Completed Luscinia's Singsong

[Dmitri Saratov]

Timestamp: 2nd of Fall, 514 AV Dmitri had almost forgotten his map of Sunberth, since after 2 years of living there, he knew his way around fairly well. But this late afternoon was different, he had to go to a specific location that he had only visited a handful of times in his life. It was always a huge risk to go there, not because of the dangers at the desgination or even on-route. Blatantly said, he was the risk. If he was careless, or even if a good sneakthief decided to stalk him to ambush him further on the way...He wouldn't last much longer. Not because of the thief, even though of course there was always the chance to meet your demise at the sharp end of one's conceiled weapon. But because he doubted the 'patriarch & matriarch' of the organization he had joined a while back, would let that kind of failure slip by. If one of the Night Eyes' patrons couldn't even conceil their tracks on a voyage to the elusive group's headquarters, temporary as the locations are, they are deemed to be a liability and one that's usually not worth risking. Not that it's the obvious truth, but for Dmitri the risk of it being one, was enough to keep himself on edge at all times during those kind of trips. So he had given it a fair amount of thought before even leaving one nest, to reach the other. The time of day had been carefully decided upon as well, not yet dusk but not too far from it. The time of day most people try to rush home for dinner, safety and whatever else common folk desire when night's blanket starts to cover the land. So, stepping slightly rushed was nothing out of place, especially not for that time of the day. Add the settling sun to that, and you got free reign on acting scared and paranoïde. Leaving little wiggleroom for Dmitri to draw unwanted attention except from those that had evil schemes in petto from the get-go anyway. Apart from the route he had decided upon, after consulting his purchased map, and contemplating the best time to depart; He had also disguised himself a fair bit, paying careful attention to do it at the best of his abilities. Which was far from perfect, it was actually the part where he screwed up, but too late to change it now and it was 'rectifiable', barely.

[Dmitri Saratov]

It had been a foolish idea from the start, he should've realized that it wasn't because he had the items that he knew how to use them. Now, after having attempted to disguise himself by dying his hair dirtyblonde...He's running around with brightorange hair, for petch's sake. Lesson learned, the hard way, to not just smear his hair in the dye and let it sink in for the entire day...He still didn't know how to properly do it, but at least he knew that wasn't it! Afterwards, which was fairly 'too litte, too late', he decided to take the safer route and wear padded clothing from his Disguise Kit, his sjawl as facial disguise and of course the hood to cover op his sizzling ember-hair. So now he was stuck, in the great outdoors, holding his hood in place from those petching gales and making his way to the Westwatch Tower. Which was a around a mile to the West of Sunberth, jolly good funtime, I can tell ya. But, finally, after travelling from Cheap Side to Outside and from Outside to Outback, he had made it to the low hill with the embarassingly short tower on top of it. Dmitri couldn't think of a proper reason for one sole, midget, tower to be planted here. It could've be an outpost, sure, but then it was one measly little outpost that would be overrun by the bandits before they could even see them over the rolling hills. Which pretty much surrounded the tower on almost all sides. Regardless of why it was built, it did its job well for the Night Eyes' to stay out of harm's way for the time being. Maybe the Eyes' had somehow built it themselves, without raising suspicion?! Must've been quite the salespitch they used, Dmitri smirked as he tried to figure out how to justify building this thing without being laughed at. He failed.

[Dmitri Saratov]

Walking up the broad stone steps up to the gateless opening into the Westwatch Tower, the eery silence that greeted him always made him queezy as he looked over his shoulder once last time before entering. The cold stones he placed his hand against directly after entering, on his leftside, were covered in moss and the harsh weather's had its wear and tear upon the stones to say the least. Keeping his hand against the wall, he started walking, never creating a distance between him and the wall so that his hand never broke apart. If anyone had seen him in the act, it would seem a bit clever since it was quite dark inside, with only a few minor spyholes in the walls to let in the light, but the real reason was that once he had gone to a certain room with a staircase going down beneath the ground, he would find himself in a nearly completely dark corridor with several heavy and locked doors. The only thing that let in a few rays of sunlight were the rasters of metal bars in the ceiling, the rays weren't from the setting sun however, and weren't casually there either. It came from the only room on the above floor that was closed and had strategically placed torches inside, shining the small rays of light down into the darkness below. Once Dmitri had gone into the black, he remained with his hand on the wall, until he reached the 1st door. Slower now, he continued walking until he reached the 2nd, there he stopped in his tracks. Positioning himself so that the sole light that shone, coincidentally, against that door, could finish his route and shine light upon a small slit in the door. Barely noticeable even if the room would be lit. This was the trickiest part, he had to get the item to slide through that slit and absolutely not let it drop. If he dropped it in this room, he'd starve before being able to find it on the stones covered in darkness. Fortunately this was not the case as he had prepared adequatly, keeping the Miza with the Night Eyes' Insignia carefully in a small coinpurse, letting it stay there on its lonesome self until the time had come to pass this door. 'Careful, careful....' With a nearly inaudible clink the coin fell through the slit and moments after, the door made a horribly loud grinding noise from the other sound, before opening to provide passage to the insignia's owner.

