26) An Offer Worth Considering
He quite enjoyed her, he had to admit with the faintest tingle of amusement, fading reminder of what used to be his full-fledged feelings, now long gone.
Matter-of-factly, no-nonsense and verbally effective to the point of cudgel-like bluntness, remarks as sharp as her features and a stern attitude which could no doubt intimidate the vast majority of mortals. She was definitely the interlocutor he'd been looking for. After all, the Harmonium chooses its highest ranked Factotums (or "Measure One") with utmost care.
After a brief philosophical exchange on the reasons why The Dead would be willing to assist preventing a possible mid to large scale disaster conducted rather convincingly on both sides to a suitable and logical conclusion, came the question he least expected, although, in hindsight, he certainly should have:
"So, regardless of your angle...why should I want your help? What can you bring to the table to aid with this particular matter?"
A hollow, artificial chuckle that had nothing to do with vocal chords, articulation or anything a living being would produce came out of the Lich's ever-grinning skull:
"Being as capable as you are, I am sure you already had the answer to that the moment I approached you..."
In due time, she would call upon him. He was sure of it.
Vashtek The Eternal
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*Melmoth
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27) When The Time Comes
The creature kept looking at him, weighing him, no doubt. Its gaze shifted from his cloaked figure to the charred scene of death and destruction surrounding him, appraising...assessing...
It had witnessed him creating the macabre display , and yet it still failed to come to terms with it. He could almost read the questions in its eyes: how could he turn what looked like a battle into a slaughter so quickly? How much power did it take to generate such a horrendous devastation? How much more could he possibly wield?
After endless moments of silence, it spoke with a guttural voice:
"In case I decide to go along with it...how do I find you?"
"You do not", he replied blankly: "When the time comes, I will"
And he glided away without awaiting for a reply, careless of its reaction.
The creature kept looking at him, weighing him, no doubt. Its gaze shifted from his cloaked figure to the charred scene of death and destruction surrounding him, appraising...assessing...
It had witnessed him creating the macabre display , and yet it still failed to come to terms with it. He could almost read the questions in its eyes: how could he turn what looked like a battle into a slaughter so quickly? How much power did it take to generate such a horrendous devastation? How much more could he possibly wield?
After endless moments of silence, it spoke with a guttural voice:
"In case I decide to go along with it...how do I find you?"
"You do not", he replied blankly: "When the time comes, I will"
And he glided away without awaiting for a reply, careless of its reaction.
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*Melmoth
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28) From The Shadows
She materialized in front of him, right out of arm's reach.
Few steps into the dark alley, and the shadows coalesced into her sinuous curves, her lips split in a mocking grin. She had the drop on him, and she knew it. Obviously, she also knew full well he wasn't concerned with any such attacks: his wards were near impenetrable, and his immortal body, fueled by a sizeable amount of the darkest powers one could muster, basically indestructible...but she was well aware of his aversion for any and all forms of surprises. And this was certainly a big one.
"Impressive display, valued associate. Glad you could make it: you had gone so deep underground it took me a while to reach you, even through the proper channels. For your standards, this must have been a long time..."
She chuckled, before replying:
"Translated from your dusty, verbose speech: I am so good you cannot sense me no matter how close, nor find me when I lay low, and you're very happy to see me after all this time. Why can't you speak comprehensibly?! All that time invested in studying, and still unable to communicate clearly..."
She shook her hooded head slightly in playful disapproval, waggling a gloved finger at him.
"A long time...and yet, you did not change one bit." the Undead replied, "Good. Because I have a very important task that can only be accomplished with your particular skillset. And I need you at least as sharp as you used to be. Walk with me."
The very fact she was there meant he still had her attention, otherwise he would never have heard of her, ever again.
Good.
If all went according to plan, she wouldn't regret rekindling her old allegiance to him...
Not at all.
She materialized in front of him, right out of arm's reach.
