Troublesome Negotiations [Desert]

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Location: Coastal Regions - Southern Border Village with Desert Lands
Status: Prologue

The audience chamber is buzzing right now as a man in desert garbs is standing before the Count of this village. The Count is visibly uneasy at the presence of the messeger & also saddened. The herald of the Count speaks, "My lord wishes proof of his nephew's well being before any further negotiations can proceed." The desert garbed man responds callously, "How valuable is a corpse when u seek a ransom? He is alive and being treated fairly. I bring you his ring absent of blood or flesh." The Count speaks, "I will send for someone to discuss the details with you. Until then, you will remain here as a guest of this house." The Count nods to his guards & tells them that he will execute the entire family of anyone who injuries the man. They nod to him and ask the desert messenger to go with them.

Location: Coastal Regions - South Keep
Time: 3 Hours Later

A messenger bird arrives at the Keep. The scroll is read then taken to one of the nobles in the Keep who is in council with other nobles. "Lord Captain, noble lords, there is a problem to the south in one of the border villages. The nephew of Count Wudol has been abducted by one of the desert tribes & is being held for ransom. He requests that you send someone to handle the negotiations & safe release of his nephew at minimal costs to his house." One of the nobles asks who they should send. One noble actually suggests doing nothing in order to force the northern advisors to finally see that more resources & troops are needed in the south. It is noted that aid must be rendered as the border villages help in keeping the southern border of the coastal regions free from issues like this one. The Lord Captain speaks, "The Operatives can handle a situation like this. My Lord, allow me to dispatch a handler to retrieve one of them. I am told that Operative Dravec is skilled at these sort of negotiations." One of the more conventional nobles scoffs at the idea, "Send an operative to handle negotiations? That is like inviting aggression. Most of these operatives have executed missions in the desert lands. And your Dravec is an animal!" The Lord Captain turns his fiery gaze, "You pompous..." One of the senior nobles interrupts, "Lord Captain!" The Lord Captain stands down and the senior noble continues, "This is a delicate situation, Lord Captain. Dravec has been an asset to the Crown's more sensitive missions, but most of those have been infiltration based, not negotiations. Information gathering is different than negotiations. I say we send in a diplomat who is better suited for this sort of thing, BUT locate Operative Dravec as well."

EXP: 544

I nod to Ashurei to zap the guard. Pain was quite a motivator. Let the guard understand what the boy is being forced to endure. The younger bandit would look on in shock that we seem to have no problem whatsoever in inflicting pain. I figure it is time to show them just how true that is. I walk over to the gathering of interrogation tools and pick up one of the talons. I walk over to the young bandit and speak softly with a very creepy calm tone. It would sound like this is a normal affair to me. I use the talon to rip thru the shirt of the warden's son. I drag it along his flesh lightly as well so that I could be sure that it drew a small amount of blood, but more importantly, stung like hell since all of the sweat from his prior activities had not completely dried yet.

I would address the guard. "You see, that is where you are quite wrong. I am nothing like you. You captured a weakling and held him for ransom. The noble boy is all the leverage that you have, so u need to keep him alive. That boy does not possess such a luxury. While I can kill both of you without blinking an eye that is not a beneficial outcome for either of us. Here is the ideal outcome. We go with my plan of you tell me what I want to know and you live having saved the warden's son. You return empty-handed as far as a ransom goes, but ur alive. From time to time, I will pay you for information that can benefit a mission that I may be undertaking at a given moment. You profit, I profit, and your warden's son benefits b/c he will get to keep going on missions that he has no business on." I look to Ashurei for him to electrocute the warden's son again. I guess I should go ahead and admit that I'm kind of enjoying watching him electrocute people.

"Now, let me make something clear just in case you're thinking about giving me false intel. You will remain captive until the noble's boy is safe and back with his family. Then I'll release you and I can be back on the beach by noon tomorrow. I give you my word that I will not harm either of you. You may think that you can handle my interrogation because I am trying to benefit everyone at the moment, but this moment is about over, so decide."

The somewhat humorous fact is that this is indeed how I have developed and cultivated some of my more valuable information sources. I let them live and provide them with items that they need and they provide me with my most valuable commodity, reliable, quality intel.

