Karn, same place

"This group is a mixture, there are a few of each you just named." He said stepping forward. Karn thought for a moment, he hated this thing more and more, but he wondered if he should give a little information leak. If this thing has been living in a pit for the last couple of centuries then it won't understand me at all, but if he reacts........ then he's been lying.

"There is a single prominent individuel in this group....... Serene of Cyrodiil, the famed healer and mage." He said matter-of-factly, studying the undead's respounce.....

Fervus Noctus, reacting...in a way.

Fervus didn't answer instantly. He knew Serene of course. That she was out in the open again surprised him.
,,It appears that our problems are worse than we thought. If Serene has come out of retirement, things are serious. Why would he tell me that name? Ah, a test." Once he'd figured it out, his answer came instantly.

,,Oh, I remember a lass named Serene. She lived in Cyroddil as well, near the east wall. A simple girl, kept the mugs filled in the 'Hungry Boar' tavern. The beverage she served tasted like the rear end of a Goblin. Oh, a nice lass but a bit naive. Never saw a thread in the drunkards that hung around. Got killed in a bar brawl. That was about fourhundred years ago. So who is your Serene? What exactly made her famous?" He countered the question with one of his one, after a bit of storytelling about a Serene he met long ago.

Karn, frustrated

When the skeletal lich told them a story about some girl he'd met centuries ago, Karn became annoyed. These mind-games aren't worth it...... His brothers seemed just as uninterested as he was. But the oldest was also the most patient.

"Serene Serethi is married to some Redoran counciler, his name's Althyn or something like that. She's getting along in years, but then she's human, they don't live long anyway." He muttered the last part with some measure of superiority.

"We know that she has grandchildren, but not where they are. If we did then we'd pay them a visit....." That was the first lie that they'd made in the entire conversation, the rest was a mixture of truths and half-truths. "As for the Silhouete, we're not sure where it is, but we can only guess he's with the army, planning to attack Bravil or Bruma again."

Fervus Noctus, not probing any further.

Fervus knew he was walking on thin ice. Asking any further might cause them to grow suspicious or even attack him. He wasn't worried if they did but he desired to meet the group first.
,,Pha, as if an old woman will be much of a threat. I'm going to investigate this army you have here a bit further. If you need me, just call." He spoke before walking outside, deliberately ignoring the possibility of being told not to leave.
,,Gah, this is giving me a headache. I sense pain here. It appears that they have a prisoner. Motley band of agitators? Ah, a hostage, a bait." The Lich cast a life detection spell which winked out nearly as fast as it had appeared.

,,I will keep up my cover till the reinforcements arrive. Now let's go investigate this army."

Karn, and his brothers

All four of the ninja narrowed their eyes as the lich departed. None trusted the walking corpse with so much as an extra bone. If we can all resist the Silhouete's absolute control then so can this lich......
They all looked at each other and nodded, no words, just silent agreement.

Karn's brothers blurred as the moved faster than any simple Khajiit thief, they would keep an eye on that foul thing; perhaps in the coming battle they could orchestrate its demise. He shrugged, doesn't matter...... if that thing does anything suspicous then it will be marked for death.

He strode back into the cave, past the forms of trolls and goblins. Karn felt it would be wise to remain near Satyana, poison or no poison, if the trap were to fail the conseqiunces could be dire. Hmm...... is there another thing that could be done to assure victory?

Fervus Noctus, betrayal!

Fervus walked among the ragtag army for a while. Since it was such a chaotic mess, he already found several corpses from when the army clashed with itself.
,,Don't you have anything better to do than watch me?" He asked the three Dunmer who were following him. He cast several spells to confuse him, mostly harmless versions of various Destruction spells though he did add a ranged mark spell inbetween.
,,A man has to practise."
Seemingly by coincidence, the Lich returned to the cave several hours later.

,,No matter what I plan, I can never allow them to do with an innocent being as they wish." The Lich began to recite words that made his decayed stomach turn over. Corpses began to twitch and stand up. They gathered around the Lich, hiding him from view. Fervus cast a quick levitation and invisibility spell. He then entered the cave and sneaked beyond the entrance.

There he saw them. One of the Dunmer he'd spoken to and a young woman. The woman was in pain, he could feel that. Yet, as long as the Dunmer remained, there was nothing he could truly do. Except for one thing. Purposefully, Fervus moved within reach of the woman and reached out with his still invisible hand. A combination of recall and several powerful healing spells he'd learned through his long life were ready to be cast at a moment's notice.



