Closed To Commission an Artifact [Vick]

[Zandelia]

Winter 73rd, 513 AV - Legacy Imaginarium of Artifacts



The notion had been burrowing its way through Zandelia’s mind for the past few days, a small idea that would perhaps prove to have great ramifications. She had not expected such when she had first stepped foot upon the isle that was Sahova, she had not had much idea what to expect if she admitted the truth to herself. Sahova had just been another place, somewhere to weather the storm that was her failures and begin piecing together her return to Sunberth. Yet in her short stay the island had proved mysterious enough to hold her longer than expected and now…well now it had possibly given her a means with which to have an advantage in the seasons to come. It had begun with the open class hosted by Master Vick.

Legacy… the word had reverberated and ricocheted through her mind ever since.

The very idea was small, the juxtaposition of random desires and means. She had not dared to ask the question out loud before the other students on that day, it had been her own to carry. She was sure she was far from the first, but for Zandelia it was something new and exciting. She had wanted to speak to the little Nuit right after but had hesitated, she was no fool. A request for a weapon of maledicted properties would surely have a high price. She had toyed with the idea, grown fond of it and then rejected it scores of time. Yet now, as she headed for what she had been told was Master Vick’s inner sanctum, her curiosity and greed had gotten the better of her.

“They always do in the end…” she muttered to as she paced the corridors.

Or at least curiosity does…greed I am new to she told herself, firmly believing this naïve self-deception.

What burned in her hear the most was vengeance though, the idea that to be in possession of such powerful items would allow her to smash her way through whatever her father had to throw at her. She was closing in on him she was sure. Another note had been found that ad suggested Sunberth was his home once more. Whisperings had been ferretted out that Garret was still on Sahova – she would find him before he found her. He could try to flee but she knew there was only one place to go. The scents were sharp, the threads were weaving themselves together – a date with destiny was being set. Only time now remained as a barrier.

She paused, the door to her future now before her. She composed herself, breathing deeply of the dank, musty air a few times to calm her nerves before placing her hand upon the door to The Legacy Imaginarium of Artifacts. It had not been difficult to find, everyone knew who Vick was and where he could be found, even if they didn’t know much about him beyond his craft. That was an oddity but she dismissed it as she pushed the door open slowly.

“Master Vick,” she called to the ether as she crossed the threshold that now looked ever more forbidding, “I wonder if I could discuss an…idea with you?”

She stopped then, taking in the interior for a few moments, Vick was not in her immediate range of vision. The laboratory was not as impressive as she had thought it would be, more of a small workshop that what she had imagined a master’s work place would contain. A fireplace could be found between a table that was littered with various items she could not make out in the gloom and a battered, scarred bookcase hunched on its other side. She took a few steps into the domain and left the door open slightly for a quick exit if necessary.

“Master Vick?” she asked the air once again to no response.

Perhaps he is not in? she wondered to herself.

She paused and took a few moments to marshal her Djed, calling upon the sight of Auristics to try to pierce the gloom. It was slow though not as slow as it used to be. Trickles filled her neck, jawline and then her eyes and she cast her gaze about cautiously trying to keep the focus of her vision as narrow was possible. She could not see an aura that would approach that of Vick but a few other, smaller ones caught her interest. She moved towards the bench that had before been in gloom and let her fingers trace the items there – bones she now saw. Their aura’s were small, almost finger-width to her senses and tucked in around their sleek forms. Their colours were dark – blacks and browns. She had had no experience with bones so she could only assume they represented death or decay.

She made to move past them but then something else caught her attention, a small item…a necklace? She did not touch it as it looked finished and she had learnt a little from Vick at least. She did observe the way in which it appeared…twisted? As if it had been folded and warped – a sickly yellow colour. She thought that it might be the bones of a canine, some looked similar to those of the Gibbet Dog she had gathered for the master before the lesson. A few other finished pieces seemed the same – warped and with sickly colours of varying hues. She frowned and let her Djed dissipate.

Is that what the Legacy looks like to Aurists? Or is it just these items in particular? What are their effects? she wondered to the ignorance of the world at large now, engrossed in her analysis.

