work. He would also arrange for his artificer to be paid for the dust used to help make the tools.

Additionally, Kage would make sure to arrange for the payment for his mine's land. He'd been mostly working on credit so far, but now he had the income to fully pay off his obligations. He never felt like he owned any of this land, feeling that it belonged to 'the aelves' but he recognized the importance to segregate land so people didn't fight over it.

Hopefully by the end of the season, he would see the fruits of his labor.

2580

: magic

2 master casts of raise threaded happening when he has reserves to spare over the course of winter 125

 

[Luke]

Thread Title: Murderer

Thread Summary: Kage and Engill

Expected Rewards:
Engill: +15 XP, 300g saolite for 3k sp
Kage: +26 XP
Purchases referenced here
-100 SP for 10g of geomentite dust
-7500 SP for 750 acres of mine land
-1215 SP + 27 shards (243g) of aetherite via sundering (he has GM Mystic)
-4455SP +891g gristle from mordva's grist


Thread Link: https://antarok.net/threads/murderer.495/
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[Vicissitude]

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❀ Rewards ❀

Requested rewards granted!

❀ Comments ❀

Ah, nothing like a little romance whilst working on mining projects!

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