VIGIL 4: Swordfights!!! on Air

[Lord Magtok]

[Hangar Necromancy]

"Yes. Yes, it is really goddamned bad," Wenomir says, taking a few steps towards the ghost. Anger creeps into his voice, breaking his stoic demeanor. "You claim pure motives, and then you turn around and frame us for murder. The political struggle in Southside isn't a matter for Vigil. Yet. But our reputation is. And I'll do what it takes to keep it clean."

The ghost rolls its spectral eyes. "You know what would be a great way to keep it clean? Staying out of the Faction's business. If you could promise that, I'd say whatever you want to whomever you want. Of course you're not going to promise that, though, because you don't trust us any more than we trust you."

[Celticbear]

Vigil Skybase / Training Grounds.

Xavouir watches in silence.

[Zefir]

[Vigil Skybase / Training Grounds]

This time Mia was more aware of Wenomir, whcih resulted into a much slower progress in solving the puzzles. She stands up immediatly, throwing her chair down and avoiding the ball by less then an inch. Wenomir should have noticed that her attention was on him instead of the puzzles, which I guess is not the task.

[Deathkeeper]

Yet Another Lesson

"Yeah but they're gross. What's the point of being tough if you're weak and all icky? He wanted to be a roach. Totally weird." Koshal insists.

[Morty]

[Vigil Skybase / Training Grounds]

Wenomir doesn't comment yet. He simply observes, and walks over to the gong, to ring it. He's doing it in order now, before mixing it up.

[Hangar Necromancy]

Wenomir shakes his head.

"And why should we trust you? When you arrived, we dealt with you fairly. We listened to your proposal, and gave it due consideration before rejecting it. You responded by framing us for murder. But... you seem more reasonable than your friend who was here with you. Did you really think it would get us off your back, instead of making us more likely to go after you?"

[Yet Another Lesson]

"When you think about it, a lot of what we do is pretty gross," Wenomir suggests, amused. "What I'm trying to tell you is that the mage's mistake lay not in what he chose to imitate, but how. There may be something to learn in the insect kingdom, but it doesn't sound like he wanted to learn anything. Just take a shortcut to 'perfection'. Which defeats the point. But maybe if he'd really tried to understand what makes those creatures special, and develop his magic this way... he might have seen more success than hurting a lot of people and being killed by a pair of adventurers."

[Zefir]

[Vigil Skybase / Training Grounds]

It needs a bit until Mia stands up and takes a defensiv stand. Her reaction time still is slow, but this one was the best out of the three lessons right now.

[Lord Magtok]

[Hangar Necromancy]

Wenomir shakes his head.

"And why should we trust you? When you arrived, we dealt with you fairly. We listened to your proposal, and gave it due consideration before rejecting it. You responded by framing us for murder. But... you seem more reasonable than your friend who was here with you. Did you really think it would get us off your back, instead of making us more likely to go after you?"

"It's worked so far, hasn't it? All this time, you've been too busy dealing with other business, or getting things ready to summon me. That's-" The ghost lifts up an arm to peer at something on his wrist, before realizing that as a spooky apparition, he no longer has a fancy augmented reality hologram clock floating over his wrist anymore. Curses.

"That's at least a few days. Maybe weeks or months, I don't know. Easy to lose track of time when you've been sentenced to eternal torment and misery in the fiery pits of hell. We evaluated you as potential allies, saw that you'd rather keep your reputation squeaky clean than try to help people, and acted accordingly. I'd like to help you, Wenomir, honest, but I just don't see any reason why I should."

[Morty]

[Vigil Skybase / Training Grounds]

After Mia has settled down again, Wenomir snatches a ball and throws it at her. Time to make it a bit harder.

"I see you carry a sword yourself," he tells Xavouir. "Are you a swordsman, or is it just one of your tools?"

[Hangar Necromancy]

((Will post here later.))

[Celticbear]

Vigil Skyabase / Training Grounds

Correct me if I'm wrong, but did you just call Kitty a tool? That hurt its feelings, you should apologize either way. asks Xavouir.

