Log:Vengeance for Ekam

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Vengeance for Ekam

"It may be good to get you some things so you aren't as covered in blood. Or least so not all of you's crimson."

Participants

Velvet, Weaver Utridge, Saulot as ST

1 May, 2018


Velvet is hired to take a little revenge for a murdered hob.

Location

The Hedge


Weaver had called the next afternoon with an offer. Despite how late in the day the call came he was yawning at the time. There's a hob city of sorts that starts on the opposite end of the riverside markets, and the dragon has a friend down there. As much as anything can be considered a friend for the selfish bastard. A hob he bought fruit from was recently killed, and Weaver needs two things. Find out who is responsible, kill everything close to them, and ensure they fulfill the same role Emak once filled.

The market isn't too hard to find in the mortal side of thing, and the gate is where Weaver said it would be. Past the hedge-based riverside markets and a winding alley come the row houses. It's here she knows she's at least close to where she was pointed. A few hobs native to the area and sellers at the hedge-Riverside Markets can be seen moving about this late at night, although the houses appear to be dreadfully empty with nary a bit of light to be seen. The sky above is full of grey, and the only life to be found there come by way of lightning like things that create a sonorous, bellowing echo whenever they stop.


The Darkling is a bit of a night owl herself, so there's a solid chance that the call either woke her up, or came at a time where she was still just getting ready for the night. Either way, Velvet seemed eager to take the job. Not only does she get to go and kill some stuff, but she can get a chance to explore the local Hedge, which she hasn't taken the time to do since she arrived. All around the job seems like the perfect fit.

There's only one way to properly explore a Hob area, and that's as quietly as possible. Be invisible and leave no tracks. Nothing for anyone to see or to follow. It's exactly what Velvet does at the moment as her feet barely touch the ground, steps silent as she moves through the market. A small knife is poised in one hand, a pistol in the other. Those dark, angled eyes are focused and sharp as she makes her way towards where the Hob-friend was murdered. Maybe there's hints at who was behind it, or a trail of blood that might help identify the culprit.


It'd been a few days, but the place of Emak's death is found by the Darkling. An impression of something humanoid was left in the dirt near the side of a green house. From the look of it the decedent wasn't more than four feet tall at best. All around it are footprints equally as small, and after a bit of counting they number at least two dozen. From here the prints of feet begin to make their way back toward the street. The body of Ekam was taken from here, dragged down one of the area's dark alleys by something with five legs.


Crouching faintly, Velvet turns this way and that in order to make out the footprints, and create a visual for herself on what the scene might have looked like at the time. Multiple assailants for certain. Dark lashes flutter closed for a moment as the Wyrd dances around her invisible form. She takes a sharp inhale as she increases her sense of smell, leaning forward a little bit more to try to catch the scent of whatever these creatures were that belong to the footprints. Once that's done, she pushes her palms into her thighs, careful of the weapons, and starts to follow the drag marks towards the dark alley.


The scent left behind reeks of offal, although it's nothing to do with the murder. It seems whatever treats enjoyed from the hobs involved some pluck. Beyond that there's a faint hint of a rosy smell with a hint of burnt leaves. Velvet finds the marks easy enough to follow, and they appear to have been left well after the death of of Ekam. The walk is a couple dozen meters long, but at the end of her journey she finds what's left of Ekam. The hob wore a tunic and trousers - both ripped to shreds to reveal the inside of the devoured corpse. Despite the damage to his trunk his head, hands, and legs are fine upon a simple, cursory inspection.


The scents might give Velvet a clue as to where she could find the culprits later, but for right now, she's going to follow the path to the body to see what she might be able to piece together from that. Ekam. She doesn't verbalize it, but the recognition of who it must be flashes between her eyes as she lowers herself across from the discarded body. She flips the blade over in her hand, using the handle to gently push at his fingers, checking to see if he fought back enough to catch a piece of whatever ate him.


