Post by Trebias on Jul 24, 2008 14:30:38 GMT -5
Elias bowed and left the Queen's chamber. He retrieved his weapons from the canine that had held his things, making a mental note in the process, something to take care of later, perhaps.
As he left the Palace and entered the streets, he activated his ability to blend in. For a hermit, he'd be spending a lot of time around crowds for a while.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He found one of the addresses, still blending in and looking for one of his targets. He'd found this one first because the information he needed about this one would be easiest to get, he suspected. Staying carefully blended in, he followed and listened. This was a minor player, he couldn't give much info anyway. Big talkers weren't trusted with much, and after having followed the Lowlander 6 around for less than half a day and getting everything he needed, Elias could see why.
---------------
The second proved trickier, but Elias managed to blend in well enough to get close and learn of a meeting. He hoped it would have been between the last two, but if they were connected this meeting had nothing to do with it. Still, Elias figured he could take the place of the real Card the Lowlander was meeting, a Jack and potentially dangerous given the unknown factor, and the fact that a Josiggy Taur would stand out like a sore thumb. He could totally throw seven kinds of smoke though. Literally.
When the Lowlander arrived, thick black smoke filled the room. Coughing, the Lowlander complained. "Deal with it," El said, disguising his voice. "My respirator broke and this is the only way I'll be able to breathe for this meeting."
Still coughing, the Jack was suspicious. "I thought it was air from your home you gas heads have to breathe."
El had fortunately thought of this, not being an idiot. "I have. . .other needs as well. This gas won't harm you, you'll be fine shortly after leaving. Now answer me this-"
A lenghty meeting full of threats later, and El had managed to get more information directly from the source again. It had only taken two weeks thus far. Two weeks of hiding and pushing his mental stamina to the limit, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.
The next Card would be either very easy or very hard, depending on whether the vulture had an immunity to the tranqs El had bought.
It didn't.
-------------------
The vulture blinked her eyes. Was everything dark, or were her eyes not working correctly? Hard to say, but it ended up being a little of both. She tried to raise a wing to her face, but couldn't. She suddenly realized she was tied up in a strange room.
The voice surprised her, coming from her left, out of sight of the dim lamp hanging from the ceiling. "If it will make things move any faster, call for help. Nobody will hear you, mind you, but you can get it out of your system. We could have a long day ahead of us, or a short one. It's really your call.
The 10 of Spades hissed when the yellow legs appeared in the circle of light, and started outright swearing when the lightly swinging lamp revealed the green torso. Expletives issued forth even after Elias' rank was revealed, either despite that or because of it.
"Yeah, I thought it would be a long day myself. I don't mind, I won't be the one hurting at the end of it. See, I've got this file on you. It's not much, don't let your head get big. It is big enough to tell me that you don't have any abilities that can get you out of this, and I want you to know that if you can summon something, you should just forget it, because I'll kill it in front of you. I'll cut out your eyelids and hold your head in place while you watch your little friend die for nothing. Hope we're clear." Elias smiled pleasantly, but the smile was just a bearing of fangs.
"I don't see why I should tell you anything. You've let me see your face, so you're going to kill me anyway."
"Nope, not going to kill you yet. I'd like to, but you're more useful to me like this, at least for now. Be glad you haven't ranked up yet, though, because then I would kill you. But, the tricky thing is, even if you talk to me, how can I be sure you're telling me the truth?" The vulture sneered as best as a beak allows, obviously having thought of this.
"So, hmm. No killing you, and it might draw attention if you show signs of torture."
"And I know your face, freak. I'll tell people who you are, and you'll be done."
"No, I'm not worried about that," El said dismissively. Maybe he was having too much fun toying with the Lowlander. The smell was starting to get to him, maybe he should just get on with it. He grabbed a gag and wrapped it around the vulture's beak. "You'll want to scream, but that just makes it take longer, and I'm already tired of you. If I can concentrate better, this will go faster. This is still a little new to me."
El sat down across from the vulture, staring, concentrating. The vulture began to squirm, then to fight the restraints, then finally to scream wordlessly and writhe in the chair. Elias sifted through memories, taking everything he needed and wanted. He actually kept it up much longer than needed, waiting for the bird to pass out. He got more information that way, and he never minded the struggles or suffering of a Lowlander.
When he was done, Elias wiped the bird's mind clean of everything having to do with him, from the initial pinprick of being injected with the
drugs to the point when El injected him again. He poured a liberal amount of a bottle of whiskey down the bird's throat, and dumped the rest all over him. Between the booze and the drugs, the vulture should feel like she was hung over, the smell would confirm it to the bird, and there would be nothing left to link the bird back to Elias.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Having prepared a report of what he found, Elias kept it carefully tucked inside his satchel. He relinquished his weapons and bag without a word this time, merely pulling the papers from his bag and heading in to see the Queen.
"This is what I was able to find out," El said after the Queen had allowed him to enter and they had exchanged pleasantries. It should have been everything, and until the vulture ranked up Elias would have a source of information at least once a month, maybe longer if he could learn to make higher ranks forget him as well.