She was about to leave when fate gave her a little helping hand.

[Vick]

The screams of pain filled the air as the young master moved the blade down the stomach of the slave. Vick found himself in the dungeon with a simple slave that he had purchased about a year ago in a stock of a few.

Just a slave that had no name and even then as Vick was cutting into his chest and stomach as he just kept humming not even paying mind to the man's pleas for him to stop yet he did not.

He was tied down along a table bound by heavy chains. The knife in Vick’s hand was a sharp long dagger as he cut deeper into the stomach as blood pooled along his body dipping along the sides of his body dripping along the floor.

The cuts were random. Some were light while others were deep into his bare stomach and chest. No symbols, no sigils just random cuts and screams of pain. This was easy to Vick he found. Just easy he found over time. This was just one of his slaves that he was having fun with. He still had so many but he found this one had lacked skills that he could use.

The guy use to be a cook and that was it. Even then he could not cook anything that Vick saw besides burning soups and breads so he found a new use for this. Yet Vick was done as he was growing bored of this game as he pushed the knife deeper into the lower stomach leaving it inside as he walked around to face the person.

“So slave...I am bored of this. Yet I am done with you. You lack the skills I wanted in my slave. Maybe in the next life you will understand more.”

Vick said as he looked upon the mans head. Just focusing as he became very quiet blocking out the man's screams of pain. A simple small black tear was formed along the mans head before the screams became silent as the void was ripped open along his head and closing. Blood poured out of the neck and what left of the head as the brain and to the point of the nose was just gone.

“Slaves should know their place and please their masters…” Vick said as he left the dungeons knowing someone else will clean up the mess. Someone that was not worth his time.

Yet as he went inside his own lab he stopped at the doorway. Anger moved about as he saw that his door open and a figure near his desk and items of power. His own Auristics flaring to life as he saw the aura of the figure but he already knew who it was from the hair and the aura. Her name was at the tip of his tongue but with a simple thought he brushed to it the side as he saw she was near his dog collar.

He could have killed her. Just a simple void portal along the back of her skull and her brain would leak along his floor. Or just form the portal at the spine killing her slowly but for now he did not. He would see why she sought him out once more yet if it would be for a free lesson death would be something she would want.
“So tell me human why did you try to seek me out. If it’s to steal an item well you could try but who knows what that item would do.” Vick said loudly as he closed the door behind him.

A cold glare looked upon her as he waited for her answer. It had best be good for his djed was already forming in his body to force the void once more to do his bidding. There was a reason few came into his lab without him around. Even if he never locked it but maybe she would learn why that was.


If she looked upon him she would see he was covered in blood. Still wet from his slave. His brown tunic stained and his dripping a bit while still become more dry. He held no smile upon his face as he looked upon her with unblinking eyes. No smile but it would not take a wizard to understand he was getting angry at her. Very angry as the seconds passed by.
.

[Zandelia]

The shutting of the door might as well have been a death knell, she had been discovered unattended in the rooms of a Master. All things considered she could claim that it was not locked and had only been there on innocent grounds but she was positive that her words would fall on…dead…ears. No, she would not even be considered. She was startled and her head whipped around to see only the small, childish form of the Nuit. Her gaze took him in, the soaking of what could only be blood all across the front of his garb and she tried not to shudder at the thought of what Vick had just been partaking of. It didn’t look like whatever had bled had suffered a quick death – not by the sheer amount of the thick, red rivulets. She stepped back and sought for composure.

“Indeed…a dangerous thing to consider without assessment,” she started with, “thankfully I am not here for that. I am no thief. Many things…but not that” she licked her lips.

Was this foolish? Certainly! Will he agree? Perhaps. What do I have to lose? Well….everything. But it is worth the asking she tried t affirm her intentions to herself but her gaze was ever drawn back to the Nit covered in blood.

She was not good at reading Nuit, they were so difficult and alien to every single one of her senses. They possessed now discernible levers to their personality that she could use, beyond perhaps the seeking of power and knowledge – but then that only seemed to matter to mages in general. Yet even she could see that Vick was angry, almost wrathful perhaps. It was difficult to describe how she knew it, it was like the skin on her spine prickled as it did in times of danger.

