It was a warm, but breezy day in Venedig, and the rich, in their carriages and lavish gondolas, were making a rare trip to the open-air slave market, a circular space whose northern half was ringed with wooden exhibition platforms, beyond which were the stone buildings where the chattel was 'processed'. As the sun shone brightly in the clear sky, the merchant-aristocrats of Venedig would walk to the open space facing the exhibition stands, where chairs and miniature pavilions were already set up. Then, once all seats were full, the auction masters, smiling men and women clothed in bright silk, would then emerge from the buildings and onto the stands, before announcing, in clear tones enhanced by World Magic:

"Ladies and Gentlefolk of Venedig, we would like to announce that Karl Maximillian V of the Reich des Goldenen Grahles has given the city this opportunity, an opportunity to be the instrument of punishment to traitors, and profit from such use. Thus, beyond these stands, the former nobles whose treason had reduced them to the status of chattel are being sorted and processed, with those who are above eighteen years of age being stripped and bathed for exhibition. The first of the batch, the men and women of the Edelweiss family, known for their renowned beauty and skill in both Change Magic and Medicine, will be sold...now!" And with that, the doors to the 'centremost' (from the seated people's perspective) stand would open.

Walking out, escorted by guards, would be a set of five extremely handsome men and women, their entire bodies shaved and waxed except for their eyebrows, eyelashes, and head hair. They were fully naked and exposed, but they did not bow their heads, nor did they avert their eyes from the crowd, nor try and cover themselves. The rich merchants of the land whooped and jeered at the ex-nobles, though a few felt pity, even shedding tears at the Edelweiss' family's plight.

The oldest man of in the group, a tall, muscular man whose hairs were only showing streaks of grey, was bid and sold first, then the women, leaving two males, brothers whose dark hair and eyes, as well as tall, slim, and lean bodies caused the crowds to whoop, leer, and jeer harder.

"Fredrick and Heinrich Edelweiss, nineteen and eighteen! The first is a fighter-paladin, the second is a doctor, but already a savant in his field!" said the auction officials. "Will they be bought as a joint item, or will they be separated?! What is your choice, crowd?!"

One of the frontmost merchants, a surprisingly young man with short-cropped hair, whose thin build was bedecked in gold and crimson silk, got up from his chair and miniature pavilion, which was made from the same stuff. He would then say:

"I wish to bid twenty million marks for the both of them!" in a voice that was authoritative, another surprise, at least for the Edelweiss brothers. The younger, Heinrich, would then recognize the merchant as Kaspar Ridolfi, one of the richest men in the city, newly come to his inheritance.

"Going once...going twice...sold!" shouted the nearest auction master, a slightly fat, jolly-looking man who seemed to enjoy this job a lot. "Now that we've gotten our audience's appetites whetted, time for the auction proper to begin!" And with that, dozens of naked people, escorted by guards, would be led out of the processing buildings, few of them having the dignity or beauty of the sold Edelweiss family.

-------

And elsewhere in the city, two men met in an alleyway, one of them a Tian national, and another, a Venedig native. The former would hand the latter a bag of gold coins, while the latter would give a dagger, a dagger whose blade was of Perfected Electrum...a metal illegal for those outside Venedig's City Government to own...

@Tyki@Claw2k11@The Narrator@Tominas@supertinyking@Overlord Thraka@Stitches@Rex

@letter bee
Mergoux watches the sales with disgust and a look of rage on her face. She's crouched on a roof on the edge of the marketplace, a position she's often held, waiting for this day. She'd spent the last few months scouting the area, making sure of her position and making sure she could escape. Her heavy crossbow, a large wood and steel weapon of war, lies are her side, arrow lying on the string, ready to be cocked and fired

She watches the Edelweiss family sold and shakes her head in pity.
"Poor bastards, they'll be first then." she mutters to herself
She cocks her crossbow and watches further, as more people are paraded and sold. Her rage and sorrow only grows as she remembers that happening to her, many years ago. After over half the slaves have been sold she's had enough.
"This stops. Now." she growls
She snatches up her crossbow and braces it against the roof's edge then looks for a target.
She's made sure to dull her armor so that the sun doesn't shine against it, giving away her position.
She narrows her eyes, aiming down the length of the crossbow at her target, then pulls the trigger, sending a bolt flying at the fat Auction master. Once the bolt is away she quickly nocks another one and cocks the crossbow again.

@Letter Bee

Inside the Gear Works workshop, Seth finally finished his project for one of his clients and let out a satisfying sigh as he got up from the stool he is sitting on and walked towards the front door. As he leaves the back room, he quickly grabs a ruby red rag and begins to clean his hands of oil, grease, sweat, and blood. He stops and looks at the small cut on his knuckle. He hadn’t noticed it till now, but that’s not unusual for his line of work. Sometimes he’ll go the whole day without noticing the blood trickle down his hands from a knick or cut he had received from working on a client’s knick-knack or item they brought to him to fix up or repair.

Seth placed the rag on the counter and stared into the empty lobby of the workshop. It had been a slow week since the announcement of the auction. However, he knew this would happen. It usually always happened when an auction is announced. Business is slow because all the so-called Nobles save their coins for the auction. Even though business dwindles during this time, he still makes enough coin on the none-auction days to keep the business afloat. The front lobby was a large room with wooden floors. Hanging from the walls and ceiling were the many projects he did on his down time, while others sat on shelves around the room and in the large front windows of the shop. He left them in the front lobby as a sort of portfolio for any new clients that would wander into his shop. Many of the objects had small price tags on them should anyone wish to purchase them.

However, one object on the wall had no price tag, a large metal clock behind the counter in the shape of a heart. The clock face showed the inner workings of the gears and cogs that were painted red as well as the outer frame. With every hour the clock chimed and let out a lovely tone that lasted thirty seconds. The song was a hymn his mother always sung to him before bed when he was a child. He had found a music box with the same hymn and took it apart so he could incorporate it with the clock. It was a birthday gift for his mother and she hung it in the lobby for all to see. So many people wanted to buy the clock, but he always told them it wasn't for sale.

