Author: CodeNat, Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2017 11:46 AM, Post Subject: A Gift of the White Fox's Affection[R][L:3]

I met Ha Neul in the hallway shortly thereafter, spotting her fleeing in response to some distantly approaching guards. Apparently, her distraction had met an untimely end, a fact made abundantly clear by the blunt command she gave in its wake. The guard from before had obviously aroused suspicion among his colleagues, which was an overall terrible turn of events for the both of us. Iria University's archaeology department had always been one of the most heavily guarded buildings in the entire city: one of the main reasons why Dr. Mathias' disappearance had been such a high profile case so long after it occurred. The archaeologist body didn't mess around when it came to dangerous artifacts or even the possibility of dangerous artifacts getting loose, so the guards there were probably more concerned about whatever Mathias had been working on as opposed to who had broken in. Still, as Ha pointed out, it was definitely time to depart now that they were heading back to the room in force, so I gladly pulled a 180 while continuing to talk to my hired mercenary.

"Yes, we do," I said in a hushed but professional tone as the two of us headed toward the nearest exit. "I know where HE is now, but you're not going to like it. He's…" I would have continued beyond that point, but halted once I noticed our path was blocked. An old but familiar man had stepped in front of us, staring back with wrinkled eyes and a hunch as he prevented us from leaving. He wore the same insignia as the men who had ambushed us in the cafe earlier in the day, but was also dressed far nicer than them. He could have been mistaken as a duke with his attire, but that illusion faded quickly in the wake of his introduction.

"Excuse me, my ladies," he said with a subservient attitude."The Master would like a word with you." Suddenly, I remembered who this man was. Once the most brutal enforcer of the Wylloch family, Vilod Strun had long retired from the realm of crime. He now served the Wylloch family as their wizened butler in his twilight years, and rarely ventured beyond the estate walls without good reason. In fact, his sudden appearance put a bad feeling in my stomach because of that supposed rarity. I smelled treachery, and vaguely pointed that out while keeping my eyes peeled.

"Strange. Stejpan sends enforcers to attack us in broad daylight and now he sends his trusted butler because he wants to talk? Something doesn't add up." Vilod was one step ahead, however. He quickly explained himself, all while bowing in apology.

"Master Wylloch did not send those men. Young Master Crull did. He was recently put in charge of the family as the successor of power so his father could finally retire, but he has since disappointed us in every way possible. Master Wylloch, therefore, wishes to convey his apologies in person for his son's terrible decisions, and to ask a favor in cleaning up the boy's mess."

Crull. If ever there was an example of a bad seed in Iria's underworld families, Crull Wylloch was it. He was reputed to have a taste for torture and mutilation, but the rumors were never proven. Stejpan thought the gossipers were just trying to besmirch his family name by spreading nonsense about his son, so he inevitably appointed the boy to be his successor despite protests within his own circle. Apparently he had had second thoughts about that decision now, but I still wasn't sure how much I could trust him or his butler.

The truth of the matter was that the timing was too convenient. Vilod appearing right as we were headed toward the Wylloch estate? That was suspicious in its own right. Something  fishy was going on, but every bone in my body told me the only way to find out what that something was was to follow this retired killer. Vilod apparently sensed my hesitation in that matter, as well, wasting no time in encouraging me to follow.

"At any rate, let's not waste anymore time," he continued. "Come. Come. The Father awaits your arrival." There was little left to do, so I followed the man's lead. Outwardly, I was quiet, but internally I wasted no time in warning my mercenary friend.

~Be careful.~ I told Ha telepathically. ~Stejpan Wylloch is an old timer with some amount of honor, so he won't execute us unless we give him a reason. That said, he also has a violent temper. If we cooperate politely, this is probably our best way into his house where the professor is being held. But we need to be careful what we say and do. No sudden movements or outright combative behavior unless it's clear these people have no intention of cooperating.~

Author: Ha Neul, Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2017 9:39 AM, Post Subject: A Gift of the White Fox's Affection[R][L:3]

For a time, Ha Neul continued to viciously follow the bleeding mess of a man down the hallway, wherever he had a mind to go and clean himself. The pursuit continued for quite a time; that was, until he suddenly could be seen making his way down a set of stairs, to which Ha Neul came to complete stop. A sign on the wall revealed, 'Dining Hall', and judging from the abundant echoes of gossip, and clattering of utensils which could be heard from down below, that dining hall was currently in full use.
It was at this point, that Ha Neul opted to remain upstairs, and simply lean her back against the wall with folded arms, not too enthusiastic about the idea of revealing her face to such a large number of people down below. The less people that recognized her face in this city, the better.
The bleeding battlemage's hurried entrance could be heard being met with greetings of numerous gasp of great surprise from those throughout the dining hall. Who wouldn't be greatly surprised by a armored and armed guard interrupting their joyful dinner, bleeding from his face and leaving blood trails in his wake? 

"By the gods!" Came one exclamation, "What happened to you, man?!" 

"N-nothing! Please, continue your meal!" Could be heard the hurried reply from the battlemage down below. 

"Aren't you supposed to be guarding over the kidnapped Professor's room?!" Echoed the sound of a far more authoritative voice. 

"I-I was! But a woman–" 

"A woman?! You let one woman beat you into a bloody pulp like 'that'? What about the room?!"

"The room is fine! It wasn't a fight!"

"How do you know it's fine, if you're not even there?!  And if it wasn't a fight, then why are you bleeding like a stuck pig?! Answer me!"

"It was…"

"It was?!"

"It was…well sir, she…"

"Speak up Arthur! You're not making any sense!"

A pleased smirk appeared upon Ha Neul's faced from her listening position upstairs. The whole ordeal was far too entertaining. In fact, this was perhaps the most fun she'd had in quite a while. 
A long moment of silence could be observed all about the dining hall below, as the battlemage greatly hesitated in providing the clear answer. After all, how could he possibly explain his situation, in front of the dozens of now staring students and professors? All eyes fixated upon him, he was the star of the show. Though, little rarely ever bothered her, a sudden feeling of guilt came upon the woman, for she hadn't the intention to put the poor man into 'this' great of a predicament, but simply to distract him. After all, he couldn't be blamed for what happened; he was just doing his job.

