A Carriage Trip Down Memory Lane

First topic message reminder :

Tod and Yoren, on their way to Kevranstown, begin the journey with silence. It was not precisely a silence of discomfort, and it was not precisely discomforting; yet the silence was evocative of suppressed words, and this lent the journey some awkwardness of its own. Neither of the pair exactly wanted to speak -- nor did they need to speak, having nothing to say and not much in the way of companionship at all. Or, at least, that's what the silence between them would suggest. Each occupied himself for a while with some other manner of activity, until the thoughts borne of the silence grew too heavy upon the minds of one of them...

"Fair enough."

Yoren produces a small wallet and hands it to the man.

"Keep the wallet."

The man looks through it, and, apparently satisfied, slips it in his pocket. Looking around carefully to make sure nobody else is nearby, he leans in close.

"So. How much do you know about... Vampires?"

"Only the common lore, and I'm fairly sure most of it is balderdash. Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Yes I am. Now I'm no scholar, so I can't give you the instructions you need, but... I hope I could at least point you in the right direction."

"Better than before at least. At least they can be killed. My thanks."

"No problem. This was a valuable exchange. Oh, by the way, best of luck exterminating her. You'd be surprised how many people she's killed to keep that secret of hers under wraps. And I do mean personally killed."

"I have something of an idea," Yoren says over his shoulder as he disappears into the darkness.

It would be days - weeks - of studying everything there was to study about vampires before Yoren was ready to go hunt down the ungodly woman who had been such a blight upon his life.

Yoren scowled and flipped closed a book. Nothing conclusive from most of the things he'd found, save a mention of silver, and at that point he could hardly afford a silver blade.

Perhaps he would have to go back into the assassin business... But without Elene to fund it, he could accept contracts with a bit more... discretion.

Yoren frowned at the idea, but his desire to see that bitch's head on a pike was too strong to ignore.

At least as an assassin he had the chance to deal some degree of "justice". Or at least to protect some of the people from certain others' crimes. For instance, Elizee Innocent, the supposed leader of a small ring of miscreants, responsible for... taking the children of their enemies. There was a lot of gold placed on her head in particular at the time.

Yoren spent several days planning out the assassination. Every detail was accounted for. The man's nothing if not through.

Pulling it off wasn't too hard, due to the steady interference of luck. Good luck on his side, bad luck on Elizee's. He knew better than to attribute such happenstance to skill, or fate, or whatnot. Regardless, he got his silver blade.

What then? Would assassinating Elene suffice? Or was it a confrontation he wanted?

Yoren mused. Her death alone would suffice him, he supposed. Then, he'd disappear.

Where to begin hunting her down, though...

He ponders trying a finding spell, but lacks the needed physical connection.

Maybe he still has traces of her somewhere. For instance, a hair that fell out or something of that nature.

Given how often she was in his belongings, it wouldn't be a surprise.

Yoren finds strands of hair on several of his old clothes, when he looks, and casts a finding spell with them. It points...

...up?

Yoren gets out of the way and then looks up.

Nothing but the ceiling above him. ...But perhaps the roof?

He moves up the stairs to the roof at a sprint, the door opening silently. He steps out onto the roof and looks around.

She stands holding the dead body of the informant who told Yoren what Elene was. She appears to be waiting for him. "Live and let live only works if you aren't trying to spoil my secrets. I can't let my secret getting out, you know. I was content to let you go on with your life. You pleased me well, I didn't want to kill you. But here we are." The night breeze flutters her dress, and in the moonlight her beauty is magnified. Even now, Yoren can't help but feel the tug of her seduction magic...

Yoren's disgust and hatred counters the magic well enough. "Indeed."