Closed A Bad Day Gets Worse

[Iskessah]

56 Winter, 512 Iskessah stormed out of the Loveless brothel in a huff. 'Loveless,' indeed, she thought bitterly. Nothing about this day had gone as planned. After arriving in the city the previous afternoon and setting herself up at the local inn, she had sought out the famed University, which was her sole excuse for coming here instead of returning to Ravok, only to find that classes were half over and that she would not be able to attend until the following season. She had spent most of the day in a huff, and it didn't help that the city was practically freezing. She thought it was supposed to be warmer further south, but petch, it was worse than Ravok! She made a silent apology to Rhysol for all the times she'd complained about the temperature he kept his home. In an attempt to locate some warmth, it had occurred to her to find a brothel. She hadn't had sex since leaving Ravok, which, she reasoned, was probably also partly to blame for her mood. But when she hear the prices of this "Loveless" place, she couldn't believe it. They charged by the chime? How was anyone supposed to relax when every moment money was draining out of their pocket? Petch! And so there she was, wandering in an apparently drunken stupor, angry at everything. The next person I come across had better have some good news....

[Wrenmae]

Cold spoke a language of desolate loneliness. With the sick in the city piling up, the corpsefires burning when the ground was too cold to break, all Zeltiva was taught the harsh lesson of Winter. To be alone, was to die alone. In fact, it was a truth which held in even the most base forms of life. The lone mouse froze in the gutter swifter than a litter of the creatures, swarming together. So was true with humans. Neighbors temporarily revoked comfort levels, hoping for warmth to nurture their shattered lives. Zeltivans were miserable this winter...but at least they weren't starving.

Too many dying of sickness to starve.

Wrenmae, dressed in his navy blue Wave Guard uniform stalked the streets with a brazen air of entitlement. He was one of the few, if not only outsider to rise to the rank of Baron within the city for his dedication and charity. While it made him something of an underdog hero to the other visitors to Zeltiva, he was met with more than ample opposition from the established aristocracy. While the University encourged matriculation, and especially travel from outside the city, some others found his swift new fame more annoying that warming.

In any case, he had taken his normal duties patrolling for the Wave Guard, volunteering to take East Street, even after the vicious murder some thirty days before. Armed with his rapier and dagger, he had assured the others he had no reason to fear the stranger, Hound, the man identified as the one who had killed Kip, their comrade.

Of course, as Hound was him, it stood to reason he feared little from the Wave guard killing phantom.

It was in this state that he came upon the woman exiting the brothels. He watched her with marked curiosity...certainly he had rarely seen a woman pay for sex in Zeltiva, and she was not unattractive. Perhaps she sought work?

Perhaps you should keep your groin from your thoughts.

I didn't ask you.

No, but I stepped in anyways.

I thought you were sulking.

Got tired of that. What's her story?

I'm not sure. Want me to find out?

Look how she's walking, all bent and drawn in. Bet she's angry.

Turned down for work, perhaps?

Her?

Exactly, doesn't seem likely. Well then, shall I do my job and make sure she isn't a threat? Plenty of bandits in these parts.

That you pay and hypnotize.

Plenty of new potential bandits.

I getcha, I getcha. Go work your fatface charm on her, don't skimp on the fact you're wearing a uniform. I hear commoners love uniforms on law enforcement.

...sarcasm? Really?

I learned it from you. I take no responsibility.

Petcher.


"M'am!" he called out to her, giving a short wave and jogging up to flank her. The black cloak on his shoulders flared out in the wind, revealing the glimmering brass buttons, the navy cloth and gold stitching of the uniform. Wave Guard. Law enforcement in Zeltiva. "Dangerous to walk alone in East Street these days," he said with a smile and a wink, "Crime is on the rise. Mind if I accompany you to your destination?"

[Ignotus Everto]

Ignotus was having a wonderful, wonderful day. He had been given a promotion since returning from Sahova. A magical garbage man he was no more. Instead, in recognition of his unique and growing talents, the Nuit had been treated to a promotion of sorts. His services were now being called to assist in matters where control of the elements might grow incredibly useful. This, in conjunction to his new found D-list celebrity status had resulted in an interesting situation.

Today, by some strange coincidence, the home of a small family in East Street with an adopted son named Jimmy had caught fire. Sadly, with East Street being East Street, the house was old and dry, and was already lighting up like tinder, to the point where good old-fashioned water and screaming wasn't getting the job done. Fortunately, there were methods other than water and screaming, and using such methods was why Ignotus was standing before the building.