[Dmitri Saratov]

"Hmrph." Every time, every petching time, it was the only sound this ogre of a man made when Dmitri entered. Animosity overflowing between Dmitri and this man that seemed to be more than capable enough to crush his skull in one hand. Anyway, more didn't have to be said anyway, they both knew being anonymous was a key point for any Night Eyes' member, towards the outside world and often towards eachother as well. It wasn't rare for there to be near-complete silence in the temporary HQ of the Night Eyes', regardless of the amount of members present. Conversational chitchat was rare, for Dmitri anyway. He was still too awkward in this whole organization to casually walk up to someone and ask him his birthsign and interests... After nodding to the brute and getting his insignia back, he made his way through spiralling metal stairs that led even deeper beneath the ground, at least there the underground tunnels were lit with torches on the wall and the occasionall oil lamp hanging from the ceiling. Once he arrived at the main room, Dmitri looked around and saw there was only one other person there. Of course just there where Dmitri had to be as well, petching shyke...Without much choice, Dmiri joined the man and stared at the board before him. A sizeable amount of mission parchments and pamflets were hanging on the board, much more than before really. Seems like Night Eyes' notority and 'assistance requests' skyrocketed after a certain woman's spark of life was extinguished forcefully. "Hi there."

[Dmitri Saratov]

'Shyke...' "Hello." Dmitri didn't even bother turning his face, he wasn't at the most secretive organization's headquarters to find a bestest chum damn it, he wanted to be left right the petch alone most of the time, this moment being a prime example of one where he feels that way as well. But somehow, he had absolutely no idea why, but he felt interested in the man?! Was it because of his carefree tone of voice, something rare to be heard in Sunberth, let alone Night Eyes' HQ...Was it because he didn't want to be rude to a fellow member, or because he was scared it might be a higher-ranking one? No answers to be found, only questions. So he put on his boldest boots and turned to face the unknown man and casually follow up on the greeting, to be nice y'know? Just to be nice... But when he turned to face the man, he found himself creating a sudden and spooked distance between them. 'Kill yourself, kill yourself now!' "What the ---" Dmitri spoke, unsure if he did so to himself or to the man who was staring at him with the creepiest and teethied grin ever, accompanying his large almond-shaped wide eyes. Clearly amused with what Dmitri just heard himself think in his own tone of voice, loud and commanding even, as if he was ordering himself to take his own life. Dmiri had no doubt in his...if it still was his...mind, that this short statured person next to him had something to do with it. "You son a whore, what are you doing to me?!" "Who, me? Lill' ol' me? I'm just...Out of my mind?!" 'DO IT! Kill yourself, NOW!' Dmitri heard it again, more commanding and volatile than before, it rang in his ears, lingering there as if it was something that he had wanted to do so all the time, but only now had the courage to tackle it head-on. Dmitri wasn't sure what the petching shyke was happening, why or how, but he'd be damned if he would follow this midget's orders and roll over as he waited for the touch of death. "One more time, I dare you. Get the PETCH out of my head or I'll vow to everything and everyone that only one of us will leave this room alive!" "Simmer down, young'un. Don't say things you'll regret now, hm? I was just playing around." The man's creepy grin was replaced, not with a stern or angered look, but an equally creepy calmness. As if he had nothing to fear, even after toying with a fellow member, he hadn't moved an inch. But somehow it felt like the short man was smothering Dmitri and pushing him against a wall. "Do not underestimate the power of a mind, boy. You amused me, for that I'll give you an option! If you wish to learn and harness the power of the mind. Take a seat, but before you even decide...Move your hand from that useless weapon and don't touch it in my presence ever again. Understood?"

