Inspired by Magic the Gathering. This is an unofficial fan-series. All rights belong to Wizards of the Coast and their affiliates.
Author: Erix Summerdown.
Mild language. Violence.
I gotta hand it to the circus troupe, they sure have some spectacular new toys. If I'da known about that Epts guy Jelv was talkin' about, I'da bought some of these years ago: modified bam-sticks, snap-bang charges, and some... sorta mizzimum headband I'm supposed to wear. Quality if you ask me. Damn heavy, but real high-grade.
Gotta say though, wielding more explosives than there are Azorius restrictions on them's hell on my back, and worse on my nerve - and in the darkest alley in the darkest part of town no less, it's a miracle I haven't been robbed, stalked, or ratted out yet.
Finally I reach the spot, 'where one is visible to only himself' or some riddle. I admit I don't listen when Dim-street thought agents talk in hints.
That's the funny thing about working for the Dimir: they speak mostly in puzzles, and part of your job is to figure it out. Nobody's sure what more the Dimir is; the upperworld claims they're just a myth, a story exagerated as a millenia passed by; the underworld swears their members are everywhere, taking the shapes of most anyone with status or power on the upperworld.
Regular people never meet a Dimir guild member, or if they did they'd never notice.
Hiding in the shadows - more ripping it away like theater curtains - he steps out to meet me. I won't soon forget him; the things he's done and would do again, the influence he has on the streets' darker parts, and the way he just... exists... into a room.
I forget his name though. I wonder if that was just coincidence...
He nods soon as I see him, but speaks mostly in whispers so I don't catch a word he's saying.
"...Speak up," I says. Then the headset I'm wearing emits a shrill buzz, and my hooded cohort speaks much more clearly.
"One need not speak so loud, for sound is but another image."
"Huh?"
"They are dicerned the same, Malice: with focus," He says.
He paces slow but interested - like one of those wolves in the groves, on a hunt for living meat, trying not to be spotted by its prey.
"I'm missing a pretty good show for this. And if you do know me as well as you think, you'd better hope this more than makes it up." I says to him.
He stops in his tracks a moment.
"...I don't think, nor hope. I know. ...Your borrowed life will not be spent idly."
From where he geastures, the fence of the Irden Energy Depot is apparent. We're standing on its right side, a perfect ninety-degree angle from the front gate. It's not like there's a secret entrance here, but these guys always plan too far ahead. He wanted to meet here for a reason.
"Listen carefully, I will say this once only. The city blinks your signal to enter. Your path will be obvious. Do not stop until you reach Irden's heart of hearts, and take aim. Hold your fire until you are next spoken."
Soon as he finishes, he sinks feet-first into the darkness, leaving nothing to his existence behind. He's gone like a lucid dream, I'm alone again with just a cryptic message.
For sure he wants me to look for something, but does it blink exactly? That's the hint, but, the thing I'm looking for is supposed to look like it's blinking? Hell's that supposed to mean anyway?
...
I look over the mighty energy depot just beside me, its steady hum buzzing through Irden like an engine. That heart analogy was clearly about this place, but he said heart of hearts didn't he? That's like a center at the center I think. Not just anyone sees that center, and trespassers aren't seen again if they try to.
The moon peaks over the factory, almost perfectly in line with one of its spires... Come to think of it, in just a few minutes it's gonna be in perfect angles, pointed down in a complete crescent with the spire's disc-antenna filling the rest of it in. The rest of the domed depot shines in an unnatural manner, almost reflecting more light than is hitting it. It's s'possed to get lunar energy, I think. Like I said, I ain't an expert on manalogics or-
Suddenly, all the lights in the city flash off and on. Surprised shouts echo behind me further in town, some people were stepping outside to investigate their homes. In response to the sudden outage, tattlespheres begin sweeping the area in an orderly motion, already raising their voices to relax the startled citizens.
Wait. That was it! The city blinks! That Dimir agent must'a snuck in, pulled a few switches, and shut down the locks on a few of the gates. Like the front door! "My path would be obvious," after all.
<censored>!.. It took a few seconds of starring in dumb realization, now the streets are swarmed with those manaballs. I gotta get moving!
I burst into a dead run to the front of the depot, weapon in hand and ready to fire at the next obstacle. Images of the streets whir past in a cacophanous blur of lights and sound, shouted words and electric buzzes pulsing in and out. Three blocks away from the front gate, and I gotta hurry.
My headset buzzes static, and a tattlesphere rounds the next corner in my direction - must be a signal built-in. I pull the mechanism of my weapon. The force behind it almost throws me into a wall. I woot as the manaball flies down the street in a fiery heap - it didn't stand a chance.
Damn that's a lot of firepower! Makes me wonder what the rest of these <toys> can do. I haven't even gotten close to the depot yet, and things are getting close to the vest!
