Post by Es Kauvrian on Nov 7, 2014 12:36:22 GMT -5
Es Kauvrian watched Dragos closely as he approached, sizing up his reaction. Slowly, her facial expression settled into a look of bland neutrality, the Mage-like mirth draining from her features in the same way his direct influence was draining from her mental processes. Dragos made the appropriate assumptions about the creature who now stood before him based on the information he had been given, but the man had no real way to understand just how complete a disguise the Mage had fashioned for himself. Es was more than just a different housing for the Mage’s ancient consciousness, but the mechanics and reasoning for that fact was too difficult for a normal mind to simply comprehend without a long, contextual story attached to it, and the Arc understood that kind of time wasn’t currently available to them.
As Es stood and thought, with Dragos making his quick examinations, the Arc also subtly tested her body’s construction by singling out muscle groups and flexing them, taking note of the contraction strength and the ease of activation. It was something Es had done regularly in the past while standing idle – first she drew her shoulders back slightly, stretching her chest and flexing her lats, then she did the opposite movement, hunching slightly forward to draw her pectorals slightly together and downward. Each flexion would send slight ripples through her musculature, especially her shoulders, which showed marked separation of its trio of components with every motion. Satisfied with her fine-physiological control, Es additionally reached out energetically, expanding her subtle reach throughout the cache, making Fureya and Dragos light up her sixth sense like twin beacons, pinpointing their positions. It wasn’t hard for Es to fall back into her normal rhythms of hyper-focus – she had learned a very long time ago to stay constantly aware, and even in its just-woken state, her mind seemed capable of processing sensory information with the same kind of speed and accuracy she had been used to prior. A slight emerald shimmer appeared in her already-green irises as she reached out metaphysically to the city above, searching for the signs of Viers that Fureya had so easily picked up on. While the Arc did catch something odd, she knew her senses were nowhere near as tuned as the Assassin’s, and therefore would let Fureya point her in the right direction before they moved out. Overall, Es was very satisfied with the mechanics of her creation, and took in a long, slow breath of stale cache air, relishing the small sparks of sensory pleasure it gave her.
Dragos’ question caused Es to refocus on the man in earnest, sizing him up momentarily before she would respond. She was aware of what had just transpired, and realized the severity of the team’s dysfunction without any need for additional exposition on recent events. Achréiøs had never been one to coddle his subordinates when it came to their feelings or personal relationships, and it was clear to Es that his people skills had not been made more caring over time. Still, the problems Fureya and Dragos were experiencing were not so much about the Mage’s influence (or lack therof) on their emotional stability, but instead seemed to stem more clearly from a lack of place – these soldiers had not enlisted by choice, the way Es had, and while their likely-immortal lives would be made to be of much greater significance due to the Mage’s interference, the Arc could also see how the stress of feeling bound informed their emotional states, especially in Dragos’ case. Es had seen the same thing in some of her men – while most other Arc’s hadn’t taken care to address things they saw as trivial, like issues in morale, Es had always taken the time to explore them and try to reach some sort of efficient resolution whenever possible. Perhaps that was a secondary reason for Achréiøs’ choice to us Es as his disguise – while immensely powerful, the Mage also recognized those places where his perspective, being so far removed from humanity by time and power, failed with regards to relationships and human connection. Es, for all the time she ad lived and deaths she had caused, had never quite lost her sense of human connection, and there had been past examples of the Mage charging her with correcting issues in morale when Achréiøs’ approach could be seen as ineffective. Es opened her mouth to respond to Dragos’ question, but paused before any sound got out as she felt Fureya re-enter the room. Shifting her body to bring both Fureya and Dragos into her field of vision, she kept a neutral expression as the female Assassin’s confused query ripped through the room.
Es felt that she would have a much easier time addressing both new Arcs at once, and therefore she glanced between the two calmly, making sure Dragos was paying close attention, before her emerald eyes locked with Fureya’s own silver line of sight and she spoke to the Assassin directly.
”Since you weren’t here to see the change, I can understand how my appearance could be confusing. The most simple explanation is that I am Achréiøs’ disguise of choice, a finely-crafted replication of a once-living person named Es Kauvrian. This way, Achréiøs can travel to Vascxious Sigma while being completely undetectable, since my body and energies read as a living, breathing being rather than just a change in outward appearance.” Es carefully left out the more complicated aspects of her mental nature, for at the moment they would only manage to confuse the issue.