“Welp, guess I should see the city instead of being cooped up in here,” Seth said to no one in particular. However, he would usually talk to himself on occasion since he still felt like his parents were there with him, watching over him. Seth walked around the counter and headed for the door.

Once outside, he shielded his eyes from the bright sun before they adjusted to the light and he began walking down the road towards where the auction was happening. He found it funny those so-called Nobles, think of themselves as high class. even though they would bicker and fight over living creatures during these auctions. He felt sorry for those who were being sold and couldn’t understand how people could sell others of their own kind. He just shook his head and took out a pack of cigarettes and lit one. He let it hang from his lips before he breathed out a puff of white smoke.

He rounded the corner and spotted the large crowd of so-called Nobles. He called them that cause no right minded Nobel. Hell, no right minded person would sell off a human being. He couldn’t call them Nobles because he didn’t see them as such. He just saw them as nothing more than savages. The only people that were considered Nobles in his mind were the right minded people who didn’t sell off or buy people. He let out another sigh and another puff of white smoke appeared from his mouth. He looked around and found a cart. He walked over to it and quickly climbed to the roof to get a better look. Once on the roof, he simply sat down with his legs dangling over the edge and watched the so-called Nobles bicker and argue of their own kind.

“It’s only a matter of time before a resistance is formed to stop these auctions,” Seth said to himself. If he really wanted to: he could stop this auction, but then he’d be arrested and lose the shop his parents worked so hard to get. Also, he'd probably end up in one of the auctions himself. He lifted his right hand and looked at the Roulette-Watch around his wrist. I wonder how many of these so-called Nobles would kill to get something like this? Seth thought before he shook his head and added, “Not in a million years.”

---

---

@Stitches@Letter Bee
The former nobles stood behind the silk curtains of the wooden stage, surrounded by silk, flesh, perfume, and chains. Roaring jeers and frantic bids rose from the crowd of the auction, commoners and aristocrats alike come to gawk at how the mighty had fallen, vendors selling refreshments to those with coin to spare. Behind the curtain, expressions were mixed. Some were proud, some afraid, a few trying to comfort their children. It was an interesting mix of humanity, the group held quiet by the guards around them.

Of particular note was one young woman, the manacles at her wrists and ankles inscribed with indecipherable iconography. Her long, black hair dangled loose behind her stout, scarred body as she stared down her nose at the man silently weeping in front of her. He was a large man, square of jaw and well-muscled. Under less demeaning circumstances, she would have found him quite attractive. As things stood, however, his bulk placed the woman squarely in the shade as his sobbing wrattled the chains between them. Though he faced away from her, she hoped he could feel her disdain. Clarimonde was afraid. She would have to have been a lunatic not to be. But if nothing else, their blood demanded dignity. If nothing else, they could bring no shame to their Houses. He disgusted her.

After the initial sale of the Edenweiss family, they trotted out the next dozen or so, Clarimonde with them. Her shoulders were square, her back ramrod straight as she marched out, naked as the day she was born. The crowd jeered and the auctioneer began to rattle off the attributes of those to be sold, Clarimonde remembering her mother's earliest lessons from her childhood in Steinholme. Those were happier days, but now her mother was dead and Steinholme had fallen. One of these would be corrected, with time.

She stared into the sky, keeping her eyes unfocused on the crowd, the aristocrats, the commoners. Distantly, she heard the auctioneer issuing prices, proofs of purchase for the nobles, though she paid them no heed. She had appearances to keep up... but it was a lovely day. Her world had crumbled around her. She was to be a slave. But no one could take the breeze away from her in this instant. No one could rip away the sun and kill the sky, so for now she breathed in the light on her skin and the vivid blue above her as she stood silent, waiting for her fate.

Soon, the auctioneer had come to her, the others led off to their new owners. The muscled man had been sold for a paltry sum, his value undermined by the fact that he blubbered like an infant. A small part of her wondered what the crowd would deem her worth. Mentally removed from the situation, she was determined that she would be sold for substantially more, though perhaps not quite as much as the high-profile Edenweiss. Soon, however, her eyes flew open as the booming baritone of the auctioneer jostled her from her reverie, her face a mask of carved marble.

"Here, Lords and Ladies, stands Clarimonde Sauerstein, age 24! With the rest of her family dead or unavailable for purchase, she's become a bit of a collector's item! As you can see from the scars here, here, and here, she formerly kept occupied as a field medic for the Rebellion..." he paused, allowing the crowd a moment to jeer at her loyalties. Clarimonde stood unflinching as the corpulent man needled at her old wounds, gesturing grandly for his audience. They were eating out of his hand. "But despite her political flaws, she remains well-educated in medicine, court manners, and as a woman after my own heart, High magic! Not to worry, that's what our manacles are for, Ladies and gentlemen, no accidents today! All the same, she comes from a sturdy stock, good for working, not bad looking, but ssstubborn as an ass! So let me ask you, beloved audience, who here has the confidence and coin to break the shrew?!"

@Tominas@Overlord Thraka@Letter Bee

Just as Clarimonde thought herself doomed to slavery, she was able to play witness to the man that would have been her doom fall with a bolt to the throat mid sentence. It wasn't something she hadn't seen before, however the fact that someone could die so quickly the smile didn't even leave their face until they hit the floor tended to spook people. The nature of the nobles was made quite apparent when the killing caused most to flee outside of those that either had a vested interest, were armed, or otherwise used to such acts similar to herself. A woman in the front row with a wasp mask was one such person where all three counts could be applied as she remained with a leg over her knee and hands clasped together over the knee on top of that particular pile, staring transfixedly at her even as most of those around her simply fled the auction. Those that remained were able to be identified as operatives for the radical anti-slave resistance, or others in those similar masks. Just as the men and women that were to free her began approaching the stage she was awashed with blood as a man in a wasp mask reached through the furthest one's chest and ripped out their spine in one of the most gruesome and intimidating methods of decapitation available. Another two men in wasp masks descended from hiding spots and began to massacre the resistance forces present in the plaza like cattle to the slaughter in equally gruesome fashions, quite literally ripping them limb from limb with their bare hands.

