The Bandit King

Since he is heading straight into combat with your troops, perhaps a poisoned laced arrow would be the way to quietly end him. There will be chaos on the battlefield, no doubt. It will be a shame when a stray arrow finds his jugular.

 

The darkness within Megan's heart drove her out of the Manor after some time. It was an excellent place to stay and hone her craft, and considering how unstable her current ice mythos it would likely benefit her greatly to stay put. That said, some things could only be learned during the test of battle, and by pushing herself, she'd be able to achieve even greater heights than she would be squirreled away in a clock tower. So in some sense, it was only logical for her to head the Aristocracy's call.

That call, however, seemed to be jumping through a variety of hoops. First to the headquarters, then to northern Astorea, where the climate had indeed begun to grow wintery. "Good..." Megan chuckled, "My ice summons will make good use of such a climate." Eventually, she and the other managed to find one of the bandits, patrolling the area. She relied on the others to handle the negotiations as she fervently studied a book while on horseback. It was hard to read with the moving and jostling, so when they stopped it was a perfect opportunity to catch up on a more confusing section she had come across earlier. After all, it wasn't like she had anything to say to the low life trash they were dealing with.

They spent even more time traveling before finally coming face to face with the king of bandits. Once she saw the man, Megan sighed in disappointment before loudly proclaiming, "If you're the king, your kingdom is doomed." The witch let the comment sit for just a moment before giving a heartful laugh, "Well it would be if you weren't lucky enough to acquire help from the likes of me. Ha-ha-ha." The ever familiar feeling of ice coursing through the back of her skull came to her as she went through the bout of hysteria. It managed to fade slowly, allowing her dignity enough to bow with a flourish of her cape, "I, Blank, will see this mission through, if this man can be killed, it will be done!"

As quickly as it had come, her mirth disintegrated, replaced with an all-consuming apathy, for the entire situation. "A direct assault is a waste of time..." Megan said with a bored tone, taking out her book once more as she replied too @Emil Trevelyan, "I can summon an ice storm at night that covers their camp and blinds them to a hidden knife that attacks while the man slumbers. It's late enough in winter that a storm shouldn't cause too much commotion, yet not late enough for them to be completely pre...pared.." Megan said trailing off as she excitedly continued to read the text before her.

 

Vivian leaned back on a solid wall rolling her eyes at all the wanna-be assassins. One wants to use a single arrow, another wants to create a chaotic storm. Vivian huffed to herself, the purple strands of hair falling out of her face as her azure eyes sat on the man who had summoned them. She might have been in this little Faction, but she was her own person. The only real team she was on was her own.

She gave a bored yawn, clasping a hand over her mauve lips as she looked about the chamber. Her foot kicking off from the wall as she made her way through the small crowd of players. The King, sitting on his lofty throne much like Astor does. Let them rip each other apart, sling their assassins and rogues, their blades and their arrows.

But at the end of the day, no one holds any true allegiances. It is best that they all just. Watch. Their. Backs. Vivian's eyes were on the King still, a small impish smile on her lips as she stared deep into his eyes, and into his soul. She licked her lips at him and sank back towards her place at the wall. Men with wicked minds made great targets for rituals. She wondered how Lucia would take this all in as well.

 

Lucia passed the time on the way towards the meeting with Vivian at her back, sharing a ride allowed Lucia to spend her time playing with her familiar gnarled crystal heart as she rode along. Still trying to solve the problem of the color of the small miniature river within, Lucia couldn't help sighing heavily, she might have managed to change it but it still wasn't perfect, there was no fog, no acidic properties. She wracked her brain as she usually did in the mornings trying to find the way to perfect her little snow globe that housed her summoned creatures. Having Vivian's support at her back made her feel confident enough to continue experimenting along the way.

Upon reaching their destination, Lucia frowned hearing the that their destinations had to do with the bandits. That frown only got deeper as time passed, the man called Astor, their king a brat? Sure he might be a little childish, and sleep in, and push his work onto a lot of different people, and cause tons of problems for them to clean up, and not participate in any of their strategic meetings, and not really give anyone any input on how they should move in support of the kingdom, and not really put in much effort during the events to protect his kingdom.... but she was his friend. For better or worse, Astor would have supported her if something went awry and vice versa she felt. They'd been on the same side since they started a guild together way back when.

