No Mercy Twice

Posted in Uncategorized on June 5, 2026 by crow1971

[13:04:14] Crow (melchior.wardell) settled and simply observed and listens. He knew that Vesper as much as himself hardly ever repeated themselves and after the scene in Teletus he doubted Vesper was in the mood to be challenged. Surely now Betram did not seem to be where they both hoped to find him. The riddle of the missing tharlarions grew bigger by the ihn. “Again that is not the full story … now … you have been warned.” he simply stated as he would tip his head to Helga and ordered himself a milk.

[13:08:25] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) nodded slowly as Crow spoke. He had spent a good portion of the last 600 years watching how Crow worked. He’d been trained well by the man. He didn’t speak again….that was his first mercy given to the girl. Those who knew him best understand that a single mercy was never repeated twice. His eyes bore into her deeply as his fingers started to run a one two three four rhythm upon his fan.

[13:12:48] KeDjA (lilli.breda) lifts her head slightly when Crow’s voice rings out. Her eyes sparkle for a moment because he’s meddling again, making sure the situation could become even more unpleasant for her. As if he were enjoying it. She just couldn’t figure this man out. Cornered, she begins to interlace her fingers and turns her attention back to Vesper, who simply looks at her and remains silent. A few heartbeats pass before she continues hesitantly, “I’ve probably gone too far into the forest. The panthers… one of their arrows hit me.” It was stupid. She knew it herself. And that was probably why she’d simply wanted to keep quiet about it and had treated the wound herself as best she could. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any pants, so she couldn’t hide the bandage. Next time, she’ll just steal a pair of Crow’s pants. So.

[13:16:29] Crow (melchior.wardell) had received his milk when he listens to Kedja’s story. “Seems these panther girls are blindfolded and shoot randomly.” he stated. “Why aim on the knees ?” he pondered. He would take a good gulp of his milk. “So you only looked at it ? Did it penetrate ?” he asks matter of factly. The tone of his voice held little care although his questions could indicate otherwise. “If it did we might need to find a physician to look into it. Such wounds could fester and who might make me my black wine then ?”

[13:21:07] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) felt the pull happen and he looked out the door and just caught a flash of black and purple moving past. As Kedja finally replied, his hand moved from the fan. He spun in his tracks and he went to sit down next to Crow, “It’s good to know that those old stories still have weight…” he said of not having to repeat himself. “…I don’t like having to pay compensation needlessly.”

[13:21:35] Helga: Heya adventurer! The Inn is truly the best place to stay. Going further … I can’t say I ever saw someone return.

[13:23:45] KeDjA (lilli.breda) presses her lips together. “It’s just a small cut. There’s no need for a physician, and even if there were, you’d surely find a slave to prepare some black wine for you, Master.” Her green eyes darken slightly. It wasn’t that she considered herself irreplaceable. No, quite the opposite. It was the way he spoke that irritated her. Of course. Fire and oil. Although sometimes he acted like a bucket of cold water. Vesper’s insinuation makes her shudder briefly, and she has to pull herself together not to take a step back. She shifts her bare feet slightly, as if to keep herself rooted in place until he moves away from her. Only then do her shoulders drop again.

[13:27:36] Crow (melchior.wardell) nodded thoughtfully to Vesper. The man was right. The threat was often enough for others to fall in line. Although some might still be foolish enough to try. “Show me.” he commands the girl as he pointed beside him. “As you have been untruthful at the beginning it being nothing … and now it is already a cut.” he stated leaving nothing to guess as to his annoyance of it. “Why is it so difficult to be direct and speak your mind?” he muttured. “One moment she is all flash and fire and the next she tries to hide behind a tree and tries to convince us that she is merely its shadow.”

[13:32:40] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) looked over at Helga and ordered “Black wine and bread” before pointing in front of him, He had watched Kedja long enough now to make an assessment, but he did not speak it just yet. His eyes just continued to watch her to see if what she did next, whether it fit with the pattern.

[13:34:38] KeDjA (lilli.breda) snorts lightly, “because with you, you never know what you’re allowed to say… Master,” pausing briefly before the title. She always does that when anger starts to well up inside her. Of course, she could have told him everything right away, but everyone who knows her knows that she doesn’t take herself seriously enough. Not even when she’s hurt. It wasn’t anything dramatic; she won’t die from it—at least, that’s what the writer hopes—so she plays it down. And besides, it made her uncomfortable. Still, she gets moving. Maybe because of the threat earlier, maybe because of the anger in his voice. Or because she is a moth and he is the light. She plops down on her butt next to the bench so he can see her left leg.

[13:41:21] Crow (melchior.wardell) had not seen her limping so knew that nothing vital had been harmed, but still a wound by an arrow could become something lethal if not well cared for. “Well that is my propagative.” he commented as to why he could say and demand what he wishes. If the bond thought life was fair than she was surely mistaken, but if she thought it was fair for him – she too had it wrong. His hand although capable of murder could be tender and caring as he would slowly undo the bandages she had binded over her knee. Slowly revealing the wound that seemed indeed to be a minor cut. But still one he wished to clean “Helga can you bring me a bowl of fresh water and some fresh bandages ? Surely the inn has some kind of supply.” he suggested. He didn’t want to use his own as he was already in need for some supplies himself. These damned panther girls had been a pain in his arse too. “So … ” he started to assess. “I think you will live. ” he stated. “But it needs to be cleaned.” he stated. The blood on the bandage thankfully
old. There was no need for black pepper or anything to stop the bleeding. “So … that scroll … what can you tell us about it without of course messing with confidentiality. ” It was not meant to surpass that but there was a concern when it came to the Innkeeper. She was difficult but a woman with purpose.

[13:47:10] Helga: pauses, her heavy wooden tray tucked firmly under one massive arm. She wipes her brow with the back of a calloused hand, her piercing northern eyes darting between Crow and Vesper. A heavy, grim silence hangs over her for a moment before she sighs, the sound like a gust of wind through winter pines. “Water and bandages? Aye, I can fetch those.” she says, her voice a low, gravelly rumble. “But standard linen won’t mend the kind of stupidity that drives folk into those woods. I warned you. The trees have eyes, and they don’t belong to men.” She turns her stern gaze toward Vesper, planting her free hand heavily on her hip. “Bread I have. Fresh from the hearth. But black wine?” She lets out a dark, humorless scoff. “If you’re planning on bleeding out because you didn’t listen to an old woman’s warning, you’ll do it sober on my floor. Strong ale is what you’ll get to dull the pain, or nothing at all.” She leans in a bit closer, her shadow looming over your table. Her voice drops to a harsh whisper. “I heard what you said, bond. Shot by a panther girl, was it? If the forest-kin are hunting this close to the timberline, a bandage isn’t going to save any of us.” With a sharp nod, she turns on her heel, her heavy boots thudding against the floorboards as she heads toward the kitchen.

[13:51:26] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) pulled off his helm and set it to the side. He then watched as Helga gave her surly northern reply, “And I was so bloody charming as well.” came his own deluded reply. “I could have stuck a knife in the center of the table and demanded it….but no….I guess I am no longer dangerous enough to warrant black wine.”

[13:52:56] KeDjA (lilli.breda) tried to block out and ignore his touch as his hands loosened the bandage. Her eyes looked past him, as if that would help her avoid being haunted by memories. She was clearly struggling to stay calm. The innkeeper’s assistant brought a small bowl of water and a few fresh bandages, which were, of course, readily available here. Namika, after all, had often been out in the woods herself after dark, and the blacksmith… well, when he saw a pretty woman, he was prone to dropping his hammer on his toe. She grumbled softly when she was told she’d survived and muttered, “Thanks be to Odin.” She tried to ignore the woman’s warnings just as much as she did Crow’s touch. She’d better focus on other things. Like the scroll: “I don’t know what’s in it. The seal is the mark of a scribe. From Kassau”—that was all the information she had. Vesper’s words, however, brought a brief smile to her lips and caused her anger to dissipate—an anger that, admittedly, had been simmering only slightly within her.

[13:56:26] Crow (melchior.wardell) started to clean the wound with care and focus. He heard Helga and perked up. “Helga, I am not sure what the Innkeeper told you. But it might be wise to keep a different tone with men like us. ” he casually warned. The words he seemed to drift in the air and already held on to some kind of devilish promise. As he continued to clean he would study the bond as to see if she was in pain and to ensure the wound didn’t show any abnormalities that needed more attention. “Will you talk to Ori when he shows himself and let him see this just to be certain.” he knew the clansman skilled in his craft.

[14:01:18] Helga: looks at Vesper first, snorting loudly at his comment about the knife. “Dangerous? You think sticking a piece of iron in my table makes you dangerous, southron?” she rumbles, her voice carrying easily over the chatter of the inn. “I’ve broken the noses of men twice your size for scratching my wood. If you want black wine, earn a black eye first. At least you made the girl smile—Odin knows she looks like she’s already halfway to Valhalla.” Her amusement vanishes instantly as she shifts her gaze to Crow. Her jaw sets, and those piercing northern eyes narrow into hard chips of ice at his ‘casual warning.’ She steps back toward the table, her looming presence casting a long shadow over his medic work. “A different tone?” Helga scoffs, leaning down slightly so Crow can smell the stale ale and hearth-smoke on her breath. “Listen to me, boy. I don’t care if you carry a devil’s promise in your pocket or a horde at your back. In this inn, under this roof, you’re just another bleeding mouth taking up space. You want to threaten me? Do it when you’re not begging for my clean linen to keep your bond from leaking all over my floor.” She straightens up, letting out a sharp, dismissive breath, though her eyes linger on Kedja’s wound for a second with genuine, grim concern. he glares pointedly at Crow, then at Vesper. “…keep your knives in your sheaths and your tongues behind your teeth. I’ll get your bread and black wine.”With a final, heavy snort, she turns her back on them, completely unfazed, and thuds off toward the kitchen.

[14:04:49] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) had thought often on the promise of Ori to stabilize his personalities into some cohesive amalgamation and the words of Crow on the man brought that to the fore. He would turn to Crow and say, “Do you trust Ori to attend to matters of the mind….not just the body?” he inquired of the Killer. But as Helga returned and gave them both a fierce tongue lashing he just looked at her, then looked at Crow, and then at the backside of Helga before saying, “Since Randy is taking a poll, should we send her reply to him by messenger?” It was stated with dry wit and little fanfare.

[14:06:28] KeDjA (lilli.breda) blinks slightly as Crow begins to lecture Helga. Even now, when it doesn’t concern her, his tone triggers that knot in her stomach. The northern woman, however, isn’t intimidated and makes Kedja chuckle briefly. “Oh, that sounds just like home,” she murmurs, trying to pull her leg back a bit before Crow has finished speaking. “It’s fine, Master,” she says quietly, as if she’s uncomfortable with him looking out for her. When he brings Ori into the conversation, she lifts her head and looks at him almost pleadingly. “Oh, do I have to?”

[14:12:14] Crow (melchior.wardell) was for a moment totally flabberghasted by the reply of the woman. Surely if she was by her right mind she would have taken heed of her words. He would let go of Kedja’s knee slowly as he would reach for his dagger slowly. The motion itself seemed to be considered and thoughtful. If one knew what he was capable off that would be a warning enough. He never drew steel unless it truly was meant to speak volumes when words hardly mattered. He could smell the alcohol on her breath as his eyes narrow. Before she was able to head to the kitchen, He called her back. His voice this slithering serpent – a serious warning to watch her tongue. “Your words might be designed to intimidate. But they do not.” he spoke dead serious and every word was given enough air with that natural dominance and authority. “You apoligize right now and do as told. And never dare to speak to me in this manner again.” the dagger glinted in the light of the Inn. He would strike if she dared to come up with another insult.

[14:17:10] Helga: stops dead in her tracks. She doesn’t flinch. She doesn’t gasp. Slow as a glacier, she turns her massive frame back around. Her eyes look down at the glinting steel in Crow’s hand, then slowly drift up to meet his gaze, dead-on. The casual, surly attitude vanishes, replaced by the terrifying, cold stillness of a northern winter. For a woman who handles rowdy blacksmiths, drunk mercenaries, and the constant threat of the woods, a drawn knife isn’t a surprise—it’s a declaration. She leans forward, bringing her chest almost within an inch of the dagger’s point, utterly daring him to drive it home. “Apologize?” she whispers, her voice no longer a rumble, but a low, dangerous hiss that carries an terrifying amount of weight. “To a boy playing with a toothpick in a house that isn’t his?” She slowly lifts her right hand—the one not holding the tray—and reveals a thick, iron-headed meat cleaver tucked into the heavy leather apron at her waist. She doesn’t draw it, but her hand rests on the handle with practiced ease. “You listen to me, ‘master’,” she says, spitting the title like a curse, her eyes locked onto Crow’s with absolute defiance. “You think that little blade makes you a king? I’ve seen men like you bleed out in the dirt over a bowl of cold turnip soup. You come into my town, begging for my help for your broken girl, and you think you can order me around like a dog under your table?” She glares at the dagger, then looks Crow dead in the eye, her jaw rigid. She doesn’t back down an inch. She stands there, a towering wall of northern iron, waiting to see if he’s actually going to use the steel he drew.

[14:20:40] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) watched Crow pull out the blade and his eyes did not flash, nor react. It was as if he had expected that reaction from the Caste Master all along. Nor did his eyes find surprise at the revelation of a meat cleaver. He’d seen many a northern woman like this in his travels and this was when the Killer was at his most deadly, Although his hand moved toward his many quiva on his thigh, his voice never moved above a whisper, “Helga, will you marry me in the Spring….if you live through the night that is.”

[14:21:08] KeDjA (lilli.breda) tenses up immediately as Crow draws the dagger and picks up the used bandage. She now deliberately avoids his gaze as he focuses on Helga. She doesn’t want to see it—and above all, she doesn’t want to hear it. That energetic, calm, yet cold voice would normally make her throw herself at his feet. She casts a pleading glance at Vesper, knowing full well that he won’t intervene. But it’s worth a try. Her voice is soft as she tells him, “I’m going to check again to see if the innkeeper is finally here, Master.” With those words, she hurries out of the dining room and disappears

[14:28:28] Crow (melchior.wardell) was not a fool. He never underestimated women. Even now he had reasoned and calculated the odds. Just as his captain he warned only once. He knew the law and knew that within the Inn there was only the matter of steel. As she presented herself closer to his knife he simply struck. Cold as ice without any reservation. Plunging the knife right there were it would give her a reasonable quick end if he had aimed correctly. He was an assassin and a master in his craft. He did not make empty promises and did not feel that the comparison she had thrown in his face were reasonable or to be true. There was perhaps also this other reason to ensure that those in the proximity of the Inn learned soon and quick that when it came to who reigned it was steel and their gold. He didn’t speak to her. Nor did he wish to be King of the castle. He wished to be met with respect and understanding of what they could bring. With deadly precision he would attempt to end what he had begun. The cleaver was noted and his pose had moved in such a manner that the area she could struck if she managed was very little or to not much harm. “We never repeat ourselves, Captain.” he stated.