[Dmitri Saratov]

Dmitri was still at a loss about what was going on, this man first toyed with him like he was less than a dog's bone and then ended up offering him apprenticeship to what seemed to be some sort of magic? Unable to figure out the man, something that Dmitri did not like at all, he was about to wave the man's offer away and carry on with what he came to do in the first place. But all he managed to do was repeatedly move his hand in brisk up and downward movements. Obviously torn between decisions. After moments of silence and indecisiveness, he looked at the man who had already taken a seat at a table, coincidentally with one other seat. Dmitri realised there and then, that the man knew the answer Dmitri would give before he himself even knew it. Stunned about it all, Dmitri could absolutely not resist anymore, he wanted this! He wanted to learn more, if only to lift the veil by its corner to catch a glimpse of who this mysterious man was. Nah, that wasn't really why, he wanted to learn, to be like this person. Not for the sake of knowing, or understanding, but for the sake of power. Dmitri suddenly remembered a phrase his uncle enjoyed saying, ringing in his ears as he could feel his body move towards the free seat, not even trying anymore to fight it. 'Power is not the means to an end, it is the end!' "Welcome." The short man spoke soft and friendly, Dmitri immediatly figured it was all an act and was about to play along when the man suddenly grinned his teethed smile again. Was this man reading his mind? What an unfair advantage, how could Dmitri possibly win this? Dmitri thought hard and long as to how to proceed, until he realised he had been seated and looking at the man without even seeing him, so lost in his own thoughts that he couldn't even figure out how long he had been doing that. "...Are you done?" "Damn it all. How do you do this?!" It wasn't a command, definitely not a dominating tone of voice. Not like he usually sounds like, he was pleading for information, almost begging for the man to teach him, without actually asking the question. "The first step to understanding the picture, is to understand the parts it's made of." "Shyke. What does that even mean?!" No answer, grunting, Dmitri pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes and pressed hard until they both glided off his face and into his hair, before letting them rest intertwined, on his head. "Don't act like you think. Think!" Petch it all, this man, read him SO easily. What was this guy? Mindreader? Does that power even exist? Dmitri couldn't tell, there was so much he still didn't know about the world and what it had to offer. He continued thinking, for real, but about the man and what he was capable of, not the question at hand. Until it struck him that he was wasting time looking at a picture he couldn't even see yet. So he started thinking about the meaning behind the man's words. First he wanted to unravel the meaning behind the entire phrase, it took him a long time before he turned the first card and realised that there was a hint within the hint. Once he figured that out, he started thinking out loud, not desiring assistance from the man, not directly anyway, but he tried to read the man while Dmitri spoke to himself, glaring to see if any telltale signs could be seen. "The first step to understanding the picture, is to understand the parts it's made of." Repeating that phrase over and over again, first loud and clear, hoping to read if he's on the right track...But after some time he lost his voice and started mumbling to himself, started thinking again rather than acting. "The picture is what someone looks at, the parts is what it's made of" " The picture is the end, the parts are the means" "The picture is power, the parts are the tools" .... Until he finally came to regaining his voice, after going on and on in himself as to how define the phrase as best he could. He swallowed and raised his head again, facing the man, staring at him with an amused little smile on his face, but anything but impatient or bored. He was enjoying this even though it took Dmitri about half a bell or longer to come up with an answer to one petching question, one! "The picture is mind, the body is the tool" "Meaning?" "If you want to know what goes in someone's mind, for whatever reason, you need to use the body, learn the language of one's body. Reading signs, movements and expressions....Eyes aren't the windows to the soul, the body is!" "Alright, enough with your philosophy crap for amateurs, kiddo. But if it helps, you're not bad. Not good, at all, but not bad either..."

[Dmitri Saratov]

Dmitri took the man's special type of verbal abuse without batting an eye, he couldn't care less how he was being treated right now. The power lay with that man, and Dmitri would be damned if he'd let pride or principles get in the way of obtaining even a sliver of that damn magic, if it was a magic at all. From what he understood, the man was describing how to read someone through reading body signs and language, but that doesn't describe in any way or shape how he got inside Dmitri's petching mind. "But how did you get me think what you wanted me to think? The secret does not lay in body language, it's some sort of magic or divine whatever!" "It was magic, yes, but what I did is something trivial and hardly effective. I didn't got you to kill yourself, did I? Knowledge is key to this magic, it is crucial in every which way you'd like to use it. This ancient magic branch, the one I used, is called Hypnotism. In its crudest form it allows the Hypnotist to penetrate the target's Djed and mind, to implant all sorts of things in the psyche of the mark...In its refinest form, it allows the Hypnotist to sneak in, manipulate and sneak back out, without a trace. That's a basic definition of Hypnotism, that little prank I pulled on you is nothing compared to its potential." "Now, why I spoke of body language and signs, is that to be truly effective in this arcane art, you need to sniff out a way in the person's mind without being detected, do your thing, and get back out. This does NOT have to be done at a fast pace or even in one go, the key factor is remaining undetected. Once they know their thoughts are no longer their own...It's all over." "I see...So basicly, it's like spinning a web, it does not have the purpose to kill or destroy directly, but it's a means to an end. Its power is not independant, but more of a support." "Oh my, kill or destroy? Aren't you a vicious little spider...But you're getting better. You still have no idea what you're actually talking about, but you're getting there. Spin thread by thread, until the web is complete."

