Bad for Business

[Miro]

Braynt stared blankly as the man refused his offer, his mind elsewhere. He hardly heard what was said, but had already decided what was to happen. The man saved him, wanted to help him, so he would. The man went to the back of the shop and pushed a heavy display aside. Lessomm made his way to leave, but Braynt would not be far behind. He pulled a floorboard up and reached down to remove a small sack of coin and tucked it into his shirt. He immediately ran out of the store and followed the Eypharian from a distance.

Ender immediately saw what had happened, but was unable to speak to his partner. And before long they would be back to Miro. The Irylid was unsure what to do. Telling his master would be akin admitting failure, but it was not his fault for luring the man after. "Zlynge Lessomm, you ignorant fool, why can't you see him following us." He cursed his partner silently with scornful thoughts. "You're going to ruin everything for me. Ruin the master's job as well. No, Lessomm will be taught a lesson, and I must save our cause. The man must die."

But to find a chance to murder a man in one of the busiest parts of town was no simple task. Even where Miro remained, away from prying eyes, one yell was all it took. When the undead saw the condition his servant was in, he was hardly pleased, but could be sure the job was done. Though when another tattered man came around the corner, nothing but anger built. His servants had failed. This man was desperate though, not angry. Something odd was happening. The Irylid was frightful of his master's anger, and planned a quick death for the man, but was interrupted.

"Sir, please, you have to help me! They will kill me, I need to leave the city. When word gets to them that my shop is destroyed, they will come for their money immediately. I have to get my things out of the city before any have chance to stop me. I took what's left of the loan and all of my earnings. I can't spare much, but you will be well compensated, okay?"[/yellow] With all of his frantic pleas, Braynt hadn't taken notice of the cloaked man in the dark, or the fact that they were in a dark alleyway. When he saw the skull-masked figure clearly, his expression turned grim. His previous red face was now quite pale.

[color=yellow]"No, you must, what is this? Who is that man, are you responsible for what is happening to me?" The wizard came out of the shadow and removed his hood. He reached into his sling and removed his Ebonstryfe badge and put it on display. The man who stared into the undead eyes with fear left himself open to hypnotic manipulations. The Chained One walked forward and expanded his aura and presence to wrap about the man. He focused his Djed to his voice and gestured with his badge, working his influence over the man. Perhaps his servants hadn't failed him at all.

The Hypnotist pushed emotional responses of relief and trust into the man and carefully wove a net of suggestions into his speech. "You don't need to worry, I am Ebonstryfe, here to help. This man has told me of the assault on your shop, but spoke nothing of the threat on your life. Relax and explain, tell me, who is going to kill you?" The man still looked weary, but he relented and began to speak. His voice was no less frantic than before. "The Lazarin, they loaned me the money my shop, and I can't keep up with the payments. Please, you have to understand. If you help me, I can spare a bit of coin. I only have about thirty Miza to my name, but you can take everything I leave behind. Just get me out of the city. Please."

It was hard to consider what he should do. An extra bit of coin and residence to loot was an added bonus he would gladly accept, but with Lessomm there, choices were limited. Killing the man was out of the question, as was being selfless. The Chained One would not do something for nothing, and the pay would be a pittance for the work it required. Work against the Lazarin family, and the law of Ravok. Perhaps the best choice was to uphold his duty to Rhysol and the Stryfe. It would certainly be much more fun. An emotional response of fear was forced onto the man. "What you are asking me is illegal, a crime against the Lazarin family. I must see Rhysol's justice served. You are coming with me!"

Braynt turned to run in a sudden burst of panic and made for the street. He held onto his bag of money tightly in his arms as he fled. Immediately Ender reacted, producing a mass of liquid Res and shaping it into a shaft. He willed it to sail forward after his target and transmuted it to a powerful shard of ice. Before Braynt could turn the corner he was hit with the shard in the chest and hit the ground hard. His bag of coins went sailing through the air and landed in the canal with a large splash. It would be difficult for any to claim now. And the target of the spell was wounded quite fatally. His last moments of life spent reaching for the lost coins before his heart stopped beating.

Miro was unhappy to lose his money, and that Lessomm had to witness this man be murdered, but glad that the struggle was finally over. Ender released himself from Lessomm and said nothing before returning to his master. He decided it was best to be quiet if he hadn't anything pleasant to say. Though the Irylid himself had failed, and he was sure to receive a scolding. The undead spoke in a morose voice as he watched the still corpse. "I am sorry you had to see that. He was a good man at one point, but it is just another lesson one is to learn in Ravok. You are released from duty for the rest of the day. I will pick up my reward at the Spot, so do not concern yourself with it. Just be sure to take this man's lesson with you. Never owe more than you are willing to lose."

