What it's Like to be a Bad Man

[Vanion Shadowcast]

Some time after three in the morning, and even the underbelly of the Dockside District was quiet. Four men in impossibly black cloaks let the shadows cast by the Baronial Manor swallow them in the night. They spoke quietly to each other in a smooth, beautiful language.

---

"Do you not fear their retribution? What if we are moving too early?"

"We have been waiting for this for too long now. Think of the pain we have suffered, Tybalt. It is long past time."

"Do not speak to me of pain! You were not there to witness your brothers murdered in their sleep. You come from a noble background. This cause is a plaything for you."

"You speak as if you were one of them. I cannot help what I was born into, who my Bearer was. Yet I have risked everything to be here tonight. I damn myself with this company, because I know it is for a better cause. My loyalty is not challenged by the cowardly likes of you."

"We are all damned, friend. It is in the knowledge of that in which we may become saved. Tybalt, your fear hinders us. Do you understand that we cannot afford to waiver now - any of us? Do you realize what your weakness could cost every last of us unfortunates?"

"Silence! I have suffered your bickering enough. Damnation is a lie. Salvation is a lie. We fight for the right to live in a world that has spurned us and burned us. Power is the only tangible thing that exists. Do you not yet understand this?"

"... y- Yes, Master Drakhar."

"Of course, Master."

"... well? Tybalt? Do you run now, after having come this far?"

"No, Drakhar. I am in. Tell us one more time what we are to do this night."

"Very well. Ignatius. You do us the honors.

"Yes. Friends, tonight Drakhar has decided that we will make ourselves known to this district. Our Mark will be left to teach the populace here that racism will be fought against. Fought against with fire."

---

A breeze picked up in the dead of the night, and their whispers were drowned out by the wind's raspy voice.

[Vanion Shadowcast]

The Dockside District watched the sun rise on the next morning, just as it had on other mornings. This morning, though, there was another message in the dawning sky.

Smoke. Lots of it.

Three docks had been set ablaze in the quiet hours of the night, and with those docks, nearly a dozen vessels and their cargo had also met their fiery end. As if by some form of magic, the smoke from the fire left a blackened signature in the crisp, early-morning air.


Avoozl

[Tybalt d'Tange]

A figured cloaked in black kneeled before the Baronial Manor in the Dockside district. His hesitation earlier had rewarded him with one extra task before dawn rose, and the rest of the city awakened. He set down on the steps leading up-and-into the manor a plumed hat that had belonged to the Captain of the Dockside Lookout a few hours earlier. Blood, and bits of brain tissue still clung to the wettened rims of the hat.

Tybalt began to cast a simple enchantment, and the blood swirled to form a message on the plumed hat, meant for the current Baron of Dockside.

It read: "Equal Rights for All, sir."

The black figure left it there and ran quickly for the streets, looking to avoid any unwanted attention.

[Ignatius Vossen]

Iggy Vossen allowed himself a slight grin as he watched the guard pass him by. The pixie-elf stayed hidden in the shadows while the heavy footsteps of the lone sentinel thud up and down the cobblestone pathway.

It was an easy assignment… too easy perhaps for someone who had spent a lifetime training in the art of subterfuge. Should he go for the easy way or make things a tad for interesting and challenging for himself?

His mentor would not mind so much, he reasoned, the method so long as the deed was done. And bathed in the moonlight was his target – the warehouses that stood filled with the goods that would pass through the port. One of his companions would soon set the ships aflame and it was imperative that the warehouses were destroyed at the same time… to maximise surprise and reduce the chance of capture.

Ignatius stared at the moon, mentally calculating the time. It was time to act.

While the guard’s back was turned, he raced forward stealthily, his silk slippers cushioning the noise of his footsteps on the path…

The guard never saw or heard him coming. All he felt was a strong hand clasp around his mouth and another arm holding his arms to his body. All he heard was soft, gentle yet menacing voice whispering,

“There is no need to struggle… you know you cannot win.”

And then the hand around his mouth began to loosen, but just as he drew his breath to sound the alarm, he felt a sharp pain down his back… a pain that left him standing… just standing, his mouth open and gaping, unable to move… unable to speak.

Ignatius withdrew the stiletto dipped with paralysing poison from the unfortunate guard. He looked once again at the moon. There was still some time left for a bit of fun.

