Topic: Whispers In The Dark

Krysira · Date: 2006-11-19 21:52 EST

There was a chill to the night air; winter was coming. No one knew that better than Krysira. She was standing just inside the door of an abandoned building in the West End: The IronHelm Flats. She had been watching her breath exhale itself in curling puffs of smoke for the past half an hour. It began to rain quite heavily outside.

The West End had no want for abandoned buildings; but this was larger than most. It was not a warehouse, nor a dock storage facility, but an old apartment house. Two stories, although in some places, it still retained its original three story structure.

She had been instructed to meet Nocent here, on the ground floor, not far from the staircase. However, Krysira had kept close to the door. Unconsciously, or perhaps consciously, she wanted to provide something of an exit access for herself. Deep in the pit of her stomach, she had been steadily growing fearful of Nocent. She was abrupt in her voice, dealings and mannerisms. Krysira could almost feel the icy fa?ade from the tall redhead; there was just something about her that made even Krysira uneasy.

Even back in Guller?s Creek, Krysira had known those who were inherently ?bad.? Hell, she thought of herself as one of those people. And in the BlackWolf guild, there were those who rivaled her natural need for the naughty and nasty ways of life. Of course, here in RhyDin, there was no shortage of black hearted folks just looking for a way to spear a neighbor or cheat a spouse. But this woman, Nocent, left a warning in the back of Krysira?s mind that she couldn?t ignore or push to the side any longer.

Her first task had been simple?She had even rather enjoyed it: She had innocently let it slip to the authorities that she had seen Isuelt DeRomiano at the sight of the grisly double murder. Krysira had worn a smirk on her lips all the rest of that day as she had watched the Scathachian being led out of the Inn.

Her second task had been simple as well. And she had the information ready for Nocent. Although, she was still anxious. Nocent had suddenly requested the task be finished two days ahead of schedule. A shiver ran up the bitter thief?s spine as she murmured to herself, ?Good thing, too. She?s got an ill look about her, that one??

Giminicka · Date: 2006-11-19 22:44 EST

Within the abandoned apartment building, the murky shadows shifted and trembled slightly to the naked eye. The screeching wind from the storm outside dashed through these glassless windows and empty hallways like a myriad of hectic children. From within the bowels of this seemingly lifeless gloom, the darkness parted its thick shroud. Nocent had arrived.

"Arrived" certainly being a cryptic word, as she had been there for some time. She had been there, and she was watching. Her emerald green eyes had been penetrating into the edgy form of this woman who nervously strode in the shadows of these abandoned flats, awaiting her arrival. Krysira was her name. She was a small-time thief and member of a guild known as the Order of the BlackWolf. Thief, kidnapper and even murderer, for the right price. Well....her price had been met.....now it was time to see if Nocent had chosen correctly for these tasks at hand.

There, of course, would be no waves. After all, the unholy voices in her twisted and malicious mind had selected this young hooligan and called her by name to Giminicka's keen attention.

The beast always picks his subjects well.

The beast's kingdom was submersed in all such monstrous and homicidal intentions. Even when his chosen had not yet begun to realize their own wanton lust for supremacy nor their immoral potential buried so deeply within their already rotting soul.......he was always accurate. Why then should this induction be any different.

She slowly moved into the dim light, which ebbed inward from a rickety, boarded window in this long- neglected building. Giminicka's gauntlets drew back her deep crimson hood which cloaked her face. As a slow vile smirk emerged on her deadly visage, her commanding voice slithered forth from behind voluptuous lips. "Such a nice night for a walk," she taunted. "Are you sure it is safe to walk these streets all alone child? I have heard grotesque rumors that several people have suffered grave 'accidents'.........murdered in fact. A brave young woman you must be........Krysira."
The name of her envoy rolled off of her tongue like small splashes of blood.

Without waiting for a reply, the former Scathachian closed the distance between them until her imposing form was looming above the uneasy Krysira. Giminicka's sculpted face turned downwards to take in all of the thief's smaller body. Her pupils constricted as she focused on her special herald.

