Vilpamolan was once low on Dalanesca's list of places she enjoyed visiting.  The debauchery and violence of the pirate haven used to leave a sour taste in her mouth, but now it was teeming with the exact kind of people that helped to populate the circles of Inferos.  While she would occasionally visit for entertainment purposes, she had a different endeavor in mind this night.  

There had been talk for a while of a rogue necromancer, who was manipulating the dead in ways that Dalanesca was not too fond of.  As talented as the many demons and other folk working under her were, there were reasons why she did not want them taking this particular opponent on.  Anyone who worked for the Reaper was tied to her realm in such a manner that said necromancer would be able to use that connection against them.  This warranted far more drastic measures on her part.

She had done some asking around, incognito of course, in search of someone who would be capable of assisting her in this endeavor.  She could have gone after the necromancer herself, but it would be far too simple and she risked exposing her identity to the people.  The ability to travel without being known was rather important to her, as she enjoyed her time amongst the living.  Through her questioning, she had heard of a mage hunter who could possibly be of assistance to her.  

She had paid the messenger who had informed her of such a great deal of silver to track the mage hunter down and deliver him a message.  The courier informed her that he was a nomad, so finding him would be difficult and there was no guarantee of when the message would reach him, if at all.  She told the courier she would be at the tavern nearest to the docks in Vilpamolan awaiting the messenger's appearance for quite some time.

So, it was there she sat - dressed in her usual attire of corset and split skirt with boots.  She sipped on a small glass of whiskey - for taste, if nothing else, with narrowed eyes watching the door, waiting to see if he would appear.

The pirate haven, once again he set foot in this town that he was not too fond of. This was where his and Kaylani’s ferry had decided to let them off though, and she could make money off the drunken fools that were here, so he decided to take a walk around. Nothing had changed about the place, the smell of alcohol and poor hygiene still ran rampart throughout the busy streets. This was to be expected of a place that was run by pirates of course, but all of it was amplified to levels he was not use to because of the ursanthropy that now ran through his veins.

When he thought that the day would just be a boring one, and was about to head back to the wagon to rest up a messenger appeared before him. He had been summoned by someone at the tavern to the dock’s, he was hesitant to take the job cause of what happened at Koschei, but if someone had sent a messenger to find him of all people it would be insulting not to see what the job was.  He thanked the messenger and decided to make his way to the meeting place.

If Kaylani found out I’m going to be taking another job so soon, she would kill me

As he breached the doors of the tavern, the hairs on the back of his neck and arms stood on end. He could sense the gaze that was pointed at the door and his eyes quickly flashed to meet the person’s before he made his way over to the bar. He got a bottle of his usual drink and made his way to the back table where the woman sat. One thing this city had for it was its choice of drinks and he had been away far too long and thought it was time for him to get something more than the tea’s he had been drinking.

He took his blade out from his belt and rested it on the side of the table before taking a seat across from his contractor. “Vilpamolan, not everyone’s cup of tea that is for sure, but can’t deny that pirates have a taste for their liquor,” he stated taking a swig from the bottle and leaning back in the seat.

“Seems like your messenger got lucky to find me in the city, just came to port actually, now I must say that it is rare for someone to send a messenger after me. Zanar Arowin at your service, shall we get down to the details of our meeting?” He was even more curious now that he got his eyes on the person who summoned him, especially since he didn’t think that it would be a woman of all people.

Dalanesca could sense who the man was the moment he entered the boisterous tavern. It was clear that he was the man whom she had sent the courier after, and that much was confirmed as he locked his gaze with her own briefly before heading to the counter to order something for himself. She watched him as he did this, still slowly sipping on the whiskey in her glass as she did so. She shifted slightly in her seat as he approached her, moving so that one leg was crossed over the other, and she leaned slightly back in her seat, whiskey glass still clutched in one hand as he sat down.

“I’ll drink to that,” she said simply, raising her glass at him and taking a long drink before setting it down in front of her with a soft clunk against the wooden tabletop. She eyed him up and down for a moment as he reclined in his seat, as though she were analytically sizing him up - which, in fact, she was. After a few moment of silence had passed, she responded to the remainder of what it was that he had said to her.

“That messenger would have found you at the bottom of the Nyella ocean for what I paid him,” she said offhandedly, as though money were not an object to her. “I sent for you because I have heard that you are good at what you do - and what I need right now is someone who is capable of what you are,” she added.

“I’m having issues with a certain… well, a necromancer,” she said, obviously being careful at what words to use as she spoke to him. “Suffice to say, he’s been taking things that aren’t his in order to strengthen his power… and those things belong to me,” she added with necessary ambiguity. “And I don’t much appreciate when people take what is mine without asking,” she continued. “And while I’m perfectly capable of tracking him down alone, I assumed it would go a lot more quickly with someone as skilled as I have heard you are.”

“I’ll give you more details should you choose to take on the task… but I’ll tell you, it will be well worth your while.” With a pause, she uncrossed her legs and pushed part of her skirt aside, taking a small pouch out from where it had been tucked beneath a garter. She tossed the pouch across the table at him, which landed with a jangling thud - the pouch was clearly full of silver coin. “Consider this a down payment, for the trouble of coming here to meet me,” she said, giving him a wry smirk.

With that, at his self-introduction, she leaned across the table and offered him her hand. “Dalanesca,” she said simply, intrigued as to whether or not the name would resonate with him as to her identity. She was shielding only her aura, but not her appearance - Vilpamolan was a haven for scoundrels, but she had no need for her true self to be seen. Her magic, however, would allow Zanar to see her for who she truly was.

