Unhealthy Interests [Wisp Quill]

A man whose features ran somewhere between young and old sat on the raised wall of the bridge that overlooked the Kershek River, on the meandering outskirts of the city of Kedaldown. He held a long wooden fishing pole with a mechanical reel out in front of him, with its lure was spinning slowly in the current of the river almost thirty below him. To the casual observer, it might have seemed that he were just another fisherman, patiently waiting for his catch. There were no casual observers, though, for this man was nearly impossible to notice. Even if one were to look straight at him, they would not see him, and find their attention wandering.

It was likely fortunate that this person was nearly impossible not to ignore, for his manner of garb could be deeply disturbing to any who looked upon it directly. He wore a strange piece of armor that covered his shirt stared out at the occasional passersby; it was alive and it had a face with a perpetual grin filled with fangs on the back of the man's right shoulder, and there were syringes holstered into a harness on his legs as if they were merely knives or something even more mundane.

Slowly spinning, the bright silver lure flopped one way, then the other, catching light along its body and making it flash through the water. A fish swam up beside it, then decided better at the last moment, although the man on the bridge did not seem to mind. He only stared into the depths of the river, his mind lost and wandering.

Not knowing how long he'd been looking into the water, the man saw something swoop in from the sky and stop before his lure, not touching the water. There was a stern wind blowing under there, and it gave the illusion of this creature hovering. It was a bird -- no, a bat. Wait, no. It was too big to be either and Omentus Anima slowly rose from the infinite spiral of thoughts that kept him from interacting with the real world, trying to place his finger on exactly what had become so interested in his fishing lure.

There was a tiny bolt that jumped from the thing's paw and into the water, a stream of sustained electricity. Suddenly, Omentus was brought out of his haze, more aware now than he had been in days. His eyes sharpened on the creature hovering over his lure, examining and assessing it in fractions of a second. It was a gargoyle cub. A gargoyle with copper scales and power over electricity.

His face broke out into a grin; he'd just caught something far more interesting, far more useful, than any fish. He'd just caught a way to stabilize his nervous grafts. Setting the reel on his fishing rod with the flick of a finger, Omentus jerked the triple hook by the lure up out of the water, trying to snag the gargoyle by the mouth or the skin of its face as he hopped off the wall and onto the bridge. It might be a hell of a fight, but it was worth it for landing this catch!

( OoC: This is two weeks after Silver and Steel... Forgot to put this earlier... >.>' )

The wind pushed her backwards, but didn’t see an odd metal object fly into the air. One of it‘s claws dug into the right side of her face, behind her scales. What the…? The gargoyle quickly flew away, and felt some scales pull off of her, liquid silver coming from a wound. It was her blood.

Amberstone looked up and saw an odd person, grinning at her. The scent she caught from the air was human, but not. What is this human…? The cub used the wind and flew towards an open field, looking back to see the man drop the stick and glanced at the scales that were on the hook. He then turned his attention back to her and started to walk towards her.

Life Spark immediately reacted, electricity hissed around her, as she kept her eye on the strange man. “What are you…?!” her voice was coupled with a growl, but still held her confusion.

"I, little pretty," Omentus said with a wide, sadistic grin as he stalked toward the gargoyle, "am your new master." He watched her with too much interest as she glanced to at her cheek, where she was bleeding. "Mmm, silver," he mused. "Oh? What's the matter? Does that hurt?" There was an amused chuckle in his voice, and an unhealthy, sultry growl.

Omentus's eyes were nearly bulging from his head from following the lines of electricity that raced around her body. He licked his lips like a hungry animal, but stayed back from her for a moment. "I shall need you to calm down a bit for this," he said, drawing a rainbow-hued syringe filled with a bright purple liquid from his left leg harness. He approached her slowly, as one might approach a wild animal with a net in hand.

