NationStates Jolt Archive

<<OOC: I am resurrecting a character and storyline that died a sad and early death. It was one of the first RP's I ever participated in, and it had a very unique feel to it. The original had the Resi Corp as the background, and Resi, Mnelmacar, the Irregulars and many others were key participants. Resi Corp has now been changed to the more generic "Vandalay Corp"

I have reprinted my first post in that thread, as it seems like a good starting point. Feel free to join in, use any character you want, bring in any storyline you wish...but remember the theme focusses around street-people, and the secrets they hide.>>

Elwin Sherbull hated soup: he hated the smell, despised the heat, resented the vegetables and had a murderous rage for beef n' barley. Sadly, such was his lot in life: he was the Soupman. Every day, he would drag his weary and somewhat emaciated body from beneath the moth-eaten blanket he called "bed" and make his way to his job at the soup kitchen, under the watchful eyes of the waning moon. He would toil from dawn to dusk, ladling out bowl after bowl of watery boullion to the dregs of humanity who lived and died in the streets. He hated these vagrants almost as much as he hated his job, but not as much as he hated HIMSELF.

Elwin was not always a Soupman: in earlier days, a lifetime ago, he had been a moderately successful bean-counter for the Vandalay Corporation, with a mildly-frumpy wife and 2 rambunctious children. He paid his taxes, watched bad TV, had some discrete encounters with an occassional low-priced streetwalker, mowed his lawn and drank bourbon at more than a casual pace. Life was not good, but it wasn't bad either. It just WAS.

On a day much like every other day in his subpar existance, Elwin had left for work, back to the same small accounting department he'd toiled at for 17 years, forgetting to kiss his wife on the way out the door. It was a moment he would later regret, for it was the last time he would see her alive.

Work was long, frustrating and filled with numbers, calculations and his weasel-like Boss breathing down his neck. As he finished his day and cleared his desk, he began to look forward to getting home and pouring himself a long pull from his Jim Beam bottle. He left the office, unbuttoning his overcoat due the late afternoon sun. As his public transport pulled up to his street corner, he could see the flashing lights of numerous police cruisers and public security vehicles blocking access to his street. His heart beating rapidly, he began to run towards his home, only to be stopped by 2 large security officers who would not let him pass.

It was many hours later when he would find out that his wife and children had been found dead in his home, violently torn apart and horribly mutilated. Their blood covered the floor like a thick shag rug, and body parts and organs were strewn throughout the house, many of them with what appeared to be bite-marks in them. The kindly police chaplain that explained this to him later mentioned that "the light seemed to go out of Elwins eyes" when he was told of this horrific tragedy.

The investigation was cursory, and over before it began. With no clear motive for this massacre, the police seemed content to label this as a random act, probably committed by one of the many transients in the city.

The file was put to rest, and Elwin's old life was put to pasture. Very rapidly, his world began to unravel: because of his depression, he lost his job and in turn, the mortgage on his home. His car vanished in the thick of the night at the hands of a repo man, and his in-laws shunned him, blaming him for not dying with their daughter and grandchildren. He found himself alone and broken, with nothing left but the clothes on his back and a slowly burning ember of anger inside him.

"All I have now is vengeance..." he thought " and vengeance is MINE."

The next day he volunteered at the local soup-kitchen for the homeless. The Administrators were quickly impressed with the efforts he gave on a daily basis, and for the empathy he showed to the mass of discouraged humanity who came through the doors. They could not conceive that Elwin was not being a warm-hearted Samaritan, but rather that he was being a cold-hearted detective, sifting throught the drunken mumblings and shadowy, whispered tales of the bums and hobos, who loved having Elwin as a rapt and attentive audience. He knew that eventually, he would discover who had stolen his life from him and that on that day, more than just soup would be spilled.

In the meanwhile, he ladled another bowl of broth and stoked the fire of retribution that burned inside of him.

Tuesdays were always Elwin’s favorite day, simply because Tuesday was Alphabet Soup day. Like the druidic shaman that came before him, Elwin put much portent in what the floating letters would tell him. Gazing deeply into the steaming vat, Elwin let his mind float as free as the pasta symbols that bobbed in the soup. Slowly, a word assembled itself.

“Laughter?” thought Elwin, with surprise,” I guess today will bring a smile?” This brought a warm glow to an unused spot in his soul, for happiness was something that was becoming increasingly foreign to him. He turned away to grab his crooked ladle, and missed the final letter that floated to the surface. Elwin never noticed when “laughter” turned to “slaughter”. None of us ever do.

