what the dust dragged in

[Taryn]

Taryn brought a hand up to cover Lord Venger’s. He brushed a thumb over the back of it with a smirk. In the years following his departure from Radenor, he had become a less scrupulous man. The loss of an entire life tended to do that as he was forced to sell his sword, his skills and his body in order to survive. Knowing that the man across from him found him appealing, that certainly helped to tip things in his favor. He bowed his head as way of acceptance to the terms being proposed. Normally this was the part he would have leaned heavily into flirting in order to fleece a partner out of more coin. He did not do so. He couldn't say why. There was something about the man across from him that...reminded him of someone.

Happier times and happier memories that he shoved back into the box buried deep within his psyche.

“I don’t need anything too extravagant. Just something better to keep me alive.” He removed his hand from the nobleman’s and breathed deeply for a moment as he considered what was ahead of them.

He’d faced a type of hell before. He couldn’t say that he’d literally gone into the maw of it but living through what he’d seen? He was living on borrowed time anyways as far as he was concerned. What was one more jaunt into the bowels of the abyss before fate caught up with him?

“Brave?” He snorted. “Bravery is for heroes. I am no hero. I’m just a man with nothing better to do and nothing else to believe in.”

He eyed the man across from him for a moment. Lord Venger held more than just the air of an aristocrat to him. There was an inherent nobility to his countenance that drew the eye. From his posture, Taryn knew that there was no lack of pride. From his words, he knew that there was no lack of passion for what interested him. Which begged a single question.

“Why are you trying to go into the depths of Bel anyways? Can’t imagine this is just a passing fancy. You’re too informed for that.” Taryn focused on the man across from him. He fully expected to be told a lie. Whatever this man’s motivations, if they made it out alive, he supposed the only real thing he cared about was somehow finding a way to make a life for himself. It was not as though he had an abundance of options. With every passing day it was becoming clearer that the Omen were taking an interest in him. From what he understood, Velsign had only one purpose in the Empire of Rust and it was not a purpose that he was at all interested in serving. At least this way, he was choosing his own doom, even if walking into the Infernal Plane was complete madness.

[Taelian Edevane]

Taelian eyed the other man as his thumb smoothed over his hand, his features growing softer as he met the other's eyes. He hadn't met someone with a presence like the man's in a long time. It wasn't just that he was a Velsign -- he wore his wings with pride, sat, stood and spoke with security. He was even more unmoved than Taelian, despite the imbalance in their relative positions, and the gap in their knowledge. The Sil'norai could only wonder what the Norunn man must have gone through in order to become this unshaking man. He glanced at his brand again, allowing his lips to settle into a downward curl.

To most of his words, the mage simply stared and listened, nodding when it seemed appropriate to. He allowed the other man to free his hand, only to lay one on his upper thigh, leaving it there as they spoke. It was clear that Taelian enjoyed their familiarity, though he avoided anything too pronounced. He was a Nobleman, now, and that meant dignity and poise. Everything he did required some overtone of meaning, thoughtful or rational.

The Velsign asked his question. Taelian knew he would, eventually, though he hadn't fully decided whether to answer truthfully, vaguely, misleadingly or not at all. He scanned the other man's stare for the answer to his quandary, his irises flicking over his features as if to seek something -- something akin to integrity. Would he have to worry that Taryn would use this information against him, somehow? Was it fair to view him with such suspicion, considering how much trust the other man had placed on him?

He frowned, knowing that it was not. Lowering his gaze to the deep-red colored rug before them, the man sighed.

"...Not very long ago, I learned..."

Taelian stopped. The words were like metal in his throat; heavy, and resisting him. He had been trained ad nauseum for days on end not to speak so freely about what he was, and he had told no one other than Arkash and Eloise. Taryn would be one of the only men alive to know, but... he was one of the few who should have known. It was relevant to their mission.

"...I learned that I am the son of Venadak. And... foolishly, I believed the words of a woman who was threatened by the power he had given me. She convinced me to seal away the Divinity within my soul, and from that she secured her own power within this... order of ours. The presence of a Draedan within the Covenant was a threat to the future she perceived, and I believe she misled to me in order to retain her sense of stability. I... need to know, Taryn. Was she lying -- and was it wrong of me to listen? Venadak spared me from death when he awakened the blood in my veins. He had a reason -- and I need to know it. I need to become a Draedan again."

