Muttonhawk

The Necromancer's Curse

Before beholding the eclectic look of the inn, the sounds, the creak of the floor, Seb's nose tingled with the delicious aromas that blasted him upon taking his first step. He could have sworn that his mouth would be leaking like a spring if he hadn't thought to keep it closed. His first port of call was the counter, where he summarily ordered not one, but three pork pies and a pint of ale. He doubted that he would finish them all, but he was too hungry to care. Besides, it wasn't as if he was paying.

Many minutes passed where Seb spent most of his time looking about the inn and drumming his fingers on the bar. Eventually, his meal arrived and he began a balancing act to take it to a table. Even with his dexterity as it was, he truly missed magical telekinesis at times like these. He thought it only polite to dine with his new colleagues, but it appeared as though they had all sat at separate tables. Seb assumed, judging by the species, that it was either shyness or pride. Probably both.

Seb decided that he had taken enough risks with dragons for today and moved to sit across from the solemn looking centaur. The horse-bodied man was rather less imposing when he wasn't standing upright. "I suppose this is official greetings, my good stallion. My name is Sebastian, I study magic. What might your name be?" Seb extended a hand. "I couldn't help but wonder, how did a centaur find a role with the Enchanter's Guild?" Seb took a large bite from his first pie after finishing his question.

Moments later, Seb's ears pricked with the discussion between Anu'din and the black dragon, Karu. He had his back to the door, so he didn't even notice Anu'din enter. After short deliberation, Seb moved his gaze to them, then stood up and picked up his meal to take with him. "I believe their conversation is pertinent to our mission, perhaps we should join them?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Caleb was eventually calmed to the point where his mother carefully picked him up and began to carry him out of the room. Vera gave a parting glance of worry to Meesei before she walked out. Darahil followed close behind and soon the three walked out of sight, Caleb's sobs fading with distance. Confirming that the situation was under relative control, Fendros motioned for Kaleeth to follow and walked after his charge.

On the stone floor, Oswall was breathing painfully as he was when Meesei reached him, but it seemed that shock was keeping him conscious. "I've had a bloody silver knife barbed into me, how do you think I feel-ah!" Oswall grimaced as he slightly shifted his abdomen, believing that the healing magic powered by the welkynd stone had fixed him completely. He remained as still as he could from then on. "Just get me a blasted stretcher and take me to-hng...take me to a place where the surgeons can take care of me. You have work to do, champion." Oswall waved one hand weakly, "Begone!"

One of the healers, a blonde Breton woman, spoke up far less aggressively than Oswall had. "Champion, we have a chamber with healing equipment and raised tables that we use to treat severe injuries, especially silver wounds. With what you just did, I believe he will remain stable enough for us to take him there." The healer looked around at the crowd, "It would be a better environment than here I think.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The healers around Meesei and Oswall glanced at each other in equal parts worry and wonder. None of them dared to question the champion in such a tense situation, but the initial shock at seeing steam bubbling from Oswall's wounds was alleviated as they found that he was beginning to stabilise under their combined power.

The time it took for Meesei to treat Oswall with her advanced healing techniques was thankfully enough for Vera to reduce Caleb's hysteric shouting to a pained sobbing. He peered over to Meesei past swollen eyelids when he heard his name. Everyone gathered around looked to Caleb as attentively as Meesei did, eager to hear what he had to say. After another two breaths-worth of quiet crying, Caleb found some words. "It was when they taught the control techniques...Oswall knew that father would drink then, he had to." Caleb struggled not to stutter in his state. "He was nearby, the water skin would be left alone. It was the water skin that was poisoned! He wanted father dead because father thought Oswall's mistrust was a threat! It was him! He killed him!" Caleb began to escalate again and Vera tried soothing him once more.

"Champion, if I may." Just behind the front of the crowd, Darahil spoke up, causing those in front of him to step aside and reveal him, "I suggest questioning Caleb in private, where he might be calmed." Darahil looked at Caleb and Vera, "Public words may serve a better place at the trial." Darahil's eyes moved to Oswall, "Not to mention, Oswall's life is in danger. I sent someone to fetch a welkynd stone, she should be back momentarily. I trust you have treated silver wounds before?"

It wasn't even half a minute before an Imperial woman in furs ran into the chamber with a large glowing blue stone in her hands. Everyone made way for her while she hurried the stone to Meesei.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Harriet wasn't sure what to make of Fendros' arrival. She looked at him with crossed arms and a confused low brow. She didn't end up following Meesei out without clear permission to do so.

