| abstract
| - Cataract - Southfield - Wagonrut Road Now choked with weeds, this old path worn by wagon ruts in ages past leads from Misty Road toward the shattered remains of the old town known as Southfield. The road to Southfield appears relatively normal, groves of trees along the pathway heading towards the main town. The only items of note are that further down the road, at the gate to Southfield in fact, the road appears to be blocked off by some wooden construction. Can't really hear any birds nearby, either. Cephas flies overhead, more or less paralleling Whitefur's course along the ground. "Oh - look, construction. That's always heartening to see." Whitefur runs along a fairly quick pace, still breathing fairly easy. "Mmmm? So there is," he says, as he notices it. "Wonder what they're building." Cephas would probably be able to see glimpses of weapons and chitin 'hidden' in the trees in front of and behind the Felinoid on the ground, as well as two Humanoids approaching from the wooden blockade, both with glowing spears and glowing chestplates. Whitefur, on the other hand, could cleary see around 9 Sae'Kall warriors hidden in front of and behind him, as well as three other Sae'Kall further ahead, not armored at all, and carrying staffs instead of spears. Cephas banks abruptly, descending. "Trouble, kitty," he warns. "Hope you're not too worn out to run." He halts his flight just above the ground, wings spread. "I recognize the spears. They were having a big battle with some of the demons and their friends not long ago." Whitefur shakes his head. "Not tired," he says, his expression calm as he takes out his gun. "They're all around," he murmurs quietly. "Well then." The Sae'Kall appear to realize that they're spotted, chittering as they come out of hiding, the nine warriors seem to focus their attention on Whitefur, moving to surround him and point their spears at him. The two Humanoids are still inbound, breaking into a run. The three other Sae'Kall step out of the trees further up the road, two of them in front of the other one. The one behind them points his staff at Cephas, making some chittering noise. The two others shriek a bit at that, also pointing their staffs up at the Angel, continuing the shrieking, but nothing happens for the moment. Cephas raises his taloned hands, summoning an anti-magic barrier. "There will be no battle here!" he snaps. "What is it you want? Talk *first*. Fight *after*." Whitefur relaxes a bit, his expression still calm as he looks at the...err, things. Which are surrounding him, it seems. The two shrieking Sae'Kall stop, and turn to look at the one behind him. It chitters a moment and raises a three fingered hand. The nine warriors around Whitefur stop their advance, but keep the spears pointed at the Felinoid. The one Sae'Kall raises his staff again and shrieks, but instead of a stream of magic, a harsh sounding voice somes from the staff, "You will come with us." is all it says. The two humanoids have reached the group of three with staffs by now, halting. Cephas considers this. "You will let Whitefur go back?" he asks. "If you let him return to the city, I'll go with you." Whitefur looks up at Cephas, eyebrow raised. "What?" he asks, frowning a little. The Sae'Kall pauses a moment, before the staff speaks again, "You will come here," he looks to the two Humanoids and chitters something to him. Cephas descends a bit more, to put a hand on Whitefur's shoulder. "I have a job to do, kitty," he says gently. "I'm not a demon. I have to do things a certain way. But you don't. Go back to the city. I think Brian will help you. But I won't find out what these people want by setting fire to them. I should go with them." Whitefur nods, a bit sadly. "I'll get him and we'll see what we can do." He glances at the...things. The Sae'Kall have yet to move from their ring around Whitefur. The Sae'Kall with the staff is watching the two of them as the humanoid approaches Cephas, holding some handcuffs, if a bit thick. They seem to have some sort of runes enscribed on them, and glow with that same blue light as the armor and spears. Cephas eyes the handcuffs, and then the Sae'kall bearing them. "You," he says to the leader, "let him," and he indicates Whitefur, "Go back. Or I must fight you." Whitefur nods, waiting to be freed to go back to get Brian or help of soem sort. The lead staff weidling Sae'Kall raises that three fingered hand again, chittering a bit, and the Sae'Kall to the rear of the group step aside, spears still lowered, but there's a path for Whitefur to leave with. When Whitefur is free to go, the humanoid with the handcuffs moves towards Cephas, the cuffs raised. Cephas nods. "Go, kitty," he says quietly. "You will only have this one chance to go. I don't want to see a fight if there doesn't need to be one." Whitefur gives a small nod, rubs his head against Cephas and slips through carefully, and starts running back towards the city at full speed. The Sae'Kall close around Cephas again as the humanoid handcuffs the Angel. "You will come," the