(Ok, invisible Lich versus assassin. So, Revan. Will Karn be caught by surprise and lose Sathyana before he notices the Lich is there? I bet his brothers will see through the ruse soon enough and come barging in.)

Karn, with Fervus and Satyana.

Satyana lay on the floor of her cell, Karn stood close by, watching vigilantly. Normally he would have just killed her, her foolish friends would be none the wiser, but for some reason he didn't feel an urge to kill the young woman.

I'd better not be getting soft, that's the last thing I need..... He closed his eyes momentarily, listening for a sound he didn't know was there. There was a faint claking sound, like bone rubbing against bone...... Almost like, breathing. Karn saw his brothers enter the cavern, and they didn't need any communication to give him their reasons.

You filthy spawn of necromancy! Karn exploded as he realized the undead-breathing was near the prisoner. He drew his blade and aimed for what looked like a cloud of dust in the dark confines of the cave.

Fervus Noctus, his final battle.

When the assassins suddenly entered, he threw all caution into the wind and thrust his hand forward into the young woman's side, causing a nasty bruise. Sathyana was engulfed in a haze of Magicka before she vanished, to the mark only Fervus knew the location of. His invisibility vanished.

Karn had already started his attack and thrust his blade through the Lich's robe. The blade failed to hit anything.
,,Right between the ribs, you can't fight a skeleton that way!" Fervus shouted as he swung his staff at the Dunmer in a slow arc. With his free hand, he fired a fireball at Karn's brothers.
,,Now I'm in trouble. I'll never get the time to prepare another recall. Then I'll give them pain!"

,,Not all Undead are evil, just as how not all living are good! You are more than ten times as evil as I've ever been!"

Karn, and brothers, fighting Fervus

As his blade passed unopposed through the lich's robes, Karn realized his error before it had been completely finished. Still he couldn't retrieve his blde from the lich's ribcage and evade its staff at the same time.
The fireball slammed down on the ground directly in front of the three other Dunmer, but they kidded to a halt and braced for the inferno. The roiling fire burned portions of their robes, but the three were mostly unharmed, thanks to their Dunmeri heritage.

Karn threw himself back, letting go of his sword in the process, to avoid the staff. He landed a few feet away, and cured his problem of being unarmed by summoning his bound shuriken. They hung motionless, and Karn's brothers, having recovered from the normally devastating fire attack, slowly moved in.

"True, undead, not any being is completely innocent, everything has sinned sometime after its birth or rebirth. But you, you are what makes children toss and turn in their beds in fear, not because of anything you've done, but because of what you are!" His eldest brother shouted, elven sword drawn. All four fanned out, equally spaced waiting for the lich to make the first move.

Fervus, talking.

Fervus raised his staff but didn't strike yet. His fireball hadn't been particularly effective, just as he'd expected.
,,Not all children fear me! Not all of them! It is for them that I fight you. For them, I oppose anyone who wants to harm Tamriel." He claimed and raised his staff even higher.

,,Now, face me!" He shouted, challenging the assassins to come closer.



(Ok, here's my plan. The Assassins go in and deal a mortal 'wound' to Fervus. They realize the danger just in time and get out of the way when he slams his staff down, creating the infamous pillar of fire and lightning. Said pillar will drill a hole in the mountain and probably be visible all over the province. Being totally spent, Fervus dies. Any comments? )

OCC: Nope, I have no problem with this.

Karn, and his brothers, same

The reply to the lich's challenge was instantanious, Karn released dozens of throwing stars, and his brothers rushed forward to kill this abomination permanantly. The middle one's fist blurred as he tried to smash the undead creature's chest. Elven shortsword slashed through the air as the eldest brought it down in an overhead-chop, and the three attacked it from multiple directions.

But Karn found himself hanging back, hesitant to enter the melee. Something isn't right..... Then he noticed the staff's malevolant red glow. That radiates raw power, we don't even know what it does. He stepped back, feeling somewhat frightened by the thing that the lich wielded.

He couldn't bring himself to caution his brothers, he couldn't find his cold voice........

Fervus, going out in a blaze of glory. (quite literally.)

