Hired by the Spymaster

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Spymaster

Fehr looked over the exquisite totem, admiring the detail the lizard had managed to include upon it. Making his initial survey of the other man all the more fitting, Z'haeer showed more and more signs of him belonging far above most mages and wizards in the world.

"Interesting, it was not yesterday I saw something apart from the generic works done so elaborately. Though I would not need something so special for what I have in mind." he laughed at the thought. With such a skilled assistant however, he could perform rituals that would normally need whole covens, hiring the lizards company of mercenaries grew more and more as a winning choice. Not to mention the aspirations of the lizard, who would probably follow him for a chance at a position within the Thread.

"Now, for the ritual I had in mind, I'll only need simple totems and a sevenfold circle. Oh, also a drop of blood from everyone in the camp. As the ritual will cause them to be shielded from my curses." Fehr said. Amused thinking about the fact that while the ritual would surely shield them form some of his curses and other such magical spells, there were still hundreds of arts that would be able to get through. It all depended on the effort put into the spells. Taking some instruments from his coat, thin metallic wands used for drawing the symbols in his rituals. He could pour liquids through them to make fine lines, or just drag them across a surface to scratch lines into it, it was mostly mental aid for the practioner in which case.

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Thil'ierra was standing across the little clearing from Deadeye trying to get a good feel for the training-daggers she was holding, they had a good balance, but they were a bit heavier than her own blades.

"I can't really think of anything to bet, but I could do something for you I suppose, if that's enough?" she asked the other woman. The elven assassin didn't really think that she could beat the goblin even if it was only a sparring match, hopefully she wouldn't have to do something embarrassing if she lost. Deciding that she was as comfortable with the weapons as she would get she started moving forward.

"Here I come!" Thil'ierra shouted as she jumped to her right, coming towards Deadeye with her right dagger as she began to spin her left one in a circle once the right one was parried or pushed aside.
 
"Oh, I understood that. I just wished to show off my handiwork to someone who could truly appreciate it. While the Orcs and Goblins are fine companions, and some of them even people appreciate the art in it. But you need someone with true magical skill to understand it's potential power." Z'Haeer said, as he wrapped up the fine piece of art, and walked back towards the chest of totems. "I have plenty of others. Wood, stone, bone, obsidian... Even a few of gems and crystals." He said, putting his treasure carefully down, before returning to his chair.

"And blood should be easy to collect. The troopers should be more than willing to give up some... Though if it's but a drop..." He lifted his arm slightly, only for a small swarm of slightly glowing mosquitoes started flying out of his sleeve, and flying out of the tent.

"Quicker, and easier." He chuckled.


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"Oh, I think I can figure out someway for you to make it worth it..." Deadeye giggled, as she spun the wooden knife in her hand, smiling widely at her elven opponent, as she flicked a lock of hair out of her face.

Tilly charged, which made her grin, and she charged in return. Just before the two of them clashed, she dropped to a roll, slipping in between her feet, slashing against the back of Tilly's knee as she passed. She kept the momentum, and took a few steps away, before turning around.

Then she charged again, raising her knife to attack against her gut!
 
Spymaster

The lizards usage of magic made Fehr chuckle, a sound one would not generally mistake for joy, he would have to ask the other mage for the specifics on the art he was currently using, it seemed like a branch of familiar or minion magic, though it looked more to be actual critters rather than summoned beings. And why would you have a swarm of mosquitoes as familiars, maybe it was a charm-spell meant for easier travel in bug-infested areas, the Vakhaw continued pondering as he moved some chairs aside to make room on the floor.

"I hope you won't mind then if I prepare for the ritual I had in mind? Oh, and bone totems are just right for it, seven of them, though ones made of stone can supplement them without interfering." He said as he brushed a part of the dirt floor with his hand and started drawing intersecting circles in it with one of the wands. He then proceeded to pluck feathers from his arms and stuck them in seemingly random locations along the circles. Pricking his finger on the wands he also stuck them in the ground, his blood moving as if with its own will to fill the lines with a faint glow.