The man walked in was swathed in a cloak. He didn't look like a street person but he sure did look lost. Either that or he was looking for a good meal. His hooded head tilted slightly as though listening and then he scanned the room. Turning he stepped away from all the patrons and seemed to be having a conversation with himself.

Billy "Rat" Radcliffe wondered where he was gonna get his fix from today. He wasn't hurting yet, but that would come later. In the meantime, he needed some fast coin.

Rat watched as a tall man wrapped in a cloak entered into the main hall of the soup kitchen. He was obviously not in need of a free meal, as his cloak bespoke of wealth and prosperity. Rat immediately saw his opportunity, or so he hoped.

He approached the cloaked man, and smilled a broken-tooth grin at him.

"Hey guv'ner, you needing some help? I'm the best g'damn guide around, and cheap."

"....the horrific nature of the crime...." Billy heard as he approached. The voice was not from the man, it was not even a man's voice. Turning in response to Billy's question the man looked at Billy. Catching the light as he turned Billy could see the jet black skin of the man's face. His hair that could be seen is white as are is eyes.

"Perhaps I could at that," he said producing a golden coin, "I may need one piece of information before I get the other. Is this coin acceptable here? If not could you point me to a money changer?"

Elwin watched the exchange through the corner of his eye...he had noticed the well-dressed man from the moment he had entered. He saw Rat, a regular patron here, approach the cloaked fellow immediately, looking for some spare change to feed the beast that held him. The Soupman tossed some turnips into huge, steaming cauldron and prepared his ladle for the work to come.

His eyes widened at the sight of the gold, real gold, more money than he'd seen, enough to keep his habit fed for a long time. He reached out a dirty hand quickly, and gently snatched the coin from the strange man's hand. Rat put the coin in his mouth and bit down. He tried to hide his glee at the thought of pure gold. He quickly made the coin disappear into his raggy clothes.

"Well guv'nr, I don't usually work so cheap, but I like yer face...how can ole Rat be of service to ya?"

“Throw me higher Daddy! HIGHER!!!”

Jessica Sherbull was a cherubic young lass, with her mother's good looks and her fathers quiet demeanour. She was light as a feather, and Elwin could spend hours throwing her into the air, hearing her squeals of delight before catching her safely in his arms. She had a certain fresh and honest smell about her, and Elwin nuzzled her blonde locks as he held her tightly against him.

“Again, Daddy!” Elwin smiled at her innocent gaze, and threw her up, higher than ever…he stood there waiting for her to come down, which of course, she never did anymore. She was with the angels now, and he would never feel her warm heart beating again. This was the same dream as always, and it never had a happy ending.

The Soupman had gotten lost in his memories, hypnotized by the carrots and celery that floated in front of him. He shook his head, and reached for the pepper shaker. He still had a job to do.

"Well rat," he replied, "I'm looking for some information. I heard tales of a particularly violent events recently and our people investigate such things. Now....I appreciate your graciousness at accepting a sub-standard pay, so if you could point me in the direction of someone who could tell me about it then I can add a couple of more of those coins to your pocket. The crime in question involved the brutal rending mutilation of a family."

"Waitaminit...are you a cop? 'Cuz I don't deal with the man, y'know...?" Rat liked money, and Rat liked his daily fix, but most of all, Rat liked his life: talking to the police was a death sentence on the street. The scruffy man looked at the cloaked man, thinking he might be able to make a little more coin from him. Rat sidled up a bit closer, his voice low and conspiratory:

"...and if you are, well, the price for my services has just tripled."

The man's head cocked to one side. "What language is that?"

"I've heard it before," came the sultry voice from nowhere. "It's the same language only some of his words are replaced with others."

"So what's he asking me?"

"For more money I believe." A light brush against rats cheek, like the touch of a soft finger sends more than a thrill through his body. It's more like an electric current, and a pulling. "Isn't he cute."

"Yeah, yeah, real cute. We don't have time Shan," the man replied. "Alright," he said, addressing Rat now, "how much for the information?"

"Well, like me said before, mate...triple. So gimme 4 more coins, now, and I'll be giving ye what ye need..."

Rat was almost slavering at the thought of that much gold. He asked for more than he expected, assuming that the robed man would try to barter with him. Well, if he really wanted the info that Rat had, he'd have to pay for it. Then Rat could go away for awhile, maybe out to the country, maybe out to a farm...anywhere but this stinkhole of a city.