There was no time for Fervus to evade the storm of attacks. Even if there was time, he couldn't. His body was simply too slow. Bones shattered under the assassin's attacks.
,,This is the end. Ironic, to be killed by someone who is an infant compared to me in age."

The Lich mustered all of his remaining strenght.
,,If you think you've won, YOU ARE WRONG! AS MY LAST DEED IN THIS WORLD, I WILL DESTROY YOU!" He smashed the staff's butt into the floor, releasing its powers in a massive explosion. The explosion tore through everything in its path, showing no mercy. Even the mountain could not withstand its might. Without encountering any resistance, it smashed through the ceiling. Higher and higher it rose, becoming a wonderous pillar visible througout the province. From all corners of Cyrodiil, people turned to watch the display.

As sudden as it had appeared, the pillar vanished. In the center of a blackened crater where two things. The staff that glowed a bright white from the heat, and a pile of ash. Fervus, the man who had escaped death twice before had embraced his final fate.





(So uh, did the brothers die? They could've jumped away at the last moment. If not, that attack utterly wipes out anything so I don't think there would be enough left of them to put in a grave. Also, consider most of the cave ruined. Also, bedtime. Goodnight.)

Karn, aftermath

Karn simply stood there, and watched as his brothers beat the lich savagely. The lich yelled, and thrust that malevolent staff into the ground, the flash of light was blinding.
Before the light overwhelmed his eyes, Karn saw his oldest brother leap back, but he wasn't as far away as Karn. The cavern was swallowed up in an instant, the dunmer ninja felt himself get lifted off his feet, flames licking at his body and lightning coursing through him, he was thrown into a wall, and felt unimaginable pain as he slammed into a wall.

Ian, nearby

Before the pillar appeared, Ian had been looking down at the area where the camp was located. The only warning of its brilliance was the brilliant glow that was emiting from the cave's enterance. Then the crown of the pillar blew half the mountainside of, sending it cascading onto the camp.

Ian covered his eyes, but it took several minutes for the spots to completely dissappear. When he reopened them, he beheld a different landscape the before. A small portion of the Silhouete's camp was buried under the mountian's pieces.
What in Oblivion just happened? The vampire/Imperial agent stared down upon the enemy's base.

OCC: Not sure if the eldest will survive, but Karn will. Fervus will be missed....... at least when everyone realizes he's the one who died saving Satyana.

Flogir

Flogir suddenly stopped in his tracks once he saw the brilliant display of light flaring off in the distance. It wasn't long until a noise similiar to thunder reached his ears.

"Was that just an explosion? That was east right?" Flogir said astonished.

I sure hope Satyana wasn't where ever that was...


Voltar, Location Unknown

Voltar sensed a mighty surge of energy and turned to see a towering inferno of light.

"My my, somebody possessed a nice little toy there. Doesn't look like they're using it anymore though," he mused turning to Veric.

He had instantly probed the source of the blast and found that whatever called it had disappeared. And Voltar was quite sure in his abilities to find those who tried to hide after using such power.

"Must've been a last ditch effort..."

Flint Ironwood, looking at Fervus' tombstone.

The Breton sensed the disturbance in Magicka. Instantly, his eyes turned towards where that disturbance was coming from. There he saw how a distant mountain literally seemed to explode in a pillar of roaring flames and crackling lightning. Several breathless seconds later, the sound of the explosion washed over the group.
Flint watched at the pillar with his mouth wide open in stunned disbelief. He surely wasn't the only one.
,,What the hell is that? Wait a minute....it looks familiar. Where did I see it before?"

Flint's memories conjured the image of a man hidden underneath a brown robe. A staff in the man's hands, zombies trying to kill him as a female Dunmer watched. Then, the staff hitting the snow and a terrible power being unleashed.
,,I saw that before. Fervey! The old man is there!" The Breton shouted and made his horse go faster. If the old man found it necessary to use that trick, then he was in serious trouble.
,,Well, looks like we no longer need to seek Sathyana. I bet that wherever she is, it must be close to that pillar of doom!" He shouted back at the group.

Satyana, somewhere...

Satyana whined when she was hit by Fervus´ hand, at the same time she was magically moved away...in a way that , despite the healing-spell made her feel very sick....

One moment she was lying on the cold stone floor, the next she was floating in the void, not knowing up from down. Finally she ended up.....somewhere! She hadn´t the faintest idea where she was. Also she felt very sick, not from the poison but from the ghastly travel

oh....where am I? Issac? Rann?

