A Legacy of Revenge, Part 1: The Strange Visitor *EDITED*

[Avathius]

"A few years ago, but still before you were born, my boy, we had somethin' strange happen in the Kada-El tavern. Most of the guild won't talk about it, but I think it's about time you know.

Me and Hom Sawers were standin' at the bar with the rest o' the crew, tellin' stories and exchangin' laughs with each 'otha. It was a normal day, as normal as most days in Hydlaa. Young boys were searchin' for drop bears under the trees near Harnquist's forge, the guards were makin' their daily rounds. Even that strange Diaboli fella was walkin' aimlessly around, pointin' at people like some cleric of Talad sayin' "repent!", tellin' people that they weren't 'The One.' Strange fella, prob'ly spent too much time with those serpent gobbles. Thems boys gobbles mess with your head like none under the crystal."

Grandfather Laras laughed, obviously in remembrance of his time spent with the strange gobble-folk near the rivers of Yliakum.

"Well, in otha' words, the day was pretty darned normal. I remember it like it was yesterday:

So thar's we were, sittin' at the bar"

–––"I thought you were standing, grandfather!"

"Ah, aren't you a smart 'un. Yeah, we was standin'. Maybe I don' remember it as much as I thought!" Grandfather chuckled again, then continued. "So we was sittin'"

–––"Standing!"

"... at the bar, orderin' our drinks. I don't know about that new barmaid there, she seems a bit shifty, but back in the day we had a mean old Kran named Momma Kozo. And by Talad, she served the best brandy in the top layer!

But now I'm a'gettin' off topic. So there's we was, standin' at the bar, orderin' them brandy we was so darned fond of, when suddenly, a wind–a strong wind, unlike anythin' we had eva seen before–blew through the tavern and shook us to our very bones! 'Sept for Momma Kozo, she din't have bones!"

–––"Why didn't Momma Kozo have any bones grandfather?"

"Boy, what's gotten into you? You so darn dumb that you don't know what Kran is made out of?" Grandfather Laras slapped the young lad in the back of the head. "Now pay attention, the story's just about pickin' up...

Now, this wind harkn'ed a storm, and a storm it was! We darned found ourselves takin' shelter inside the Kada-El while the crystal poured down water and lightnin.' And with that storm, a little small man came in."

Now, this little small man was a tiny fella, wrapped in a big ol' cloak that looked like it could fit a 'ulbernut on his figure. Acturely, I still ain't sure he was a man. Nobody really knows who he is, he just blew in the doorway with his little head all hidden in that big ol' cloak. So this small little man stepped up to the bar, all yonder eyes watchin' his ev'ry move as he stepped across the room. He stood up at the bar and ordered one of the very brandy we was drinkin.' After he got his booze, he sat down at a table, eyes scannin' the room like some darned rogue. After an awkward silence that wus only prolonged by the noises of that storm a'outside, some brave Ynnwn decided to a'ask this stranger a question."

Grandfather's eyes darkened.

The Ynnwn asked: 'Now, a'where did ya come from, sir?' And ya know what the little small man said? He just said that he come from Yliakum. Well, duh! Who don't come from Yliakum? After implorin' a bit further, the Ynnwn finally got an answer from the little small man. He asked what layer the little small man a'came from, and you know what the little small man said?"

–––"What did he say, grandfather?"

"The darned soul said he din't come from no layers. He said he come from places where water don't drip, where people don't sleep. I remember his words like it was yesterday. Those was his exact words, and theys shook me to the bone! But not Momma Kozo, o'course. She din't have bones.