During this tumult the woman in the wasp mask simply calmly stood and walked up to the stage, standing directly in front of her. She was dressed simply in a tunic with embroidered gambeson and plate curiass over her chest with coat-like portions extending over her tighs, Her belt holding various pouches with an estoc in a sheath and a buckler on her hip while her leggings were similarly black, yellow, and embroidered. "Young lady, you are quite skilled. I can free you, however it would only be to put you into a different type of servitude much akin to that of which the nobles you are so familiar with were bound by. You shall be compensated for your services, though I do warn you, if you fail you might wish you'd joined those my associates are punishing." The woman in the wasp mask states with a sharp yet serene tone, as though oblivious to her surroundings outside of that which she wished to acknowledge.

~~~

Mergoux found her bolt flying true and striking that oh so plump auctioneer in the throat. He hadn't needed to die, and if she hadn't been such an endoctrinated zealot she'd have probably found that he'd had a family, vices, and failures much like any other human. She'd likely caused the eventual slavery of his wife, children, and elder parents that would have been relying on him to support them financially in their old age. That was the nature of the world she was so blind to. However phillisophical ponderings aside she shortly after seeming to free the slaves gets to watch as her comrades are brutally massacered, her crossbow crushed under the boot of a man in black and yellow half plate that had been silently standing sentry next to her while she had been unawares. "You cannot escape your fate" He states flatly, simply offering her his hand as if to help her up as opposed to the imprisonment he'd entailed. The metal of her crossbow wrapped around his foot and the splinters around it simply served as a warning to what an effortless show of strength could have done to her skull if he'd wanted her dead.

@Tyki@Tominas@Letter Bee

“Oh shit!” Seth cursed as he watched the events unfold. He jumped when the bolt hit the man in the neck and caused a fountain of blood to spray on those in the front rows and on the stage. He wasn’t concerned for him though. Any man who is willing to sell a human being isn’t worth worrying about in his mind. However, he was more worried about the girl on stage. The bolt, to him, came dangerously close to hitting her. He thought the bolt was meant for her and the shooter just missed their target.

“What would dad do?” Seth asked himself. In a split second, he already had his answer. Seth quickly jumped from atop the cart and raced through the crowd of scattering so-called Nobles. Damn cowards Seth thought as he pushed his way through the crowd of fleeing people. As he got closer he noticed a masked figure on the stage with the girl and cursed, “Shit I might have been right.” He thought the snipers accomplish was there to finish the job his friend had started. He quickened his pace to get closer to the stage.

Once close to the front he hopped onto the stage and got the masked figures attention, “Hey, I’d think the girl’s been traumatized enough.” Was what he was saying, but he was so out of breath it sounded like, “Girl. Traumatized. Enough.” Seth bent over to catch his breath and sighed. Need to work on my damn cardio he thought to himself. Once he collected himself he took a deep breath and stood back up straight.

“Let’s try that again shall we,” Seth said as he flexed his right hand. His watch on his wrist activated and the big hand began to slowly spin around. It began to stop and slowly it landed on a bright yellow symbol. Seth took a quick look down and tried to hide his frustration. Crap, why did it have to be that? I can barely control it. Seth thought. He turned his attention back to the masked figure and said, “Now, step away from the girl and leave. Your buddy missed with the first bolt and I really don’t want to hurt anyone today.” Seth flexed his right hand and a small spark of lightning swirled around it as he waited for the figures response

@tyki

Mergoux grimaced as the man is hit in the neck, as she only meant to hit him in the shoulder.
"Oh well" she thought, "That's what he gets for selling people like that..."
As she turns around to load her crossbow she spots the big man attempting to sneak up on her.
"What th-"
She jerks away from the man, awkwardly dropping her crossbow and drawing her sword. The massive two handed blade gleams against the sun as she holds it steadily between herself and the masked man.
"One step closer and you lose your head."
She's suddenly distracted by the screams of the people below and quickly looks down at the square, seeing the massacre there.
She growls in fury, seeing other allies slain brutally. She then turns back to the man
"You're going to pay for this bastaaaar-!"
She charges him, swinging a powerful overhead blow

Even in this alley, Elyria could hear the loud jeers and sometimes cheers of the people at the auction, despite it being quite a distance away from area where the noble slaves were being sold off as one would sell cattle. She did not have any real opinion of slavery, just that it was simple part of a human's desire to own other human beings, slavery was nearly as old as humanity itself and slavery would probably die along with humanity, however, upon hearing that nobles were the ones being sold made her think for a bit about her previous master, the one who had "enslaved" her and her kin and yet he trained her to become an assassin.

She wondered if her previous master had been among the nobles being sold today, or if he would be one of the slaves to be sold later, on another day, or maybe he had died in combat in this rebellion, to be honest, neither of the two options pleased her, she wanted to be the one to drive the dagger that would end his life, not some nameless soldier on a battlefield. As her thoughts wandered to battle, she thought of her contract today, the man whom she had to kill was not a soldier, he had never been a soldier and most people could have probably killed him, however, his guard, his sole guard was something different entirely.

His guard was a veteran of the war and a very skilled warrior of some renown with no fear of death, a high endurance and a high skill with the sword, he was not something to trifled with and even with her agility, she would have to be as careful as possible, even the slightest misstep could mean that she would lose her head. She took a deep breath and focused herself on her silver dagger, she could not die, not whilst the killer of her kin was still roaming alive and well, it would be her life's mission to see this man dead.

---

As she waited, screams and shouts broke her concentration ever slightly. It seems that her informers had been correct, an attack from the rather extremist anti-slavers had come and this would be her chance to do this without anyone trying to pin this murder on her, it could have been the anti-slavers who would have killed this man, after all, anyone present at the auction would probably at least tolerate slaving if not partaking it it and she knew that these extremists would not bother to make the difference between either of the two.