The man pulled out two platinum pieces and handed them to rat. "Two more once I have the information"

Rat eyed the platinum coins with obvious greed...worth more than the gold, but harder to fence. Still, the potential was enormous. Grabbing the coins from the man's hand, he indicated he should follow him. Rat led him to a darkened corner, a small table and two chairs the only occupants. Motioning the robed one to sit, Rat began talking.

"Whatcha gotta know is that there are two cities here, two worlds that live grudgingly side-by-side. You are now in the heart of Lowtown friend, and Lowtown is one step from Hell." Rat patted his pockets, smiling a broken-toothed smile when he found a half-smoked cigarette. Lighting it from the sputtering candle on the table, Rat continued.

"In Lowtown, ya got all sorts: the regs, the gangs and the Others. The first two are easy to see, and avoid. The Others are the ones that are dangerous." Rat looked around, nervous of interlopers and listening ears.

"Sometimes the Others work for the rich folk up in High Town, they do some nasty work. Little girls disappear, and little boys too. The High Towners, well, some of them are a twisted bunch. Sometimes they make bad things happen to good people. Good people like that dead family you were asking about earlier." Rat puffed away on his stub, his yellowed fingers gripping the wrinkled filter.

"You can find the Others at night, and the sewer is their Realm...and that's all ya get fer now. Show me the rest of my coin, and I'll tell you something REALLY important."

The man pulled out a bag and showed it to rat. It was filled with platinum and gold. He tied it and slipped back beneath his cloak. "You've seen it. Now what's really important?

E.T. was unaware of this that went on. She held a child in her arms as she scrounged in the garbage bin beside the soup kitchen for something to feed the child. The dull ache in her belly never relented.

He had very strong hands for an accountant.

Elwin lifted bags of potatoes day in and day out, peeling spuds until his hands bled. The Soup demanded this sacrifice, and Elwin was the High-Priest who was dedicated to the task. He was the Soupman, and Soup was what he did. Twice a day he was also the Garbage Man, but he didn't like to acknowledge that. Slinging a green plastic bag of potatoe peels and onion rinds over his shoulder, Elwin walked towards the dumpster in the back.

As he opened the door, he immediately noticed the scruffy figure poking around in the big metal bin. Elwin started, his initial reaction one of fear. Then he remembered his sacred role, and performed the duty for which he was chosen:

"Why doncha come inside and have a nice, big bowl of hot soup?"

"Oh, could I?" E.T. smiled as she held the babe. "That would be wonderful."

Her smile cut through the grime that layered her rag-covered body. Elwin put his hand out to help her, seeing that she was carrying a bundle of sorts. He lead her into the kitchen, huge vats of steaming, aromatic soup bubbling around them. The Soupman led the woman (he determined that from her voice, as her clothing was shapeless on her thin bones) to a seat in a corner, where the warmth of the stove would heat and dry her quickly. She would not release the package she was carrying, and Elwin paid it no heed: street-people were very protective of their few possessions.

"Well ma'am, I've got barley & corn, tomato vegetable or turnip creme...what will be yer pleasure?"

The bulging bag of money brought new energy to the small man, and Rat smiled his most accomodating smile.

"Well, now...for a bag like that, I'd be able to give ya somethin' real good...like...well, howzabout the only survivor of the family that got diced?"

Rat didn't care about his own safety anymore, the thought of a full bag of coin exciting him beyond measure. He put his hand out expectantly, at the same time trying to get a better look at the big, cloaked man in front of him. The shadows in the hood hid the man from Rats prying eye.

The man chuckles as he looks at rats outstretched hand. "You either think me new to this or you you are. What I've given you is more than you've seen in your life in all likelyhood and I promised you a set fee to which you agreed, which was not the whole bag. I'll give you half of what I have for your information."

"Oh, could I get a bowl of turnip and cream please?"

Elwin ladled a steaming bowl of soup for the young woman, the thick chunks of turnip fighting for supremacy over thin slivers of carrot. The woman dug in right away, no shame at her obvious hunger. Elwin was pleased, seeing his work so accepted. He was an artist, the Maestro of Meals, the Soupman.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Rat had taken the stranger to a dark corner...Elwin hoped Rat wasn't doing a quickie for the man, not in HIS kitchen...no way, there were rules here.

"Please excuse me, m'dear, but I will be back momentarily." Elwin placed a hunk of day-old bread in front of her, along with some cheese. If Elwin did nothing else for the rest of his days, he would feed the hungry. He walked determinedly towards the two men in the corner.