[14:32:47] Helga: ‘s massive frame and her momentum leaning forward, Crow’s calculated thrust finds its mark, forcing a wet, strangled gasp from her lungs. The wooden tray slips from her grip, clattering loudly to the floorboards as bread rolls and a pitcher clatter across the wood. But Helga is a daughter of the north, built of sterner stuff than the soft targets of the south. As the cold steel drives into her, her survival instinct overrides everything. She doesn’t drop instantly. With a roar of pure, feral agony and rage, her hand pulls the heavy meat cleaver from her apron. She can’t manage a full, clean swing because of how Crow smartly shifted his posture to minimize his profile, but she throws the sheer weight of her failing body and the iron cleaver forward in a desperate, spiteful counter-attack. Her voice is a ragged, wet wheeze, blood bubbling at the corner of her mouth as she glares at Crow through a haze of sudden, blinding pain. She completely ignores Vesper’s morbid marriage proposal, her entire universe narrowing down to the man who just murdered her. “Curse… you… southron… toad…” she chokes out, the words thick and wet. With her remaining strength, she drives the meat cleaver downward toward Crow’s shifted stance—aiming not for a elegant kill, but simply trying to take whatever piece of him she can reach, whether it’s a shoulder, a thigh, or an arm, wishing to drag him down to the grave with her. “Odin… take… you…” Her legs give out. The sheer weight of her body pulls her off Crow’s embedded dagger, and she crashes heavily against the edge of the wooden table, splintering the bench before hitting the floorboards in a massive, heaving heap. Blood pools rapidly around her leather apron. She twitches once, her fingers loosening their grip on the cleaver, her fierce northern eyes finally glassing over under the dim light of the inn. The common room goes dead, horrifyingly silent, save for the sound of her blood dripping through the cracks in the floorboards.

[14:45:14] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) watched what occurred with a quick detachment of emotions. The words he uttered of the Spring proposal having the designed intent…to distract just that slight amount to create confusion so that the Caste Master could make his kill. He knew without a doubt what would happen the ihn that Crow drew his weapon. The woman was foolish enough to test it. He’d been at the man’s side far too long to even question what happened after that Killer drew steel…the apology would happen or it would be used. His quiva was drawn as he stood and he moved swiftly to the back of the woman’s body. There would be no doubt of her recovery. The quiva was plunged swiftly into the medulla oblongata, the core regulator of vascular circulation and respiration. He twisted the blade at a 45 degree angle and then moved upward and to the right so that the entire region was severed and rendered completely inviable to life. He pulled the quiva out and then cleaned both sides of the blades swiftly by making what resembled a dagger pattern in blood on her back just below the cut made. “Yes, that is correct, we do not repeat ourselves twice. There is black wine in the camp….shall we?”

[14:50:53] Crow (melchior.wardell) had calculated her counter attack. He had not been foolish nor stupid to see that she a firm woman could bring him out of balance if she used her body. The actions of Vesper helping him so the cleaver would only scrape over his thigh. The impact one that he had endured far worse before. There was not a word uttered. A warning of the stain of blood upon the floor. “Let some of the lads (NPC) clean this up.” he stated to his captain. There was a moment of reflection as he looked to his right hand. The woman was not paid for, but he was not a man that would simply take all things upon his chin. Not where the rules of such were grey and only truly measured by steel.

[14:52:28] Helga: ’s life already spent, the sudden, brutal efficiency of Vesper’s quiva ensures there is not even a final, lingering twitch from the massive northern woman. The clinical precision of the strike to her brainstem severs the last remaining threads of her fierce spirit, leaving her body entirely still on the blood-soaked floorboards. The heavy silence of the inn returns, thick with the sharp tang of copper and the smell of spilled ale. Helga lies motionless, a tragic monument to the harsh reality of the frontier, where pride and iron rules are swiftly crushed by the calculated lethality of the Caste. Her final, unuttered response is written only in the dead stare of her glassed-over eyes, reflecting the dim hearth fire, and the steady, dark pool of blood expanding across the tavern floor. She will give no more warnings about the woods, and she will fetch no more bread. With the deed done and the threat neutralized, the path is clear for Crow and Vesper to leave the mess to the Inns underlings and retreat to the safety of their camp, where the black wine awaits.

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The white cloud of Hiroto

Posted in Black Caste, Black Ember Port, Mastery, Uncategorized on June 4, 2026 by crow1971

[04:40:01] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) walked up to the camp and noted the bond. A brief “Tal Kedja.” was offered before he went to collect the offering bowls and then refill them.

[04:41:43] KeDjA (lilli.breda) sets down the clean dishes and looks up when she hears footsteps. “Tal Jarl,” she says, smiling at Vesper and wiping her hands on her tunic as she watches him.

[04:43:17] Crow (melchior.wardell) slammed his brief-opener in the squealing fish so it would stop. It was more of a moment of reflection, to see how hard it was to pierce a dagger into the wood. To feel if there was truly that effect of danger and being the scariest in the room. The fish seemed not to be bothered and continued. He would withdraw the tool and clean it before he would put back to his belt. He would look from one to the other. “Greetings you both. I have good news … Bertram is missing.”
[04:44:42] Crow (melchior.wardell) continued “There is bad news too …. since Klauw is too. So I wonder what might have happened. I doubt they eloped.”

[04:47:55] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) filled up the bowls with water, rice, and a few petals before he noted the older Killer returning to the camp. “Good morning Killer.” He offered with a customary nod and then watched him slam the blade into the table. He smirked, seeing the effect it had on the fish was about the same it had on him….which was negligible. If it had stopped with just the display, he might have chalked it up only to Randy’s effect but the mentioning of Bertram and Klauw missing made an eyebrow raise. “If that damn tharlarion has started a war….again…..I will not be pleased.”

[04:49:15] KeDjA (lilli.breda) flinches slightly when she hears the sound of blades scraping against wood and fish. She shakes her head slightly as she watches the knife and the fish, before Crow pulls the blade away again. When she hears the good news, a cheerful chuckle escapes her for a moment. She clears her throat hastily to cover it up. Especially when he continues speaking. Her head tilts slightly. “Has anyone checked the inn’s kitchen yet?” Both Tharlarions were considered gluttonous, and it stood to reason that they would be enjoying themselves there while their owners attended to other matters. Then she remembers something she’d almost forgotten: “Would you like something to drink, Jarl?” That sentence will haunt either her or him in their dreams at some point. Her eyes sparkle with amusement as she keeps her gaze fixed on Crow.

[04:53:16] Crow (melchior.wardell) arched a brow at the ; I will not be pleased. It was something similar as saying ‘foei’ when men were in a bar-fight. As if that would stop any of them. “Let us hope your beast has no bad influence on mine. Since there is little dissapointment but just murder.” he replied. When Kedja offered a drink he shook his head, but seemed to be taken the offer for something quite normal. “No I am fine for now. I need to find that beast.” he stated. “The Inn might be a good spot to start.” he remembered the sausages the Innkeeper made and the effect they had on Klauw.

[04:58:05] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) looks at the offering bowls and picked them up, “Just a moment and I’ll join the search with you.” His time in Sendai had given him one thing…if anything at all…more of an understanding of what needed to be dealt with right away and what could be taken care of after tending to things that grounded him and provided him structure. He felt the magma flowing in his internal self but did not allow the steam to escape. He moved inside, made his offerings to those he had set space aside for and then moved back out once more.
[05:00:11] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) wiped his hands on the cloth and set it down and then let his teasing begin in earnest, “Well since the bond won’t offer me a drink, let’s head to the inn to see what might be on offer…..perhaps a tharlarion or two.”

[05:02:05] KeDjA (lilli.breda) shrugs when Crow declines a drink. All that mattered to her was the offer itself, not whether he accepted it. She glances back and forth between the two men until Vesper walks toward his tent with the filled bowls. She turns her head to keep an eye on him until he returns. A brief smile plays on her lips. “Oh, forgive me, Jarl. A drink?” she offered. He seemed so busy filling the bowls that it didn’t even occur to her he might be interested in anything else. Until Bertram comes into play.

[05:06:01] Crow (melchior.wardell) spied the girl taking V under observation. A brow arched in curiosity. It meant something was up. He wouldn’t speak of it but waited. Wondering what would come to surface. The shrug was noted too, something that made his jaw set just a bit. As if the mere motion wasn’t in his book when it came to exquisite beauty of a slave. But for once he held his tongue for now. “Let us hope we will find those beasts before the Innkeeper does. She seems to take her time to accept me in her good graces.” he admitted. “Not that it matters. When I am in need of anything more warm and cozy there is someone else that can provide such.” his eyes roam over Kedja in that moment. “But alright when ever you are ready, Killer.”

[05:11:05] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) felt Hiroto move to the surface as he returned from the tent. A signal that he was not fully aware of something but that forces were at work. He had paused slightly at the door before leaving his tent and noted the new artwork but he made no mention of it, but Hiroto eyed Kedja as perhaps one of those cuts of meat, wondering how to torture her best. He did not speak, that would give him away. He just nodded and gestured to the Killer to move on.

[05:14:34] KeDjA (lilli.breda) Crow’s remark about the innkeeper elicits an amused smile from her, but it fades as he continues speaking and she feels his gaze. That tingling sensation spreads through her stomach again—that mixture of darkness and joy. Her eyes flicker slightly as she meets his gaze for a moment before looking away. Her muscles tense slightly. Whatever this man stirred in her, it was something she both hated and missed when he ignored her. It was paradoxical. She turned her head and now met Vesper’s gaze as well. Irritation flashed in her eyes, for his gaze suddenly no longer seemed like the one she was used to seeing from him. What was going on here?

[05:21:26] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) watched the girl carefully, noted the way her eyes changed. He didn’t speak while the other Killer held his own silence. Instead, he moved to the table with the open bags of flour….looked her in the eye directly….and then batted the bag of flour onto the ground almost with the same energy as a gianni tapping objects off a shelf. He would see how the bond danced.

[05:24:45] KeDjA (lilli.breda) watches Vesper and already senses that something is about to happen that she probably won’t like. And sure enough, the next moment she’s standing in a cloud of flour. She squints her eyes and covers her mouth and nose with one hand, though she coughs anyway because, of course, she reacted too late. She spins around on her heels as if that would help and waves her other hand pointlessly through the air to disperse the cloud.

[05:28:54] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) simply tilted his head to the side and watched what happened and then as quickly as Hiroto was here, he was gone, the Record Keeper providing no information from one personality to the next as Vesper heard the coughing and rose to the surface to see what was the matter. He rose his eyebrow slightly and said, “Kedja, you really do need to be more careful.”

[05:33:10] Crow (melchior.wardell) had been in deep thoughts and when he paid attention had no clue as to what happened, but of course would blame the bond. She was the one in layers of flour. “That is a waste of coin. Do you have any idea how that coin was made ? What had to be done before we were able to acquire this bag of flour?” he was teasing of course. “Can you imagine the relatives that are calling out your name in dispair as we need to find a new target to get paid for”

[05:39:47] KeDjA (lilli.breda) mutters under her breath as the men act as if it’s her fault. She turns back around as the fog lifts, and there she stands before them, covered in white powder. Luckily, she isn’t wearing black today. Her eyes sparkle with anger.

[05:43:57] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) seemed concerned for the bond now, as if what she had experienced, while he definitely thought was her fault as he had no understanding of what Hiroto had been up to, was somehow requiring action on his part. He grabbed the rep cloth from the side of the table and threw it her way. “I always seem to have the worst luck with clumsy camp slaves…but this one is owned by Arsus…and yet still clumsy.” He shook his head.

[05:45:46] Crow (melchior.wardell) didn’t know Kedja to be clumsy. Hot headed, fierce, amazingly wonderful in the furs, brazen and sassy but clumsy ? No that was not a fit for her. “I think she did it on purpose. What did you say ?” he asks Vesper .”Surely she lost control. Perhaps we should teach her as we teach our lads the control their emotions.”

[05:49:48] KeDjA (lilli.breda) caught the cloth with the reflexes she’d been trained to have—reflexes even the resurgence of her Nordic nature couldn’t suppress. She snorts lightly and mutters, “I didn’t knock over the sack of flour,” then wipes the flour dust from her face with the cloth. Not particularly thoroughly, but at least from her eyes, nose, and mouth. Her head snapped toward Crow, and she stared at him as if he were crazy. He had seen exactly what had happened. And Vesper… he had done it. Once again, she found herself in a situation that—at least in her mind—felt threatening. And once again, Crow was involved. And once again, he was the one pushing things forward. Her body begins to tremble slightly with rage, while she is now truly speechless for the moment.

[05:54:22] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) raised his eyebrow slightly higher noting the temper sending the body of the bond to tremble. “Indeed, the neurochemicals in her body are fiercely raging, Killer. Do you see how she trembles…adrenaline coursing through her veins. Do you think she needs a physician?” Razius now moved to the surface to make the assessment along with Vesper.

[05:55:27] Crow (melchior.wardell) had seen nothing. Too deep in thoughts and in the compound – the only place he dared to let his guard down – that meant he truly hadn;t registered. “You didn’t?”he asks with a challenge. “Who else would it have been ? The ghost of the forest … The spirit of the underworld .. The ancestor of the bonds of hte north?” he teased her further. When V spoke he shook his head ‘Nah … it is her temper nothing more … something she really need to control, before I whip it out of her.” he stated, more firm than he might have meant it.

[06:00:57] KeDjA (lilli.breda) tosses the cloth onto the table in front of her and pants slightly before beating the fur draped over her shoulders much harder than necessary. “I don’t need a physician, I’m fine, Jarl,” she forces out through clenched teeth, as if removing the flour required far more strength than it actually did. As Crow speaks, making a mockery of the whole situation in her eyes, the beating grows even more intense. To the point of whipping. This brief remark makes her pause and now she just glares at him angrily. Her fingers dig into the fur before she tenses her shoulders and wraps the fur back around them. She thinks. Of course. Admitting a mistake actually goes against her sense of justice. But at the same time, she fears the whip far more. She was not someone who enjoyed pain. Especially not this kind. Her lips press tightly together before she bends down to right the overturned sack. It wasn’t completely empty, thankfully. In fact, most of the flour was still inside and could thus be saved. The
[06:00:57] KeDjA (lilli.breda): rest… well, that was scattered in the grass

[06:05:50] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) noted the flour on his hands and figured it had come from when he tossed the cloth to the bond, his personalities not always keeping track of time and action from one alter to the next. He dusted off his hands and said, “Well, it seems as if Arsus has his hands full with this one.” Vesper clearly had no idea why the bond would be upset at all.

[06:09:15] Crow (melchior.wardell) noted that she didn’t speak who had done it. Something about that made him look at V. For a moment considering the odds. He knew the bond had a sense of understanding when it came to justice. But he wouldn’t dare to accuse anyone else if not given any indication. He would shrug “Arsus likes troublemakers. You should see him on his tarn.” he stated as an example. “It is how these two met. I guess it keeps him entertained.” the fact he too was entertained he left for anyones guess. “So the Inn as in search for the two beasts. With all of this we might have waited to long and the Innkeeper already knows who took her famous sausages.”

[06:12:51] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) shrugged, “Yes, two troublesome beasts…the tarn and the bond….surely the problem is with Arsus after all.” he mused and then would follow the Killer.

