Men who Scheme Together, Profit Together (Iggy)

by **Wrenmae** on February 27th, 2013, 5:33 am

Winter 87, 512 AV

"Ignotus!" Wrenmae opened the door to the nuit's haunt with little more ceremony than he might have barged into a whorehouse. His Waveguard uniform clung to his skin, sweat pouring from his forehead and neck, staining the blue a darker blue while his weapons danced at his waist. The hypnotist was in no mood to be deterred or denied and shut the door behind him with a slam.

Outside people craned their heads toward the sound, but already Wrenmae was pacing, rubbing rough fingers along coarse hair...stubble peeking through his flesh. He had been thinking all night, backed into a corner. That bitch, Maria, she knew. She knew and he had failed to mark her in the Ball. Although Trente's reputation was in tatters, Maria would soon set her hounds on him...and he had left a trail, an irrevocable trail.

All night thinking, pondering, reflecting. There was his arrival in Zeltiva, likely recorded when he was fresh from Shroud's control and innocent to the danger...from there he had left and returned, sickness followed him like the ever present finger of accusation. Now Zeltiva keeled away and those Waveguards who had left and returned were dwindling...soon there would be only him.

Unless the Blighter was killed.

"Ignotus," he said, turning on the nuit, eyes frenzied and thinking, dashing around the room, "How would you like to be a hero?"

by **Ignotus Everto** on February 27th, 2013, 5:21 pm

Wrenmae's dynamic entry was met with a sudden flinging of book. The specific book (The Gods and Goddesses of Mizahar) was formerly held in midair by a detached astral hand. When Ignotus found himself accosted by a wet Wave Guard, his first instinct was to fling it and begin producing Res. Fortunately, only a couple droplets were produced before Ignotus realized it was only Wrenmae. However, his friend was panicking. Jittery. Rabid, almost.

While his speaking of being a hero was most pleasant, he owed it to his friend- Now that was a strange word for him- to at least get him in a state of mind to think clearly. "At ease, Wrenmae." Ignotus drawled as he stood, a wave of calm washing over the man and dashing away his hysteria. The man already knew he was a Hypnotist, so he didn't need to worry about appearing artificial. After a tick, the effect ceased. Wrenmae would have to relax on his own after that. "I would certainly love to, but what has you so frightened? It's not like you."

by **Wrenmae** on March 8th, 2013, 11:28 pm

The book flew through the air, narrowly avoiding the hypnotist's face as he instinctively batted it out of a collision path, casting it away from him to tumble across the floor. The knee-jerk reaction to follow back with a gout of flame was not lost...and although pale green res hissed from his fingers, it quickly retreated when the blast of hypnotism entered his head.

Wren took the hypnotic calm for what it was and allowed it to soothe his rampaging emotions. He hadn’t slept in too long and an erratic edge had wormed its way into his frame of mind. Now only emotion ruled his actions, or had, till Ignotus had given him a sieve to sup deeply the cup of calm. Now he took a breath, another, and a third before taking a seat. Idly, he twisted the ring on his left hand, the one that pulsed a warmth into that finger that told him Minnie was within two miles of him, and which direction. He was calmed by it and the hypnotist's intervention.

Ignotus was in a new body now, had to be, and it was the same he had taken before the ball. The aging in the temple had taken a toll on them both…but whereas Ignotus could simply find a new vessel, Wren had to be satisfied with his…perhaps one of the few advantages the carrion crawlers had on the living.

Once seated, the hypnotist laid his head on the table for a moment before looking up at his comrade. He waved a hand at the man irritably till he caught sight of the book cover, lying on the floor where it had tumbled…and his face grew a shade darker. Well then, Ignotus was doing his own research. Not that he blamed the nuit, without sleep one needed to pass the time somehow…but the juxtaposition of a godly handbook and what he had come prepared to say was not lost on the suspicious mage. So instead he checked his lead in.

“Allow me a moment to collect myself and I’ll tell you,” he said, fanning his face with a stiff hand, “But what of you? Reading up on the gods tonight…what deity are you searching for?”

by **Ignotus Everto** on March 15th, 2013, 4:15 am

"Anyone." Ignotus replied. "Rhysol. Krysus. Ovek. Akajia. Rak'keli. I'm certain one of them can cause a disease... And one of them has marked someone. Or there's just an exceptionally talented poisoner at work with the wells, but it never hurt to find out how. I'm close to the who, but not the how..."

The Nuit grimaced. Wrenmae wanted him to become a hero? Was he aware he was on the list of possible suspects? It wasn't impossible. There was a way to find out... If he wanted to look frightening. "I think I've found the who, however." Ignotus replied with what he hoped was a disarming smile. "The same way Sagallius made the mistake of chastising me before I knew Anar was in Sunberth. I do believe you have a confession to make to me, Wrenmae. Worry not- for I'm certain you have a brilliant plan to make both of us very happy men."

The Hypnotic calm began to weigh thick on Wrenmae's shoulders once more. Ignotus couldn't afford for him to panic. The Wave Guard had defeated him once in combat before- He highly doubted that it would end in stalemate a second time.

by **Wrenmae** on March 21st, 2013, 5:14 am

They sat on the opposite ends of their boards. One, a young man, too young perhaps to be thrust into this world of biting shadows, magic, and blood and the other an ancient wizard, casting away his mortality for a parasitic half life long ago. Both knew and did not know each other...both may have been brothers, father and son, blood friends. But now the space of secrets passed between them and beyond both of their comprehensions.

One did not know the other and as one sought a grasp on the throat, secretly, the other sought an equal grasp on the heart. Perhaps it was the calm that lay upon him, that he had allowed to pervade his mind. There was no blocking it anyways...hypnotism was not about denial, merely awareness. He knew Iggy sought to control the situation, control him. They had not finished that evening at the morgue and this time...Wren would not be foolish enough to go for his heart alone.