Sae'Kall with the staff states to Cephas, turning towards Southfield. He chitters to the other humanoid, who takes off running towards the town. Cephas lets the magical barrier fall as Whitefur departs, accepting the cuffs. "Not really necessary," he notes. "If you have a reason for disturbing this plane as you have been, anyway. Let's go." The Sae'Kall don't really respond to Cephas, just heading on to the town, Cephas stil lsurrounded by the nine warriors. Cephas sighs. "Why capture me if I am of no use to you?" he asks, flying up a bit so as to see what's going on. Fear does not appear to have occurred to him as an option. The Sae'Kall's staff speaks, "You have use," is all it says. The town of Southfield appears to have been taken over, various Sae'Kall are in the town, and multiple people from Necromundus, all with spears and breastplates, are patroling around. About 10 of them are visible, and perhaps 30 or so Sae'Kall. Cephas shakes his head. "Slaves. Why take slaves? Why take *Southfield*?" The group passes throgh the gates, the blockade moved to the side by a tauroid to let them through. The group moves towards one building in particular as the staff responds, "They serve willingly," Cataract - Southfield - Town Square An old cobblestone square, now thick with weeds and dust, surrounded by the splintered and charred ruins of buildings that used to be homes, shops and community gathering spaces in a thriving town. Some years ago, Southfield fell into ruin after it was overrun by drakespawn and bloodthirsty Wildlings. Cephas tilts his head. "Why do they serve?" he asks. "And what do you need them to do for you?" "They serve because they chose to, and we need them to fight," the staff replies as the group heads into the building, the Sae'Kall getting into single file, half of them staying behind Cephas, the other half moving in front of him. Cephas seems quite content to float or fly along with them, exceedingly curious about it all. "But why? Do you know how often people around here like fighting?" "We fight because we must." the staff replies. The inside of the building has more Necromundus people, but perhaps this is what the Sae'Kall means about being 'willing', as these people are chained, at best half clothed, and look like they haven't been fed well for at least a few days. Many bear injuries as well. Another group of three Sae'Kall, all with staffs, are inscribing arcane looking circles and symbols into the center of the floor. The angel is looking angry. "The people didn't choose *this*," he says. "Why do you do this to them?" "Because we must." the staff replies. One of the others with staffs gets an old looking book from nearby, bringing it to the head Sae'Kall, who looks through it for a time. The staff speaks, "I believe they call you..." before the Sae'Kall, with obvious effort and concentration on each sound, speaks Cephas' true name, in a rather high, chittery voice. Cephas freezes - rather literally. Not with shock, but as if immobilized. It doesn't do much to help the angel's temper, but it does make it entertaining rather than dangerous. "What -? *Why* must you? What is it you're *after*?" "Souls, and yours is quite powerful," the staff speaks, before the Sae'Kall chitters towards the other Sae'Kall in the room, waving the staff at them. And careful not to break the circle, they file out of the building, except for the two others with staffs who've not left the first Sae'Kall's side, "But first we need you to answer some of our questions. How many defend the portal out of this land?" Cephas blinks. "Souls?" he echoes. "To what end? After your last battle, those you captured returned well enough. So evidently not for food." He shakes his head. "And they aren't exactly organized." "It is not easy to create a stable portal capable of transporting armies from our land to yours," the staff replies as the Sae'Kall begins to walk around the circle, keeping his distance though, "Then how many are there?" it asks, before pausing and, again with obvious effort, pronounces a twisted version of Cephas' name. "It's supposed to be impossible," Cephas replies with a sigh. "But the protections are thinner than they ought to be. Mostly because...well, it's just me." "With enough souls it is possible, but we would prefer to use yours than our own," th e "With enough souls it is possible, but we would prefer to use yours than our own," the staff replies, "You will tell me how many there are," it adds, pausing to mispronounce Cephas' name once again. This time, it's clear that a nerve was hit - at least, the angel reacts with the same sort of cringing flinch as fingernails scraping loudly across a blackboard. "No," he growls, as much from pain as wrath. "I am set by the Powers to defend the portals. I may not give them over to anyone." "Yes...powerful indeed, you will make a good sacrifice, we'll need far less souls now," the staff says, "But you will tell me eventually," he states, continuing to walk around the circle, uttering another forced misprounciation. The angel's wings