Suddenly, Omentus bolted for the gargoyle, moving much faster than any human should have the right to in nature, stabbing at her with the syringe. She dodged his poke, startled by his sudden advance, and made a swipe at him with one paw. Her claws rent through his shirt, but strangely left no marks on his skin. An electric spark jumped from her to him, and he staggered backward. His eyes lost focus for a moment and he nearly lost his balance. It took a moment, but he regained his bearings. As it turned out, the necromancer was in a way far more susceptible to the gargoyle's life spark than most people would be, and only his inhuman fortitude kept him from falling onto the ground in a twitching heap. He needed to form a plan; he would not be able to capture this creature or even take a blood sample from it in a fair fight. He looked at it closely, especially in its face. It had leonine features and scales...

The man reached into the pack on his right hip and grabbed a thin, fragile cloth bag of a dust known in thieving rings as deathbreaker. It was a pungent smelling concoction that was used to disorient and confuse tracking dogs, who normally meant death to the rogue whose scent they had picked up. He flung the powder at the gargoyle, ripping open the fragile bag as he did, and loosed a powdered cloud of nose-bending peppers, spices and herbs. Triumphantly, he shouted, "Got it!" and then threw his second voice, which sounded a little raspy and older than his first, behind the creature, "Hold it down, don't let it get away!"

If she fell for the ploy, Omentus would draw Helir and attempt to make a draw from the gargoyle's blood, then follow up with an injection from Beli to sedate her. If she saw through his deception, Omentus intended to grab her and still take the draw. At the very least, Omentus meant to get her blood, and would put himself in harm's way to get it, if necessary. Even if it went his way, though, it might take more than a minute for beli to take its toll on her inhuman physiology.

(OoC: I decided to go with Omentus using beli first, if that's ok with you...)

The cloud of whatever the man threw hit her square in the face. Amberstone snorted and growled, due to the pain she was feeling, accidentally opening her eyes and causing them to sting too. The gargoyle let out a roar, before hearing another voice. There’s someone else…?! Only relying on her hearing, she turned around slightly to look, even though the cub couldn’t actually see anything, blinded due to the powder.

Something forced her to the ground in an instant, before something pricked her in the neck. “Get… off!” The odd pain went away, as the gargoyle tried to throw whatever had pinned her to the ground off of her. Amberstone felt her wings shatter into copper scales, which quickly discharged bolts of electricity at random. Her ears picked up something’s thud next to her, before she began to feel weakened. “…Wh…What…?” Her whole body felt heavy next, and she fell to the ground, asleep.

The scales that came from her wings went back and reformed to the skin again.

Omentus woke up slowly, the tingling pains that shot through his body keeping him truly awake for the first time in weeks. The gargoyle had discharged some form of natural ability, causing the scales of its wings to take leave of them, alight with lightning. That was just about the last thing he remembered before waking up. Now, he knew the pain of lightning, again. It was even worse than before he had begun grafting the demonic parts to his body, and somehow different. It made his vision fuzzy, and his body did not wish to respond. He'd have to a find a way to solve that.

Speaking of which, there was a gargoyle that had recently shown a great aptitude for control over electricity, laying in a pile at his feet. He lifted up its face, discerning how awake the beli had left it. Dead to the world. 'I'll have to find a more appropriate dose for the physiology,' he thought to himself. He took a thin wand out of one of the pockets in his cloak and pointed it at the unconscious beast. It floated into the air, connected to the wand by a slim, pale yellow tether.

***

In the upstairs loft of Omentus' little apothecary shop, outside the inner city of Kedaldown, the necromancer was pleased with his work. After the gargoyle nearly woken herself from the beli stupor two or three times, Omentus had figured out the appropriate dose for the gargoyle. From his calculations, it wasn't an adult. That made sense, he'd read that gargoyles were supposed to be much larger. On the other hand, none of the texts had ever mentioned gargoyles having a physical control over electricity. He checked over his handiwork before allowing the creature to wake at all.

He had her strapped down, on her back, to a specialized wooden board meant for holding just the child gargoyle. Thick leather straps bound her by the wings, tail, forelegs and hind legs, so that her chest was presented to the necromancer and kept still for his necessary work. Also, metallic cables had been attached to arms, neck and wings, which ran across the ground around the two of them and to a large machine constructed of iron and wood that was adorned with many dials and gauges. A wide vial of silver liquid was prominently featured on the device, with a frosted crystal globe beside it. The liquid was a sample of the gargoyle's blood; the globe was a gauge to determine the amount of electrical power the gargoyle could generate. Beside him was a small table of surgical instruments, most of which had just been used in his work.