The Nuit was a Reimancer who specialized in fire, and as such was able to perform an act that was as impressive as it was jaw-droppingly unsafe.
Exuding a modest amount of azure Res from his body as a thick mist, the wizard directed it into the home's windows, before deciding his range wasn't satisfactory and detached his astral arms from his body to get a little extra reach. To get all those nooks and burning crannies. With the gas snaking its way strategically through the small hovel, the wizard closed his eyes and focused on the fire...

A tick after Wrenmae extended his invitation, the two would see a small cloud made entirely out of fire drift overhead in the direction of the Bay. Fire. Cloud. FIRE CLOUD. Quite a few denizens of East Street who had happened to be opening their windows were standing in shock, and a little corpse man was jogging along underneath the massive floating conflagration, keeping it from falling and raining Ivak's poorly digested Taloban lunch on the orphans and prostitutes. Some of them could get awfully flammable, after all.

[Iskessah]

Iskessah's neck turned sharply to look at whatever poor sod had decided to bother her in her current mood. If she hadn't had years of practice learning to not piss off the Ebonstryfe, she would definitely have ripped off his head without thought for the consequences. The man-scum seemed to be attired in some strange blue get-up, though his cloak looked warm, and Iskessah eyed it longingly before reluctantly deciding it probably wouldn't be worth the trouble to snatch it from his shoulders. Through the cold-addled haze her mind was in, she caught onto to the fact that the man was trying to be friendly. She responded with a noise of disgust. Bad enough that she had to live among humans without maiming any of them for the glory of Siku, but she would never get over how arrogant males of other species were allowed to become, walking around like they weren't inherently inferior... She walked on, neither explicitly accepting or denying the blue-man's request. But as she took the first step, she felt a warm glow on her skin, coming from above, as if the sun had valiantly fought and vanquished the harsh wind coming off the see. Looking up, she saw that it was not the sun, but a huge cloud of fire. Iskessah at that moment didn't care how strange and occurrence this might be. "Warm," she breathed, before chasing after the briskly moving source of heat. She forced her sluggish limbs into motion, unwilling to let the only good thing to happen today get away from her. As she got closer, the warmth filled her muscles, and she was soon jogging along underneath the cloud. She was looking straight up, careful not to lose sight of the floating fire, so she did not notice the small man until she ran him over.

[Wrenmae]

It was not the sound the woman made, like strangling her own words, nor her quick shamble from his presence which motivated the Favored of Vayt onward. No, such things were trivial. If she was not the sort to engage in conversation, than he wasn't the kind to pursue it. Plenty of other whores and vagrants in Zeltiva looking for a purpose.

But the floating cloud of fire seemed to suggest something of a bit more pressing interest.

What. Is. That?

It appears to be a cloud of fire.

Yes. I know what it APPEARS to be, fatface, but what IS it?

Well, my dear familiar, if we remove what it couldn't be...a person, a bird, your intellect, we are left with a scant few things it COULD be.

Oh. Ha-Ha

I think it's a cloud of fire....a moving cloud of fire over Zeltiva.

Well then, grand detective. Off with you and arrest it. I'm sure it's violating some law you've already broken.

Maybe I'll send you as a diplomat. You have a skill with speaking to other inanimate objects.

Familiars are not inanimate objects!

I know. You've made that abundantly clear with your prattling. Now let's go.


Taking off at a comfortable jog, he was there when the woman crashed into Ignotus. A quick flash of auristics in his vision tied the amber strands of Res to his hands, suddenly cut off by the unexpected attack. For a moment, Wrenmae considered the real possibility he'd just seen a man die. The woman was far from gaunt and Iggy was far into being gaunt and brittle. It really hit home when you imagined it was as easy to kill a nuit as slamming them into a door once or twice.

You'd have to take a bath to get all the powdered bone off after, but ultimately...simple.

What wasn't simple was the ball of flame descending on Zeltiva.

Swallowing a curse, Wrenmae pushed out his own Djed, a faint greenish hued res, and leaped the remainder of the distance to where Ignotus had fallen. Lashing out with the res, he repelled the fire upward and forward, as Ignotus had been doing, the black cloak across his back burning with the heat, an uncomfortable disadvantage of the steel wool.