In preparation to her combat with the guard, and in preparation to assassinate her target she made herself unseen and simply awaited. And sure enough, a man fitting the description of her target came through the alley escorted by tall and rather built man armed with a longsword. Whilst her target, a rather wealthy merchant was panicked and slightly out of breath, his guard was wary, probably expecting something like an ambush to arise. She knew she had only one chance to do this, so she focused completely on the merchant and prepared a simple dagger, no more than shiv with a handle, and after a second of calming herself, the threw the dagger.

The dagger connected with the soft flesh of the merchant's neck, causing blood to spurt out in large amounts as he choked on his own blood and trying to desperately grasp for air before collapsing only a few seconds later and dying a pool of his own blood. The guard did not seem fazed by either the death of his employer or her presence as she revealed herself to him, instead, he just sighed as if he had just lost a game of cards and spoke.

"Lady, I know this guy was a prick, and I don't blame you for wishing to kill him, but if you had waited until the bastard would have paid me, I wouldn't have even bothered to kill him!" he spoke with a large smile on his face. "Now do please reveal the pretty face that's under that hood!"

She raised her brow at the man's request, but she knew all to well that the cloak would only hinder her in combat, so she complied with his request and tossed her cloak aside. Much to her own surprise, the man seemed surprised to see her, as if he knew who she was. A smile formed on the man's face as he drew his sword.

"Came to get revenge on me, eh, silver hair?" the man asked. "Would it help if I said I'm sorry for killing some of your friends?" he asked as he entered a battle stance and prepared for a fight, though from his tone, an apology was not on this man's mind right now.

First, surprise came to her, this man had been present when all those soldiers had assaulted her kin and killed so many of them. Then second, anger came over her, this man had just said it himself that he was present in the assault and that he had even killed on or two of them. At first she wanted to see if she could persuade the guard to leave, but now, he would not be allowed to leave this alley alive.

Without a word, she drew her two silver daggers, took a deep breath and charged straight for the man, her agility would prevail over his own brute force, of that she was confident, and in killing him, she would at least avenge the kin that this man had ended the life of. In less than a second, she was right in front of the man, who seemed like he wasn't able to catch up with her speed. She drove her dagger forwards, towards the man's neck, to allow him to die as his employer had, however, before the dagger hit, she could feel an iron grip grasping her hand. Upon inspection, it seems that the man had removed one of his hands from the sword do stop her from stabbing him.

Without any hesitation, she tried to drive her second dagger in his throat, however, the man was faster than her in this and kneed her in the stomach. The man's kick was very powerful, and even though he had no armor on whatsoever, it was as if someone had hit her with a plate gauntlet and as a result was left stunned for a moment, but a moment was all this man needed and he delivered another knee in her stomach, the blunt force of this one, forcing her to drop her daggers. The man briefly let her go, only to grab her by the neck and holding her close to his face, as if studying her.

He sighed as he stared at her. "It's such a shame that I am yet again forced to kill one like you, you know, back then I fought another one of you, she was as beautiful as you, though she was trained to be a mage from what I saw, not a stealthy assassin." he spoke, and as he spoke, anger welled up inside her, the man spoke so casually about killing her kin, she wanted to kill, yet she could not do so, all she could do was grasp the man's hand, trying to remove it from her neck, though to no avail. "I'm really sorry for this, girl, I really am, if it makes you feel any better, I have been unable to sleep a day without seeing her face in my dreams or my nightmares and something tells me that you'll soon join her." much to her surprise, the man's tone had changed completely, he had a bitter smile on his face.

As soon as he finished his words the man started to tighten his grip as he attempted to choke her to death. Her hands clawed at his own as she tried to desperately draw breath, again, to no avail. "No!" she thought. "I can't die, not yet, I have to..." her consciousness started to fade. "... avenge them."

As she started to lose herself, she looked at the face of his killer, his expression had changed yet again, now to a grin as if he had won something. A moment later, blood started to drip down from his mouth and his grip weakened and she could see why. The tip of a sword came right through his chest, yet even so, he still had his confident grin on his face. As he lost all the force in his hand, he dropped her down on her knees and fell down as well as death soon claimed him as well.

His killer, a large hooded man, even bigger than the guard, sighed in disappointment, though relief could be sensed in his sigh as well. "Elyria, you are an assassin first and foremost, you mustn't charge ahead like that." the man spoke, helping her up from her knees.

"I'm sorry, Enris, but the man was one of the soldiers there, he killed one of our kin." she said, looking at the guard's body once more, though know, she could not muster any hate against the man.

"I heard, but you did not see me charge ahead to decapitate the man, did you?" he asked, but instead of lecturing her any further he shook his head and helped her place her cloak back on. "Let's go, I'd rather not have to fight one of these extremists at the moment."

With one last look at the two dead bodies, she left with Enris through the dark alleys on a backdrop of screams of victims and shouts of people probably trying to put up a fight, promising herself to become stronger, both physically and mentally, but all that she wished for right now was not to train, but to drink a cup of warm wine and a good night's sleep, the next contract, whatever it would be would go to Enris, not to her.

As the mass slaughter began to take place, a single man emerged from the fighting. Quickly running up a building to avoid an incoming assailant, a figure clad in a hooded robe looked across the battlefield. Each of these men were as strong, if not stronger, than himself. The freedom fighters gathered were simply not enough, and only now did any one of them know it. Quickly looking across the rooftops, he spot an armored man, and an armed woman having a confrontation. The mysterious man also spotted a young man threatening what seemed to be the goons of a noble, who were standing near a woman in chains. He had a split moment to decide who to assist, as his attacker began to climb the building. It took all of a second, but the figure in a blur began to move across the rooftops, to fast for most, if any there to follow. With a small leap, his feet slammed into the ground, him flanking the man in plate-mail.