“No, I have come with a proposition actually. I learnt a little from you lesson, for which I thank you Master Vick,” she bowed her head then and tried for a respectful tone and body language, “or more of a request perhaps. Your skills are legendary and I thank you for the most interesting insight. Yet I have needs beyond simple artefacts…and so I have come”

And now comes time to barter, to offer something for nothing before the fish disappears forever. What I ask for is priceless to me but perhaps trivial to him. How much would be required? Does one start small or large? No…not too large. Too high a price she told herself.

She paused then, standing in a non-threatening way as a means to reduce the pulsating threat she could feel from him. It was strange to her, the feel of this Nuit. It was almost as if she could feel her skin crawling slightly. She dismissed it and instead crossed her arms across her chest. It was a poor defence but it made her feel slightly better to have something guarding her heart.

“I find myself in need of some…tools. I am willing to pays for them. Weapons in point of fact. I wondered if it were possible to create some with your art”

[Vick]

Normally vick would jump at an offer but Vick was also touched with mood swings. It did not happen as often as it use to but he may always suffer them and could not take note of it. This was one of the times as he glared at her taking a small step forward.

His small size showing more as he stood closer to the human as his fist were opening and closing as he listened to her. Logic did not say why he was this upset at her. Maybe it was the fact he did not know how to deal with someone that could have stolen his work. She was not from this island so she did not avoid him or his lab. It was as if she was drawn to it more so and he did not know how to handle that deep down.

“You dare...How dare you come into this room and barter? You think money will make this go away? How will you think I want your coins? Don’t you understand how Sahova works? Outsider.”

He was speaking very softly. Very even as he looked upon her yet what came out of his mouth was not the common tongue he was trying to say to her but Nader-canoch. It was fluid as he spoke as after almost every few words a small rip was torn around him as the void was given an opening. His voice may have been softer and in another tongue but anyone could hear the loathing that was laced in his word but his emotions were getting to him.

His own djed was pulling out and about as he looked upon her. A tiny voice in the back of his head told him it did not make sense to be this upset. He met her before. He just taught her and he did help her a bit so why was he this upset? Was it due to the blood upon his hands already? Was it something she said? No that could not be it. Yet he did not know why he was this upset at this time.

Normally if it was a pulsar or another wizard they would understand it was just Vick having a break down and just try to leave or have him vent but he knew this human would not understand. Deep down he did not want to be this upset for him to even lose his grip on speaking common. Or even lose his grip over his own djed dealing with the void as he just became very quiet as he looked at her.

He had to get control. He could not relapse into the past. It would not be the best if he had relapsed for he did not want to go back into the memories of what laid within his head. He could not go back and deal with the past. He could not lose his control over himself like this. He was better than that. He had to.

If anyone saw him with Auristics they would see the mix emotions about him. They would see he was trying to get control. They would see the depths of his emotion rolling off of him as he closed his eyes at last. Even when he taught the class he never once blinked upon them or closed his eyes as he just set himself to focus just on himself.

Until at last he spoke. His voice was a bit different and back into common as he looked upon her as his eyes moved open.

“The price. It will not be paid with money. Your offer won’t be good enough for what I will offer you. The offer for my craft. The offer for this craft would be your mind and flesh.”

Vick said as he looked upon her. Each word was spoken in common this time as he just looked upon her. She had a chance to either understand and accept the terms or she had a chance to leave. He made it clear on so many levels her money would not work this time around. She had a choice but in the end was it much of one?

[Zandelia]

She was not sure what to expect but if she had been asked before entering the room it would not have contained what actually occurred enclosed within her answer. Reality was a slippery creature at the best of times and yet Zandelia’s smile slipped as it unfolded before her, stepping backwards neatly as Vick advanced – not enough to be disrespectful but enough that she was out of immediate striking range. She tried not to let her fingers curl upon the handles of her tonfa in expected violence. She had miscalculated, terribly miscalculated it seemed and survival hung by a thread in a tableaux of confusion.