His request was equally irritating. She lifted her hands to rub her temples a little bothered and put off by this. In truth, she disapproved of this method, not because she was some glorious and heroic figure who preferred meeting her opponent on the field of battle, but because Zeus was genuinely putting forth an effort to support their kingdom in exchange for a stake in it in the form of land. He wasn't trying to play 'king' in their country, or carve off territory to form his own royal boarders, at least, in Lucia's mind their goals were simply different. Zeus was merely an energetic and powerful mercenary leader who wanted the space for his company to flourish and develop which wasn't a bad thing at all compared to allowing bandits to do the same.

During the negotiation process, Lucia shot a glance towards Vivian, a very clear and peculiar glance before crossing her arms over her chest. Yes, she didn't like other's playing 'king', particularly when it wasn't their turn, particularly not on soil that should be their's. Compared to the scheming bandit king, the loud and excitable mercenary leader left a much more favorable impression on her. "@Vivian Cruz, I think I've come to a decision. Lets see how this pans out. I think this time we'll play your favorite game." She offered with a sweet smile.

 

Aalam was leaning in the corner of the room he had made through the guards at the gate with little to no hassle. It would have been a problem if the everyday person was able to recognize him; he knew that other player would be able to tell who he was. But they were the exception to the rule they always tend to be. He had put on his hood pulling to low onto his face and pulled up his face mask, with the length of his hair it should be a bit more difficult for a person to place him. There were things that he would need to do after this job was done. So he did what he always did he listened as the other spoke and watched the room, seeing how each person reacted with the next. How they listen and where their eyes were looking, a person eyes could lie easily but their body it was much harder to hide the tells there.

The job in its self-was simple enough they wanted to the assassination of the leader of the lion pride before he was able to drive the bandits out of the area. It was going to be a difficult usually if one were planning an assassination job they would have time to prepare. If they only had to kill the man with the poison, it would have been easy, but the tricky part was that he wants the job to be done discretely that meant there couldn’t be any obvious attempts on the man’s life. They couldn’t just poison a blade of an arrow that would lay blame at the feet of the Black Wolf. It would also be folly to think that the loins would not have people that knew magic enough to protect the camp. After all, there might be a player on their side after all. He had personally seen what healing magic would be able to do if there were enough time. They needed a plan that would account for all these factors, and there was only one primary play that he could think of. So he walked out of his corner and placed his flask on the desk.

“I know of the lion’s pride it’s a functional group very excitable, and it would make sense that their leader would be cut of the same cloth. If this is to be done, I would suggest that we wait until they have fought a good battle something that has them joyous. Filled with jubilation that they were able to make such strides, there will be some celebrate a bit of cheer and laughter, most importantly there will be drinking.

Announce a toast to the good fortune of the pride but the goblet in his hands, the drink inside is poisoned passed to him by a pretty face. Offering a drink of victory pretending to take the drink themselves, it will add a layer of conviction to the act. As he keels over from the pain that same pretty face calls for help, but that help is far away, assisting the wounded as pointed out by another. The face cries and wails calling for room and a healer to come, they need to make it look good, draw attention to their act. But lo and behold the poisoned chalice is gone spirited away but a servant. The liquid disposed of in a hole what was dug previously and the cup then lost in the rubble.

However, for a play like this to work, I would need to know a few thing first how long does it take this poison to act, the difference between a few minutes and a few seconds is a lifetime to a job like this. Next would be if this poison had any discernable color, smell or taste if so that would determine what would be used to poison the man. And finally, if it must be ingested or can it work by skin contact.”

He had said enough, so Aalam made his way back to his corner and waited.

 

Endilix had rather enjoyed everything he had been a part of in Terrasphere to this point. What he hadn't enjoyed was riding on a horse with no riding Mastery. It was bad enough that he had never ridden a horse in real life. This was just uncomfortable. He had basically had to stay clamped on his horse the entire time as it followed the others into the Bandit King's lair. Now, Endilix wasn't one to outright do evil things, but he didn't see any reason why these bandits couldn't also be reasonable.

It did help that he had absolutely no ties to Astorea, and so when he came here to make the gold that the Aristocracy always promised for a good job done, that was really all that mattered. A true mercenary in a room full of people that seemed to have other agendas. But that was fine with Endilix. Being new to the game, and having only money on his mind worked in his favor at least this time. He had no doubt it would work in others.

