• Closed • Cutting the Webs [Xander]

[Basilisk]

Ethelynda

23rd of Zi'da, 717

It was a cold morning, but morning's were always cold in Zi'da. Vericus had long since learned to ignore such things when he had to, but he was far from fond of it. Instead, he was looking forward to getting inside somewhere warm, at least for a little while. The Ithecal mortalborn was outside Astedia, and he slithered up to the edge of the Lord's private residence, nodding at the guards. "I'm here to see Baron Xander Andaris." he said, his tone poltie as possible. The guards looked at each other and made a move to dismiss the Ithecal, but he smiled and spoke again. "If you would tell him I'm here on behalf of Pontiff Ethelynda of the Ivorian Empire, I am quite certain he would see me." he said, his tone firm.

Namedropping the ruler of a nation tended to open doors, and this time was no difference. Vericus was ushered into a sitting room, where he quite happily waited by the fire, and a servant was sent to inform Xander of his guest. Vericus waited patiently for however long was needed, aware that Xander ruled territory now and that came with many duties. However, when the Rynmere shield-bearer arrived, Vericus nodded at him. "Hello, Baron Andaris. I am Vericus, Consul of the Ivorian Empire and the son of Pontiff Ethelynda." he said, bowing gracefully to Xander. "As much as I wish I were here on mere matters of state, however, I'm afraid I have been sent because of your status as a Shield-Bearer, rather than as a Baron of Rynmere." he said, almost apologetically. "However, the business my mother sent me here on may take a good portion of the day too accomplish, and is not so strictly timed that we must rush immediately if you have matters that require your attention?"

[Xander Andaris]

Xander was very rarely interrupted within his study, in fact he had never before this moment been interrupted in his study. Luckily he was only looking over the books, reading of the Barony's expenses and income. It was looking good as far as he could tell, trade was still high and the Cyrene bay seemed in good shape. The Venoran and Andaris navies were doing their jobs it seemed, piracy had been a big issue in the past. Still Xander was not doing anything of vital importance when the knock came and he glanced up from the pages spread across his desk. Shuffling them together and squaring them off on the desk with a couple of bashes he spoke."Come in?" The young Baron's voice projected well and easily made it through the solid door. "My Lord, an Ithecal is here to see you, they claim to be here on behalf of the Pontiff Ethelynda." Xander raised an eyebrow as he tucked the papers into a draw and locked it shut, slipping the key into his pocket. "That sounds important." He smiled to the servant who nodded and stepped away from the door to allow him passage, Xander locked the study door behind him too. He trusted the staff but you could never be too careful.

He came down the stairs at a brisk pace, ready to great the surprise guest. The Baron was shown to the sitting room nearest to the entrance to his home, one he did not use often except when greeting new people. As always the first thing Xander made notice of was the tail, the weapon he had made sure to note after his brief test with Ethelynda. The man stood by the fire, warming himself as one would on a cool day like this one. He quickly greeted Xander with a bow and the noble did the same. He lowered into a bow, a sign of respect from him that not so many people were honoured with. The revelation that the man was Ethelynda's son was somewhat a surprise, truth be told he had not been sure Immortals could have children. He had heard Rumours but never met one before.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Consul Vericus and please call me Xander, you must forgive me I was not expecting guests." The noble brushed off his simple white shirt of dust from the papers and books. "Well, everything is in order here, it is a quiet day today so I am at your service." He was curious what was in store for him, never before had Ethelynda sent for his assistance with anything. Truth be told he was happy that she had, he was worried she might have forgotten him here in his distant land.

Stepping closer to the fire himself he reached out and warmed his hands. "In what way might I be of assistance this trial, I am more than happy to help anyway I can?" The flames danced and licked the air, he always found the flames surprisingly beautiful. He was not cold though, this was nothing compared to Krome or even worse, Gawyne. Down here in Andaris it was reasonably mild in comparison to his home land and he had grown a tolerance thanks to his upbringing.

[Basilisk]

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BASILISK

Vericus nodded as Xander said her was free, then blinked as he apparently remembered something. "Mother sends her congratulations on your wedding, by the way." he said, smiling slightly. "Now, to business." he said with a sigh. "It has come to our attention that there's a group attempting to undermine Rynmere, weaken the monarchy and put a puppet ruler on the throne." he said, before grimacing. "Unfortunately, it seems they aren't the only group trying that, but the organization I speak of answers to neither to the Qe'Dreki nor Faction VII." he said.