[Deathkeeper]

[Yet Another Lesson]

Koshal considers it. He doesn't really know how to feel about it.
"Well...I guess. I understand what you mean though, sir. I can't go cheating my way into power. That's just not how it works." he says to the man, stroking Faye's ears.

[Zefir]

Vigil Skyabase / Training Grounds

This time Mia got hit by the ball just when she moves to the side. Her attention was on the tasks in front of her. After the ball dropped to the ground she continues to work.

[Morty]

[Vigil Skybase / Training Grounds]

Wenomir pauses, opens his mouth and closes it again.

"Oh-kaaay... I'm going to assume 'Kitty' is your sword, and that it's intelligent. In which case, my apologies."

He doesn't send Mia any more signals for now.

[Hangar Necromancy]

"Correction - you decided we're either with you or against you, and chose to pre-emptively frame us for murder," Wenomir clarifies. "For all your insistence you're not Magtok, you act just like he did." He shakes his head. "Then again, you seem to have gone willingly to your death, which Magtok wouldn't. And your friend who was here... Isaac, or something. He doesn't know what you did, does he? No, he really thinks we killed you. I wonder what he'd do if he learned otherwise."

[Yet Another Lesson]

"You cannot. Anything gained this way won't be worth much," Wenomir confirms. "If you look at my face, every scar there is a lesson. Hopefully you won't get as ugly by the time you're my age."

[Celticbear]

Vigil Skybase / Training Grounds

Kitty accepts your apology, and to answer your previous question, no I am not a sword master. You'll see that when I pick up one of those metal things, I will be worse than an amateur. When Kitty picks me up, however, we are a force to be reckoned with. We have toppled tyrants, eradicated empires, and created beautiful statuary when we're bored. I'm also a bartender. says Xavouir as Kitty rolls its large cat eye.

[Zefir]

[Vigil Skybase / Training Grounds]

Mia continues to work on. The more time pass the less she takes care of Wenomit. Assuming that is what he was going for?

[Deathkeeper]

[Yet Another Lesson]

Koshal, in a display of restraint belying his normal childish demeanor, thinks about but decides not to tell Wenomir that he shouldn't worry about that unless Koshal suddenly gets doused in hair remover and and loses his horns.
"Uncle Krayger did fine. I'm sure I won't do any worse. And I'm not running solo like he always did." the squire assures Wenomir.

[Morty]

[Vigil Skybase / Training Grounds]

Wenomir looks quite interested, as he walks over to the gong... but then suddenly jumps, landing near the bell in a single bound, and ringing it. Will Mia react quickly enough?

"So your weapon wields you? I've never encountered such a relationship between a weapon and its user. How did you come across... her?"

[Yet Another Lesson]

"Indeed. You've already worked with that wizard lady," Wenomir says. "Good support can make all the difference. Got any other fellow warriors and adventurers?"

[Celticbear]

Vigil Skybase / Training Grounds

She was bestowed upon me by the church of Pharasma for the purpose of seeking penance for my demonic form. says Xavouir as he gestures towards his horns.
Kitty is actually a very powerful spirit of a psychopomp, a servant to the Lady of Graves, and our souls are bound together.
See if I had died a normal death, my fiendish heritage would have sent me strait to hell, but because I am serving Pharasma by vanquishing great evils Kitty will vogue for me and hopefully send me to a better afterlife.

[Zefir]

[Vigil Skybase / Training Grounds]

Mia's reaction is.... quiet slow. at first it appears like she didn't even notice it. When it seems to reach her she immediatly executes the parry and counter attack.

When she goes back to the puzzles she releases an annoyed noise. Either due to her reaction or maybe due to what Xavouir said, who knows.

[Morty]

[Vigil Skybase / Training Grounds]

Wenomir lets Mia do the puzzles for a while more, as he addresses Xavouir. He frowns.

"They would damn you simply because of your lineage? That doesn't strike me as something to atone for."

[Deathkeeper]

[Yet Another Lesson]

Koshal has to think as he counts his friends on his fingers.
"Well there's Lady Leah if I need her. And Faye of course. There's Iknika, she's a goblin training to be a knight too. And Richard, he's a harpy who kicks things. And I got a few other friends but I don't know how adventurous they are." he admits.

