Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-24510587-20181023230058/@comment-3293219-20181027120342

"You're better off not understanding..." Moira said, indifferently.

-

Virde lay motionless in his cell, though his wounds were somewhat dealt with, he was still incredibly weak and sore.

He’d have to heal a bit before making any form of escape attempt, not wanting to collapse, mid chase and have to be saved by his captors. Thankfully, being as old as he is, gave him some perspective on time and waiting wasn’t so bad.

Still, he didn’t exactly like stewing on what had transpired, back at this kid’s house. Marr’s betrayal left him wondering as to what kind of retaliation he sought… If he sought any at all.

It concerned him that Kyris had to now look after the broken pieces of his family, it was far from right. Well, she didn’t have to but… let’s face it, it was what came naturally to the girl. ‘Had to’ wasn’t far off from the truth.

Virde noticed a rat, in the corner of the room, scurrying about. Rats were useful, when escaping prison, afterall the were common place and easily possessed. Great little remote vehicles…

The Necromancer raised his hand and with a flick of his wrist, emitted a red aura, that attracted a similar red energy from the small rodent. Without a sound, he drew its life energy, giving himself a little bit of strength but more importantly, killing the creature outright.

He rose out of the cot, wincing as his feet touched the tile floor. It was colder than a witch’s tit!

Stumbling forward, he managed to keep upright for the most of his journey. Though his cell was about five feet wide, it still felt like a marathon, walking to the door. Every step sent a surge of pain through his pelvis, that made him want to collapse.

Thankfully, it was only a few of those agonizing steps that had to be taken before he could get his hands on his disease riddled prize. The Necromancer knelt down and picked it up, quickly shoving it into his robes before glancing across the hallway. He noticed a sleeping argonian in the cot opposite, probably as dangerous as him, maybe a little less friendly.

As Virde’s dulled senses examined the hallway, he found himself growing… uncomfortable. Something was very wrong, he could taste it…

Without any warning from him, that he would do so, he turned around and readied a spell, threatening to incinerate the being, who was stood behind him. To his surprise, his hunch was correct and a well dressed Imperial looking man, in a black suit stood between him and his cot. His inhuman stare, through his rather dull grey eyes pierced through Virde, instantly disarming him.

The Necromancer merely stood there, clutching the rat with one hand and holding a spell with the other.

“How’d you get in here?” Virde asked, noticing the door was still locked. He most likely teleported but in truth, he just wanted confirmation that the guy wasn’t here the whole time as that would make Virde feel like a dumb prick for failing to notice.

The man’s face didn’t change, if he even felt emotion, his face didn’t betray that well guarded secret.

“You and I have business to discuss…” He informed Virde, marching over to him and placing his hand on his forehead, practically holding his head in his hand. Though Virde tried to hit out at him, to stop him, he found his hand merely bounced off of the man in black, like he’d punched an immovable brick wall.

As the blinding white faded, the dark, grey, dank cell had now become a bronze hallway. A hallway laden with copper gears, turning on the walls and an abundance of pipes and cogs and other machinery innards worked furiously to keep some unknown machine alive.

<p class="MsoNormal">Everything about this place was… Different. Metalic was the best word to describe it, like he was trapped in the artery of a clock. It was here that the man released him and scraped his suit, around the area that Virde hit him.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Nells… Your former associate, I know what he’s after.” The Man began, turning around.

<p class="MsoNormal">“What I need to know, is why. That is what you are going to tell me.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“I know what he’s after…” Virde pointed out, expecting to have to shuffle after him but finding that his body no longer hurt him. Was he in a dream state? Or did that white light heal him somehow?

<p class="MsoNormal">Not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he decided to jog on, after his benefactor.

<p class="MsoNormal">“He wants the Heart of Lorkhan. I recognized its power, the thing that drove those guys insane? The question is, ‘how?’ when it’s dead.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Hmm… I believe I can enlighten you on that one.” The man pressed his hand against the door and slowly opened it, revealing a truly magnificent sight.

<p class="MsoNormal">Connected up by dozens of wires and tubes, oozing a powerful red light, which was barely contained between pumps and currently being worked on by dozens of small spider-like constructs was a colossal mechanical heart.

<p class="MsoNormal">Suspended in its large chamber, full of metallic carvings on the wall, neither glorifying or negating the heart as was Sotha Sil’s way, it beat slowly but furiously.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Behold, the heart of the Clockwork City, Sotha Sil’s remastered heart of Lorkhan.” The Man in black informed Virde, quickly shifting his gaze to him.

<p class="MsoNormal">“See it now as Nells does, tell me what sick and twisted possibilities you see.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Virde, needless to say, had little by way of thoughts, upon seeing this well guarded secret for himself. Though his mind quickly caught up with the situation and he suddenly realised the situation.

<p class="MsoNormal">“So that’s why Nells needed the skeleton key… to get access to this place? To get to this thing and…” He paused, stepping closer to it. Oddly enough, the man in black made no effort to stop him. Like he assumed they were on the same side.