The thing that ate up Ekam wasn't the best for the job. Ie, it wasn't a natural predator of the area most likely. The beast that dragged it over here had as many blunt teeth as it did sharp, and didn't leave any of the hob's organs to be found after the fact. The underside of the hob's nails are covered in blood, but a look at his body shows that it isn't the same as his assailants. The hob's blood is emerald, and there's a mixture of black and red under his nails. From the looks of everything around and what's been gathered Ekam was asleep when dragged outside, and devoured before he could offer any kind of resistance. A beast brought him here - either for a later meal or under instruction to hide it away and let it rot.


Using the handle of the blade, Velvet lifts up the hand by the wrist, her body once again tilting forward as she brings her nose up close to the blood to take a deep sniff, catching the scent. Then his clothes, ripped as they are, sniffing and huffing like a beast. The thing tore at him, so she hopes it's left enough of a scent marker that she can track it. Once she's got what she needs, she starts to slowly stand, narrowed eyes moving to scan the alley as she starts to whiff at the air.


The beast that dragged Ekam here doesn't have much of a scent of its own, but the smell of Ekam's blood is easy enough to follow. If it weren't for the scent she may have gotten turned in another direction or at one of the various intersections. The hobs that led this are numerous, and their footsteps many. Past the first house she came to she's led six houses down to one painted bone white. There's no decoration to be found, and no light to be seen inside the two stories of the place. However, she can make out four beds occupied by hobs with peek through one of the first floor windows, and through the other she sees the same - four more hobs happily sleeping the night away.


Instead of three little pigs, there are four. It looks like this big, bad wolf is about ready to bring the house down around their ears. The wicked, sharp smile that plays along her lips cannot be seen as Velvet takes a slow step towards the door, doing a quick check to make sure it isn't rigged or trip wired. Hobs can be so paranoid. Once she realizes it's all clear, the Wyrd once again flutters around her before she takes a handful of steps forward, moving right through the door as if it'd been open the whole time.

Silent feet guide her way through the room, knife toyed with in her hand as she considers the group. She stalks between them, her nostrils flaring as she tries to figure out which one of them the blood scent is coming from. She pauses, those sharp heels going still as her eyes widen. More than four. A lot more than four. Well, this will be a record for her, then. The blade twists in her hand for a moment before she walks up towards the end of one of the beds, head tilting as she studies the little hob. With a little touch of Darkness, they'll all sleep soundly until it's their turn to die. She doesn't want to be interrupted, after all.


There isn't a thing to interrupt the assassin as she skulks through the hob house. The hobs don't look too dissimilar from each other. It'd take an eye for detail to spot the few differences between them. A scar here or there, an odd birthmark, and the way one snores like a dog howling at the moon. Another pair of bedrooms lie in the back, four hobs in each. Upstairs she has to head next, and right across from the top of the stairwell is the beast that ate Ekam. It doesn't look that much different than the other hobs from the waist up, although its arms are just a bit longer. Below the waist is a body more akin to a large dogs with hands for feet that silently scratch at the ground as he snores. The other bedrooms are as easily snuck into, although two others appear to be completely empty. In one of those rooms she can pick up the faint odor of Ekam's now departing scent.


Once all the little Hobs have been securely put to sleep, Velvet begins to shift and change. With a blend of kith, contract and skill, she shifts herself into the visage of the dead Ekam, complete with ripped clothing and gaping, chewed out stomach. She takes a few practice hops, still so perfectly quiet as she adjusts to the new body, checking to see how it moves. Once she's ready, Velvet begins to move through the group of Hobs, slicing hard and fast across their throats in a true coup de grace.

Some of them die immediately, never having a chance to wake up and feast their eyes on their murderer, but some of them? Oh, some of them wake up as the blade cuts, Velvet hovering over them or seated on their chest, sneering down with the face of the hob they murdered so brutally. One after the other after the other, her glee only seems to brighten with each death. She's splattered and stained from arterial spray, almost dancing between the victims as she puts them down. The Beast is dealt with and then it's on to the last room. Three of the four are slaughtered, the cuts a little more shallow this time around to make sure they die slowly, poked and prodded with the blade until the are finally out of blood to spill.

