VIGILANCE: The Venari (Lord Wraith and Hillan)

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Lord Wraith

The Smartest Person In The Room
Original poster
LURKER MEMBER
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per week
Writing Levels
  1. Advanced
  2. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
  2. Female
Genres
Superhero[OC, DC maybe Marvel], Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Open to Steam Punk or Cyber Punk
We work in the shadows to protect the light. We've embraced the darkness to seek out those who thrive in it and end their reigns of terror. We work a thankless job, living each day as our last knowing there's little chance of a greater reward in the end.

We are the Venari


T
he cold murky water permeated every inch of the Duke's trousers as he waded through the Pinsk Marsh. Blade drawn and raised above the water, Aramis Falkenrath's keen eyes watched all around him, keeping track of Varjas as the other Venari waded several paces behind him. The rotting smell of the swamp drowned out every other smell as the water rippled near Aramis, causing him to turn only for a water snake to swim by.

He and Varjas had been contacted by a citizen in Kiev who had believed a Hellion was preying on the local livestock. When they had first arrived, the farmer had told Aramis he believed a vampyre was on the loose in Kiev but upon inspection Aramis had discovered that no only was blood still in the veins of the bodies left behind but also venom. Scales and other pieces of skin left behind had first led Aramis to conclude the cattle were under assault from a basilisk but he had turned out to be wrong. Waiting out overnight, Aramis and Varjas attempted to kill the creature but they were unprepared as it turned out to be not a basilisk but a nest of lamia. Managing to kill several of the hellions, Aramis had taken a pair of fangs to the shoulder before managing to break one off to give to the Alchemists for later use.

Tracking the remaining creatures, Aramis had determined their pit was around the swamp. Unfortunately there had been no way to go around it as it flowed into the river. Ditching their horses, the pair had waded into the swamp while Aramis did his best to keep track of the lamias' trail.

"Just a few more strides and we'll be across." He called back to Varjas before feeling his ankle catch in a root. Grunting, he pulled his foot back before feeling the noose around his ankle tighten and Aramis was dragged under water as the a lamia emerged from the surface before diving after the Vanari caught in its tail.
 
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Saving the innocent with blade in hand, the protector of man and foe of monster. We work in the dark to protect the light.

We are the Venari



As the cold water invaded the territory of his body, Varjas could not help but feel uncomfortable, he had been in this climate for several years and he still couldn't get used to the cold. The blazing sun of the desert was to prefer over the howling fjord of the cold winter. But, none the less he had gotten off his horse and waded into the water with his companion, Aramis. A Peculiar man, for sure, but a excellent tracker and Vanari none the less. Holding his schimitar over the water ready to swing. Each step made it seem like his legs got even colder. They were hunting the scaled creatures known as the Lamia, which Varjas found intriguing as they were commonly only found in Greece, and not this far north. Then again, Vampyres had been attacking in daylight and Werebeasts transformed during the half moon these days.

His eyes peeled on Aramis a few paces ahead of him, he noticed that he stopped, about to ask why, he was soon shown why, as his fellow Vanari was dragged under water by the very thing they were hunting. Dashing forward towards the hizzing Lamia, he swung at it, but the beast was quick in diving back in the water, probably to get Aramis whom was under water. Hunching down he quickly drew a dagger from his jacket, the dagger began searing at his touch, launching the dagger into the Lamia's body, aiming at the tail, even if the darkness of the water made it difficult to be precise even for a experienced marksman.
 
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Cold water filled his mouth and lungs as Aramis was dragged beneath the surface. Scaly coils wrapping themselves higher and higher around his leg until they made their way to his torso. The darkness of the water was suddenly broken as the luminescent glow of the rune on his neck broke through the murky water. Air filled his lungs as the rune enabled Aramis the ability to breath under water, the Venari thanking his lucky stars the Scribes in the Grimlock had discovered the Mer Rune before this latest adventure.

Suddenly the coils loosened and Aramis felt his ribs breath as he pushed his way out of the lamia's grip, emerging to the surface as he gasped for breath.

"Appreciate it." Aramis nodded towards Varjas knowing it had been the other Venari's actions which set him free. Diving beneath the water again, Aramis' eyes glowed as he activated his Cat's Eye rune, located his sword resting in the mud before he surfaced again, planting his feed in the soft floor of the swamp. The lamia came back towards the pair, lunging from the water as Aramis pushed the bastard sword into the beast's soft belly, dark blood spilling down the blade's channel and mixing with the muddy water. Flailing like a stuck pig, the serpentine woman struggled to free herself from the hunter's blade. Runes glowed on Aramis' biceps beneath worn chainmail as he took the sword in both hands and forced the serpentine Hellion to the floor of the swamp.

