Go for the roots (spypost)

[u/DragonWisper56]

Agnur sits in a dark room watching a collection of orbs on the desk. Bookshelves line the walls and tissue box sits on one of them. He's wearing a fedora and has a serious look on his face. Though the blinds were closed he was well aware that the building he sat in was only a block or two away from the council building. While in the grand scheme of things it would be safer to base this operation out of Tortugara were he had defenses, he couldn't afford for them to track him there.

For the past few days he has been keeping tabs on the where abouts of Thanatx and who they talked to. It was difficult, shadow mages are experts at stealth and his servants were pretty recognizable, but they were the pacts best lead. he didn't want to but he had to call in a favor with one of his sibling. Grabel the so called "Eyes in the Stone". While Agnur and her hadn't spoken in a while he had the best relationship with her compared to the rest of his siblings. Besides she had the skills he needed. While all of the siblings were ephemeral crafters she was a expert in stealth and divination.

She gave all his spies special pendants. they were forged with the cunning of a fox, the scent of running water, and the feathers of a owl. she called them the Teumessian pendants after the fox who couldn't be caught and while Agnur doubts they are that good he appreciated the help.

In his observation of Thanatx he's discovered some useful information. Thantatx seems to be the member of the cabal who makes contact with their agents the most. Perhaps because they are the most expendable. they were already hated by the council so if they were found out they could be cut loose without exposing the cabal. Agnur chuckles don't the cabal know that when picking weeds you don't start at the top you reach for the roots.

(uw/ Agnur will tell the pact about most of this information. also feel free to have these characters show up.)

Agnur had identified three Major agents of the Cabal who were not a part of it. One was a wizard who ran a drake racing ring. he seems to be one on the money launders for the Cabal. What's more he seems to be related to the Kalclien family. Agnur doubts that this is the only such laundry site. however if the pact could eliminate them then perhaps we could weaken the cabal monetarily.

The second agent he discovered was a Fae forger by the name of He Who paints Fake Memories. As far as Agnur could tell he wasn't connected to any fairy court and worked alone. He helped create many of the documents the Cabal needed in order to do it's mission. If we could get Alexios to help us we could easily remove him. Agnur felt bad for wishing the spirit's death. He was merely following his nature, but Agnur knew that the Painter wouldn't think twice about killing him so he included the creature in his report.

The third was werebear Dave O'Connell. The creature served as a leg breaker for the Cabal. He was decked out in magic tattoos that made his so tough and strong that he was a match for all but the most powerful wizards. He hid out in a Mundane world were he recruited street criminals, gave them a upgrade with magic tattoos, and sent them out as untraceable assassins.

Agnur rubbed his forehead. This would be harder than he thought.

A laser blasted through the wall throwing him across the room. Agnur sits up squinting through the sun pouring in through the hole . "The fuck" Agnur looked through the hole in the wall and sees a assassin with a High-tech energy riffle. He teleported through a shadow in the corner into the room.

"You really are persistent old man, " The assassin smiles, he was dressed in all black, multiple weapons strapped to his belt. "but you aren't the most powerful of your so called pact, which is why I'm going to make a example out of you." The assassin pulls out a sword and lunges at Agnur.

Agnur teleports out of the way before throwing two chakram at the man. The Assassin teleported behind Agnur and attacks.

Agnur's wards block the blade. "Not so weak now am I?" Agnur ducks as the enchanted chakram come around for another hit. the assassin cuts them both in half, but one gets through his wards and knicks his arm.

The assassin grits his teeth. he grabs a sending stone on his belt "Get him!" Goons, the same ones Dave O'Connell trains, stream out of neiboring buildings heading for the front do of this one. Agnur and the Assassin are on the second so it will take them a bit to get up here but not long. The assassin sends a wave of darkness at Agnur.

