Akimitsu Sori (Part 1)
Log Info
- Title: Akimitsu Sori (Part 1)
- Emitter: Telamon
- Place: Telamon and Ravenstongue's house, Alexandria
Lupecyll-Atlon home, morning
The sun spills out over the city of Alexandria, with only a few wisps of clouds in the sky to adorn the brilliant blue. A well-maintained two story house sits in the University District, not too dissimilar from houses kept by successful merchants or tenured professors.
But the runes carved into the windowsills and on the door-lintel tell the tale. This is a home of magic, the dwelling place of Telamon and Cor'lana Lupecyll-Atlon. Surely mighty magics must be worked here, right?
Well... not this morning. Standing out front, the Lord Archmage is filling the windowsill planters. Seeds placed into the rich earth, then carefully watered, as Telamon works with the quiet patience of one who's learned that nature works at her own pace and it's best to just step back and let it run. The half-elf is dressed in light clothes, a linen tunic over trousers, and he brushes off his hands with a satisfied expression.
Karasu lifts a hand in greeting to the mage at a fair distance, having learned that waving is the common parlance of greeting in this region some time ago. Telamon is observant and he has little doubt that the other man will see him coming. At his side as always is Cor'ethil, and Karasu is grateful to the mage for allowing the use of his house for this little gathering. Their own home is finally acceptable for visitors, but Karasu is not quite comfortable with allowing people that he may or may not know entering his sanctuary. Assuming anyone from the Adventurer's Guild takes up arms and shows an interest in aiding them against Sori.
Drawing closer to Telamon, Karasu offers the other man a nod in greeting as is polite in his homeland. "Greetings Archmage. I am grateful for you agreeing still to aid us in this endeavor. I have information that I am eager to share. May we enter your home?"
Cor'ethil likes mornings. It's the time of day where the birds start to sing again after the long night, which is the domain of many a cute woodland creature (Karasu has found Corey chattering to the owls, the raccoons, and the foxes off in the distance at night when they're home). But today's a different kind of morning.
He's armed and armored. Rapier on his belt, armor on his body, pendant of Gilead around his neck, Corey is a Warden of Gilead, through-and-through. He never really leaves the house without any of these things. Not even to attend to their hens or to coo at the dastardly little foxes who try to steal their eggs. When Karasu speaks, Corey nods. "We'd really appreciate it, Telamon." His cheeks pinken a little. Being on a first-name basis with an archmage is still an interesting thing.
Carver is the last to stride in, face painted fierce; a homage to Dran's dark clouds before the storms. She's almost always done up for war these days, so seeing all that bundles of fur and the bristly points of a pair of quiver is hardly a surprise. Seeing her here might be though. Perhaps she is the aide that answered the call to battle from the guild.
She nods in greeting, hooking thumbs to her belt.
Telamon turns to regard Corey, Karasu, and Carver with a calm, unsurprised expression. Maybe he knew. Or maybe he's just used to this sort of thing. In any case, he suddenly smiles, and nods. "Of course. Please, come inside... Lana's out with Pothy, so he'll not be pestering us for snacks, and the pixies are boy-watching at the Colosseum." He rolls his eyes. "Again."
He opens the door, and leads his guests inside... waiting for them to enter before shutting the door and setting the lock. Once that's done, he inquires, "Can I offer you anything before we get started? Aura sent some wonderful pastries the other day, and I've a jug of chilled tea ready to be drunk."
The dark-eyed xian man follows Telamon into his home and finds a corner to stand in that allows him a full view of the house and its exits (or rather as much of one as can be found). Karasu's eyes flicker to Cor'ethil for a moment at the offer of food and beverage but he shakes his head no. "I could not eat at a time like this. Though your generosity is noted as always Archmage."
He waits for everyone to come in, and make themselves comfortable.
"Mother raised me to never turn down a cup of tea," Cor'ethil says with a smile as he follows Karasu in. "I'll try some of that chilled tea." Although he looks at Karasu as though to communicate something about imbibing tea.
"I'm glad the pixies aren't here. Not that I don't trust them..." Cor'ethil begins, but then he blanches as he takes a seat by Karasu. "Well, okay, it's that I don't trust them. At least, most of them. Mother used to tell me that I shouldn't whisper anything to the wind, lest a pixie hear it and bring it back somewhere else. But she said I _could_ tell my troubles to the ravens, so..."
He scratches behind his neck. "Mixed bag of sayings."
Carver leans her bow, unstrung, against the wall and near the door. She keeps her knife. Her eyes can be seen darting about, dark little expressive motes of energy. So much more quiet without Pothy here, or the Pixies for that matter. She looks back to Corey as he shares an ancedote about growing up, brushing against the First World and its many strange occupants. "Very."