After a moment, Vericus frowned. "In truth, neither the Qe'Dreki nor Faction VII merit attention from outside Rynmere itself, though I don't doubt they are important factors here. However, that should tell you all you need to know about the seriousness of the Webspinners." he said, his voice intent. "They are also for more likely to succeed than either group at present. The Webspinners are an insidious group, acting to entrap, manipulate, and brainwash people into serving them. They kidnap children and raise them into a fanatical loyalty to their leader, then turn them loose to undermine and infiltrate. Complicating matters is that, outside of their fanatical devotion, they're fairly normal people. I've seen Webspinners act as heroically as a Shield-Bearer." he said, shaking his head. "The fruits of their brainwashing, I suppose."

Then he frowned again. "To make matters worse, the overall leader of the Webspinners is an Immortal. Have you ever heard of Sintra?" he asked, his voice intent.

[Xander Andaris]

"Thank you, Consul, I am honoured it was taken note of." He smiled, somewhat surprised that Ethelynda had thought to congratulate him, it was quite humbling. "Of course, to business." Xander did not gesture to any of the chairs, unsure if Ithecal even took seats. Instead he remained standing by the fire with the son of his immortal and listened closely. Not that he knew much about what was spoken, of course he knew about the Qe'dreki and Faction VII, a group he should look into dealing with at some point.

The webspinners, however, were a group beyond his reaches of intelligence. The Baron had never heard mention of them before unfortunately or as the case may be from the description very fortunately. "I have not come across them before, no. They sound like a difficult bunch though and no doubt hard to get rid of." Xander leaned against the mantel of the fire place and tapped his cheek as he continued to listen.

Xander had never heard of the immortal of which he spoke, in truth he knew the names of two immortals and that was all, Ethelynda and Qylios."I have not heard of her either, I must apologise for my ignorance but Rynmere education does not entail too much around immortals. Who is she?" Xander was sure he would not like the answer to that question but it had to be asked, better to know your enemy.

Of course that lead onto the last question, the big and obvious one. "How can I help you, Rynmere and Pontiff Ethelynda today? What needs to be done?" Xander stood up straight again, taking on the form of a soldier because for now he was. This man for all Xander could tell was his superior and so he would not be so dumb as to disrespect or ignore what he was told.

[Basilisk]

When Xander said he hadn't run into the Webspinners before, Vericus just shook his head. "Frustratingly, it's almost a guarantee that you have run into Webspinners before. A market vendor, a soldier, a horse groom, a letter carrier. They can be anyone, anywhere. Unless they have to act out, they don't. Hell, depending on what Sintra wants, they can actually be beneficial to a society, since they can call on other Webspinners to get trade deals set up more easily and such." he said with a frustrated groan. "So much easier to deal with opponents that are always antagonistic." he said, in an irritable tone that was a passable imitation of his eldest brothers.

When Xander admitted he hadn't heard of Sintra either, Vericus just shrugged. "Don't worry, not many people have heard of Sintra. She likes it that way. She's the Immortal of Manipulation, Entrapment, and Arachnids. She's...monstrous. Both in personality and appearance. From the waist up, she's a woman, but from the waste down, she's some kind of scorpion-spider hybrid. Or at least, she is in the form most associated with her, anyway. In terms of personality, she's always using others to her advantage. And, unfortunately, even when we beat her, she tends to come away with some advantage or another." he said in annoyance. Sintra, it seemed, was a difficult problem to tackle.

When Xander took on his soldierly demeanor, Vericus nodded. "During the early phases of the Rynmere civil war, Sintra attempted to cause further fracturing by attempting to pin the blame for several issues on Cassander. While we don't think she was ever here herself, though who can tell for sure, her agents were definitely involved. The focus seems to have been on House Warrick. We understand that one of that house was rather...publicly punished following the Rynmere Civil War. While I can't say for sure if that was part of her design, there seems to have been some underlying grudge there. Do you know anything about that?" he asked, his tone genuinely curious.

Whether Xander knew or not, however, information wasn't the mission. "We've gotten word of a Webspinner hiding out in the Drakenwood. As it's in your barony, you're more suited to find the troublemaker than anyone else who bears the shield." he said, his voice calm. "While most Webspinners aren't worries, some of them are secretly mages of one stripe or another. It would be wise if you prepared yourself for a fight before we left." Vericus said, smiling slightly. He didn't look prepped for a fight either, but the vantages of being Mortalborn meant he had his armor on before Xander returned from getting himself ready for battle. "I'm counting on you to lead the way, Baron Andaris." he said, smiling.