The Arc would let her stare linger on Fureya in an attempt to make sure the woman understood before continuing. ”If you are wondering why such an elaborate disguise would be needed just to go after Viers, let me explain that too. While Viers would likely be harder to catch were he to see Achréiøs on his tail than if he saw me, more important is the consideration of what the city itself represents: intense danger. The second we step inside the city limits, we will be recognized, and the forces governing Vascxious Sigma may immediately attempt to capture or kill us. Were Achréiøs able to be identified, that response would be significantly more intense, but were those associated with him to be walking around without him, the threat of his presence elsewhere will likely cause the Tower to take a wait-and-see approach rather than immediately resort to violence. In order to ensure both of your safety and still keep Vascxious Sigma guessing, this was the best solution. I was once a known associate of the Mage, and it would be logical for me to be working for him again, as far as anyone in the Tower could reckon, making this little sojourn all the more plausible, especially considering who we are after.”
Es paused to let her words hang. She realized that she had just given both Fureya and Dragos far more exposition on what they were about to do than the Mage likely ever had, and that change in and of itself might have been disconcerting. The Arc’s emerald eyes shifted between the Assassin and the Dragon, carefully considering each of their reactions before continuing by shifting her attention to Answer Dragos’ earlier question. ”We are not going into the city to attract attention – fighting, especially magic use, is to be a last resort, and we need to be prepared to escape at a moment’s notice. It’s possible that, once inside the city, someone will be able to interfere with us using magickal means of transportation to rapidly get away, so we all need to be extra alert so that we can cut away and reposition ourselves if things start to look bad.” Es turned and nodded to Fureya as she continued. ”We are specifically counting on you – if you sense anything out of the ordinary, tell me immediately.”
Es gauged each of them again before stepping forward and carefully tightening the straps on the back of each of her gloves. ”I know Vascxious Sigma seems harmless, but in actuality our entering the city isn’t all that different from our entering Celesin’s territory. We have real, dangerous enemies here. Understood?”
Es waited for recognition before calmly continuing. “ I can answer any other questions you have on the way, but first, Fureya, I need you to point me in the direction of where you sensed Viers, and then have both of you come and stand directly next to me. I’m going to move us from here to a location in the city steam tunnels near where you last detected Viers, and I need you both in physical contact with me so I can do it without us being detected.”
Es would wait patiently for them both to do as asked, sizing them up as she did so. Her manner was calm and disarming, but also authoritative, without a hint of mocking to be found in any of her explanations. Es was very matter-of-fact about what they were about to attempt – her hope was that the information would help the three of them focus on their task and not their current interpersonal issues, but the Arc knew she would have to be on watch to see just how well Dragos and Fuerya could function as a unit. Time would tell.
As Es stood and thought, with Dragos making his quick examinations, the Arc also subtly tested her body’s construction by singling out muscle groups and flexing them, taking note of the contraction strength and the ease of activation. It was something Es had done regularly in the past while standing idle – first she drew her shoulders back slightly, stretching her chest and flexing her lats, then she did the opposite movement, hunching slightly forward to draw her pectorals slightly together and downward. Each flexion would send slight ripples through her musculature, especially her shoulders, which showed marked separation of its trio of components with every motion. Satisfied with her fine-physiological control, Es additionally reached out energetically, expanding her subtle reach throughout the cache, making Fureya and Dragos light up her sixth sense like twin beacons, pinpointing their positions. It wasn’t hard for Es to fall back into her normal rhythms of hyper-focus – she had learned a very long time ago to stay constantly aware, and even in its just-woken state, her mind seemed capable of processing sensory information with the same kind of speed and accuracy she had been used to prior. A slight emerald shimmer appeared in her already-green irises as she reached out metaphysically to the city above, searching for the signs of Viers that Fureya had so easily picked up on. While the Arc did catch something odd, she knew her senses were nowhere near as tuned as the Assassin’s, and therefore would let Fureya point her in the right direction before they moved out. Overall, Es was very satisfied with the mechanics of her creation, and took in a long, slow breath of stale cache air, relishing the small sparks of sensory pleasure it gave her.