"A bowl as well Z'Haeer, I wouldn't want to make this ground a possible site of curses towards your merry band. Khaw khaw khaw!" The birds smile was if anything worse than the laughing.

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The goblin got ahead of her and made her swing move through empty air, she barely managed to avoid the return against the back of her knee by jumping forward as Deadeye flowed between her legs. The elf turned around with both daggers raised in defense, but her opponent was aiming for a lower point and got one of her daggers to connect. Thil'ierra swung both daggers down to make Deadeye retreat, earning her a moment to breath.

"Hah, I would still be alive, a stab to the stomach is just a minor hindrance. Damn she hit hard." She muttered while trying to collect her thoughts. Deciding to attack with a series of movements they had been forced to practice for months.
Not noticing the little mosquito taking a few drops of her blood and then leaving her neck she began the assault. The thrusts, feints and lunges were like a song in her head. Right lunge forward, left foot sweeping around to the front. Turn body and move both hands in slice from the top right, sideways turn in a jump bringing left foot down. Down to the ground on the hands, thrust both feet towards target, follow and turn in the air for a downward cross-feint with both weapons. Bring them both up aiming for the arms. Roll back for distance.
The question was how good the series would be against the goblin sergeant.
 
"Very well, a bowl and all my bone totems." Z'Haeer said as he got up again, making sure to walk around the circles, and following the walls of the tent. As he passed his eating section, he swiped a simple wooden bowl with his tail, before returning to the chest. He dove into it, picking up the bone totems, before stepping back towards the circles. "Should I just take guess at where the totems should be? It could have quite the fun effects, even if they're placed wrong... Hss-hss-hss-hss!" He chuckled, as he raised the his tail, letting a few of the returning mosquitoes land on it's edge. "And should I just mix it all in there?"


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"A small cut may be an annoyance... A thousand small cuts can fell an Orc!" Deadeye giggled as Tilly advanced on her. She ducked under the first lunge, before hopping onto the Elf's thigh, and jumping backwards, avoiding the double slash, only to just barely dodge the foot that came down, forcing her to put a hand on the ground to keep herself standing. As she did, Tilly attempted to kick her again, with both feet, forcing Deadeye to somersault backwards, before bringing both knives up in a reverse grip to block the incoming strikes, which turned out to be feints, yet failed due to her grip. Then the flighty Elf rolled backwards, in an attempt to retreat.

She quickly followed, swiping for her knees as she started rising, only to swing around, with her right blade still at her knee, slashing with the left one towards Tilly's thigh. She took a quick hop backwards, before lunging forwards again, slashing both blades against Tilly's back, and attempted to hold on, to use this position of advantage, in an attempt to get to her throat!
 
The Spymaster

The Vakhaw chuckled with the other man as he mentioned a possible mishap of the ritual, while such a thing might occur in a more intricate working or by a less proficient mage it was not something he worried about. He took the bowl from Z'Haeer and placed it in the center of the lines, dripping a few drops of his own.

"Just pour it in, and I would be surprised if you managed to place the totems wrongly, khaw khaw." Fher said plucking one of his feathers to mix the blood that kept joining. While he did so he began humming, strangely out of tune and with the same "wrong" feeling as his laugh, it wasn't a part of the ritual as much as a way for him to get into the right trail of thought.

Slowly the blood-made medium of the ritual started glowing with a purple light, casting strange shadows across the tent walls, shadows of all the mercenaries from which the blood had came.

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All her feints and movements practiced for years had been seen through by the goblin opposing her, and what attacks had almost made it through had only gotten that far. And then Deadeye managed to circle her and get on her back, Thil'ierra was amazed by the sheer agility the other woman moved with.

She got her arms up just in time to stop the incoming blades from reaching her throat, and as soon as she did she also jumped backwards, aiming to immobilize the sergeant.

"There are advantages to being bigger!" Thil'ierra shouted as they fell against the ground, already twisting her lower body to spin around towards the goblin. This spar would be her win!
 