"Hey, buddy. Didn't your mother ever tell you, if a lady draws a blade on ya, she's not into you?" He asks, leaning on his staff, a simple walking stick with iron caps. He figured this man to be either related to the goons below, or perhaps some independent force, working along side them. Either way, the mysterious man knew that this woman was on his side. anyone willing to take a shot at a slave auctioneer was definitely his kind of person.

---

---

@Stitches@Letter Bee@Rex@Tyki
Blood splattered from the bolt in her captor’s throat, her eyes closing just in time to avoid being blinded. Blinking away the viscera, she saw the hordes of commoners and nobles alike fleeing from the market, swords clashing and bolts flying. It was chaos, but in the middle of it all was a woman with a mask. A wasp’s mask.

Clarimonde’s mind snapped into focus as she recognized the soldiers ripping through the extremists, a slight, rapid clicking unanimous behind the brutes’ masks. Lady Vespid was a well-known presence in the city, her private army accruing a staunch reputation for savage efficiency and inhuman tendencies. She hadn’t believed it unlikely that Vespid would find an interest in her in particular, but Clarimonde wasn’t surprised. Rumor had it that the House of the Wasp was always looking for new material, subjects and researchers alike. Vespid was wealthy, eccentric, unethical, and a brilliant opportunity for Clarimonde to learn a thing or two. Medicine, magic, secrets that lead to power could all be hers if she played this right.

That being said… this was a delicate situation. The young lady was infinitely more concerned about the slender woman standing before her than the war around them both, and she would have to handle this the same way the nation handled perfected electrum charged with world magic if she wanted to make the best of things.

Then some idiot boy jumped on stage and threatened what was arguably the most powerful women in the city with a trinket, treating Clarimonde like some damsel in distress.

Until this moment, Clarimonde had kept her face neutral. She had seen men die before, and she doubted this would be the last time. She understood the assassination, she understood Vespid reinstituting order, but this reckless moron was going to get himself killed. For a split second, she felt her jaw start to drop before she regained control of herself. He really thought that all this was to kill her. Her House was in shambles, her family dead, and this absolute god-damned fool was going to get himself killed. Drawing straighter than she had ever stood in all her life, she issued a withering glare in his direction, her voice carrying every ounce of authority she could muster from her days in the Rebellion, all black ice and cold steel. Nude, coated in blood and chains, Clarimonde was quite sure she had never been less happy to have someone stand up for her or more intimidating. The woman blazed with an indignant rage. “Boy, you’d best leave before you get hurt. This is a place of business, and it wouldn’t be difficult for the good Lady’s guards to mistake you for one of the fools attempting to free the slaves.” She stared him down as she spoke, desperately trying convey the danger of the situation.

Turning to the Lady, Clarimonde did her best to curtsy deeply, the chains dangling from her manacles rattling as they struck the floor. She was proud, but she wasn’t suicidal. “Lady Vespin, I am honored by your proposal, and would surely benefit greatly from being allowed the opportunity to work for you. That being said, I am currently the property of the Emperor, and would surely be remiss to leave without being purchased. I recommend we wait for the auction to resume, as will be his intent. Then, if you are still willing, I would be delighted to hear what you think my skills to be worth.”

She was all too conscious of the blood dripping from her nose as she held her breath, waiting for a response.

GM Post

Kaspar Ridolfi fumed as he, his escort, and his new 'slaves' left the auction area, heading for a nearby gondola dock. This was supposed to be a simple bargain in which he and his allies bought the Edelweiss family for a sham enslavement. Instead, they got an ill-advised attack by radical abolitionists and a counterattack by 'Lady Vespid'. Fools; don't they know there was a True Enemy somewhere? Speaking of said True Enemy...

From the shadows of the open-air slave market stepped forth hooded figures, wearing shirts of scale mail and leather trousers underneath their cloaks. These withered, dessicated figures brought forth pistols, crossbows of their own, and longswords carved with runes of frost. These undead figures emerged en masse, two score at the very least, to surround both Lady Vespid's forces, the slaves that just stood there, and their guards, along with Seth Rush.

The leader of this band, so noted because his hood was bade up of black silk instead of linen, walked to where Clarimonde was, saying, "Lady Sauerstein, my name is Franz von Morr, Lich, Archmage, and Martial Artist for those who do not respect Magic. And I am here to grant you a chance of revenge and restitution of all that you have lost."

And indeed, the Lich radiated an immense amount of power, power that dwarfed even Lady Vespid's magic. Beneath his hood was a pale white face with black eyes, well-preserved enough to count as handsome. Same for his hands, which were fully-fleshed, though bloodlessly pale. But before he can continue his offer, a voice sounded throughout the open-air market:

"You just want Clarimonde or Lady Vespid to become the vessel of a Reborn Mansbane, one that will kill them from the inside at birth!" And with that, two figures burst through the cordon of undead, blowing them back with a blast of light as they ran back to the open space, still naked, bare, and exposed, but holding weapons made up of pure light, and glowing with a magical aura of shielding.

It was Frederick Edelweiss, holding a sword that glowed silver, and Heinrich, who wielded a staff with a caducesus at the end which shone with gold. Following them, taking advantage of the surprise attack, was Kaspar Ridolfi, standing beside his 'slaves' with twin magitech blaster pistols in hand.

@Tyki@Claw2k11@The Narrator@Tominas@supertinyking@Overlord Thraka@Stitches@Rex

((Note: If you guys find this to be too fast, please say so on the OOC Thread to forestall any misunderstanding or discord.))

@Letter Bee@Tominas@Rex

"Ah yes, the ever late federick. As much of an annoyance as you are, I'm afraid I will have to request your aid in this matter. It would appear that we are dealing with a terrorist attack." The woman states, her mask remaining immobile the entire time with no sign of her jaw moving that could be perceived. Yet she did not turn away from the rather brave ex-noble, suggesting her bloodied outburst had likely not had the desired effect of making the "lady vespid" rethink her plans. Of course as yellow jackets went, their nature was to act in lady vespid's stead, allowing them the sense that one could never tell which one was which when paired with the unexplainable transference of information without courier between them. As for the impertenant lad that called out to her, she simply extends a hand towards him.