The gargoyle, who was still under anesthesia, lay on the table with a large and very precise hole cut into her chest. There was very little bleeding, which was impressive since the incision went all the way down to the creature's slowly beating heart, where the necromancer's handiwork actually lie. It was a device of silver-colored metal that superficially resembled a widow spider. It had eight long, jointed legs that wrapped around the gargoyle's heart, and a node on one side. Attached to that node was a reservoir with a clear, hourglass-shaped window on it. Inside the window it showed itself to be full of a deep red liquid which also seemed to contain swirling black and red images inside itself, as well as thousands of crumbling cities at the same time. Overall, it was good work, and by all accounts, its reservoir should never empty.

Attached to both the large vein and the large artery which led into and out of creature's heart were arrays of tiny crystal studs, whose colors were a myriad of pale blue, yellow and white. The crystals were attached to one another by means of a brassy colored ring that hugged their respective blood vessels closely, yet somehow managed to expand and contract with their movements. A spark of electricity ran across the creature's heart, but connected with one of the rings and became absorbed. In a moment, it was released in the form of a more powerful bolt which jumped to the next ring of crystal studs, became trapped inside it as the crystals began to glow. Suddenly, the crystals stopped glowing, but the gargoyle's body discharged three bolts of power. The frosted crystal globe on the machine behind him was lit from within by a soft light that dissipated quickly.

It was time to wake her. He placed one hand on the beast, and one on himself. The wound in chest closed, migrating magically to Omentus, but split into several smaller wounds as it traveled, which dispersed themselves almost harmlessly across his body. He took a step back and waited for the beli to wear off. It was only an hour before the creature's eyes snapped open. She looked around while trying to move from the spot. He could see the panic creeping slowly into her inhuman face as she must have been realizing at least some part of her plight. He smiled, "Ahh, so you're finally awake..." he said, before his second, deeper voice spoke beside her ear, "...little one."

(OoC: I have no clue as to the layout or how the room looks, so I didn't put it in. >.>' I also took a guess at where Omentus was.)

Amberstone’s vision was heavily blurred as she tried in vain to look around, it was like everything was hidden by a thick, but clear fog. A cold feeling crept along her body, as she tried to get up, but felt like she was pinned by something. Oddly, she still felt tired, while her thoughts were a jumble. Wh-where… am I?

Upon hearing the two voices, the cub shuddered, and tried to smell the air. Unfortunately, her nose was still hurting due to the cloud of powder. “Who are you…?!” her voice sounded worried, as she tried to get up again, but nothing happened. A light laugh was caught by her ears, the only thing that wasn’t bothered by the powder, coming from her left.

“I already told you who I am, little one. I’m your master.” The gargoyle looked over, towards the voice, only able to see a pale white circle and two teal dots. She instantly remembered the voice, and growled slightly, before noticing something glowing behind him.

Something suddenly swept over her, almost making her dizzy for a second, Amberstone laid her head back onto the hard surface. That’s… not normal… Something’s wrong. “I’m… not a pet!” Anger rose in her voice as a growl, without noticing that the glowing object got brighter. “Let me go!”

The gargoyle raised her head and glared towards where the pale human, she guessed was at, before she felt something on her neck and glanced at it. It was gray, but looked like a rope, possibly tied around her neck. She couldn’t keep her head up, as she growled again and the orb grew brighter, managing to stay on for a minute. A dull ache was beginning to spread over her body.

The cub then faintly noticed that the gray rope was connected to the glow, coming from some kind of object. What…? Why is a rope… Hold on, I can’t feel my Life Spark… it’s normally just a mild shock every now and then… What did he- “What did you… do to me…?” Amberstone’s voice came out almost in a frightened whisper, but was loud enough to be heard.

Another laugh followed.