In that brief moment of still silence, her fanatical eyes raped Krysira over and over again. Rape, she pondered silently, was far from out of the question.............it would be blissfully divine to devour and invade her athletic body countless times to the backdrop symphony of the raging storm outside. Then, when there was no further well of sickening orgasms left to satiate her feral frenzy, she would simply open Krysira's throat and watch her die. To bathe her powerful, naked body in the blood of such a scandalous woman, while drenched entirely in gore and sweat, would stir feelings of crazed passion in Giminicka that no sexual encounter could breech. The consecrated baptism of murder. Yet another rebirth for the former Judge.

In time, she thought.....all in time.

The priestess of Bhaal spoke "I hope for your sake my love, that you have retrieved that which the beast has commanded........."

Krysira · Date: 2006-11-20 19:45 EST

There was a pause...

Krysira was torn. Half of her needed desperately to look away from Nocent, yet the other half of her couldn't tear her eyes from her. It was like watching fire from close distance; you knew if you stayed, you'd burn, but there was such a hypnotic, sensual draw from the undulation of these flames.

Finally, a clap of thunder rattled Krysira out of her indecision. She drew a deep breath, her shoulders rose. "Yes.....yes, I've got it here," she thrust out a rolled piece of parchment. The waxed seal was imbedded with the edge of Krysira's ring, she glanced at it just then and immediately regretted her action to seal the paper so. It was in this instant that she knew what she must do; it screamed at her: she knew it was the only way to secure her own life. At least for the time being.

"Here," she shoved the paper further toward Nocent with a deep exhale. "And...and I'm out now. I want my money." Her words were spilling from her lips without a filter, without editing.
"I don't want anything to do with this anymore. I....I did what you asked, I got you the information. And it's bleedin' good info, too. Now, just please give me the money that you promised me and I'll be out of your hair," and out of RhyDin, she thought. She was finally able to put a finger on it. The very nature of Nocent screamed ?death.? And it wasn?t just the fall of the Scathachians that had Krysira thinking this way.

This thief, this hustler was finally beginning to see that Nocent had almost no regard for any life. Not even someone who was working with her was free from her wrath. Krysira?s fear of the tall, heartless woman had begun its festering path.....?right through to her very soul.

Giminicka · Date: 2006-11-20 22:01 EST

Her armored fingers avariciously gripped the parchment which was handed to her. Her eyes remained fixed on it as though it were some map to a veiled, ancient treasure.......a priceless obsession. For indeed, Giminicka truly coveted this invaluable document.

Either oblivious to her herald or simply ignoring Krysira?s string of babbling comments, Giminicka did not yet utter a word. With a pull of her hand she easily broke the wax seal and opened the manuscript.

A smile crept along her chiseled visage once again. It was all here......every last name......

The beast within spoke: ?And the great sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and Hell gave up the lifeless that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done....?
Nocent?s eyes studied the paper?s rich content like a ravenous predator. Each itemized line intensely excited her. Yet another piece of her twisted puzzle was into play. For now she possessed all of their names......the names given up by the great sea.......the names given up by Hell.

The parchment read as follows with notes scribbled opposite each indicated name:

There are currently only 8 Warriors of the Scathachian Sanctuary in RhyDin:

1. Isuelt DeRomiano <imprisoned>
2. Jenai Angelique
3. Trixie McAllister
4. Laufeia Shanra Odette
5. Edith Adele
6. Winifred Baxter
7. Serena Blaylocke
8. Umrae?diira

Close friends and allies of the Sisters:

1. Brian Ravenlock --- highly skilled vigilante, lover of the Scathachian Jenai; has numerous contacts in the West End, currently stays at the Sanctuary with the Sisters (as well as in a loft above a bakery in the Marketplace), has been snooping around a lot

2. Jewell Ravenlock --- sister of Brian, called ?The Empress?; love interest is a man named Skyler; she has many children; she possesses macabre magical abilities; will not let this matter of Isuelt?s imprisonment lie quiet (has visited her in prison)

