Closed To Hunt Vokhai

[Vicissitude]

Summer 85, year 124 of the third age​

When Aric attempted to contact Själ, he found himself unable to reach her. Rather, his attempts at correspondence were redirected; instead, he received a response from a clerk of Hespæria's saying that whatever problem he had was now his to solve, as Paradise and all of its agents were henceforth hers. And though he was panicked by this, the warrior had a job to do was a man of action– he would find somebody else to assist him.

Perhaps selfishly, he didn't want to endanger anyone he knew or even any of the citizens of Frostlund. So instead, he traveled to Græntún's capital, Rømskog, in search of a competent mercenary. In passing, he found Rarity– an Ælven business that boasted it had people in its employ (and Fælnir at that) capable of capturing even the most ferocious of beasts. In Aric's mind, that's what Vokhai were: beasts to be slaughtered. It was, oddly, perfect by his standards.

The Frostlund native made his way inside, looking around the interior curiously. He'd wait to be helped, as the business might be manned by Fælnir, but it was still run by Æld'Norai– it wasn't his place to demand or really even ask to be helped.

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Aric von'Lundqvist } ༉༻•══════════꧂​

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[Makt]

Makt sat at a large table with a map sprawled across it. He was drawing on it, making plans for how the next round of animals would be rounded up. It was boring work, usually, unless clients (or is his master) wanted something especially dangerous. When work was more challenging, he would have some of his friends to help. His current task, however, wasn't all that exciting.

He looked up when the door opened, nearly instantly linking to the man's mind when he noticed he wasn't an aelf. He didn't care to poke around in a man's head much, so he would sever the link if Makt didn't sense any threatening emotions. It was less about curiosity and more about not thinking the effort to be worth the imber.

"Hello, welcome to Rarity," Makt said. "What brings you in? We sell familiars and can help find rare animals." His tone was somewhat disinterested. Faelnir rarely brought him interesting work, but sometimes they were messengers for aelves or even dragons.

The interior was a large room, filled with thousands of years' worth of paperwork, maps, notes, etc. It was meticulously organized but the sheer quantity of it all made it feel cramped.

201

 

[Vicissitude]

Summer 85, year 124 of the third age​

From the way Aric was dressed, Makt would be able to tell that he was a man of importance amongst Fælnir. Mages of high status within the warbands were usually decorated similarly, with the purple of his clothing being favored amongst those native to Frostlund.

"Do ye' consider the Vokhai to be 'rare animals'?" Aric began his enquiry. "I need ta' hunt quite a few o' em."

He would then lift a strange talisman from his pocket. Though it was relatively simple, it had impossibly complex Glyphics microscopic in size that were elegantly, almost invisibly, etched onto the fine, silvery surface, granting it an almost alien appearance. "Why's a long story– but if I use this once they're subdued it'll transport 'em where they're needed."

Some time within the past month, one of the strange Cambion from that wretched realm had visited and passed the trinket he held onto him, saying it was for the convenience of everyone involved. The warrior was glad for this, as even if Själ hadn't failed to respond, it would've been rather taxing on her Spell Reserves to have to teleport all of their quarry back to Caligony herself.

"I'm a Galsterei myself, so I'll be comin' with ya. Payment will come from the Jarl of Frostlund," he clarified.

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Aric von'Lundqvist } ༉༻•══════════꧂​

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[Makt]

As Aric stepped closer, Makt would see his clothing and note that he was someone with status. It didn't matter to him that much, but it did make him think that his master would be more likely to accept the man's job.

"Vokhai? Uhh…" he'd never been asked to hunt one of those. He listened to the rest of Aric's explanation, brief as it was, and sighed. There must have been some reason why the man had come here of all places. It must have been because Makt was known to be a decent Galsterei.

"I'm not entirely opposed to the idea of hunting them, but you must understand this is a large departure from the services we normally provide… I'll have to run it by my master." In truth he would have much liked to stay put and not go on a job. He only did the work because he had to, not because he particularly liked hunting. He wasn't even especially good at it – but being able to fly and defend himself made up for that.