spread as he cries out, but the manacles prevent him from putting his hands over his ears. "You do not understand," he growls. "I am a servant of the Ascendant Powers. I cannot betray my duty here." He glares at his manacles, as if he would - with his rather thin human-looking arms - break them. The Sae'Kall watches the cuffs melt, "Took my accolytes a few days to make those, at least they have more." he states, continuing to pace, "You will tell me how many guard the portal from this land to the main land eventually. There were hundreds facing us last time, did they have reserves or were those all of their forces?" "I am bound by the Ascendant Powers to guard the portals of this plane," Cephas growls. "And I cannot tell you." "So you as a guardian, do you guard the people of this plane as well?" the Sae'Kall asks, "Will you tell me that," and again, Cephas' name is mispronounced. The repeated use of his true Name is definitely wearing down the angel's strength, the taloned fingers scratching at the energies that form the imprisoning circle. "I guard the portals and guide the people as they choose to be guided," he says, drained. "They are free souls and must retain their right to choose their path." The Sae'Kall stands there a moment, before walking towards where that book, and a few others like it, are stored. It pulls out a knife, made of some black stone and inscribed with runes, some similar to those on the manacles, others different, and shows it to the Angel, "Any idea what this does?" Cephas eyes the thing with a tired sort of air. "A weapon is a weapon is a weapon," he says, taking a seat on the air within the circle. "Why is it so necessary for you to do these things?" The Sae'Kall looks at the weapon as the staff speaks, "This is a special weapon, it took years to create, and is one of the few ways we have of making a portal," the Sae'Kall walks over towards a chained up Elf, putting the tip of the knife under it's chin and lifting it up, forcing the Elf to lift his head, "You wouldn't want me to get a start on the process, would you?" The angel's face turns wrathful at that, and he presses his will against the boundaries of the circle. "There is no need for this! Don't hurt them!" The mage seems a bit distracted, and the circle falls with a shriek from the Sae'Kall, it chitters wildly, the knife still pressed against the Elf's neck as he raises his staff towards Cephas, "Make no move or this Elf's soul will be forfeit, and it will be on your hands!" the staff states. Cephas's wings spread wider, filling the area with radiance. "Take her soul and you will have your dearest wish - to die like warriors," he says flatly. "I will help you in good faith if you do not harm the people here." The chittering seems to have drawn those other Sae'Kall with staffs back, pointing them at Cephas as they enter the building, but none move yet. The lead one remains where he is, the point of the knife drawing a bit of blood from the Elf, "Then you will answer my questions, for every question you do not answer one of these souls will be ours. So I will ask you again, how many guard the portal from this land to the main land?" Cephas spreads his hands, raising an anti magic barrier. "I am a servant of the Ascendant Powers, set to guard the portals of this plane," he repeats. "I *cannot* answer your questions. But if you do the people any harm I must direct all my power to your destruction. Is that what you want?" The Sae'Kall pauses at that, "Then you will tell me everything you can tell me of this world, and you will allow yourself to be restrained once again," he says, the knife still held to the Elf's throat, and the Sae'Kall accolytes and mages still standing with their staffs raised. Cephas points to the elf. "Release her and I will return to your circle." The high mage chitters a moment to the other Sae'Kall, and two of the lesser accolytes move to unchain her. The high mage keeps the knife to her throat though, pointing to the circle with his staff. Cephas sighs. "Release her," he says, "I am not asking you to break your toy. Just release her. I am sure you have a hundred other captives to threaten." "It is done," The high mage's staff replies as the accolytes unchain the Elf, and while neither of them seem too strong, between them they manage to carry her out, "Now return to the circle," it replies, six other Sae'Kall still have their staffs pointed at Cephas after the two accolytes leave. The gull-wings furl, and the Grigori flies back to his prison circle. "There," he says quietly. "But I must say I don't understand why you are so certain you have to do these things." "Because you are a liability," the staff replies, before the high mage utters Cephas' name once again, and so long as the Angel does not try to resist, the circle is again raised. Cephas winces, fingers curling in at the sound of the broken Name. "Why take souls. Why rip holes in the universe so." "Because we must," the Sae'Kall replies, beginning to walk around the circle again, "And as you promised, you will tell