3. Icer --- a true dragon of the ancient world; close friend of the Sisters, has many children, husband?s name is Arthur Shimmerscale

4. Crimson Flash (true name unknown) --- another ?peace keeper? in the West End; has visited Isuelt in jail; magical abilities, a loner

5. Gremlin James McTirin--- close friend and confidant of Isuelt; love interest is a green-haired woman named Lydia

6. Keaton Fox --- successful musician; lover of the Scathachian Trixie; potent lycanthropic abilities (were-fox)

7. Liena Hope --- adopted daughter of Icer (10 or 11 years old); trains with the Sisters in combat techniques regularly

8. Alain D?Mourir --- crafty arms dealer, ally of the Scathachians; has sought refuge in their Sanctuary on occasion

9. Lucian Mallorek --- intelligent legal barrister, presently defending Isuelt against her murder charges; hired by the Ravenlock siblings

10. Juleta Ponomorenko --- blood niece of Brian Ravenlock, friend of the Scathachians & known artist, commissioned by the Sisters to paint a mural at the Sanctuary

11. Wyheree Ravenlock --- influential elementalist mage; engaged to be married later this week to a well-known pirate named Captain James Black

12. Scorpion Wraitharan --- longtime love interest of Isuelt, crime lord in Metro City, received word that he is currently en route to RhyDin

Only after she intimately studied this prized list did Nocent raise her sinister eyes and refocus them upon her envoy Krysira. ?You have done well my child......quite well. You now wish to receive your due payment and nullify our current arrangement?? Her grin spread to near demonic proportions......and here in this muted light, the priestess of Bhaal appeared to possess a maw filled with razored, ivory teeth.
?You will follow me Krysira....and you shall gaze on the preparation of the beast. Let your naive eyes feast on what lies ahead..........and then my love, you may make your decision final...?

With that, her crimson gauntlet firmly took hold of Krysira?s nimble forearm and forced her into the depths of the hollowed, abandoned apartment flats.

Krysira · Date: 2006-11-22 18:10 EST

It was almost as if the clap of thunder coincided with Nocent's grip on her wrist. The sound of the heavens screaming was felt in the cold, unforgiving clutch on her skin.

Yes, this was the exact moment when Krysira knew that she was dealing with not just a person, but a force. Nocent had the backing of something...something otherworldly.

Krysira tried to reclaim her hand from Nocent, but to no avail. The darkness of the hallway enveloped them, Nocent's grating pull on the thief never let up. Krysira had the oddest sensation...the sensation of being pulled into a grave, being pulled toward death.

Around a corner, another clap of thunder. Although this time, the lightning which preceded it lit the hallway briefly. They were headed toward the stairs. Krysira's heart was pounding in her ears, it was like the very sound was hurrying her along; not to mention Nocent's serious grip on her arm. Tripping up a couple of stairs, Krysira was led to the landing just in time for another splinter of lightning to illuminate this new hallway.

Another few steps and Nocent stopped her.

Stopped her at a door.

Giminicka · Date: 2006-11-24 17:30 EST

Giminicka stopped before a shabby wooden door, which at one time was the main entryway into this particular flat. Her gauntleted hand shoved open the door without hesitation. A slow unnerving creak was heard echoing throughout the musty hallway.

Giminicka turned her corded neck slightly so that her piercing eyes once more rested upon her herald Krysira. "Feast thine eyes on the latest masterpiece of the Scathachian Nation.....drink in the unending torment and pain which these Sisters and their allies inflict on the people of this miserable land."

She firmly pushed Krysira through the doorway and into the vacant hovel. What the thief saw before her was nothing short of yet another calculating act of slaughter.

The room was dimly lit by four azure candles. Each one placed in the four corners of the humble apartment. Their eerie flickering cast phantasmal shadows on the peeling walls, which seemed to dance in an ever-changing hypnotic rhythm. Krysira's eyes would immediately be drawn to the far wall and the ghastly display it arrogantly boasted.

