Shadow Contracts (for Ixis Naugus)

[conjuredskies]

Deep in the Parkland woods, twilight holds sway despite the early hour. The crumbling grey walls rise high and forbidding from the outside, but the heavy door stands ajar and swings open noiselessly when pushed – there’s fresh oil on the hinges.

Inside lies a great courtyard surrounded by a columned portico, with narrow doorways leading off into more dark corners. In the center, however, is a wide well with a low stone edge. Off to one side, its hooded summoner waits. Felix has spread a mat over the cracked paving stones, and now sits cross-legged beside his knapsack, picking over a few implements and books, checking the edge of a steel dagger. Aside from his hood, the conjurer has abandoned the legionary uniform for plainer leather armor, worn and mended from long use.

It’s been very quiet for some time. Just the skittering of breeze-blown leaves and birdsong drifting over the walls. Felix is quick to look up at a new presence.

Comments

[conjuredskies]

"Shadow hide us," he murmurs, before stepping into the street and into character.

Felix hastens in through the open door of the hall, looking around with palpable anxiety. Despite the attempt at imposing architecture, the interior atrium is quite simple, with bare flagstones and plain wooden benches around the walls. The few people around are all Vigilants in brown robes or pale green robes, some with maces of steel or silver at their belts. He swiftly catches the attention of the senior-most Vigilant, a middle-aged Redguard woman with a scarred face. He starts explaining, but no sooner has he started to take out the tainted soul gem than she spins him by the shoulder and leads him further into the building.

She calls out a couple of her brethren from the doors they pass, and soon they’re all gathered in what looks like a comfortable kind of study. The two subordinates fret and fuss over the gem, trying to work out what’s been done to it (preferably without touching it either physically or mentally). Meanwhile, Felix spins his story about an evil necromancer, making sure to stutter and correct himself in the right places. Apparently it’s a fairly convincing description, because the Vigilant in charge places a hand on his shoulder and soothes him when he falters. Even if she also shoots disturbed looks at the soul gem on the table.

Full marks for Naugus’ handicraft, that’s for sure.

[ixis]

It's hard to stifle further giggles to himself at seeing the frantic display, how easily these so-called Vigilants are sent into a tizzy over a spell he cast. But Naugus somehow manages, instead just silently observing.

Well, that and using his further expertise in magicks most foul to keep things on edge. An unseen glow (thanks to being properly shrouded in the realm of shadows) is emanating from the Mobian's staff, casting a subtle spell that reaches to spread to the entire room. An insidious, subtle aura that only serves to goad negative emotions into deeper severity and keep them there. Keep these fools good and scared, giving them no opportunity to try and gather a more level head in their investigation.

[conjuredskies]

It is fun to watch! Felix has to take care not to roll his eyes as they grow more and more nervous. They’re practically feeding each other as their speculations grow more frantic. Although he realizes even he’s on edge. Perhaps it’s the nervous thrill of deception, but it’s hard not to catch their doubt and disgust. And not hard at all to act distressed for their benefit.

Stendarr’s sake, they’ve nearly convinced themselves that there’s a plot of Molag Bal afoot. He'll have to explain the compliment to Naugus later.

“Tiela,” says one of the junior Vigilants after a while. “I’ve… I’ve never seen daedric magic like this. We need to put this in the vaults- to contain it until Keeper Fruscia returns!”

Tiela hushes him, nodding meaningfully at Felix. “Very well. I’ll go with you. You, young man, should rest. We’ll see that the… crystal is safely taken care of. But the Keeper will have questions for you when she returns.”

Felix nods shakily. “Rest… rest would be so nice. I haven’t slept properly since… Is there somewhere I can lie down for just a while? Please?”

“Of course.” She shows him into the small bedchamber next door, and leaves him to his own devices. Perhaps it’s the growing anxiety she’s working to hide, but she neglects to have him guarded while she goes down to the vault. Felix is soon leaning against the door, listening to the Vigilants’ footsteps recede over the floorboards outside.

[ixis]

Naugus, meanwhile, is going to be certain to consult his brand new book on Daedra to figure out who this Bal guy is. Mental note made.

He follows in Felix's shadow until the escort turns and heads for the Vaults instead. He hisses, "Time is of the essence! Follow as soon as you can!" before his presence slips beneath the door and back out into the hall, sliding his way into the retreating guard's shadow and keeping close. Let's see how far he can get before wards or the like become a concern.