Then she lost consciousness again

Issac

Issac paused to gaze at the pillar, awestruck. What sort of thing has enough power to create something like that? He continued to stare until the sound from the explosion made him clamp his ears shut in pain.

He only heard part of what Flint said, as his ears still hurt. But he understood enough, whoever this Fervus is he's one powerful being..... Then he could have sworn he heard something else, but it was faint.
Satyana? Issac realized who he'd heard, and felt sure that he'd heard her. But where is she? I can't track someone through telepathy...... The Valus Mountains didn't feel right anymore, but he could't tell where Satyana was for certain.

Flogir

"Hey, hey, wait Flint!" Flogir shouted at the rapidly leaving Flint, "Do you seriously think it's safe to go running towards a place where a pillar of fire and lightning just shot out of!? That thing is like a beacon that just screams "Everyone! Come here!". That place is going to be crawling in baddies in no time, friend."

Flogir hesitated before continuing. "Plus, who could survive something like that?"

Flint Ironwood.


Flint reluctantly slowed down.
,,Fervus can. The only time I saw him do that, he wiped out like a dozen zombies but didn't even get a single wrinkle in his robe himself. On the other hand, the pillar was much smaller then. Something like this must cost an amazing amount of Magicka." He watched the remains of the mountain in silence.
,,Just what was he doing there? He would never join up with the Sil, I know that. Nor would he go seek a fight unless he was really pissed."

He addressed the whole group.
,,Alright, what do we do? Are we going to check out that mountain or are we going to continue our aimless search for Sathyana? I personally have the feeling that she must be close to there. And, I also want to see if an old friend is ok."

Green-Root, near Hero Hill.

Green-Root hissed angrily. He had been told to go inspect the base here but just before he arrived, half the mountain was destroyed and threw what was left of the base into chaos.
,,Perhaps the Silhouette is not on the winning side after all. Yes, a cornered man will fight with all his might. In this case, the cornered man was quite powerful. He is not the only one with such power. I'll have to investigate."

Flogir, thinking

"Well, it might be good to split off into smaller groups, one of them could look for Satyana, while the other investigates the explosion," Flogir thought out loud, looking over the group.

An idea crosssed his mind when he looked at Serene and Issac.

"How far away can you two be to speak telepathically with each other?" he asked Serene and Issac, "Because you two could be separated into two different groups, but we'll still be able to communicate with the other group if need be. That is, if you can reach each other over fairly long distances."

Flogir wasn't familiar with telepathy, but if the situation worked out, they would be able to get more done faster. It was risky having a smaller party, but smaller also meant they could sneak through the enemy easier.

Serene

"Pretty far...in fact distance isn´t an issue....the minds are! You see if I focus hard and ´say´something to Issac or Satyana, they receive it almost wherever they are..if they haven´t ´shut off´their minds, or are unconscious...which I think Satyana is right now, because naturally I´ve tried to reach her, but she doesn´t answer"

"Maybe we should split up....on the other hand we are stronger if we stick together....and more vulnerable!"

Flint Ironwood, adding his thoughts.

,,Strenght is not an issue. We should focus on stealth here. Remember that whatever is out there will be extremely pissed by now. Even if we stick together, we won't be able to take on a whole army. So I'd say that the splitting is a good idea. We'll have to leave the horses behind though. They're big and easily spotted."

He dismounted his owne horse and patted the creature on the neck.
,,I am worried about Sathyana. If you can't reach her, she's at least unconscious. In the worst case scenario.....let's not think about that."

Flogir

"Well I second the choice of splitting up then. We're going to need stealth for what we have to do, especially since that explosion is likely going to draw a lot of enemies here because they'll think they're under attack. So, who wants to go find Satyana, and who wishes to investigate the explosion?"

Serene

"I´ll go for Satyana, if Rann or Issac will come it´s good, she´ll wanna se some friendly faces when we find her.."

Flint Ironwood.

,,As long as we keep the ability to communicate between the two groups, it's fine with me. I'll go to the mountain. Who else wants to come?"

Flint distanced himself from the group.
,,Those who want to go find Satyana, go stand next to Serene. Those who want to check out the explosion and perhaps get hunted by an angry gang of baddies, go stand next to me."


Green-Root, Hero hill.