"Evan! Ryo!–You two go check the room immediately! Arthur, 'you' come with me with my office." Suddenly came an unexpected command. "Right away, sir!" Could be heard the two complying voices in perfect unison, as their utensils were dropped, and their chairs were pushed behind them, in order to stand.

"Ah, shit.." Came a low curse under Ha Neul's breathe. This was not what she had in mind. 

Quickly standing back up straight, from against the wall, she turned around and hurringly began her way back. Fortunately enough, her fox eared companion seemed to already be done with the search, and was already in the process of locating her hired hand. "We need to go." Ha Neul bluntly commanded, in a surprisingly soldier like fashion, as she hurried right past her client. Hopefully her fox eared companion had gotten what was needed.
The current ordeal, however, was something quite unusual. This was the most highly esteemed academy in all the land, without a doubt, yet the fact there there were so many guards in one building, so long after a kidnap case, was something quite odd to Ha Neul's mind. For something as simple as guard duty, it made no sense to put no more than one guard inside the building of an academy which rarely ever experienced crime. Perhaps even two guards at most made sense, yet, four or more guards in one building? The logic made no sense to her. Undoubtedly, there was far more going on here than meets the eye.

Author: CodeNat, Posted: Tue Oct 3, 2017 7:02 PM, Post Subject: A Gift of the White Fox's Affection[R][L:3]

After entering the room adjacent to Dr. Mathias' office, I began waiting on Ha Neul with bated breath. I dared not move or make a sound until she got that pesky battlemage out of my way, but I was also curious about her methods for dealing with such obstacles. I barely knew anything about her by this point, so, instead of just piddling my time away waiting for a signal or yelling form her, I pressed my ear up against the door and listened.

What I eventually heard from that position, though, was something that made my stomach turn. Ha had depended on her feminine wiles to seduce the man, and, although she succeeded in reaching her objective through this method, the act left a foul taste in my mouth. I hated the harsh reality that sometimes women had to offer sex just to get something they wanted; and just because Ha Neul's target was too shy to take her up on the offer didn't make it any less vulgar. In fact, it just made the whole scene even more pathetic.

Still, my employee did as she was told and got the battlemage out of my way, so my feelings on her methods were moot at best. Because of her, I was easily able to exit my room and enter Dr. Mathias' office; and that was all that mattered in the grand scheme. Once I was inside, I quickly shut the door behind me and then activated the magical lanterns within.

"Void have mercy," was all I could say upon witnessing that crime scene. The entire place was worse than I imagined. Documents, clothes, vials, pretty much anything you'd expect a mage to own: all of it was dashed across every surface in a haphazard, hurried fashion. Ink from a shattered well was spattered across the carpeted floor, and no drawer or compartment was left untouched.

In a place like that, a normal person would have had a field day locating even a skin flake let alone a single hair. Luckily, I had SAI to help me out, so I called her up in my mind before taking any further action.

'What have we got, SAI,' I asked her while taking a step back from everything? My supernatural assistant came out of standby mode as soon as she heard her name, and quickly began scanning the room via my optics. I could feel the data pouring in as she was examining the crime scene, almost to the point of touching the minutest of details. Eventually, I saw miniature overlays in my vision depicting key details about the room in front of me: all to undertone of SAI's narration.

'It is difficult to summarize a room like this other than to say that the struggle was immense. The damage to the surrounding furniture is consistent with hurried searches. However, the desk is different. The lacerations near the overturned chair suggest a sharp implement was brought down into the wood: potentially an axe. There is also some traces of blood around one of those axe hits, suggesting that it severed something. Spray pattern seems to indicate the loss of a digit, though age and disturbance of the crime scene makes this claim difficult to prove.'

That concluded the initial summary from my assistant, though there were still questions on my mind afterward.

'Any chance we could use that blood to trace its owner,' was one of those questions that I immediately jumped on, but SAI didn't take long to poke holes in the hope behind that inquiry.

'Negative,' she replied. 'The blood is too old and it's been contaminated by some foreign substance. There should be hair on the professor's chair, though.' Sure enough, there was. Walking over to the overturned seat, I found some silver strands on the headrest. I was able to pick one of them up between my thumb and index finger, allowing my gloves to eat it and forward the information to SAI's locater. 'Target located,' she said immediately afterward. 'Dr. Mathias is currently located in the Wylloch Estate's basement on the Western side of Iria.'

'Great,' was all I could say in reaction to that information. 'Straight into the depths of hell we go.' Indeed, I had feared that the Wyllochs were keeping Mathias close, but I hadn't thought that close. This was worse than I could have hoped for, enough that I immediately vacated the premises to track Ha Neul down before our situation degraded further. All I had to do was follow the droplets of blood to find her, so I did that immediately after locking the door behind me in order to ensure no one was the wiser.

Author: Ha Neul, Posted: Sun Oct 1, 2017 9:49 PM, Post Subject: A Gift of the White Fox's Affection[R][L:3]

Author: CodeNat, Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 11:55 AM, Post Subject: A Gift of the White Fox's Affection[R][L:3]

Ha's smiling silence that followed the subjugation of that Wylloch enforcer was a welcome change of pace from her previous incredulity. 'Maybe now,' I thought upon noticing the change, 'she'll trust me.' But, as you can guess, I wasn't foolish enough to maintain an ageless nature for that thought. A lack of performance at that point could easily shift the balance: make someone as skeptical as the mercenary lose faith. Standing still was not an option, so I had to press forward in serious silence.

For the small amount of time after that that we remained in Cafe Amel, I made no further attempts to communicate with my employee apparent. When Ha Neul pointed out her dirty hands as an excuse to not pick up the clothes she wanted for later, for example, I did not respond. I only put the garments and the pendant into a pocket dimension to be retrieved later, sending them away in a flash of light without a word. Then, with my debt paid and our valuable items in check, I left the cafe at Ha's side.

