Wolf's Blood (Inoadar)

[Verin Rush]

47th Day of Fall, 514AV

Once again it was the Nitrozian-Moletta Sanitary Station that Verin went to in search of his poison crafting mentor and friend, rather than Parnell's own poison shop and laboratory. Though he might not say as much to the man, he preferred the facilities at the NMSS, and he felt less intrusive, if he called upon his mentor there. Especially since Parnell's time in the Ebonstryfe's Black Hole. The Black Sun initiate knew that Parnell had never truly accepted that Verin had had nothing to do with his arrest, so he much preferred to meet on more neutral ground,rather than property owned solely by the poisoner.

It was a few bells past noon that Verin pushed open the doors to the Sanitary Station, hoping, as always, to see his childhood friend sitting behind a desk. Once again disappointment clouded his expression; it had been a number of seasons since Amolina had disappeared from the city, apparently telling no one why she was leaving or where she was bound. Shaking his head clear of the thought, Verin continued, with purpose, through the facility until he reached the laboratory, where he expected that he would find Master Parnell.

Within the pockets of his intricately embroidered black robes were three vials, each filled with blood. The Kelvic Redd had cost Verin six hundred gold mizas and, with no sign of Miro or Ender, he could not return the slave, nor collect reimbursement for the fine he had brought upon himself for pretending the slave belonged to him. With the knowledge that he would be leaving for the island of Sahova on the 52nd day of the season with Redd, mere day away now, Verin sought to be prepared. She had already proved herself to be untrustworthy - the removal of the collar he had placed on her was something that could endanger him, or worse, his brother.

He needed a more reliable method of controlling her, should she become unmanageable and Hypnotism could not always be the answer. He also knew that, to survive the journey to Nyka, he needed to be able to remove the collar and let Redd hunt, in order that they might have a constant supply of fresh food. The risk, of course, was that she would run away, of that she would attempt to murder or harm Vern first. There were solutions to both, and the latter could be solved by the Wildleash poison. It was not something that he could afford, however, having wasted money on protecting the slave in question.

No, he was hoping to find a Master Parnell in a reasonable mood, one where the poison crafter might be willing to negotiate the exchange of two vials of Redd's blood for a small selection of the other components of the Wildleash poison, and a lesson on how to create it. Knowing that Parnell did not own a Kelvic, he wondered how easy it was to come by Kelvic blood, or how expensive it was. Was this a reasonable deal to offer to his friend? He did not know, but had to at least try. "Master Parnell?" He called as he opened to door to the labs. In the last season or so, Verin would have said that he and the poisoner had developed a more familiar relationship than just one of master and student. The incarceration in the Black Hole, and following paranoia, delayed this, however. Since then, Verin had found himself being overly-cautious to appear too friendly with the man.

OOCFinally got it done!

Sorry for the terrible name - coming off a night shift and... well... brain is disengaging slowly! Also date an be changed - think it has to be between 45th (Verin getting the blood) and 52nd (Verin leaving)^.^

[Inoadar]