The gargoyle had regained her senses in remarkably short order when she awoke. Something about that resilience might warrant further research, but it hadn't fully caught the alchemist's attention just yet. Does beli break down in the blood from the presence of electricity? he pondered idly. Not important right now, for the creature had spoken to him, asking who he was.

It talks. It was Lorik's voice, but only the necromancer could hear it, for it was only in his mind. Omentus nodded. And if it talks, that means it's intelligent... You must learn more of the gargoyle... does it have people?

"I already told you who I am, little one. I'm your master," Omentus replied. The creature fought back against its restraints for a bit, while Omentus pondered what to do with an intelligent captive. He laughed at his own thoughts, once or twice, then decided on a course of action. He crossed the room, stepping over the cords on the floor until he stood in front of the pinned gargoyle, "Tell me, pet. Where do you come from?"

The creature struggled again, making the globe in the device on their right spark from the inside with the force of the lightning the gargoyle had generated. It wasn't enough for Omentus, though. He hesitated. Briefly, the gargoyle pondered whether or not to tell the deranged man what he wanted to know. At last she said, "A cliff."

The necromancer frowned. "If that's all you can come up with," he said slowly, taking a glove out of one of the pockets in his cloak, "then perhaps you are not as useful to me as I first thought." He slipped the glove over his hand. A patch of tanned skin on the glove began to glow in dark color, and a hand of shifting black energy appeared in the air nearby. "I guess I'll just have to kill you." At his mental command, the hand jumped over to the gargoyle's throat - it felt cold, very cold - and began to squeeze gently.

The slits of Amberstone's eyes contracted sharply when the hand touched her neck. Death was impending, and it wasn't going to be gentle. She thrashed about, convulsing on the board made just to hold her. The globe in the device flushed with wan gray light, while bolts of electricity surrounded the vial of silver blood near it. She was close to true panic, now, and tried desperately to strike a deal with this nebulous death. "I... it's a city," she pleaded. Tears were welling up in her eyes as the black hand clenched itself closer to a death grip, "A city, near a cliff in the mountain." She cried, mewling pathetically when the hand continued to constrict on her. "Please," she begged. The necromancer smiled sadistically, his eyes coming alight with her suffering. "Please! It's where the other vassyrs are. Please, don't kil-" she couldn't manage to get the word out before it caught in her throat with a choking sound. That was it. Panic, fear, rage... he had pushed her over the edge.

It all happened in less than a quarter minute. The gargoyle thrashed about on the board, tears streaming from her eyes. She tore left and right, fighting to rip herself free of the straps that held her. Near her heart, arcs of lightning jumped into one array, built a charge three times the strength of the original spark, and skipped to the secondary set. On the outside, she was panting and straining herself to break out of the necromancer's grasp. She hadn't even noticed that the hand had been taken off her neck. Suddenly, bolts of silver-white power covered her body in an attempt to overpower the device she had been connected to. Streams of electricity surrounded the crystal globe and a shining light blazed out of it from its core, drastically shifting the lighting in the room and putting the necromancer in disturbing relief. The blood in the vial began to simmer, and the necromancer laughed aloud.

Amberstone's eyes were wild, she had long ago begun to hurt herself with the force of the lightning she'd been generating. Her convulsions grew more erratic, and Omentus paid sharp attention. With a flick of his gloved hand, a hand of darkness was at the back of her neck, injecting a thin gray fluid directly to the creature's spinal cord and the base of her brain. The reaction was not immediate, but he knew it would not be. Another syringe injected her with a double dose of beli, this one directed at her right shoulder. Withdrawing the dark hands and his needles, Omentus took a step back when his captive's fighting grew to a new level of extreme. Adrenaline was surging through her bloodstream; the cub did something like roar; the sound was both like distant thunder and, strained and high-pitched from frenzy. The strap on a leg buckled and began to tear.

Omentus made a face at his chagrin. Perhaps she's stronger...? he thought grimly. He tightened the grip on the grounding wire in his left hand, and prepared for the worst.