"Behead it now!" He yelled towards Varjas.
 
His companion got freed from the grip of the beast and came up for air, before diving back down for his blade. "Do not worry, it was nothing." Varjas let out in response, on edge due to the presence of the monster. The rune on his left wrist began glowing as a fire erupted in his hand, working as a torch to allow them vision in the dark swamp. In the next moment, the beast lunged at Aramis, Varjas could only think it was due to the fact that Aramis had killed more of it's kind that he had, could probably sense it. Aramis jammed his sword into the beast's torso, fluids exploding from it's belly as the other Venari forced the beast down into the water.

Before Aramis could issue a word, Varjas was already in action. The runes on the lower half of his neck, all the way down to his collar bone and shoulders began glowing. Dashing with his scimitar about his head, he brought the blade down onto the monster's throat, splitting it's head from it's neck and ending it's reign of terror as it's body had a few spasms at the lose of the head, but soon it stopped moving all together, signalling the victory of the duo. Walking to it's tail, he hunched over and pulled it up, finding his dagger being embedded all the way to the hand guard in the monster. "No wonder she let you go." He spoke, pulling the blade out of the monster with a slight grunt. The noise of fluids leaking through the wound as he pulled the dagger out. He wiped the dagger off on his cloth sleeve before putting it back in it's place inside of it's sheath in his jacket.


Stepping out of the water, he turned to Aramis.
"You reckon there's any more?"
 
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With a grunt, Aramis pulled the sword out of the beast before walking up onto shore. Water slopped out of his boots as he flopped onto the ground, pulling each boot off and dumping them out before answering his companion.

"For a lamia to attack us so brazenly I reckon we're almost upon their nest." He responded as he began to clean his blade off. A shiver ran down his spine as the cold air of night began to sink in through the soaked cloth and metal. Pulling a pack off his back, Aramis unfurled his traveling cloaked that he had tried to avoid soaking by wearing it on his back. Groaning with annoyance, he returned his blade to its sheath at his side as he checked his other weapons.

"I don't suppose you have a frost rune?" He asked holding up a piece of flattened grass and giving it a whiff. "If we could lay a trap with a frost rune we could turn the battle in a definitive favour for us. Twice we've been attacked by these serpents and twice we've been caught off guard, I think it's our turn to get on the offensive."
 
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Looking over at Aramis, he nodded, glad that he had laced his trousers onto his boots to avoid getting too wet. But, his pants was still wet, and not to mention cold. A nod in confirmation to Aramis's words regarding the location of the Lamia's. Putting his hands together, runes began glowing as he meditated for a second, crouching down. Under his jacket and chainmail, the runes began glowing, thin lines following his blood vessels all the way from the hands to the heart and down into his legs. Due to his natural lack of cold resistance, the scribes had seen to it to give him runes that would allow him to keep warm. One of the lines in his face began glowing as well for a second as he let out a relaxed sigh. He wasn't as cold anymore, similar to drinking very warm soup.

Shaking his head at the question "Got a fire rune for a trap. But we might burn half the forest down then." He said, standing up again, feeling his clothes getting warmer. "Then again, it's not really much of a forest in this swamp." His words rang softly.
 
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"Fire rune is risky." Aramis said looking around them. Night had fallen on the pair of hunters, a cool layer of moisture washing over the grass as Aramis followed Varjas example and used his runes to warm himself. "The swamp isn't the most effective place to ignite a flame, plus the heat could give them an advantage. Lamia are cold blooded, if we warm them up, they become faster, stronger." Aramis paused. "But if we do manage to ignite the scaly bastards, they'll just be slithering burning masses of flesh like every other Hellion."

Giving his blade a swing, Aramis pulled a long hunting dagger from the back of his belt. Sheathed in that scabbord was a heavy hunting cleaver, Aramis' preferred weapon for decapitating the heads of Hellions. Numerous knives were stored in the sheath along with tools to sharpen his weapons while on the road.

"Quick inventory, what'd you bring for weapons?" Aramis asked sheathing the two blades. "I have my sword, my cleaver and several skinning knives." Reaching into the folds of his longcoat Aramis produced a wooden pipe. "Blow pipe and naturally darts to go with it, each tipped with basilisk venom." Nodding towards Varjas, Aramis posed his question again. "So aside from the curved sword, what else do you have on hand?"
 
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In agreement, he quietly bopped his head in acknowledgment of Aramis's concern for the fire. While he did find the idea of the burning Hellion's intriguing, placing a fire trap wouldn't solve it any less than a gigantic campfire would. As his companion started tearing through his inventory, Varjas looked intensely. He wasn't one for using much when it came to hunting, he brought a Saracen bow on occassion, but not for this hunt. "Darts, eh?" He said, patting his left wrist "Throwing knives."