"One moment," he said with a slight inclination of his head. He made his way through a door and had a brief conversation with his master in the other room. Makt would return a few minutes later and nod to Aric. "I can come after all. Where exactly are these Vokhai of yours?"

In truth, Makt didn't really care why they were hunting the Vokhai. Like most faelnir he was taught to despise them, so he did.

456

 

[Vicissitude]

Summer 85, year 124 of the third age​

When Makt went back to speak with his master, his master would know that 'payment from the Jarl' meant 'payment from the Oddviti'– the Æld'Norai overseer who pulled the strings from the shadows. And to him, this would translate to a handsome sum of Alkahest. Thus, if it was Vokhai being requested, Vokhai would be delivered. Consequently, Makt was bid to complete the job.

Aric looked relieved when the man returned stating that he was henceforth along for the ride. Finding another person on short notice would've been a pain. Makt didn't look like much, but if he was supposedly a monster hunter, he had to have something up his sleeve that made him formidable. Elsewise, why would he work here?

Nevertheless, "...excellent! Reports of 'em are all over near the border closest to Bahn'Shei and where the Ur'Duun butts up against Ælheim's caverns in the northern regions. My men did some networkin' with the local Longhouses an' found that two rival Vokhai warbands have been skirmishin' deep in a cavern within Hrimthur's Spine. Figure if we wait for 'em to wear each other out, it'd be easy to sweep in and nab the bodies– alive or dead, doesn't matter." He explained as matter-of-factly as he could manage. Still, a glint of excitement behind amber eyes betrayed an undeniable bloodlust within the man.

"I was able to get us an Exodii explorer that can teleport us pretty close to where we need to be. Let me know when yer ready," he'd say, looking to Makt expectantly.

When Makt was, in fact, ready, the two of them would depart to a nearby inn where the Exodii in question was staying. The man was a Fælnir, a blood relative to the current Jarl of Græntún and famed cartographer. He'd managed to become a favored pet of an Ælf who supplied him with whatever he needed– in exchange, he needed only to risk his life mapping Ælheim's cavernous depths, often slipping into the Ur'Duun. He was able to create a portal for Makt and Aric, delivering them to a mining village buried in the bowels of Hrimthur's Spine.

The people there were a bit shocked at the portal's sudden appearance, isolated and unused to visitors as they were. Aric bluffed, claiming they were pursuing business decreed by Frostlund's Jarl– that was enough to get the miners to spare meagre lodgings for the pair if necessary. And once they'd oriented themselves, Aric would lead Makt down through a series of caverns. The building pressure as they went deeper would begin to cause discomfort, but nothing the two couldn't handle yet.

As they went, Aric would look to Makt. "You ever have ta' hunt anythin' in the Ur'Duun?"

He was curious– for a monster hunter, that wouldn't be so strange to imagine. However, Makt did look young; Aric wondered exactly how much experience the boy had.

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Aric von'Lundqvist } ༉༻•══════════꧂​

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[Makt]

"Wow, you're really determined to capture Vokhai," Makt said after Aric laid out a rough idea of his plan. He thought that it was a good one and that comforted him because too often clients wanted him to rush into a job without considering the dangers involved. Why would they? He was an expendable little pawn. Perhaps that was the benefit of working alongside a faelnir.

"I'm ready now," he'd say. He wasn't skilled in any weaponry, save for whips, and he was already wearing lightly padded armor. He had actually ordered some strong equipment to be made, but Abraia had yet to make the delivery. It was a shame, because fighting Vokhai sounded pretty darn dangerous.

Makt didn't pry into Aric's motivations as they travelled. He would try to keep his mind focused on the task ahead and try to visualize how underground fighting might look like. If there were mages involved, things were likely to get quite hectic.

"Nope, I've never been beneath the earth at all," Makt said, "I've only hunted creatures that live above ground. It's kind of intimidating down here... I can use Fulgur and Zephyr, so being unable to fly away is likely to give me anxiety." He was already nervous, though he didn't show it yet. The pressure change was the most unsettling thing so far – people weren't meant to come down this deep. It felt unnatural.

"So, you mentioned you're a Galsterei… what can you do? And have you been here before? You look like you know your way around."

