Kreim is a bustling city-state overlooking the Sea of Mists atop a towering cliffside. Trade roads lead down to the port-city Meland that serves as a trade hub and defense against attackers from the sea for Kreim while tall city walls guard from land-bound invading forces.
The majority of the city's architecture is human, but with some dwarven and even elven influence in some sectors. The City Hall, Averin's Keep, is built of shaped stone, inlaid with mithral filigree and topped with a reinforced wooden roof. The Hall, or Keep, features its own walls, behind which are hidden some of the most impressive craftswork in the shape of statues and even a variety of murals upon the inner walls. A large fountain holds the center and is the first thing one sees when entering the grounds. It is a statue of the founder of Kreim, Averin Valisaren. Said to be an unrivaled warrior of great charisma who lead an army across the vast deserts and finally to Kreim, defeating all who opposed him. Jets of water stream up and out from the center, to give the illusion of a cylindrical-like shape that is spinning in place.
Known for its export of fish and pearls, Kreim is a wealthy city. Though there are districts that have fallen to chaos and slum as it grew in size and population. Another well-known attribute of the city is the rumors of corruption of the local government of late.
However chaotic Kreim and Meland might be, they unite under pressure from opposing forces and no such force has yet to breach their walls, or defeat the port-fortress of Meland or its grand fleet of ships. The army at Kreim's command is legion, and many of its officers have earned a reputation among rival lords as brutal and unforgiving warriors.
And possibly more sinister than a corrupt government with command of a grand army, a darker, deeper secret lies in the core of Kreim. A network of portals to other worlds, where only the greatest of fighters are posted as safeguards against possible invasion. Whispers of rumors trickle down to the common folk of alien creatures and people walking the streets at night.
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In the bowels of Kreim, deep within Averin's Keep a guard stands vigilant at the Shadow Portal. A tall man, apparently human, adorned in finely made, blue-tinted scale armor and a great halberd upon his back stands ready in the center of the room.
The circular room is well-lit with torches upon the wall, with doors leading in each direction, north, east, west and south. Each of these is a portal to different locations on the Shadow Plane. It has been long since any disturbances here, but the guard stands vigilant.
There was a silence here, and a darkness just beyond the edges of perception that bore down on ones will. Extended periods of time here have often resulted in guards going mad with fear, and abandoning their post. Kelen Thenys, the guard currently posted has lasted longer than all of them. And even when the lights shimmer and die around him, his poise holds strong as he assumes a ready stance, drawing his halberd with both hands as he waits and listens.
Traversing down the hallways the sound of echoing footsteps gave a metronome effect. Eerie and hollow a dark figure made his way patiently through the fortress. Wielding a scythe which was drenched in blood and an occassional droplet would make its way down its shaft to leave a trail on the marble floors. His movement causing the metal protecting his person to give grunts of stress and or relief creating chorus to his footsteps. The driftwood mask placed over his face gave his embodiment a menacing and creepy shape as well as enhanced his aura. It was shaped similarly to the masks of the kitsune faces, but eerie, cold and darker. In the background wherever a guard had once stood instead lay in a pool of their own blood, the light illuminating the scenes of terror and slash art now scattered randomly amongst the walls. A scent of death, fear and hate filled the once safe corridor. His goal of returning to the plane of shadow was only temporary, in hopes to find more power to initiate his plans he'd only just set into motion. Since entering this cursed hallway his attention had been on who was infront of him.
Kelen, wary of potential attackers from both flanks turns to regard the portal and the man approaching from the hall with a steely gaze as he holds ready for an attack from either target.
"Move..."
Cautiously Kurai approaches closer towards the man guarding the portal, cold occasional breathes are heard coming from under his mask as it is the only feature seen in place of his face.
The guards' lips tighten and a keen eye could see that some of the color had drained from his face, but he stood his ground. "I'm afraid this is a restricted area, if you do not leave now I'll be forced to bring you in."
His eyes fall to the scythe in your hands and the blood dripping from the blade to the stone below and swallows. "Leave now, the consequences for trespassing here are steep. If you go now I'll forget I ever saw you."
Then his left hand raises to rest curled inwards against his chest, seeming to grasp something about his neck as he awaits Kurai's response.
From time to time, his gaze will shoot off toward one of the portals then back, as if he expected something to jump out at him from the darkness and smoke that had begun to spread about the room.
It had been long since he'd traversed to the material plane, and he had not expected that his journey be routed by a 3rd party. Expecting to appear before the gates of his ancestral home in Bruma, Jegan quickly steeled himself for the unknown as he approached a dark hallway with a lone guard. With little effort, he melted into the shadows, blending in perfectly as if they were family welcoming him home.