There was a sudden shift in the air before he found his neck firmly gripped in her hand while the lich found himself firmly planted in a nearby wall along the same line. It was a fairly simple spell and seemed to require a connection between two things, in this case two people. Frederick Edelweiss likely recognized it as a spell from the world class and generally revolved around rather meticulous gravity manipulation mixed with linking two things and simply pulling on one of them. In theory it was rather complicated, but in action it was as simple as giving something a tug. "Frederick, I shall leave you to deal with the punishment of these wastes of space calling thesmelves magicians. As for this one, that slave over there, and the two Hugo is dealing with, we shall be taking them." She states flatly, the sudden shift having likely concussed Seth but left him otherwise unharmed, albeit in the grasp of a strange woman that had been, up until this point, completely ignoring him. In fact she was still ignoring him and the shocks his electricity was sending up her arm.

---

@supertinyking@Overlord Thraka

"Young lady, I'm afraid I have warned you and thus will have to be somewhat rough." The man in the mask states shortly before there's a rather loud "pop" and he blurrs. Mergoux was rather intimately introduced to the pain of an open-palmed strike to the chest right over the diaphragm. There was a burning sensation and a sudden cough that knocked out all the air in her lungs before a few seconds that seemed to drag on for eternity where the man held her up be her arm with the other wrapped around her side while she found herself incapable of breathing in. Once those few seconds passed and air flooded her once more she was met with the leather-y musk of the eight foot tall masked man that had pressed her against his chest. Where there should be chain she felt hard plates that smelled of metal rather than leather, a pointless nature to her sword. In addition to this he held her gingerly and after a deft wrist motion in her state of vulnerability left her wrists bound. He did the same to her ankles and picked her up over his shoulder so as to avoid damaging his mask should she struggle. "Young man, jokes aside, it would appear that there is a terrorist attack occuring within the plaza just after my compatriots and I finished dispatching. She would be the one that began the first attack and there is a reward if you would assist us in dealing with the second" The man in the mask states flatly, smoothly transitioning into the next conversation with the comfort that suggested this sort of action were mundane to him.

@Letter Bee@Tominas@Rex@Tyki

"None of you shall go anywhere at this moment!" another voice boomed as it approached the auction area, shortly followed by the rythmic sounds of boots marching on the pavement of the market. "On the express orders of the emperor, you shall all stand down at this instant. Those that resist will be killed without a second thought, those that submit will be treated as fairly as possible, you all have the word of Siegmund Holderlin!"

Soon followed by his statement were a group of over 40 people, most armed with swords, pikes and magitech blasters and wearing the best protection that money could afford. A few however, were distinct from the mass of armor, they wore the garments of mages, not the ones of warriors and all of them pointed their hands at everyone present in the market, no matter who they wore. At the head of all these people was a tall and distinct figure, it did not wear steel armor, or a mages robes, but instead he wore the classy suit a noble with wear. The lines on his face that would soon turn into wrinkles and the white hair showed that this man was in the latter years of his life and yet despite that, the man carried himself with confidence and though his face looked on the verge of change, he was still a person someone could call handsome. Lastly, his family name, the name Holderlin had gained large amounts of fame during his lifetime, not only due to him restoring the status of his family back to one of the richest noble families in the empire, but also being able to marry his daughter to the current emperor and subsequently supporting him in revolt that had carried out.

First, his sight fell upon the two young Edelweiss boys and smiled at them, doing a brief curt bow before them. "My good boys, what trouble have you gotten yourself in!" he spoke, a polite smile forming on his face. "And here I just rescued your sister, and now I have to rescue you two as well, your old father will have to owe me for this one!"

However, his smile died and his expression hardened as his sight fell upon Lady Vespid, he did not like her at all, she was someone unpredictable, with a large wealth and an agenda nobody but her seemed to know and backing her agenda was her own little private army, something which made her all the more dangerous in his eyes, she was one of the few people he considered threatening enough to be wary around and now, it was all the worse as both of them had their soldiers here, if it came to blows, it would become mess even bigger than it already was.

"Lady Vespid, may I inquire as to why you have seen it fit to come here and mete out your own brand of... justice, if one person may call it that?" he asked, slightly tensing up. "It is up to the city guards and to groups sanctioned by the emperor himself to punish criminals and extremists, such as his faithful Kaiserjägers, not by vigilantes and people with secret and potentially harmful agendas... such as yourself."

As soon as the soldiers there heard their name being spoken, all of them pointed their pikes forward, ready to deal with anyone Siegmund considered threatening. He raised his hand up high, signaling his present soldiers to get ready to attack everyone there, the lich, the other undead... and Lady Vespid and her private soldiers, should she prove hostile enough.

@Claw2k11@Tyki@Letter Bee@Tominas

“Hey, don’t yell at me!” Seth yelled back at Clarimondea before he added, “I’m just trying to help someone who needed it. I don’t know what you did to piss these people off, but I’m not going to just run off while someone’s in danger. These so-called Nobles might think highly of themselves, but when the shit hits the fan. They’re running for their lives with their tails between their legs. Unlike them, I was brought up to help those in need. No matter what!”

The masked figure seemed to pay him no mind as she spoke to Federick. However, he didn't pay any mind to their conversation. He saw this as his opportunity and ready to charge, but before he could the masked figure rose there arm and Seth suddenly felt the world spin before he gasped as he felt the figured hands around his neck. He quickly gripped the figures arm, forgetting about the lightning his watch gave him. The lightning-sparked around the figures arm, but it seemed the masked figure wasn’t affected by the lightning. Shit, shit, shit! Ok, calm down, think. If lightning doesn’t work then try something else. Just can’t let this masked figure…a masked woman? Seth thought. Since he was this close to the figure, it seemed the strange figure was a woman wearing a strange mask. Ok, just distract her so you can activate your watch again Seth told himself.