So as the Bandit King explained that they needed to poison a man that would be nigh unkillable on the battlefield, Endilix viewed it as a challenge. He listened as others brought up ideas on how to kill this Zeus person, and there were many flaws, but it wasn't like Endilix could have come up with better. He was best used as muscle. So he'd just wait to see what all of them ultimately decided on.

Either way, it was going to be fun.

 

When Iván received the Aristocracy’s summons, he did not hesitate to take it. Despite the terrible weather conditions, Iván arrived at the main office as quickly as he could. He hasn’t been a member of the Aristocracy for long, but he knew that when the Aristocracy calls, not even an ongoing blizzard would be a safe enough excuse to ignore it. It was exactly that kind of group. Iván did not exactly fear it but he was smart enough to not take that chance, that risk. It’s not that he had anything else going on anyway. This could be the opportunity he has been secretly waiting for.

Iván was greeted by a young lady, the very personification of prim and proper, who seemed like she could match the illusionist’s frigid demeanor. He greeted her with a nod and a low grunt and she responded by merely staring at him through the red spectacles she wore. Iván found it amusing. Although he approached her with his usual distance and coldness, deep inside, he found Selenia quite interesting, especially with her choice of fashion. He wondered if the maid dress spoke of her status, whether externally or internally, with the world before her. The spectacles, considering her stiff appearance, could be a defense mechanism, something to keep others away because she’s afraid to actually connect with anyone else or perhaps she also hates socializing with those beneath her.

No matter. He would find out later. Right now, there was a task at hand. Iván took note of the items Selenia gave them, nodded, and immediately set out for Astorea. Before doing so, however, he only took a quick glimpse of his companions but did not actually interact with any of them outside of a stare.

Two days later, Iván and the rest of the party arrived in Northern Astorea. The sight of the massive fortress immediately caught Iván’s attention, and although he kept the outward appearance of disinterest, deep inside, he was completely at awe. Iván smirked, taking note of the dead trees around them, “Nature will always make way for progress, regardless of whether peacefully or violently.”

When the armed bandits appear, Iván, having chosen to ride in the rear, merely observed them along with his companions’ reactions. It did not take long for the tension to dissipate, however, as the bandits noticed the black wolf totem Selenia had given the party. A grin streaked across Iván’s face under his coat, “Even far away, Selenia is still useful.”

As the bandit leader led the party inside the fortress, Iván paid more attention to the architecture than anything else, its utility in losing intruders, a trap and torture device as one. He imagined how those that have tried to attack found themselves going around in circles, toyed with by these bandits, like mice in a maze, except there would be no cheese, no reward, unless they considered death to be one. When finally they came across the throne room, Iván noticed first how intricate it was in its mockery of Astor’s. Iván noticed the great, battered man that was seated on the throne last, noting his many scars, a testament to his many battles and tragedies. “This is Erasmus Jorgensen?” Iván mumbled under his breath. He was impressed but pretended to be otherwise.

What the King said was all well and good, but Iván pondered the reality that the so-called Kingdom of the Black Wolf was truly in a bind. The Pride were a formidable fighting force, and with most of their fighters busy elsewhere, the Black Wolf Kingdom wouldn’t be able to hold out that much longer, especially if the “Astor brat” just decided to storm this place with the Pride in tow. Sure, there was that maze of an architecture to contend with before they could get the chance to cut off Erasmus’ head, but the Pride probably had some tricks up their sleeves. The Aristocracy always have at least one, so why not the few smart lions in that group? Surely, they can’t all be bumbling idiots?

The poison, Iván thought, was a pretty smart idea. He has heard stories of how powerful Zeus truly is, and one-on-one combat was never Iván’s forte. He thought Emil’s idea was good but a little risky. “Maybe if I can slow Zeus enough for the poison-tipped arrow to find its mark?”

The ice storm Megan suggested could provide the perfect cover as well. Iván kept his eyes on her, keeping to mind how powerful she could be, is. That didn’t last long, however, as the illusionist’s attention was forced away from the witch and to the masked man who spoke from out of the corner.