498/10068

While I didn’t have to worry about the life of the guard as much as the young child, I had no problem letting myself go just a bit. For a split second, a smile would grace my face as a finger lifted. As I exhaled, a full powered bolt would emerge. This one would not travel straight, but would instead strike as if it were normally, unrefined lightning. The energy was higher than anything the boy had been hit with, and I was not holding back on his account.
Folding my arm back into its originally held position, I would listen carefully to the words of the void walker while watching him make his interrogations. Sweat in wounds must have been inconvenient for the boy. With him giving me the go ahead to continue torturing the young boy, I decided to go a different route.
“No.”
My right arm would extend directly outwards the boy. I had a feeling that Dravec would not approve of this method, but it was something that would expedite this lengthy process. The dance of torture, question, torture, and question was not going to fly with me. Once again, it was something that was built into my thought process by the culture I was from.
“If you value the life of this child, you will give a truthful answer, or his life is forfeit.”
Instead of pointing a single finger at him, they would all unravel and form a straight hand, palm facing towards him. To be technical, it was facing to the right of him so that I wouldn’t harm the other one if needed.
“Roar of Thundering Destruction.”
I had shown this technique to Dravec once on the coast line the other day. While it wasn’t going to be as strong as it would have been had I been in my imperial form, it was more than enough to turn his body into dust. Unfortunately, that also went for a large chunk of the building as well. A low hum of electricity would circle around my shoulder before descending down across my arm. Fingers would glow while energy crackled across my hand. It was not a technique to be used in doors, and while I did feel slightly bad for doing this much damage here, I also realized that it was well worth saving time and getting some down time before having to deal with human politics tomorrow.

443 / 6,419
+16 TEXP

For one normally so refined, Ashurei seems to have a knack for more violent and intimidating forms of interrogations. I personally prefer the more subtle approaches. While they are lengthier, they allow me to cultivate enemies into potentially useful assets. I personally desired such assets so I harness spatial energy to move towards Ashurei. While I had allowed him much leweigh in his actions, this was one that I could not allow. The volume of my voice raises slightly to be clearly audible, yet it is still calm and cold, "Ashurei, stand down." If the lightning dissippated, the spatial energy would be drawn back towards me. If it did not, then he should find himself outside of the tavern inn and the street about 100 feet. Teleporting right back inside would be a risk considering that my room purposefully has no windows. So there's a possibility that one could teleport literally into a wall.

Regardless of the outcome, I would look at the guard, "Look at what you've done. Also, note that I honor my word. If I say, you will survive this interrogation, then you will. Now, I can just as easily allow Ashurei to dispose of you in a more controlled fashion, but I am trying to avoid that. You are trying my patience tho. Where is the noble boy your gang is holding captive? Choose very carefully." My face bares a very stark seriousness to it. We still needed time to try & retrieve the noble boy, so I could understand Ashurei's frustration.

291/10,359

I kept my arm pointed to the side while it burned brightly with blue crackling energy. Keeping my eyes on the guard, I would bring them in a snap over to Dravec, who had addressed me directly. The point I was intentionally putting forward was that we were not going to waste any time here that we didn’t need to. All we wanted was their cooperation. If they failed to cooperate, this would happen. The fingers would clasp together as my arm raised upwards, releasing the burst. At that point, it was too late for me to disperse the energy completely, so I would have to let it go out in a safe direction. Needless to say, there would be property damage. The blast would be close to twenty five feet wide at that point. The blue color would erupt forward into the night sky, taking with it most of the room’s ceiling and outer wall. Glass would end up shattering outwards , and while we would be getting the attention of those we didn’t want, the point would be greatly apparent.
After the residual blast had subsided, I would cross my arms and lean back against what was left of the wall I was standing next to. A light, casual light would glow from across my body, even though I was still in my normal state.
“I apologize for the damage, but if you fail to cooperate in a timely manner, that will be you I spread across the landscape. “