“That was a nice World Spell you used,” Seth praised as he let his right arm fall to his side. He smiled and added, “Let me guess: Sort of magnet spell that attracts one object while repelling another or was it an advanced work with gravity? Not too shabby.” Seth was about to flex his fist to activate his watch, but then a group of soldiers rushed through the doors and began to threaten all that were at the auction. He froze when the lead soldier looked at the masked woman and called her Lady Vespid.

“L-Lady Vespid?” Seth nervously said as she slowly turned towards the masked woman and let out a nerves laugh. He’d heard stories of her and knew meeting her might result in an early grave. Well, I’m screwed Seth thought. He figured it was a long shot, but he took a deep breath and asked, “What exactly do you need me for? I’m just a simple shop owner. So, could you let me go?” he gave her a weak smile and hoped it would work

GM Post

Kaspar, Frederick, and Heinrich stood down in unison, before the first would say, "I serve the Church of Existence as a whole; they cover for my actions. Nevertheless, I'm ready to demonstrate my willingness to cooperate." The rich merchant prince would then look at Lady Vespid's avatar, continuing, "Watch closely as Lord Siegmund Holderlin decides he doesn't need any help when confronting the ones responsible for the Reich's current state."

His tone then hardened. "Lady Vespid, or rather, Lady Vespid's avatar, can you please let the 'Shop Owner' go? Same for Lady Sauerstein and whatever prospective test subjects you've nabbed today. The reason why? Because I am trying to forge a united front to prevent the end of the world as we know it from occuring, and you are frustrating such efforts."



Then, from the far south of the city, came the sound of a major explosion, still audible from such a distance. Fire and smoke can be seen from the direction of Venedig's shipyard, where the most advanced facilities for naval construction in the world were placed. The shipyard was the pride and joy of the city, and Kaspar was visibly crestfallen as he saw the Lich phase through the wall he had been embedded in, dust himself off, and take the credit for the attack.

"And now the shipyard, also known as the Arsenale*, has been destroyed," The Lich would say as his undead compatriots encircled the open-air market anew. "This is what happens to those who believe in the Hubris of Existence, who fail to grant The Pantheon their due."

Looking at one of Siegmund Hoderlin's Mages, The Lich would continue with the words, "Power Imitation." The very next second, the unnamed Mage would be propelled to the bottom of the wall of the building Mergoux was in, by an exact copy of the spell that had been used to launch him into some masonry just some minutes ago. This would cause said building to shake, especially as Siegmund's mage was still alive and was trying to break free using World or Change Magic to produce a small, localized earthquake that would cause the floor Mergoux's captor stood on to break and collapse, allowing Mergoux, perhaps with the help of Wukong, a chance to break free. Not the best save fate can hand out, but it will have to do.

Continuing his hostile moves, The Lich then waved his hands, cancelling the law of gravity for everyone except himself and his cult; that meant that everyone would begin floating off the ground, allowing his marksmen to take pot-shots. At the same time, his lesser undead Mages would counter-dispel any attempt by Siegmund and Lady Vespid's Magic-users to nullify The Lich's magic...

* en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venetian_Arsenal

@Tyki@Claw2k11@Tominas@supertinyking@Overlord Thraka@Rex

Everything had happened quite a bit too fast for Siegmund's liking and he was about to answer Kaspar's statement with one of his own, but the explosion in the city distracted him from offering said statement towards the rich merchant. For a second, he stared at the fire and the plumes of smoke rising from the shipyard that was the pride of this city, however, he realized that he had to act quickly and turned towards one of his mages.

"Take another Hunter and inform the rest that are not deployed here to head towards the shipya..." however, his statement was cut short as the Lich spoke, slightly unnerved about what the undead being was speaking about and even if he was about to continue his order to his Hunter mage, he could no longer do it, for the mage he was speaking to was just tossed into a wall as the lich used a spell on his own mage and before he knew it, he was the one surrounded now, his soldiers quickly shifted to quickly cover all the exposed spots of this formation, however, things were about to get even worse now.

Everyone that was even remotely hostile to the Lich started to helplessly float through the air, making them all easy targets for the attacks of the powerful undead or his minions. The first thing Siegmund did was cast his own spell Iron Body. While the spell did not make him completely invulnerable, it would allow him to take some punishment without outright dying. However, he had not forgotten about his Hunters, he knew that the Lich would likely do something to prevent them from canceling the effects of the gravity spell, so instead, he shouted out to his mages.

"Seven mages, cast protection spells on as many people as you can, every life is valuable here!" he shouted. "And you three, use any offensive spell you may know, shoot down as many undead mages as you can, I imagine that the Lich does not want this spell of his canceled, but I can also imagine that he would not be able to maintain a spell of this magnitude and try to counter any spell we might try to use to cancel his spell!" he shouted to the rest of his mages. The mages, though floating through air as well, nodded at their master and proceeded to do as he ordered them, whether any of them succeeded was another matter entirely.

"As for my brave soldiers, all I can ask of you right now, is the only thing we can do... brace yourselves for the worst!" Siegmund had rarely felt helpless and this time was one of the times he truly felt so and needless to say, he did not like this feeling at all.

---

---

@Stitches@Letter Bee@Rex@Tyki

The day had been a long one.

This morning the former Lady Clarimonde Sauerstein had woken from a stone floor behind iron bars, stripped naked, covered in blood, treated like a damsel in distress by a common shopkeep, and approached by an undead mage who wanted to impregnate her.

She had dealt with enough today.