[Celticbear]

Vigil Skybase / Training Grounds

Well, I am a fiend. says Xavouir as he pulls back his cowl. It reveals a red face with four milky-white eyes set above an absent nose. In the nose's place are two great slits that seem to flex and unflex as if the were breathing. He then smiles smiles, revealing a mouth akin to a great white shark as layer upon layer of teeth stand grinning. Xavouir then pulls the cowl back to cover his face, and says:
Before I was a bartender or a "holy avenger" if that's the title you prefer, I was a mystic whose blood made the left hand path easier than most. I dabbled in the dark arts some,
and if I put my foot in deeper than I did, we might be fighting at this moment instead of talking. After one too many a street jeering, I decided to align myself with the Lady of Graves to seek penance for both my actions and my heritage.

[Morty]

[Yet Another Lesson]

Wenomir blinks.

"A goblin, training to be a knight?" He shakes his head. "Forgive me. I'm afraid some assumptions are hard to shake. I was taught rather unflattering things about the Gol races... that's orcs, hobgoblins and goblins on my homeworld. Of course, I was also taught to keep my head down and work the land like my ancestors. Those expectations do cling to us, don't they?"

[Vigil Skybase / Training Grounds]

Wenomir doesn't appear unnerved by Xavouir's appearance. He's seen much stranger.

"Good on you to turn back from that path, then. It's... too easy for people to be forced down a certain road, because of the way they were born. Or created."

[Lord Magtok]

[Hangar Necromancy]

"Correction - you decided we're either with you or against you, and chose to pre-emptively frame us for murder," Wenomir clarifies. "For all your insistence you're not Magtok, you act just like he did." He shakes his head. "Then again, you seem to have gone willingly to your death, which Magtok wouldn't. And your friend who was here... Isaac, or something. He doesn't know what you did, does he? No, he really thinks we killed you. I wonder what he'd do if he learned otherwise."

"I thought you were trying to convince me to tell him this stuff," the ghost frowns, confused.

[Morty]

[Hangar Necromancy]

Wenomir shrugs. He was testing the clone's reactions, but it doesn't seem like it worked. Time for his last option.

"Let's cut to the chase. I'll make you a deal. You help me prove that the explosion was staged, and I arrange for your soul to end up in a more pleasant afterlife."

[Celticbear]

Vigil Skybase / Training Grounds

Born. Unlike most daemons, I was not made in a pit. I should say The Pit. answers Xavouir.

[Morty]

[Vigil Skybase / Training Grounds]

Wenomir picks up a ball and throws it... but not at Mia. Instead, he sends it at a nearby wall. It hits and bounces off, in her direction.

"There's a lot of kinds of demons around here. Daemons, too. And similar. We're currently embroiled in a war with creatures people have taken to calling 'demons', but that don't have much in common with other kinds of beings with that name."

[Celticbear]

Vigil Skybase / Training Grounds

War, huh? Guess we arrived here at the right time. says Xavouir. Kitty's eye follows the ball perfectly during the entire conversation.

[Zefir]

[Vigil Skybase / Training Grounds]

Mia takes note that Wenomir throws another ball, but she expected a direct throw. She rise up and holds her sword sheathat Wenomirs direction just to note that the ball comes from anoterh direction. She got hit.

It looks like it will need a lot of training of this kind to reach some visible progress. ((Hope it#s okay that she fails so much. She just got 0 training in this.))

After that she will continue on her studies.

[Morty]

[Vigil Skybase / Training Grounds]

Wenomir rubs his chin, before walking over slowly to the bell and ringing it. No tricks, this time. Mia needs a slower pace, it seems.

"Looks like it. We can certainly use another sword. And the man it wields. Just be ready... there's a lot of them."

[Celticbear]

Vigil Skybase / Training Grounds

Kitty and I can take 'em. I'm confident in that. says Xavouir.

This is a nice conversation and all, but is there anything I should be doing presently that demands attention?

Kitty's eye vibrates in tune with the bell.