Iván liked the words that came out of the man’s mouth. The strategy he put out was brilliant, perhaps even the best suggestion from the group. He was asking a lot of the right questions, too. Iván was mightily impressed, grinning under his coat. Depending on the king’s answer, it could prove to be their little party’s ace. But that doesn’t mean they couldn’t use the cover of frozen chaos still. Iván wondered how good of a distraction it would be, to pretend to attack the lions with an ice storm and a “failed” assassination attempt with the poison-tipped arrow. The lions would be raring for a fight, anyway, and to make them believe they’ve won, successfully turned away the enemy’s assault, only for their own king to be taken from them by a poisoned goblet during their post-fight celebration… Now that would be such a great show.

Iván decided to bide his time at the rear of the group.

 

Focus on the cards, Maddy. Don't let 'em see how utterly lost you are.

Pinching the deck between her thumb, middle, ring, and little finger, she let a packet drop into her palm. From there, it was just a matter of pushing it up with her index finger and sliding the second packet into her palm. A simple, clean one-handed cut. Something she did all the time at work when she was stressed out. There was something about the calming effect the cushioned touch of a deck of playing cards and the crack of the shuffle had on her. It brought her a small amount of comfort to know that it was same in this game.

I mean... Pay attention to what that big scarred guy has to say as well, but focus on the cards.

Madison was completely out of her element. Under-powered, ill-equipped, still trying to find her way around the world... But that's why she answered the summons, right? You can't learn to fly if nobody pushes you out of the nest.

Cut. Cut. Cut. Inhale. Cut. Cut. Cut. Exhale.

Signing up with the Aristocracy seemed like a good idea when she heard about it. Bunch of people doing shadowy organization things? It immediately clicked with her. Madison had always been fascinated with the ol' cloak and dagger approach to things, even if her initial instincts and eventual carry-through were more like a really, really big shotgun. No sooner had she signed on the proverbial dotted line that they put out the notice of the coming conflict, and that as many hands as necessary were needed.

Focus on the cards. Don't drop that Eight of Pentacles, now.

Turns out that this Bandit King guy wanted his nemesis eliminated with poison. Fair enough, the budding witch could respect that. Why stab someone in the heart and be done with it when you can instead watch the fear and realization grow in their glassy eyes as their brain shuts down due to their blood suddenly deciding that it has better things to do than to deliver oxygen to it?

It was how she loved to do business in the last couple VRMMOs she played. It would be no different here.

Madison had a couple ideas of her own, but was content to sit down and be quiet while others pitched their grandiose plans. She was still the greenhorn here, still fresh off the boat. Let others who have higher levels of self-importance sort out the details, and she'd do whatever task she was assigned.

 

Blanks eyebrows furrowed as others began to continually pitch ideas. Why exactly were they all spending time thinking about this? Her idea had clearly been the best. She shook her head barley listening as @Aalam Abungu asked King,

"However, for a play like this to work, I would need to know a few thing first how long does it take this poison to act, the difference between a few minutes and a few seconds is a lifetime to a job like this. Next would be if this poison had any discernible color, smell or taste if so that would determine what would be used to poison the man. And finally, if it must be ingested or can it work by skin contact.” @Raid Master

Megan waiting a moment, before adding, "And how potent is the poison? Does it take a drop? Or will we need the entire vial?" @Raid Master

It was an intriguing question and worth asking, since, as far as Megan knew it could merely be coated on a blade and introduced to the victim's blood stream to work. Without knowing the answer to this question, it would be hard to plan any sort of infiltration, at least, one that would work. So rather than add anything she awaited the answer, patiently. For at least thirty seconds.

After that the entire affair became boring, so Megan returned to her book murmuring to herself, "A direct conflict is impossible, he said so twice... regardless we should sneak in. The question is how to we know where to go...." She continued to read her book as if it had the answers, completely engrossed in its tales.

 

Well, damn. That kind of sucks.

Twenty minutes? For "normal people"? And then the suggestion that they might have to use the entire flask to guarantee this Zeus guy bites the big one in a timely manner?

Something didn't sit right with Madison here. Granted, she was always a bit on the paranoid side... There was this little inkling in the back of her mind, this nagging little thought that told her, hey, this Bandit King guy seems like he might be a bit on the unprepared side.

It was her turn to speak up, and hope that she got some better and more comforting answers than the others got.

Madison turned to the king and slid her tarot cards back in their tuck case. "What about maps? Do you have any of those handy? Maps of the castle, the surrounding area, any roads that lead to your front door..."