714

 

[Vicissitude]

Summer 85, year 124 of the third age​

The ceiling of the cavern they were in was reasonably tall; if Makt needed to, he could take to the air at least to some degree. Would he be able to soar high into the sky as he might normally? Well, no, but there was enough room overheard for him to avoid attacks and retreat if need be.

"Ya haven't, eh? Well…ya look young, and if ye were born in Græntún, I can't say I'm much surprised," Aric began. "I think ya'd still be able to make some aerial maneuvers if yer skilled enough with flight," he continued, tone warm enough to sound encouraging. "Plus, the cavern where we're headed I was told is unusually vast."

But to answer Makt's questions, "I'm both Terrari and Aquari. Fighting in caves is usually easy for me, just be wary of any of 'em that possess Terra too. And I've done quite a bit of cave exploration, but not these caves, specifically– most of my life has been spent in Frostlund, both inside and outside the mountains."

They didn't have much longer to walk before the two would hear the sounds of battle– the clash of steel harmonizing with the sounds of elemental spells; animalistic cries and ghoulish howls wending together in the echoing caves. Before long, their path opened up into a fairly vast cavern below. They stood atop a high crag overlooking the cavern, within which the battle Aric had mentioned earlier was being waged.

Two mid sized Vokhai warbands fought tooth and nail against one another, each being a hodge podge mix of races. Bodies were dropping left and right– skulls smashed, flesh incinerated, eviscerated, dehydrated, and on and on. The two Fælnir were obscured both by a series of stalagmites and simply how high up they were. Aric would look to Makt, "...just wait a bit longer."

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Aric von'Lundqvist } ༉༻•══════════꧂​

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[Makt]

"I hope so," Makt said, glancing up at the ceiling. It was nice to be able to move a little, though the thought of going up against terrari worried him. What was the point of moving up if the ceiling could be used against him? He felt himself overthinking about the upcoming conflict. He thought that surely Aric expected trouble if he'd enlisted his help.

"I would feel a lot more comfortable in caves if I had Terra too," Makt joked, "do you usually explore to hunt Vokhai? Or do you do it to find rare ores or maybe another reason entirely?"

Soon Makt heard the sounds of battle and his hairs stood on end. He wondered why in the world people would be fighting down here of all places. It must be the location of some valuable resource, or perhaps it was a key juncture. He supposed it didn't matter so long as they got the bodies they needed.

He peered down at the fight, taken aback with how brutal the fighting was. Makt had never been exposed to this sort of combat before. Hunting animals could get gruesome, but he generally tried to be clean with his kills. He noticed that there was magic being used – great, just great.

"Is it really this simple? We wait for them to kill each other then collect the bodies?" Makt asked with a whisper.

947

 

[Vicissitude]

Summer 85, year 124 of the third age​

"Much of my experience in caving is because I've Terra– hunting Vokhai for me isn't exactly common, no. Seeing any of 'em in Frostlund is almost unheard of. Vokhai struggle to get past Ælheim's borders; the Ælves make sure of that, at least," he began his explanation. "Frostlund's caves have their fair share of beasts and other dangers, though, so myself and other Terrari are usually charged with dispatching them. Spelunking for rare ore and other oddities is also a hobby of mine, though, ya got that right."

Aric, too, didn't know the exact reason why the Vokhai were fighting here. It might be two warbands being territorial, might be a more petty feud. With these heathens, who's to say?

Once they'd taken their places hiding above the battle in the chasm below, Makt asked a fair question. "In theory, it is that simple…we're playing the role of vultures, but be ready for anything– even the best laid plans don't always pan out exactly as expected," Aric answered, his normally boisterous voice now a whisper in turn.

The two warbands below were none the wiser to the two Fælniri lurking behind the stalagmites, hidden away in the shadows. It appeared that both forces possessed a mix of mostly martial weapons, Galdr, Apparation, and perhaps a few Pacts thrown in. They might've even had some Gramarye, though that would be particularly hard to suss out for two Fælnir. Makt, at least, hadn't been all that well educated about Arcana. Aric had a bit of a more well rounded education afforded to him due to his place in society as a warband leader– Fælniri forces would be infinitely weaker if they weren't able to recognize the magic of their foes.