"I will pass on the tea as well. I am curious to hear more. The missive from the guild was not exactly ripe with much to gnaw at." She looks between Karasu and Cor'ethil now. "Other than this might be a personal dispute."
Telamon pours a couple of talltankards, and leaves the jug out along with another unused pair just in case. Passing one of the tankards to Corey, Tel nods. "Why don't you start us off, Karasu? If you have news, I'm interested."
The half-sil seats himself in one of the chairs, regarding the other heroes with a serene smile. His dark eyes glint with starlight, though, and it's clear he's curious -- and anticipating something interesting.
Karasu's eyes follow the tankard to Corey and he holds his hand out for the drink patiently. Clearly he intends to taste the brew. However while he waits for the cup to be passed over, Karasu answers Telamon's query and interest as well as Carver's statement. "One might call this a personal dispute. Sori has however killed hundreds and been responsible for the deaths of thousands more through the years. Not even mentioning the torture that constitutes his training methods."
Karasu's voice is flat and bland as he explains the situation. "Personal in that his main goal is to kill those who I have grown feelings for, and return me to his employ. Or kill me failing that. However he works with fiends and that is hardly a personal matter. Instead it strengthens his reach and makes him more formidable. It makes him a threat to all."
Karasu looks at Telamon. "Kiku has sent me word that he has managed to locate Sori's stronghold if not the man himself. He is certain that Sori is somewhere in Yurika, a land granted him by the lord of lands in Xian. This for all he has done in service to those in power." Karasu frowns lightly. "Kiku was further able to discern with certainty that there are several fiend-possessed assassins in residence of Yurika. It seems that he is training his disciples and then handing their bodies to fiends."
Corey makes sure Karasu tastes the cup. This is the arrangement it's been since forever for them--Karasu tastes the food and drink first, and Corey gets it after if Karasu deems it untainted. He nods soberly to Karasu's last remark. "It is... very disconcerting," he says, before looking over at Carver. "This man has tried to kill myself and Karasu in the past. My mother has killed him once before, prior to her ascension to her current title, but his fiendish connections seem to be very enmeshed and involved with keeping his power centered, resurrecting him at opportune times."
"The world is wide. Its's monsters endless as fish to sea." Carver mutters, as another is named. For someone to have been the hand to quell a hundred lives, or hundreds more, is a legacy. She keeps stumbling into abominations and while she will never be at peace with that. Finding meaning in one's labors is not something everyone gets to have.
"Fiends have a way of denying death." She acknowledges. "Binding pacts hold them to the world, or favors turned in. One can only reap what blood harvest. If the first death did not take. Kill again."
"I approve of this." Carver admits. "I kill monsters."
Telamon actually smiles. "Not so easy, Carver. Sori is very well connected. He's actually been resurrected before. Presumably because of how useful he is." He snorts. "Corey's mother killed him -- and it didn't stick. I have been contemplating alternate methods of... how shall we say, removing him from the board."
The sorcerer taps his fingertips together. "Letting his servants be possessed by fiends is an abomination as well, though not a surprising one I hate to say. They may even be willing -- or believe themselves to be. Karasu, does Kiku have any specifics beyond this land of Yurika?"
Karasu looks a touch uncomfortable here, and after a moment it is explained why. "No. Kiku had to look quite hard to locate the land in the first place, and dares not investigate too closely lest the fiends learn of his aid. However I have further information on Yurika."
He looks at Cor'ethil a moment before continuing. "When I was young, I was raised in the village of Yurika. I killed most of my own family whom lived there in the hopes that they would not corrupt and kill my brother's heart. I was unsuccessful, and it seems that Yurika remains intact."
Karasu sighs. "I am certain I can give us a map of Yurika and its underground environment. Furthermore if Sori is there, I am almost certain of where we can find him." Karasu's hand's become fists. "If we can but find a way to remove him from the board."
Cor'ethil frowns gently as he sips his tea. "Mother... is in possession of a weapon of truedeath, but I know that she would prefer not to loan it out unless greatly necessary." He looks between the group. "I know that she would likely give it to us, should we inform her what it is for, but that's almost why I would prefer not to ask. There are those within her Court who would strike against her the moment they learned it was no longer in her possession, seeing her as weak."
He looks at Telamon then. "What alternative means have you considered?" he asks gently. "I have to admit I'm curious."
Carver's eyes cut to Karasu when he mentions killing his own family, lips sealing to a tense line. What is expected might not be what comes out of our mouth. "I am sorry that it came to that. That never washes out."
Her dominant hand's fingers twitch anxiously. Telamon is given the floor readily.
Telamon's expression becomes grave. "While a sorcerer's spell repertoire is, by its nature, somewhat narrow in scope, that never stops a sorcerer from studying, and learning. And of course there are ways to sidestep those limitations." His eyes glitter like cold winter stars, steady in their course.