Few steps into the dark alley, and the shadows coalesced into her sinuous curves, her lips split in a mocking grin. She had the drop on him, and she knew it. Obviously, she also knew full well he wasn't concerned with any such attacks: his wards were near impenetrable, and his immortal body, fueled by a sizeable amount of the darkest powers one could muster, basically indestructible...but she was well aware of his aversion for any and all forms of surprises. And this was certainly a big one.
"Impressive display, valued associate. Glad you could make it: you had gone so deep underground it took me a while to reach you, even through the proper channels. For your standards, this must have been a long time..."
She chuckled, before replying:
"Translated from your dusty, verbose speech: I am so good you cannot sense me no matter how close, nor find me when I lay low, and you're very happy to see me after all this time. Why can't you speak comprehensibly?! All that time invested in studying, and still unable to communicate clearly..."
She shook her hooded head slightly in playful disapproval, waggling a gloved finger at him.
"A long time...and yet, you did not change one bit." the Undead replied, "Good. Because I have a very important task that can only be accomplished with your particular skillset. And I need you at least as sharp as you used to be. Walk with me."
The very fact she was there meant he still had her attention, otherwise he would never have heard of her, ever again.
Good.
If all went according to plan, she wouldn't regret rekindling her old allegiance to him...
Not at all.
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*Melmoth
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29) Corpse Crafter
He created it in his image.
Wrapped in a dark vest, the fires of Hell burning in its empty eye-sockets, the ghostlike gliding, flashes of bone-white from beneath its garments. The huge scythe was a nice touch, certainly contributing to strike a well justified fear in the hearts of his "living" opponents.
Inexorable, implacable, unstoppable, the creature constituted the pinnacle of his necromantic abilities as far as corpse crafting was concerned. And it indeed was, in and of itself a remarkable product...not quite like the original Entropic Reapers he summoned directly from Limbo, but close enough.
"Very well...time to show your master what you can do..."
The creature nodded, and headed for the door in its phantom walk.
"...Impress me."
He had no doubt it would.
He created it in his image.
Wrapped in a dark vest, the fires of Hell burning in its empty eye-sockets, the ghostlike gliding, flashes of bone-white from beneath its garments. The huge scythe was a nice touch, certainly contributing to strike a well justified fear in the hearts of his "living" opponents.
Inexorable, implacable, unstoppable, the creature constituted the pinnacle of his necromantic abilities as far as corpse crafting was concerned. And it indeed was, in and of itself a remarkable product...not quite like the original Entropic Reapers he summoned directly from Limbo, but close enough.
"Very well...time to show your master what you can do..."
The creature nodded, and headed for the door in its phantom walk.
"...Impress me."
He had no doubt it would.
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*Melmoth
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30) A Short Absence
All was ready for his departure.
He planned to return in a relatively short timespan, a few cycles at most, but beings like him tended to have a marked aversion towards leaving their lair, no matter for how short a time. Obviously, being a planeswalker made everything easier...and harder at the same time, no matter one's proximity to the enlightened oblivion of the True Death.
Aside from the comfort of his infrastructures, be it defensive systems, crafting stations and supplies or simply his vast selection of tomes and the secluded tranquillity needed to study them, he had to protect the very source of his immortality: the black heart pulsating unlife into the long-dead carcass that was his body.
He had worked extremely hard to achieve eternity, defying all odds and actually barely succeeding...His disposition to leave the safety of that unassuming, yet all-important black gem to anything but his very own hands was nonexistent.
The Reaper and his other more advanced creations would help with that matter, as well as the return of Denna, supplying the keen senses and sharp intellect his creatures did not have.
Now, he just needed to notify the Mortuary he would be absent for a few candlemarks, in case any of his contacts or the Harmonium itself finally decided it was time to ask him for his assistance (and from what he heard, it most certainly was...).
They would have no more than a cycle or two to wait...
All was ready for his departure.
He planned to return in a relatively short timespan, a few cycles at most, but beings like him tended to have a marked aversion towards leaving their lair, no matter for how short a time. Obviously, being a planeswalker made everything easier...and harder at the same time, no matter one's proximity to the enlightened oblivion of the True Death.