<p class="MsoNormal">Or maybe he had a plan to counter-act any makeshift scheme that Virde could come up with. Thankfully for him, he wasn’t as power hungry or ego-maniacal as Nells…

<p class="MsoNormal">“This thing it’s… It’s he wanted, back in the day. He wanted the heart’s power but it was destroyed… Hell, I heard he even broke into the Imperial Palace to find it, after Telemachus dug it up and found that the thing was basically an ornament now.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Why did he want it?” The Man asked, putting quite a bit of emphasis on the ‘why’ to drive home his point.

<p class="MsoNormal">“What does he aim to do with it?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Reach Godhood? Use it to resurrect every dead thing in the world and have a million eyes and ears everywhere? Hell, the possibilities would be endless…” Virde shrugged.

<p class="MsoNormal">“It’s safe to assume that he wants to absorb its power and become a God, though…” As Virde raised his hand and cast a detect life spell, he found himself baffled by the results. The heart itself didn’t count as being ‘alive’ but there was seemingly a living body inside it.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Who… Who is that?” He asked, quickly glancing back.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Ailea… One of our agents, found herself trapped in it, when she used the Heart’s power to save the city.” The Man in Black informed him as he stepped closer to it.

<p class="MsoNormal">“She took power from the heart and it took back… It took everything, everything but her consciousness. She and the heart became one, Virde. She is… Literally the heart of the Clockwork City.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Nells… That’s what he wants. To become part of the city, to become the heart and therefore a living God.” Virde surmised.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I wonder if he believes he can open it up, with the Skeleton Key?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“I take it you don’t mean literally?” The Man in Black asked, glancing over to Virde, with a raised brow.

<p class="MsoNormal">“No… could do but no… I think he wants to swap places with Ailea. To become the new heart, a living God…”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Needless to say, this put in a… rather fortuitous position, when one of our agents became part of the heart. We were able to strike up a bargain, with the natives here. They had no knowledge of the outside world and no means to protect themselves from it and we wished for a place to live, off the grid.

<p class="MsoNormal">As it stood, it was mutually beneficial for us both to work together. Though not exactly a… relationship without strain, we co-exist just fine. Nells threatens that and the entire world, with his greed.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“One question remains though.” Virde pointed out, looking over to him.

<p class="MsoNormal">“How does Nells know about any of this?”

<p class="MsoNormal">The Man in Black fell silent, thinking for a moment before stepping closer to the heart.

<p class="MsoNormal">“We had a traitor… Someone within our organization fled with this information and joined forces will Nells. From what I understand, they wanted to join forces with you but found themselves concerned that you would betray them.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Pfft… I ain’t Marr.” Virde pointed out, watching a mechanical spider scuttle about along the floor.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Well, regardless, she was… rather fanatical, about a certain hero.” The Man in Black turned his attentions back to Virde.

<p class="MsoNormal">“An Argonian woman, of great power, who’s consumption of flesh made her an abomination on death. She sought to impress her by giving her the heart but then went a step further, by getting Nells to do the hard part of securing it and then betraying him at the last moment.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“I met her, she tried to assassinate Kyris and I but flat out failed… You sure this is your girl? She seemed to be pretty useless.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“We thought the same but she has moments of brilliance… We sadly undervalued her and thus, she slipped away.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Virde didn’t exactly buy this, he felt there were things he wasn’t being told but didn’t feel like pushing his luck.

<p class="MsoNormal">“So… I don’t know what Nells wants but my guess would be that he wants to become the heart and corrupt its power. Turning life to death, death to undeath and…

<p class="MsoNormal">Well, looking at all this machinery, he could create the perfect amalgamation of machine and husk. Like golden march, only this time these machines would be half zombie, half machine.

<p class="MsoNormal">That and Morgus, we’d have war on our hands as well.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yes, I’m aware of the Morgus threat… I believe Sara has that well in hand.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Sara?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“M-Moira…” The Man in Black sighed, though it didn’t seem like a genuine slip of the tongue.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Well, you need someone on this. If not me then, someone…” Virde shrugged, glancing away from the heart, the grand scale of it was starting to make even him uneasy at this point, like he feared it would explode as infeasible as that was.

<p class="MsoNormal">“My thoughts exactly. Which is why I’m offering you a temporary contract, with Dagar Ghol himself.” The Man in Black informed him.

<p class="MsoNormal">“He’s waiting for you now and will reward you handsomely for performing a duty for him but… Well, we aren’t an organization that forces people to work for us, it usually creates a culture of fear and disloyalty.

<p class="MsoNormal">We will allow you to return to your cell, if you prefer.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Pfft… Fuck that, take me to Dagar Ghol!” Virde insisted, he was going to kill Nells anyway, he might as well get paid for it and get some help from these people. Might be able to milk them for more than he’s worth.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Man in Black seemed bemused by that, forcing a wry smirk.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I thought as much…” He said before engulfing Virde in light once again, creating a new, hopefully mutually beneficial, partnership…