[conjuredskies]

Felix jumps at the hiss from the shadows, managing a nod just after the Ixian mage’s presence disappears. Damn it, Caelus, pull yourself together. You’re on Nocturnal’s business, remember!

The thought of following three Vigilants down an unknown corridor into who-knows-what vaults and reinforcements is one to inspire caution, but he can’t play his part if he isn’t around when Naugus needs him, can he? He waits a couple of minutes, before leaving quietly and trotting after them. Lucky he's wearing his older, quieter boots. But just in case, he stops to cast a muffling spell, to deaden the sound of his footfalls. It seems to work. He has to hope it’ll stick.

Ahead of him, the Vigilants turn a few corners and descend a long flight of steps to a spacious undercroft beneath the Hall, littered with supporting arches. The door is warded quite obviously with runes of elemental destruction and seals designed to make loud noises if the door is breached. No sign of divine protection here – and besides, the senior Vigilant quite unsuspectingly lifts her hands, concentrates to lower the wards, and produces a key to open the vault. Naugus can just slip right in to the main vault, where a motley collection of books and artifacts are arranged within their individual wards.

There’s also a set of much larger and better-warded double doors: heavier runes, heavier locks… and the mark of holy symbols, blessing the doorway against dark and malevolent beings. In the arch above them is a carved emblem: a sword and goblet.

[ixis]

The wards get a moment of curious peering from the hidden wizard, the elemental ones especially, as that's another craft near and dear to him. But business is business, and it seems things are being dismantled momentarily to allow entrance. He follows silently into the main foyer of the vault.

The entire area gets a passing, visual sweep before his eyes land and stay on the big doors. That's probably where his tainted soul gem is headed, isn't it? And he doesn't feel confident about nearing those holy symbols without causing a stir. Or burning the living hell out of himself, either/or. Perhaps it's best to wait here until Felix secrets his way in as well. Naugus settles into a darker corner well and away from that holy warded door to observe in the meantime.

[conjuredskies]

There’s some discussion, right now, about where to put the gem. The younger and more impressionable pair definitely want it to be sealed in the big vault; their elder has just enough sense not to want to tamper with the protections. Somewhat less sensibly (perhaps) she’s reminding them that the Cowl of Nocturnal is being kept in there, and they can’t risk the corruption of exposure to such a dark artifact.

She’d rather just put the gem into the sealed display case where there are already three black soul gems. ‘To wait for purification’, she says. Nearby is a nearly complete set of daedric armor looming black and blood-red on its stand; an ugly black mace on another, a gnarled wooden staff in the center of an unnecessarily large (and smelly) cage. Each is warded with more simple runes (though an ordinary thief, one imagines, could easily be killed by even these precautions).

Felix, in the meantime, has made his way downstairs: he’s lurking outside the door and trying to peek through the crack to see if he can sneak in. He pushes it carefully, but it starts to creak once it’s open a crack, making one of the Vigilants jump and look around nervously. Blast! He retreats a step to try and come up with a new plan, listening in case they actually come investigate.

[ixis]

Naugus knows how to bide his time. For years, decades, if need be. But that doesn't mean he knows how to be patient in the more immediate frame of time. It's not long before he's grown antsy in the dark, especially surrounded by all these curious objects! He wants to examine them! But he feels he might not be able to move as freely as he'd care to in said examination, not with these idiot Vigilants still sitting around, nattering about nothing that matters.

They've confirmed at least verbally that the item they want is under lock and key (and ward) of the largest doors, but that's given little more than a passing thought to the impetuous wizard. He's distracted now by his curiosity and his impatience to sate it. The door they came through gives a creak, making him look towards it as well as one of the guards, and that makes Naugus decide to act.

Was there ever an order to do this without lethal means? That question only gets a moment of consideration before it's cast aside without care. No more lurking, no more hiding; Ixis Naugus surges from the shadows, already casting his magicks mid-leap, reaching towards the Vigilants and snapping his hand back into a tight fist. The air immediately around them and the air from their very lungs is sucked from both, ensuring a nasty sensation of drowning on dry land for the three guards. Asphyxiating. And Naugus, malicious glee in his eyes, appears to have no intention of allowing them breath any time soon or ever again.

Felix makes a token effort to be the lesser evil here

[conjuredskies]

The ugly sound of choking resonates threefold inside the vault; Felix hastens to take a look, and then goes wide-eyed. He sidles carefully through the door, taking in the writhing Vigilants on the floor, the gleeful sorcerer standing above them. His eyes are wide, but it's hard to tell from his expression if he's amused or disturbed or simply... stunned.