The two of us arrived at the academy shortly thereafter, navigating the halls of the Archaeology Department until we finally reached the senior offices. Mathias' room was pretty easy to pick out from the lot despite the several other doors in that place – especially since it was the only one with a guard posted in front of it. He was dressed in the garb of a battle mage, and even an inept person could feel the magic coming off of him. Clearly, he was above average strength, meaning two things. One, the room behind him had likely been undisturbed since the initial crime. Two, he would be a pain in the ass to get rid of.

Both of these facts meant it was imperative to prepare, and so, whispering harshly to Ha Neul, I tried to get her attention while we were still out of earshot.
 
"Hold up. Looks like there's a guard posted outside the room still." I motioned to said guard to make my point before continuing. "I suppose we should have expected that. Mathias' disappearance wasn't all that long ago, after all. Still, I'll need you to do us a favor and distract him. It doesn't need to be for long. Just get him away from that door and I'll do the rest." Ducking behind a corner we had just turned, I immediately began fiddling with the anti-magic runes on the wallpaper. I knew how to diffuse them, having been intimate with the university's safety procedures at one time, so I began doing just that with a knife. This inevitably left tears in the decor, but that was nothing a few light touches of animation here and there couldn't fix. In the end - and in practically no time at all – my actions guaranteed an entire patch of unwarded wall leading directly into the adjacent office.

I exploited that opening to teleport inside the room and hide until the moment was right. Such an action was my best option for circumventing the posted watchmen, because I knew an above average guard like him in a magic university usually meant invisibility was not an option. The guard would likely have sensed my teleportation too, come to think of it, but his prior knowledge of the anti-magical warding in that place would still make him complacent. If anything, he'd think Ha was the one that tried the spell and failed, and so he would be more suspicious of her than another party. Sadly, that was a price we had to pay, because I really didn't want to kill an officer of the watch just yet. It was too soon for that kind of trouble.

Author: Ha Neul, Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 2:04 PM, Post Subject: A Gift of the White Fox's Affection[R][L:3]

Author: CodeNat, Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:29 PM, Post Subject: A Gift of the White Fox's Affection[R][L:3]

In the conversation that followed the cafe ambush, Dr. Mathias' plot came to light. He had indeed been captured by the Wylloch family, just as the mercenary had implied, but, for some reason, that captivity had also sent family members in a newfound race. Now they were to capture the professor's former employee along with her belongings, all in search of the map that she had mentioned the professor held onto.

Realistically, I had my doubts that Neul was truly in possession of the map that the pendant wearer sought. I saw no benefit for her in lying to me about her ownership earlier in our conversations, and my interest in her was not contingent on her trustworthiness anyway: especially now that another had confirmed the existence of the map she mentioned. Clearly, the key to this whole caravan fiasco lay with Ha's former employer, enough that a notorious mobster was taking him at his word.

What followed this realization on my part was a mixture of bluffing and bravado. My companion mentioned the pendant I had already seen, and then started goading the family members into attacking her. The leader sent two of his men to answer the call: both of whom were swiftly impaled by shuriken on approach. The one whose throat was slashed open bled to death near instantaneously, whereas the other screamed for quite some time before his opponent finished him off. Both were executed in a timely fashion, relatively speaking, even if only those who could hear heartbeats could recognize the second death.

After that grizzly scene, the remaining seven advanced. I was still silently drinking tea and had been the entire time – at least until my guest made a plea for assistance. When that happened, I finally put my cup down for the first time since the cafe's evacuation and then responded to the mob.

 "That's fairly disgraceful, wouldn't you say," I asked the rest of their number with honest curiosity? The question was abrupt, unafraid, and unexpected, enough that their commander order them to stop – at least, momentarily.

"What is," he responded with greatest incredulity? He probably thought I was going to ridicule something petty about his men, or even about the mercenary herself: anything, perhaps, that he could smash with "wit" and give himself an ego trip. His smug grin was the closest evidence I had of that, but he was to remain disappointed. Instead of providing a silly rebuke, I merely pointed out the curious juxtaposition that his men and he presented, given their current surroundings.

"We're here in the capital of mages, and yet the only one of your group that has even the slightest bit of magic is you?" Indeed, the question was fair. These men, these mobsters, had attacked a woman armed to the teeth and clearly specialized in physical combat. They had done this with short swords, weapons that would be lucky to find an opening in dragonscale plate let alone do enough damage to risk a retaliating strike in close quarters. They were also in a city where magic was common. I thought that they were simply underestimating their opponent because of these facts, but, upon closer inspection of their auras, I realized that they were just bad at magic. The only one capable of casting more than a cantrip was the group's leader, and even he was advancing like a witless hack. The situation was ludicrous enough to merit the more sardonic portion of my personality, so I continued with my ridicule. "Your language may be educated and your wardrobe may be elevated, but you are clearly just as witless as the Vilpamolan dredges. Stejpan Wylloch is slipping if this is all he can afford."

The leader retorted shortly once he heard this.

"Witless," he exclaimed?! "How dare you insult the Father?! We're more than enough to handle two mouthy wenches like yourself!" He raised his free hand at that moment, forming a fireball to throw at me. The attack was large enough to shatter the table I was sitting at, but, contrary to the caster's intentions, I was not there when it arrived. Instead, I had teleported behind him before his spell even left his hand, so quickly that my index finger was already against his back by the time he realized something was amiss.

"Did you ever stop to wonder why I haven't been the least bit afraid since you arrived," I asked him while standing there with spell in hand? "It's because you're small fry." The leader tried to move once my words hit him, tried to get away from my spell before it could be cast; but he failed. In an instant, human speech became impossible for him. The remaining six could only watch in horror as their leader slowly shrunk beyond the point of no return. His hands turned amphibian, his legs bent in unnatural positioning. Even his skin turned slimy green until, finally, he had fully mutated into the body of a frog.

"You lot are just lackeys," I said to the others after pinning my now cursed opponent underneath my boot, "so I'll be nice and explain what's going to happen." Moving my heel around a bit at that point, I squished some croaks out of their leader. I did this while looking at them like they were next, all with a gaze far colder than they had mustered beforehand. "You lot are still alive and think that death is the worst thing that can happen to you in a fight against this mercenary and I. You also severely underestimated me by only bringing one mage. I know how to deal with arrogance of that level, and I also know what's in season for cooks in this town at this time of year; so unless you lot feel like being turned into dinner during frog leg season… "

The implication was crystal clear, especially when I motioned my head toward the exits behind the remaining mobsters. They understood every word of my threat, and wasted no time in performing a mass exodus once I was finished speaking. Their leader tried to get them to stay, going so far as to cry out, "Wait, you fools!" But no one could understand him through the croaking. He was left all by his lonesome, all before I forcibly stuffed him into the pocket of one of his dead men.