270

So he had chose not to disperse the energy, the spatial energy should move him from the room. That chant was siilar to the one that I had heard earlier and the potential damage is far too great for his rash actions. Since the bandits have no clue about the capabilities of the Void or my usage of it, they would think that I killed him or done some other fantasical action to remove him. Seeing this in the guard's eyes, I would not oppose it. If they thought I was willing to punish my own companion in such a manner, what wouldn't I do to them? Looking at the guard, dark purple and black swirls of energy would ring around my right arm and off of my hand. I walk over to the boy and he looks at me with complete fear in his eyes. He was next. "To the afterlife for you!" The boy throws up his left arm to shield himself and survival kicks in for both. "I'll tell u what u want to know! Just don't kill me/him!" I look at the guard and he blurts out a location. The boy's eyes betray the guard before his lips give sound to the betrayal. "He's lying to you. The noble is still in the border lands not far from here. There is a meadow about an hour's ride out the east gate towards the coast. In that meadow, you'll find a cluster of cottages. The boy is in the orange cottage with no chimney." I kneel to the boy and nod to him. If this information checks out, you live. If it's wrong, I'm going to kill you slowly." Turning my attention to the guard, he had screwed himself. "When I return your destination is the Underworld as my reward for ur attempted treachery. But first u will watch as I honor my word and release him unharmed." I truly hate liars when they have nothing to gain from lying. Deception must have a purpose.

346/10,705

As expected of the void walker. Hopefully, the damage had been done and the point been made. My fist would clench as I floated there, a hundred feet above the place. The blast had been directed straight upwards, disappearing into the open night. Very few who probably notice it unless they were staring directly into the sky at the time it happened. As for me, who was unlike most in this realm, I would simply float there and wait for the negotiations to be over. I would take this time to wonder about what may have happened had the void walker not transported me up here. There was no guarantee that either of them would have survived a blast like that.
Folding my arms behind my head, I would take a half seated, half reclined position while letting the wind move across my body. It was a rather beautiful night, and even now I could kick back and enjoy a little bit of it. If all went well, Dravec should have the intel that we need, and the noble boy would be retrieved within a few hours. Whether or not the negotiations went on after that didn’t really matter. I almost wanted to take time to go back to the tavern and get some more bread for the work that was about to be done. I had this bad habit of getting the munchies when I was busy dealing with business. Bottom line, I would wait here while hoping that the void walker had gained the necessary knowledge he needed to complete our current objective.

285 / 6,908
18 TXP

The guard looks at me and to make sure that he remained... "docile", I place my hand atop of his head and spatial energies flow from my core to my right hand where they gather and flow into his being. A sinister grins falls upon my face as the spatial energy is then "pushed" into his body creating a rather toxic internal atmosphere. The spatial energies when not controlled tear at one's insides like a poison. It would not kill him, but it would definitely hurt like hell for quite a while. I tap on the door and whisper, "I have what I need. The package remains secure." A male voice speaks and confirms what the boy said. I tell the female operative to keep watch and tell the agent that if they were telling the truth, then he will be rewarded as promised. After all, it was not his fault, that I acquired the same information. I had help after all. I gag the guard and the female operative slips into the room after the agent leaves and one of the "bouncers" guards the door to make it look like she's servicing a client. She is told to tend to the "wound" that I gave the young bandit and to find him and such. I'd prefer for him not to die after all. I grab a cloak hanging on the wall and a scarf like wrap as well. I wrap the scarf around the bottom half of my face and tie it securely before putting on the dark brown cloak.

I walk towards the outer wall before my image fades away with the command, "Shimmer." A moment later, my body would materialize outside. I close my eyes and look up with my eyes still closed. I lower the hood momentarily to reveal my white hair to Ashurei before I start walking towards the East Gate. The bloodshed of this night is not over by far. Within the Keep, bandits are still being captured, tortured, and executed while we were headed to do the same.

364/11,069

The skies were open and rather beautiful. Glowing, I would rotate my body over, giving me a clear view of the town below. Remembering back to the earlier time when the land was bathed in light, I matched the scenery up with what I had to go off of. Land marks, certain buildings, and the lay of the land were all vividly seen between opening and closing my eyes. It all matched up perfectly. My arms would continue to be held behind my head while I lay there, upside down. The ornamented cloak would hand around my body, draping off of the ceremonial armor that I wore.
Watching the area where I had recently been, I would wait until the signal was given. The white hair flashed for a moment, giving me the go ahead. Keeping myself up high, I felt like my assumptions had been correct. The void walker had probably been given the knowledge that he wanted, and we would be on our way. Keeping myself directly above the other one, I would float through the air after up-righting myself. From the looks of it, we were heading towards the east section of the area. The gate being currently armed didn’t really matter to me at this point. My primary point of objectivity was keeping a wide eye out on the surrounding area so that I could give him a heads up if anything was coming. I hadn’t really thought how I would actually tell him, but I would figure that out if the time came to it. If he made it through the eastern gate without any issues, I would descend down to the ground to join him.
“I assume you gained what you needed”

