Cold Hearts IC Thread

[Raizi]

Raniq had listened when the others spoke and now he raised himself from the table. He produced seven sets of cards from some hidden pocket in his breeches and walked around the room, offering a set for everyone. The cards were made of some kind of rigid shells coated with varnish and they came in identical sets of three. In each card was carefully illustrated a set of sixteen different hand signals and their meaning, giving everyone an understanding of forty eight hand signs, each representing a single word.

When everyone had their sets, Raniq took a position near one of the walls so everyone could see him and he could see everyone else.

*RANIQ* *SILENT* *SERVANT* *DEEP* *GODS*

He patiently waited for everyone to grasp the meaning, what his hands were telling and repeated the signals in the same order two more times and then took a stiff bow, before continuing, turning more towards Markus.

*YES* *WORK* *MONEY*

*SUM* *MONEY* *DEATH* *ENEMY* *QUESTION?*

*SUM* *ENEMY* *QUESTION?*

 

[Mello]

Mythas watched on as the final entrant was seemingly ignored by this Markus guy, who had answered, as rich people do, in a customary vague fashion. He stood up slowly, while the others nattered on, and rested a hand on her shoulder, instantly regretting it and ducking as she swung her handbow round. Crouching, he raised his hands, half-mockingly, half just to be sure:

"Calm down! He managed to get hold of all of us by some way or another, although I admit I don't have anythig to hide."

He scanned her over quickly, courtly clothing, lipstick, but it was of odd design, and she didn't shine witht the normal casual beauty of a noblewoman. Feeling the first twinge of sympathy practically ever, Mythas inwardly frowned, surprised at the amount of fake confidence he managed to pretend to have, even to himself. Looking at the woman he managed a twitch of a genuine smile.

"You look like you've had some hard times too, hmm?" he half whispered.

All the while, Mythas listened to all the commotion continue, with the rubbish slave turning out to be a somewhat better presented assassin, and a couple of people complaining about things that Mythas couldn't see the relevance of. For him, he was here to meet fellow renegades, and to have a means of finding more difficult jobs to wreak more despair.

 

[Lynks]

Leaning in so closely to where Mythas' ear was that had the hood not been there Iriden's lips would have brushed against skin exhaling deeply as she whispered slowly through the hood "More than you could ever know hooded man..."

Glancing around from her position Iriden observed the 'room's' goings on once more. it seemed to her that everyone was saying their own piece and nobody was getting any real response from their masked host. Pretending to back down so that the hooded assassin would lower his guard, she lept backward and fired a burst of bolts at the roof of the cave above their host before holstering the crossbows with a sarcastic 'oops' expression written all over her face. The bolts clattered away harmlessly as intended but they performed their role of creating a short lull in the activity of the room.

Glancing furtively at the executioner, Iriden addressed Markus as she made her way to the table.

"If you do indeed know what I want then you know it is beyond yours to give and whatever plans you have will obviously be putting myself and the others at great risk."

Taking her seat keeping as many people in view as possible she continued...

"So quit your vague ramblings and perhaps you could begin by telling us just how you plan to see us compensated... in figures."

 

[Johnny-Crass]

Markus looked up at the squabbling elves before him. Sighing heavily he responded "Each of you will receive 2000 per mission, per target. In addition I will provide you with a vast array of one of a kind toxins and antidotes." He swelled with pride, adding "My own creations! As for what some of you seek you must earn my trust before I give you any aid in your quest." Turning to stare at Iriden "Or for that matter.... Retribution"


Standing to his full height, wincing a bit as his skin stretched "One last thing. We will be running atleast two missions at a time as not to underplay all your skills and talents." Pulling out a long scroll and a silver quill with blade near the hand piece "Can everyone please sign the contract?"

 

[Chaos_Born]

Verikar lept up, unlooked-at shells scattering on the floor as he did so. He marched over and signed the contract with flourish. He looked up to Markus and spoke quickly, 'I will not require any toxins, as you probably know, although if you have any rare bladed weaponry I would happily take payment in that form.' He then turned and went back to his chair without waiting for a response, not wanting to brush with one of the madmen in the room in case they started something they couldn't finish.

 

[The Archivist]

Jan looked hard at Markus.
"If I wasn't so hard pressed for help right now, I'd walk out of this cave in a heartbeat."
She withdrew a scarf and wrapped it round her neck, before leaning back on her chair.
"Well, the gold sounds good. Two more conditions though. Firstly, we must leave the same calling card at every target, with the phrase 'by winter's soul' on it. Secondly, these targets have to be interesting. No 'kill the spice merchant whose name is Bob and doesn't have a life'."
She removed the scarf and placed it neatly back in the bag.
"So... acceptable?"