The cafe got quiet then. Most of the guests had departed home already, and the staff was still locked in a backroom. Only Ha Neul and I were still standing in the open, and so I addressed her while motioning toward the leader's former clothes."He'll transform back eventually, but he won't have any clothes by that point. Those will be ours, along with his pendent." Pausing, I animated the remains of my table to repair itself, and then left a sum of crescents to pay my tab before making my next request of the mercenary. "Now, if you would be so kind, perhaps you can show me to the last place you met the professor before he disappeared?"

Author: Ha Neul, Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2017 6:01 PM, Post Subject: A Gift of the White Fox's Affection[R][L:3]

Upon the fox eared females statement,Ha Neul turned around behind her, in order to observe the scene of gang members outside. Two thoughts immediately came to her mind. The first was: How could she have been so unattentive to not have noticed or foreseen this event beforehand? Had she been followed on the way to her cafe without realizing it, or had this search already been in place for a while, without her knowledge? Regardless of which, Ha Neul felt very disappointed that she had been caught unawarely in such an event. She always tried to stay a step ahead of her opponents. Although, perhaps, walking into a cafe, full clad in dragonscale armor and huge claymore on her back, and taking her seat in front of the strangest guest within the entire cafe, most likely didn't help one bit. They were both indeed unusual looking individuals.
The second immediate thought that came to her mind, was the most obvious: What did they want with her? She considered, that perhaps, the fox eared woman may be wanted for her interest in the same artifact as them. It made sense to remove the competition. After all, if she got the artifact before them, then that greatly lower their chance of obtaining it. But what they wanted specifically with Ha Neul, she could not quite speculate. Although, no doubt, soon enough, she'd receive her answer.

After briefly observing of the gang's numbers, she also shared a mind to sneak out quietly, however, when she took a look at the exits, she found they had all already been blocked off. Additionally, considering how noticeable they both were, they're obviously be no 'slipping out' quietly among the crowd the other fleeing cafe residents. Ha Neul slowly stood from her seat, her nonchalant expression effectively concealing what was really going on through he mind. Her brain slowly and instinctively began to adjust itself in preparation for combat. There would no longer be a need for basic human etiquette here anymore, primitive survival would be it's priority. In preparation for what would most likely be sure to come, her eyes more thoroughly examined her environment; Chairs and tables, they would hinder movement and maneuverability within the cafe, which would greatly benefit her more, in comparison to fighting in a open environment, considering they were outnumbered. She examined the exits; there were three of them. Each exit had had three men guarding it, making a total of nine men, which included the distinctive pendant wearing individual standing at the main entrance, which was obviously the leader of the pack. Although, she doubted he was the big boss of the entire crime-family, he surely had great authority of some sort, akin to a lieutenant in the military. As the cafe emptied, leaving a number of knocked over chairs, tables, and glasses on the floor in their haste, the crime-family began to make their evil-eyed entrance.

Ha Neul would be the first to break the tense silence. "Well, you guys are certainly more well-dressed than the thugs of Adeluna." Ha Neul began. "This land holds to it's repetition, even it's thugs here have at least some form of etiquette." 

"Do not play games with us, mercenary. I have little time to waste." The pendant bearer began. Ha Neul took note of his speech style. He did not have the speech of the common thugs she was used to dealing with in Adeluna, either. He most likely had noble training or education of some sort. The crime-family certainly was not your simple-minded gathering of uneducated low-life's and thugs.

"Little time to waste before the city guards you paid off to turn a blind eyes towards the cafe, can no longer continue to do so, once enough attention spreads out concerning what's going on in one of Iria's cafes?" Ha Neul replied.

"Where is the map? We know you have it." The pendant spoke, getting straight down to business.

"Um…excuse me?" Ha Neul repeated back, while momentary taking a look at her fox eared company in a way as if she was expecting an answer from the woman herself. A look of obvious confusion was written upon her face.

"Old man already told us what happened. We saw your agreement to the contract. We know he gave the map to you for the job. And now, if you think you're just going go off with fox ears here to steal that artifact away from us, you've got another thing coming. The family has eyes all over the city… 'foreign girl'."  The pendant man continued

The confusion on Ha Neul's face shifted into composed surprise. However, after a few moments, a smirk would begin to manifest itself across her face, as Ha Neul mentally began to organize everything in her head. 'Old man' was obviously referring to the Professor. It seems that the captured Dr. Mathias had been much more clever than she'd assumed him to be, with the gang. What better way to avoid having your precious artifact stolen away from you, and possibly delay your death from by the hands of a greedy notorious crime-family, than to put the blame on a nameless and unknown mercenary who you'd hired a few days before your interrogation? Smart bastard he was. While she found herself rather annoyed by the fact that he'd placed all his misfortune on her, this unfortunate event also opened up previously locked doors of opportunity. Since the crime-family was right here in front of her, and had attacked her first, there was no avoiding confrontation now. And nine gang members were a lot more manageable to deal with, than say a hundred or so. Although, she also knew this would still be no easy task. As her eyes momentarily shifted to the pendant on the man's neck, her mind reflected to the previous words of her peculiarly eared client. She had mentioned that if they could at least get a hair from the old professor's office, there was a chance of finding him. It was, no doubt, an amazing opportunity, where all hope had seemed lost. Yet still, even if they were to find the man, no doubt his location would still be heavily guarded. Dressed in their current attire, there would certainly be no way they would get past the crime-family gaurds without immediately being struck down on the spot; That is, unless, they disguised themselves somehow, or pretended to be one of those said members of the crime-family. "That pendant." She mumbled lowly to her client. "May be useful."

