Legend of Ransera

☬ 6th of Glade, Year 123, A.o.S ☬
Company: Himself | Thoughts: Lets take a bath | Mood: Relaxed, Alert

"You're wasting your magic, boy."
The voice was low, deep, gruff, and came from across the water. He was a huge man, dark of skin, not fully Orkhan though perhaps half. He wore a set of spiked pauldrons but not much more in the way of armor or clothing. His body was sprawled in tattoos of the Ecithian style, and his gaze was intense as it set upon Dreyfus. A pair of weapons hung from his hips; one a small one handed hatchet of wood and bone, the other a mace, seemingly made of a reddish wood. He cracked his knuckles loudly as he flexed and groaned.

"If you're gonna use magic to see, you might want to make sure your eyes work well."

A water snake, startled, raced out within inches of Dreyfus, twisting over the surface of the water, diving for cover in the brush, and the man began to laugh heartily. He smiled brightly, locking eyes with Dreyfus, "It's dangerous out here for a foreigner." His arm moved in a blur, and a small pebble skipped across the water toward Dreyfus. It moved so fast that it struck a rib, and it cracked a bit. The man chuckled, "If you'd strengthened your body more, that wouldn't happy." He looked away into the grasses around them, before side eyeing back, "And don't get your blood boiling. We both know that injury means nothing to you."

The man stretched his arms wide, falling back in the small grass at the water's edge, "Have you ever wondered if maybe your life has no direction because you want something so bad, but you don't need anything?" He chuckled, "Of course not. You bloodsuckers always need so much and want so much, it's exhausting."

He hupped upright again, "I'm Skarner and you are on a path leading to a death most unpleasant. Would you rather it now, or later?" He winked as he slowly stood upright, his axe and his mace sliding down, his hands gripping their shafts firmly. "There's no bounty on your head yet, but there will be, you keep it up." A grin, "Unless that's what you want."

If Skarner could've rolled his eyes any harder, he would've, though there for a moment, all that was visible were the white undersides. "Only the idiotic and young and those without anything that gives their heart a reason to beat spew such trash philosophy." A smirk was given, followed by the twirling of his mace between his fingers, rapidly enough that it was pulling in the winds around them both.

"I already told you, that rune is useless if you can't discern what you're seeing. You blindly stumble through magical defenses and detections, charge across paths and sight lines, and bathe in a trap. You might have the ability to look at more of the world around you, but you've never seen anything."

A sneer teasing at the corner of his smile, "And I'm not the only one that's been following you unnoticed. Do you really think this land that we've lived in for over a hundred thousand years is so wild that we're mere barbarians? Do you think the stone walls and smoke and fear of power from the land you call home is what passes for competence?"

Skarner was shaking his head, "It seems we may need to do some work abroad just to improve our reputation. After all, the Emperor thought us weak once upon a time, just as you do now." A casual shrug as the winds were ripping branches off the trees and causing waves to form in the bath as the spinning mace sped faster and faster in his nonchalant fingers. "And it will be my pleasure to help all of you to understand our strength."

He flicked the mace forward casually, sending it in a spiraling cyclone of force, with all the power of a tornado concentrated in it. Dreyfus would have exactly a single moment to react, if he even could. If he didn't move at all, it would strike him in center mass of his chest. Even a narrow miss meant the winds surrounding it would send him flying with how much power they stored in him.

A feral grin grew on the man's face as his mace as just barely deflected, flying upward in the air. It curved back toward him, as though the entire attack, and Dreyfus' exact defense, had been predicted, and he caught it effortlessly, belting it. "There it is, the real one I wish to speak with."

Skarner began walking forward, speaking with his hands casually, his gaze on Dreyfus' own possessed eyes. "I have need of a unique combination of skill sets such as you and your unwary host." As he spoke, the spirit would begin to feel the strain of having to conjure so many wards in such a short span of time, as well as the dumping of aether to deflect the mace. "You see, if you keep on this reckless path here in this land that is not yours, you will be destroyed sooner than later. And that would be quite the waste. Soldiers are meant to die for a purpose, one given them by their betters."

Skarner was now directly in front of Dreyfus, his hand striking out faster than a snake, grasping the mage by the throat. Then he pulled his hand back, yanking a bit of the spirit out of Dreyfus' body. This act did not break the spirit out of the vampire's body, but it did begin draining its energy, being out of the body like this. And Skarner's grip tightened around the "throat" of the spirit, who would be able to feel a physical pain that it was not accustomed to while like this.

"You will be my soldier, the both of you."

The longer the grip was held, the more the aether of the spirit and Dreyfus combined was being drained.

"I have your scent, I have many more soldiers more capable than you both, but you have a unique relationship with a place I am interested in." He leaned in close, growling in the "ear" of the spirit, his own aura vast, deadly, sharpened to an absolute edge, "You will take this body of yours north, to Ailizane. You will use the powers bestowed upon a spirit such as yours by Bhezaxr to sow dissent among those in your homeland of Zaichaer, and in the Galerian Imperium." He squeezed even tighter, further increasing the aether drain on the pair, "If you do not, I will not send my soldiers to kill you, I will not come myself to kill you, no."

He released his grip, letting the spirit slide back into Dreyfus' body, sending them stumbling backwards into the water. "No, if you fail me, I will simply lock the both of you in a small box, just big enough that your body won't die from being crammed in there. I will have it warded so it is greatly protected from both within and without, unable to be found, unable to be opened." A smug smile grew, "And I will place it myself somewhere at the bottom of the Crystal Sea. And I will leave you there for a thousand years before I come to collect you once again."

Skarner turned to walk away, "I want a war with the Imperium, that's your goal."

He strode through the water, pausing before looking back over his shoulder at the vampyre and spirit, "You have until Searing next year." And with a wink, the man disappeared without a trace of movement more.

Dreyfus

Loot: A task and a threat
Injuries: Ego maybe?

Points: 12, may not be used for magic.

Comments: Looking forward to checking in on Dreyfus in Searing 124.