His appearance at first appeared to have gone unnoticed, but soon the guards darting gazes spoke the truth and the blade in his hand, held in a reverse-grip sang with a silent scream as if craving for blood as he began to run simulations in his mind for what was to come.
Before too long, another appeared in the old chamber. If he were to guess, Jegan would bet against any odds that this new arrival was no friend to the guard. Given of course the bloody scythe he held in his hands. Perhaps he could simply wait it out, but he quashed that line of thought when he saw the whistle the man dug out from beneath his shirt and clung to as if it would keep him safe.
Deciding that action was the better course, he outstretched his yet free hand toward the lone guard and as the shadows themselves begun to coil about his arm, loosed his innate magic that would remove any trace of his existence from the man's mind.
Kelen's eyes went blank, as did his expression before shifting back to a wary stare as he repeats his request to Kurai. "I'm afraid this is a restricted area, if you do not leave now I'll be forced to bring you in."
"I said move" now with some additional fierceness heard in his raspy voice he moved even closer raising his scythe once more preparing for the kill.
The intent to kill filled the empty darkness which escaped his being in one fell swoop. The aura he'd seemingly released flared instead, to reveal an even more immense power. That of which made the air in the corridor feel heavy. His mixture of calm movements in addition to precise aim only aided him towards becoming a monster in the presence of any whom still were left alive and or watching.
As Kurai raised his weapon to strike, the guard brought the whistle in his hand to his lips and blew as hard as he could, knowing deep down that he was doomed he would fulfill his duty and sound the alert. The whistle shrieked loudly in the stone halls, echoing off the walls as it traveled.
Then the scythe bit into a gap in the man's armor as he tried to dodge, scoring deep into the flesh of his neck and severing his head, rendering the whistling into a bloody gurgling horror of a sound before he fell limp and silent before Kurai.
Admiring the exemplary bladework, Jegan slowly stands and calls out from the shadows of the portal door before stepping out into plain sight, seemingly breaking away from the shadows as if part of them.
Clad in black leather armor from head to toe, Jegan stands about 5' 9", is slenderly built and wears a finely made, wolf's fur cloak over his shoulders that drapes down just above his ankles. A black cloth mask covers the bottom portion of his face, and his black hair is stylishly cut. His skin is pale, as if he hadn't an ounce of sunlight in years, and his eyes are a vivid lavender/violet. He carries himself with total confidence and his voice is a charismatic baritone.
"They'll surely have guards swarming this place within a minute. I don't know who you are nor what you're here for, but I can help you get out of here." His eyes drop to the small crest of an eagle emblazoned on the slain guards' armor, then back to you. "Our goals may be compatible. Unless of course, you'd also like me to move. In which case, I would think I'd prove smarter than my predecessor here and actually move."
Following through with his swing, Kurai smiled to himself from beneath his mask before raising his head ever so slightly to acknowledge the newcomer's presence. He stood there silently eyeing the man, noting that while he wasn't a guard of any he had killed in Kreim, he wasn't cleared from being a threat. At least he had sense about him, though he too wondered why he was here at this time... Leaning he grabbed the headless guard, rolling his lifeless corpse over with one arm to begin looting anything of worth off of him.
"Who are you, why are you here and how long have you been here?" Kurai asked as he was searching the man. The splatter of gushing blood became more and more feint as it slowed yet littered the floor.
After a brief moment Kurai would again stand all the while looking at the mysterious man. The sound of clanging metal echoed from a distance down the halls of these, now desecrated, corridors. "how do you plan on getting away?"
Pulling out a trap and kneeling once more, Kurai covers it lightly with some cloth from the late guards apparel. Leaving it right alongside his body seemingly unnoticeable now the trap being hidden better via the blood and tattered cloth, he hastily fastened it to then dead guards' body.
Should the newcomer guards not see it and approach, the first victim would take...
Grinning from behind his own mask as Kurai placed his trap, Jegan began to circle the room rather absent-mindedly. Though it was plain to the practiced eye that it wasn't. He was always careful to remain just outside of Kurai's range, and his eyes noted every movement. "I am Jegan. As for why I am here, I was betrayed. And I've only just arrived, though I did get to witness just how weak in the knees Sir Doesn't-Move-A-Lot here got when you showed up." He tossed a thumb indicating the fallen guard before stopping at the hall opposite from the portal he came in. To the right of Kurai's current position.