 

[Zephyr]

Kelarith stood up and walked up to the desk, picking up the contract and reading each single word carefully. He whispered a few times, seemingly waiting for an answer before whispering once again.
After a while he finally unfastened his glove, revealing a long slender hand and picked up the bladed silver quill. It immediately drew his blood and with it Kelarith signed the contract.

Without saying anything he returned to his place on the left, folded his arms and stood there waiting for the others to sign. He looked around the room, taking in the faces of those he would be working alongside with. He did not doubt their prowess, some of them looked like skilled assassins, but he did doubt their devotion to Khaine.

He was used to getting a certain kind of stare in this city by now but some of the eyes here spoke of more than simple surprise of seeing one such as he.
He would have to keep a close watch on them indeed.
One had already openly came out as a servant of the "Deep Gods", whatever that meant. Kelarith did not care much about that, as long as Khaine came first any other dark muse or deity was fine with him. Yet he did not know for certain. He did not know how faithful any of the Druchii present here with him were but the low growling in his ears had been warning enough.

The calling card idea the female brought up sounded ridiculous to him, the lifeless corpses would be calling card enough for him, but he knew it was sometimes the way of assassin's to leave a "mark" behind. It would be very interesting to work with these Druchii indeed, interesting and dangerous.

 

[Raizi]

Hearing what their host told them about the payment, Raniq nodded in satisfaction. He then produced a small vial, shaped in the form of a kraken and took the quill from the table.

He read the contract through one more time before he dipped the quill in the vial and wrote down on the contract with the thich black substance:

"Raniq, Servant of the Deep Gods, name written in Blood of the Ancients to sanctify this contract."

 

[Malochai]

Indoril nodded at what Markus said. "The coin will come in useful ... But as for poisons and antidotes, I have more than enough. You can provide me with the ingredients for more, though. That would be acceptable." He stood and withdrew a small vial from one of his pouches, and one of his knives from the sheath. He pierced the skin of his palm with the knife, and quickly poured two drops into his mouth, and another on the wound. It stung, causing him to wince, and a slight hiss emanated around the room.

The elf strode forward and took the quill from Raniq, roughly pushing the end into the wound and pulled it away, the end covered in a viscous mix of blood and antidote, congealing quickly. He signed the contract, 'Indoril Moriche Nerefteen, Heir of House Nerefteen of Naggarond'. The extended title pleased him, the slight inaccuracy of it beside the point. "I'm in," he said to the room in general, before turning to Markus, "Cross me at your own peril, Markus the Black."

 

[Mello]

Mythas approached the table with the contract, unsure what to do as he couldn't write.. Making up his mind, he quickly slashed his palm, and poured a little puddle of blood onto the parchment. He then lowered his arm onto the table, and Sylvia, who had been admirably obedient couldn't resist the open wound inches in front of her, and hopped onto the table, printing her feet in the bloodstain as he did so.

Mythas smiled to himself as he placed Sylvia on his arm and let her eat a little of his hand. It reminded him of the good times they used to have..

Good times.

 

[Lynks]

Markus' words were either a thinly veiled threat or an offer of how he could help her. If it was the latter then Markus had played his cards and shown her he was bluffing. The only desire Iriden had was a want of peace. Retribution was meaningless and nothing less than a writ of iron and the goodwill of the temple of Khaine would save her and she seriously doubted their host had enough strings to pull to achieve that.

Regardless, Iriden had been backed into a corner and turning the offer down now was not the wisest decision in order to maintain her ongoing existence, at the very least, the money would come in handy for the short term. Reaching for the contract she read each line carefully, tracing her finger underneath, pretending to use it to keep her place as she reached out to sense for any form of magical feedback, worried that there might be some spell or incantation binding those who sign it. She was already pursued by one entity and would rather not have another as well. Unsure if such a spell even existed and unsure of her own capacity, she was unable to sense anything from within the parchment and the clauses seemed reasonable on the surface though there were bound to be particular wordings hidden away that she would regret later.

After dipping her quill heavily into an ink pot she tapped it upon her lips as if in contemplation of the words to write but then she leaned down and pressed her lips to the paper. As she withdrew the others could see she left an impression of her signature, surrounded by a kiss of the still drying blood from her lips. Pulling out a small vial, she dipped her finger within the vial and re-coated her lips with the blood she used before so that the colour was once again solid.

 

[Johnny-Crass]

Markus looked down at the paper 'good enough' he thought, after all it was more of a formality. Who was he going to call about a contract violation? The courts? Markus gave a wierd chuckle before pulling out two packets and tossing them on the table.

"Here are the details of your missions. You have two choices and I will allow you to form your own teams.
The first mission I have very few details on." Pausing to let out a hacking cough Markus continued "Foernus Grimaldi is a seller of beasts and other foreign trinkets in the main slave market, one of his stock was subject of a complaint and now Foernus must pay for it. He can be identified by a ring in his left eyebrow, and a tattoo on his right hand. He'll most likely be surrounded by his perverted and malformed livestock. Kill him how you wish, witness's are optional."