310 / 7,218
19 texp

Exciting the Keep would be a swift deed to be done. The City Guard doesn't bother me as I am simply walking at night with a cloak on. The scarf is not visible since the hood of the cloak is pulled forward. Once I reach the gate guards I speak to one of them and tell him that they should stay alert tonight as they will receive word of several dead bandits and brigands. I keep walking as spatial energy reverberates off of my body for a moment. They had no real reason to bother me. I had told them that bandits, who were currently even lower on the "favorability" scale than normal, had been slain. All the Keep Patrol had to do was clean up it would seem. To the guards it served them right for having kidnapped the son of a noble.

Walking forward, I nod my head as I am addressed. "Thanks to you actually. They thought I killed or banished you to some prison realm. Amusingly foolish, but effective all the same. Oh and Ashurei, I probably should have told you this in advance, but we typically don't want to damage the buildings of the people I am working for." There would be a smirk on my face upon saying those words. Things were apparently quite different between our realms, but it was a process and no real harm was done since I was able to teleport him out quick enough, but I definitely needed to be faster at those sort of things as well.

I add in as we move along, "Where we are headed though... feel free to remove it from existence."

293/11,362

The steps would be light and care free while my arms came up behind my head. Folding my interlocking fingers back to a comfortable area, I would rest my head backwards while letting my hair flow freely behind me. It was a beautiful night for helping to purge the chaos from these realms. I was not particularly favorable of this area, despite the good I have seen in the people. They needed a stronger, more active protection, something like my people. When he mentioned the light request, which was how I would take it, that I should be wary of destroying buildings of people he worked for, I would reply simply.
“Maybe you should put that on the door step. I’m glad I could help.”
A few steps forward would be taken before I inquired about where we were going. I was rather curious to what he meant after that. Was he actually fine with me leveling an entire area to get the job done? Or was this some sort of tactical maneuver. Whether or not he wanted me to clear the enemy as clean up or blow them away before hand, the only thing that mattered to him was probably the noble. As for me, purging evil from this land was my purpose. They had done something unspeakable, and for that they will be punished. Salvation rests at the hand of the just, and that was currently myself.
“I hope you mean that.”

261 / 7,479

I allow myself to chuckle at what I perceive to be a humorous and witty retort. I nod my head telling him that I will try to mark the "Please do not damage" buildings on future endeavors. I fall silent with a smile before he inquires about our destination. Seeing no real purpose in this slower form of travel, I stop and focus on the Void. The natural fabric opens like a door before pulling us inside. We would move rapidly to the east across the border land until all of a sudden we would emerge in some nearby trees. "This is our destination. Let me get the target out safely and then feel free to destroy that orange house. If I come out alone, you can electrocute the young bandit yourself. If you can spare the nearby houses excellent. If not..." I shrug callously as they were not my concern. I would wait for a moment to make sure that he didn't have any questions before I start moving towards the house. Considering how I am dressed, I didn't feel the need to hide, so I walk as if I'm headed for the house next to it. Once I am close enough, I would teleport inside of the orange wooden house.

224/11,586

A look of interest would cross my face before I strode casually into the void. Since I had spent time there, I had become quite used to the lack of presence inside this realm. It was almost like being back in my own realm for a few moments. How far we had actually traveled was unknown to me at this point, but the scenery had changed. We were now in a moderately forested area? At least that is what I could tell. Standing there in the light set of trees, I kept my ears open to the void walker. Pulling my arms out in front of me, a light blue glow would emerge. This was the perfect chance for me to use my newest technique. I had spent a few hours of the day thinking of it, and how to operate it to its fullest. When he would move forward, I would give him a quick and easy response.
“Get the kid, I’ll take care of the purge.”
Lifting off of the ground, my glowing body would rocket upwards into the sky. About eighty feet up, I would halt about the same time the void walker entered the objective location. The blue energy would swirl across my body for a few moments. Muscles would bulge outwards (trans 1), and a split second later, they would become slender again (trans 2). Pressure would reign across the area around me while the blue electricity sizzled and crackled across my entire being. The blue light would glow in different shades while yellow crackles came down. It was a beautiful feeling to let myself go in this realm for the first time. Now that I was getting loose, all I had to do was wait for the void walker to make his move and give me the signal.