As the two forces warred on, Aric and Makt would note that it appeared that one side was faring far better than the other. This would toss a wrench in their plans slightly; the expectation Aric had was that the two forces were equal. He'd expected that come the battle's end, one side would achieve victory by only a small margin, thus minimizing their own risk to an almost negligible degree. Alas, this was not the case.

The winning side appeared to have several units that were vastly superior to the other side's best fighter. An Orkhan warrior with baffling endurance, stamina, and durability, a Najda sorceress who blinked 'round the battlefield with such finesse that she'd yet to be hit at all, dispatching her foes with daggers of ice before ripping the blood from their wounds, twin Gnolls that fought with such voracity and brutality with Fulgur that the charred corpses of their foes looked particularly horrific, and a tiny Goblin that had to possess both Nimhea and Exodus– she blinked 'round the battlefield healing her allies with pinpoint precision.

"Shite, lad, I knew the Vokhai had mages but…these are…more than I bargained for…what Arcana didja say you had? We could…maybe cause a cave-in? Or pray they get cheap shotted 'fore battle's end…" Though he tried, Aric was unable to stave off the panic from seeping into his hushed words.

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Aric von'Lundqvist } ༉༻•══════════꧂​

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[Makt]

Makt didn't like what Aric told him. It wasn't so much the words that were spoken, but the tone of them. If someone who had spent so much time in caves was panicking… then Makt didn't think that things were going well.

"I can use zephyr and fulgur," Makt explained, "and I can apparate, but I don't think any of those would help with a cave in. Are you able to cause a cave in without risking us dying in the process?"

Makt tried to come up with another idea. There seemed to be five individuals down there that were keeping the battle one sided - A warrior, a sorceress, two fulgari, and a teleporting healer. If not for the latter, Makt would have suggested the go down there and start kicking ass, but the thought of getting his throat slashed by a blinking enemy didn't really appeal to him.

"No matter what, we need to get the healer," Makt would say absent mindedly, "or hurt some of others so badly that they run out of metaphor. Hmm..."

"How about this," he explained as his gears started turning, "we're in a cave, which echoes quite a lot. I'll make a very loud sound to take everyone by surprise, and you do whatever you can to take advantage. With any luck, they won't even be able to tell where the sound originated from."

Makt focused hard, as was always necessary when casting multiple spells at once. It was only possible by the grace of his incredible mental fortitude. He crafted a sphere around the two of them that would prevent them from being injured by the other spell he was crafting. Once the silencing bubble was in place, he clapped his hands together, forcing a massive burst of sound to BOOM throughout the cavern.

The sound was probably loud enough to burst blood vessels in a normal environment, though there was no telling how loud the sound would be over such a wide area. The bubble Makt provided wouldn't shield them from all the sounds, but it would hopefully prevent them from having hearing loss. Hopefully the distraction he could provide would give Aric time to cant or whatever he needed to do.

-1 Journeyman aether
-1 Expert aether cast

1315

 

[Vicissitude]

Summer 85, year 124 of the third age​

Aric nodded to Makt's plan– with the boy's repertoire of magic, his proposition did sound like the best route to take. The thunderclap he made reverberated through the cavern, causing the stone all 'round them to shake. This effect lasted several seconds longer than one might expect, amplified by the cavern's acoustics as it was.

Many of the Vokhai below stopped in their tracks, their instinctual response to freeze in the face of unknown danger taking over– though just as well, many of them were stuck in place holding their heads simply due to the pain resulting from the thunderclap's volume. There were, however, a few capable of enduring through the sound that were apparently eager to take advantage of whatever it was. Aric and Makt, however, were kept safe from the sound's more harmful effects.

