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Soul Stealer [Backdated 11/6] [Action] [Semi-Open; ask if you wanna tag in]
"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats."
-H.L. Mencken
-H.L. Mencken
Bounty hunting is complex business. Got to know where to look, who to talk to, whose hands to grease, and so on. Having a good memory helps. Yet when he read about Everglade's latest criminal, he couldn't remember if he'd ever heard of a bounty so atrocious. It was a new low. He barely believed it was possible, and yet the newspaper had a strange, almost prophetic correctness about these things. A dark fury overcame him; only in Everglade could something like this happen. He had to put a stop to it. Ted doesn't know what he's going to do to his quarry once he lays hold of him. But he had to find him first.
Ted didn't waste any time. The three-star uniform, the armor and the weapon he dreaded to show anyone, was on in an instant. As he ran through the cobblestone streets, heart pumping with anger and anxiety, all most would see was the black silhouette of a man. Pitch black, darker than deepest midnight. He had no room to be shy about something so ugly; the situation was worse. Much worse.
The one thing that may have eased him was Namur offering to go along. Good. The more the...well, merriment was a million miles away. But anything, any weapon he could bring to bear against this abominable wretch was welcome. But it was a mild comfort, easily washed away as Ted approached his first stop: "The Blushing Book."
A euphemistic name whose amusement wore off once one figured who met in it. It fooled Ted, for a while, thinking it housed professors and dons and other bores. Not quite. It was a true hole in the wall, difficult to hear about, let alone find. But rumors spread all the more easily among a superstitious and fearful populace, and soon enough, Ted learned the way in amidst his travels. To get past the hidden enchantment, walk past a certain streetlamp, run your fingers along the wall, then tap six times against an uneven brick. A regular who's who of dark wizards and other ne'er-do-wells. Even when Ted found out about it, he kept away. He didn't want to see his beloved city's warts when he could help it. He'd be tempted to arson, for one, and they had an eye for who was against them, and none more openly than Ted himself.
The time for polite ignorance was over. He knew how these cabalists kept company. One of them had to know the whereabouts of his prey. He wasn't sure how far he would go to get the information he needed; he hardly cared. He'd have to go past the bouncer, at any rate: a hulking brute as an added layer of defense. The giant of a man was decorated in various charms. He must have been, to deal with arcane patrons like that.
The two stood before each other: the bouncer and the black humanoid. "Beat it,"he growled, well aware that whoever this black man was, he wasn't on the guest list.
If it's a beating he wanted...
Ted didn't waste any time. The three-star uniform, the armor and the weapon he dreaded to show anyone, was on in an instant. As he ran through the cobblestone streets, heart pumping with anger and anxiety, all most would see was the black silhouette of a man. Pitch black, darker than deepest midnight. He had no room to be shy about something so ugly; the situation was worse. Much worse.
The one thing that may have eased him was Namur offering to go along. Good. The more the...well, merriment was a million miles away. But anything, any weapon he could bring to bear against this abominable wretch was welcome. But it was a mild comfort, easily washed away as Ted approached his first stop: "The Blushing Book."
A euphemistic name whose amusement wore off once one figured who met in it. It fooled Ted, for a while, thinking it housed professors and dons and other bores. Not quite. It was a true hole in the wall, difficult to hear about, let alone find. But rumors spread all the more easily among a superstitious and fearful populace, and soon enough, Ted learned the way in amidst his travels. To get past the hidden enchantment, walk past a certain streetlamp, run your fingers along the wall, then tap six times against an uneven brick. A regular who's who of dark wizards and other ne'er-do-wells. Even when Ted found out about it, he kept away. He didn't want to see his beloved city's warts when he could help it. He'd be tempted to arson, for one, and they had an eye for who was against them, and none more openly than Ted himself.
The time for polite ignorance was over. He knew how these cabalists kept company. One of them had to know the whereabouts of his prey. He wasn't sure how far he would go to get the information he needed; he hardly cared. He'd have to go past the bouncer, at any rate: a hulking brute as an added layer of defense. The giant of a man was decorated in various charms. He must have been, to deal with arcane patrons like that.
The two stood before each other: the bouncer and the black humanoid. "Beat it,"he growled, well aware that whoever this black man was, he wasn't on the guest list.
If it's a beating he wanted...