"Damn it, woman!" he shouted over the crackling of flames, "Are you stupid or simply an oaf?" More res pumped from his skin, rising up to repel the work Ignotus had already set, stepping forward hesitantly, he led the ball of fire toward the water. First he would dispose of the flames, then...he'd return to see if there was anything left of his companion to peel off the cobblestone.

[Ignotus Everto]

One of the worst thing that could happen to a Reimancer while he was levitating a blooming cloud of fiery death above his head was a loss of concentration. Surprisingly enough, when Ignotus found himself being trampled by a rather heavy woman hell-bent on giving herself a suntan, his control over his Res, which was already quite shaky given the size of the cloud, floundered and resulted in the burning orange mass falling to earth. Earth, in this case, being a soon-to-be roasted Dhani and Nuit.

Lhex (and Wrenmae) seemed to have other plans for Ignotus, however, and the undead found the cloud of fire being supported by another wizard's Res. Pulling his thoughts back together, the Nuit stabilized what was left of his own, and together with Wrenmae, guided the cloud to water. A loud, angry hiss sounded from the Bay when the flames touched against it, and a huge mass of steam rose from the sea. Once the threat of immolation was over, Ignotus could focus entirely on himself again.

The impact wasn't that bad, given that he was only really bumped into. His ribs ached, and he might have sustained a couple bruises, but he wasn't in critical condition. That being said, he was still in quite a bit of pain, and Ignotus did not like being in pain. In fact, the only thing he loathed more than being in pain, was whatever poor soul had caused it in the first place. In this case, Iskessah. Ignotus' Res didn't dissipate after the fire was gone, instead drifting lazily back to hover above its owner in three concentric rings.

Whether or not the Dhani had elected to get off of him, a globule of azure gel the size of a human head broke off from the main formation and rocketed towards her, bringing quite a mass of air with it. It stopped about a foot in front of her, but the wind didn't. The result would likely be that Iskessah would find herself shoved off of Ignotus or, if she was standing, knocked on her arse.

Then, and only then, did Ignotus stand up. Slowly, he dusted his cloak off, returned the orb of Res to its ring with a slight tilt of his head, and wrinkled his nose at Iskessah, his eyes two furious slits. A small trickle of milky white ichor had matted the hair on his temple, and he had a number of minor scrapes on his skin. "Thank you, Wrenmae, for saving us." Ignotus hissed through clenched teeth when the Wave Guard returned, his eyes still fixed on Iskessah.

Unlike the two souls before him, Ignotus' body didn't heal. When he sustained a scratch, he had to contend with the pain of that scrape until he switched bodies. And switching bodies was a completely different kind of uncomfortable. As such, he was not happy with Iskessah for forcing him to switch sooner than he'd like. Indeed, if it weren't for the witnesses, he would have likely tried to reduce her to cinders already. If the Dhani tried to get up, another blast of wind would force her down again. The Nuit loomed over her, hands balled into two pale fists. "So," he spat, a faint crackle and a few faint flashes of blue issuing from the outermost ring as a thimbleful of Res was converted to electricity, "Tell me, woman, why did you nearly kill both of us?"

[Iskessah]

When Iskessah tripped over the small man, it took her cold-addled mind a bit longer than normal to realize what had happened. By the time she was able to try to stand, the warm cloud was already nearly to the water. Not even having time or energy to stand, she tried to scrawl toward it, but a gust of wind knocked her back. She watched in despair as the great mass of fire dropped into the cold bay. Iskessah relished the one final blast of steam it produced, but this was quickly followed by a frigid breeze coming off the bay. Iskessah fought to stay conscious as everything good and happy drained from the world. She tried to sustain herself with visions of ripping the entrails out of a still-living warm body...but it was no use. The cold was seeping into every part of her. By the time either of the two men tried to ask their questions, Iskessah had completely lost consciousness. She lay on her side, her body curled slightly. If either touched her they would find that her body was as cold as the surrounding wintry air. It would seem like she wasn't breathing, but close observation would reveal that she was still barely alive.

OOCSorry about this guys. I promise she'll be more interesting once she's warm. XD

[Wrenmae]

Both men stood over the slumbering woman. Wrenmae swallowed his curses and tried to work out his bemusement. Was she sick? Had she dashed her head upon the cobblestone? Leaning down, he found no mark on her. To any other, she might appear dead...cold, barely breathing, a sluggish creature by any account.