Author: Erix Summerdown.
Mild language. Violence.
I gotta hand it to the circus troupe, they sure have some spectacular new toys. If I'da known about that Epts guy Jelv was talkin' about, I'da bought some of these years ago: modified bam-sticks, snap-bang charges, and some... sorta mizzimum headband I'm supposed to wear. Quality if you ask me. Damn heavy, but real high-grade.
Gotta say though, wielding more explosives than there are Azorius restrictions on them's hell on my back, and worse on my nerve - and in the darkest alley in the darkest part of town no less, it's a miracle I haven't been robbed, stalked, or ratted out yet.
Finally I reach the spot, 'where one is visible to only himself' or some riddle. I admit I don't listen when Dim-street thought agents talk in hints.
That's the funny thing about working for the Dimir: they speak mostly in puzzles, and part of your job is to figure it out. Nobody's sure what more the Dimir is; the upperworld claims they're just a myth, a story exagerated as a millenia passed by; the underworld swears their members are everywhere, taking the shapes of most anyone with status or power on the upperworld.
Regular people never meet a Dimir guild member, or if they did they'd never notice.
Hiding in the shadows - more ripping it away like theater curtains - he steps out to meet me. I won't soon forget him; the things he's done and would do again, the influence he has on the streets' darker parts, and the way he just... exists... into a room.
I forget his name though. I wonder if that was just coincidence...
He nods soon as I see him, but speaks mostly in whispers so I don't catch a word he's saying.
"...Speak up," I says. Then the headset I'm wearing emits a shrill buzz, and my hooded cohort speaks much more clearly.
"One need not speak so loud, for sound is but another image."
"Huh?"
"They are dicerned the same, Malice: with focus," He says.
He paces slow but interested - like one of those wolves in the groves, on a hunt for living meat, trying not to be spotted by its prey.
"I'm missing a pretty good show for this. And if you do know me as well as you think, you'd better hope this more than makes it up." I says to him.
He stops in his tracks a moment.
"...I don't think, nor hope. I know. ...Your borrowed life will not be spent idly."
From where he geastures, the fence of the Irden Energy Depot is apparent. We're standing on its right side, a perfect ninety-degree angle from the front gate. It's not like there's a secret entrance here, but these guys always plan too far ahead. He wanted to meet here for a reason.
"Listen carefully, I will say this once only. The city blinks your signal to enter. Your path will be obvious. Do not stop until you reach Irden's heart of hearts, and take aim. Hold your fire until you are next spoken."
Soon as he finishes, he sinks feet-first into the darkness, leaving nothing to his existence behind. He's gone like a lucid dream, I'm alone again with just a cryptic message.
For sure he wants me to look for something, but does it blink exactly? That's the hint, but, the thing I'm looking for is supposed to look like it's blinking? Hell's that supposed to mean anyway?
...
I look over the mighty energy depot just beside me, its steady hum buzzing through Irden like an engine. That heart analogy was clearly about this place, but he said heart of hearts didn't he? That's like a center at the center I think. Not just anyone sees that center, and trespassers aren't seen again if they try to.
The moon peaks over the factory, almost perfectly in line with one of its spires... Come to think of it, in just a few minutes it's gonna be in perfect angles, pointed down in a complete crescent with the spire's disc-antenna filling the rest of it in. The rest of the domed depot shines in an unnatural manner, almost reflecting more light than is hitting it. It's s'possed to get lunar energy, I think. Like I said, I ain't an expert on manalogics or-
Suddenly, all the lights in the city flash off and on. Surprised shouts echo behind me further in town, some people were stepping outside to investigate their homes. In response to the sudden outage, tattlespheres begin sweeping the area in an orderly motion, already raising their voices to relax the startled citizens.
Wait. That was it! The city blinks! That Dimir agent must'a snuck in, pulled a few switches, and shut down the locks on a few of the gates. Like the front door! "My path would be obvious," after all.
<censored>!.. It took a few seconds of starring in dumb realization, now the streets are swarmed with those manaballs. I gotta get moving!
I burst into a dead run to the front of the depot, weapon in hand and ready to fire at the next obstacle. Images of the streets whir past in a cacophanous blur of lights and sound, shouted words and electric buzzes pulsing in and out. Three blocks away from the front gate, and I gotta hurry.
My headset buzzes static, and a tattlesphere rounds the next corner in my direction - must be a signal built-in. I pull the mechanism of my weapon. The force behind it almost throws me into a wall. I woot as the manaball flies down the street in a fiery heap - it didn't stand a chance.
Damn that's a lot of firepower! Makes me wonder what the rest of these <toys> can do. I haven't even gotten close to the depot yet, and things are getting close to the vest!