Green-Root cast a simple invisibility spell on himself and moved towards the cave unseen. Inside, he found a massive pile of rubble in his way. A staff that was radiating heat lay at the center of a large crater.
,,I'm not going to touch that cursed thing. If it won't kill me, it would still injure me greatly."

He looked around a bit more and saw two Dunmer laying on the floor. One was still breathing but the other, he wasn't sure if the man was alive or death.
,,Focus on the one with the greatest chance of survival."

Green-Root crouched down near Karn and layed down his spear. Rummaging around in his sack, he retrieved a collection of herbs, potions and a pair of pincers. With the pincers, he carefully removed the stonefragments from the man's many wounds. He then made sure he desinfected them before applying the herbs and bandages on the burns and scrapes.
,,Live, elf. The Silhouette still needs you."

Ian, Hero Hill

After a good while climbing down the butte he'd seen the explosion from Ian shook his head. This is too slow, I guess I should test what I can accomplish now... With that he leapt from the narrow patch of ground and began to jump from rock to rock, making his way to Hero Hill.

He decided to forget being stealthy, nothing he knew could survive being buried under meters of snow and be ready for a fight. He approached the cave cautiously, remaining wary of any ambush.

Issac, group

He felt conflicted on where he wanted to go, Issac wanted to find Satyana, but there might be something useful at the site of the explosion. If Rann went with Serene then naturally Issac would have to go to the camp.

I'm sure I heard Satyana. He finally moved toward Serene, hopefully the others will be all right...

Karn, battered and bruised

Karn coughed blood as he regained consiousness. He felt like he'd been trampled by a guar stampede and dunked under a lava pool for a few seconds. Karn opened his eyes slightly, taking in the fact that Green-Root was helping him.
"I don't care if the Silhouete was Mehrunes Dagon's most trusted advisor, but I don't intend to die here." He only managed to whisper, his chest hurt with every breath.

Flogir, making his decision

Flogir walked up to Flint's side. "I'll help Flint investigate this explosion. I'll be stealthy enough, I promise."

Flogir thought his soldier's training would help him observe the Silhouette's army and what they might try to be doing. With Serene and Issac deciding to look for Satyana, they had more than enough power magically and tactifully that his muscle was not needed.

Veric

"That was impressive," Veric said astonished, sensing the power as well though not comprehending the status of the source as Voltar did. The two had travelled silently alongside the group of adventurers originally ran into in Leyawiin, though they had split off after a while and now Veric and Voltar were stalking the wilderness alone heading in the general direction of the blast that had just occurred.

He turned to his companion, "I would like to see what kind of power caused an explosion like that. Change of plans," Veric grabbed Voltar's shoulder abruptly and in a flash of light the two were rippied across the landscape before Voltar had a chance to protest; a teleportation spell. The only flaw with teleporting like this is the threat of getting half way stuck in a rock or some sort. Which is why the two appeared about fifty feet in the air.

Veric let off a quick feather spell allowing him to land softly if not very gracefully. He imagined Voltar would be sharp enough to do the same. "This makes me feel young again, sneaking around like this," he said almost giddily. The young Breton face he had switched back to had made the statement a little confusing though.

They crouched in some brush, watching the entrance to the cave for activity, wary of anyone trying to sneak up on them.

Voltar

Before Voltar knew what was happening, the sensation of teleportation magic enveloped him and he soon found himself hovering in the air alongside Veric. He quickly casted a feather spell of his own and landed somewhat roughly on the ground, having to use his legs to brace the fall.

An annoyed looked crossed his face as he turned to Veric. "A little warning would've been appreciated."

He then looked around at his surroundings and found that they must be at the location of the blast, as rubble littered most of the area.

He crouched down in the bush with Veric, who had now reverted back to his Breton form.

At least we're doing something... Voltar thought as he peered at the cave entrance for activity.

Ian, hero hill

There was a flash of light and a slight thump as if something had fallen. Ian spun to look around the area, and slowly began to search for what had made the disturbence. He narrowed his eyes, the new vampiric instinct kicking in somewhat.

Leaping high into the air he landed on a ledge above and behind a set of bushes....... and those bushes were hiding two people, a breton and a high elf.

Veric

Veric stiffened, his face turned to stone as he pondered the situation, what to do, ways out of it. Logic told him that there would be people here trying to save Satyana. Thusly not every person in this area shuld be considered a dark hearted soul drawn to Hero's Hill. Still this man posed a threat and Veric decided to act in an unorthodox fashion. He mouthed silently to Voltar, as if to say 'Follow my lead.' No words were voiced though.