What in the world did he just say?! Am I about to die? Petch that I’ll smash his little skull! Wait….I recognize those words… the thoughts fired through her mind, urgency lending them lightning like speed.

She had heard it spoken before, knew a little of its workings. It seemed so long ago that encounter with the Protohuman. He had warned her about something, though what exactly it had been against was hidden from her still. She would discover it soon enough but for now her immediate concerns were the small portals opening and closing rapidly around the small Nuit. She had not seen the type of magic before but only a fool could not have seen its ominous nature. They looked like holes into…nothingness. Black, dulled and endless. She tried not to wonder if Vick could send her hence into the darkness with merely a thought.

“Nader-canoch,” she responded as a way to try and distract him, “glig…ranura…vasat?” she asked quietly, hoping to Akajia herself it was not the case – and that she had got the words correct. Her knowledge was poor but she held some meanings in her mind from long ago. Her speech was slow and forced, showing clearly she had difficulty with the language.

She threw everything she had within her into slamming her Djed back into its Auristic use as quickly as she dared, any advantage no matter how slight could help her now. She needed an insight, something to use to stave off self-destruction. Colour whirled around Vick, so much so that at first Zandelia thought she had pushed herself too far. As they continued rippling though she saw them for what they were – inner conflict. She did not know Vick well enough to understand what each hue could be but the rapidity of them, the vibrancy of some lancing through the dulled hues of others. He was losing control as she watched.

Gods I hope I don’t have to fight. He’s close enough for me to win but…at what cost? No! It’s just a simple deal! Well…a deal. Why battle? she told herself firmly.

The world then froze, almost as if it held its breath as Lhex decreed the outcome and watched carefully to make sure that it unfolded as dictated. She could sense the malice ebb from Vick with every passing moment, still hidden deep within him but perhaps being brought under control once more. His aura began to settle and she let her magic go before it drained her of all energy reserves she possessed. She locked her knees so that she did not fall to her knees but instead swayed a little as she refocused – perhaps excusable as a reaction to the verbal onslaught. She say Vick close his eyes, an oddity but the meaning escaped her for now.

“Good as I don’t have enough money I suspect at any rate,” she managed to force out through tired lips, voice sluggish and slower than usual, “your response lacks clarity though. What is emant by my mind? You cannot have my brain as I am using it” she continued, leaving out the fact that for how long was still currently under scrutiny.

“As for my flesh? I presume you mean in a physical sense rather than carnal. There are some depths not even I will plumb” she shuddered at that thought, the dry skin and the…no! She stopped her imagination from getting away from itself and concentrated upon the present.

It was so hard, she felt so very…tired.

“Terms, I need terms. I am no fool. What are we talking here? You can’t have my arms removed as I will need them to use the weapons – a poor deal for me, I think, there. Let us say that I am tempted to pay the price you are suggesting. Well then, what would be the specifics?”

Always get the specifics! Never let them simply take without consent. Don’t agree to anything before you know what it is. Golden rules Zandelia, keep them close. Keep them in mind

She dearly wanted something to help her smash Markus but it was pointless to trade for them if she couldn’t use them – if the asking price was too high. She was conflicted, anyone with her talent would be able to see it. Emotions roiled beneath the all too fragile surface of her self-assured acting. Rage. Vengeance. Bitterness. Loathing. These were for Markus. Need. Desire. Hope. Curiosity. These were for herself. She was not sure which side of herself were the larger, which one ruled her.

“Name your specifics then and perhaps I can acquiesce”

[Vick]

Vick would have smiled at her if she was on his good side but right now she was still on the fence. Yet he could use her. They both could use each other for different reasons. He hated the fact she was smart by asking first but with a simple command he could just remove her for good yet for now he would play nice.

“You want to fight. Only reason you want a weapon or learn about my craft and weapons. I will make it so you can fight. Yet in return you will need to help me. I can’t do things on my own when it comes to combat or spying when I need it but I am sure you can manage and if you are bad at spying or trying to listen to others I am sure you will learn. The terms are simple.:

Vick said as he watched her. He was now letting her know the terms and he did not think she would fight that bad since he would grant her what she wanted. In so many ways.