As her attempts as diplomacy failed, magic flying around the courtyard with her own body hidden behind floating rubble, Clarimonde glanced at the runes on her manacles. Earlier in the day, they had been all there was to occupy her, and now her studies would pay off. The interesting thing about runes was that structure was vitally important in shaping their properties, enchantments they form, and effects they weave in the grand scheme of the tapestry of magic. As a result, when the runes start to decay or are struck asunder, the enchantments tend to fade. Ordinarily, this is not an issue, as any guard worth their salt will keep an eye on the mage in the group. She had started this morning surrounded by heavily armed soldiers.

Now, however, she was hidden behind debris and focused like she had rarely done before in her life. Though the manacles were solidly binding, they weren't quite foolproof, and Clarimonde was well aware that everyone in this situation had been playing the fool lately. Closing her eyes and focusing back on the rudimentary basics of magic, she pushed through the Mind enchantment of the manacles and gradually formed a bone saw, sweat dripping from her brow from focus. Finishing the single, small construct, she prayed to all gods she had ever known that her magic would be stronger than the steel holding her, panting with the effort it took to maintain the tool under the manacles' runes. She hacked at the runes fervently, knowing that right now the only thing standing between her kidnapping and subsequent rape and murder was a quick response. If she could push through the enchantment, the saw would function even more swiftly, meaning she could just... break... free...

There was a clank as the manacles fell, the high and mind magic which previously suffused the cuffs dispersing into the field around them. This? This, she could work with. Casting a Lesser Ward upon herself and her would-be rescuer, she privately hoped it would be enough as she felt the buoying effect of the lich's World spell lessen, slowly drifting towards the ground. She was careful to keep the field of debris between the lich and herself, hoping to stay out of his line of sight as she loosed several more wards towards Lady Vespid's avatar, a few of the Jagers, Siegmu-

...Lord Siegmund Holderlin. He had known her father before the rebellion, from her understanding working together rather closely. Not that he had vouched for House Sauerstein after the Rebellion.

She was sure he would do just fine without her wards.

Having thrown out some utility onto the battlefield, Clarimonde tried to stay low, hoping that these issues could be resolved soon as she searched for somewhere to hunker down out of the line of fire.

Mergoux takes the momentary distraction to escape. She rolled to the side, maintaining a grip on her sword, despite her bound hands. She awkwardly uses it to slash away the ropes binding her ankles, the holding the hilt in her teeth, she runs the ropes on her wrists against the razor sharp edge until it too breaks. She then abandon's her crossbow and get's going while the going's good. She sprints to the edge of the roof and does a Bourne-esque jump across the alley below her, crashing through a window on the opposite building. From there, she shakes the glass from her hair and makes her way down to street level, knocking out any guards or people as needed on her way down the building.

Once on the street she ducks low, and tries to blend into the crowd rushing away from the marketplace.
"What the hell was that guy?" she mutter to herself as she walks quickly. After a while she comes to her abode, a tiny apartment in a the city's poorest neighborhood. She enters the building to find a man rummaging through her belongings, searching for coins.
After leaving him in the street with no teeth and a broken nose she makes herself a meager meal, double checks the locks on her door and two windows and goes into a fitful sleep, plagued with nightmares brought on by thoughts of slavery.

@Letter Bee @Overlord Thraka @Tyki

Watching the woman quickly escape thanks to an earthquake, Wukong too his leave as well. Ducking back down into the opposite alley, he quickly made his way towards the sounds of an explosion, and a billowing plume of smoke. He moved deftly, leaping over bits of broken building with agility and speed not natural to men. However, much to his surprise, something strange began happening as he took a running leap to get over a large stack of barrels.

He started floating, the law of gravity being broken on him. Quickly diverting himself to avoid flying into the sky, Wukong, using his tail grabbed onto a bit of building and diverted himself, shortly before the hold broke due to his inertia. Naturally, to all those who were observant, they could see a strange monkey man fly into the air, heading towards a nearby building, the tallest in the market. Wukong quickly observed what was going on, seeing a group of creatures taking potshots at those who were floating in the air.

Wukong, as he landed roughly against the side of the building knew he had to try to help, and he had an idea. Using the momentary force grounding him to the wall, the impact, he coiled his tail, and bent his knees. Aiming himself at who he could only assume to be the leader of this group, the impressive looking one talking, Wukong smirked, and launched himself forwards, shooting like an arrow towards this man. With his staff in his hands, he begun his swing early, hoping that he'd collide with the man. However, in this zero gravity environment, he miscalculated, and began to spin rapidly.

Maybe people would look up. Maybe people would hear him before they saw him. Maybe the Lich would see him, and for a moment see an old hero he may of known coming at him. But one thing was certain. A very pissed monkey man was flying at him at high speeds, spinning like a top with his staff outstretched, ready to corkscrew his way into a bad situation.

GM Post

In response to Siegmund's Magi, The Lich ordered his melee troops to block the magical attacks on his own spellcasters; they can do it better thanks to their undead flesh, which replicated Exceptional Endurance. Nevertheless, a few of the Cult Mages were brought down, allowing an opening to dispel the gravity spell; a few seconds of time to turn the tide of the battle.

Then, Wukong just had to attack The Lich, spinning around and swinging his staff like a madman. The Lich's response? Cancel the gravity spell for Wukong and only for Wukong, causing him to fall down to the ground, the transformed ex-slave's own Exceptional Speed used against him. Aka he fell so fast that he broke bones despite his Exceptional Durability. But knowing that it won't be enough to kill him, The Lich moved fast to just behind Wukong; one can see that the cult's leader wasn't using magic, but his own Excpetional Skills.

Grabbing the monkey-man's head with his right hand, The Lich sent a wave of Underworld Magic, pure death, into the one who had the temerity to attack him. Death was instant, and Undeath was only slightly slower as the corpse, with its fur blackened and skin pale, stood up as the broken leg bones mended magically.

------

Clarimonde, as she tried to slip away, would encounter two undead warriors, their withered faces not hidden by their cloaks and hoods, who would then throw a net at the lady. Unlike with The Lich and Wukong, the young woman had the chance to dodge or throw up a magical shield or call for help. What would she select?

@Tyki@Claw2k11@Tominas@supertinyking@Overlord Thraka@Rex