Veric stood revealing himself and stared at the man on the ledge before coolly walking towards the entrance of the cave...

Voltar

Voltar heard the tumbling of stones made from the man landing upon the ledge behind him. He then saw Veric's instructions. Voltar made no signal of comprehension, so as to not lead on to the person that had spotted them that something was happening. Instead, he simply followed Veric inside the cave. He made sure to have a spell prepared on the tip of his mind all the same.

Better to be safe than sorry.

Ian, hero hill

When the two began to move towards the cave, Ian stared after them. He jumped down and slowly marched after them, knowing that they were aware of his presence. If they want to keep this chirade up then fine, but I'm going to get why they are here when this is all over.

Green-Root, Hero hill, cave remains.

A shadow blocked out the light from the entrance. Instantly, Green-Root gripped his silver spear and raised it to meet the new visitors. He dared to take a quick glance at the staff lying at the center of the room. To his horror, it seemed to be decomposing.
,,What is that object?"


His expressionless eyes took in the Breton and the Altmer.
,,I am treating a patient here. He is not yet fit to receive visitors. Leave."

Veric

Veric's plan hadn't worked, but it wouldn't matter. He entered the cave and looked around. The place had been almost completely obliterated it seemed. A few corpses were strewn about, perhaps a few living still left. Veric completely ignored the Argonian's threat, even his presence and carefully dropped himself into the smoldring crater in the cave to where a staff lie.

To his astonishment the staff was falling apart, decomposing. Veric reached out and lifted it up, hoping that perhaps human contact would keep the device in existence.

(OOC: the staff belonged to one of your character's jack. its fate is up to you so you can post what exactly happens to the staff when you next post)

Ian, making a point

He took in the scene, an Argonian was threatening the breton, but heedlessly the man picked up the rotting staff. If that thing caused all this then its remains are too important to fall into the wrong hands.

Ian crouched and nocked an arrow, taking careful aim at the magical instrument. If you thought ignoring me was smart, you have another thing coming. He let the arrow fly toward the staff in the Breton's hands.

Green-Root, warning.

The Breton ignored him and lowered himself into the crater. With one swift movement, he grabbed the staff.
,,Don't touch it!" The Argonian warned against his will. It was already too late. The staff burst into flames and lightning crackled through the small blaze. When the fire vanished, the Breton was holding a parchment.

To the receiver of this letter.

An old friend of mine, Fervus Noctus, met his fate. Perhaps at your hands, perhaps not. It doesn't matter. His death disturbed the balance in all planes of existence for a short moment, bringing his fate to my attention. Now that he's gone, I lay claim on any possessions he left in this world. As a friend, this is a duty I must fulfill. It was as he'd wished. I will take the staff to a place where no one can retrieve it, so it can join its master in death after centuries of decay. Do not try to find me, for I am a wanderer who does not submit his existence to a single plane.

Aureus Lucis.




(Since this comes as a pure surprise, maybe Veric burned his fingers? Nothing major, just a minor nuisance. I planned on removing the staff completely from the field due to being too powerful. I wanted to let Aureus retrieve it but then he would likely stay in the rp and upset the balance even worse than Fervus. I think the parchment is a better idea. Not to mention it is kind of flashy and may keep Veric on his toes even though there is no threat. )


Edit: I didn't noticed Ian's action. Sorry, maybe the staff got shot out of Veric's hands before burning up, preventing his fingers from getting hurt.

Veric

The staff burst into flames in Veric's hands yet so long as there something solid to hold on to, he continued to grasp it. An arrow nearly missed his arm and pierced the flames that the staff had become but Veric was too interested to be bothered with the projectile.

His burnt trembling hands were left with a piece of parchment. He read it over, found it uninteresting and dropped it to the ground, quickly recomposing himself. Veric, faced with several people he did not know, addressed the first who had shot an arrow at him, simply with an odd, "It's not a good idea to shoot arrows at me."

He then turned to the Argonian and the man whom he was caring for, "Who is he?" gesturing towards the beaten Karn.