315 / 7,794
18
----
Learned Fury of the Thunder gods [perfected]

Spoiler:

1,244 EXP / 9 TEXP

Entering the orange domicile, I arrive inside in a crouched position to remain out of sight. There weren't many guards in my immediate vicinity. Sticking to the shadows, I move around the house trying to pick up the scent of perfume or scented bath oils. This boy was far from a warrior, so it is most probable that he would have been "prissed up" when he was kidnapped. There is food being prepared in the kitchen. That would be my first stop then I suppose. Drawing spatial energies to my hand, I prep an orb to strike as swiftly as possible.

Coming into the kitchen, there is a woman inside preparing food. Before she can scream, my left hand grips her throat firmly. I whisper to her, "Where is the noble boy?" She whimpers and I squeeze tighter before warning her, "If you wish to live, you would be smart to tell me what I wish to know. Now where is the noble boy?" She tells me that he is upstairs. Directly above us. My next question asks about the number of bandits and she tells me that there are three in the room with the young man keeping watch over him and four bandits that roam around and run errands and such. I nod to her and tell her that what she is about to feel next will be quite unsettling at first, but that she would be alright and that she should flee from this house quickly.

I don't really see the point in giving her a chance to say anything before my left hand releases her throat and she vanishes from sight. While I would have preferred to just teleport straight up, I can't be sure where anything is up there, so I can't risk a misstep in trajectory. So instead, I void hop thru the house to the room. I look at the boy and the guards look at me. One of them rushes for the boy, but before he can reach him, a dark purple puff of "smoke" appears around the boy tied to his chair. He would appear outside of the house and the chair, removed from the boy, is hurled at the window. That should be enough of a signal plus the sight of me and the noble boy for Ashurei to do his thing.

407/11,993

The massive build of energy would finally reach critical. A quick stance change would occur, causing my body to move into a blocked form. Both arms would be out while the light swirled in an orb fashion around me. Lightning would crack and burst outwards as each individual section of my body was purifying massive quantities of energy, all at once. The strain to use this technique was high, but it was highly worth the field test. If it worked out the way I intended it do, things would get very, very interesting the next time I met that little dark one. While the concept of this technique had really been to clear large areas, the practical application of it here was far greater of a purpose. When the chair came at the window, I assumed it was a sign for me. After all, he was far too discrete to do something like that on accident. I was unsure of where he was right now, especially since I couldn’t see too well past the bright light surrounding my body.
“Fall of the night, birth of dawn. Destruction of all, savior of none. Not even god may grant you salvation, for your punishment is death. Fury of the Thunder Gods.”
The feeling would instantly be lifted. Every single energy point inside my body would close, giving the energy nowhere to go. From the nine primary points, energy would explode outwards in bursts. The result was larger than what I had expected, and probably could be considered overkill. I hoped the void walker had completed his objective, I wasn’t holding back here. Thirty six blasts, twenty five feet wide each, soared outwards before curving back around towards the area below. I had the theory that if you level an entire area, then they would have nowhere to hide. I had enough to level 900 square feet, and that is exactly what I intended to do. The wind from the technique caused my body to reverse on it’s own, moving backwards a few feet as the glow from the technique subsided. I hoped that he was right, and the only people down there were the enemy. I would feel bad were I to indirectly harm non-combatants in this engagement.
The thirty six energy blasts would rain down on the compound and its immediate area while spread enough to do the maximum amount of damage possible. That was my objective, and my goal.

452 / 1,696 / 10

Technique used : Fury of the Lightning Gods (Perfected)

The member 'Ashurei' has done the following action : Dices roll

'[ Perfected ]' :

The noble boy is obviously relieved to see but also terrified considering how I am dressed. The sky illuminates brightly as lightning and electric energy gather up above. I'm not sure if we're far enough away so I teleport further away with the young noble. As I exit the Void, the immense display of power is quite impressive to say the least. So that was the extent of his power. The target house is obliterated. The bandits were on their way down the stairs when the attack hit. The woman whom I had encountered in the kitchen had stopped and watched the blast erupt on her previous place of captivity. The adjacent houses has singe marks and minor structural damage, but nothing that would alter the state of their living situation.