He met his gaze again. The mage's features suddenly appeared strained, processing the paths this journey of theirs could take. Oddly enough, the Velsign provided him a sense of security. He was glad he had told him the truth, even if he wasn't certain that he would remain glad forever. The loyalty of others faltered so easily, and he knew that.

"That's the truth," he concluded. "Take from it what you will, Taryn."

[Taryn]

“You’re seeking truth.” Taryn spoke bluntly. Whether what Lord Venger said was true or not did not really matter to him in the grand scheme of things. He had no grasp on the true extent of what a Draedan was. Another being with power far beyond his own mortal understanding in a world filled with too many things he already didn’t understand. What he could understand however, was the insatiable need to know the truth. Beneath everything that the man across from him said, Taryn could sense the hunger for it. He could feel the desire to simply know.

“So you’re the child of a god whose presence freaked out your rival? They spun a story to you because they realized they didn’t have the biggest dick in town?” Taryn shrugged his shoulders, folding his arms over his chest. “Sounds like the usual politics.”

“I don’t know anything about gods, Draedan, or this Covenant but it doesn’t sound like your problems are any different than a typical noble’s. They’re just…” He raised a hand over his head as if that explained their scope. “...grander, I suppose.”

“The way I see it, there’s only one way to find the answer and you’ve already decided on it.” In his mind, that didn’t change the dynamic of what his job was. Lord Venger was hiring him to watch his back, to protect him, and to fight whatever obstacles awaited them in the Infernal Plane. Whether he was the son of Venadak or whatever else, that didn’t change his objective. Keep the nobleman alive and work toward making sure they made it back to this plane of existence in one piece. Hopefully with their sanity still intact.

He did know one thing though, he was going to spend one hell of a night enjoying himself after this news. He had a feeling it might be one of the last chances he got. And if he did make it back? Well, then he will just have added another wild night to this already strange story that was unfolding before him.

[Taelian Edevane]

As Taryn spoke to his admission, Taelian appeared taken aback -- his response was bare for the words that the Sil'norai had uttered, as if what he had said was... inconsequential. On further thought, that only made sense. Very few people really knew of the Adac, or understood what they were. Fewer still knew of the Draedan, and fewer than that would simply believe a man claiming such divine heritage. Taryn seemed to believe him - or at least he believed that Taelian believed himself - but whether for lack of knowledge or lack of care, he was again unphased.

"You've a very difficult exterior to penetrate, Ser," Taelian spoke quietly, chuckling for a moment beneath his words. "You're mostly right, though not entirely. I did not perceive Eloise as my rival, not for the longest time. It was only recently that I began to realize that she perceived me as such, and... I'm questioning many of the leaps I took under her guidance."

The man was right, though. This was another dispute between Lordlings, the same as any. The stakes were higher, but the games and intentions were largely the same. He wanted to acquire the tool necessary to oust Eloise as Umpire, and she wanted to keep him from that power. She had played the Candor well, concealing her intentions. As skilled as Taelian had become at the game, he was still a new player, and much of the winding path before him had not yet been revealed. He was vulnerable, for that reason, to deception.

He nodded. Taryn was correct -- his decision was absolute; even if the Velsign disappeared into the sky tomorrow, he would go. Alone, if necessary. This was, more clearly than anything else before it, his destiny. Venadak had chosen to create him, and he needed to know his motive.

Taelian looked to the other with... something instilled in his eyes. Trust, sympathy, hopefulness; some mixture of the three.

Closing his eyes a moment, he pondered the landscape of Bel... what the Mantles would look like. What the gates of Adena would look like, as they appeared before him.

It was all very terrifying. He had told Taryn that he had few friends, and that was true. If he had any worth speaking to, he would've thought to bring them to his estate to... pray, if nothing else. To spend time with him, to illuminate some facet of joy in his life. He'd experienced so little, and so much of it had been recent. Taelian was finally beginning to bear some sense of identity, and this was a part of it. Perhaps enough to risk losing it all.

This time, he took Taryn's hand, and began to stand from his position on the sofa. He had the same things in mind for his night.

"Would you like to unwind?" he asked, looking down at him. "I have drinks in the cellar - and a large bed."

[Taryn]

“I don’t mean to make your troubles seem little.” Taryn offered when it was clear that his words had taken the man by surprise. “They are important but as a poor man looking into the works of lords, the dispute is a hard one to see as different than what commoners see every day.”