[06:13:50] KeDjA (lilli.breda) lets out a soft hum. The whole thing with Arsus and his Tarn would normally prompt her to say something. But there was that threat, which is keeping her from wanting to get herself into further trouble. She uses the shoes she’s wearing today—for once—to push the flour across the grass to spread it out. Her eyes flicker slightly, and she shakes her head ever so slightly. After Crow steers the conversation back to the Tharlarions and the landlady, her shoulders relax slightly and she mutters, “You’d better go look for the animals before the innkeeper skewers them.”

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The Black Ember Port

Posted in Black Ember Port, Pani, Sanctuay of the Nightbound, Uncategorized on May 9, 2026 by crow1971

[13:17] Hosokawa Mei 芽依 followed him and processed the information he had given. She understood that he explained more to her than he might have given others. The privilege one she would never abuse. As she moved into the camp, she could see it being bigger than the one she visited in Var-Kor. She would bow deeply before the Master Assassin. “Greetings, Lord Master Assassin.” she gave him the full title in the language he would understand. Her smile warm and kind as she posed demure and yet firm before him. She did not bow down out of submission.

[13:19] Crow (melchior.wardell) stood as he always did in the presence of women. It was something he had been taught as a young boy. The freewoman were given the respect they owed. As ever he would be critical in how one portrayed one self but that was another matter. “Tal Killer, lady Mei.” he would incline his head. “I see you have returned in one piece.” the golden coin still laying on the spot he had laid it.

[13:22] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) moved Lady Mei next to him within the ring of the campfire. He stood before the venerable older Killer and said, “Tal Killer. The Daimyo has released Lady Mei to me without coin and with his blessing.” He pulled the gold coin off of the wooden log bench that he left there the previous night before and placing it into one of his hidden obi pockets.”One piece indeed, but with an idea after speaking with Kage in Var-Kor today….a refuge….a place where Lady Yoko’s talents could thrive and, perhaps, other Pani could come in time….a place with the significance held in the words Kuro Okibi Minato….Black Ember Port. Would such a venture be possible?” He laid out so much in just a few words and then stood silent before the Killer.

[13:27] Hosokawa Mei 芽依 (adaugoalika) felt the heat of the campfire on her face, but it was nothing compared to the warmth of Kinsei beside her. She was living proof that he had been granted the blessing of the Daimyo. When he spoke of the name Black Ember Port, she felt a thrill of recognition. It wwas a name that carried both the weight of the steel they forged and the hope of the culture they carried. She looked from Kinsei to Crow. Her expression calmj and supportive. A silent pilar for the man who was daring to dream. “An ember is small, but it holds the memory of the fire and the promise of the hearth. To create a refuge where the Pani way can flourish alongside the strength of the Caste… it would be more than a venture. It would be a bridge between the world we left and the world we are building.” she stated in firm support of the man that brought forth the idea.

[13:33] Crow (melchior.wardell) noted the retrieval of the golden coin. His gaze remained fixed on the lady. She was indeed a sight to be hold. She was the living testament of his brother favor. As Vesper spoke of the idea he would listen, wave his hand as to invite them to take a seat. He would wait to take one – only when lady Mei would be seated. “An ember is a dangerous thing, Lady Mei.” he replied with a hint of humor. “It is quiet, yes , it is small. But it is the part of the fire that refuses to die. To build a port on such a foundation suggests a place that is hidden until it is ready to consume.” He turned his attention back to Vesper. his posture shifting as he gave it more thought. “The venture is possible,” he conceded. “But it must be built as we build ourselves: in the shadows, layer by layer. If Lady Yoko’s talents are to thrive there, she must be protected by more than just words. Let us see if this ember can withstand the coming winter.”

[13:40] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) listened in calm silence as Lady Mei pulled the concept forth and gave it new light. He saw the poise in how she took such subtlety in phrasing and gave it new meaning. He remained steadfast at her side and looked to the Killer who he trusted more than any other to see what he would say. It was a small movement of his eyes that would track from Lady Mei to the Master Killer, his body otherwise remained calm in its stillness. He waited for Lady Mei to settle on the log where he picked up the golden coin and directed her with a wave of his hand to sit. “The shadows must always hold us, Killer, and that is not something that either you nor I can brazenly ignore. There is a reason we keep to the shadows, it keeps us breathing. The camp should remain such. Yet, I wonder if we created a port…if we financed the port, would we perhaps not find ourselves also able to gain contracts from those who might travel to the port for gambling and entertainment?” He paused, “…and there is one more important thing it could be a place where Lady Yoko and Lady Mei could glean information that was useful to the Caste.”

[13:45] Hosokawa Mei 芽依 moved with deliberate graceful and slow-motion, accepting the invitatioin to sit on the log. She waited for the men to settle, her presence radiating a quiet, focused strenght that matched the weight of the conversation. She bowed her head to the wisdom of his words. She looked toward Kinsei, her expression one of shared resolve. “Lady Yoko and I understand the value of layer by layer. If the Black Ember is to thrive, it must be a place where the shadows are part of the architecture. We will provide the ‘entertainment’ that loosens the mind, and the silk that masks the steel. The information we glean will be the wind that keeps the ember burning through any winter.” she promised. She felt the complexity Kinsei had mentioned earlier. The dappled light of being a Lady who is also a Spymaster. It was a role she felt born to play.

[13:50] Crow (melchior.wardell) watched how the lady would take her seat on the log with the grace of a falling petal. Her words carried the weight of a blade. The proposal had shifted from a sanctuary to a trap and it was a language he understood. “Gambling and silk.” he stated. “The things that strip a man of his caution faster than any torture. You propose to build a port that is not just a refuge, but a filter. A place where the gold of the cities flows into our purses and their secrets inot our ears.” he chuckles. “The lady of your choosing is quite the promise.” he offered to his son. “He turned back to Vesper, his eyes narrowing. “Proceed with your ‘Black Ember Port.’ Use the gold to buy the silence. I have earned more than enough of my share in Ar. If Lady Yoko and Lady Mei can turn the breath of a drunken traveler into the wind that feeds our fire, then we have done more than build a port. We have built a throat through which the secrets of the Vosk will scream.”

[13:57] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) waited for the Master Assassin to take a seat and he tended to the fire as the older Killer did so. He watched Lady Mei out of the corner of his eyes and, although his face remained stone, he felt an inner sense of excitement that he was lucky enough to be connected to the woman who held such thoughtful wisdom and prowess. She was an asset to him, yes, but also a force to be reckoned with in her own right. He watched from his place at the fire, the logs placed in their structure before he sat, how each of them saw the merit in each other and the strong symbiosis that could come from the shared space and purpose. “The secrets scream and the hearts of men will be opened. Now, I think you see why she won my heart so easily perhaps?” He sat at the right side of his Master Assassin, his Sensei, and then looked to the woman he loved, his weaver of stars and heartstrings, and he felt joy and peace and he remained still in that moment taking it in.

[14:01] Hosokawa Mei 芽依 felt the weight of Kinsei’s gaze, a warmth that rivaled the fire in the pit. When he spoke of her winning his heart so easily she didn’t blush with the modesty of the girl. She met his eyes with the depth of a woman who knew exactly what she brought to this union. She watched him take his place at the Master Assassins right hand. “The heart is the most difficult lock to pick, Kinsei- dono.” she said softly. Her voice carrying that trace of thoughtfulness. She sat in her stillness with them. A shared moment that felt like the quiet before a magnificent storm. The weaver of stars was no longer just weaving thread.

[14:06] Crow (melchior.wardell) watched the two of them, he saw something different. A shared frequency, a strenght that made a house so much stronger than the sum of its blades. When Vesper spoke of her winning his heart, he would regard the lady. He listened to her response and knew it to be true. “A lock that is picked can be closed again.” he reasons. “A heart that is woven into cause .. that is a knot that even the sharpest of blade can not sever. You have not just won his heart, lady Mei. You have anchored his purpose.” He looked at Vesper, acknowledging the man’s position at his right hand. It was a place of honor, but also a place of shared burden. “You feel peace in this moment, Vesper, because the shadows have finally stopped fighting you,” Crow continued. “But do not mistake this stillness for safety. It is, as the Lady says, the quiet before the storm. The ‘Black Ember Port’ is a dream that will soon wake up hungry.”

[14:17] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) looked to the Master Assassin. His words were calm, without challenge, and with understanding of the man. “Killer, in all the time you have known me, you have never known a whole man. You have known a fractured and tortured soul, scattered into a thousand pieces and pulled this way and that by a thousand voices.” His voice was thoughtful now, more so than usual as he said, “In this moment, Killer, when all of me is allowed to live within this camp as a whole man, both Pani and Killer, I am more dangerous than I have ever been because nothing pulls at me, nothing weighs me down, all of me moves forward in the same unified direction.” He looked at the fire briefly and then back to the man, “Some would say that I can no longer be Pani because I am a Killer….that is incorrect. Some would say that I cannot be a Killer because I am Pani….also incorrect. What these people do not realize is that it is BECAUSE I am both at the same time that I no longer need their approval or permission.” He looked to Lady Mei for a moment and then back to the Master Assassin. “She was the first to see all of me and accept me….you are the second….it is the two of you who will eventually see what it means when the quiet and the stillness in me is but the eye of the storm itself….I am the oncoming storm.”

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Code of the Vanished

Posted in Niamh, Serum storyline, Uncategorized on April 27, 2026 by crow1971

Out of Character comment: At times there are strong relationships build in secondlife. They evolve in amazing stories. But when these relationships change, the story sometimes need to change to. After a wonderful time in a storyline with one of the most amazing persons, it was time for me to step away from it. This is the end of that chapter. If there is ever a new chapter that will be unknown for now.

The lamps in the Holmesk office were still warm when the door was finally breached, but the room itself was a tomb of clinical silence.

Everything was in its place. The surgical steel had been cleaned and aligned with obsessive precision. The scrolls of patient records remained rolled and tied in their cubicles. Even the scent of medicinal herbs and sharp, antiseptics lingered in the air, as if Niamh had only stepped out for a moment to draw water.

But Niamh didn’t step out.

There were no signs of a struggle, no overturned chairs, no shattered vials of DNA cultures, no blood. For a woman who had been abducted across the stars, crashed in an acquisition ship, and survived the slave blocks of Ari Blackthorne, she knew how to fight. Yet here, there was only the chilling perfection of a room left in “order.”

The office in Holmesk was more than a surgery; it was supposed to be a fortress. The Black Caste does not offer protection lightly, and for a woman with Niamh’s specialized knowledge of the “building blocks of life,” the shadows surrounding the infirmary were meant to be lethal.

To an observer, the order was the most terrifying part. It didn’t look like a flight; it looked like a harvesting.

The agents of her enemy, those who had dogged her steps since the docks of Port Kar, hadn’t just taken her. They had erased her. They had plucked a woman capable of rewriting the code of life itself out of the infirmary in Holmesk without tripping a single alarm or leaving a single footprint.

Outside, the docks remained busy and the city of Holmesk continued its pulse, unaware that one of the few minds capable of bridging the gap between Earth science and Gorean reality had been silenced.

Niamh was gone. And this time, it wasn’t a broken lock that told the story, it was the terrifying lack of one.

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The Anvil’s Shadow

Posted in Black Caste on April 27, 2026 by crow1971

[03:02] Kage watches Vesper enter camp… recognition immediate… he rises without hesitation… respect automatic… not performed but genuine. “Tal, Kinsei-sama, Tal Caste master” he greets both Crow and his father … voice carrying that humble Pani courtesy… son to father and grandfather … Killer to his MA and Captain. His hand gestures toward fire… invitation given… then calls to NPC slave. “Serve my father… bring food and drink… he has traveled.” His movements turn to fire pit… clearing ash… packing wood… striking spark until flames catch… tending flame while elder settles… silence comfortable… waiting for father to speak first… or not… presence itself enough.

[03:05] Crow was a man with less fanfare than perhaps these men with more ties to the Pani culture than he. Surely he had tasted it. Had witnessed and lived through it. As to chain of command. It was something that ingrained in him and so when his captain was offered the first of the service of the girl his brow arched. He choose not to act but took a seat after a casual greeting ” Tal Killer.” He knew it was his pick to sit first. He didn’t doubt Vesper to know the drill when it came to it.

[03:06] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) settled into the familiar camp and dips his head to his son. The helm is pulled off and set to the side with a certain reverence for the moment. He realized as he saw the fire being lit that it had somehow been a task that transferred down in generations. “I remember make a fire so often for my father….and here you make it of your own accord for us both. The transfer of knowledge and structure so important….continuity. That is why I am here…much of what you said about BCTC has meaning to me….and I think to Crow.” He waited for Crow to sit first and then he followed suit.

[03:09] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius): ((You are allowed to be who you are and to be supported even when not all posts come out perfectly…really no worries, I did not for example realize you were talking to me with service until I read Crow’s as I’m slower too sooooooo all is good!))

[03:12] Kage watches both settle… Crow’s casual “Tal Killer” acknowledged… then Vesper’s words about fire… generations… and realization strikes… mistake made… girl sent to serve father first… not grandfather… chain of command violated… Pani protocol broken. “Forgive me… Caste Master,” he says quietly… bowing head briefly to Crow. “I dishonored protocol… called service to Kinsei-sama before you… this was error… my attention too focused on father… not structure… I apologize.” A pause. He straightens… correcting course. “Welcome… both of you… to this fire… to Var-Kor camp… whatever brings you here… I am honored by your presence… and ready to hear what you would say.” His posture settles… attentive now… proper respect shown… waiting for their lead… lesson learned through mistake acknowledged….

[03:18] Crow might have saved the punch to his face for later. But when the words came to him with the heartfelt apology he would let it slide with the gesture of his hand. A brush as if to wave it away. There was reason he held rigidly tight to the chain of command. Surely after the events that needed a clear view on things. He would ask for some milk. He saw the slave(NPC) frown, but his gaze was unwavering. Perhaps there was a secret reason for his amazing good looks after all? “As cold as you have it.” he added. He flicked his hand once more to have her directed to the others. To Vesper he would answer “Yes, but the history seems to be different from what is shared here.” he added.

[03:23] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) watched the way his son acknowledged structure and he found himself reflecting internally. He looked to his own father at times to be the holder of structure, the gruff voice, and he would not wish it any other way. The man, for all of his directness, had been through fires too many to name…and yet he still lived. In the Black Caste, that survival alone said something. “Obsidian has retired it seems….the word is carried on whispers that Tiber takes over the GBC. I am mindful that such will have ramifications…as ever, the world keeps turning and the same battles continue again and again….” He looked to Crow, “You hold the history in your veins, Caste Master, as do I….there are reasons too, why I think about what the shifting sands of history can tell us about Var Kor itself and how we should and should not be in relation to it…I don’t have any answers. I do know that, regardless, Crow and I want to offer you support, but I also know that we do not cling to Var-Kor in the same way perhaps because of our history with the Caste itself.”