Inoadar was in the process of verifying the inventory of the last few items of gear he'd stashed at the NMSS before he'd torched his old shop. The newly outfitted lab at his new shop had him eager to see the doors opened for business. But though he'd brought a substantial number of crates' worth of accessories - beakers, pipettes, stoppers, herbs, reagents, litmus sheets and the like - to the new location, the actual laboratory array was still not quite fully assembled. Nor were the new cabinets completely installed, particularly the special "Barton Signature" item in his office. The Valdinox estimated another ten days or so. He was in a good mood this day, stemming mostly from Doctor Mazetti's equally upbeat demeanor. Inoadar had procured an impressive amount of supplies recently for his "staff". The good doctor had no idea what sort of methods the blank-faced poisoner had employed to obtain them, when he presented them. And he had learned not to ask. If Ebonstryfe soldiers did not show up within a few days, it could have not been too viciously accomplished. Inoadar grinned at the progressive morality the good doctor had been developing lately. It would serve him a far sight better than uncompromising honor. The poisoner truly felt he'd done a genuinely good deed in advancing the doctor's acceptance of reality, without having had to let him suffer the kind of learning experiences he himself had learned from. He doubted the gentle doctor would have survived such trials as he had. There were still frequent occasions where the line the two men drew on such concerns aligned at odds with each other. It usually ended with Inoadar reminding Dr. Mazetti that he'd be moving back to his own shop soon enough. He'd give a snort and a grin at the remark the medic would answer with. Usually something along the line of "The sooner the better..." or "Don't let me stop you..." But without Amolina to side with him, the doctor usually backed down in time. Especially when he got his supplies for such reasonable prices this way. As for Valerius, the poisoner rarely saw him anymore. The Nitrozian heir had probably decided to distance himself from his old partner now that Inoadar had found a new benefactor in the Valdinox family. It was odd that he found it just a bit sad that their relationship had soured this way. He honestly hadn't thought he truly liked the young aristocrat. He shrugged and hefted the box out to the front storage area. He was just in time to see his friend Verin enter the facility, calling his name. Theirs was a cautious friendship. There was no doubt the young blonde fellow had done him some good turns. Helping him back to town when he'd been bitten by a venomous snake; imparting knowledge of arboreal sourced toxins found close to shore. Helping him solve the hoax of the "Fish Supplement" as well as basically being a buffer between his protege, Vera, and his own episodes of paranoid madness. He could not discount the very likely possibility that his lingering suspicions were due TO that madness. The timing was right, and he'd never found a single thing that truly suggested any ill intent on the young man's part. But it was what it was. He always wondered if Verin had played some part in having him arrested. And it probably showed in the way that Inoadar approached him with feigned ease, while taking subtle opportunities to look outside for possible squads of soldiers waiting to take him in again. There were no signs of anything this time, so he shook the young man's hand, his ease becoming sightly more genuine. "Verin, my boy! It's been a while. Haven't seen you since that last bounty hunter came to get me." he laughed, seeing his friend's somewhat uneasy pose at the ribbing. Verin had not been in a position to do much to get Inoadar out of that particular jam. He directed a good-natured punch at the fellow's shoulder, "Forget it, Verin. I've got a ten-year-old girl to save me from such predicaments now." he added with a twinkle. "What can I do for you?"

[Verin Rush]

The first few moments of every meeting that Verin had with Nolan Parnell was awkward. Of late, however, those moments seemed to drag on to endure for the entirety of the time that the bartender spent in the poison crafter’s company. The poisoner’s time in the Black Hole was, of course, the cause of this discord between the pair, who had developed a rather beneficial working relationship on both sides. It saddened Verin to think that a man that he had come to like and respect could not find it in him to trust him. The result, of course, was that the pair was each other infrequently.

But now, Verin had had no choice but to approach his mentor in the art of poison making. The kelvic slave Redd was proving to be most troublesome to handle, and the new collar was not enough, He was leaving the comfort of his home behind, and leaving the familiarity of his twin brother, to travel to Sahova, where he might finally be challenged in order to be accepted by Rhysol as one of his most trusted and, thus, become an Agent of the Black Sun. The slave would be coming with him, but he could not risk harm or embarrassment to come to himself, so he had devised a way to ensure that he could maintain Redd’s obedience… or at least subdue her when she became unmanageable. For this, Verin required Parnell’s assistance, for he had never made the poison in question.

Verin ignored Parnell’s comments about the day at the Temple of the Black Sun. Surprisingly, a small part of him bristled at the memory that - unintentionally, of course - Parnell had been the reason that the mass prayer had been ruined. A new initiate of the Black Sun, Verin had had no power, unless he had managed to get to Parnell first and pretend to hold a rank, thus removing the Nykan from the situation. But he had not, so he had been able to do nothing but watch the events unfold. He wondered if Parnell knew about his new probationary status within Rhysol’s elite organisation. He wondered if he should tell his friend, if he didn't know. Would it help to heal the rift between them? Or tear them apart that little bit more?