Aside from the comfort of his infrastructures, be it defensive systems, crafting stations and supplies or simply his vast selection of tomes and the secluded tranquillity needed to study them, he had to protect the very source of his immortality: the black heart pulsating unlife into the long-dead carcass that was his body.
He had worked extremely hard to achieve eternity, defying all odds and actually barely succeeding...His disposition to leave the safety of that unassuming, yet all-important black gem to anything but his very own hands was nonexistent.
The Reaper and his other more advanced creations would help with that matter, as well as the return of Denna, supplying the keen senses and sharp intellect his creatures did not have.
Now, he just needed to notify the Mortuary he would be absent for a few candlemarks, in case any of his contacts or the Harmonium itself finally decided it was time to ask him for his assistance (and from what he heard, it most certainly was...).
They would have no more than a cycle or two to wait...
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*Melmoth
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31) Politics
The Sun Elven maiden that went by the name of Anthea carried herself with the confidence of someone knowing she was as attractive as she was important, her presence in stark contrast with the staleness of the dusty crypt under the Mortuary he had chosen as location for their meeting. She exited the meeting with the same grace with which she entered it, and it was something of note, when the meeting in question was a one-to-one with him.
If it was certainly true she was very attractive, as well as an eloquent speaker, but it was just as true that he was well beyond her charms. Decades of death will do that to a man...well, unless he's a Vampire...those seem to keep a certain appetite for such things...
The proposal itself was interesting, the motivations well grounded...he could easily believe she had gathered significant support with it, as his sister in Death Cere stated. Since he believed the Dead should become much more involved with the City's politics (and it would be no big effort, since as far as he could tell, their involvement in the last few years amounted to something awfully close to zero...), this seemed like the right opportunity to set the wheel in motion.
There was only one thing that kept refusing to fit into the picture: her offer. In exchange for his support, he offered him to - how was it she had put it? - "clear his name", that was it...
As amusing as he found the statement itself (the problem wasn't really his name, so much as his face...), the implications were very interesting: either one of his associates directly leaked information about him or, even worse, they unwittingly let them slip...or this Anthea had better access to the Harmonium (and thus, to Measure One Nica) than he suspected was possible for anybody extern.
Either way, he was intrigued.
He would send her a missive, and take a look at her hand.
After all, he was no longer so often amused that he could pass up such an opportunity when it presented itself...
The Sun Elven maiden that went by the name of Anthea carried herself with the confidence of someone knowing she was as attractive as she was important, her presence in stark contrast with the staleness of the dusty crypt under the Mortuary he had chosen as location for their meeting. She exited the meeting with the same grace with which she entered it, and it was something of note, when the meeting in question was a one-to-one with him.
If it was certainly true she was very attractive, as well as an eloquent speaker, but it was just as true that he was well beyond her charms. Decades of death will do that to a man...well, unless he's a Vampire...those seem to keep a certain appetite for such things...
The proposal itself was interesting, the motivations well grounded...he could easily believe she had gathered significant support with it, as his sister in Death Cere stated. Since he believed the Dead should become much more involved with the City's politics (and it would be no big effort, since as far as he could tell, their involvement in the last few years amounted to something awfully close to zero...), this seemed like the right opportunity to set the wheel in motion.
There was only one thing that kept refusing to fit into the picture: her offer. In exchange for his support, he offered him to - how was it she had put it? - "clear his name", that was it...
As amusing as he found the statement itself (the problem wasn't really his name, so much as his face...), the implications were very interesting: either one of his associates directly leaked information about him or, even worse, they unwittingly let them slip...or this Anthea had better access to the Harmonium (and thus, to Measure One Nica) than he suspected was possible for anybody extern.
Either way, he was intrigued.
He would send her a missive, and take a look at her hand.
After all, he was no longer so often amused that he could pass up such an opportunity when it presented itself...