[03:24] Kage inclines his head… gratitude for mercy shown… lesson learned without punishment delivered. “Thank you, Caste Master,” he says quietly… then silence… waiting to hear what history differs… what correction comes… listening now to both his grandfather and his father… instead of speaking…

[03:29] Crow nodded thoughtful to Vesper “I have seen this so often I don’t even know or wish to remember. There is this ocean of waves. One wave might bring the desire to unify to unite. And all of a sudden the next wave comes to have is all drift off to different destinations. I know Solomon, Scar, Serpent, myself. and countless of others try to have a common ground.” he shared in perhaps that hint of bitterness. It had effected him. It had been like a ribbon to his wrist. “Now .. I know that even though I have the past experience … and even you might have.” turning to Vesper. “I hope it will never stop others of trying. Perhaps one day … there will be a magical current that truly succeeds. But in the hundred years within the caste and the hundred years prior to it .. none succeeded.” he would look to Kage. “I regret that there is no unity and yet I might very well be the cause of it too. As I do not wish to indulge myself in the pissing contest of ego’s and accomplishments”

[03:35] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) tossed a log on the fire and as the slave (NPC) provided the cold milk to Crow, he would whisper, “Jasmine tea…” and then attended to Crow’s words. “Yes, there is something to be said for the possibility of an eclipse striking and things changing suddenly when a new formula is tried….true. Something to be mindful.” He paused for some time and then when he finally spoke it was more direct. (c)

[03:36] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) looked directly at Kage, “I wish to know your heart. What keeps you tied to Var-Kor. What do you see that Crow and I do not?”

[03:38] Kage absorbs both his Grandfather n Vesper’s words… Obsidian retired… Tiber taking GBC… battles continuing… shifting sands of history… support offered but Var-Kor held differently by them than him. His foot presses ground beneath… feeling earth… connection… weight of what this place means. “This is first camp I joined since approaching BCTC,” he says quietly… voice carrying conviction now… not just respect. “Discipline here unlike what I knew… trained outside before… being stationed here clashes with being grounded… both pulling me as Killer… camp dynamics… structure… loyalty… all new… all necessary.” A pause. His eyes meet both of theirs. “Var-Kor camp is BCTC… will stay that way until you… caste Master decide to move it… so give me authority to run it… learn under BCTC name and no other name to it!” then there is a pause.. he looks at them… ” I have already pledged that I am not of going off under my own name… becoming loner,” he states firmly… the ask direct now… clear. “Let me prove what this young Killer can build when given structure… guidance… legitimacy… this excites me more than wandering alone… this is path I choose… if you grant it…. without any partnership with no other here”

[03:45] Crow remained motionless, though the air around him seemed to thicken with a sudden, jagged tension. He listened to Kage’s words. The talk of connection and legitimacy felt a slow, cold agitation coil in his gut. It was the audacity of the ask that bit the hardest. A young killer reaching for the reins of a camp before he had even fully bled for the name he sought to carry. To demand authority wasn’t just ambition, it was a rejection of the very oversight that kept the Black Caste from becoming a den of chaotic mercs. Crow’s hand tightened imperceptibly on his hilt, his silence serving as a heavy shroud for the suspicion burning in his mind: was Kage building a fortress for the Caste, or a pedestal for himself? “I haven’t heard an answer to Vesper question if I am truthful. What is the intrinsic motivation ?”
[03:50] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) noted the shift in his father’s stance. Vesper often a translator for the older Caste Master, but also one that saw the old man as holding wisdom that would come later to his understanding. He noted the tension and was thoughtful on the reasons, he did not speak just yet as he was also often a translator for his son. The father sat there between the generations, understanding the hearts of both men intimately and knowing that he may need to be that bridge of communication. As the slave (NPC) drew near he would take the tea and send her onto serve his son. He would remain in silence now watching and listening.

[04:01] “Kage does not move… the question settling into him before any answer forms… his gaze lifts slowly to Crow… then to Vesper… steady… unguarded… a long silence follows before he speaks… ‘Intrinsic motivation…’ he echoes… voice low… quieter now… carrying weight rather than defense… another pause… deeper… ‘I sit here… and there is no one… no camp… no presence of what we are meant to be… only empty tents… and a name that echoes louder in memory than in reality…’ his eyes narrow slightly… not in defiance… but in truth faced fully… ‘What I for see across Gor…if we do not wake… are not camps… but lanterns… single flames… held by individual killers… each alone… each carrying something that was never meant to stand alone…’ a breath leaves him… controlled… but heavier… ‘So I ask myself… do I wait… or do I act…’ his gaze meets Crow’s fully now… honest… without shield… ‘This is not about authority… I am not blind to what I am… or what I am not yet…’ another pause… letting that land… ‘It is about not watching something die… while I stand beside it… calling it tradition…’ his posture shifts slightly… grounded… certain… ‘Our forefathers did not wait for structure… they built it… with less than we have… and more at stake…’ his voice lowers again… steady… ‘If I am wrong… then I will be corrected… if I am premature… then I will be shaped… but if I do nothing… then I am complicit in the fading…’ a final pause… quiet… but firm… ‘That is my truth… no more… no less…’ he stills… eyes steady… ‘ what Is my intrinsic motivation you ask? … that is I desire the same chance the caste gave Akeshi here .. with no experience… no leadership qualities at the time… a single killer that had the believe of his caste that he could prosper…’ he goes quiet accepting whatever follows… without retreat…

[04:06] Crow let the words drift and the silence that followed Kage’s words was not empty, it was heavy, like the air in a forge before the hammer strikes. Crow didn’t move, but the temperature around him seemed to drop. He let Kage’s words hang in the air until they soured. This wasn’t the wisdom of a visionary; it was the arrogance of a whelp who mistook a quiet period for a corpse. His gaze remained fixed on Kage, dark and unreadable, as he processed the insult of being told his tradition was a shroud. “You speak of lanterns and ghosts as if you are the only one with eyes to see the dark,” his voice a low, dangerous rasp that carried the weight of a dozen winters. “You look at empty tents and see an end; I look at them and see a patience you clearly haven’t mastered. You want the chance to prosper? Fine. But don’t mistake your ‘truth’ for a mandate. If you want to build a fire in the wind, you’d best be prepared to get your hands burned to the bone.”

[04:13] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) drinks his tea slowly. The warmth of it moving from the inside outward. The man who sat at this fire, tossing the occasional log onto it to keep it going, he was different than the younger Killer and older Killer in many ways and as the older Killer spoke, he noted the sharpness of the words and remained calm within them. He felt the wind but did not feel its coldness, but rather the way it sought to protect. He was young enough to remember the fires of his youth and old enough to now understand the wisdom of his father’s words. “If we look only around to what we know from a certain period of time, things can look dire, but if we think about the length of time and pull in all data points, our understanding is not as skewed. Crow seeks to both protect and calm. Kage seeks to understand and grow. Both of you speak past each other….” There it was, Vesper/Kinsei, caught as he had always been between Caste and Clan…a middle way of understanding for both.

[04:18] Kage remains where he sits… the fire beside them crackling low… embers shifting as if echoing the weight of his Grand-pops Crow’s words… the heat brushing one side of his face while the other rests in shadow… and he lets the silence take him before he answers… a long pause settling like the moment before steel meets hammer… ‘A blade is never born sharp…’ he says quietly… voice low… measured… eyes drifting briefly to the flames that dance and bend without breaking… ‘It is burned… struck… folded… and returned to the fire… again… and again… until it can carry purpose without failing…’ another pause follows… deeper now… his posture grounded… accepting… ‘This moment… is one of those strikes… one of those burnings…’ his gaze lifts slowly… moving between them both… steady… unguarded… ‘I stand between blood and Caste… learning where each must hold… and where each must yield…’ the fire snaps softly… a spark rising then fading into the dark above them… ‘A deadly snake does not rush the strike… it learns to coil… to listen… to endure the ground beneath it before it claims it…’ he stills again… the rhythm of the forge now matching the quiet of his breath… ‘I hear you… and I will take the shaping… without resistance… until I am worthy of the edge I seek to carry…’

[04:20] Crow ’s gaze didn’t leave Kage, but the murderous edge in his posture softened ever so slightly as Vesper spoke.Vesper was right, he was reacting as a guardian of the past, a man holding a shield against a gale, while Kage was looking for a horizon he hadn’t yet earned the right to see. He let out a slow, controlled breath, the tension in his jaw finally easing. “Protection often looks like stagnation to those who have never had to hold the line,” he offered to Vesper before speaking to Kage “Then remember the heat of this fire when the cold of the task sets in. The forge is easy to talk about while the tea is warm. It is another thing entirely when the hammer is falling and the metal wants to crack.” He reached out, his hand hovering near the flames for a moment as if feeling the shaping himself, before he looked Kage directly in the eye. “Build your camp. Coil your snake. But know that the eye of the Black Caste is now firmly upon you. I will not look for your successes, Kage. I will look for how you

[04:31] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) watched the softening of Crow and the cooling and structural minded words usher forth from Kage and he said quietly, “I will speak bluntly, but to maintain structure, the decision is not mine, but that of the Caste Master. I believe you need to find a place where you will be with others Kage, that is what will perhaps bring you joy. Know this, that the lad once known as Ram, now known as Mud, is back in training again and that we will be attending to that by making him shadow us as we travel around Gor. At the same time, I have clan commitments in Sendai and you are welcome there. What I wonder is if you might find your way to traveling with us for a time and see if that will allow you to understand that a place does not make a home, but people do.”

[04:33] Kage meets Crow’s eyes… the weight of those words settling absolute… build camp… coil snake… but scrutiny follows… failures reveal edge more than successes. “Understood, Caste Master,” he says quietly… voice carrying certainty without arrogance. “I will handle failures with same honor I pursue successes… steel tested in fire… not praised in display… you will see how I stand when metal cracks… not just when forge is warm.”

[04:35] Crow looked back at Kage, the killer’s promise to ‘stand when the metal cracks’ still vibrating in the cool night air. “Then the road will be your anvil,” he said, his voice a low, final rasp as he reached for his milk, the agitation of the hour replaced by a cold, professional curiosity. “The shadows of Sendai and the dust of the Gorean trails do not care for metaphors or high ideals, they only care for feet that keep moving and eyes that stay open. If you wish to travel with us, do so.”

[04:48] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) watched as the fire went out while he did not tend to it by adding logs and there was a small upcurl of his lips. “I decided to not add logs….someone was not paying attention.” A gentle ribbing of his son.

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Face to face with Odin

Posted in Niamh, War of Gor on March 29, 2026 by crow1971

[14:58] Bödvåя Şкäяşgåяd (xachillesx32) shouts: went out walking with Solvia until they saw a hooded figure walking along the paths seeing him go into the temple carrying a staff and dressed in black and hoards of crows surrounding him.The giants eyes widen and he looked to his wife and spoke.”By da’ God’s could that be….Odin! da’ Alfadir! we must tell da’ others!

[14:59] Şolviä Şкäяşgåяd (solvia.nightfall) shouts: I come down from the temple like a storm breaking, breath fierce in my chest as my voice cuts through the village, “Hear me! I have seen him the Wanderer, the one-eyed god standing in the temple with ravens circling as if they carried his will upon their wings!” My gaze burns from face to face, unshaken, resolute. “This is no dream, no drunken vision… Odin walks among us

[15:00] Niamh Strömberg (karlotte.shelman) perked her brow at the words “Is he … ” she would rephrase the earlier words that came to mind “your brother ?” she asks. “I wouldn’t have ever thought that.” but turned at the calls and bells. “Oh ..”he hand to her heart as she turned to see what was going on.

[15:01] Bödvåя Şкäяşgåяd (xachillesx32) Came running down the hill.”Oi! we saw him! both Solvia an’ I saw him! come look!” said the giant as he was out of breath as he looked to them all.

[15:02] Grinder (grinder.rune) looks up and tosses the cloth as the man approached. He did not know him but he looked a strong Torv and had a sense of purpose at the moment. As the man stopped from running and told him, he did not hesitate. He would follow after this man, He knew it was the right thing to do. “Aye, I come.”

[15:02] Şolviä Şкäяşgåяd (solvia.nightfall) I stride into the midst of them, breath still sharp, arm lifting as I point back toward the temple, eyes fierce with what I have seen. “Go look and see! I say to Niamh with widened eyes

[15:02] Niamh Strömberg (karlotte.shelman) would look from Bodvar towards Grinder and the girl. She would follow their lead immediately.

[15:03] Bödvåя Şкäяşgåяd (xachillesx32) nods and show’s them

[15:05] Şolviä Şкäяşgåяd (solvia.nightfall) Throws myself in front of Grinder ready to be a sacrifice ” Tis Odin, do you not see?” my blue eyes flowing to his, my voice soft and low.

[15:07] Ťÿr Ťÿrhråfnsøn (wolfbjorn) shouts: Taps his staff across the ground 3 times as it echoed in the temple. The One eyed one had a swarm of ravens about him and turns slowly and a raspy voice came left his mouth as he sense others with him.”The time has come for Torvaldsburg a new land for new blood and new folk as I cast with my staff the summoning of Thor and Baldr and Freya and Frig to see for themselves what has become of these lands in the north!” he said as he turned showing his one eye and long white beard as he stared at them.

[15:09] Bödvåя Şкäяşgåяd (xachillesx32) The giant stood there eyes widen and pulled his wife near him and hugged her tight.”Tis Odin! we must show respect to da’ alfadir!”

[15:11] Şolviä Şкäяşgåяd (solvia.nightfall) I stand in the center of the temple, breath slow but heavy, dark eyes fixed upon the one eyed Wanderer before his totem, the scent of blood thick in the air as it pools across the stones at his feet, ravens circling above like a living storm, my hand lifting slightly as if drawn by something unseen before lowering again, spine straightening with quiet resolve, voice low but steady as it breaks the silence “Allfather…”

[15:11] Niamh Strömberg (karlotte.shelman) stepped in and would try to calm the beating of her heart. She had been hearing voices, songs that she felt were of a godly origin. But to face a god ? That was something completely different. As she held pause and saw the figure turn she felt the drum of her heart become louder. She simply watched, listens when words seemed to come from this sacred place. At the words of an offer she folded her hands together. Already understanding the loss of a life.

[15:18] Ťÿr Ťÿrhråfnsøn (wolfbjorn) shouts: The All father stood there as he placed his gaze upon the ones who dare disturb him at this time. His voice sounded that of thunder and as the clouds formed and the ravens swarmed him their wings flapped as they circled around him he then spoke as he tapped his staff.” I been watching….watching you all” he paused as he tilted his head seeing the giant and his woman then the others as he spoke.”Now is the time for the north to go and conquer it’s enemies I have seen your offerings they will do as there are those who claim to be false chieftains and nay sayers….they will dealt with how I the..All father see fit!” said the one eye one as he cast his staff once more tapping it on the ground.

[15:20] Şolviä Şкäяşgåяd (solvia.nightfall) slows as we near the steps, the weight of what we witnessed still clinging to me like smoke, my gaze lifting toward the figure above as my hand settles at my side, fingers curling slightly, steadying myself before stepping forward a pace, voice low but carrying through the temple “We stood before him… not a dream, not a tale. The One-Eyed Wanderer… with ravens circling as if the air itself obeyed him.” my eyes flick briefly to Niamh, then back ahead, chin lifting with quiet certainty “Whatever has been set in motion here… we are already within it.” “Then it will be done.” my gaze sharpens, carrying the strength of the North as I speak without hesitation “Let the false fall and the weak be swept aside… we will rise as you have willed it.

