Should Have Stayed Home Tonight (Soren)

[Neville Whitevine]

Should Have Stayed Home Tonight 21st of Spring AV 511 There was one thing that bothered Neville more than anything else in Lhavit. Here is this city of the stars, night was as day and day as night. The streets buzzed like midday in any other town when the sky was pitch black, save the million glowing spots the could be seen more clearly here than any other city Neville had ever seen. For this reason, Neville either had to risk doing his shady deeds in broad daylight, or in the presence of several witnesses. On top of that, a Jamoura was not the most inconspicuous body. Although people were generally trusting of the gentle giants, one did not go unnoticed at the height of over seven feet tall. This combination of circumstances had complicated things so far that Neville had yet to be able to kidnap anyone here in Lhavit. Thus, he was forced to either make it seem like an accident when he caused people pain, or go more than a day without fulfilling his need. Tonight it was the latter. A viscous headache pounded away inside Neville's skull, making it hard to even concentrate on what he was doing. But even in such painful circumstances, he was force to make meticulous plans so he would not get caught. Neville stood in the Surya Plaza about twenty meters from the door to his office. He watched as people walked past his door, trying to time when to start walking to meet them. He had left his door open just a crack so that entry would be simple and quick. Neville had spent the day walking around the city, trying to gauge the speed of his step to that of others. Being a Nuit, he was used to being a bit sluggish, but every body was different, especially this one. He had found that he would walk forty paces in about the same time as others would walk fifty, so he would have to pick a target while they were still quite a way off. As Neville stood there watching the people pass, he noticed a man off about fifty meters from his door. The man was fairly short and light, which would make him easy to push inside. However, the man was also fairly muscular, which might complicate things. Neville was getting desperate, and the headache was compromising his judgement. He hid his knife in the long fur of his arm and started walking toward his door. As the man came closer, Neville noticed the strange tattoos on his arms. They were similar to a those of a Drykas he and met a long time ago, and he wondered if maybe this man was also a Drykas. However, it was only a passing thought as he continued to walk toward his door. Neville was relieved when the man did not stop at any of the shops between where he was and Neville's office. If Neville was alive, his adrenalin would be surging, but this was one of the benefits of being technically dead, he could remain clear minded in stressful times. He kept his head down as he and the man both approached Neville's door. Neville had timed it perfectly, it was now or never. In one smooth motion, Neville raised one hand to the man's mouth to muffle any noises he would try to make, and with his other hand he thrust the flametongue into the man's stomach. The large hand almost covered the man's entire face as Neville pushed him inside. He swiftly shut the door behind him and let go of the knife. Neville had miss his intended angle and the knife had failed to do much damage. With his, now free, hand he gave a solid whack to the back of the man's head and watched him fall to the ground unconscious. Neville knew he had a while before the short man with the strange tattoos woke up, so he took his time chaining him to the table and arranging his tools of torture. The small knife wound had been enough to relieve Neville's headache for now, but he knew it would be back soon enough. That is why he needed this man. He would keep him alive as long as possible so that he could keep inflicting pain and staving off his own agony.

[Soren Thundersong]

Soren had been out all night buying food and supplies, along with searching for a certain feline friend. He hadn't seen Isette since their first meeting. His mind was on other things, making him fidgity and highly distracted. Mika had stayed home, prefering to not shop all day, not to mention she didnt like Isette much. Which really complicated things. Sudddenly an imposing figure filled his veiw.

"LET MEmgphm.." A giant had with stubby sausage like fingers covered his mouth. A damp, dirty smell filled his nostrils, somewhat like a dirty animal. He opened his djed, preparing the flux magic within him. Powerful energy flowed into his arms. A sudden icy pain sliced low in to his stomach, distracting him from his escape plan. Soren felt blood start to seep into his shirt.

The giant shoved him into a small room, slamming the door behind them. Stumbling, Soren tried to pull the blade free, but he couldnt find the handle. Pain clouded his vision. A blow to the back of the head and he felt himself drop. Soren fell to the florr, smacking his head on a desk on the way down, But he didnt know that since Soren had already blacked out.

Soren awoke slowly, his head throbbing. he tried to move his hand to his head,only to feel a metal cuff cut into his wrist. He was chained down, apparently by the thing that stabbed him. The cuffs were lose, but not enough to pull his hands or feet through them. The slice in his stomach itched and burned, but the bleeding had stopped. He looked around the room, obviously an office of some sort. he briefly wondered if it belong to his attacker, or if it was a random office. His pack and cloak were sitting against a wall by the door. sitting on another desk near him was an array of sharp and wicked tools, obviously for torture. A rank smell permiated the room. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he could make out his attacker. The man..or animal was huge. Easialy over seven foot tall, four or five hundred pounds. thick fur covered his body, except his face and hands, which were black with leathery skin.

"What are you...or who? What do you want?" Normally a confident person, Soren was visably shaken. The creature had the advantage in multiple areas. It was easily four times his size, and could probably throw Soren through a wall, or crush boulders with his bear hands. Not to mention Soren couldn't move. Maybe if he used the flux, he could snap the chains. But still the giant could just grab him up again. He wasnt but five feet away. Soren had a feeling if he tried It would snap his legs like kindling.

"Please. What do you want?"