Taking full advantage of the added chaos, Aric knelt low to the ground as if to connect more of himself to the earth below. He'd close his eyes and begin to repeat an incantation. A few seconds later, massive stalactites began to fall from the ceiling. They'd crash into the earth below, killing large swathes of what Vokhai remained alive. The Najda sorceress yelled something to her allies in a raspy, melodic hiss, and then Blinked over to the Orkhan man– who appeared resistant to her command– before teleporting them both away. The Goblin and the Gnolls, however, were not so lucky; in the chaos, the two Fulgurists fell to the impaling stone and the Goblin had been pinned and stabbed in the back during the initial chaos of the thunderclap. A few more apparent mages would also teleport away, realizing that either their battle had been intruded upon or some unknown supernatural force was wreaking havoc on the caverns themselves. As Aric rose to his feet, both he and Makt could peer over from their vantage point and see that any who remained were too injured to do much at all.

Lifting the strange, almost alien talisman he'd been given to the air, he threw it over the edge of the precipice after yelling an equally alien sounding word. Clearly an object of complex Ensorcelling, it began to shine with iridescent Aether– seconds later, tendrils of magic spiderwebbed outward in all directions, reaching out to connect with each Vokhai body that remained– living or dead– in the area. In a flash, both the talisman and all of the Vokhai would disappear.

Aric put his hands on his hips and looked a bit confused. "Ya think that woulda worked if I'd've done that when they were all still alive? …though I suppose sending a bunch of healthy ones to the folks who, uh…ordered 'em…might not be appreciated." he mused, one brow raised. "The instructions I was given…weren't exactly clear," he followed up with a hearty chuckle.

"Nevertheless, many thanks! I think we can go now," Aric continued, looking to Makt and trying to gauge the other's reaction to what had just occurred.

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Aric von'Lundqvist } ༉༻•══════════꧂​

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[Makt]

Makt couldn't help but feel as though he'd been dragged into something way above his pay grade as the other faelnir used his magic device to transport a large number of vokhai to god knows where. He was glad to be rid of the creatures, but it was unnerving to think that such a device could exist. If that kind of weaponry was ever put into the wrong hands… He didn't want to think about the ramifications.

Feeling a newfound respect for Aric and "his" power, Makt forced a smile and said, "I take it the less I know the better, so I'll not ask for details if you don't want to provide them… I've no intention of repeating what we did here because, frankly, I don't think anyone would believe me." He let out a laugh.

"I'm glad this was a somewhat straightforward problem to solve, though for a moment there I thought I was going to accidentally cause this whole place to cave in." He shivered at the thought. "I take it we're going back the way we came?" he asked, turning to go.

He wasn't put off by how short the fight had been. He'd never been in a real fight between mages before, but he'd heard that they were fairly short. There were so many ways to kill a person very, very quickly. He was just glad that it was they who had done the killing this time around.

1558

 

[Vicissitude]

Summer 85, year 124 of the third age​

Aric couldn't help but let out breathy laughter at first, as if, perhaps, to expel tension. Once he'd regained his composure, "...honestly, lad, even if I explained it all tae ya I don't think ya'd be all too inclined tae believe it," he'd answer with something of an awkward grimace. "Best I can do ya for is say that I somehow got wound up in somethin' ya'd want no part of outside o' this."

Then he'd chuckle in response to the notion that Makt could've caused a cave in– this time much lighter in tone. "You'd've needed somethin' more seismic, I'd think– like an explosion– to have caused a cave-in…or, I suppose, have kept makin' thunderclaps. But aye, we can just leave at this point– I…think…those Vokhai got where they needed ta be." He didn't sound entirely sure of that statement, flashing a bit of an awkward grin as punctuation thereof.

Aric, too, was glad that he didn't end up having to endanger either of them too severely. The Fælnir lived fragile enough lives already; he hated the thought of unnecessarily putting his kin at risk. That was the entire point of why he was here to begin with– if he didn't keep his promise with those dark entities, who knew what havoc they might reap upon other Fælniri settlements? He had no idea why they needed bodies, but at this point, he simply didn't care. The warrior just wanted his people to be left alone.

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Aric von'Lundqvist } ༉༻•══════════꧂​

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[Vicissitude]

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❀ Rewards ❀

Makt

+16 XP (1558 wc)

Aric (Vicissitude)

+25 XP (2468 wc)

❀ Comments ❀

Kage may inherit the awarded XP! Sorry this took so long to finish.

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