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[Xander Andaris]

None constant antagonistic enemies was something Xander had experienced, noble politics could be quite unpredictable. One man you may think to be your friend and he may even help you while he is truly planning how to dispose of you. "Certainly it would be much easier if our enemies presented themselves clearly but then that would make them too easy to kill. These webspinners sound like a deadly intelligent organisation." Xander was clearly interested in making sure he could help, even if angering the webspinners could be dangerous for his own future goals.

"She sounds like a lot of trouble, I suppose I am lucky not to have openly run into her yet." He half smiled as if trying to lighten the mood, it was certainly a grim conversation so far. "I know only of Lady Vivian Warrick, she fought alongside Veljorn Burhan and Zvezdana Venora in the war. I believe she was excommunicated, I avoided the civil war myself so my knowledge is only through that which was offered publicly by the leaders of Rynmere but other than her I can only think of one other problematic Warrick a boy named Rafael. He was the bastard son of Ned Warrick although he went missing after he attacked my wife." If the lady were who he spoke of perhaps Xander should do some further looking into her. If it were the boy then Xander had no qualms dealing with him in the future.

Xander nodded, knowing he needed to change before they left although he did not have any armour available. Still he had his gambeson and brigandine, both of which provided a certain level of protection for the Lord. So Xander left and changed donning a pair of brown wool trousers his boots and then the gambeson and brigandine, then his belt and sword were added last, holding the light armour together. Vericus was ready upon his return, properly armoured reminding Xander of his need to visit the Drakensmit sooner rather than later.

"Of course the Drakenwood is not too far from here it is only a short walk to reach its edge." Xander lead the mortalborn back to the entrance from where he had come and out onto the front driveway. "Come it is this way." Xander pointed to a well kept dirt track that lead towards a forest in walking distance. It would only take around 30 bits to reach the edge of the forest, the treeline staggered and easy to get through.

"So how do we find this webspinner?" Xander rested his hand on the hilt of his sword as he looked into the woods, searching for any signs of human life.

[Basilisk]

Vericus followed Xander out to the Drakenwood, then drew his mace and readied his shield, his broad lizard tail sweeping the ground behind him. "Well, that's where I come in." he said, before he crouched down to the ground and let out a slow, low hiss that was followed by a rattling sound not unlike the sound a rattlesnakes tail made. Then he stood up and grinned at Xander. "One of my domains is rattlesnakes, I can communicate with them. They'll find the blackguard for us." he said, his tone cheerful. Then he tilted his head at some sound only he could hear. "Follow me."

With Vericus leading the way, the two headed into the woods, towards a small clearing. In the center of the clearing was a small camp, with what appeared to be a simple dockworker in an overcoat sitting in the center. "Well, hello there, milords. What brings you out to my camp here?" he said, his tone pleasant as he stood up. Vericus stepped forward, his mace and shield at the ready and the dockworker's smile faltered. "Milords, I am clearly no threat. Why the weapons." he said, his tone nervous and stuttering.

"We know you're a webspinner. Come in quietly and you won't be harmed." Vericus said, his tone determined. In an instant, the dockworkers expression went from nervous to cold and hard. He flicked both hands and in an instant a pair of throwing knives appeared from inside his coat sleeves. A quick practices motion sent them flying towards Xander and Vericus. Vericus blocked the one coming for him, then let out a reptilian roar and triggered the Serpents Hood ability from Taithir, pulling more focus onto his heavily armored form. "Be careful, he's probably got a few more tricks up his sleeve. Figuratively and literally." he said as he rushed the webspinner, shield to the forefront to fend off more attacks as their opponent drew a pair of long knives out from under his coat.

[Xander Andaris]

Xander watched as the large lizard-like man knelt and let out the hiss, the rattling seemingly in answer to the sound. His eyebrow raised as he watched the strange occurrence as it was explained by Vericus. Of course Xander did not completely understand, something he accepted as a mortal. He nodded and accepted it as it was, the mortalborn had abilities he would never quite understand but were useful all the same.

Xander had not yet drawn his sword, but he was ready as he followed Vericus further into the forest as they came across the camp and the man in it. He seemed like an ordinary man, just as Vericus had explained, they hid in plain sight. Xander stood by the son of his immortal as he let him do the talking. It was quickly that the whole thing went down hill, the throwing knives launched in their direction. Vericus blocked his using the shield with ease while Xander drew his sword in a quick arc across his front while stepping to one side. The sound of steel on steel rang out as the Baron managed to intercept the knife mid air and fling it off into the forest.