me what you can. What is this place called?" "This is the world archived as Cataract," says Cephas simply. "This town that you have taken over has been called Southfield." "And the portal, what is the land that it leads to called?" the Sae'Kall asks. Cephas studies the Sae'Kall. "For you, it is the land of the dead," he says. The Sae'Kall pauses and turns to one of his accolytes, gesturing with that three fingered hand towards the books and chittering. The Accolyte brings a book to the high mage, who proceeds to flip through the pages, reading for the moment it appears. Cephas considers the priest. "I suppose to you that must be some kind of motherlode," he muses. "Countless souls. But if you destroy it you will very likely destroy most of Creation along with it." "We will not destroy it, we will take it for ourselves," the staff announces after a moment, "This is the land we've been searching for," the high mage chitters a moment to the accolytes, who chitter back, sounding a bit excited at whatever the high mage said. Cephas blinks. "And do what with it?" he asks, surprised. The Sae'Kall pauses, stunned perhaps, "Prepare it for the Gods of course," the staff replies, the other accolytes still chittering. Cephas seems quite surprised at that. "...*Which* gods?" he asks carefully. "/The/ Gods, there are no others." the staff replies. The high mage moves towards the books, putting the other book back, "We have been searching for this world for countless years so that the Gods may come, and now we have found it," a tablet is withdrawn from the items, and passed to an accolyte, much excited chittering passing between the high mage and the accolyte. "I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific," says Cephas a bit gently. "I am a servant of the Ascendant Powers...who might actually be what you *mean* by 'gods'." "The Gods that reside with us. They have told us to seek out the land of the dead to pave a way for their return to power. Only there can their true powers be revealed. We have conquered many worlds to seek out this place, but now that we have found it, we can devout our energies to taking it and be done with our other wars," the staff replies, the accolyte running off with the tablet. Cephas seems intrigued, his wings fluffing out a bit. "Your gods want the land of the dead?" he asks. "Yes, so that their true powers may be revealed," the staff replies, "They will not be content until all of you have been removed, though, but we have ways of appeasing their wishes." Cephas hms. "Any names, these gods have? Perhaps I could go and talk to them." "It is heresy to speak their names. Only the highest of the high mages know them," the staff replies, "And we aren't letting you go and speak to anyone, we need your soul," Cephas crosses his arms over his chest. "But you'll use *my* Name as you will?" he says. "I just want to know who exactly to address. Your gods aren't the only Powers out there." "You wont be adressing anyone, so it does not matter," the staff replies to that. Cephas raises his hands. "I can make it very difficult for you to hold me here," he says. "And if you threaten the people you will find out how much magic I can call. Are you so certain violence is the only answer?" "If the Gods decree it, we must obey," the staff replies, "One of my mages and two accolytes will watch you at all times, I don't believe you will be able to take all three at once. And did you not promise you would be peaceful? I have not taken any souls, and I let the Elf go. I do believe it would be contrary to what you stand for to break a promise like that," "You threaten all the world," Cephas points out. "If I cannot save everyone, then you force me to save who I can. Is it needful that you reach your gods through death and war? Are these the gods you serve?" "We have no need to reach them, they are among us, we simply have to bring them here and they will be grateful to us, and their powers will be complete. I would not stand in their path if I were you, one of them can fling me aside as if I were nothing, and that is only a fraction of his true power." the staff replies. Cephas blinks. "Really. Among you, you say?" he peers about. "You have seen these amazing feats?" "Heretics are always dealt with by the Gods themselves," states the staff, almost sounding as if quoting something. He turns to the remaining accolyte, chittering something to it, before the accolyte leaves. Cephas hovers comfortably in his circle. "Really. That's ...interesting. When was the last time you saw a heretic being dealt with then?" "A few days before I ventured here," the staff replies. A mage followed by two accolytes enter, and the high mage chitters briefly with them before the staff speaks, "You will be guarded, I will return and ask you more questions," Cephas nods. "All right," he agrees. "Fair enough. Thank you for answering some of mine." The high mage doesn't reply with his staff, just walking out, leaving the mage and accolytes to guard Cephas.
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