???, Near Swampy Cave

A young man surveyed his surroundings. He crouched and waited, a cheap iron arrow nocked in an ornate wooden longbow. The air was still save for the sound of a deer lightly grazing. The young man, quite young in fact, no older than 16 years, pulled back the drawstring steadily and took aim at the deer when a small pop of magicka interrupted behind him, startling both him and the target. His mark got away, though he was not bothered by it.

He turned to see what caused the noise when a much louder "pop" rang from Hero's Hill accompanied with a flash of light. The young man ducked instinctively at the sound, only to catch a glimpse of a woman lying in a clearing in th e direction of the original noise.

His eyes widened and the arrow fell from the bow and stuck into the ground as he ran to the body. He fell to his knees beside her and the first thing that struck him was the beauty of the person who lay before him. Her greyish skin shimmered with sweat in the sunlight and, although she was unconcious, a distressed look was written across her face.

He extended his left arm under her kneck and lifted her into a sitting position then extended his knee to support her back. With his other arm, he reached around his back, grabbed his flask of water, popped the cap to it and asked in a tone not so deep as an aged man's though lower than a young boy's, "Hey... Are you okay?"

Had her eyes of anguish opened and peered into his of concern she would see a young, timid but handsome man, probably of Nordic descent with some Imperial in him. His skin was well tanned, his sun-stained blonde hair was loose and uncut. It would appear he lived in the wilderness...

Ian, cavern

The breton was so fixated on the staff that Ian's arrow had little affect. He shook his head, and put the weapon away. Maybe I should have just shot him, spared us all this trouble When the man asked about the Argonian's "patient" Ian finally looked at the mer.

His eyes narrowed further as he recognized Karn. I could kill you here and now, but I would perfer to kill you on your feet.

Karn, same

While the Breton picked up that infernal staff and got burned as it burst into flames Karn had simply glared with a great measure of annoyance. Before he spat an unkind reply at the arrogant breton he heard Ian's message and stared at his advarsary.

"Good, I won't take long to recover, and when I do we'll see who is fit to live, once and for all!" The Imperial simply nodded an affirmative, some thing about him was different. He moved different he breathed different, nothing was the same.

Then turning his attention back to Virec, he did his best to spit in the arrogant snot's face. "My name is Karn, and I won't be talked down to, even if I can't breath without feeling pain."

Veric

"What are you gonna do about it?" Veric asked tauntingly, "Spit some more? Who is your leader?" he commanded, changing the subject.

Voltar

Voltar kept a passive stance as he walked into the cave and observed the events unfolding before him. He had to admit that he was a bit pleased to see the staff disappear in a burst of flame and lightning. That meant he still possessed one of the more powerful staffs upon Nirn.

The spell that was on the tip of his mind was nearly released when he saw the arrow attack upon Veric. It seemed the man who had followed them in didn't want them to have the staff. His elven eyes discovered that the man was actually a creature of the night. A vampire. He also saw that the vampire recognized the injured Dunmer on the other side of the cavern.

Voltar decided to change the spell on the tip of his mind to a fire one, knowing that such an element was a weakness for Vampires. Should he aim that bow again, Voltar might be provoked to unleash his spell. Maybe make a conjuration or two as well.

Karn

His breath was ragged, like he was breathing through a gag. Karn wanted more then anything to rip that Breton to pieces. But he knew full-well that he couldn't do anything worthwhile, not in his current condition.
So he simply became silent, not willing to give this man anything useful exept his contempt........

Veric

"Good," Veric smiled, "Now then, your leader? You serve a being that draws the ill-hearted into his control, correct?" he probed on. Veric could tell that this Karn was different than any other mindless drones that inhabited the camp surrounding the area, and he planned to find out what made him different.

Karn

He looked directly at Virec, then closed his eyes. Karn didn't believe that telling this man anything was a high priority right now. I would much perfer to get back to normal..... He let his breathing slowed down, letting his body begin to heal...

Ian

Ian studied the Altmer closely, and then remembered where he'd seen him before. That councilor's consort.... but now where is that lying n'wah? He looked back at the Breton, and noticed the same qualities he'd seen in the High Elf councilor.

What, now that guy is a shapeshifter? Now I really know I should have shot him. He strode outside, abandoning whatever would go on in the cavern. He had no reason to be near that politician- then it occured to him that whoever that person was might not even be a politician in the first place.

Voltar

Voltar caught sight of Ian's disappearance, taking note that recognition of himself was on the Vampire's face before he left.