"I'm not so much aiming to get out as I am to get somewhere else. I simply do not want to be seen. If you come with me, I can lead you to the old escape tunnels. They come out into some unused sewer systems just outside the wall. But I would like to meet someone before we leave, if they're still here. If that's not too much trouble. But that would involve going up, and into more populated areas of the Keep."
Reflecting on Jegan's words Kurai felt pressure of the incoming guards weighing on his decision. Though at first he wanted nothing to do with this man, only his goals were in mind, something intrigued him about the statement. "So you broke into this plane to get somewhere else, and have someone you want to meet here?... I seek few things, of which I believe I can find on the plane you just came from... So tell me,... Why should I help you?"
He glanced over his back, turning his head to keep the same pace as Jegan as he was circled. Re equipping his scythe, he awaited a response.
Jegan, ever the epitome of patience begins to walk away as the guards seem to close in on your position. But he stops and calls back to you, "Well, if you trust these portals to take you where you need to go, then I suppose you have no reason at all to come with me. I personally do not. I am clearly several tendays away from my destination. In any case, if there's something you're after, perhaps an arrangement can be made."
Standing in the darkened chamber, you begin to see the glow of a torch in the distance ahead of you and the sound of footsteps were growing steadily louder.
"an arrangement?... You seem all too confident without knowing what I seek." Now glancing over his shoulder at the lights dimly glowing brighter as they approach, Kurai sighs a heavy sigh. " I do not trust you, pray you do not dissappoint me for I'm not in the best of moods tonight." He brandishes his weapon with a slight flick making the excess blood splatter to the floor almost artistically. "show me what you speak of Jegan"
As Jegan would move, so would Kurai.
Content with the fact that Kurai had chosen to follow, even just for the moment, Jegan made off down the long hall. Periodically he would look back over his shoulders to determine whether the guards had caught sight of them and followed. But as was soon apparent, they must have been waylaid by Kurai's trap. "They'll split up." He said one such time. "We should reach the next level before they catch up, but we should dispose of our friends there before we do. They'll be trouble if they follow us any further."
Jegan continued for some moments longer. Along the way are small alcoves where torches can be placed on the wall, but they were all empty. Soon you see another chamber lit up ahead. Jegan draws a short, slightly curved blade from its sheath on his shoulder and stops. "Let us wait for them here, if memory serves there should be two guards at the doors ahead. While I like parties, that one could get a bit out of hand even for me."
He then dashes into the alcove and presses himself against the wall, crouching low. There was room enough for two. Behind you it was as he said, torchlight illuminated the silhouttes of two guards making their way to you even then.
Nodding, Kurai acknowledged Jegan's proposal. "Hiding is not my forte"... yet following in suit he hides from sight in the alcove opposite of him. Noticing while getting in position that the silhouettes were nearing and only moments away he readies his weapon to strike one down.
Footsteps draw nearer as you wait in the shadows, then a whisper of a sound before a body crumples to the floor. The torch fell to the stone, rattling through the halls as it then rolled across the floor. After which, a woman calls out to you. "Jegan, I told you never to come here again. Last time I covered up for you, I was nearly killed. Had to pull in some major favors to keep my job. Do you know how crippling that little incident was for my business?"
Whoever it was stopped several paces from you. Beside you Jegan seemed to relax slightly and stepped out from the alcove, motioning for you to hold your position. He turned to regard the woman for a moment before she spoke again, her tone stern and threatening. "Take off the mask. Slowly."
From where you stood, you could see his eyes as he looked on whoever this woman was. There was something there, suggesting some bond but the nature of it eludes you. Jegan complied, raising his free hand slowly to then pull the mask down to rest at his neck. His face had it's charm, anyone could see that, that is, if they could look past the horrid scar that ran from the left edge of his mouth, back and all the way up to his hairline behind his ear. With some deliberation, you could determine that he had been victim to a particularly nasty torture. When the woman spoke again, her breath caught on the first word, sounding overwhelmed with relief. "Y-You still owe me a throne."
Jegan grinned, the contortion to his face doing odd things to the roped scar, before redonning his mask. "I need to get to Araskr, Illiea. Ruergh has betrayed me, and I suspect larger things at work after the kings death. It's not safe for me to use the Ways."
Moments pass, and you note that thoughout the exchange, he betrays little to nothing that would suggest you were there.
-Posted with Wayfinder
You know that Araskr belongs to a well known merchant family, famous for their great vineyard and political influence. The inhabitants are said to have bases of operation on several planes of existence.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Though he secretly wanted to kill this newcomer, Kurai decided that more info was more important for the time being. He would ready an action to strike should any action