[Neville Whitevine]

Neville gave the closest thing he could to a laugh in this body, but it came out as more of a grunt. He supposed that conveyed his meaning just the same. The man with the strange tattoos had awoken sooner than Neville had expected. This one was a fighter. He picked up a strip of leather off the desk with all his tools and walked closer to Soren. "What do I want? What do I want?" Once again, Neville grunted. "At the moment, I want you to be silent. Can't have you waking the neighbors and all that." As Neville spoke, he wrapped the leather strip around his victim head and forced his mouth open. He slipped the cord inside and tied it tightly behind the man's head. Neville enjoyed hearing the screams of his victims, but here, it was far too crowded of a city for him to let people scream freely and expect not to get caught. "Very good.." Neville rubbed his hands together deviously as he returned to the desk with all the tools and devices. "You see, I have skills beyond that of the ordinary executioner or dungeon master. I have such a finesse and passion for tortured that one day, a long time ago, I got a visit from someone very powerful." Neville picked up each tool and examined it, trying to decide which one he would use first. "This woman gave me these." He held up his left hand for the man to see the crimson lines running across the back. "At first, I thought it was a wondrous gift from the gods. Then I found out, they have a downside. You see, for every day I go without injuring, maiming, torturing, killing, or in some other way harming someone, my own pain intensifies. From what I can tell, as least according the book I've read, if I go long, I will just up and die myself." Neville finally decided on a tool and walk back to Soren's side. "You might ask, 'Why is he telling me this? Why would he tell me so much about himself when it could be used to catch him?' Well, my friend, the reason is simple. You aren't going to live long enough to tell anyone." An evil smile spread across Neville's face as he prepared his chosen tool. It was a tiny pair of pliers. They were almost too small for Neville's large hands, and the had no obvious use for torture beyond inflicting pain pinches. Neville stood there, scraping something out from between the two sides of the pliers with his much too large fingers, for a few moments before he started speaking again. "Do you know what these are for? I suppose not. Why would you? You don't look the type who does around torturing and maiming people are you? Perhaps if you were, I could go to the Shinya and get an award for your capture. However, that would take away the fun of torturing you, now wouldn't it?" Neville's voice trailed off as he talked almost incessantly until he finally came to a pause. "You know what my favorite part of torture is?" Neville asked as if genuinely seeking an answer, although he knew the man couldn't give one. "It is when you catch someone entirely... by SURPRISE." As Neville shouted the last word he grabbed the man's right hand, and, with the pliers, he yanked off the nail from his ring finger. Using the power of his Gnosis, Neville amplified the man's pain doubly and watched to see how he would react. Soren had seemed to be a warrior, judging by his build, tattoos, and resilience, and Neville was interested to see how much it would take to break this one.

[Soren Thundersong]

It grunted, what Soren assumed was speech for it. A moment later the beast spoke, perfect common at that. Suddenly Soren snapped to attention, in awe of this creature. He offered no resistance as It tied a strip of leather around his head, and in his mouth. He listened as it spoke, perusing the collection of tools. Turning to him the beast held up the back of his hand, speaking of a woman and her "gift" to him. Only then did Soren notice the red lines across his hand. Picking up a pair of small pliers He stopped speaking for a moment. The creature looked thoughtful, almost serene. It spoke again, asking Soren what was the best part of torture was. Suddenly he lept foward and grabbed Soren's right hand.

Soren only just felt the pliers grip his nail before a huge wave of pain hit him. He was able to hold off any reaction other than a slight gritting of his teeth, but inside his head he was screaming. Though it was only the nail Soren felt as if his finger had been ripped off. This creature..this monster seemed almost gleeful at his pain. Soren yelled at him, his word garbled by the leather strip. "You Petcher!" Let me go!" Focusing on the pain he diminished it to a dull throbbing. Soren had a feeling this was only the beggining. He had to find a way to escape.

[Neville Whitevine]

This was the fun part for Neville. Years ago, he had gone so far to seem out and learn the magic of Auristics. This had allowed him to detect the level of his victims pain even when they tried to hide it. Although he was still rather unskilled in the practice, Neville enjoyed attempting to use it to see how much pain he was really inflicting. While he used his gift of Vexation on the man, he simultaneously focus on his aura. As the waves of pain washed over Soren, Neville watched in glee. He did not see the stifled reaction the man was able to maintain. Instead, he saw, in albeit vague detail, what Soren was really experiencing. Such power over another being, this was just one of the many things that fueled Neville in his pursuit of torture. Neville was never one to use the same technique twice on the same person; At least, not twice in a row. For his next attack, he would need more exposed flesh. When he removed his hand from Soren's arm the extra pain caused by vexation also ceased, leaving just the pain of having ones finger nail removed. Neville tore the man's shirt down the middle and opened it to expose his chest. He turned again to the desk, but instead of picking up one of the tool there, he pick up the candle. With a wicked grin on his face he held the flame up against the Soren's skin. The small flame licked at his chest and the hot wax dripped out. This alone would only cause minor burns, but coupled with the power of Krysus, it seemed more like sering flames. Once again, Neville enjoyed as he used his djed to focus on Soren's pain. In his mostly unfulfilling life, this was the main source of joy that he found. Neville had learned that if someone was exposed to severe pain for to long they would soon black out or start to become numb to it. Therefore, he kept his sessions short but frequent. He lifted the candle away from Soren's chest and placed it back on the desk. At the foot of the table on which Soren was chained there was a wash basin. Neville had filled it with water earlier that day in preparation for a guest. He walked over to it and, cupping he hands, he drew out some water. "This is probably what I miss the least about being human. You see, me, I don't need the sustenance of food and water like you do. I an free from it's burden and it's distraction. However, I understand that if I don't give you any you will go and die on me. Then I'll lose my toy, and you will have a few less days to live. That doesn't sound like fun does it?" As he spoke, Neville brought the water back to the man and slowly poured it over his mouth. The water seeped in around the edges of the gag and into Soren's mouth. "Better? Now, will you be good and stay quiet while I work, or do I need to give you another good knock to the head?"