Now how do I know him?... Oh that's right, he was among that group Veric had met with in the Imperial City and Leyawiin. No matter, I'm certain we can convince the group that his vampirism has effected his sanity. He's now inhuman; a creature that should be destroyed. We will likely be able to convince some of them to turn against him, Voltar thought, dismissing the possible problem the Breton posed as quickly as he thought of it.

"Look's as though he's too injured to answer. Are you any good with Restorative Magic? I haven't tried one of those in a long time, so you wouldn't want to trust the results I would get should I try to heal him," Voltar said, referring to Karn.

Veric

Veric shrugged, "I'm not that skilled my self," he said as he knelt beside Karn and positioned his hands above the man's chest. He concentrated on a restorative spell. Normally it wouldn't be too strong but his abundance of magicka made up for it slightly.

"Try getting up. You want to kill that vampire who just left? Now is your chance," Veric said as if he had just crafted a miracle.

(OOC: revan, if it was your intention that veric actually left karn alone i will edit.)

OCC: no that was just an excuse for Karn to ignore Virec...... unfortunately for him it didn't work out.

Karn

Through his closed eyelids, Karn saw a brief flash of light...... and the all sorts of chaos within his body went on. His skin regenarated and tissues, bone, muscle, and others, became anew. His eyes opened suddenly and his crimson eyes almost glowed with a mixture of anger and newly restored energy.

I'm going to kill this man eventually, I hate mages almost as much as necromancers. He swore to himself as he got up and tested his limbs, making sure that everything was intact. He looked at Virec's face that spoke of how much he wanted to kill him now, but he shrugged.

Ian

He caught the flicker of light and the faint pulse of magic, he only used magic every now and again. Ian turned to see Karn, fully healed striding toward him with an oddly reluctant look on his face. Darn that Breton, looks like I'll.......

The thought was unfinished due to the sudden surge of power in the vampire's control on his mind. While Karn continued slowly forward, Ian privately grappled with the disease's hold on his mind. The part of him that was Ian simply wanted to go his way; the vampire wanted to slaughter everyone here, Karn, the Argonian, The shapeshifter, and that Altmer.

Both adversaries stared at each other for a long time, Karn to his credit was studying him with obvious confusion. "You're a vampire now?" The Dunmer asked, looking deeply into the tanned eyes of the Imperial. "Yes, and I see that mage revitalized you. I can guess for his own amusement?"

Karn nodded, and Ian understood the mer's hesitation. Despite all his ruthlessness and determination to end Ian's life, Karn fought for his "honor." Which meant pristege, when they had first met Ian had dishonored him by causing him to fail an assignment.

The ninja had sought to kill him ever since to restore his honor. He loathed anyone who dared to put a leash on him, who said they command him. "Now we're both in a simlar hole, and the flood's coming soon....... But only one can escape to higher ground."

Ian quoted a saying that illustrated a rivalry, it seemed rather appropriate now. "We'll fight, but we'll fight on our own terms, not someone else's." Karn replied, glancing back at the cave. "Then let that be the final battle, it has been long in the waiting...... for both of us." Ian said, and he blurred, leaving Hero Hill and his opponent, behind.

Voltar

Voltar was looking for some entertainment, so he decided to Karn out of the cave, making sure to keep well in the distance.

Unfortunately, it seemed that neither participant were interested in fighting and the Breton left shortly after a few words were exchanged. Disappointed, Voltar returned to Veric.

"Well it seems neither are interested in battling each other. So if you want to go question the Dunmer, now would be the best chance," he then eyed the Argonian, "Or we can always ask the Argonian as well. Seeing as he's here and all. I have a feeling that Dunmer might have a bit more information for us though."

Veric

"Indeed," Veric agreed. He walked towards the mouth of the cave, then exited to see Karn standing outside.

"I've done you a favor, how about a little one for me?" he probed again, thinking that pushing this man too hard would result in him remaining quiet. "The leader around here, who is he and where can I find him?"

Karn

When Veric came out and spoke, Karn scoffed. "You've done me no favor, Breton." He felt hollow right now, it was odd, unexplainable. But he didn't let it bother him, and he decided to give a small bit of information.

Besides, it's not like the Silhouete's done me any favors. He mused, thinking about his late brothers. "Its name is the Silhouete, some otherwordly apparition or the like. As for where it is now, I have no idea, probably investigating one of the failed attacks on Bravil or Bruma."