"Yes the map!" Ha Neul suddenly exclaimed rather boldly, which was odd behavior for her, considering her usual demeanor. "I have it! And if you want it….You'll have to rip it from my cold dead corpse!" In the midst of her loud declaration, if her client was observing, she would see Ha Neul's hands subtly reaching behind her waist, in order to make their way into a small satchel on her belt.

"That can be arranged." The pendant wearing man spoke, as he pointed towards to the mercenary and fox eared woman. At the signal, the two lower ranked men on his side began to make their charge at the two with their short swords in hand. Ha Neul remained stationary for quite some time. In fact, for a time, it looked as if she would do nothing at all, but accept an impending and undefended death, yet when the two men finally reached about ten feet away from her, and raised their blades in an preparation to strike the woman down, she would take advantage of their all out aggression, which had dropped their guard in the process. Removing the two surprises from her belt satchel behind her, one surprise in each hand, the sudden sound of quickly spinning metal breaking through the air was momentarily heard, and almost instantaneously, both of the figures immediately dropped their swords and felt to the ground, sliding across the floor next to the feet of Ha Neul and her fox eared client; bleeding terribly.
The man on their left side, held his hand closely to his neck, in his vain attempts to breathe for air, as the blood rapidly accumulated within his throat. The other man on their right side, gave a loud scream, as he rolled around on the ground in agony, the metal object lodged into his left eye revealing itself; a shuriken. Ha Neul had actually intended to aimed for the throat of both of them, but it seemed that her common negligence of the ranged projectile use since coming to this land was manifesting itself. Still, the objects had done a good enough job, despite her second misaim. The eyes of surprise and shock filled the room, as the gang watched their fellow members fall to the ground in immense pain and agony with silent disbelief. For a time, it seemed as if no sound could be heard within cafe, but the gargling of blood from the man who had the metal object lodged into his throat, and screams mixed with various ground rollings from the poor man who now had a shuriken lodged into his left eye. The noise of the later screaming man would end abruptly, however, as Ha Neul picked up her wooden chair, and hit the man aside the head with one of it's legs. Whether he was unconscious, or completely dead, was as good as anyone's guess. The answer would most likely appear in a few hours, depending on whether the man woke up or not. Even Ha Neul herself was not sure. 

Maintaining her nonchalant expression at the surprised assailants, she continued to examine her situation; Seven more to go. It wasn't going to be a easy day, today. "I don't suppose sitting down and talking together is still an option, is it?" Ha Neul eventually spoke.

The surprised facial expressions would eventually revert back to their evil-eyed gazes, now additionally mixed with great anger and vengeance; If they weren't having a bad day beforehand, Ha Neul had just officially succeeded in pissing them off. All seven of the men began their slow approach deeper into the cafe, lurking in closer towards their two unusual looking victims. Talking together was definitely not an option…

"You can destroy lethal artifacts." Ha Neul mumbled again to her fox eared client behind her. "I hope you destroy lethal people too." She continued. "Or we both might not be leaving alive from this place, in order to find your precious artifact."

Author: CodeNat, Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 2:00 PM, Post Subject: A Gift of the White Fox's Affection[R][L:3]

[OOC: Zhelezo is a tier 2 currency for Iria according to the site wiki. Think of it like the equivalent of silver crescents, but only used in Iria's jurisdiction.]

Ha's reaction to my spiel was typical, though more educated than the average mercenary. I was not necessarily dismissive of her plight or the plight of her profession in general – far from it, in fact. On many occasions in the past, I too had conducted myself as a mercenary, but clearly my experience in that field was different from Ha Nuel's. Even back when I first started accepting contracts, I always made sure to ask the appropriate questions, gauge my client's response and then move on. I didn't have time to dilly dally on every possible detail, because either I was going to die from a botched job or I was going to die from starvation. Badgering a client was only something I did if I felt like forfeiting said client's job, because it typically caused more trouble than good.

Clearly, my guest understood that notion to some extent, though not quite enough to fully abandon her judgmental streak. She suspended her disbelief to the point where she was willing to work with me but that's about it. Truth be told, I wanted to continue our debate on the plight of clients vs. mercenaries, but I decided to let sleeping dogs lie for the sake of progress. Racism among Iria's population wasn't about to change from a few simple words to some individual in a cafe, after all, and the saying "truth is stranger than fiction" would likely just fall on deaf ears in that cafe. Ultimately, there was nothing to be gained from this difference of opinion, leaving only the option as moving on.
 
My mercenary guest did just that when she went on to explain her reasoning behind accepting my contract. She spared few details, going so far as to mention she was already headed toward Gobethio and simply thought the silver was too good to pass up. That detail didn't bolster my confidence in her, because it gave me the impression that she was a novice. Most veterans that had come my way thus far had tried to haggle and say, "Well, Gobethio is out of my way, so perhaps you can sweeten the deal." Obviously, I said no to these greedy vultures when they appeared, but I always expected some sort of haggling when dealing with their kind. Ha Nuel, on the other hand, freely gave up that frequently used bargaining chip before she even had a chance to apply it. She didn't even seem to mind.

After that, was when she gave me the most crucial information I had received since becoming a regular at Cafe Amel. Ha mentioned a map, a crime family, and the true identity of Dr. Mathias' kidnappers. Indeed, Miss Mercenary across the table was holding onto a wealth of information, far more than I expected of her. From her explanation, I could even tell just how complacent I had gotten over the years.

When I was first informed of Mathias' disappearance, I hadn't thought to investigate him more thoroughly. This was because my first instinct was to assume his kidnapping was unrelated to his interest in my box. He had multiple contracts out, after all, even if not all of them were as glamorous or noteworthy as a caravan trek across Railoch. Some, particularly those stashed away in the back of lodges, were for finding thieves related to the various crime families throughout Iria. I just assumed that those contracts were the cause of his disappearance, especially considering the very real possibility that he might have found something he wasn't supposed to.

A younger me would have investigated regardless of those misgivings, but the current me needed more than weak, circumstantial evidence to take action. Now that I knew he potentially had a map leading to my prize, though, Dr. Mathias became a person of extreme interest.