He clasped his arms around the shoulder of the guard and in mock camaraderie said,

“Well, I guess it’s your misfortune to be here today. What’s that? I can’t hear you… Oh my, cat got your tongue? Are you wondering what I am going to do or why I am doing it? Dear me, do you want me to give you a long and boring story about the reasons for my deed? Or ours? Oh yes, you heard right… ours. But who we are is not your concern. Oh no, it isn’t. No, you would be more concerned about answering the questions that would be asked of you… I sense you are wondering what questions. Well, I’d leave that to you to find out. The poison would wear out in less than 2 minutes”

At which point, the pixie-elf procured a torch from within his cloak, lit it and forced it into the hand of the guard.

“Just imagine,” he continued “what they would say when you are caught in the middle of what is obviously an act of arson with a torch in your hands and no one else around. Would you accuse me? But you do not know who I am, you do not know what I am, you do not even know where I come from or with whom I consort. No, my dear fellow, you are on your own.”

Iggy Vossen gazed up again at the moon. It was time. His slender hand rose up and when the final word of the enchantment was spoken, a bolt of flame erupted from his hand, striking the warehouse and setting it in flames.

Elsewhere, the ships were already burning, which he could sense by the orange glow, not so far away. He smiled as he saw the fiery havoc consume the wood of the warehouse. And as he heard the sounds of footsteps, he gave the guard a mocking salute and stepped safely into a magical portal… leaving the sentinel to his fate.

[Neo Eternity]

((I'm posting for Utau Jigoku because I've tried twice to register him, trying to put the AIM mail as his e-mail, but UtauJigoku@aol.com didn't work, nor UtauJigoku@aim.com.))

Hmm... How to do this deed? He walked slowly toward the docks... There's resistance. Eliminate it quietly, or not so much so? He then withdrew a pair of gunblades. No... Doing it quietly is nigh impossible. Luckily, no one else will see this. There were several guards there. Why? Utau didn't care. He was gonna do the task, it didn't matter how. A few of the guards were already on their way. In a mere millisecond, he'd dashed by, slashing through them both with the dual gunblades.

He could hear the battle cries of the other approaching guards. He pointed the gunblades at a pair of heads and pulled the trigger. A pair of perfectly executed headshots took out a pair of guards. How many are left? Doesn't matter. One approached from the left. Two from the right. He glowed with red energy as he put away his gunblades... Fire red. A hand pointed at the one. "Spire!" Fire spiraled up from the ground underneath him and caught the guard aflame. His next acrobatic maneuver involved jumping up above simultaneous horizontal slashes from the other two guards, and kicking off of their heads to launch him into the air. He then perfomed a series of complex hand signs. "Katon! Karyuudan!" A dragon made of fire shot out from the flame that was cremating the one guard, flew around a bit, then slammed into the two guards now frozen in horror.

He then walked toward a group of men frozen in horror. "Forgive me. I cannot allow anyone who has seen this to leave." They tried to disperse... No, we can't have that. A hand is raised as Utau glows with pinkish energy. "Magnet." All of the men came back together, sticking together a foot or so in the air. Utau then glowed red again... "I call upon thee in the land of the dead, unleash thine hellish rage!" ...A more intense red. "Vehemence!" A bright red circle appeared on the ground, underneath the group of soldiers. A second or two later, a beam of fire shot upwards from the circle, first covering the entire circle, then shrinking to cover only half a foot or so of the center. The men could be heard screaming as the spell started... They were cremated by the time the beam had vanished.

Now, for the ships. "More civilians... Dammit." Another group of men came out from the cabin of one of the ships. Utau transformed, then. His wings appeared... They were feathery and... dark purple, but instantly turned black. His eyes blanked out, and his hair just stuck up, since it was already black. His entire body was glowing... black. A far-cry from the standard transformation of his race. "...Do a barrel roll..." He glowed with intense dark energy, and the entire ship started to rise. The ship then did as he commanded. "...To do a barrel roll, press Z or R twice, sir." And he then dropped it in the water, upside down.

I've spent too long dilly-dallying. I have to finish this, now. He started to glow, one last time... A mix between an extremely intense red, and black just as intense.

"Vehement Damnation!!!"

Many beams of fire shot out from the water, each beam about 3 feet thick. There were about 5 per 20 square foot. It took a huge amount of energy to spread it across all the ships. But the deed was done. He looked up at the moon... Barely in time.

His transformation wore off due to the immense amount of energy that spell took... the hi-ougi. It's enough energy to cast one, but at over 10 or even 20 times its intended area... And then, to rig the spell so that its smoke creates the intended message... Is truly draining. He slowly walked away from the scene.

"Forgive me. It must be done."