For the most part, Fendros focussed on walking quickly though the corridor ahead of him alongside Meesei. He spoke without looking at her. "It was sudden. I was keeping an eye on Darahil and Oswall while they were answering questions. Oswall took leave for a moment to use the latrine, but before he left the dining chamber, there was a shout and...and a silver knife. Caleb struck out and wounded him, Oswall I mean. Everyone fell on Caleb and kept him down while he thrashed about. They took the knife off him. Oswall, he's...healers are tending to him, but it's not looking good."

As the two approached the spot in the dining chamber where the incident happened, the shouting became dominated by a boy's voice, hardly broken yet. "He killed him!" Caleb's voice shouted, however constricted by emotion. He repeated himself over and over, "He killed him! He killed father!" The atmosphere they walked into was one of fear and haste.

People crowded around two scenes, one was where Oswall lay face up on the ground with his blood pooling and spreading over his clothed on his side. His hands were as bloody where they clutched his wound. A silver knife covered in blood sat a couple of feet away. Already several people were surrounding Oswall with golden healing magicks glowing from their hands in an attempt to stabilise him.

The other scene was of three large, sure-handed lycans in their beast form that held the body of a familiar Redguard boy against a wall of the chamber. His thrashing and resistance did him no benefit, but he didn't give up. Tears were streaming down his face as he continued to shout. "Father's dead and he killed him! He poisoned him!" Upon closer inspection, one of the lycans pinning Caleb was none other than Vera. She was murmuring calming words to Caleb in an attempt to soothe him, but they were being drowned out by the shouting. There was worry in Vera's eyes as she continued to try and calm the boy.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Without much but her thoughts in the empty room she was placed in, Meesei found Harriet sitting against a wall with one knee raised supporting one of her arms. She only shifted her bowed head slightly to look at Meesei when she entered.

"Got nothin' better to do," Harriet mumbled sourly as she slid upright and stretched one arm. She cleared her throat before walking to the exit.

It took a little while for representatives from the various packs to come up to the scholar's loft. Carana had to be found as she was still amongst the crowd after the announcement, but she had no objections to helping perform the test again, especially now that its full significance was apparent. All up there were about seven extra people in the loft witnessing as Sabine and Carana went about setting up the human heart in the flask again. One of which was one of Harriet's alphas. Sabine made sure to add lycan blood promptly this time.

Once the delicate procedure was done and the poison was added, there was an awkward silence where the witnesses sat on chairs found around the place. There were a few questions about the mechanics of the test that were steeped with alchemical jargon, but Carana was able to answer most. Sabine had her attention locked on the flask, nervous about making a mistake in front of everyone, so she only answered questions with scant words.

Roughly two thirds of an hour of waiting was interrupted by some isolated shouting coming from the halls below. About a minute later, Fendros came leaping up the steps to the scholar's loft with a dark expression as he caught his breath. "Meesei, Caleb has shown himself. You will need to come down, I think." Fendros' face told of a more severe situation than just his words implied.

The Necromancer's Curse

Giving nothing but a friendly nod to Alan as he took his leave, Seb began to walk towards the door of the inn with the intention of finally getting something to eat. The free meal and accommodation was...well, very accommodating of Alan and the Enchanter's Guild. Their recent swell of wealth and support with the curse around always meant that important tasks like these were well resourced. Having not eaten all day due to being absorbed in research made Seb's stomach grateful.

In addition to eating, Seb had been looking forward to catching up with Anu'din, although it seemed that he had business elsewhere. It was typical for a logical thinker such as himself to do so, but the realisation soon came upon Seb that Anu'din had little use for meals and beverages.

Before he even took three steps, Seb was interrupted in his stride by a menacing blue shape that quickly stilled into the form of the dragon assigned to the team. The sudden movement made him jolt in place. Great, the dragon must have been insulted that he or she wasn't addressed properly before he proceeded. Thankfully, pride didn't seem to be on the tone of this dragon's high young voice. It was more like excitement? Seb was wide eyed and paralysed, but gradually came out of his startled state with a response. "Um...quite! It is a pleasure, Senna. My name is Sebastian. I am a m-m-m-magical academic." Seb almost made two mistakes, by nearly calling himself a mage when he could not use magic anymore, and by extending his hand by habit. He quickly raised his hand into a wave before it could be shredded to ribbons by Senna's claws. In case the wave wasn't interpreted as a greeting, Seb redirected it to the door of the inn. "After you."

The Depths of Deception

Shiva was carefully making her way to an unoccupied seat in the transport shuttle when Shuo addressed her. She looked up for a moment, but waited until she was seated before answering. "It's not normally my look, I know, but it's likely the most effort I'll be ever putting into clothing." Shiva's voice lowered, "You're not looking too bad yourself, Shuo."