As her eyes adjusted to he poorly lit room, she would discern that on the wall itself there was something dreadfully out of place. Was it a large thin portrait ......no no.......a statue.......no.......by the gods, it was a person.......yes it was definitely a person..........a man in fact.

A maimed man was suspended on this wall.......his legs dangled far off of the ground and his feet had been noticeably severed above the ankles. An iron spear was protruding from his stomach....like some twisted abdominal extension it pointed out towards the thief and the priestess.

This victim was naked, and had been skewed through his midsection. The weapon had then been thrust further through the wall in order to display him like nothing short of a grisly ornament. On the dirty floor, near the oozing stumps where his feet should have been, was a carefully arranged set of large brass scales.......not unlike the familiar Scales of Justice.

His amputated bare feet were neatly lying on either side of these brass scales. The fractured tibia and fibula bones, now stained red from the steady flow of blood and shredded muscle fibers, sharply protruded from the torn flesh of his foot and ankle. A large rat had already taken several bites from the fresh flesh....gorging itself on the meat before it became too fetid and rotten for even it to consume.

The walls of this former living space were profusely smeared with blood.....this poor man did not die quickly. There was so much crimson gore splashed about the room, that it would seem impossible for this corpse to still have any blood left within its lifeless form. Nevertheless, it certainly looked as though he touched every wall in that room with his gory hands. Whether he had been fleeing his colossal predator or desperately clawing at the unyielding walls for help that would never arrive......the end was the same.....sheer butchery.

Giminicka moved past Krysira and stood next to the mutilated man on the wall. Her deep red hair framed a stoic face as she looked from her envoy to the body and then back again. "Do you recognize this respectable gentleman my love? You should.....he was a prominent magistrate....Cromwell was his name. Guided by his deep sensibilities, he truly believed that these vigilante Scathachian warriors were responsible for this recent reign of bloodshed. He wanted to see little Illea tried and punished for her crimes. So....in response.....Illea?s sisters brashly slaughtered him. Such a vile state this unpleasant city is in. These barbarous women run about like savages unchecked.....and it is the common people who mourn and wail for their sinful deeds."

The wicked priestess extended a closed fist towards the scales. ?Behold.....the holy Books tell us that if any harm should become your brothers or your sisters, then thou shalt take an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for hand, a foot for a foot, a burning for a burning,....a life for a life.?

With those harsh words, Nocent pointed to the dripping scales. Krysira could now see that the hideous plates were balanced with pieces of the magistrate himself. Cromwell's broken, blood covered teeth littered the brass containers as well as both of his plucked eye balls. His severed right hand was positioned atop the scales.

Giminicka · Date: 2006-11-24 17:39 EST

Giminicka continued to sarcastically speak as she stretched her armored hand towards the dead man?s face, and pried open his flaccid, bleeding eyelids. ?The empty sockets should show us what a dark man he truly was Krysira. Gaze deeply........reach within him, if you must, to grasp his immoral nature.?

Her powerful index finger invaded the near-empty eye socket. What was left of the mushy orbital contents spilled out over her gauntlet and hung like a baited hook from the magistrate?s battered and mutilated face.
The revolting sound of soggy tissue and orbital remnants had the faint echoes of some wild animal trudging through a dampened, murky swamp.

Giminicka withdrew her now wet fingers and leveled a gaze at Krysira, as the beast within spoke yet again, "Krysira, daughter of Niltech . This game has not yet ended.....far from it my child. You have been chosen to help rewrite the sacred Books......your deeds will resonate in eternity by the time the great sun yields its head for the final time. There is no turning back child...........you belong to me, now."

Nocent's muscular right arm extended itself as to motion to the wall where the magistrate was fatally pinned. The flickering candlelight seemed to take heed of her calling, and the wall here became slightly more illuminated. There, on its cold surface, were written two sentences. The letters were large, and boldly etched in Giminicka's favorite ink.....undoubtedly originating from the magistrate's hollowed orbital sockets. It ominously read:

ALL FOES OF THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL BE CONDEMNED.
SET HER FREE NOW

"Do you see?" Giminicka boasted with a treacherous sneer, "It appears that the devout Scathachian warriors and their insolent friends are growing quite impatient with endlessly waiting for legal edicts, courts, magistrates and..............justice. Such hellish hypocrites they are, love. Do they not know, that murder is against the law..........................even when they themselves are the murderers?"