She shrugged, already feeling her nerve melt away. "A stealth option might be our best way to take this Zeus guy out. We'd have a decent chance as trying if we could guess whereabouts he would want to set up camp, and where we could hide some scouts to keep an eye on their movements, look for opening to sneak someone in and poison their food or whatever."

The witch glanced around, hoping someone else would back her up on this, to no avail. "And do you have any men you're willing to spare? Send them outside with some of us, and we can cause a minor distraction in case we can find an opening of some sort?" @Raid Master

 

@Lucia Mierz had tilted her head to meet Vivian's ear, the words that she spoke made her giggle. She even called it Her game. The woman knew exactly what that meant for the both of them. Her azure eyes twisted around the players, no one could do this more efficiently than a woman such as her own stature. But no one would more than likely trust her with this kind of fragile mission. That's exactly what it was. But she noticed a familiar player among them, one she had seen at the Dark Harvest Festival, she was the bunny girl perhaps he would remember her? Perhaps not.

Vivian turned her attention to her Lover, Lucia and stood up straight, fixing her outfit in the process and bringing her hands to her chest to make sure everything looked right. "Looks like I got some work to do, Honey...Wait up for me tonight, although I might be...slightly drained later."

The woman laughed as she made her way to @Emil Trevelyan , the player she had met not too long ago. Her eyes focused as her hypnotic swaying hips moved to her own beat. Curious azure eyes on the player and his form as she swung them left and right, her eyes hooded to give that sexy, bedroom eye look. She found him alone, curling an arm around his and with a small bubbly, girlish giggle she looked up into his one eye.

"A talk, between you and I, Love. If you remember me? Little bunny girl at the Festival? Flirting with ya? I would like to talk to with you if you'd be interested in a little something special with me." The woman lured the man away from the crowd of people to the hallway. Her body stretched out over his as she pushed him into a wall, a slender leg running up and down his own as she pressed her firm body to his. Her eyes looked up, fingers curling his hair as she leaned in. Pouty, mauve lips inched and inched towards him. A split tongue unfurled from her mouth as it lashed over his ear lobe, she would speak to him in a hot whispering tone before she pulled back after moments of her discussion.

"What do you think? Sounds like fun?"

Tracker​

 

Blank tapped a finger to her chin as she considered the information. One one hand Zeus seemed almost unstoppable in combat, on the other they seemed to have the perfect gun to put him down. "Heh..." She laughed pushing her book into her pack, as she twirled her finger. "I can use hydromancy to force the liquid down, but only if someone can hold the beast down, or make sure he's asleep at least." With her opinion offered she turned to leave. She felt that she usually be nervous at a time like this, or far too excited about her ideas, but the coldness in her stomach prevented it. As always the rose on her wrist continued to burn, churning the unholy power throughout her. Tightening on her very soul.

Nothing that happened here mattered, it was merely going to stand as a test of her new abilities. If they threw themselves into the brunt of the army, it would be suicide, but death wasn't exactly an obstacle in this game. At the very least she'd learn her limits. The thought made Blank smile, the coldness in her heart burning through for just a moment. She suppressed a laugh and began to walk out the room. In doing so, she passed @Vivian Cruz moving closer to Emil, batting her eyelashes as she did so.

Blank recoiled, faintly remembering the girl from what seemed so long ago. They are on a wooden wagon; it was on fire, an ice mage attacked them. Was this the same group of bandits from then? It was possible. Still, Blank eyed the sexually deviant woman for a moment longer. Women like her were surprisingly simple to read. Well, they were to Blank at least. Megan had an issue, envious of her looks, jealous of her confidence, left her practically paralyzed. Blank's rose helped with such things. She could pierce through the alluring aura and see a faint glint in Vivan's eyes.

"What a nuisance," Blank said with a scowl as she let herself out of the room. If she had the time, she'd look for the ice mancer from before, and speak to him regarding his magic. Truth be told, he was more powerful than Megan was. Of course, that was a long time ago and likely wasn't true any longer. Still, she wanted to exit the room and get away from the glint she saw in that woman's eyes. She knew she couldn't say for sure, but it seemed so evident to Blank that she couldn't shake the suspicion.

The suspicion that Vivan planned to betray them.