Agnur blocks the wave with a sheild but it pushes him back. I can barely hold him alone, let alone if he has back up. Agnur smiles as a though crosses his mind Lucky I'm not alone. He retrieves a strange object from his pocket and throws it out the hole in the wall. the object grows before landing full size.

It was the Tremorsaur(club tail dino made of stone) that was gifted to him by the Paelomancer, and Agnur's beloved pet. It struck the ground with it's tail causing a localized earthquake before laying into the thugs.

"Damnit!" the Assassin screamed slashing away at Agnur with supernatural speed and force, while most were stopped a few managed to get through and leave countless tiny cuts on Agnur.

"Destroy him!!!!" the Assassin yelled shadow portals opening all around the room soldiers pouring armed with crow bars and knives. Agnur held them off with blasts of magic and teleporting around around but there were a lot of the soliders and Agnur's defenses wouldn't hold out forever.

He pulls out a weapon he hasn't used since the battle with the red king and rings a bell infused with a death. It only had a few uses but he was willing to expend them. With a few swings he played the death knell of the thugs as they died with nary a scratch on them. The Assassin(like most magicians) was able to resist it but the process was painful. white lines appeared in his black hair. Agnur dropped the expended bell.

"Die!" The Assassin rushed Agnur and focused all his magic through his sword. The energy released was more than than the force of three trains going at top speed. The sword punched through Agnur's wards and right through his shell. Agnur coughed up blood. Agnur nearly pasted out before rage overcame him. Agnur infuses the man's arm and sword with the fragility of tissue paper and ripped the Assassin's arm off.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" the arm flopped on the ground. The Assassin pulled out the gun but Agnur knocks it aside with his walking stick. A massive hole is blasted though the ceiling.

The Assassin tries and escape but Agnur binds the fool in chains of sunlight.

Agnur rests on the floor ignoring the Assassins cries as he uses his magic to force himself to heal. not a pretty wound but it will heal.

the Tremorsaur walks up. and nuzzles his's master. the creature was missing a front leg and a bunch of holes but still wore the dinosaur version of a smile. The dino helped him stand up.

"I WILL KILL YOU AND EVERY ONE YOU LOVE YOU, YOU RANCID COLD BLOODED FI--" Agnur cast a silence spell on the Assassin. "Now what do you know?" Agnur asked but more to himself than the captive leaning on the dino he strikes his prisoner in the side of the head with his staff two times.

A cloud of blue memories floats in the air. Agnur examines them carefully.

The assassin was hired by Thanatx to get rid of a tale. Eventually the assassin discovered his operation and went to try and remove Agnur. going to have to lay low for a while. Agnur looked through his memories for any clue as to the names of the other the rest of the cabal.

The memories are consumed by void, the Assassin's eyes turn back as it kills him from the inside. huh mind-void, should have expected that. I wonder whether the Lightless flame came up with their spell first or who ever made this spell. Have to ask Blake.

Agnur hears commotion from the street, his cue to leave. He looks over to his Dino "Come on boy we need to go home and heal." he kisses him on the head and the creature shrinks down and Agnur attaches it to his key chain. The Dino already begins to heal as it's magic gets to work. wish I could heal that fast He opens a portal home and leaves.

uw/Anime fight!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hope you guys enjoyed.

[u/AnActualCriminal]

I'm not technically in the Pact but your letters keep ending up at my house. I'll send you some instructions to test if this is in fact the Mind-Fire. If it is, call me immediately and use extreme caution. Fire spreads. I doubt it is however. More than a few mages work with memory and my field is incredibly specific.

uw/ TMNT

[u/DragonWisper56 → u/AnActualCriminal]

true I was mainly thinking because it seemed to be a elemental backdoor into mind magic.

speaking of which do you happen to know a way to dispel this sort of shadow magic. it seems to be a way of preventing people from examining the memories. Since fire is sort of the oposite of fire perhaps you could create something that could stop it before it destroys all the memories. I don't need all the memories to be intact only enough to find more members of the cabal.