After seeing such an awe-inspiring display of power, the boy is rather frozen. Moving thru the Void once again, the boy emerges first next to or beneath Ashurei. He would still be in shock from both the display of electrical power and the repeated teleportation. I sniff him and confirm that he is indeed the noble both in appearance and in his scent. It would have sucked if they had switched him for someone that looks similar and we had just rescued a bandit and killed the target of this little rescue mission. Emerging from the Void myself, I look at Ashurei and nod to him, "That was efficient. We are returning to the Keep now. Meet me at the East Gate." I could only teleport one other person thru the Void with me as far as I knew. I had not tried to take more than one again since the first time I tried to move a group of four and the strain nearly incapacitated me. Remembering that I had teleported us here, I give Ashurei directions on how to get back. For a moment I had thought to use his own teleportation ability to "pull" him thru the Void with me kind of like one horse being tied to another horse and led around. Perhaps another time. I vanish from sight stepping into the Void with the young noble. A few moments later, I would emerge at the East Gate of the Keep. The guards would look at me suspciously as I just appeared out of nowhere with someone whose clothes are dirty and damged. I would wait for Ashurei to arrive. I figured that he would fly given that it would provide the best visibility in case he somehow forgot the directions I had just given to him.

465/12,458

The dispersal of that much energy at once caused my body to remove itself from flight. Landing on the ground, I would take a half step backwards to catch myself before getting my bearings straight. The strain had been something completely unexpected. With both transformations leaving as fast as they came, I gazed out to see the results of my endeavor. The building where they had been was gone. Light structural damage had been done to the surrounding area, but it was nothing that couldn’t be fixed with a little work. A moment would pass before the boy would appear next to me. A quick glance at him would return no words until the void walker appeared. Quite effective? I was laughing on the inside. For my first time using it in such an uncontrollable way, I was satisfied with it. I would have to wait until I could truly use it at its full potential.
“I’ll be there shortly.”
That would be my only response after he left. Shaking my head, my hands would place themselves on my hips. Anyone could tell that I was slightly drained. That technique had spent all stored energy, leaving me with pretty much nothing for a few moments as I caught my breath. My right arm would raise above me, then shoot straight towards the ground. As it did, lightning would erupt across my body and I would disappear. Reappearing upwards in the sky towards my objective, I’d float there for a moment before flying towards the east gate. It was rather easy to remember where it was, and once I was in view, the same technique would be used again to rapidly enter the eastern gate’s airspace. Once there, I would drop directly down to land next to him, on the other side of the boy.
“That was refreshing. Shall we?”
Ignoring the guards, hands would be dug into pockets before striding forward casually. I’d ignore their looks towards the other two. After all, I was perfectly clean and well dressed as usual. How I had managed to stay that way with the amount of energy spent was beyond me, but it could be figured out later. As long as I didn’t have to use more energy right now I should be fine. I trusted that we would be moderately safe here anyway.

437 / 2133 / 10

Nodding to Ashurei when he asks about moving on inside, the boy is still shaken up and still uncomfortably close to me. Gantele is the only person I typically allow to get this close to me, but I could feel that this boy was still terrified, so if he found solace and being close to me then it would suffice for now. This would be quite an ordeal for a 15 or 16 year old young man with no real martial prowess to endure. I place my hand on his shoulder and we start walking inside. Keeping my senses on full alert, we enter the Keep once again. Our movements would be made with haste as I wanted to keep the boy out of sight as best as possible. I did not know how successful the other agents had been in cleaning up the mess, so I didn't want to take any chances. The barracks is our destination would Ashurei would probably figure out since I take the same path that we took earlier. The Keep was not very familiar to me, so I wanted to ensure that we did not get lost.

It would not be long before we arrived at the barracks and the City Guards on duty right now are elated to see the noble safely returned. The Lord Captain is awoken and summoned to the Courtyard. As soon as he comes within view, I bow to him respectfully before Ashurei and I would vanish in a dark purple and black puff of smoke. Our next appearance would be in my room back at the tavern. Now that I am thinking about it, it probably would have had more of an impact if Ashurei and I had returned covered in blood and flesh fragments, but that simply is not my style of things. Plus, it would put a last minute bit of fear into the heart of the young bandit as he might question if I had found what I was looking for or not. I look at the young bandit and nod to him. "You are safe."