Markus took a deep rattling breath before continuing "The second mark is the daughter of a High Court Judge. This judge has been taking our bribe money and not returning the favor. We have given him a chance and now he must pay. His daughter is a recluse, only traveling to the market at high noon every day for one hour. She travels by coach and has the vendors bring their wares to her. She has four very basic guard with her at all times. Before you ask the judges house is far to heavily guarded to get her when she sleeps. It has to be at the market. Make sure she dies and witness's are optional."

Markus looked at his seven sitting before him "Calling cards are allowed, any other questions? If not please divide up into teams" Markus stepped back and took his seat.

 

[Malochai]

Indoril listened intently to the information they were all given about the contracts, thoughts and ideas running through his mind. 'A reclusive in a carriage isn't really my forté,' he thought, coming to his decision.

"I'll help take out this Foernus Grimaldi. He sounds enough like the ... Easiest of my usual contracts for me to have an idea or two. I would prefer to have a stealthy, or at least quick, second, as a minimum."

 

[Raizi]

After hearing Markus' description of their upcoming targets, Raniq promptly walked to the table and put his index finger on the package of Foernus Grimaldi.

Then Raniq took a small quill of his own, took ink from a different vial than before and scribbled some notes on a piece of parchment. When finished he gave the note to Indoril.

 

[Chaos_Born]

Verikar saw the mute indicate the first package and promtly announced, 'I'll be doing the daughter in the coach then' He stood up and walked over to the table and smiled at Markus, 'Just tell me when and where and those guards won't know what's hit them.'

 

[Malochai]

Indoril was surprised when Raniq gave him the scribbled note, but read it and nodded.

"Well, I had the idea of someone running in, drawing off any guards and then I could shoot him, but ... If you could get close enough, along with any others who join us, I could draw them off myself and leave killing him to you. Of course, the others should have a say if they join us. I feel, however, the recluse will take a bit more planning."

 

[The Archivist]

January was still looking hard at Markus.

"Very well. I'll join the party, but I'd better get good gold for this."

She withdrew from her bag a pot. Laying it to one side of the paper, she cut herself and let a couple of drops hit the bottom of the paper. She took the bag, opened it and poured what seemed like steam from the mouth. The blood froze instantly.

"I love this bag. Now then..."
She looked at the packages.
"I could do either... but the slave dealer sounds more interesting. I'll see what puns I can cook up for his demise."

 

[Zephyr]

Kelarith stood up again and walked towards Indoril.
"I am not the one you'd want for stealth but if it is a diversion you need to distract the guards and keep them off your back...well."
He quickly drew his Draich, slicing it through the air in sweeping arcs like it did not weigh anything at all.
"I cannot promise they will all keep their heads though."

 

[Mello]

Mythas grunted slightly as he heard the story about the Judge. That person was the exact type of person he despised. He was the type of person who would have died in three seconds if he was in Mythas' situation, but due to good fortune has survived through society.

He wanted justice on this one.

"The judge's daughter is mine." he growled softly.

 

[Lynks]

There was no particular reason to choose either target. her skills would likely only come in handy if the situation went awry and they were both pretty public affairs. If she chose the slave dealer she could keep an eye on the executioner, but then, choosing the other would put her well out of the executioners grasp for now... Eventually she made up her mind, if for no other reason than to keep the numbers relatively even.

"I'll take the judges' daughter." Iriden said. perhaps there would be something pretty or expensive she could take from her cold, dead hands...

 

[Johnny-Crass]

Markus motioned two of his slaves over and ordered them through a series of gestures to resume applying ointment to his now unmasked face.

"You have your missions, see too them! And if you need anything like weapons, clothes or poisons please consult a slave and they shall take you to my.... Laboratory" Markus grinned at this last word.

 

[Chaos_Born]

Verikar walked over to Mythas and looked him over with unveiled distaste.
'I will arrive in the market tomorrow morning from 11. I will draw and take care of the guards, but undoubtedly the carriage will have a chance to move in the time it takes me, so if you could hop aboard from some neighbouring rooftop, that'd be splendid.' He then turned, his cloak whipping round at Mythas as he did so.

Verikar then strode up to Iriden, bending at the knee and inclining his head slightly 'M'lady' he said with a tone free from the superiority he had implied when addressing Mythas, 'I look forward to working with you' He smiled at her and then moved for the exit, internally terrified about his weapons' safety in the carriage.

 

[The Archivist]

January looked at Kendaril, Raniq and Indoril.

"So... what's the plan? You know my skills. I can guess some of yours."

 

[Malochai]

Indoril turned to look at Jan when she spoke. "Well, I suggest that myself and ... Kelarith? run in and draw out the guards, whilst Raniq and yourself take the target out. Agreed?"

 

[Raizi]

Raniq gave a nod in agreement.