[15:22] Niamh Strömberg (karlotte.shelman) stepped closer as to study him. She was never truly filled with fear. She had stared death in the eyes so many times that she knew she would not escape it if it truly came for her. As the staff tapped she would lower her eyes as if the mere sound demanded her submissive stance. She approached with respect and understanding of the words that came to them. She had seen it before and knew to be a keen listener. “We hear You.”she answers. Her voice as clear as day and wtih the promise of a vow. “How can we show that we are serious in hearing your guidance.” she asks – in hope for more direction.

[15:22] Bödvåя Şкäяşgåяd (xachillesx32) Bodvar stood there in silence seeing the All father and just remained quiet.

[15:32] Ťÿr Ťÿrhråfnsøn (wolfbjorn) shouts: The wise one lifted his arm slowly as the raven Huggin came and was summoned and rested it’s feet upon his arm and as Mugin rested upon his shoulder. He heard the ask him a question his voice raspy and echoed through out the hall…he nodded.”This pleases me that yea hear me! this be the words of not only guidence but of great wisdom and warning!” he said to the woman. He then looked about the the others and pointed to them.”You! Bodvar Skarsgard yes I know yea by name all of yea by name and Solvia as well as Niamh…yea must all stay close to one another for the time of men will be needed.” He paused and looked to the blonde haired one and spoke to her as he lifted his arm again and cast his staff upon the ground once again as the totems shook on his staff and echoed.”The time will be when the sons of Skarsgard and Stromberg will be but a army across the seas and the those who oppose us with their false gods such as the priest kinds will fall!”

[15:37] Şolviä Şкäяşgåяd (solvia.nightfall) lowers my gaze as the ravens settle upon him, the weight of the Allfather’s presence pressing against my very breath, my posture softening as I bow my head in reverence, one hand resting over my chest as I step no closer than what is earned, voice lowered steady, but humbled beneath his gaze “We hear you, Allfather… and we will not stray from what you have set before us.”

[15:39] Niamh Strömberg (karlotte.shelman) felt the inner turmoil. She wanted to be respectful. She would bow to him as he stood here before her. She would denote anything when it came to keep her mate and their children safe. Family had become everything to her. Yet she felt the tension in her body. Does he know? she wondered, her heart hammering against her ribs. Can the All-Father see the invisible threads the Priest Kings have woven around her? She was terrified that the Priest Kings technological grace would be seen as an insult to this God. As he spoke her name – once gifted in a ritual – she would look towards him. Not in deviance but in this awakening. Fearful to the bone.

[15:45] Madeleine Skall (mallairian): Enters the hall and is startled to see people inside the place I come for quiet reflection and blink in the dim light seeing a tall man with a white beard, staff in his hand being circled by ravens…

[15:46] Ťÿr Ťÿrhråfnsøn (wolfbjorn) shouts: His beard was mixed that of gray and white as he had rope burns across his neck from trying to hang himself from the tree of life Yddrasil itself. Odin lifted his brow toward Solvia then over to Bodvar slowly moving his head to Niam and spoke.”Aye I see all things…things that are…things that were and things that have not yet come to past but will…it is of great disgrace for our people to go and claim such lands that of the south as home this…is not the way! this displeases me a change must be made but I know that all who left their culture and homes and even themselves who have disowned the gods…shall return soon to the north! but a great danger be across sea those who call themselves the priest kings will clash with us who be might in strength.” he paused seeing another enter the great temple and casts his eyes upon them all. He looked to his raven and spoke to it.”Go! my friend fly to Midgard and summons those home the time is now for the north to go to war!”

[15:50] Bödvåя Şкäяşgåяd (xachillesx32) The giant stood very still and not even a sneeze left his nose he had an itch but didn’t even scratch it as he looked upon the All father. Bodvar wrapped his around Solvia his woman and kept her close.

[15:51] Niamh Strömberg (karlotte.shelman) listens to the words and each word was a cut within her being. Slowly slicing into her normal iron resolve. “All-Father,” she whispered, “Your wisdom is a storm I cannot weather… yet I feel its truth.” She flinched as he spoke of the Priest-Kings. To hear of the hidden masters of the Sardar confirmed her darkest fears. She felt the weight of their ‘Grace’ like a heavy, invisible collar around her neck. If Odin saw them as a ‘great danger,’ then her soul was a battlefield where two worlds were already at war. “You see the threads They have woven,” she said, her eyes lifting to meet his, wide with a mixture of terror and desperate devotion. “They watch from the heights of the Nest, their ‘eyes’ everywhere, even here… in the silence of the fields and the forest of the North. I am a daughter of the North, but I have felt the shadow of the Sardar upon my spirit. If a change must be made, if the South is a disgrace… then wash the scent of their ‘Steel Heavens’ from me.” she pleaded – bowing her head and ready to be struck by lightning.

[15:53] Şolviä Şкäяşgåяd (solvia.nightfall) stands beneath his gaze, lowering my head in reverence yet not shrinking from what I am, my spine straight, shoulders set with quiet strength as the ravens stir the air around us, my voice low, steady, carrying both respect and iron resolve “Allfather… I have not strayed from the North, nor from the gods who shaped my blood.” my eyes lift just enough to show I do not waver, only honor “I stand as I was made loyal, unbroken, and ready.” a breath settles deep within me as I incline my head once more “Give your will… ” I say ” and I will see it done.” as bodvar pulls me against him my eyes do not falter, standing as one, one accord before the allfather

[15:58] Madeleine Skall (mallairian): Stands silently hardly able to believe my eyes that the God Odin of Lore and Legend is standing in front of us all speaking in a voice like thunder. I clutch the small bag of runes I have been carefully cutting from the branch of an Oak…something i had intended to leave as a humble offering and now looking upon the visage of the God himself feels shame at such a simple thing. I bite my lip listening to the words of my family and draw strength from their spirit and obvious loyalty and promise myself silently to always be there for them during times of feast and famine, times of peace and war…

[16:05] Ťÿr Ťÿrhråfnsøn (wolfbjorn) shouts: Thunder clashing against the temple as it struck the wind howling as the one who called himself Odin stood there listening to their words. He struck his staff once more across the ground as it struck and made a crack in the temple floor of the wood. The Allfather looked to them all and spoke to Niam first then Solvia after then to the rest.” I see what lays in your heart yea wrestle with what is right and truth Niam but your soul is racked with corruption of the north as do the others who call the south home! You are forgiven as long as yea do not stray from the path of the gods and leave the south along with your family and return to your place of the north were the true culture was born.” The wise one paused and now looked over to Solvia as he walked toward her slowly and the ravens hurled into the air and faster as he approached them all he then took down his hood as he showed his disfigured face and his one eye missing as he looked at Solvia in the eyes and spoke to her.”You have done well in staying loyal Solvia Skarsgard but your task is not finished yea have many things to do that shall call upon yea” He blinked once and several times as he then hissed looked over to the Bodvar studying his face and features.”Ah! the mighty Bodvar himself named after Bodvar Bjarki the bear I know your parents treated yea poorly when yea first came into this world of men but yet here yea are strong, fierce and brave I see many great things be in store for you Bodvar Skarsgard the war bear! many will respect you and many will try and defy you but those who defy yea will see a man rise…never forget this!” he said showing his face to all even to Madeleine as he spoke to them all.”I gave up my eye to seek wisdom that was the price as I rode my horse Slepneir the eight legged horse into battle against the frost giants I struck a at their lands down they went!”‘ he said as he stood there blinking at them.

[16:08] Şolviä Şкäяşgåяd (solvia.nightfall) stills as the Allfather’s face is revealed, the weight of him striking through me like thunder, my breath drawing slow and deep as I lower myself to one knee not from weakness, but from reverence earned my fist pressing firm to my chest as my head bows, dark hair shifting with the motion, my voice rising low and steady, rich with devotion and unshaken strength “Allfather… your words are carried in my blood.” i lift my gaze just enough to honor him, not to challenge, but to accept what is given “If my path is not yet finished, then I will walk it to its end without fear, without falter.” a pause, breath steady, resolve hardening like steel beneath fire “I am daughter of the North… forged by it, bound to it… and I will see your will done, as long as breath still fills my lungs and strength still fills my hand.”

[16:12] Niamh Strömberg (karlotte.shelman) trembled when the crack of the All-Father’s staff against the wood echoed like a lightning strike in the small space of her heart. As his words branded her corruption she felt a heat rise, a mixture of shame and the desperate relief of a drowning woman thrown a rope. When he revealed his face, the raw, hollowed socket where his eye once rested, She did not look away. She forced herself to witness the price of his wisdom, She looked toward Solvia and Bodvar, feeling the shift in the room as the God bestowed his grim prophecies upon them. The mention of war and the Priest-Kings still vibrated in the air “I accept the path,” she declared, pressing her hand over her heart as to make this sacred vow. “I will turn my back on the silk and the stone of the South. If my soul is racked with corruption, then let the cold of the North clean me. I will bring my kin home, or I will die trying to reach the treeline.”

[16:18] Bödvåя Şкäяşgåяd (xachillesx32) Swallowed slowly seeing Odin approach seeing his face for the first time.Bodvar did not move his head at all as he gazed upon Odin himself and spoke.”I hear yea words Odin, da’ Alfadir! I will take yer words with great respect an’ I shall uphold yer words oh great one!” he said to the All father.

[16:27] Ťÿr Ťÿrhråfnsøn (wolfbjorn) shouts: Odin gave a nod of his head towards the ones who have seen his face and heard his words.He then turned around slowly and spoke as he walked up the steps towards the statues and the alter as he motioned them to follow.” I am pleased to hear you will heed my words the north needs chieftains and leaders and warriors to rise up and take upon themselves the strength of it’s people and know from once they came those before them…I have seen many fall in battle and all who came knocking to the gates of Valhalla and all who have been to Helhiem themselves as well as the nine realms.” he paused as he covered up his face forcing his hood up once more and striking the ground as he spoke in the old words…he then spoke again to them.”On this day let it be known that Odin has stepped foot here let them know that his power be true and that…those who defy…the Allfather will be met by the strike of Thor’s Hammer upon them!” he said as he looked up into the ceiling as a beam came down and Odin spoke his final words before disappearing.”Remember the ways of the north! stay true!”

[16:29] Bödvåя Şкäяşgåяd (xachillesx32) Stood there in shock listening to the words of the allfather, and watching disappear into thin air and choked up as he tried to speak.

[16:31] Niamh Strömberg (karlotte.shelman) was still visually shaking “He is gone,” she whispered. She did not look at the others immediately; she was busy re-calibrating her own spirit. The fear of the Sardar’s surveillance, which had felt like a choking grip moments ago, had faded into a cold, hard resolve. If the Priest-Kings were watching, let them watch. Let them see her hardening her heart against their artifice. She looked at the exit, her posture that of a woman who had finally found the path she was born to walk even if that path led straight to the mouth of the abyss. What was she to do as Portus and Caspian seemed to be so set to build Holmesk to a powerful city.

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Sanctuary of the Nightbound

Posted in Sanctuay of the Nightbound, The Silent Circle of the Nights Veil on March 3, 2026 by crow1971

The winds have shifted, carrying the scent of pine and cold iron to a place where the shadows finally hold their breath. After the Black Lodge Arsus and Crow have reclaimed the silence, raising a new hearth from the dust of the old.

This is no longer a ghost of the past, but a fresh refuge where the canvas is as taut as a bowstring and the loyalty is as deep as the roots of the forest. The Sanctuary of the Nightbound has found its new anchor; the fire is lit, the blades are stilled, and for those who have outlasted the storm, the gates of the night are open once more.

[00:45] Crow (melchior.wardell) would approach with Klauw who just fed himself some of the sausages that were intended for some of the killers. The gaze alone would have you suspect that the animal was smart enough as to understand what he had done. “Greetings.” he offered. “What a womderful day.” the tone of voice with the words was slightly off. It was difficult for a killer to say anything that didn’t bring doom, brooding or other more brutal things to light.

[00:46] KeDjA (lilli.breda) is about to throw her arms around Arsus’ neck and seduce him when he appears in the camp, when suddenly a huge thalarion appears next to her and snorts. She squeals in fright—unusual for her—and takes a step to the side. She grumbles quietly as she regains her composure and puts her hands on her hips while looking reproachfully at the animal.

[00:49] αяѕυѕ (daimos.baarer): “Well, well, well, if it isn’t Thalarion,” Arsus blurts out. He hadn’t heard the beast coming, as he had been concentrating on Kedja’s seductive arts; after all, they were safe in this place. “What a beautiful day, indeed,” he then says with a smile and zips up his pants.

[00:52] Crow (melchior.wardell) had been completely oblivious to their ‘intimate moment’ but by their way of responding the corner of his lips were drawn into that smirk. “Oh ..did I interrupt anything important?” he would reign Klauw in when it started to pick up on some pheromones clearly of their anticipation. “By all means … I don’t mind to watch.” he jested. Or … was it true that there was this voyeur in him.

[00:56] KeDjA (lilli.breda) grumbles quietly as she raises her head and notices Crow’s amused grin. “Tal Master,” she greets him cheerfully before turning her gaze back to the animal, which is sniffing in her direction. She takes another step back and growls, “I’m not a sausage,” as if trying to warn the Thalarion. Of course, she knows that the animal would hardly listen to her.

[00:56] αяѕυѕ (daimos.baarer): “By the way, Crow, builders were at the harbor constructing something. I saw a smithy and another house that appears to be vacant (at least from the outside). I will investigate why a blacksmith would move here, into the wilderness. There must be a reason for it; a blacksmith would likely earn much more in a city.” he made a pause and said “no no, its ok, i will perform a bit more in the evening”

[00:59] Crow (melchior.wardell) felt the animal restless and chuckled “By all means why wait till this evening. Even Klauw picks up on the urgency.” he jested. At the story of the smith he perked a brow “Perhaps the Innkeeper thought by bringing in a smith her situation would be less dire?” he considered the thought some more. “Perhaps I came on too strong. With the tale of the pirates that are often seen on this point in the rivers.”

[01:02] KeDjA (lilli.breda) ‘s nose wrinkled slightly as she kept an eye on the restless Thalarion. Ready at any moment to run away or push Arsus forward if necessary. She still heard the conversation about the Innkeeper and the possible blacksmith and casually interjected, “Maybe it’s her companion or her future companion.”

[01:06] αяѕυѕ (daimos.baarer): ” “Pirates?” he asked, slightly amused. “Here?” … “That’s a sensational story,” he said, nodding. He hadn’t seen any pirates in a long time. Perhaps word had simply gotten around that Arsus didn’t like pirates and that his Sleens had already killed one or two… but let’s leave that aside. “Future companion,” he repeated. “Is the innkeeper pretty?” he asked, amused. He hadn’t seen the innkeeper yet, but the name Namika brought back some memories. He once knew a woman with that name. Back then, in Kassau, he was her bodyguard. It had been ages.

[01:09] Crow (melchior.wardell) knew the bond wasn’t as stupid as some might credit her for. “You might be right as to the future .. but she was quite forthcoming in sharing that she hardly needed men.” he replied. At times it took time to have women warm up to Crow. But the end results were often imaginable. “Blond.” he stated to Arsus. His hands would move before his chest indicating a large breasts “You know the type.” he indicated “So I would say she is certainly an eight … but perhaps when undressed a good nine or even a ten. The last of course totally depending on how she uses her assets.”