“My items can sell for thousands. I will grant you the weapons and loan you other items that can help you. Yet you will pay it off by helping me. Either on this island or by travel with my if I need to ever leave this island. I do not think the terms are that steep”

He would let her ponder over the terms and his reason for the terms. While he was a master at the island he had made more than one enemy in his time even if he did not know it off the top of his head. Yet anyone could take the guess he did and he would need some type of guard that he could place his trust in for one did not reach the top of the hill without giving something in return.

“If you agree you may get what I need. I am going to need some type of monster from this island. You are to kill it. What it can be I do not care for you need to figure out what you want. Just note I can take some of its traits and imprint them further in the item so if you brought back a tiger I could make the weapon move faster in your hands or leave gashs even if the weapon has no sharp edges. I am sure you can figure the rest out. But tell me what weapon do you want?”

He looked at her before looking towards his desk and at last moving from her and just taking his place behind his desk. He would spare her either way now as his mood was back to his normal relaxed state if one could call it that. She would learn quickly just how his mood swings were he was sure but that was for another day.

[Zandelia]

The atmosphere lessened, became less threatening and retreated towards a world within which she was infinitely more comfortable – the realm of bartering. Terms were something she could deal with, analyse and turn inside her mind until they fit into her own goals just enough to acquiesce. She would accept his offerings, she had little illusion about the fact that she would do much indeed in order to exact her vengeance more easily. Still, she would not have been herself had she not taken a pause to consider them for what they were – what they involved for the one she would do business with. If he had looked carefully enough he would have noticed how her brow furrowed at the mention of spying.

Does he know? Could he even suspect? No…no. No one knows aside from those I have told personally and the ones that will die by my hand come Spring. If I have my way. He must just need it himself…interesting she rolled through the words inside the privacy of her own skull.

“You speak of intelligence,” she chose the word to allow him to assume she knew the world well, it would help her in the relationship after all, “I can do that for you easily enough. It requires little beyond time and patience” she continued in a thoughtful tone.

His terms were not overly steep all things considered and she was sure that a love for his craft had little to do with the generous offer. The mention of enemies piqued her interest and she wondered if the lean terms were somehow to do with the exact quality of his antagonists. She could only imagine what enemies he had but if they meant that she could get a better deal, then she was happy enough. She could deal with the difficulties later, she was a tricksome enough woman herself to be able to deal with most threats she thought.

“I can protect you from most enemies, certainly the physical ones. Magic…well I will od me best. Don’t expect me to be able to stop fire though. I feel it only fair to let you know that I am not warrior mage” she imparted the information, she sensed that betraying the small Nuit would go hard for her.

At the mention of what type of weapon she pulled her tonfa from their place at her waist and placed them upon the wood of his desk with a small thud, she looked at him and wondered if her knew what they were – she was convinced he had little weapon experience. From the lesson she also knew enough that to get the best results Vick would have to understand their use a well as possible. She resolved to teach him to that end.

“Tonfa…two of them. Always in pairs. They are not deadly weapons in their nature but in the hands of those who know how to use them they can be,” she spoke in a vaguely lecturing tone, “ their power comes from momentum and technique rather than brute force. An intelligent weapon one might say. Good for disabling and better for crippling” she hefted one in her right hand then, leaving the other for Vick to inspect.

“Let me show you” she stated, it was not an offer.

She gripped it deftly, the body of the weapon following her forearm. She flicked it out, her hip giving it momentum as her wrist turn and the tonfa flashed outwards in a circle until it came to rest back against her forearm. She span it a few times in varying ways – vertical, horizontal and in a figure eight motion. It danced in her hand and she ended with a sound jab from the butt of the weapon towards an imaginary opponent.

“Grip is most important, flowing motion secondary. Least is raw power unless you are outright blocking” she finished as she place dit back before him upon the desk, “so you know the animals best on Sahova. You know your craft and what you can do. What would work best? And how do I get it?”

“I accept you terms, consider yourself safe in your travels. You can use me for your spying, I know a bit about it anyway”