"Really now," I asked upon receiving this new information? "That is useful to know." I finally noticed the men congregating outside at that moment. Most of them were dressed in middle-class clothing: non-descript, stuff that didn't stand out. There was one, though, who was particularly well-dressed and flashing around a very familiar looking pendant. The item had a black background with the outline of a weeping willow etched in white. Its icon looked as if it were weeping blood: the classic symbol of the Wylloch or 'Bloody Willow' family. The coincidence was too good to be true, so I called my partner's attention to it with a nod toward the door. "I would assume from those men outside that the 'organization' you're referring to are the Wylloch family: a name that the common folk are too afraid to utter aloud? Trying to find Mathias among their holdings will be difficult without a sense of direction, especially since I never met the man personally. I'll need a hair or something from his person to find him - or his body should he already be dead. Perhaps from his office."

My intent was to slip out of the building quietly at that point, preferably taking the mercenary with me just in case I needed additional information. Before I could do that, however, the men outside surrounded the building entrances. They did this after the pendant-wielder finished talking to a scraggly gent just outside the cafe, and I could immediately tell from their expressions that events were about to spiral out of control.

"Seems we've more pressing matters to attend to, though," I said to Ha once that beggar led the gang members inside. He quickly pointed at our table after passing that threshold, long before the waitress could ask him what he was doing, and then began shouting with a lisp.

"There they is," he cried. "Da mercenary that's you's been lookin fer and the fox that put up dem notices." The pendant man from before took one look at my guest and I before giving his informant some zhelezo.

"The family thanks you for your information," he said. "Now get lost." With that, the informant scurried away, along with many of the other patrons inside the cafe. The once busy establishment got empty real quick, all while these Wylloch family members gave my guest and me the evil eye. They weren't about to let us leave, but their true intentions remained a mystery. At the time, though, I very much doubted that they desired our good health.

Author: Ha Neul, Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2017 5:30 PM, Post Subject: A Gift of the White Fox's Affection[R][L:3]

Again, there was another great multitude of things to mentally digest and contemplate on. In fact, this further explanation, was even more difficult to mentally digest than the last. As if the previous set of statements weren't already difficult enough to believe, now, sealing, rituals of destruction, and gods became involved. Rituals that apparently only a god, and the woman right in front of her, could do. She listened intently again during the whole explanation, various eye widenings communicating her composed moments of surprise thoughout the explanation. Upon hearing about rituals and gods, though, she gave a "Tsch" sound accompanied by a mocking smirk, further communicating that she found the idea somewhat ludicrous.  Observing the woman with her eyes alone did not seem to provide any strongly useful information; She was simply just a strange individual by default. Additionally, she did not appear obviously strong or powerful to Ha Neul eyes, in order to be someone capable of performing a ritual of the very gods themselves. Strange yes, but not intimidating. The last statement, in particular, had most assuredly caught Ha Neul off mental guard the most. "One piece for each life lost?" She repeated back, her tone rising slightly higher than her usual speaking volume had been throughout the conversation, communicating her obvious surprise from the statement. "1500 lives expected to be lost? Over a box?" Her reaction, had not been quite as thought out in advanced, as Ha Neul usually had a habit of doing before making a statement. It was a direct outward communication of what immediately appeared in Ha Neul's mind, the moment she'd heard the statement. She gazed upward for quite a while, before saying any further, communicating that she was now in deep thought. While highly judgmental, still, she'd caught the portions of irritation from her guests in front of her; whether from her momentary facial expression of anger, from her statements themselves, or from the tone associated with them. Therefore, Ha Neul concluded that she would be more careful about what she would say next, and how she would word it, despite her disbelief.After the long delay of thinking, what eventually followed was a noticeable sigh. It was the sigh people made when they had many thoughts and things they greatly desired to say, yet opted to instead hold them in. A whirlwind of skepticism and disbelief was flying through Ha Neul's mind, yet she did not want to be sitting in the cafe for hours, debating with a stranger, like one of the many scholars here.
Do you know why mercenaries commonly act in such a way?" She eventually began, her tone composed, and forced to sound calm. "It is because our lives are on the line." At this summery, she let the words settle, also not noticing the congregating of gang members outside. Since she was sitting opposite of the fox eared woman, she was not facing the direction of the door to have seen them herself. "When one takes a job for a blacksmith, the result of less information is perhaps a burned hand or arm, or two. The result of less information for a butcher, is perhaps a missing finger, or more than two. Yet the result of less information for a mercenary, is death. Our methods may seem unnecessarily suspicious and doubtful, yet who can ever be too cautious about their life?" After stating her case, she finally moved on to the more important matters of the subject. "I do not profess in magic, but I know a thing or two about it. And what I know about it is, that it's capable of both great wonders, and also great destruction. Your item undoubtedly seems quite capable of great destruction. I also cannot say I believe your story, however, I additionally have personal purposes for visiting Railoch Gobethio aside from this artifact hunting, so it'd be a loss of precious silver not to check it out along the way, should your story actually be true. And if your purpose, as you say, is to destroy such a destructive artifact, rather than simply use it as a emblem of power, I also cannot say I do not share a similar desire." She stated this opinion, as composed and collected as she could, as opposed to compared to last time, where she'd ended up firing a barrage of skeptical questions and verbal 'knives'."However, you've got a problem." She continued, giving a slight smirk as she did. "Dr. Mathias was in direct contact with the previous owners of 'your' supposed artifact. So much in direct contact in fact, that he even had a map ready and drawn out for him, which showed the direct travelling route the convoy was supposed to take on it's way here to Iria, and even how many days it would take to reach here. It was the same map I was supposed to retrieve on the day he was kidnapped, in order to accept the job, and meet up with them. Even more unfortunately, is he has not been kidnapped by a simple group of thugs and ameatures, which I could have easily handled, but he's been kidnapped by members of one of the most notorious crime organizations in all of Iria."After this statement, she gazed at the woman with rather proud expression , "What shall you do?" The question itself, was rather rhetorical, for Ha Neul honestly did not really expect anything to be done. She was just one mercenary, and this woman didn't seem like anyone intimidating enough to take down an entire guild.

((OOC: Did this from my phone,  so could be a somewhat messy.))) 