It was not an apology so much as an explanation of his perspective. He had admitted that he did not understand the depths of the game that Lord Venger was playing. Hearing the way that the man explained it, it was clear to him that Lord Venger believed he had been manipulated into believing a falsehood of some sort. Then came the silence as the weight of the journey ahead of them seemed to settle upon both of them. He found himself being pulled to his feet as the elven man across from him rose to stand. Taryn watched those long legs flex beneath the fabric of his pants. He watched as the cloth tightened sensually around the muscles of the nobleman’s torso, beckoning him to unwrap the prize that lay beneath fine cloth.

Taryn took the man’s hand and brought it to his lips. He brushed them gently over Lord Venger’s palm taking a moment to simply breathe and feel the touch of that hand upon his face. It would have been easy, to give in to his carnal desires and just accept the invitation that was being offered to him. Something within him held back though. The whisper of the brave and honest man he had once been. Something that told him that this one, this man, this potential god in front of him, was not just another claim to lay conquest to in the bed chambers. He was not another quick fuck to slake his lust.

“I would.” Taryn held Lord Venger’s hand. “But not like this. Not as strangers.”

Taryn stepped back, giving the nobleman a slight bow at the waist. It had been years since he had performed a courtly bow but a lifetime of being brought up to stand in attendance at such affairs hadn’t dulled the movements.

“Consider it my condition. If we live? We will have something to celebrate. Having literally gone through hell together.” Taryn tucked his wings in closer. “If you’ll excuse me, Lord Venger? I have potentially my last few nights on Atharen to both enjoy and prepare for.”

[Taelian Edevane]

"I understand," he said quietly. "I was born deprived of wealth, power and sustenance; poorer than nearly any common man you might find in this world, even in Daravin. A few years ago, I would have felt the same. Once you're in these shoes, though... it becomes difficult to recognize just how detached it all appears to those outside of it. How... petty, and trivial."

He supposed vengeance was the motivation for this. Sure, there was his 'destiny' imbued somewhere along, but it wasn't the reason he was throwing himself to the fires of Bel. He wanted to see the look on Eloise's face when he returned to Lorien with his Divinity restored. He wanted to know how her immovable complexion would wrinkle as she learned that Taelian was challenging her for the position of Umpire.

He didn't let his petty vengeance obscure all the rest around him, though. The 'tension' between him and Taryn had been constant, and Taelian saw fit to act on it, offering the man - and himself - a distraction for the night. Something to idle on if their guts were slashed apart and stuffed with Corruption.

Unexpectedly, though, the other refused. Taelian's brows rose, his cheeks going rosy. Extending the offer was embarrassing enough, and now he was being refused. Not as strangers.

"Oh," he voiced, something appearing to click. Taryn wanted to become closer, first, or... something to that effect. His mind ran away with the reasons; he landed on the idea that he had misjudged the other man. He wasn't so single-minded after all.

"You're right. It'll be... better that way. More--" Meaningful. "...just, more. Right." Taelian coughed, clearing his throat. He wasn't particularly skilled in this area; he had little experience to his name, in both lovemaking and affections. He nearly winced, thinking of how foolish it was to be so forward, though he was glad to accept the other man's offer.

Returning his hand to his side, the Elven man rubbed his thumb against the hem of his trousers thoughtlessly. He was pondering the imagery of Bel again, though this time with Taryn beside him, keeping him alive. He realized, then, that he had already taken to the other man. He would need to watch his back, too. It was one worth protecting.

"Yes," he quietly replied, nodding along. "You must go and enjoy yourself. I'll, ah... continue to research the Infernal Plane, and I'll begin to prepare my Resonators for the journey. You may come and visit me at any point before we leave, but I only require that you return by the evening of the eighteenth. For now, Taryn... farewell."

He bowed his head, a soft smile rising along the corner of his lip. Bringing his hands together, the man patiently awaited the departure of his new friend, the ideas buzzing in his mind of what he might need to research in order to prepare.

[Nyx]

Thread Review

Taryn

Regular Experience: 8 EXP

Magical Experience: N/A

Injury/Ailments: N/A

Awarded Lore: N/A

Loot:N/A

Taelian

Regular Experience: 8 EXP

Magical Experience: N/A

Injury/Ailments: N/A

Awarded Lore:
Seduction: Generic Lore 1
Seduction: Generic Lore 2
Negotiation: Generic Lore 1
Negotiation: Generic Lore 2
Negotiation: Generic Lore 3
Business: Generic Lore 1
Business: Generic Lore 2
Business: Generic Lore 3
Business: Generic Lore 4
Business: Generic Lore 5

Loot: N/A


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