She comes upon the last one, Velvet's eyes narrowing as her blood stained hand and blade hover oh-so close to his face. Her hand trembles, the flat of the blade drawn across his cheek, leaving a smear of blood as she wars with herself. Wouldn't it be nice to kill an even number of them? All of them? It's like a raw ache she doesn't want to refuse. "You're lucky he wants one of you to talk to," she eventually hisses out as she slowly allows her body to shift back into itself. She grabs his face, careful not to hurt him, pulling it to the side so that she can lick off the blood she smeared across his face. "So lucky," she growls before starting to heft him up and shove him into a large sack, bound and gagged.


The last hob initially starts screaming bloody murder when Velvet grabs his face. "No!" he shouts. He echoes it over and over before he's tossed to the side, and he screams, "We fed you to-" His voice cut short as he's bound and gagged, trying to resist as best he can until he's shoved into the sack. He tries to shake, tussle, and mumble his way free, but eventually he grows too tired to give much of anything else beyond the occasional shifting and movement.


There is no sympathy to be found in Velvet. She takes the bag with her as she begins to move back through the house, taking a left ear from each and every one of the murdered hobs. As each one is hacked off, it's dropped into the sack along with the last living member of the little 'family'. A rain of body parts down on him, just to make sure he's good and terrorized by the time they get back to the waiting weaver. She takes her time getting things all set up, but the sun is going to be coming up soon, so it's probably for the best if she gets headed back. Sack in hand, she once again calls upon the Contract of Smoke to vanish herself from view, and starts the journey back.


The trip back is harder than the going. That bit of added weight from the hob doesn't help anything either. All of those body parts wouldn't weight too much with the hob, but its frantic movement as it freaks the fuck out don't make for a happy trip. Weaver, for his part, is waiting near the gate. He's resting against the wall, on the floor, and whistling something that makes it sound like a good morning. The sun's arrival is imminent, but the dragon is only bothered by the now empty bottle of booze. He's in a white hoodie, jeans, and has his shoes kicked to the side while he rests.


Quiet and in a pretty chipper mood, Velvet doesn't seem to terribly mind the weight or the figiting. It's to be expected, and it means he'll be nice and riled up when he's delivered. Speaking of delivery! Spotting Weaver, Velvet lets the darkness fade away to reveal her, covered in sprays of blood, eyes a brilliant shade of red to match. She steps up towards Weaver and tosses the bag right at his feet with a heavy thud. "You'll find 23 right ears from his little pack. You're lucky I left that one alive, killing twenty four of them sounds much more appealing to my ears than twenty three." She grins wide and wicked, an almost drugged look etched across her face.


Weaver looks over the bag and all the commotion elicits a smirk. He looks up to Velvet then, head tilting as he speaks. He nods as he stands, pushing himself to his feet with one hand while grabbing his shoes with the other. He reaches for the sack with his free hand, and flashes a wide smile full of far too many teeth. "Good, good. You'll find the money as you wanted but-" He stalls, a finger lifted to her cheek and held away before any form of contact. "It may be good to get you some things so you aren't as covered in blood. Or least so not all of you's crimson," he notes with a shrug.


Velvet smirks in return, reaching up to swipe at the blood he's indicating. She looks at it with a grin. "I don't know, I happen to think that red is a good color for me." But yes, I've got a stash of cloths and wipes hidden around here to take care of it. I am always prepared." She reaches out to wipe the blood on his arm smugly. "I made sure to wear his face as I killed them all. To make sure they knew why they deserved to die." She takes a step back and leaps towards one of the nearby trees, scaling and moving with such agility and skill that a monkey's jaw might drop. She tosses a bag down from the branches and drops after it, landing in a crouch. She hops back up and grabs the bag. "I'm going to go get cleaned up. Have fun with your new toy. I hope you get the answers you're looking for."