He pulled the large hunting knife out of his jacket again " And you've already seen my knife in action." Putting it back into it's scabbard. " I carry a small wheatstone, four bottles of Greek oil to create a powerful fire, perfect to burn the nest." He motioned to the side of his waist in his belt. In the back of his belt, he carried a handaxe, grabbing it out of it's place in his belt, he tossed it into the air for a moment, juggling it. "Used to be my fathers. He killed more men with this then I've killed beasts in my whole life." Not really paying any mind if Aramis actually did care about his anecdote, or not.

Lastly, he pulled the crimson cloth he wore on his head down, letting what little moonlight there was shine onto his black hair and his emerald eyes, pointing at the sharp metal pin that went through the leather strap that held his ponytail in place. "Made out of wyvern tooth. Should be able to do a number to most things. Makes a damn good shiv. " He finished, putting his hood back over his head. Varjas looked over Aramis's gear once more. "All right. We find their nest and burn it down. I would prefer a more elegant solution, but if none can be found, you wanna flip a coin on which one of us will be bait?"
 
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"Neither one of needs be bait, the smell of animal blood should be enough to draw the lamia out into the hunt." Aramis said as he dusted grass off of himself and looked around. Runes in the corner of his eyes glowing as he peered through the dim light of dusk. Without barely a sound, he crouched down and moved through the tall grass away from Varjas. After a few minutes, the sound of an animal crying out in pain echoed around the swamp before suddenly it was silenced. Heavy footsteps came towards Varjas as Aramis reappeared carrying a beaver in tow.

"We string this up and let the blood drain from it, it should be enough to drive the lamia into a feeding frenzy. We'll lie in wait and ambush them upon their arrival." Aramis explained moving to a nearby willow tree as he unravelled a rope he had worn across his chest. Stringing the dead rodent up, Aramis took out a skinning knife and made one quick slash across the beast's throat as the blood began to flow out, gravity pulling it from the dead body.

"Now we hide." Aramis ordered as he scaled the willow tree quickly, poising himself a larger branch, hand on his sword as he laid in wait. His eyes squinted as he watched the ground below, anticipating the arrival of the lamia. Once the hunters were gone, what was left of the nest would be easy enough to destroy with Varjas' fire rune. Hissing suddenly filled the air as the long grass below began to shake. Numerous lamia burst into the clearing as they began slithering over one another as each clawed as the beaver suspended above their heads. Nodding towards Varjas, Aramis drew his sword and jumped. With a yell, he slammed the blade down beheading the first lamia he landed by. Swinging the large sword around, Aramis felt the splatter of blood upon his face as he neatly cleaved another of the beasts in half. Spinning the blade around, he thrust it backwards quickly, a gasp of surprise and agony from yet another lamia alerted him his kill count was up to three. Grinning like a drunken fool, Aramis continued to charge into the frenzy before looking over to see how well Varjas was faring.
 
"More Elegant Solution it is, then." Varjas pointed out as Aramis hunted down the animal that would take the place as bait. They strung the animal up and let it bleed out, as Aramis slit the animal's throat, Varjas had already ascended the tree, standing on a branch, the dark cloths in his robe shrouded him in the darkness of the night and runes on his torso hid his smell from the monsters. Awaiting the Hellion hunters. Looking over at Aramis, Varjas saw the signal. Gripping onto the scimitar on his back, the runes on his arms began glowing, and so did the runes on the blade as he leaped from the branch shortly after his fellow hunter had done so.
His blade was searingly hot from the magic of the runes, the blade tearing through one lamia after another, boiling their blood into plasma after each cut. Side-stepping the charge of one of them, he hit it with his sword, stunning it. Turning around with his free hand, he pulled a knife from his wrist and threw it in one that was attacking Aramis.

Turning back to the stunned Lamia, he moved his hand towards it, a stream of flames surged from his palm, burning the creature's eyes out. The panic that filled the beast allowed Varjas a easy kill, as his blade tore into the creature's neck, cutting it's head off. Another two came towards him, he put his sword into the ground and dug into his jacket, pulling out the vial of oil that he threw at the beasts. Igniting the flames with the rune in his left hand, the two beasts quickly burned to nothing but ashes. Pulling his blade back up, thinking the battle was over, he was pushed to the ground by the last hunter in the pack that the two Venari had slaughtered. It's fangs coming towards him, he pulled his combat dagger from his jacket and sliced the beast in the chest, giving his partner the chance to put the beast down for good.
 
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