Dragos’ question caused Es to refocus on the man in earnest, sizing him up momentarily before she would respond. She was aware of what had just transpired, and realized the severity of the team’s dysfunction without any need for additional exposition on recent events. Achréiøs had never been one to coddle his subordinates when it came to their feelings or personal relationships, and it was clear to Es that his people skills had not been made more caring over time. Still, the problems Fureya and Dragos were experiencing were not so much about the Mage’s influence (or lack therof) on their emotional stability, but instead seemed to stem more clearly from a lack of place – these soldiers had not enlisted by choice, the way Es had, and while their likely-immortal lives would be made to be of much greater significance due to the Mage’s interference, the Arc could also see how the stress of feeling bound informed their emotional states, especially in Dragos’ case. Es had seen the same thing in some of her men – while most other Arc’s hadn’t taken care to address things they saw as trivial, like issues in morale, Es had always taken the time to explore them and try to reach some sort of efficient resolution whenever possible. Perhaps that was a secondary reason for Achréiøs’ choice to us Es as his disguise – while immensely powerful, the Mage also recognized those places where his perspective, being so far removed from humanity by time and power, failed with regards to relationships and human connection. Es, for all the time she ad lived and deaths she had caused, had never quite lost her sense of human connection, and there had been past examples of the Mage charging her with correcting issues in morale when Achréiøs’ approach could be seen as ineffective. Es opened her mouth to respond to Dragos’ question, but paused before any sound got out as she felt Fureya re-enter the room. Shifting her body to bring both Fureya and Dragos into her field of vision, she kept a neutral expression as the female Assassin’s confused query ripped through the room.
Es felt that she would have a much easier time addressing both new Arcs at once, and therefore she glanced between the two calmly, making sure Dragos was paying close attention, before her emerald eyes locked with Fureya’s own silver line of sight and she spoke to the Assassin directly.
”Since you weren’t here to see the change, I can understand how my appearance could be confusing. The most simple explanation is that I am Achréiøs’ disguise of choice, a finely-crafted replication of a once-living person named Es Kauvrian. This way, Achréiøs can travel to Vascxious Sigma while being completely undetectable, since my body and energies read as a living, breathing being rather than just a change in outward appearance.” Es carefully left out the more complicated aspects of her mental nature, for at the moment they would only manage to confuse the issue.
The Arc would let her stare linger on Fureya in an attempt to make sure the woman understood before continuing. ”If you are wondering why such an elaborate disguise would be needed just to go after Viers, let me explain that too. While Viers would likely be harder to catch were he to see Achréiøs on his tail than if he saw me, more important is the consideration of what the city itself represents: intense danger. The second we step inside the city limits, we will be recognized, and the forces governing Vascxious Sigma may immediately attempt to capture or kill us. Were Achréiøs able to be identified, that response would be significantly more intense, but were those associated with him to be walking around without him, the threat of his presence elsewhere will likely cause the Tower to take a wait-and-see approach rather than immediately resort to violence. In order to ensure both of your safety and still keep Vascxious Sigma guessing, this was the best solution. I was once a known associate of the Mage, and it would be logical for me to be working for him again, as far as anyone in the Tower could reckon, making this little sojourn all the more plausible, especially considering who we are after.”
Es paused to let her words hang. She realized that she had just given both Fureya and Dragos far more exposition on what they were about to do than the Mage likely ever had, and that change in and of itself might have been disconcerting. The Arc’s emerald eyes shifted between the Assassin and the Dragon, carefully considering each of their reactions before continuing by shifting her attention to Answer Dragos’ earlier question. ”We are not going into the city to attract attention – fighting, especially magic use, is to be a last resort, and we need to be prepared to escape at a moment’s notice. It’s possible that, once inside the city, someone will be able to interfere with us using magickal means of transportation to rapidly get away, so we all need to be extra alert so that we can cut away and reposition ourselves if things start to look bad.” Es turned and nodded to Fureya as she continued. ”We are specifically counting on you – if you sense anything out of the ordinary, tell me immediately.”
Es gauged each of them again before stepping forward and carefully tightening the straps on the back of each of her gloves. ”I know Vascxious Sigma seems harmless, but in actuality our entering the city isn’t all that different from our entering Celesin’s territory. We have real, dangerous enemies here. Understood?”
Es waited for recognition before calmly continuing. “ I can answer any other questions you have on the way, but first, Fureya, I need you to point me in the direction of where you sensed Viers, and then have both of you come and stand directly next to me. I’m going to move us from here to a location in the city steam tunnels near where you last detected Viers, and I need you both in physical contact with me so I can do it without us being detected.”
Es would wait patiently for them both to do as asked, sizing them up as she did so. Her manner was calm and disarming, but also authoritative, without a hint of mocking to be found in any of her explanations. Es was very matter-of-fact about what they were about to attempt – her hope was that the information would help the three of them focus on their task and not their current interpersonal issues, but the Arc knew she would have to be on watch to see just how well Dragos and Fuerya could function as a unit. Time would tell.