Author: CodeNat, Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2017 12:09 PM, Post Subject: A Gift of the White Fox's Affection[R][L:3]

Unfortunately, t'was at that point that the mood soured. Like so many visitors before her, Ha Neul didn't believe my story. Her tone and body language made that clear, though she never exactly said, "I don't believe you." Frankly, that type of response was frustrating to receive even leading up to the 100th instance. Now, at the 150th, it was downright irritating.

A flash of anger shown across my face for a split second following the mercenary's remarks, manifesting in a temporary scowl. The emotion quickly faded to exhaustion once I let out a sigh; but my formerly haughty tone was, undoubtedly, reduced to one of weary despondence as a result of the relentless questions.

"This is why I hate hiring mercenaries," I began while setting my tea down on the table. "You all behave like you're some great detective trying to pry at secret motivations that aren't really there. You do this so much that, even when an innocuous job really does come along, you can't believe it." Returning Ha's gaze, I continued. "It's not 'most likely' that they are dead. I can guarantee, unequivocally, that whoever touched that box is a bloated corpse being fed on by necrophages by now because no one alive except for myself and perhaps Drae – yes, that Drae of the hated gods – knows the ritual to destroy it; and, since none have returned or been seen since, they all touched it. You would also be dead if you had accepted that contract and touched the item in question, so perhaps you should be thanking whoever kidnapped the professor for saving your life right about now."

That wasn't the most polite thing to say, but, frankly, my guest wasn't being all that polite either. She was badgering me at lunch when she didn't have one lick of information to give me in regard to the artifacts I sought. It was one thing to be skeptical; it was whole other thing to treat someone like a criminal just because they put up a large reward for the return of a mysterious object. Ha Neul was acting like the latter, and I wasn't the least bit pleased with her attitude even if I was still courteous enough to answer her skepticism.

"Most everyone wants that box for the same reason nobles kill kings: they want more power. But, in this case, not all magic is good nor can it be controlled. The difference between myself and those others you listed is that I want to destroy this box: not use it for research or assassination. In fact, I sealed it away to prevent it from feeding until I knew how to destroy it, but the vault was already broken open by the time I returned, no thanks to the hooligans who went spelunking in Railoch for secrets meant to remain hidden."

Finally reaching the end of that explanation, I put my free hand to my face and pinched the bridge of my nose. I was getting a headache from such a long-winded lecture, and the scent of the extra-concentrated beverage from the next table over wasn't helping matters. Because of this, I didn't notice the small collection of gang members congregating outside the cafe around that time, even though I doubt I would have cared much. The next words out of my mouth summarized my mood in that moment quite readily, and, as you can imagine, it was far from jovial.

"I grow wearier with each passing mercenary who sees some malicious intent behind me whether because of my appearance or the actions of others that I have no control over. I've done nothing to merit your suspicions, foreigner, when all I want is to prevent more deaths from something that kills indiscriminately without conscience. You can leave this contract if you wish, but I'll tell you the same thing I told everyone else who passed it up: the 1500 silver is not a sign of desperation or a representation of the job's difficulty. It's an estimate of how many people I expect to die if I have to wait to finish this contract on my own: one piece for each life lost."

Author: Ha Neul, Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2017 10:39 AM, Post Subject: A Gift of the White Fox's Affection[R][L:3]

Author: CodeNat, Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2017 10:10 PM, Post Subject: A Gift of the White Fox's Affection[R][L:3]

My mood from the successful quip persisted for quite some time after its delivery, though it did dull slightly when Ha Neul finally approached my table. She didn't have to speak or loom over my seat for me to know she was there. After all, I could hear her heavy footsteps from across the room thanks to the armor she was wearing. Her garb was a dead giveaway for her mercenary status, too, so I rightly should have addressed her before I did.

Even so, I really didn't feel like entertaining yet another mercenary so soon after my lunch had begun. I waited for her to speak up instead, pretending she wasn't there until she did.

"Yes," I remember saying after she put one of my contract posters down on my table, "just as I assume you haven't touched the box yet, since you're still breathing."

Now normally the next words out of that mercenary's mouth would have seemed odd to me had I not already been assailed by previous guests asking about a certain, missing professor. The town guard had already asked me questions about his disappearance before my latest guest had arrived, but their officers left me alone after corroborating my alibi with Cafe Amel's staff. For that reason, I knew what my latest mercenary was insinuating when she talked about the popularity of antique boxes, and, being the cautious employer that I was, I decided to clear the air for her so as to avoid unwanted confrontation.

"If you're referring to the other notice, the one that also asked for a box of similar design, I'll tell you what I already told the guards who came to visit me after the other poster vanished: Dr. Mathias's disappearance had nothing to do with me. I was here when he went missing that morning, and I have witnesses to prove that. The fact that we were seeking the same box is just coincidence." Pausing, I took a sip of my tea and then looked up at Ha. I motioned her to sit down with the daily post in my other hand, but did not wait for her to take that seat before continuing with the actual story she was looking for. "Or so I told the watch. Whether someone put him up to it or not, fact is that the Professor's artifact hunters stole a very dangerous heirloom from me without concern for the many warning signs I placed around it for good reason. The box they took is lethal; and before you think poison, no. No amount of armor or antidote will save you if you touch that box. As for why, well, you'll only learn that if you can guide me to its resting place: something that should be surrounded by corpses and corpse eaters by now."

Author: Ha Neul, Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2017 8:32 PM, Post Subject: A Gift of the White Fox's Affection[R][L:3]

Author: CodeNat, Posted: Sat Sep 9, 2017 11:58 AM, Post Subject: A Gift of the White Fox's Affection[R][L:3]

Sadly, I probably should have been more specific in those notices. I did show up to Cafe Amel during the promised days, but those individuals who came to seek me out rarely had useful information. They misunderstood my instructions, thinking they had to come to see me in order to accept my contract. In reality, I meant for the affair to be a free-for-all, since I didn't care who found the bloody box. I just wanted it located.

For failing to specify that fact in writing, I ended up staying at the cafe longer than intended. Every other day for the span of two weeks, I would show up in my gray overcoat and suit; and every time I would get the same lip from the only waitress that worked there.