And then you know what the little small man did then? He stood up, all his height. Darn, he looked like a dwarf! His little head was still cover'd by that little cloak, so as you could only see his eyes peekin' out from between the covers. And when he stood up on the top of that table, he said these words:

'Gather 'round, all ye peoples of Yliakum! Fer I come to entertain ye!' We all a'cautiously as klyros came 'round the table he was a'standin' on, wondrin' what he means. The little small man continued:
'Ye is about to see what nobody has seen on this side of the world before! Ye gonna see thins that might shake ye, things that might make ye fear, things that might make ye scream.'
A deadthly hush went over the crowd as the little small man plucked out a small, red ribbon from insides his cloak. And ya know what he did with this ribbon? He a'took it, and a'snapped it in 'is hands, and there was two ribbons! Howeva, the crowd was unimpressed. The little small man was as undaunted as an arangma lookin' down the gullet of a consumer. More borin' tricks occurred, an' people started ta leave, but me and an around twenty-so othas still stayed. We knowed the little small man was obviously an amature, he din't know how to work magics. But we sat on, findin' this a bit humerus. The little small man then went an' pulled a small yulber out ah' his cloak. We all a' gasped in astownisment: it can't have had a'been thar before! But it was, and it wiggled an' squirmed on the ground like some crazy man from a gobble town. I tell you, boy, thems boys gobbles mess with your head like none under the crystal."
"Now ah' what he did with this little yulber was somethin' truly amazin!' For lo an' behold, he grabbed the yulber below the jaw an' pulled its skin clean off! But when the ah' skin came off, so did the yulber, meanin' the yulber disappeared, poor thin'! It plain out disappeared into thin-air! It was the most darned amazin' thin' we had eva seen. Hearing our ex'laimations of awe, people started a'comin' back. But you know what the little small man did then?"

–––"What did he do, grandfather?"

Quiet up an' let me tell the story. The little small man said these same words: 'Now, I'm a-going to perform the greatest trick yet, the greatest trick of all.' He pulled out a little pouch from inside that mysterious cloak of 'is..."

Suddenly, grandfather's eyes darkened. He continued at a slow, monotonous pace.

"The little small man told us he was goin' to.... he was goin' to.... souls...., just like that. We was all mezmerized... so mezmerized. I don' very much remember much afta that, though, not much afta that. Neitha did anybody else. All I rememba is that after he did what he did, the little man snapped his fingas and disappeared, just like that." Grandfather's eyes wandered.
"... just like that. Just... like..."

–––"Grandfather?"

Grandfather's eyes were blank and expressionless. His mouth hung ajar, and no words came out. I stared on at his face.

–––"Grandfather!"

In the back of my mind, I swore I could hear someone laughing. "Just like that!" It said, cackling, "Just like that, just like that, just like that, just like that, just like that, just like that..."

–––"Make it stop!" I screamed, clutching my ears so hard my knuckles turned white and my fingernails dug ruts in my skull, drawing blood that poured down my face. And still, the menacing cackle continued. I still hear that cackle to this day. It haunts my dreams and memories. And since then, I will hunt him. The one who takes souls. I would avenge what happened to my clan that fateful night. My name is Azeragh, and this is my story.

[Avathius]

Chapter 1:

The rogue stole away in the night, leaping from building top to building top. Though nobody could see behind the veil he wore, the determination on his scarred face was evident even through the folds of the fabric. He was wanted by the Hydlaa guardsmen, and the rogue knew this. As one of the soldiers rounded a corner, he stole away behind the chimney of a large house, peering around the corner every second to watch the guard's movements. But this guard, like all the other sentinels of Hydlaa, was skilled. His eyesight had been trained to watch for thieves and felons who could not escape from Hydlaa's ramparts. However, this rogue was different. The guard had sworn he saw someone on the rooftops, but the rogue whispered something to himself. The guard turned around quickly, ears wide and listening, every gust of slight wind in the night sending signals to his eardrums. His keen Enkedukai hearing had detected the whispers. Spear raised, he looked around even more. But the rogue had already escaped, his black cloak fluttering like the guard's eyelids as the sleeping charm took effect.
The Otarchy was just ahead. The rogue's heart was pounding in his chest. It had been long since he had stepped inside the walls of Hydlaa--so much had changed. No longer did he dwell in the plains of Yliakum's top layer. He was a stalking beast of the city, every sense attuned not to the feel of the wild, but to the unfamiliar urban atmosphere. His claws bit into not dirt, but cobblestone. His fangs groped for bread, not cooked meat. The rogue's mind completely changed to fit the city.
There were guards swarming the Otarchy building, even at night-time when its inside residents were asleep. But the rogue did not pay attention to the guards; there was a window on the top floor that he could steal through. Clinging with all his strength to the sill and yet not making a sound, the rogue silently and quickly slid the window open. In the inside room, the Chancellor was waiting. Scroll held in hand, he approached the rogue. The silent figure pulled back his hood, revealing a Dermorian visage, but with strikingly black hair--unusual if not downright abnormal for his race--and a face adorned with a myriad of painful-looking tatoos. "Azeragh." The chancellor said, slowly approaching the Dermorian. Even with his trained eye, the rogue did not see the silver dagger skillfully hidden beneath the Otarch's flowing robes. It was evident the chancellor did not entirely trust the man he faced. "It's about time you got here."
"I had a bit of a hold up. You need to station less guards at night."
The Otarch smirked. "More the merrier. Besides, with more guards we would be all the more likely to catch some of the less... desirable ones who come through here."
"Your guards couldn't catch me. Why bother with the younglings when the deadly ones are what you need to worry about?" The chancellor tightened his grip on the dagger. "Well," he said, "never mind that. Do you have the package?"
"Yes." Azeragh held out a small pouch that had been concealed in the black recesses of his cloak. The chancellor's eyes gleamed with human greed, and he reached for the package. The rogue drew back. "Ah-ah! Give me what I ask for, first." The chancellor frowned. He did not want to give up his scroll. The Otarch held out the scroll in a hand wizened with age and abruptly dropped it on the ground. Azeragh did the same, and then both figures kicked the items across the floor towards each other, a gesture of mistrust. Azeragh glared.
"Are you sure this is the map I'm looking for?"
"You can only find such a map in my hands." Azeragh put his hand on the hilt of his longsword. "Watch your tongue, chancellor. I know the devious ways of the Otarchy. I ask once again: is this the map?" A glimmer of deceit flashed through the pupils of the chancellor, one that Azeragh noticed; he did not show his observance on his face, however, but he knew he had been tricked.
"Yes." The chancellor said, unaware of the uneasiness in his whining voice. "Yes it is."
"Very well." Azeragh pulled the window open again, silently as before. Crawling in, he directed his gaze to the Otarch. "I offer one last warning. If this be another trick in your endless pursuit of golden Circles, it will not quake my soul to slowly disembowel you." Pure terror flashed in the chancellor's eyes, and with a scream he slammed the window shut. The guards looked up just after Azeragh leapt to a nearby rooftop, out of sight.
"Guards! Guards!" The chancellor shouted from his window. "Search the city! A villain is among us!"
There was a woosh, a whir through the air as an almost-silent arrow glided down. It pierced the glass of the window, shattering the crystalline panes. The arrow tacked the chancellor to the wall by his temples. Glass shards, expelled by the force of the arrow's descent, tore through his face and his clothing. The blood spattered so that the chancellor's wrinkled face was barely recognizable amidst the gore.
...For it was not the map he sought for that Azeragh now held in his hands as he put away his spellbook. No, the Otarch had deceived him, given him a commoner's map of Hydlaa instead of a guide through the catacombs that the Dermorian had hoped for. It was in the Catacombs that the Balesman dwelt, with his jar of souls. And it was the inner workings of the Catacombs that Azeragh needed to know. No longer caring if he broke his cover, the Dermorian let out a frustrated cry, an angry cry that shook the denizens of Hydlaa to the bone.
The search went on, but only in the early hours of the day-time did they find the chancellor's quarters and his blood-sodden corpse. The room had been ransacked hours before. The rogue stole away once again--his destination was the Library. Maybe there he could find answers.

[Avathius]

I'm getting bored with this story, and I'm too busy with work and school to continue it, and frankly, it's getting really cheesy.

[Oronec]

A cliffhanger? I disapprove of your reasoning, good sir. Continue, or I will riot... single handedly.  

[Avathius]

I'll get to it in my spare time. Right now I have to study like crazy for final exams, I have 2 pictures due for a website, and I'm working on a graphic novel that I can't say is going smoothly. I honestly can't believe you liked it, because I think I did a crappy job lol.