He's no fool. Or no hero, perhaps. He circles the scene slowly, nodding to Naugus with an obviously impressed air. He won't kid himself that he has the power to command the elder mage, nor that- what, charging in to stop him? - would help matters.

But he's not sure he's entirely comfortable with the painful death of some vaguely well-meaning idiots, so when they look like they're going unconscious he speaks quietly to Naugus. Respectfully. (Steady voice, don't sound afraid, don't sound ungrateful...) "They'll be more useful if you spare them. I suppose."

[ixis]

Naugus spares Felix a glance aside, one eyebrow raised. "And how's that? We can figure out a way into the warded area on our own. I have faith in you, boy! And they've said our goal is indeed past said wards. What use are they to us now? Or at all?"

He hasn't stopped holding that void of air.

[conjuredskies]

"Oh, in case someone else comes along," Felix says brightly, talking fast. "Injured friends make better distractions than corpses, you know."

He has no idea if this will sway Naugus, but the appeal to self-interest is the only one with any chance of success. Self-interest and pride.

"And- of course, if they're dead they won't be able to bear witness to the feat of magic which overpowered them... so effortlessly. I've seen nothing like it." Look attentive, look relaxed...

[ixis]

He frowns, possibly considering this appeal...then lets his fist unclench. There's a whoomph noise of the air rushing back into the void he'd created. There's another gesture that follows, pinching his fingers together and drawing a line in the air. A portion of the ground near the unconscious soldiers bursts upwards, trailing stone fused into chain links, and closing one clamp after another onto the ankles of the fallen.

"There. I don't need them rushing us from behind with spears at the ready. Now! Let's have a look at that door, shall we?"

[conjuredskies]

Felix doesn’t need to try to act impressed right now. He bows, temporarily wordless, and hastens to examine the door. He lifts his hands to probe the wards, faint light playing over them.

“Hmmm… I can definitely break these elemental wards and the shielding- though perhaps not quietly…” He looks up at the holy symbols marked on the door. “Those protections will harm any daedra I summon to break the locks. Perhaps… hm, wait. They must have some way to deactivate the holy ward, if they put the Cowl inside.”

He spins on his heel, picking out the eldest of the Vigilants and going to search her. “Surely there’s a key…”

[ixis]

Naugus, meanwhile, squints at the wards as well, especially at that holy one. Wards are a wonderful way to keep out...whatever he is, and he's not about to test their strength or set off alarms in attempting passage beyond them.

So he busies himself instead with looking at the other items kept here. That wooden staff in a rather foul-smelling pen, for instance! "What's the policy on taking other things for our own research?" Just asking!

[conjuredskies]

Felix is rummaging through the elder Vigilant’s pockets – no small task given her stony bonds and the sheer number of places a pocket might be hidden in those robes, especially one containing a secret key. One might suspect he’s done this quite a few times before.

“Hm? Well, I expect they’re probably stolen anyway.” He glances around the items in view, shrugs at Naugus before resuming his search. “Why should the Vigil have them?”

He’s pretty sure nothing in here is too powerful (not if the Vigilants could get hold of it). What damage could Naugus do with them that’s worse than refusing him?

That staff might be more interesting than it first appears, though – on close inspection, the wooden appearance might just be dirt and damage, and it actually looks like it might be quite shiny with a little skilled restoration. The gnarled top looks a bit like a carving – some tiny battered figurines, perhaps…?

(( As it happens, I had a particular staff in mind for this. Feel free to have Naugus steal that one, or we can say it’s something else. ;) ))

[ixis]

((THE EVERSCAMPS. I've heard horror stories about these guys. Excellent.))

After hopping into the containment area, Naugus strides over towards that staff, peering at it up and down, making sure there's nothing too obvious about causing harm or setting off alarms. It certainly is a good deal more interesting than it appears at a distance! Though how did it get so dirty in the first place? Why did they let it STAY dirty?

Naugus gives the weapon a tap with the pincer of his claw. And if it doesn't do anything, he's going to snatch it and stuff it into his cloak, stretching back through shadows to his study and depositing it there.

[conjuredskies]

((Hooray! :D))

The staff seems ever so harmless. It's quite safe to pick up. For now.

"Ah!" Felix pulls a talisman from their prisoner's robe, looking at it carefully. It certainly feels akin to the wards on the door- what's Naugus up to? He looks over at the sorcerer, blinking. "The staff?"