Deafening thunder and a biting flash of lightening endorsed her query within the gruesome room.

Krysira · Date: 2006-11-25 15:40 EST

Krysira was shaken to her core?

She backed up, her feet trying desperately not to trip over themselves. The thunder banged out her pace. The gory tableau before her eyes was still searing into her brain, the thief ineffectually raised her arms to block out the scene. Her left heel skidded over the toes on her right foot; a backward motion sent her back knocking into something hard?a wall? Krysira, now a bit skittish (though she would have never thought herself so), she turned her head quickly to see what she had run into. Nocent stood behind her, towering above. Her expression was one of keen satisfaction, pride welling within her.

Krysira drew a ragged breath as the lightning further illuminated the candle lit room once more. She could have been hallucinating, but she could have sworn she heard the constable?s screams in the back of her mind, calling for her to get out?.to leave?.to flee.

?Ex- ?..excuse me?.? she fumbled past Nocent and into the hallway. Krysira?s hands groped for the wall, she felt her way into a dusty corner and her body doubled over. A wave of nausea overtook her and she wretched onto the already soiled floorboards. Finally, when her body stopped its convulsing reaction to Nocent?s ?project,? she straightened?ever so slowly, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

Another flash of lightning showed Nocent?s imposing form standing in the threshold between the room and the hallway. Another deep breath and Krysira began to will her body calm. As she watched this woman?s silhouette, she could almost taste the tang of evil in the air. Krysira had always fancied herself an outsider, a no-gooder. But this woman?this woman was something else entirely. And for perhaps the first time in Krysira?s life, she was afraid?.truly afraid.

Giminicka · Date: 2006-11-25 19:53 EST

Giminicka leered at her hired thief.
?Now?..return to the city and continue to be my ears. I will leave word for the concerned friends of dear Illea??to let them know that everyone appreciates just how hard they?ve been toiling for her release. I will call on you soon Krysira..............do not make me look too hard.?

Giminicka turned her towering form away from her envoy, and she walked towards the hanging corpse of the magistrate. With a strong flick of her hand, a foot of serried steel sprung forth from the wrist blade on her left forearm. She then proceeded, like some savage butcher, to carve off the magistrate?s upper and lower lips, along with some of the surrounding perioral tissues. When she had completed her grim task, she held in her hand one piece of meaty flesh containing both oral labia.

?What rich, succulent lips you have my love......some stitches of silk should do nicely on you.?

The priestess then turned her attention to Cromwell?s genitalia. She gripped his flaccid manhood in one gauntlet...........stretched it tightly......then she allowed her blade to devour it with one swift, arcing stroke.

What blood was left in this ashen corpse spilled forth, though much of it had coagulated within the vessels already.........so a thickened mixture of aqueous blood and a congealed jelly-like matter spewed out onto the floorboards. That splashing sound of the floor meeting this man?s flesh and inner vitae made her smirk yet again......erotic it was.....such a punctuation to her already aroused and playful mood.

Her coarse whisper was hissed forth as she stared blankly at the mangled corpse: ?The penis shall go to her then......certainly not an unfamiliar item to such a harlot.?

Giminicka threw her bloody spoils into a black leather sack and fastened them to her belt. She had heard Krysira stumble down the stairs and run out of the main door a few moments earlier. ?A pity....? she thought in her deranged mind, ?I fear that one day I will have to teach that young girl the true difference between carnal pleasures of the flesh and the scathing torture of the soul......'

Giminicka?s tall form strode from the rancid room...that dark scene of sheer slaughter. A deep laughter rumbled forth from her throat as she exited the condemned IronHelm Flats, and vanished out into the dead of Rhydin's night........there was still much work to be done this evening.

The Hells be praised.