As the Vakhaw took the bowl, the mosquitoes stepped down into the bowl and seemingly fizzled out of existence, leaving only the blood to flow into the center of the bowl, followed by more mosquitoes doing the same.

"Let's see then..." Z'Haeer said, as he stepped into the circles, making sure to not step on the lines, and placing most of the totems where the circles crossed each other, yet the remainder he seemingly put down randomly. He looked about as the shadows started appearing, recognizing some of them easily, and simply seeing the races of the rest.

"Since we are doing this ritual to protect my men from your magic on the coming battle... What kind of magic is it you use?" He asked curiously.


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Oh, this Elf wasn't all bad, it would seem, but this move was nothing new to Deadeye! As she realized what she was doing, she grabbed onto Tilly's one shoulder, then kicked off from her back, flipping her over the Elf's head, and as they landed, she stood on top of her. As quickly as she could, Deadeye moved her daggers to press them over Tilly's throat, hoping the fall would have stopped her long enough for the Goblin to grab the victory.

"And I've learned to negate such advantages!" She giggled!
 
The Spymaster

The question wrought another laugh from the Vakhaw, who turned his head to look at the lizard while the totems lit up with the same strange purple light as the blood, which in turn seemed to disappear as it continued glowing, filling the tent with a fickle mist.

"It depends on what situation you are referring to, in which case it could be any magic known in this world. But I take it you are viewing this particular quest, khaw khaw. I suppose I should start with this ritual then." Moving his hand through the mist around them he seemed momentarily lost in thought. "It would be appropriate to call in within the branches of what my kind are known for, a curse-ritual meant to increase the attunement between the targets and the caster, the astral similarities in a manner of speaking. The reason is as I've said to reduce the amount of stress my presence will cause them during the fight. Else they would be as affected as our enemies. And we can't have that now can we Khahahaw! Fharl" Flicking his hands outwards in the mist Fher caused it to disperse, the totems momentarily flaring up in bright violet. Standing up he brushed off traces of dust on his robe and feathers.

"As you have gathered from that, I will primarily use wide curse-arts to sink the trespassers into despair as your men slaughter them. In closer quarters I seldom restrict myself to the use of spells, my physical prowess is as you saw... sufficient." the Vakhaw smiled earnestly as he thought back to the sparring match he had had with Z'Haeers troops, while open combat wasn't his primary art of violence, it certainly made for efficient work. "But if so I shall use the kind of magic I deem necessary, anything you would like me to refrain from?" Fher tilted his head absentmindedly at the lizard, as answering the question would do more than such.

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It took the moment between her arms touching the ground and Deadeyes daggers pressing against her neck before Thil'ierra realized she had misjudged the goblins acrobatic swiftness. Twisting her head to look back on the sergeant she made a self reproaching smile.

"I think it's your win then Deadeye, you were a bit quicker than I thought." There was no animosity in her as she got up and faced the winner of the little spar, sweat dripping down her forehead. If anything the elf was glad to have seen the other display such a wide range of movement she would love to put into practice, the question was if she would be able to.
 
"I was talking of this specific instance, yes..." He said with a sly smirk. "And the arts of curses... Lovely indeed. I'm quite the fan of that kind of magic myself. Though I do enjoy adding in quite a few... Bugs, myself. I don't know if you've ever been swarmed by something small, that bites quite painfully? One of them might just be without value, but as I said... A swarm can be deadly. Even for a Xyrian, as I've found..." He said with a dark chuckle, summoning a little green thing in his hand, holding it up to look at it.

"But no. Any magic I know of is fine by me. It's one of the good things about being a follower of all the gods... I accept just about anything." He said, flicking his tongue to get a small taste of the smoke, and finding it oddly... Dull.

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Deadeye kept her knives over Tilly's throat for a few moments, as she asked "Now... I won, that means you have to do something for me, doesn't it?" She asked with a grin, as she stood up again, and changed her hold of the daggers to a more relaxed one. "You got something planned out then, or should I suggest something?" She asked with a smirk.
 
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