[Dmitri Saratov]

Dmitri probably looked like a cow staring at a passing caravan, no clue what he was looking at but unreasonably interested in it none the less.The man sighed and scratched his head, before focusing back on Dmitri's currently ridiculously lost facial expression. "Alright, I think we're going too fast! Lets take it step by step and work our way up. My name is Vaccan, obviously a fellow member of this 'syndicate' for my own reasons which I won't bore you with. Next thing you should know before we start class, is that I took a huge risk by sharing all this with you. A Hypnotist, regardless how powerful or skilled he is, will be useless in the face of someone who knows 'what' he is. IF, at all, you manage to learn this art...Do not share that info with anyone, unless you have a damned good reason for it and even then think it over a few dozen times before deciding, understood?!" Dmitri nodded along to this Vaccan's speech, not even stopping after he had finished until it hit him that he was supposed to speak now. Obviously excited and seriously interested in everything this man had to say, Dmitri rasped his throat, clearing it before responding. "My name is Dmitri, Dmitri Saratov. I understand the risk you took and everything you've said. Everything besides the reason as to why you decided to take this chance with me? Do you expect a favor in return?" Letting out a light chuckle, almost bemused rather than amused, Vaccan shook his head and tapped his finger to the side of his stubby nose. "I have my reasons, I don't expect anything in return from you though, not yet. But you could say the decisive factor as to why I risked it...Was twofold." "You are weak, barely an ant in the face of the beings I've met over the years. So you aren't exactly a threat to me, whether you know of this ability of mine or not, should you as much as share it in a drunken stupor with another ant who doesn't even know me, I'll warp your mind in such ways you wish you had killed yourself when I commanded you." "The 2nd reason was that I saw potential in you, in this specific matter. Your misplaced sense of superiority and arrogance, the way you tried to bluff me out of your mind and more stupidly amateuristic methods of manipulating those around you. Let's just say I saw you could use a hand, one you'd use well..." Gulping away the tension built up in his throat, Dmitri could do no less than simply nod in reluctant acknowledgement of truth in Vaccan's words. There was little doubt in Dmitri's mind that he could take on a mage, not that he wanted to, but the image of his uncle's body, half of it charred to a crisp at the hands of a mage, was still fresh in Dmitri's mind even now. "Teach me! I won't disappoint you!"

[Dmitri Saratov]

Dmitri had no idea the man before him was bluffing regarding his actual skills in Hypnotism, sure, he was fairly proficient in it. But it was doubtable that he'd be able to warp Dmitri's mind to the extent he was threatening with. Everything was so new and exciting for Dmitri though, that he was lost in the thrill and couldn't see the forest for the trees. The 2 men continued to discuss Hypnotism, leaving Dmitri in the dark however, until Vaccan stood up. "I got to go, got to see a man about a dog, I got your adress now. I'll pay you a visit sometime soon to get things started. For now, practice the manipulation with the tools at your disposal. Observe those around you, get to know those around you, gain their trust and use that as ammunition! Take care now, Dmitri, catch ya later." There was something off-putting about the last phrase, soaked in subliminal messages according to Dmitri and his mind of course only thought of the most negative ones. After Vaccan left, Dmitri tried to rally his mind into grasping what just happened these last few bells, and to make sure he'd grasp this opportunity to become 'stronger' with both hands! And so, Dmitri left with a different mission than he figured he'd obtain here today, but one much more exciting than he could've imagined.

[Vanari]

Dmitri

Observation	+5 XP
Intelligence	+2 XP
Philosophy	+2 XP
Interrogation	+1 XP
Persuasion	+1 XP
Rhetoric	+2 XP
Intimidation	+1 XP
Cartography	+1 XP
Disguise	+1 XP
Planning	+1 XP

Lores :

• Being Hypnotized for the First Time
• Do Not Underestimate the Power of the Mind
• The Picture is the Mind, the Body is the Tool
• Hypnotism: Penetrate a Target's Djed and Mind
• Vaccan: Member of the Night Eyes
• Vaccan: My New Hypnotism Teacher

Loot :

+

Notes :

Good job!

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