Without preamble he pulled out the three vials of Redd’s blood and flourished them. “I assume you are aware that I have acquired a kelvic, which I am unable to return to her Master.” He was, of course, referring to the day at the Temple, where the only thing he had been able to do was save Redd from what would probably not have been a pleasant punishment for her actions. “She is turning out to be… most difficult to handle. It had been brought to my attention that a poison exists which might help me to suppress some of her more violent qualities, along with her morphing ability?” Watching his associate’s face, he tried to discern an unconscious reaction, to gage whether or not the poisoner might start lying to him about such a poison’s existence.

“It is, of course, far out of my price range to buy,” Parnell knew that Verin lived on bartending wages, so there was no shame in Verin admitting that. He held out the three vials, offering them. “But I also know that kelvic blood is not the easiest thing to come by, even for a poisoncrafter. If you might help me to produce enough of the poison to sustain me for the worst of what Redd might offer, I would have no need for the remainder of the blood which I drew from her.” The deal was thinly veiled, but he had not the time to dally with negotiations.

OOCI have no idea how much a vial of kelvic blood will get you... a whole vial.. gotta be equal to *at least* 3 vials of Wildleash? No? I'll let you fine-tune the deal, as ou might have a better idea of what they'll get out of the vials, and how much they might need to use to produce enough Wildleash.. I know he needs at least two doses for future threads, so little more than that would be grand!

[Inoadar]

Inoadar smirked just a bit. "Yes, I saw the red wolf, if that's who you mean. So she's yours now? The one that came to Vera's aid out in front of the temple the other day?" He thought he detected a somber note in Verin's face, but he wasn't sure. He had no idea what Verin's situation had been during the riot. "Did you know I met her in the wild a few seasons ago? Yeah, she attacked me at first and I had to Wildleash her. Then a pack of real wolves came along and we ended up treed together." He paused a moment, growing curiously pensive. "We got to know each other while we sat there. We were there long enough for the Wildleash to wear off. I figured she'd hate me, but it seems like she's never turned on me. She actually ran off as a decoy that day. It gave me the chance to make my own escape." He looked off, unfocused, into the past. "Then I ran into some skinny sword wielding Symo kid. It was one that had mouthed off to me at a different riot. One at an Ebonstryfe weapon display. It was back a while further. But anyway, she was with him. This kid seemed to have some kind of grudge, and I didn't like him too much either. Somehow, we fought to a standstill, both knocked out. I suppose I must have hit him with Pillowsap or something, I don't really remember. She could have killed me easily enough, but didn't." Inoadar then took Verin's somewhat glum look to be a result of how much trouble he himself was claiming to have with this Kelvic, while Inoadar had not. He was about to suggest that, whatever contention may have existed between himself and Redd, he had never taken her as a slave. But Verin then began making his proposal for some sort of deal. Now Inoadar looked at his friend assessingly. There was something in Verin's eyes, in his words, that seemed to suggest something final. Like the stock of Wildleash he was after was the last he thought he'd be able to acquire from Inoadar. This hit him with a surprising sense of loss. It was true there often times that he suspected the fellow of being behind his incarceration. But at the same time, he'd never really been convinced of it either. There were too many inconsistencies in how it had all worked out. The truth was, he still thought of Verin as his friend. The blonde held up a few vials and left an indefinite offer hanging. "Yes, Wildleash is the one you're talking about. And yes, Kelvic blood is one of the components. Let me get this right? You are proposing I use this blood to make Wildleash? And you want it to be payment for a portion of what I can make from it?" He knew he only needed a few drops for each dose. Each of those vials held enough blood to make a couple thousand mizas' worth of Wildleash at least, at the cost it currently commanded. But it needed the mushroom roots as well, and he did not have as much of that on hand. He figured he could produce enough for maybe twelve doses' worth; which would be the equivalent of four of the small vials that he sold for over five hundred mizas each. Each vial held three doses. The remainder of the blood would not really be worth that much, but he found himself feeling like agreeing to the offer anyway. He also surprised himself by giving Verin all these details with no self-serving distortions of the facts. He surprised himself even further by offering to let Verin craft the poison with him, so he'd see how it was done. He was feeling strangely unfocused about his own interests for a moment. But it became clear to him what was up. He would never normally help someone become more of a competitor to him. But it all added up to him why he was being so generous and helpful. And it made him feel a sudden strange emptiness inside. "Verin?...Are you leaving Ravok?"