I turn to look at the guard and ask, "Would you like an opportunity to survive our wrath?" He looks at me with defiance until I turn to look at Ashurei. It is then that he quickly changes his tune and agrees. I ask another simple question, "Where is the bandit envoy staying tonight?" He hesitates for a moment before telling me, "The inn next to the tavern you found us in earlier. He prefers quiet." I nod to him. "If this is true, your life will not end by our hand." Turning to the young bandit, I lift him onto his feet and tap on the door. The female operative enters and surveys the room. She inquires, "Your mission was a success?" I nod to her and tell her that Ashurei here took care of the whole sending a very distinct message part. "Have this one (pointing to the guard) delivered to the City Guard as I have given my word that I would not be his executioner. They can spend some time interrogating him if they wish." She nods and asks about the young bandit. I tell her that he will be delivered to their envoy to be taken home. "He helped me, so I will honor my word to him as well." She nods to me and pinches a nerve in the shoulder of the guard to make his body go limp. This would allow her to transport him much easier. She would move him outside and close the door behind her.

Once she is outside the door, I lock it securely before turning to my two traveling companions for the next destination. I would teleport both Ashurei and the young bandit outside to the street before joining them myself. "Last stop then it's back to the beach to relax." We start walking towards the tavern. The young bandit, still bound, looks at me and inquires, "Why are you letting me live?" I remark plainly, "No reason to kill you. Besides, there will come a time when I need information or need the assistance of your bandit guild and you will remember this night and what transpired. That is why you remain alive. Should you get the idea to try and betray me..." He interrupts to assure me that he would not be so stupid. I continue, "Good because my network of operatives is ever growing and I am making a point to have contacts everywhere, so those who betray me will never be safe from my vengeance." That answer would also serve to inform Ashurei as to the rationale behind my more subtle and "patient" methods. The young bandit now knows that he is indebted to me and the fear that he feels after what he has witnessed between the two of us only solidifies that. It would take more time to fully cultivate him, but I had acquired a new asset within the desert lands.

We arrive at the room of the Bandit Envoy and I knock on his door. He would probably be sleeping, but I am sure that he will want to rise for this visit... unless he wants me to wake him up myself.

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OOC: Ash, go ahead and handle the Bandit Envoy's actions please.

The first drop was quick and easy. Nodding to the superior officer of the void walker, my hands would remain in my pockets as I walked casually next to him. Before any words had been given, we would disappear again only to reappear in the tavern room from earlier. The two had remained, so I would walk casually over to the wall, and prop myself against it. Exhaling lightly, I would continue to regain the energy that had been spent overloading my internal energy points. Shortly after, the young lady would enter the room again. Being in a friendlier mood than previously, I would smile to her before she followed orders given by Dravec. As soon as we had concluded our business here, I would be moved to the streets where we would walk for a bit. I could have taken the stairs down, but apparently this one loved to expend energy needlessly.
“Speak for yourself.. You served your purpose truthfully. Repent and live in peace.”
Those would be my only words said to the younger bandit. As we neared the room, I would give a look of interest over to Dravec before waiting for the door to open.
-----------
The knock would come at a rather absurd time of the morning. The bandit envoy; now irritated that one of his own was probably interrupting him, would grumble before rolling over. A few moments would pass while senses were gathered. Slowly, he would continue grumbling while rising from the warm depths of his bed. A light robe would be tossed over his clothes and half bare body before he strode lightly to the door. Not expecting anything out of the ordinary, he would place his left hand on the blade next to the door, and open the door with his right.
“what is it.”

335 / 2468 / 11

I am pretty sure that he would not expect me to be standing there, but when he opens the door, I look at him plainly. I push the young bandit forward towards the envoy. My words are short and precise, "Collect your things and leave the Keep while you still can. If you are here in an hour. You die. The rest of your ilk are dead or being interrogated. Remember this kindness, envoy. If it is betrayed, you will know its counterpart for certain." This time, I turn around and walk back out normally. I would allow the bandit youth's stories to build the reputation of my powers for me. It is always good to allow such rumors to be created on your behalf. As the dawn would be approaching soon, I tell Ashurei that we should remain here for a while to rest and recharge before heading back up the coast to the beach that we seem to frequent so often. This had been quite the eventful night after all. Truth of the matter is that I am hungry and always want to spend some time talking business with the tavern owner and the female operative.


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