Her heartbeat was slow and Wrenmae looked up to Ignotus with a shrug. "I cannot tell whether she is drunk, sick, dying, or any other state of being save in the way. The most I saw her move was toward your little fiery demonstration...perhaps there is some logic to that."

Rocking back on his feet, the Waveguard considered it. Was she attracted to the heat? Certainly it was a cold day, bitter winds crawled along his flesh and ate their way through his uniform, but not enough to freeze to death...especially so swiftly.

She was curious, and at the very least, motivated further investigation. A crowd had begun to gather and so Wrenmae leaned down and hoisted the woman over one shoulder, nodding to Ignotus.

"We take her back to Headquarters and question her. Stands to reason she'll have some explanation for her purpose knocking you over...and whether that means she leaves a little lighter in her coinpurse or with no assignments is enough to motivate me to take some time to carry her."

A smile, fierce and healthy despite the plague and sickness around him. Ignotus appeared to be alive...and mostly undamaged. Surprising, but then...his body wasn't THAT new.

"Come along, reimancer," Wrenmae said to Ignotus, heading back toward the Waveguard Headquarters, "And see to your face, hmm? Unless you want to perpetually look as though you were coming out of a scrape with the ground."

[Ignotus Everto]

Iskessah's reaction to a blast of cold air was unexpected, to say the least, if not unwelcome. A faint smirk came to the Nuit's face. Maybe she had died of fright.

Wrenmae's brief note on her running towards the flames sparked the thinking part of his brain not long after his hoisting her up denoted that she was, most likely, alive. A quick touch of her hand told him that she was cold. Therefore, Nuit or cold-blooded... Or frozen. Except that while it was cold, it wasn't nearly cold enough to cause hypothermia. He himself would have had to worry about his body suffering from frost otherwise, given that he had no system of keeping himself warm or cool. As such, the list of possible explanations was, currently, the first two. As she was a rather ruddy-skinned woman, Nuit was out of the question. That left cold-blooded, or some other answer he had yet to think of.

"I have seen a creature that could switch its form, or claimed to at least. It called itself a Kelvic. Perhaps she is one of those?"
Perhaps they were cold-blooded. It wouldn't surprise him. Ignotus had seen some... Interesting people during the journey to Sahova. His fellow Hypnotist's mention of his face reminded him to stay angry. "Nothing I can do if I don't want to feel like a drunkard for the next ten days." he said bitterly. "We don't heal. Aye, let's go."
The Res above Ignotus' head melded together into a spiral shape, before swirling down and slipping into his sleeves. The wizard would not be able to produce more of the substance that day without subjecting himself to overgiving, and he would rather have full use of his abilities for the coming interrogation...

~*~*~

Iskessah would awake in a small, cramped cell smelling strongly of man and mildew. Thick iron bars made up an entire wall, with heavy masonry constituting the rest. There were no windows. Two stout wooden chairs were two feet in front of the bars, and Ignotus was sitting in one of them. A small were-light floated idly around his head, and a small pool of Res was gathered around his feet. The Nuit was tired of waiting for the prisoner to come to, so a small bolt of lightning arced from the floor to the poor Dhani's calf, hopefully jolting her to her senses. Or leaving a nasty burn. Either or. Or both.

[Iskessah]

Once Iskessah was brought out of the wind-chilled streets of Zeltiva, her body gradually began to warm up, returning her to a semi-consciousness. Since she sensed nothing that might spell danger, she remained in this state, not awake enough to realize that she was still in her human form, and that her senses were therefore not entirely reliable. Then the mage zapped her with lightning, and she jolted awake with an angry hiss. She did not have time to remember where she was before she saw the cage and smelled the pungent stink of man. For a terrible moment, she believed herself to be back in the cage in Mattieu's house, his death and her freedom nothing but a cruel dream, and she pounded against the bars in a rage. But certain things didn't make sense. The bars were iron, not wood. She was wearing clothes, and this room was not the one she had grown so used to. And the short, battered man in front of her was certainly NOT Mattieu. As the events of the previous day slowly came back to her, it occurred to her that whoever caged her this time might not be aware of her true nature. She just might be able to get out of this, if Siku was with her. "Who are you?" she demanded. "Where am I?" She gripped the bars, scanning the room for any escape routes, and upon finding nothing obvious, looked to her apparent captor. She tried to judge his motives, watched his responses for any clues, anything she could use to threaten or bargain her way out of here. Because she had to get out of this cage.