Well, no matter. Time to try this key. He goes back to the door, lifting the talisman while he tries to decide how it should interact with the ward: in the event, a touch to the door makes that holy ward chime brightly and fade to a dull mark. Inactive. Felix hisses through his teeth triumphantly.

[ixis]

Naugus waits a few moments, trying to ensure that there are no alarms, no wards, no curses that have been enabled with the attempted theft of this staff.

"Do you know anything about it? The staff, I mean. Why would it even be contained here?"

[conjuredskies]

There’s no explanatory plaque, no name attached to the staff. Just a few wards around the cage – elemental runes that erupt in blasts of fire and frost if Naugus touches them physically. Easy enough for the Ixian mage to deflect, no doubt. Perhaps the more sophisticated protections are reserved for the main vault.

“I don't, no.” Felix glances back. He's working on disentangling the vault wards. “I don’t suppose they had the sense to leave a label with it? Idiots. They must believe it's some daedric artifact, but I doubt they understand it. Knowing them, it might not even be dangerous. You’ve seen how easy it is to make them panic.”

[ixis]

"Is it fear or moral panic? Or a bit of both? Pfah." He gives the fallen Vigilants an extra scoff and look of scorn as he crosses the room back towards Felix.

"I get the distinct feeling that this one has something holy attached to it. I'll gladly meddle with any of the elemental ones, but that one...You're on your own." Proximity already has his skin prickling as if too close to something hot. No thanks.

[conjuredskies]

"Both. It's a long story - and a foolish one, where they're concerned."

He shows Naugus the talisman he found. It’s practically humming with the same aura as the holy ward. “I’m sure this key can deactivate it. I already unsealed the ward for human passage, but I think I might be able to remove it completely. Make sure the threshold is safe for you.”

He looks up at the dulled symbols above the door. “Have you ever broken this kind of… holy magic before? It’s an unusual kind of ward, in my experience.”

But then he's never been troubled by it the way Naugus is.

[ixis]

"Not particularly. They were few and far between back on Mobius, but what there was..." He shudders, "I avoided. Certainly, they could be broken with sheer force, but why bother? I had more important matters to worry about." A good cover as any for having such a profound aversion to a type of magic or energy.

The talisman is given the same look of pained disgust as the ward itself, Naugus flinching back with a hiss. Not so close, kid!

[conjuredskies]

He’s really starting to wonder what this aversion says of Naugus’s nature. But he’s smarter than to tackle the subject here and now; he just withdraws the talisman and keeps it to himself.

“A pity. But it’s always the spell that seemed most trivial, isn’t it?” He raises his hands, feeling out the ward through the talisman. “It doesn’t feel the same as any ward I’ve seen constructed… I wonder…” He looks up at the symbols again, considering his options. He’d rather not go all-out in desecrating something holy to try and break its protection, nor call on a Prince to break it head-on.

He looks around, points out the cage that until recently held the staff. “Could you help me move that over? I want to get up at those symbols directly.”

[ixis]

It really doesn't bode well, does it? Something repulsed by things of a pure and holy nature doesn't sound like the kind of guy that is on the up and up, to say the least. But hey, maybe that's useful knowledge for later.

When the cage is called for, Naugus nods and grunts in affirmation, heading over to grab it in his claw and drag it over. The guy's strong; look at the size of those arms! "THAT I can do."

[conjuredskies]

Oh, now that’s something to see. Felix was about to come over and help, but instead Naugus drags the mass of iron past him – one-handed. Blinking, he makes another note about his fiendish friend: no wrestling matches, they will be traps.

“Thank you,” he says honestly, before he finds the best holds on the cage and clambers up atop it. This close he’s almost able to reach the symbols himself where they’re carved at the top of the door. They really aren’t like the weavings of normal mages… perhaps it’s that simple after all.

He gathers the purple light of a summoning in his hand, gestures, and draws a bound sword, long and transparent. It doesn’t sit entirely easy with the magic on the door; he lifts the blade up to examine it thoughtfully for a minute. That feels interesting…

“All right- I’m going to try something. If it throws me off, er- just try to catch me. Please.”

He takes a breath, steadies his feet on the cage, and takes a swing at the symbols. The instant the blade makes contact he can feel the pressure – magic on magic, bound-in power against disrupting outsider. There’s a whumph and the sword almost bounces back- but there’s a deep slice across the rune, and the ward it’s a part of seems to weaken.

Encouraged, Felix checks his balance and gets to cutting as fast and carefully as he can, until the middle section of symbols are quite obscured and the ward is reduced to remnants of scattered power.