"Same as usual, ma'am," the woman would always ask? She was middle-aged and big-chested with a mixture of light brown and silver hair: certainly not displeasing to the eyes by any means or old enough to be called a crone just yet. During our many meetings, however, I did develop a strained relationship with her. She was a definite racist toward non-humans, and always found time to make an ass of herself by getting a laugh out of my appearance. It was a luxury she only possessed because, one, my natural appearance was mentioned in the contract and therefore needed to be on display; and, two, I didn't feel like killing the person who always brought me good tea without fail just because she had an attitude problem.

Still, her typical dig, which always got under my skin, was to say, "One ear twitch for yes. Two for no," after her perpetual greeting. For a long time, I just wrinkled my nose in response, which she took as a yes before filling my cup with jasmine tea and leaving me with the daily post.  That interplay continued until the day Ha Nuel found my notice, at which point I finally did three ear twitches in response to her comment.
 
"You finally gave me the ear twitch, foxy," she sneered. "What's the third twitch for, though?"

I took great pleasure in explaining, though you could never tell by the disinterested look on my face.

"One twitch for yes. Two for no. Three for stuff your attitude up your ass and bring me my damn tea already."

"Well,"   she exclaimed when I was finished with that reprimand! "Apparently foxes don't have manners!"   She fetched my usual after that then left to tend to other customers. Meanwhile, I was smirking just a tiny bit, feeling much better after that little incident. I was fully unaware that I already had more mercenaries on the way to my location, but, frankly, I wouldn't have cared at that moment. I was in too good a mood to let others sour it, anyway.

Author: Ha Neul, Posted: Sun Sep 3, 2017 12:37 PM, Post Subject: A Gift of the White Fox's Affection[R][L:3]

Author: CodeNat, Posted: Sat Sep 2, 2017 3:50 PM, Post Subject: A Gift of the White Fox's Affection[R][L:3]

Despite the ghostly reputation I had as a deity back in Revaliir, I was not in any sense of the word a "hermit." It's true that I was rarely seen or heard of outside my temple during that tenure, but a lack of earthly fame does not logically conclude a lack of activity. As was appropriate for my title at the time, most of my numerous, godly feats were accomplished outside the world's gaze. I captured monsters that could not be killed, hid away dangerous artifacts and safeguarded the world from what they didn't know was a threat to their imperfect dream. In this way, I became the guardian in the shadows: one who never desired fame or glory and was perfectly content to remain in obscurity for all time.

For that reason, few individuals could recall my countenance even before Koa wiped their memories. My deeds remained hidden from the scholars, along with the vaults I left scattered throughout their world. So it was intended, and so it was to remain.

But even good barriers eventually crumble, especially when subject to the powers I had contained. Several decades after the seals had been put in place, they started to weaken and crack. Eventually, one was broken open by an intrepid group of explorers, and so the first of the artifacts was unleashed upon the world.

I discovered the first breach while seeking to undo it myself, ironically. The artifact was actually two in one, and I needed to destroy the first in order to get at the second. That second item was a legendary gem that had been treated as a myth for generations, and also a primary ingredient for a blueprint I was working on. It was known simply as the "Purple Star Sapphire."

The Purple Star Sapphire was first discovered by Railoch natives before Ataiyo even existed as a nation, and was deemed a hazard shortly after that discovery. Mistaken as a rare form of Grisial at the time, excavation teams tried to remove it with the same precautionary measures that they had always used. Unfortunately for the excavators themselves, that was a fatal error. They lost limbs during their attempts, and many walked away maimed for life.

As it later turned out, the gem they were trying to excavate possessed the natural ability to project searing hot lights from its core, focusing them into massive, crystalline rods hot enough to cut through solid stone. Indeed, the purple star sapphire was the first of its kind: a naturally occurring radiant saber with an innate, proximity detection system. Anyone or thing trying to approach it would trigger the rods, and be subsequently sliced to bits.

The people at the time of the gem's discovery couldn't get close enough to find out more because of that defense mechanism. Every time they tried, they just lost more and more resources to it; until, finally, they just decided to seal the sapphire away forever. They posted guards so as to ensure no one would ever disturb their discovery again, and that was the end of their involvement with the Purple Star Sapphire.

Those guards inevitably became golems over the years, and the golems inevitably decayed to the point where they couldn't move. After many centuries of that impasse, no one was left standing guard anymore. Railoch's major civilization had already disappeared by then, and the only golems left had gone berserk. This left me to freely collect the gem with divine power, seeing as nothing stood in my way anymore.

At the time of that retrieval, I too shared the desire of the original finders to hide the gem away, so I sealed it inside a box – the other artifact – and locked them both inside a vault deep underneath the Tori Mountains. It was there they were meant to rest, and there where I would later go to retrieve them.

Of course, when I arrived after my change of heart, I found the vault had already been opened. A group of treasure hunters had bypassed my traps, grabbed the box, and escaped to the South. They made their way to Gobethio after losing half of their original troupe to the dungeon, and had their prize evaluated by the city's scholars before venturing to Iria to sell it. Their trail went cold after that, for they never made it to Iria. Somewhere along the way, they disappeared, and, although I tried to search for them, neither they nor their cargo ever turned up.

In the end, my fruitless search had to be delegated. From Ataiyo to Iria and Gobethio, I put up wanted posters for information, and waited for mercenaries to do my footwork for me. The documents were uniform and read thusly:

"I was once in possession of an ornate box of dark blue hues and golden inlays, whose contents shine of purple light and glow through the cracks. Unfortunately, that heirloom was recently stolen by a party that went missing somewhere between Iria and Gobethio. I will pay for any information as to the thieves' or box's whereabouts, provided that I can confirm the accuracy with my own eyes.

The reward for accurate information that helps me retrieve my item is 1500 silver crescents, but only once it is in my hands.
A word of caution, though: do not touch or make any attempt to bring the box back to me if you do find it. You will likely not live long enough to make the journey if you do. You will need me to retrieve it.

-N"

Beyond that message, there were directions for the mercenaries to follow: specifically on how to contact me. I told them I would be staying at a specific Irian cafe on the northern side of the city every other morning and afternoon, and that they would recognize me easily by my unique features. All that was left to do after that was to wait, specifically while hoping I could avoid more accidents.