"I would use a spell of soul-trapping to ensnare Akimitsu Sori, body and soul, and confine him within a gemstone. And then... well, I would cross that bridge when I came to it. I am certain Her Majesty would be delighted at such a gift. Or I could entomb it within the depths of Leca'fi Amdamu, where he might never escape."
Karasu's eyes glitter with something cold as he bows his head to Carver. An understanding reached between them perhaps. Then Telamon explains his plan and Karasu looks at Cor'ethil. "If we delivered such an item to your mother, she would be most pleased, and she could use her weapon upon it to end Sori once and for all."
For the first time in a long time, something like hope sparks in Karasu's eyes and he bows his head to Telamon. "I am grateful again for your aid Telamon."
"As am I." Cor'ethil reaches over and gently touches Karasu's shoulder in a reassuring gesture, smiling tenderly at his husband. "It will be... a balm for the horrors that Karasu has had to endure, to see Sori dead at last. Even that feels like understating it." There are few words in any of the languages that Cor'ethil knows that can begin to describe the horrors of Karasu's life under Akimitsu Sori, or the horror of killing his family (who had so eagerly condemned Karasu to Sori's methods of teaching) in the hopes of saving his young brother.
That last thought makes Corey's silver eyes glitter a little, and he takes a sharp breath that he disguises a little with a sip of his chilled tea. "It's a sound plan. I'm sure she'd prefer the 'worm trick', but... Some people are too dangerous to even be polymorphed." The 'worm trick' has an unsettling ring to it.
Carver repeats, "Where he might never escape." Perhaps she has a growing resentment for imprisonment. It isn't her call. Nor is this 'Sori' something that death seems to be a solution for either. She crosses her arms as the others seem satisfied with this. So shall it be. "I suppose this plan requires us to get close."
Telamon snorts. "If I hand him over to the Unseelie Queen, he will not spend much time imprisoned. Although she might wish to make a spectacle of it -- she is as prone to showmanship as I am." He offers Corey a grin. "Father commented as much."
"I do not propose this line of attack lightly, but his propensity to cheat death..." He sighs. "Carver, you weren't there when I ... interrogated him after his last demise. It was... disturbing. He knew he was dead and -he didn't care-. Because he knew he wasn't going to be spending very long in the Halls." Telamon shivers, and takes a sip of his tea. "Gods. I mean, I've gone into battle, risked myself, but that kind of serenity... I won't deny it rattled me a touch."
"We are taught not to fear the afterlife. Living in shame is far worse." Karasu offers quietly. He accepts Corey's comforting touch, even going so far as to put his hand on top of Cor'ethil's hand. "Perhaps if Sori were to endure the life that he has given those under his command, but there is no means to do so. I must be satisfied with this, and I am. For all those he has harmed let there be an end to him."
Karasu bows his head to those present. "To that end, I am grateful to you all for helping me to give Telamon an opportunity to trap Sori. It will be no easy task, but it is what needs done."
"He should be ashamed." Corey's voice is flat and angry now as his silver eyes have fury in them. His touch on Karasu's shoulder is still gentle and will remain that way forever. But his words are not. "There is nothing honorable about the atrocities he has committed. There is nothing commendable about the bloodshed he has made, ordered, and enabled. There is nothing worthy of lauding. It is evil."
Corey looks at Telamon and Carver. "He is evil. And that's why we're stopping him. Together."
"No, I was not." Carver says. "I am not impressed that he was calm in the face of death, though. He did not master the fear of it. He shook hands with it."
She rubs at an old scar on her hand in thought, "I swear it. We will stop him. You will know peace."
"Sometimes peace is fleeting. But it's there, if you're willing to fight for it." Telamon's expression softens again. "Alright then. First order of business. We'll travel to Yurika. I think I want to pick up a couple things before we go, anyways."
"From there, we track Akimitsu Sori down. I doubt he'll be alone." Telamon looks at Karasu. "I don't suppose any of his proteges might be willing to turn their coat, if we rid them of their possessors? I know it's a long shot, but..." He sighs. "Once we have him... contained, we'll make a decision as to his fate."
Karasu shakes his head at Telamon's words. "It would be impossible to tell those that might be willing to take a chance at freedom from those who are willing in their possessions. It is best to assume that everyone in the village works for Sori. I will give you the exact location of Sori's hideout when we meet again, and you can take us there directly. Those who are most trustworthy will be closest to Sori, and so we can be most assured that they will work against us."
Karasu takes Cor'ethil's hand in his own and then closes the meeting with only a few more words. "When next we meet, we will be at war against Sori. Come prepared for fiend and for poisons. For those two things we will almost certainly face."
With that said, the meeting comes to an end, but it's only the beginning.