[01:15] KeDjA (lilli.breda) rolls her eyes as Crow begins to describe the innkeeper, completely forgetting that she wanted to keep an eye on the Thalarion. She pulls her hands, which were still on her hips, forward and folds them in front of her chest. “Maybe she’s fat under her robes and ugly under her veil,” she suggests. Just to annoy the men a little, who like to forget that free women are skilled at hiding their physical imperfections under their clothes. As a slave, she is unfortunately denied this privilege.

[01:15] αяѕυѕ (daimos.baarer): “Of course, I’ll keep an eye or two on her if she’s at least an 8. As a man, that interests me… hmmmmmm… She rarely needs a man? Then I’ll be that rare man…” He nods vigorously as he speaks. Arsus has always been rare. When he shows up somewhere to use his dagger and take a life, it’s rare for that person to see Arsus again. “Maybe it’s even the woman I once knew, and she’s definitely a 12,” he said with a smile.

[01:19] Crow (melchior.wardell) would look from one to the other. It was surprising how much you could learn by simply studying their poses, the way they spoke. “Perhaps.”he replied to Kedja. “But I think considering Arsus picked you, that he doesn’t mind some flesh around the bones.” he shrugged “In truth I myself do not like skin and bones either.” when Arsus spoke of using his talents he would arch a brow. “Let us wager … ” he suggested. “Let us wager who gets the first kiss.” it was of course a joke. Although if Arsus would indeed take him upon it. He would for sure give it effort. “The woman you once knew ?” Crow added – seeing the slight disadvantage he might have when it came to Arsus if he had indeed met the woman prior.

[01:27] KeDjA (lilli.breda) looks down at herself and visibly tries to suck in her round belly. She snorts quietly because she is not very successful. Her shoulders rise a little. “In the north, you need a little more on your ribs. Otherwise, you’ll freeze,” she says, defending her body shape, even though that is probably not necessary. But of course she knows that with her rather plump figure, she will never achieve the delicacy of a dancer. Which is why her attempts at dancing are rather sparse. Her gaze wanders back up and she looks back and forth between the men. A quiet snort escapes her when she hears about the bet for the kiss.

[01:30] αяѕυѕ (daimos.baarer): Arsus nodded thoughtfully without accepting the bet. He saved that for later. “Hmm, indeed. I knew a woman named Namika in the city of Kassau. She was the Tatrix there, and I had a contract as her bodyguard until the city fell. I don’t know what path she took after that. It was many moons ago…” “However, I must say, I did make advances, but I was unsuccessful.” He didn’t mention that he had already seen her quite naked in a camp where he was once imprisoned. It’s not a story for here and now, after all, he didn’t even know if it was this Namika. He smiled at Kedja; she was, for his purposes, simply perfect as a slave, and in the furs she was unbeatable.

[01:33] Crow (melchior.wardell) would look to Kedja “You are perfect, girl. The fact your owner speaks of another is telling.” he replied “She must be above perfection if he gives her a twelve.” of course trying to fuel her spirit. “This lady was a scribe .. not only by the blue she was wearing but by the sharpness of her tongue.” he nodded. The words of Arsus made him ‘ahhh’ a few times. Surely this explained a lot. “Either way … I will check out this new established smithy and see if I can learn more about the Innkeeper. I am curious if she knows her way to a mens stomach.”

[01:39] KeDjA (lilli.breda) The grin on her face now gives way to a beaming smile. Of course, she is not vain, but praise, especially from one of the two men present here, was something that, firstly, did not happen often and, secondly, was worth twice as much, if not more, than praise from any random Rarius. “Thank you, Master,” she says, lowering her gaze slightly as her cheeks flush slightly. It was rare for her to be embarrassed. This makes it all the more clear how much these words mean to her. To cover up her embarrassment, she simply turns around and goes into the kitchen area to fetch an uncooked, raw sausage. When she comes back, she simply throws it in front of the Thalarion.

[01:44] Crow (melchior.wardell) liked this side of Kedja and truly reveled in it as long as she allowed. When she took a sausage Klauw was instantly enthusiast. The animal quickly warmed up to anyone with a sausage. The animal might look dangerous but it was almost a kitten, eager to be petted and cuddled. Most likely due to its upbringing and being spoiled rotten by slaves. As she approached it would sniff and try to inch closer but when the treat was thrown the animal would quickly pick it up and devour it. If eyes could tell a story – they were now focused upon the girl. Surely she could get more where this came from ? “Better not spoil it too much, Kedja. One must consider what damage this one will do when you must have experience with coffin nail.”

[01:48] KeDjA (lilli.breda) observes how the dangerous-looking animal reacts almost meekly when she returns with the sausage. However, the way it devours the sausage gives her an idea of what it might be capable of. She looks up and grins at Crow. “I’m used to spoiled creatures, Master.” Her gaze shifts to the right toward Arsus and then back to Crow, her green eyes flashing cheerfully and cheekily. The environment was not actually good for her. All the training of a well-behaved kajira faded into the background here, and the Nordic nature within her surfaced almost brutally in the wilderness and proximity of the forest. Only the silk on her skin showed that she no longer lived in the north.

[01:52] Crow (melchior.wardell) laughs and for a moment there was no reservation in it. It was genuine “Well we can’t ever be too spoiled, Kedja. Truly ! We have slaves … and … bonds for a reason. Their life very much depends on the level of our comfort.” he replied. “Kassau .. wasn’t that where you met ?” he asks – quickly realizing that in all this time not their complete life story had ever been told or shared. Now such was not uncommon, killers were hardly ever called very social.

[01:56] KeDjA (lilli.breda) grins as Crow laughs. She preferred it to the men walking around with grim faces. Her head shakes slightly. “In Kassau, my owner was after the lost city collapsed. So probably after YOU met, Master.“ She glances briefly at Arsus, who is probably devising a tactic to win her kissing bet. She turns back to Crow. ”I met him at the port of Torcodino. But that was a very, very long time ago.”

[01:59] Crow (melchior.wardell) nodded and ah’s again “Oh of course. I visited that place yes.” he replied to her. “I wonder at times where my head is when it comes to memories. I guess with so much time to remember, things get messed up.” He was really old and with it there was a lot to remember. “Well it is good that he did, girl. Surely you are the apple of his eye.” he jested. “just as delicious and round.” he teased her some more. “Now I will check the build. See if she might have made a beam to tie my thalarion too. She wasn’t very fond of Klauw.”

[02:01] KeDjA (lilli.breda) snorts slightly at his first words. When he announces his departure, she takes a small step aside so that the Thalarion doesn’t step on her foot. “I can’t understand that at all, Master,” she replies to his last statement. “It seems so… harmless,” she says amusedly.
[02:04] Crow (melchior.wardell) nodded “Looks, my dear Kedja can be deceiving. But do not tell anyone. It is a well kept secret.”he jested. Was he speaking of his tharlarion or himself ?

[02:13] Crow (melchior.wardell) would move calm towards the part Arsus had spoken off. His eyes see the small cottages and the entire furnished smithy. “Greetings, lady.” he offered. “Seems you got some neighbors. I hope the kind you lilke ?” the question was casual and his greeting as social as he was able.

[02:15] пαмıκα тσʟαп (dinara.braveheart) counts the eggs she has just collected from the vulostall and writes the number in a book with a small piece of charcoal before leaning forward once more and looking into the stable. She hears heavy footsteps that do not sound human and straightens up just as a greeting is heard. Her eyes scan Crow and then the Thalarion. “If it eats my Vulos, you’ll pay me for the loss,” she mutters under her breath before clearing her throat. “Tal Sir,” she greets him and turns briefly toward the smithy. “I haven’t seen the owner yet.” She turns back and shrugs. “We’ll get along fine, I’m sociable.

[02:20] Crow (melchior.wardell) would note how she even wrote down the number of eggs and was sure about his observations of her being a scribe. He grinned when she started to bitch before greeting. “This one ..” as he scratched the animals neck “has a thing for sausages.” he shared truthful. “I think something in his upbringing made him less inclined to find his own food.” the animal was just spoiled to a t. “Oh you haven’t ?” he answers to her not yet meeting the new neighbor “One wonders though why this spot? Clearly a smith in the city has more likely chance upon an easier and a more richer life.” he would regard her once more. “I wondered if you serve anything this hour ?”

[02:25] пαмıκα тσʟαп (dinara.braveheart) closes the book and slides it into a small gap between the wooden beams of the Vulostall. Her gaze turns to the man. “Perhaps a third or fourth son who has no chance of starting his own business in his father’s town,” she surmises. “Or someone who has fallen out of favor, excluded from the city’s caste system.” She shrugs her shoulders briefly, as if it were something completely normal. “A late breakfast?” she replies to his last sentence. Of course, as long as she has no regular customers, she would take every opportunity to do business.

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Fatherfigure

Posted in Black Caste, Niamh on February 2, 2026 by crow1971

[13:44:50] Vesper (razius) walked into the room and catches the peek around the corner, “We can come back later if it better suits your needs Physician.”

[13:44:54] Zαℓєηα Қrell (zalenapraxis) heard someone speaking in the other room and turned “Seems you’ve got more work to do Lady,” she smiled “Do I need to sign anything?”

[13:45:27] Niamh Strömberg (karlotte.shelman) noted the men in black and their girl. She instantly recognized them. Seh turns to Zalena “No … let us keep this between us.”she whispered. She would nod .. “this is important.”

[13:47:25] Zαℓєηα Қrell (zalenapraxis) nodded to her then followed her out of the office, recognizing the need for secrecy. She would nod respectfully to the two men that had entered the office, then head towards the door, “My thanks Lady, I shall see you soon, until then, Safe Paths”

[13:47:36] Sirius™ (lucienwildulf) swung his head around from the skeleton to view two women with his one clear eye. “Ladies.”

[13:47:42] Vesper (razius) tilted his head to the side as the woman walked past.

[13:48:24] Lʏʀɪᴄ (kiya.pawpad) smiles, as Mistress and the very pretty Mistress in blue enter the room. “Tal, Mistresses.”

[13:48:33] Niamh Strömberg (karlotte.shelman) smiled warmly “I wish you well, lady. We meet soon.” she would turn to both man and girl “My office isn’t big but please ..” she offered them.

[13:50:20] Zαℓєηα Қrell (zalenapraxis) offered a gentle smile to the girl and then walked out of the office, leaving them to their business with some privacy

[13:51:19] Lʏʀɪᴄ (kiya.pawpad) stays in the back corner, out of the way

[13:52:58] Vesper (razius) followed her into the office and lifted up the shirt to show the blood soaked bandages covering his gut. “First, think you could change these? It’s been a couple of days. And, second, Crow has asked me to come here…. no, rather, there is something you said… and I’ve spoken to Crow about it…. and he directed me your way. So, I’m hoping we can discuss the results you pulled up for me recently… but….well… I don’t have your expertise even though I trained as a physician… I’ll need you to guide me through it.”

[13:54:52] Sirius™ (lucienwildulf) also stood in the corner, he was a very large man, and the chairs seemed.. rather made for smaller people. He was captivated by the decor. Reading the symbols and trying to figure them out. The ones on the table floated.. that was weird.. Must be his new agent senses? He would ask when appropriate. He was rather concerned with Hith. ” I thought he would heal faster.. but he smells kind of rotten right now..”

[13:55:46] Niamh Strömberg (karlotte.shelman) enjoyed seeing these men again. Only because she knew her life was safe in their hands and rumor had been that there was a man with less good intentions in the city. Not that she would mention it just yet – she didn’t want to jump the gun so to speak. As Vesper started to talk she could guess to what had caused it. “Change these ?” as she couldn’t see anything. As to the words of Crow she nodded “Guide you ?” she asks. “I had suspected him to come also. But I guess he didn’t dare ?”

[13:57:00] Lʏʀɪᴄ (kiya.pawpad) bites her lip so she doesn’t laugh at the Mistress’s words, but her eyes begin to sparkle with amusement.

[14:03:43] Vesper (razius) moves to put his helm onto the table and then, as his fingers brushed the scroll, he heard the song again. He shook his head, and looked down, surprised that the song didn’t come the way it used to in the scroll’s presence, nor did the voices. He pulled his hands away…silence…touched it….sound….hand away…silence. He looked to Niamh and said, “The voices are almost gone now….seems I can only hear it when I touch it.” He let his helm rest and then pulled off his jacket and shirt so she could see what transpired. The bandages around his gut were seeping with black blood, but the work of the rejuvenation serum was doing its part to keep him mobile. The stitches looked like they needed to be cleans but after only a couple of days, it was surprisingly well healing despite the seeping.

[14:05:30] Lʏʀɪᴄ (kiya.pawpad) winces seeing the wound, even if it does look tons better than it had back when he got it.

[14:08:02] Niamh Strömberg (karlotte.shelman) would move to the cot in the back. Taking a bowl with water and some ointments. Her clinical eye upon the wound and the bandages. “Those can be disposed.” she states the obvious. “I will clean it and apply some healing salve. Why not use it when we can.” she suggested in her dry humor. “So … Crow did not guess as to what I had seen ? Or do you think he did but rather have me bring the news ?” she asks as she looks to Sirius “Please do not touch my subject .. I fear … it has been a long time since I got it to work.” she stated as he had been studying what was on her cabinet.

[14:08:47] Sirius™ (lucienwildulf) scrunched up his face, at the sight of the wound. But kept silent in the corner. He wasnt even paying attention to them anymore, but to the floating designs on the desk. He was transfixed.

[14:09:33] Sirius™ (lucienwildulf) jumped being called out like that

[14:16:05] Vesper (razius) shook his head as the bandages were pulled off and tossed and then he sat back upon the table. He looked at Niamh and said, “Before you gave me the results for Kage… I knew. I think he does as well… but would rather you provided the results. Or… perhaps he does not wish to know… to confirm… that is hard for me to say.” He turned his head to look at Sirius and then back to Niamh, “What should I know that he cannot say? I feel like my line led down with you and now it is leading up… and my world is shifting drastically as a result. The hunger Niamh…. the hunger I have to kill burns in my veins and bubbles to the surface… he said that….he understood that and it was given to him. I always thought it was just me.

[14:23:30] Niamh Strömberg (karlotte.shelman) would wash her hands before she would take a bowl with fresh water placed it beside her and started to clean the wound. A critical eye to the stitches how it healed and what caused the dark colour of the blood. She worked methodical and quick. Her way of doing things was as ever gentle. There was nothing brutal in her. “Did you learn of his past ?” she asks “Of his time before ?” she asks. She would look up “He had three children. I know that he assumed them all to be killed when he found his companion. But they didn’t. He met Rose in when he was just earned his livery. Tried to father her .. but failed. She was pushed away by what he had become …” she shared. It was his own fault she spoke so freely … “Does this … sound in a way familiar to you ?” as she would take an oinment to clean the wound some more and looked to the others in the room. “Girl if you wish .. in the kitchen you can make some tea or black wine if any wants it.”