So he allowed that calm to ease the tension from his shoulders, sat back and raised an eyebrow. "You're right, Ignotus, I do have a confession." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I know what is causing the disease in Zeltiva...or rather, I know who...and it isn't any of the gods you've mentioned, it's Vayt."

He picked up the book, slid it across the table. "His name is here and you are not foolish enough to miss his purview. I happen to know the man responsible, have known for some time now."

Steepling his fingers, he watched the hypnotist, carefully...cautiously. "I have taken measures against illness myself, and being dead, you have nothing to worry from the plague." Half truths now, broken promises and shattered trust. Ignotus he could trust to be Ignotus, to work for Ignotus and do as Ignotus needed. He had no doubt he was more useful to the mage alive...for now, but if that situation ever changed, Ignotus would sell him as a token chip to barter for power in an instant.

It took a disturbed man to know another, and Wrenmae had been crazy once upon a time...crazy when he met Ignotus a few seasons back.

"That's exactly why I've come to you. I think I've allowed the villain enough leway in the town. He served his purpose well enough, gave me time to consolidate and work to assimilate the Martial Guild into the Waveguard...even allowed a bit of profit on the side, but I think you and I both know that a person like that is better off dead for reward than alive for betrayal."

He set both hands on the table and smiled, his sweat drying as a calm overtook him.

"I am going to give him to you, Ignotus Everto...because I owe you. You are going to save the city, but I want something in return...the debt I pay back to you is too grand for the service you've given me...I offer you heroism in the eyes of the people, the power you want. All I ask from you is a deal of sorts, one I will collect from you at another time."

He held out his hand.

"What do you say?"

by **Ignotus Everto** on March 27th, 2013, 1:22 am

Ignotus listened to the whole speech with an air of passive approval. "If he expects me to swallow his tosh, so I will." While Wrenmae held a special spot in the Nuit's unbeating heart, his barging in left little room for doubt in his mind. While it was very possible that he wasn't the Blighter, his panic and knowledge of the plague's nature, as well as the simple fact that he never, ever got sick added up rather harshly against him.

But of course, it meant little to Ignotus. As long as he got out of the city before it collapsed, and he didn't do something stupid, the wizard would be more than happy to play along.

The aura of calm clouding the room also scaled back, simply promoting the emotion instead of forcing it- Ignotus would need his Djed later, most likely, and it would not do at all to waste it. He chuckled and took the greater Hypnotist's hand in his own clammy one. While its coldness was masked slightly by the gloves he had taken to wearing, the contrast between the temperature of his flesh and Wrenmae's was still great. "My dear, how many times must I tell you all you need to do is ask?"

Let him think his secret was safe. If he decided to turn traitor, it would be information worth keeping quiet.

by **Wrenmae** on March 27th, 2013, 4:45 am

They might as well have been snakes, each with their secrets, both about each other, hand in hand as if they were brothers. Held by a mutual web of tangled lies, suspicions, and doubts, they were at once enemies and closer than any blood relation.

Releasing the corpse, Wrenmae sank back into his seat. Ignotus was smart enough to start putting the pieces together, perhaps too smart. But now wasn't a time to plot against the nuit, certainly not with his own fate hanging in the balance.

"The fellow is a Waveguard who joined the Sahova expedition and returned...his arrival fits fairly evenly with the timeline of when the sickness started. My guess is that the power can control the spread of illness, but cannot be turned off...otherwise it would be easier to lie low and wait for awhile before turning such suspicion on onseself. If there are any other effects, they are beyond me. Regardless...I have his name and whereabouts. You will burn him to ashes and in a short amount of time we will know his guilt."

He held up a finger, paused, and smiled, "When the disease dies down and the people are allowed relief...they will come and ask you who told you, how did you know. That's up to you to fabricate a reason. In return, I always want a place here in Zeltiva. You will use your power here to grant me access to items I would not otherwise have access to, and consider my council in matters concerning the direction Zeltiva should take. Trente is disgraced and the Martial Association WILL be assimilated into the Waveguard. You will facilitate this change as best you can."

Pausing again he put a finger to his chin, in thought, "I'd also like to present you with another offer, if you're interested. In such times where apocalyptic circumstances separates the city states, only organizations of multiple minds seem poised to create great change. We've both been to Sahova and seen the power that tireless undead minds can work over the centuries...so why can we not do the same? I aim to begin an organization, one that will begin to pull at the seams of this lawlessness and build something of a society based around mutual advancement."

He jutted a thumb up at his face and the scars Trente had left him.

"The Scars is what I'll call them."

Another smile.

"Interested?"

by **Ignotus Everto** on March 31st, 2013, 5:37 am

Ignotus perked up slightly at the word 'disgraced.'
"This just gets better and better..."
Desperate men were always the most easily moldable. And the most easily moldable were always the most loyal in the future.

"Arrangements should also be made to transfer management to someone who is most certainly ours," Ignotus added, drumming his "I think we both have an idea as to whom- A certain wholesome Zeltivan family man who is already in the Wave Guard. As for access to the city... I should be able to grant you that by midsummer, delays notwithstanding."

Wrenmae's second proposition got much more than a perk. A grin slowly spread across Ignotus' face, and he steepled his fingers as his comrade continued to explain his plans. "Oh Wrenmae, Wrenmae, Wrenmae..." Ignotus drawled, "This is why I adore you." The Nuit crossed his legs and leaned back onto locked out arms in a macabre parody of a reclining model before saying, "Now, please, tell me more..."

by **Eldritch** on August 6th, 2013, 10:50 pm

Wrenmae :

Ignotus :

Notes :

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Keep on writing!

Placeholder Men who Scheme Together, Profit Together (Iggy)