Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-5583506-20150502142033/@comment-5583506-20150520231837

"Behold!" said Audiana and grabbed a nearby sledgehammer hidden behind a pillar. She marched steadily towards a walled-off section of the tunnel and brough it down with one forceful blow.

As the dust from the collapsed brickworks settled, the Investigators soon became aware of the skeleton behind it. It was old and detoriated. Its brittle bones were only attached by thin strings of connective tissue. The cobweb around its skull spoke values of the critter which had now infested the old corpse as their dwelling. One further detail was the shackles on its wrists, a situation the Investigators weren't all too unfamiliar with.

"Good Gods", murmured Sibern.

There was no denying it that the skeleton was that of the Pale Man, the legend in the flesh... or the bones, as the case were.

"My forebear", said Audiana with a sigh of happiness. "He possessed everything a man could ever want. Gold, respect, fear..."

"But not love", added Sibern dryly without Audiana noticing.

The Imperial's gaze wandered over the room over her captives. "He made a promise the day the guards came for him. He uttered a curse that would make his murderers would pay... or else their descendants would. And payed they have. Through their deaths would he be reborn."

She headed over to her bag again. "Look. They are all here. All the descendants of my forefather's murderers. The brain of Izzad the Servant, descendant of the guard Dragging-His-Feet."

She snickered as she held the jar containing the Argonian's brain. "The fool. He didn't seem to realise what the ulterior motive was the day when I came to him and inspired him to build himself a criminal empire here in Riften, as my forebear had done before him. When the Pale Man's resurrection was done, all he would have to do was to seize Izzad's organisation for himself and he would be back in full character. The stupid lizard had no idea he was being used by forces from beyond."

''From beyond? ''reflected Sibern, still not moving an inch. He needed to hear this out before interfering with the psychotic woman.

"The eyes of Sinderius Hestria, descendant of the guard Argus Hestria. Isn't it a bit funny?" she asked. "That the writer would be writing about the topic of my forebear just the moments before his death? I guess that the eternal cycle of fate's irony comes back to all of us."

She smirked as she clutched the jar with a heart. "To be honest, you shouldn't be hating on poor old Garulf, the descendant of Aedulf. The old bastard only did as he was told. He was the only one who knew that to resurrect my forebear I would need to gather the correct reagents from his murderers descendants. Fearing for his own life, he agreed to help us."

Us?

"So his constant interfering with your investigationg it was all in a desperate attempt to save his own hide." She giggled. "I almost feel sorry for him. His heart is irreplacable. He would have known eventually that he would meet the same fate otherwise he was a fool."

She caressed the jar containing the liver. "The liver of Harold Hammerhand, the descendant of Bure Hammerhand. Ironically the first of my forebear's intended victims I hunted down for him, weeks before I even came to Riften."

Sibern didn't like her statements at all. He cast a glance over at the chained up skeleton behind the wall. Audiana was always speaking about her forebear as if he was alive and breathing, but he just couldn't see what sort of interaction there could be between her and a centuries-old dead man.

"What's that?" asked the Imperial and sharpened her ear as if she listened to something in the distance. "Oh, right. I was just getting to them as well!" She slightly nudged the lid of the larger jar containing the pair of lungs. "The lungs of Rakh, the descendant of the guard Saffi. They were tricky to get out of the large Redguard's body intact. Do you have any idea how much precision it would take to rip out a man's lungs intact?"

Sibern didn't dare to answer, nor would he. He would not indulge this sick bitch's rantings. "And finally." An evil smirk fell on her lips as she raised the jar containing the stomach of Sybil Ladurec. "The whore of Astain Ladurec is no more! They are all here! All the reagents! After centuries of eternal rest, the Pale Man, my forefather shall rest no longer." As Audiana raised the jar containing Sybil's stomach he was somehow reminded of Embla. He didn't know for what purpose. She had only been killed because she had overheard Sybil and Rakh, nothing else. But for some reason, he felt it as if there was more to the point... The Pale Man had uttered his curse, his promise, over everyone who had been there to witness his downfall... Then why did he feel like there was a piece missing? He couldn't wait no longer for Audiana to act. While the Imperial praised her "reagents", Sibern took the case from the inside of his coat and swallowed the remaining crystals in one single sweep, before storming off in her direction. He would stop her, kill her if he had to, and then he would release everyone and smash the bones of the Pale Man to kingdom come... He didn't get far though, when he suddenly felt something burst within him. He looked down on his shirt. The wound... the wound he had received at the Derelict had opened... and blood was gushing out rapidly... moreso than usual... How? Sibern collapsed to his knees with an expression of confusion and pain as he looked upon Audiana when she turned to him. "Troll heart-strings is what I used to make those stitches, Sibern. It only lasts a couple of days, before it dries up like an old twig and snaps." Sibern clutched tightly to his heart, which wouldn't stop pounding, sending his blood into furious surge which coursed throughout his entire body, leaving him in the hands of the shadowy figures he had been running from in his entire life. "You also seem to forget who gave you those last crystals, Sibern", said Audiana with feigned sympathy as she watched the Investigator collapse to the ground in an ever-growing pool of blood. "A little mixture of my own. Pity. I was actually starting to like you." Sibern struggled to breathe as he writhed in pain on the ground, before lying still, his chest heaving slowly. "Now", said Audiana and turned to face the Investigators. "All of you can watch." "And pray that your Gods will keep you safe from my wrath", hissed a disembodied voice from somewhere around Audiana.