"Hmhm," Shiva chuckled lightly at the frisky reptilians in front of her. For lack of anything better to do while they waited for takeoff, she tried contributing to the conversation that appeared, "I think 'search and destroy' might have different ways of being efficient than 'push datapads'."

Personally, I just hope they keep the team together, Shiva thought to herself. The onset of anxiety about that possibility made Shiva lean forward in her seat to ask Rareth a question. She waited for a pause in Rareth and Telmeck's games. "Hey, Rareth. Just to check, no one found out about the...unofficial debriefing, right?"

The Necromancer's Curse

Name: Sebastian Mercusa, academic mage.

Race: Human

Age: 29 by appearance. His own necromancy had preserved his youth at 24, but has slowly been wearing off. His real age is roughly 55.

Appearance:

Seb

Equipment:
- An enchanted crossbow*
- A quiver of bolts
- A steel mace
- A dagger
- A backpack and a number of belt pouches full of research notes, fine mechanical tools, and a few camping tools

* Enchanted to disrupt energies sustaining undead creatures upon hitting them with bolts. Drops weak undead in one shot. Strong fresh corpses might take an extra one or two. Several to many are required to destroy anything more powerful. Risen dragons or equivalent enemies hit by Seb's bolts will only succeed in angering them.

Abilities (Physical / Magical):
- A decent shot with a crossbow.
- A deep understanding and control of magic, specialising in unlife and automatons of various forms.
- A mind for the mechanical.
- Rudimentary understanding of alchemy. He knows a few simple recipes.
- Stealthy, quick, and perceptive.

Curse Effects:
Before the curse, Sebastian's talent with magic made him a respected member of the academic community. He could cast a slew of simpler spells for convenience and self-defence, but his true power laid with giving life to constructs, some more ethical than others. Golems and homunculi made up most of his work, but he occasionally delved into reanimation of corpses and preservation of flesh.

When one night all of his creations collapsed onto the floor in pieces, one by one, he thought that his colleagues had found out about his secret experiments with necromancy and how the field overlapped with his own automatons. He came upon equal surprise, shock, and relief when he found out that it was the curse that was supressing his magic.

The curse has forced him to take up new, more physical skills in lieu of his previous talents.

Affiliation:
The Arcane Eye. Being one of the few minds with an understanding of magic, including necromancy, while still being young enough to fight has placed a responsibility on Sebastian's shoulders to find the source of this necromancer's curse and put an end to it. The Arcane Eye had decided to offer him a pardon for his necromantic experiments if he assisted them well enough.

In previous years, Seb had a collegiate relationship with the majin, Anu'din. With Anu'din's permission, Seb had studied the mechanical man's workings in research to better understand the nature of sentience in artificial beings as well as the complex magicks surrounding the majin themselves. By chance the task of dealing with the curse had been allocated to them both. Even if the curse prevents Anu'din from properly repairing himself, Seb is familiar enough with his body that small repairs may be made with the right equipment.

Personality:
Sebastian is keen-minded, thinks outside the box, is quick enough to duck for cover when needed, graceful as a cat, and probably one of the most knowledgeable sane mages in the arts of false life in its many forms. To experience all of these good points is to put up with him for long enough dealing with the following: Near constant out-loud-thinking when resolving a tricky problem; a certain sensitivity to physical touch, making him very easy to startle; complaints at the expense of even his closest companions; a stuttering lack of confidence when it comes to confronting people bigger than him; and not least, a lack of patience that very quickly results in hair-pulling hysterics on his part, much to the delight of those who would wish to annoy him. All around, if he wasn't so necessary or easily teased, he would probably be kicked out of any adventuring team for being unbearable to work with.

His anxieties come from a combination of having to do everything 'the hard way' now that his magic is gone, and finding himself wanting in resilience in the face of impending doom. He's brave enough to save the world, but that doesn't make him any less terrified about it. However, under it all he does appreciate all the help he gets and wouldn't leave his friends behind for his own skin.

The Necromancer's Curse

Cool beans! I was just waiting for your approval.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine wasn't exactly ecstatic as she nodded to Meesei's request. The last time was a very delicate operation. Sabine answered slowly. "It will take time. If Carana can help me again, I can test the water again." Sabine glanced away, nervous, "There isn't much of it left, though."

Fendros, on the other hand, had no qualms. "Of course," he replied attentively, "You are heading there now?"

At this point the lieutenants had strode away down the corridor to address their packs. Without them around Meesei, some gave her, Sabine, and Fendros odd looks. Some of them were slightly hostile.

From where he stood, Fendros regarded the looks with concern. "Call me paranoid, but I get the feeling that our welcome has been...badly influenced by the announcement."