He waited for the Queen's judgement.
As he left the Palace and entered the streets, he activated his ability to blend in. For a hermit, he'd be spending a lot of time around crowds for a while.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He found one of the addresses, still blending in and looking for one of his targets. He'd found this one first because the information he needed about this one would be easiest to get, he suspected. Staying carefully blended in, he followed and listened. This was a minor player, he couldn't give much info anyway. Big talkers weren't trusted with much, and after having followed the Lowlander 6 around for less than half a day and getting everything he needed, Elias could see why.
---------------
The second proved trickier, but Elias managed to blend in well enough to get close and learn of a meeting. He hoped it would have been between the last two, but if they were connected this meeting had nothing to do with it. Still, Elias figured he could take the place of the real Card the Lowlander was meeting, a Jack and potentially dangerous given the unknown factor, and the fact that a Josiggy Taur would stand out like a sore thumb. He could totally throw seven kinds of smoke though. Literally.
When the Lowlander arrived, thick black smoke filled the room. Coughing, the Lowlander complained. "Deal with it," El said, disguising his voice. "My respirator broke and this is the only way I'll be able to breathe for this meeting."
Still coughing, the Jack was suspicious. "I thought it was air from your home you gas heads have to breathe."
El had fortunately thought of this, not being an idiot. "I have. . .other needs as well. This gas won't harm you, you'll be fine shortly after leaving. Now answer me this-"
A lenghty meeting full of threats later, and El had managed to get more information directly from the source again. It had only taken two weeks thus far. Two weeks of hiding and pushing his mental stamina to the limit, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.
The next Card would be either very easy or very hard, depending on whether the vulture had an immunity to the tranqs El had bought.
It didn't.
-------------------
The vulture blinked her eyes. Was everything dark, or were her eyes not working correctly? Hard to say, but it ended up being a little of both. She tried to raise a wing to her face, but couldn't. She suddenly realized she was tied up in a strange room.
The voice surprised her, coming from her left, out of sight of the dim lamp hanging from the ceiling. "If it will make things move any faster, call for help. Nobody will hear you, mind you, but you can get it out of your system. We could have a long day ahead of us, or a short one. It's really your call.
The 10 of Spades hissed when the yellow legs appeared in the circle of light, and started outright swearing when the lightly swinging lamp revealed the green torso. Expletives issued forth even after Elias' rank was revealed, either despite that or because of it.
"Yeah, I thought it would be a long day myself. I don't mind, I won't be the one hurting at the end of it. See, I've got this file on you. It's not much, don't let your head get big. It is big enough to tell me that you don't have any abilities that can get you out of this, and I want you to know that if you can summon something, you should just forget it, because I'll kill it in front of you. I'll cut out your eyelids and hold your head in place while you watch your little friend die for nothing. Hope we're clear." Elias smiled pleasantly, but the smile was just a bearing of fangs.
"I don't see why I should tell you anything. You've let me see your face, so you're going to kill me anyway."
"Nope, not going to kill you yet. I'd like to, but you're more useful to me like this, at least for now. Be glad you haven't ranked up yet, though, because then I would kill you. But, the tricky thing is, even if you talk to me, how can I be sure you're telling me the truth?" The vulture sneered as best as a beak allows, obviously having thought of this.
"So, hmm. No killing you, and it might draw attention if you show signs of torture."
"And I know your face, freak. I'll tell people who you are, and you'll be done."
"No, I'm not worried about that," El said dismissively. Maybe he was having too much fun toying with the Lowlander. The smell was starting to get to him, maybe he should just get on with it. He grabbed a gag and wrapped it around the vulture's beak. "You'll want to scream, but that just makes it take longer, and I'm already tired of you. If I can concentrate better, this will go faster. This is still a little new to me."
El sat down across from the vulture, staring, concentrating. The vulture began to squirm, then to fight the restraints, then finally to scream wordlessly and writhe in the chair. Elias sifted through memories, taking everything he needed and wanted. He actually kept it up much longer than needed, waiting for the bird to pass out. He got more information that way, and he never minded the struggles or suffering of a Lowlander.
When he was done, Elias wiped the bird's mind clean of everything having to do with him, from the initial pinprick of being injected with the
drugs to the point when El injected him again. He poured a liberal amount of a bottle of whiskey down the bird's throat, and dumped the rest all over him. Between the booze and the drugs, the vulture should feel like she was hung over, the smell would confirm it to the bird, and there would be nothing left to link the bird back to Elias.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Having prepared a report of what he found, Elias kept it carefully tucked inside his satchel. He relinquished his weapons and bag without a word this time, merely pulling the papers from his bag and heading in to see the Queen.
"This is what I was able to find out," El said after the Queen had allowed him to enter and they had exchanged pleasantries. It should have been everything, and until the vulture ranked up Elias would have a source of information at least once a month, maybe longer if he could learn to make higher ranks forget him as well.
He waited for the Queen's judgement.