The Ithecal had already begun his charge, storming towards the webspinner without hesitation. Xander could not help but notice the difference in fighting style from his mother, she had been a master of defence during his duel. Xander flanked round, knowing better than to get in his partners way. He hoped to get to a point where he could immobilise the webspinner from behind.

The Baron circled round watching as Vericus engaged the knife wielding enemy, the shield and mace potentially a lethal combination. Xander kept a secure grip of his sword as he moved to the left flank of the webspinner preparing as he stepped quickly into striking distance. He aimed for the back of the man's knee, swinging the sword horizontally, ready to make a drawing cut across the joint hoping to severe the tendons running through there.

[Basilisk]

Vericus noticed the way Xander deflected the dagger and his more cautious fighting style. He lived up to the defensive ideals of the Shield-Bearers quite well. Vericus though, he was more aggressive than his mother or his siblings. Not a patient person by nature, his fighting style tended to favor more immediate confrontation than the rest. However, it was still very a precise fighting style, his strikes smaller and more controlled than one expected of a mace wielder. He aimed for ribs, using shorter swings than people usually saw from people with his fighting style.

The first strike from the Ithecal caught the Webspinner off guard and he felt three ribs crack under his mace. That was the only one for a bit, though. The Webspinner learned fast, dodging his mace strikes as if they were short jabs instead of the massive swings usually associated with the fighting style. However, Vericus had a good defense, his shield and heavy armor keeping the bastards knives from scoring a solid hit. Then Xander's flanking came through, aiming to hobble their opponent. It would have worked if the Webspinner had been just a bit slower. As it was, he sidestepped out of the way of the blade.

Flinging out one leg, the Webspinner kicked Xander in the chest. Then he ducked low and ran one of his knives across the ground, slicing a wire he had hidden. There was a sound like a bow string being released, then a heavy rock on a stick came out of the ground, aiming at Vericus's face. Turning, the Ithecal used his shield to block the rock just in time. The turn exposed him to the Webspinner though, and the blackguard lept forward to take advantage of the opening. Only to be met by Vericus slamming his tail into the ribs he had cracked earlier, feeling them crack under the strength of the heavy appendage. The webspinner went rolling across the ground, and when he got to his feet, he was clearly in pain, holding one side and gasping. He was still ready for a fight though, and kept his daggers as ready as he could.

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[Xander Andaris]

Xander was caught off guard by the kick, not expecting the move and from such an angle. He felt almost as if he had walked too close to the rear of an angry horse as he stumbled back. He was breathless, for a moment, as the wind left his body and he watched the trap fall upon Vericus. The son of Ethelynda was far too skilled to fall for such a thing though and managed to block the heavy hammer like item from hitting him while simultaneously knocking the webspinner back with his tail.

The Baron heard the crunch of the enemies ribs from where he stood and saw the opportunity now to strike. The man was hurting and recovering from a heavy blow and while he was not completely out of sorts he would be weaker than before. Xander advanced at speed, attempting to use the range of his longsword to stay out of reach of the daggers while overwhelming his defences with a flurry of slashes and thrusts. Making sure to use momentum from parries and his own swings he kept the blade moving fluidly and without having to stop the momentum after each swing.

While he made his attacks Xander advanced, forcing the opponent to retreat with each blow, the force behind them heavy from Xander's strength. The weight of the sword would likely allow him to even break some of the blocks made by the daggers, the lever being too short to take the force behind all of the clashes. Xander could only imagine the aching and jarring pain the man must feel in his wrists.

He hoped to tire his enemy and perhaps force him to lose balance in the uneven ground of the forest. His main aim though was of course to land strikes on the enemy. Any and all contact was a small victory and would wear down the defences, forcing mistakes and allowing Xander to break through. There was no doubting in Xander's skill here, his stance was impeccable and each step was balanced and well timed. The only visible weakness would be his now hard advance leaving his flanks exposed had there been more than one enemy.

Finally Xander moved to break the man's guard completely, transitioning into high guard and bring the sword down full force. Depending on what the enemy did this could play out in a few ways although the Shield-bearer was hoping to knock the knife aside and follow through down onto the shoulder of his enemy, not knowing whether they wished to kill him right away or not. Still this was his hope, his muscles tightly coiled as he released the kinetic energy and launched the sword on its arc.