[14:24:25] Sirius™ (lucienwildulf) moved to the desk now, as if he and the desk and the floating texts that had come alive.Crouched down , the mechanical whirligigs went through him. Flying all around him producing designs and trails of colors so sharp and exquisite he had never seen the like before. They sang a song to him. Something special that he would understand. He mouthed the words, no sound produced would come from him. But he bobbed his head to it, as if it was the most favorite song ever in his head.

You’re here because
You’re one of us
We are the strength
We are the soldiers
You’ve journeyed far
You’ve battled hard
And now you will receive the Permanent reward
You’ve conquered pain
You’ve conquered fear
Stand proud and salute
The bloodied flag here
You pledged your death and
Your last breath
You are the gears
You are the gears
We fear not our mortality
We’ll serve to the best of our ability
We give our lives to our masters
We vow to smite our enemies
You’ve mastered death
You’ve mastered fear
You are transformed
You are stronger
Now that you’re here
A branded gear
Burned in your flesh
We’ll seal the deal
You’ve conquered fire
You’ve conquered ice
You’ve tasted blood
You’ve taken life
You’re here because
You’re one of us
Become a gear
Become a gear
We fear not our mortality
We’ll serve to the best of our ability
We give our lives to our masters
We vow to smite our enemies
We bless your skin
We bless you with our mark become a gear…

[14:32:47] Vesper (razius) would nod slowly, “Yes, he spoke of his past… finally after so many years I learned of it. I was transfixed by the story and felt his pain.” He didn’t hear the song as he was not in connection with the scroll but he did feel a rush of adrenaline in his body, as if it was time to hunt and his face flushed slightly. But he mastered his reaction and would not show it to Niamh or anyone, carried on speaking as if his veins were not on fire. “My mother was from Kyoto…on earth and talked about the man who was my father as if he was vile, a beast with little in the way of morals or kindness, even though he was a physician of Ar…. and as to missing a companion…..yes, I can empathize with Crow on that as well…perhaps for the same reasons. I killed both my mother and the Pani woman who was my free companion in order to become a member of the Black Caste….and my father…. I never sought him out…. never seemed worth it given the kind of man he had been rumored to be.”

[14:37:50] Niamh Strömberg (karlotte.shelman) would hear the song. The songs always came to her. As if the Priest Kings themselves ensured that she was as ever in constant reach and contact. For a moment she paused – trying to tune into it … but the conversation important as she turned to Vesper once more. “The reason I tell this is … ever since that with rose … he has fathered more children. But he never dared to acknowledge them again. Afraid he would push them away.” she would take the healing salve and started to apply this. “Did you ever ask him .. why he wears on occassion the livery of those of the pani islands ? Or why he even has a contract woman ?” she would now give Vesper a sharp look as if perhaps things would fall into place.

[14:40:26] Lʏʀɪᴄ (kiya.pawpad) blinks… is the Mistress saying…. ???!!!! No way. Surely not. Her gaze goes to Sirius, to see if he has any reaction to be read on his face.

[14:42:52] Sirius™ (lucienwildulf) reached his hand out to the floating text, and watched as it settled on his skin and seemed to disintegrate in his skin. When it did that, the song faded to something that would go on repeat in his head, but softer. Always playing when he would be quiet and empty his mind. Reminding him of his choice to become a gear. He stood up, bumping into the cabinet behind him. Blinking a few times, he wondered how he got to the desk when he was in the corner. But weird shit had been happening to him for several days now. Lyric was in vision , and he nodded to her. The conversation before that had been muffled as if he wasnt meant to hear it. He did reach a single finger up to his left eye, and wiped what he thought to be a tear. It was instead the color and substance of milk. Strange. He brought it to his lips, and tasted. But tasting nothing, he saw he was still hallucinating like mad. He made his way to the door. Looking back , nothing was floating on the desk anymore. Things appeared.. .normal.

[14:43:51] Vesper (razius) mouth dropped open and he looked at her and suddenly he felt like an idiot… a verifiable idiot sandwich…. He sat there looking at her and then he would realize what kind of man would be considered without morals…vile…evil…. he was such a man…. and so, it would seem was his father. The adrenaline flooded deeply in his veins and he felt the connection with the man like it was a direct line leading home. He’d always felt that pull to Crow… always. “I’m an idiot….” he muttered out loud.

[14:48:55] Niamh Strömberg (karlotte.shelman) would take the bandages and started to dress them. As ever she was efficient and well practiced. A life with northern men had abled her to practice enough. “Crow is a charming man. A man that had his share of women. Sometimes in part of his disguise. And perhaps sometimes to fill a void that he never truly can fill. I even doubt Yoko can.” she would ensure the bandage secure as she looked up to him “I think he suspected it but never got confirmation. He must have guessed I would check it. I had to test it and got the results.” she would pause and lock her gaze with his “He is your father.”

[14:52:19] Sirius™ (lucienwildulf) stood at the door, his back to them. But he could hear bits and pieces. Enough that made him turn quickly enough he hit the frame of the door. “What the fuck?” he was not the best at etiquette or finding the right word.

[14:53:53] Lʏʀɪᴄ (kiya.pawpad) whispers to Sirius, “Do you think Master Crow knows?”

[14:55:36] Vesper (razius) took in a deep breath, held it, let it burn in his lungs until he would move it out slowly though his mouth in a beat. In the space of two days he had gone from a self-made orphan to a man with a full family of sorts. That was enough to change a man deeply at a fundamental level. He held his surface still though, as if silence could be what kept structure that would, like the bandages binding him up, hold his very essence inside. Finally, in time, and once it hat settled, he would say, “He is my father. He knows it. Of that I am certain… but he thought I would reject him.” A pause and then he said, “I do not…. I welcome him… I wonder if he would know that though.”

[15:00:31] Niamh Strömberg (karlotte.shelman) looked to lyric as she could still spy her from where she was. cleaning up as she was done with the wound. “These conversations are to be had with him.” she answers. She had her own thoughts on the matter and of course her information in songs and dreams. “Now as to your wound. It heals well enough. It might take a little more time than normal but nothing lethal or bad. But perhaps clean the bandages more frequent.” she suggested.

[15:01:56] Lʏʀɪᴄ (kiya.pawpad) is glad for her Master, of course, but she also worries for him. He’s taken an awful lot of hits in a very short period of time – not necessarily bad ones, but both good and bad.

[15:02:50] Sirius™ (lucienwildulf) felt his cheeks actually flush with a burning red at the mention of the wound not being lethal. It was well known at least in their circles, that it was Sirius who stabbed him. But Sirius marched into that exam area.. He opened and closed his mouth several times, nothing came out. He lifted a hand like :what the actual fuck… He was able to speak.. but he so flabbergasted that it was impossible to.

[15:09:43] Vesper (razius) put on his clothes and would hold onto his helm for the moment, “I’ll do that.” He paused and said to Niamh, “If one is in hiding… as you are… I should think it would be helpful to know who had designs on you.” He would look toward Lyric and then say to Niamh, “If one, such as myself had an experience that changed him to the core…made him rethink how he had been … used…. by those that made him a penitent man…. a zealot of faith…. he might find himself drifting…. drifting in that faith… that would make sense from the surface would it not?” He looked at Sirius and then said, “But if the hidden water is pure… then the surface, no matter how disturbed it may seem… could still be of use.” Then back to Niamh, “In time, you may know more of me… in ways you fear… but know that who I am is Crow’s son…. and on that you can count. You will always be safe with me Niamh.”

[15:13:36] Niamh Strömberg (karlotte.shelman) inclined her head “Crow is a man that has managed on his own for a very long time. It is good that he isn’t alone anymore.” she replied. Perhaps giving them both some insight in that part of their quest. “I have lived so long with looking over my shoulder … it is a way of living. But thank you for that promise.”

[15:15:54] Sirius™ (lucienwildulf) blew air from puffed cheeks forcibly. A hand moved to a fist and rested on his hip, the other held his helm. He looked HIth from head to toe, trying to see either his father, or his brother in the man that was suddenly named as his nephew. “Well I ll be a jits uncle.. “he stated, then as Hith gave his word of protection, and knowing Crow was very protective of the lady, ” I ll watch your back as well. “

[15:17:44] Niamh Strömberg (karlotte.shelman) looks at Sirius “Thank you, all. I walk in the light and yet have you all as my shadows.” she jested. “If there is anything I can do .. from here let me know.”

[15:19:42] Lʏʀɪᴄ (kiya.pawpad) listens closely to her Master. When he glances at her before mentioning hidden water, she meets his eyes – she understands. He’s talking about himself, his core. She’s seen that core. It is pure. She knows this. A small nod, brief, certain. A smile quivers on her lips. She knows who he is… at his core.

[15:25:02] Vesper (razius) would put on his helm and leave the way he came. Not meant to stay longer than his time. He would walk out the door with only a couple of words, “I need to see Kage… but this needs to be a more private conversation…. I think he is still getting used to the idea that he is my son… I have no idea what it will mean for him to even bring up the larger legacy. You’re welcome to come to the outpost but I may not be able to connect with you for some time.

[15:25:31] Lʏʀɪᴄ (kiya.pawpad) watches from the corner anxiously

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Shadows of the Third Knowledge

Posted in Black Caste, Serum storyline, War of Gor on January 23, 2026 by crow1971

[07:32] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires): “ahhh interesting!”…..”someone laying suspicion on someone else, or somewhere else”… “as for Leya, her status is always somewhat blurred, so i do not blame you for the initial confusion”….”i prefer to consider her in permanent transition”.

[07:32] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires): “it makes things easier that way”.

[07:33] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): Laughs “Aye, she is a tranisarrie..” waves hand. “An old historical joke maam, from Earth. ” Grows serious once more. “The vial contains..” leans forward “a virus”.

[07:34] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires): “A virus? good heavens!”…..sits and considers the implications for all….having just come back from a physicians seminar in Besnit.

[07:35] Crow (melchior.wardell) had not come to his age by being reckless. No his age was because he knew when to move, when to be quiet and when to listen. And as he listens – the voice – and the word were enough for him to stand still. His ear to the door as keen eyes would look out for anyone to oversee him. Surely his pose could instill some questions if he wasn’t paying attention.

[07:35] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): nods “said virus was concocted by the Kur, many moons ago, and stopped by …” considers “some men of Earth…men with the third knowledge perhaps you might say. It would appear, that they did not contain all of it, and the Kur wish to send message, or if not the Kur, then one of thoe barbarians..>”

[07:38] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires) has her head in a spin, his replies immediately answering her next question immediately and a sinking feeling hitting her heart…. “gracious Sir, how dreadful!!, those damned Kurii, I assume it was found near to here!, so we are looking for Earth Men who should not be here?”

[07:40] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): Smiles, calm…almost too calm. “The reason I tell you this maam, is twofold. ” Pauses, wiping dry lips. “Firstly, when I told Master Neph of this, he reacted very strangely, and wanted to carry out further analysis of the vial. That means a few thing – firstly, he is a physician in his spare time and hides it well, or…he is an agent of…a higher power hmm?”

[07:40] Crow (melchior.wardell) frowns at the words. It reminded him of Klopek. The abduction of Solomon and wondered if Niamh might be in danger. as he listens he wondered if to enter. To stop the sharing of words. Perhaps there was already too much shared? His mind would go easy to murder. It was what he did for his craft. Yet he knew and understood that there should be reason and cause.

[07:41] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires): “I assume you have enquired with Leya, partly because of her former slave condition, she has the keenest eyes in the entire Sim, she seems to see most everyone who passes, and sends up alarm to those who are unfamiliar?……..”

[07:43] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): Sighs “Indeed, i have, and have warned her to look for a man from the north, dressed as an Arian. Secondly, I fear that the man…one of the men who stopped the Kur virus in the first place, has become an enemy of his former colleague, and sends the vial as message to indicate that he knows where his colleague, now his enemy, is…and that…he is coming…” Pauses “that man’s name, is Tyr…” Looks up. “His former colleague, is called Crassus Tace”
[07:43] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): Shrugs “YOU SEE MY QUANDRY HMM?”

[07:44] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires): “I am not long returned to the Oasis, but i am still relearning who comes and goes, but either way, what you have shared with me will remain confidential, as all matters in this place often are!”

[07:44] Crow (melchior.wardell) tried to memorize names when they were shared. And turned to ensure he was still not observed. Not that he wanted to remain hidden. Strangely enough he wished to be found. When the name was mentioned he would knock on the door. Hoping they would remain unaware of how much he already overheard.

[07:44] Crow (melchior.wardell): KNOCK KNOCK

[07:44] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): Turns rapidly, hand goes to pommel “you are expecting company?”

[07:45] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires): “oh dear….. !, please stay here…”

[07:45] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires): “Janus stay close”
[07:46] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires): Tal Sir, welcome to my office! how can i help you today?
[07:46] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires): smiles
[07:46] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires): Do you have a legal matter with which to discuss with me?

[07:47] Janus (tegamerdk) steps forward to the back of the lady and watches

[07:47] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires): As you can see i have company right now, if you would like to come back later?

[07:48] Crow (melchior.wardell) smiled easy enough when the door opened. “Greetings, lady.” he offered. “I come from far … and from what I understood you might have information that is vital for me.” the smile came easy. The charming killer as ever there. His hands in their view as to give them that sense of safety. “I am the man called Crow.” he offers. Surely giving a name would give taht sense of familiarity.

[07:48] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires): unless it is very very urgent?

[07:49] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): hears the name..a distant memory…surely not the same…surely, it could not be…

[07:50] Crow (melchior.wardell) sighs “I do not want to press matters … but it is indeed very urgent.” Crow sure of his craft and his business would move in and pass her as if it was the most normal thing in this world. As if he never had been told No before. “The importance is a matter of life and death … and not just of one …” he stated with that certainty.

[07:50] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires): “what a lovely name indeed 🙂 I am Lady Myriam and Magistrate 🙂 and this is one of my colleagues, a messenger who conveys my messages and i must write a letter most urgently involving a legal matter for my client, perhaps you can wait in the Inn and i can ensure that as soon as i am free i can have you sent for?”

[07:51] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): mind racing now…if it was the Magistrate of Ar…no…perhaps he had never been the magistrate of Ar…perhaps yet, he owed him his life…hand does not leave pommel. It was a trick , yes..one of Tyr’s tricks. he had been in Ar, he was sure of it

[07:52] Janus (tegamerdk): As you can see the lady and i have business to conduct if you give her some time we can be sure you can have the time you will need 🙂

[07:53] Janus (tegamerdk) tries to be light hearted and affable

[07:53] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires): If it is super urgent you could wait outside these doors 🙂
[07:54] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires): but i will be pacing about the place for a short time, consulting maps and so on?

[07:54] Crow (melchior.wardell) wouldn’t let himself be swayed that easy. His eyes in warning to the man that was with her. “Now … I do not want to do any harm.” he warned. He had not yet drawn a weapon. But his wearing black, the spear the many daggers might tell them they were dealing with a man skilled in his profession. Not the kind that would make haste – unless – important of very sure of himself and this business. “That is the issue, Sir.” he stated and his tone had remain void of urgency even if his words were “There is no time. I wish there was … as you must know it is one of our traits.”

[07:55] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): opens the door, sliding up the wall, hand on hilt…that voice…was it really the man of Ar?