“Hmm a Necromancer you say, fickle little bastards they are. Playing around with spirits and corpses that should be resting,” Zanar stated taking another swig of his drink. They were one of the more common types of mages that abused their powers, and one that he would’ve gladly hunted down for free if he had to. The dead should never be disturbed. “Though, there are few that use their powers to guide lost souls to the gates. Rare though do they see past the blind ambition and power that they can get with controlling the lost souls.”

He would not have called himself skilled in hunting down mages, but more skilled with his proficiency with a blade, which he had honed more since he lost of his ability to use magic himself. Thought the transformation into a shifter had helped heal his broken mana intake, but it was still a far ways away from being perfect. His eyes did not shift as she reached for the silver pouch which made its way across the table. “A down payment to a mercenary? Well that I will have to say is the first, most do not like our bunch.” He spoke from experience, the Raven’s Nest themselves were always herded away from towns after they were done. It seemed like it was a stigma having such an occupation.

That was not the biggest shock of the night to him though, cause as he was in the middle of another drink she introduced herself and he almost spit it all back up. He should’ve known better, cause this woman and the appearance of the description of the goddess herself, it also explained the feeling he got as he entered the tavern. “Sooo, why would lady death herself need the help of a mercenary? This is quite interesting if I must say,” picking up the sack of silver and tossing it up in the air a few times, as he sat there and wondered why a goddess would need him.

“If you are here, it must mean he has intruded unto your domain. Stealing from the Goddess of death, what a fool.” Muttered and caught the bag one last time before sliding it across the table back to Dalanesca. “I maybe overextending my bounds here, but all the silver in the world will not hold up to a Goddess owing you a favor.” A slight smirk encroached onto his face. “I will help you, after all I’m sure the goddess of death can get information from the souls that she keeps.”

Dalanesca fought the urge to snicker at Zanar’s reaction to the revelation of her identity. His question that followed immediately, however, had been expected. “Well, you see.. I don’t necessarily like to make myself too known in the mortal plane,” she began, though she caught herself and began to laugh quietly. “Okay, I’m full of shit. I love toying with the psyches of mortals,” she added, smirking somewhat darkly. “However… I tend to get… upset when I’m hunting down someone who has done me wrong. Sometimes things get… messy,” she continued, the smirk fading into what remained as a rather dark expression. “The other reason being that he is in Parvpora, and my power is dampened to a point when I am not in Canelux,” she added, and it was clear that the fact she had just shared with him was incredibly annoying to her.

“A fool, indeed,” she said in response to his next statement. This one, Zanar… he seemed to have a head on his shoulders that knew what entities were to be trifled with, and which ones were best to be on their good side. She chuckled next. “You wouldn’t be overextending your bounds by any means,” she said, though she slid the silver back across the table towards him once more. “Keep it, and I’ll still owe you a favor. Money is not an object to me, and you’re a hired sword - you wouldn’t do it if you didn’t need the coin,” she added.

“Good,” she said, when Zanar agreed to help her. “And I have a wealth of information,” she answered. “I’ve already secured quite a bit of intel, but I’m sure there’s more to be found. I know the whereabouts of the necromancer, as well as a few people who fell victim to his latest scheme,” she began explaining. “There are two ways we can go about this. If you’d like, you could travel to Luxuria Mortiferum with me, and question some of the souls yourself. If you’re not up for that - which I wouldn’t blame you… you’ve gotta be pretty tough skinned to make it through Hell, even with the Goddess of Death by your side,” she said, smirking at him as she jabbed in an attempt to egg him on. “I can give you the last known location - somewhere around Iria - and we can rendezvous there.” She paused for a moment, taking a sip of her drink.

“I’ll have you know,” she said rather suddenly, leaning across the table towards him, her eyes narrowing. “If you try to double cross me, I’ll know. If you try to steal from me, I’ll know. If you lie to me… I’ll know. And I will make your life a living hell,” she said, drumming her fingers on the table with a rather evil look on her face. It faded shortly, and she grinned at him. “What’ll it be?” she asked, leaning back in a smooth motion and taking a deep drink of her whiskey, one leg crossing over the other.

He accepted the sack of silver this time when she threw it back to him. “I’ll let you in on one little secret, it’s not that I need the coin no. My traveling companion actually makes plenty with her side job. It’s the life I live, and it is something I enjoy doing, the silver is just a consolation prize in it all,” He stated to her. “Once a mercenary, always a mercenary, it is just as simple as that.”

“Well seeing as you already have scouted out to where this bastard is, this shall make things far simpler in a sense,” he said cautiously. He knew that trifling with a necromancer was no small task, even for someone like himself. The dark magic that they used was hard to predict and even the ground around them could be used to raise the dead if they wished.

He chuckled a little. “Oh you misunderstood me, I do not wish to go to your plane for this simple task you have given me. No, this is more of a lust of revenge, I get the info from their damned souls and I can put those bastards into the ground once and for all.” Anger easily lining his voice as his eyes were even giving it away on how much he wanted to sink his blade into their flesh.

He quickly calmed down though and sighed, “But we are travelers so, they can wait of course.”

Her threats, he could tell that she was serious by them, but at the same, he wasn’t fazed by them in the slightest. He wasn’t the type of idiot to double cross a goddess, especially one that reigned over death. “My life has already been a living hell, I’m sure someone of your magnitude could make it far worse, but I am not that type of person. We have an accord. So now shall we get out of this piss rotten town and go hunt ourselves a necromancer?” He stated to her and finished off his drink.

“Somewhere around Iria, you say, well then my good goddess, it seems like we shall meet again there.” He then got up from his seat and gave her a small bow before grabbing his blade and walking towards the exit. If she had more to say they could say it there, cause, for now, he could feel some more eyes looking towards them. Almost as if something or someone was scouting them.
And he wasn’t fond of being watched from the shadows.