Correspondance: Ikashev.

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Kent
Posts: 262
Character: Requiescat In Pace

The Struggles of a Courier, Act V

Post by Kent » May 26th, 2022, 6:17 pm

The courier paused, his stomach curling. He had seen bodies tossed upon the pyres that burned day and night outside the fort, but he had never been so close to an immolated human before. Nausea overwhelmed him, but it behooved him to examine the corpse. That is when he spotted the ring upon the finger. Slipping the envelope free from his sweat-soaked sleeve he compared the intaglio upon the seal and the ring: it was a 'dead' match.

Something struck him as peculiar, however. At that very same pyre in his youth he had seen the descent of the vultures upon the corpses once they had burned for a time, seeking to plunder from the dead as the watchful eyes of the republic officials tending to the pyre were turned. Tapping his chin, he considered it for a moment. They had always struggled with rings and bracelets as they had, he supposed, baked into the flesh of the recently deceased. This ring, on the other hand, had come free and easy.

Things were certainly becoming more interesting. Someone had placed this ring here: likely the illusive Ikashev himself. More concerningly, a man had been killed. Peering down at the envelope in his hand he considered cracking the waxen seal. What could be in this letter that a man would be driven to murder to avoid receiving it? The ways of the Old-town crews were swamped in mystery, and they did not take kindly to inquiries. Perhaps it was a death sentence, one he had been chosen to deliver by chance alone. That would explain the high bounty and many other things.

Peering upwards towards the waning sun and the now orange-hued horizon, he began to prepare himself. Clenching his teeth and sliding the coarsely manufactured envelope back into the sleeve of his sack-cloth shirt. Spending any more time here would be unhealthy for him in more ways than one. Taking one final glance around the scene for clues he once again set foot upon the trail of Ikashev

Lamora
Posts: 34
Character: Erilian Lamora

Re: Correspondance: Ikashev.

Post by Lamora » May 26th, 2022, 6:44 pm

And clue he found, conveniently placed within the tall grass just off the roadside. A small pouch, pulling the string revealed a fine blue powder residing within. The courier may have heard of this substance known commonly as 'Infused Particulate' before. It was said, the courier could recall, that witchkin used this powder to turn children into foul daemons and servants of Ill. And that the witches would snort it during their heathenistic orgies to bring forth horrendous trolls and pox-stricken goblins from other planes. It was said these creatures would eagerly join the witches in the festivities and give birth to abominations. It was also said that the strange people of Bright Lantern accepted this substance as a form of payment in exchange for narcotics. A lead or another misdirection?

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Kent
Posts: 262
Character: Requiescat In Pace

The Struggles of a Courier, Act VI

Post by Kent » May 26th, 2022, 6:53 pm

Spotting the pouch and examining the contents, the Courier chuckled to himself, then quickly clasped a hand around his mouth. He did not wish to be seen laughing over the body of a dead man, but he could not help himself. Perhaps he had given too much credit to his quarry: this was an obvious plant.

He pondered it for a moment, recalling the wisdom his brother had offered him in those rare moments in which they were permitted to visit. His elder brother was conscripted into the Fort Prae Militia around two years ago, and that had made things harder for the family. His pay, he told Mama one evening, was the food and bunk provided to him by the arrogant Captain of the fort's forces. He clenched his teeth once more in that habitual way that Mama so despised, but things were finally coming to a head. It had been a very long day indeed.

Taking one final dismissive look at the pouch, he once again put boot to dirt and departed for the cooling trail of Ikashev

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