[07:56] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires) waves to the passing locals… and smiles back to the man. If you can perhaps seek refreshment in the inn and Janus will come and let you know when i am free 🙂

[07:56] Janus (tegamerdk) nods, “yes i can do that for you Lady”

[07:56] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): grimaces before stepping out…

[07:57] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): “it would seem there be no end to your talents, Magistrate..and Assassin?” stares into eyes he recognises

[07:57] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires): “there are many more refreshments more suited to your thirst in this hot weather than tea”

[07:59] Crow (melchior.wardell) hears another door open and his eyes would turn to the sound. He would most likely be able to overcome the woman and the scribe – but more ? Even he was no super human. But when the man steps into the hall way the corner of his lips moved up in what might appear a grin. “We meet again, brewer.” he stated. Surely it was long ago and names could be like ribbons – speaking them could turn them in turtles. “Many talents … but one very important. To find who is needed.”

[07:59] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires) smiles, “oh how nice! you know each other!….. well perhaps you should both be aware this is a legal office, and your conduct is be accordingly.

[08:01] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): Nods, hand not leaving pommel. “If it is I that the black caste seek, then we shall have words of steel…” sighs…”but i would not bloody the lady’s hallway…” Smiles briefly “know only, that before we tease the cities of dust with our presence, that I still owe you for preventing my companion having collar, and for me avoiding the impaling spike…for which you still have my thanks…”

[08:04] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires): “Well Sirs, that letter is not going to write itself!, It seems there is pleasantries to pass between you….am i yet needed by either of you?”

[08:04] Crow (melchior.wardell) regarded the woman with a critical eye. She too seemed to be familiar. But he would dismiss her. She held for now little importance. His gaze would rest upon Crassus “If I had been here to serve a contract you would be dead and I would be on the first kailla and be on my way.” he stated. Not out of arrogance but simple truth. It is how he did his business. He could see his hand on his pommel and knew that people in fear could do strange things. “Rumor has it that our meeting was for a reason back then. And not to your death but your life. So can we ?” he would wave his hand to the door. “Perhaps we can speak more discrete?”

[08:06] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires): “If you need a private space so long as there is no blood you may use a meeting room nearby? or perhaps you could make use of my office as long as you do not make it a mess! i hate mess!”

[08:06] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): Eyes narrow…so many of the black wanted him dead, and yet this one, spoke of honor and intrigue…He wanted to laugh at the surety of his claim, but decided to opt for valor, and remove the woman from proceedings “Milady, we will leave you and convene in the inn…’lest blood spoil your cushions, and your reputation . ” Smiles…moving toward the door, offering first pass to the assassin

[08:07] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): Considers “Unless that is MAster Crow – that you wish to include the magistrate in the diatribe?”

[08:08] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires): “0Now, i fear that you both have put me in the middle… this would cause a great deal of fuss and i would send for aid if there is going to be trouble between you! by all means discuss… “

[08:09] Crow (melchior.wardell) would take the risk to go before him. He considered the man not the type to stab him in the back. Even if his own profession cared little for such. A kill was a kill and there was little honor in such. As Crassus spoke he shook his head “Not for now … but perhaps for later.” he stated. His eyes would drift to the woman and the supporting scribe. “I wish you both well.” with that he moved outside.

[08:09] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): “thank you for your time Milady…and do be careful of the man from Ar , named Tyr…”

[08:09] Myriam-alyah Spires (noirnyte.spires): “Sir, are you in danger?” whispers?

[08:10] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): Shakes head

[08:10] Janus (tegamerdk): Lady, I dont think i should leave you, this seems to be a remarkably dangerous place for a Free woman alone

[08:12] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): slaves scuffle to attend them as they enter the inn “water girl…we do not seek paga…yet”

[08:13] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): watches Crow take a seat as the women fuss over him; watching his senses control entry, exit, means of escape, position…all of it…he reminds him of Tyr

[08:14] Crow (melchior.wardell) would seat himself with his back to the wall. Keen eyes upon those that would observe them. His voice low – a bare whisper as to keep the conversation discreet “I couldn’t help to overhear … a man of Ar Tyr ?” he asks as he took a tankard with water from one of the girls (NPC).

[08:15] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): “You know of the third knowledge, the men of Earth? You know that sometimes, well, tales tell of them coming to Gor for those taken by voyages of acquisition..” A fist clenches “to take them back…Tyr was one of those men..>” looks up “as was I”

[08:18] Crow (melchior.wardell) would observe him over the rim. “You were in my home. We spoke about your origins. The information is known and familiar. But I do not know all names that are taken here. Nor do I know of those that return. What I do know is that there is purpose for a something far bigger than you and I. So tell me of this Tyr is he your enemy ?”

[08:20] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): Sighs, remembering. “He was one of my men, before we came to Gor…the finest of the finest. ” Closes his eyes for a time “Five of us came here. I thought the rest dead, but Tyr survived…” Considers. “Eva…and I carried out work for the Priest Kings….and I found that Tyr was alive….” Rubs chin, clearly more to tell

[08:22] Crow (melchior.wardell) was an agent of the Priest Kings for a long time. And in this time he had seen many things that could give a very different perspective upon life upon Gor. As he was a good listener he remained silent and let the silence invite the other to speak.

[08:26] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): Sighs. “Something changed…the Priest Kings put an implant in her. My belief was that I could remove it. Tyr joined us in the hidden city, we determined that the Kur were designing a virus..” looks up “A virus that would reverse the effects of the serum…and thereby age all who had come here from Eaarth, in a bid to destablise Gorean society. ” Considers “We thought we had won…but after the mission, Eva went crazy…sending Tyr to the galleys and trying to kill me…” Over a period of passage hands, i returned, and tore the implant from her neck…” Licks lips. “Tyr…i later found out, escaped the galleys..and swore vengeance”

[08:30] Crow (melchior.wardell) would listen and perk a brow ‘So if I have it correct … you distrusted the Priest Kings?” he asks to have it clarified. Such could change the dynamic of the conversation as well as the outcome. “I remember Eva… how did she get hurt … Is she alright ?” he asks further. The story was complicated he feared. “Tyr swore vengeance on who ?”

[08:33] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): Nods..”After I removed the implant…or thought i had…I collared Eva, to hide her, and brought her here as my slave, where she yet serves. As a slave she might hide, as Ubara she could not. Tyr wants her dead, and me, so long as I protect her…hence…” Considers. “hence…he has returned to his Kur contacts, and sent the vial as a message to show not only has he allies, and powerful ones, but that the virus was not all destroyed” Pauses “We recently found a vial of the virus on a corpse in the desert. A message, that he is coming, in my estimation.”

[08:37] Crow (melchior.wardell) pondered “I wish it was that simple. Take out this man Tyr and we are done. Can’t you see the bigger picture here?”he asks. “Here I thought it was only rumor that the Kurri had been able to obtain it. Surely after we ensured the one that could produce it out of their hands. But I guess they managed to find another with similar knowledge. That vail … if it is overly produced … Gor as we know it might not have much longer. I want to find this man Tyr and his contacts so we can get to the source and eliminate that danger. ” he sighs “Where is the vail and where can I find this man Tyr ?”

[08:41] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): Smiles. “the vial is with Neph – a warrior here, though…” considers, “having dealt with Priest King agents in the past, I suspect he is one. His interest in the vial was too astute.” Licks lips and sips the water. “As for Tyr; one does not find him…he finds you. He was the best soldier I ever had…’special forces’, attitude, successful and lucky…on Earth he was the best of the best…as I say, one does not find Tyr, unless he wants to be found. He knows I will stand in his way for Eva, hust as he knows that I will die for her…” Sighs “he found a way to be preferred by the Kur Queen…a way which most men would not have dreamed of, and hence he has powerful allies amongst the Kur.”

[08:48] Crow (melchior.wardell) listens again with great interest. Soldiers ? He knew them – studied them even. The technology on earth in that regard more in the open where here it was an offense enough to have it blue flamed. But he understood this wasn’t about weaponry but intelligence, connections. “So he is obsessed with Eva.” he replied as if that was already some kind of answer. “And he can’t be found.” he hears the lack of trust in the caste he served – or anything of this world But could he blame the man that came from Earth? “He is nothing to them. Just a piece in their play of kaissa. When he served his purpose he will be disposed or used in their antics.” he frowns “This Neph. Where can he be found ? Have you spoken of this with him ?”

[08:51] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): “Aye..Neph knows the history of the virus, though I regretted telling him…for I fear he is more than he seems. He lives toward the wall with his slaves…(( Nephtides na Neidos (nephtides) )) . Turns onmce more “Know this – Tyr will come, and I will fight…” Shrugs “For I have little choice. My fear is the Kur and what they might do to the people here, but also the virus. Iw ould see the women of Earth that have been kidnapped to your vile planet die, rather than forcibly age in front of Gorean masters and be slain by the sword…” Spittle flies as he grows angrier

[08:54] Crow (melchior.wardell) memorizes the name “My network can try to find this Tyr. As they are still finding those physicians that must have worked on this … ” he replied – sharing some of his knowledge into this. “The kurri and the Priest Kings work in a strange balance … If I can help it … that toxin will never be used in such a manner, but I need more then this. Can you introduce me to this man Neph?”

[08:55] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): nods “i can aye…he travels a lot – also he is frequently found at Ar’s Station with his sluts…” Stares int the middle distance “My own death, I have little fear of, but I will protect Eva to my last breath in this matter…”

[08:58] Crow (melchior.wardell) frowns “I can’t remain here. But you could hire protection for her. You must know of this ?” he asks. “And I doubt she will have much use of you being dead so do not speak of it as if it is already a lost cause.

[09:00] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): Laughs “aye, your words are true. I will not hire protection and draw attention. better she remains my slave, but already I have had the physicians look at her, for I fear that I did not get all of the implant our..” shrugs “I took advice from Lyra on the matter…the physician, but I fear she still has ‘attacks'”

[09:05] Crow (melchior.wardell) frowns “Lyra of Ar ?” he asks curious. He knew of her research and hidden clinic. “There is a woman that can help you with the implant. She is now known as Niamh. She is a companion of a trader of the North. Portus STromberg. Last I know he is a slaver in Holmesk but also has a trading company the Black Compass.” he shared. As to not draw attention. Tyr is already close considering the vial he left as a warning?”

[09:07] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): remembers the name “Aye…I may well seek her out..Lyra had advice, but I am no physician..i fear something remains of the influence, and I would be done with it.” Nods “Tyr is close, or else the Kur are trying to takle the Tahari…either way, it bodes ill for the oasis. Were I to ascribe subtlety to Tyr, I would suggest he is giving me an option…give Eva to him, or he will unleash the virus…” Looks up “He will not get Eva”

[09:11] Crow (melchior.wardell) nodded “Well blackmail is never a certainty for him not to use the vial even after. I agree it is foolish to get into that request.” he would drain the tankard. “I will try to get my men seek this place out more frequent. So you could relay a message if it is needed. We need to stop that contamination at all costs.” he stated. “Remember that conversation … even in the guise of something – there is truth.” he stated cryptic in hope he would learn that Crow – even a murdered – stood on the light side of things. “For now I need to depart and inform those of the caste I trust with this … if you have any word of those less honorable. Let me know by messenger or sent me a feather so I know it is urgent and I need to find you.”

[09:12] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): smiles…reaches a hand to grip his arm “my thanks again Magistrate…”…considers “if we are lucky , I will owe you once more for the life of my companion”…”I have means to get Eva out if Tyr arrives…and I will send her to you, one way or another, once the fight begins”

[09:18] Crow (melchior.wardell) regards him again very serious. “I understand that this world seems cruel and unkind. That it is rough and demanding for men. Surely when one comes from Earth. Yet … honor, kindness and dare I say love is to be found in special places. There is no need for gratitude. Since I have my own selfish reasons for finding the toxin and ensuring it won’t be used.” he would lift himself up. He would toss a few silvers – way too much for the water they had taken “May your bags always be filled with water.” and with that he would move off. Wondering when he would find a scroll, feather or Eva.

[09:19] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): Nods “and yours Magistrate…you will know that matters are moving when someone says that word to you…accept it as a sign…’Magistrate’ will be the key word…”

[09:20] Crassus Tace (jensen.abbot): Smiles “for there are few who know you by that name”

[09:20] Crow (melchior.wardell) dipped his head “Magistrate it is.”

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Papercuts

Posted in Black Caste, Serum storyline, War of Gor on January 19, 2026 by crow1971

Crow traced the ink on the parchment, his fingertips drifting over the signatures. He wasn’t reading names. He was feeling the pressure of the quill, weighing the intent and the force behind each stroke. It was a dark habit of his to find the man within the ink. Yet, as he traced the lines, his thoughts drifted to the voids on the page. Sometimes, the ink that isn’t there carries the most weight.

Taog’s signature was missing. A pity. Crow would have preferred him here, not out of sentiment Taog. He understood the gears of the Castes, and Crow had always held a sharp, jagged respect for a mind that could navigate the laws of Gor as cleanly as a his dagger navigates a ribcage.

Then there was Scar. His absence was predictable, tedious even. Crow had spent years pouring his blood into the man’s cup, only to realize the vessel was bottomless and ungrateful. Scar operated on a deluded sense of entitlement, demanding a loyalty he had never truly bought. A mistake Crow wouldn’t let him make again.

But Solomon… Solomon was the complicated one.

Solomon hadn’t signed, and Crow suspected it was born of a newfound caution. They had been mentor and student once, a dynamic of clear horizons. But the shadows had grown long. With the secrets Crow now carried. This knowledge that could unmake better men and with it the balance had shifted.

Solomon wasn’t an enemy; he was a brother-in-arms, but a brother who now realized the whelp he had raised was fully grown. There was a new, sharp edge to their silence. Crow didn’t resent him for it. He knew better than most that very few people truly saw the man beneath the “Charming Killer.” They saw the flirtatious grin and the easy humour, the polished façade he maintained. They didn’t see the dark depths where his true thoughts lay coiled and hidden. That man in the mirror could never be fooled. “Back to business.” He mused as he rolled up the scroll and stored it in his chest , the lock clicking like a final word..

Important matters were piling up, and Crow could feel the weight of them. This assignment had dragged him across every godforsaken corner of Gor, and as the Tahari sand stung his skin, he realized the people who actually held the answers were likely long gone.

Whispers. That’s all he had. But the air felt different here—he was close. The problem was the distance; he couldn’t be in two places at once, and the clock was running out.

He needed a messenger. “Find the one called Vesper at the Loom,” he told the runner, his voice raspy from the heat. “Or Erebus. You’ll likely find them both there. They’ve known of this business for a long time.”

He sat to write, his hand moving with a precision that felt out of place in the desert. The elegant sweep of the letters betrayed him—it was the handwriting of a man raised in the High Castes, a remnant of his years spent hiding behind the robes of a Scribe and a High Magistrate. This time, he didn’t have the luxury of being cryptic.

I am in the Tahari. I narrowly missed the ‘physicians’ carrying the vial we discussed. Word is they are headed for Ar’s Station. I cannot say if they serve the light or the dark. Whatever you do, do not let that vial be opened—not unless you are certain the light prevails. — Crow

He kept it brief. If the scroll was intercepted, a few vague words might save his life. Now, it was out of his hands. It all depended on whether they were clever enough to read between the lines.

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