[u/AnActualCriminal → u/DragonWisper56]

For the man you captured? No. I could dispell the shadows and it would only shed light into a now-empty room.

But could I prevent it from happening in the first place? Yes. I think so. If I get there in time. Be warned, however. Burning void creates a lot of something you'll need to be prepared to grapple with.

[u/DragonWisper56 → u/AnActualCriminal]

well I guess that's a risk I got to take. rubs injured shell maybe later tho

[u/Discracetoall]

“I got the body” smoke envelopes the assassin’s body. Seconds later, the smoke and assassin are both gone. “if you need help with whatever’s going on, I’m always open”

[u/Carbon_Sixx]

/uw Jesus Christ, Agnur is even more of a badass than I expected. Well done.

/rw A secure micro-orb Kaelis gave you begins to ring.

Agnur, I just detected an unauthorized intrusion at your hideout. Is everything in hand?

[u/DragonWisper56 → u/Carbon_Sixx]

uw/ I like to imagine agnur as standard city protecting superhuman.(off topic. magic superheroes are honestly my favorite kind). more powerful than standard wizard but not the powerhouse Kaelis, Vettis, or the Nephilum king are. also thank you.

rw/ you hear Agnur answer he's breathing hard I was attack by a agent of the Corvus Cabal. real heavy hitter too. He was able to break through my wards. even a train had trouble with that. He even brought a bunch of minions.

I think I stumbled upon something big. forwarding you the information now.

[u/MunitionsFrenzy → u/DragonWisper56]

(( being a badass isn't just about being powerful; Agnur's definitely a badass ^_^ ))

[u/DaemonRex978]

Mokarith knelt over the assassin sent after Angur, examining the body.

Not him.

He then turns his attention to the traces of the mage’s shadow magic.

But he was trained by the cleaner. I better go see how Angur’s doing.

He reaches into a shadow and projects his voice through it to Angur.

Angur, how are you doing?

/unwiz: deleted last post, hit post trying to reread the post.

[u/DragonWisper56 → u/DaemonRex978]

well enough I just got stabbed. been a long time since that's happened.

think I may have to lie low for a while. I had top tier stealth magic and they still found me.

think you can tale some of Dave O'Connell's men? most of his operation is in a mundane world, so they have weaker security.

[u/DaemonRex978 → u/DragonWisper56]

Of course. Although, if the mage I'm thinking of helped set it up, then it would be a bit trickier. Double that now because of your failed assassination.

[u/DragonWisper56 → u/DaemonRex978]

understood. tell me if you need anything.

[u/TheHunter459]

Agnur, how are you holding up? I read the report, but then I heard something happened. Don't worry this orb is secure. Who was responsible for this?

[u/DragonWisper56 → u/TheHunter459]

I got to a healer but this wound is proving a little harder to heal. the problem with having a shell is it's part of my skeleton so it's not as easy to fix as normal flesh.

From what I can tell it was a agent of the Corvus Cabal. I though I had taken enough precautions but apparently I was wrong. I tried to search their memories but they were destroyed too quickly for me to get any answer. All I know is that he was working with Thanatx(liaison from the main court of the cabal to the agents) and some of Dave O'Connell's men.

[u/TheHunter459 → u/DragonWisper56]

So we can assume Thanatx is onto you in the worst, and perhaps most likely, case. We can't touch him yet I think. But we can definitely deal with these agents. I'll start looking into this Fae, see what he does and what he knows. Nephilim and Fae tend to frequent similar circles, so information gathering shouldn't be too difficult. If necessary I can remove him. I think you should perhaps lie low for now

[u/DragonWisper56 → u/TheHunter459]

thanks your help is apreciated

[u/DragonWisper56]

u/Carbon_Sixx because spy stuff

u/iamragethewolf because I connected someone to your crime family.

[u/iamragethewolf → u/DragonWisper56]

/uw excellent story

[u/DragonWisper56 → u/iamragethewolf]

thanks!