Her breathing was erratic and choppy, as Amberstone continued to struggle against the straps, slowly hearing them tear apart. The leather bands couldn’t last long against it, and they finally broke with a snapping sound. As soon as she heard that, even above the rustling of electricity from the odd machine linked to the glowing orb, she pulled half of herself up and just looked at the man who held her captive.

The gargoyle snarled at him, and quickly sprang at him, the bands that were attached to her neck, wings and arms popped off with little force. Cables popped off as well, but required a little bit more force to remove them. The cub attempted to swipe at him, her paw aglow with now white electricity, and connected. The jolt nearly caused him to collapse.

Another glow caught her eye, as she glanced out of the crevice nearby. The actual window showed that evening was coming, the sky was starting to turn orange now. A footstep alerted her to her captor’s movement, and she easily broke the window with a swipe of her paw, before she leapt out of it and took flight.

Something, however didn’t want her to get away, and clung to her hind leg. She dived to the ground, before rising again, purposely driving Omentus into the street below, and felt him release her. Amberstone landed and just glared at him, her breathing was still strained, the cub could hear her own pulse in her ears.

Darting at him, she struck with her right forepaw, crackling white electricity wrapped around it. Her claws almost sunk into his left arm, before he stumbled back for a second. The gargoyle jumped back from him and tried to fly off, only to be grabbed by her tail and pulled her to the ground. Amberstone came back around to swat at him with another Life Spark charged paw, but couldn’t dodge the odd weapon he had with a reddish black something inside, and it barely even touched her paw as he stabbed it towards her.

The gargoyle roared in pain, which quickly made her stand up on her hind legs, before she brought both paws downward, her Life Spark crackling off of them. The impact alone sent him falling to his knees, while the electricity just added to it, almost freezing him on the spot before he fell to the ground.

She took flight again, and made sure to get as far away from the man as possible. After what seemed to be forever, night was starting to set in, as the cub became extremely tired. She nearly fell out of the sky, but managed to catch herself and land safely. Her breath was still in a rushed gasp, even as she tried to go to sleep, but her hurt paw caused her to wake up after setting it on the ground. I do not want…to see him again… She rubbed the paw that felt like it was crushed, only to roar again. Sleep would help it, I hope… After a long exhale, which nearly sounded like a growl, Amberstone felt herself go limp and fall asleep.

The necromancer looked up as the gargoyle escaped from his grasp for a second time. His vision was split from the heavy electrical loads that still caused his muscles to twitch erratically. He smiled, then turned to look at the second story window of his shop, where he and the creature had fallen from, and rubbed his arm. He chuckled to himself and grinned broadly, but a muscle in his face spasmed and cramped, making him leer in pain. He tried to rouse himself from the ground, but rose only partway before falling on his face in the street.

Omentus laughed. It was good, long laugh that made other people walking past him scurry to the other side of the street. After a few minutes, the laugh died into a chuckle, and he began to recede back into the haze of thought. A lightning-powered twitch made his arm spasm painfully, and he lingered on the edge of his mental fog. Taking a deep breath, alchemist stood up and remembered what it would cost him to replace a glass window. It nearly killed his sense of humor. With a heartfelt sigh, he walked across the street and into his shop, only to return to the street with a bucket and broom. He swept up the glass into the bucket, and returned to the apothecary shop. He didn't turn over the sign to indicate he was open for business, yet.

Upstairs, the alchemist cleaned up the space where he worked on the gargoyle, and disconnected the vial of silver blood from the gauging device. It was smooth, clean and warm. He smiled, and sat down at the nearby desk to begin his work. Every once in a while, he glanced up at the triangular mirror on the wall, over the desk, where he could keep an eye on the gargoyle cub by means of a scrying device attuned to the crystal arrays in her heart.

The vassyr's blood responded well to the treatment of the device, but he frowned. He should have just kept on fishing, at this rate. Although the vassyr gargoyle could handle her own electricity, it could bring him no closer to stemming the debilitating effects of electricity on himself. He drummed his fingers on the desk, and glanced at the scales he'd harvested earlier that day. They broke away from her skin, and later returned... he thought idly. He blinked, remembering the homunculi, and smiled.