[Lessomm]

Lessomm jerked around as he heard the voice behind him. Where had he come from? Lessomm had been sure he had moved swiftly through the back alleys. Braynt stood in front of him, pleading to him to help him. He didn't seem to have an eye for Miro. At least not until he stepped out from the darkness and revealed himself to the man. The change in the man actually caused Lessomm to curl his lips up a little before he straightened his face. Lessomm stood quietly as he watched Braynt turn his attention to Miro, accusing him of what had happened to him. Lessomm was about to step in when his master pulled out a badge and showed it to the man. As Braynt saw the badge, Lessomm watched him shrink before it. At the same time he could feel the Djed in the air. His master was preparing something magical, although the Eypharian couldn't specifically say what. Through his master's lies, Lessomm watched quietly as Bryant seemed to calm down somewhat. His pleading turned towards Miro as he tried to bribe him with the money purse he was carrying. Thirty mizas was not a light sum to be refused. Yet, Lessomm knew his master would refuse. The man had made the mistake of naming his troubles with the Lazarin family name. Nobody in Ravok with a working brain would go against them on their own. Lessomm passed a single glance to his master, somewhat surprised by the sudden change. His master had never done anything law related in his presence and now he was going to make an arrest. Although, as he looked at it, Lessomm started to understand that Miro was not after upholding the law but that upholding the law in this case could serve his master quite well, solidifying his position in Ravok. While not the action Lessomm would have taken, the Eypharian could see how doing something other people might consider evil but was considered the law in Ravok could help his master's own position. Braynt suddenly turned and ran away from them, back how he had come. Before he took his first step, his arm in the process of reaching out, Lessomm felt and saw the air around his hand getting colder, whirling with invisible power. From his hand, a large shaft of ice formed itself and flung away from him, heading towards the fleeing man. The ice shard speared Braynt and threw him to the ground. The pouch of money flew out of his hands and dropped in the endless depths of the canal with a plop. For a moment, Lessomm felt bad about having lost the money pouch. It could have served him well. He shook the thought from his mind as he turned to Miro, following the floating Ender as he moved from Lessomm to his master. Lessomm waved towards a Rovasala as it passed the corner of his eye, calling it over. "It is not the first death I have seen, master. I regret that he died. He was in a bad place and saw no way out but to run from it." Lessomm turned towards the Ravosala as it docked to the side of the canal. "And it's not the only lesson learned today." He spoke softly to himself, barely more than a whisper, words not meant to have been spoken out loud. "One trip to the Spot, please. And would it be possible to stop along the way?" Lessomm gave the address of the NHC building he was staying at before he looked to his master, offering his hand to the masked undead to help him get in the ravosala. While his master had given him leave for the rest of the day, the servant would see his master on his way first. That and he wouldn't have to pay for the Ravosala if his master was in it as well. As the Ravosala floated down the canal on its way to the first destination, Lessomm sat thinking. He was sitting opposite of his master and, while his eyes were downcast, his mind could picture every part of Miro's mask. After a long silence, Lessomm suddenly looked up and stared directly into the two eye sockets of the skull. "I may not always agree with your actions, master, but I understand that sometimes things need to be done. Today I learned that while some actions might look to be done for the greater good, they are done for selfish reasons and that some selfish actions are done for the greater good. It is difficult to hold onto things when the world is such a confusing place." The Eypharian looked down again and a few chimes later the boat hit the side of the canal as the Ravosalaman told him they had arrived at the address. Lessomm stepped out of the boat and turned to watch it float further down the canal.

[Abstract]

Grade Awarded!

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Miro

Award :

Skills

~ Persuasion - 1
~ Planning - 2
~ Familiary - 1
~ Observation - 1
~ Hypnotism - 1

Lores

~ Planning Subtle Destruction

Other

N/A

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Lessomm

Award :

Skills

~ Cleaning - 1
~ Shielding - 1
~ Observation - 3
~ Rhetoric - 2
~ Acting - 1

Lores

~ How to Clean up a Corpse
~ Shielding: Use to Protect Against Blood

Other

N/A

~|-|~

Notes

...I don't think remorse was the best tactic for Miro to take at the beginning. Really doesn't fit him, and I don't think he did it too well o.O

Lessomm, I liked the addition of 'my Master is Zulrav'... very funny, and it fit well! Great exit

Otherwise, nice, to the point thread! I'm glad you did the Spot job co-op, rather than solo... and it turned out quite well in the end, other than the artist wasn't quite... stable.