The man chuckles as he looks at rats outstretched hand. "You either think me new to this or you you are. What I've given you is more than you've seen in your life in all likelyhood and I promised you a set fee to which you agreed, which was not the whole bag. I'll give you half of what I have for your information."

Half was good. Half was more than he had. Half was much better than nothing.

"Yer drivin' a hard bargain, sirrah, but a bargain nonetheless. The man yer looking for is the Soupman, right over the..." Elwin was not where Rat looked. Where had the Soupman gone? Seeing his chance for easy money rapidly disappearing, Rat scrambled to look smart.

"Well, he's usually right over there...his name is Elwin...we call him the Soupman. It was his family what got chomped."

Rat stuck his hand out, waiting for his reward.

The man counted out the coins, half of what he had in the bag, and handed them to rat. As he did he grabbed his hand and uttered something in the spidery language of manage. "There," he said, "if you've lied to me, you well never have another restful night." With that he stood up to find this 'soup man' Elwin only to be confronted with another man who was approaching thier table.

Noticing the bread and cheese, E.T. tried to feed the baby some of the cream parts of her soup. She feared the baby would soon starve.

The cloaked man scared Elwin.

Truth be told, many things scared Elwin. He approached the table nonetheless, this being his territory. He didn't allow the turning of tricks in his temple, the Soup Kitchen. He puffed up his chest, ladle held at the ready.

"Rat! What the frick is going on here!?" He turned to the robed and hooded stranger.

"You there: aren't you ashamed of yourself, taking advantage of this poor soul? Out with you! OUT, I SAY!!" Elwin was steaming hotter than his tomato-vegetable broth.

The man reached up and lowered the hood of his cloak. Glistening ink black skin reflected the light. Whispy white hair caught the small breezes and dead white eyes looked at the man who approached him. "I seek the one called Elwin. I have business with him."

Across the room a stunningly beautiful woman appeared in front of the woman with the half starving child. She wore thin sheer cloth that left nothing to the imagination and demanded the attention of eveyone in the room. The half-human half-succubus couldn't control the charming effects like her full blooded kinsmen. Also unlike her kinsman she wished for simple pleasures, like having a child. Unfortunetly her lovers life force drained into her before any conception was possible. She down saddely at the poor child and reached toward the table. A full container of milk materializing out of nowhere. She reached out to touch the child then looked at the mother and withdrew her hand. "Beautiful," was all she said. The voice was the one that rat had heard when he first approached the stranger. She then turned and headed toward the two men, but not without one last sad glance at the woman and child.

The man reached up and lowered the hood of his cloak. Glistening ink black skin reflected the light. Whispy white hair caught the small breezes and dead white eyes looked at the man who approached him. "I seek the one called Elwin. I have business with him."


There was a lot of things Elwin expected to see in the remainder of his life, but this...creature...was certainly not one of them. The blackness of his skin drew Elwin in, like some unending universe. The thing's eyes were the worse, like the eyes of a dead man. Elwin had seen a few in his life. He reacted the only way he could.

"You look like you need a good bowl of soup. Yup, that will fix you right up...put some color in yer cheeks." Elwin sat down and looked the being in the eye. He wasn't sure why it was looking for him, but he needed to find out.

"Soup first, then we can talk."

The man looked up at the approaching woman then back at Elwin. "I take your Elwin then. My name is Demanis. And this", he said indicating the impossibly beautiful woman, "is Shandaril. I suppose I'll partake of your feast if you insist, though the woman who's house in which I live is quite the cook."

The woman stood next to the table, a feast for the eyes. "So this is the one." she said. "It didn't take long."

"I wasn't hired by Arleena for my looks."

"I don't know. Drow have that exceptionaly exotic look." She closed her eyes, a low moaning in her throat.

"Shan, umm come back."

"Sorry, it's been awhile."

He looked back to Elwin, "Very well, I'll have your soup and then we can talk."

The Soup always wins: none can stand before the power of Soup.

Elwin stood triumphantly, not even bothering to ask what kind of soup the stranger fancied...Elwin would serve whatever he dang wanted to. Elwin was the Soupman, and his word was law. He turned to return to the kitchen, and came face to face...actually, face to ample breast, with Shan. Without stepping back, he looked up at the amazingly exotic creature, smiling unapologetically.

"I see someones been eating their soup." said Elwin, nestled in a little bit of heaven.

Shandaril's fingers slipped down his cheek, his chest and then the front of his pants. "Seems to me you have more to offer than just soup." she replied in a breathy voice in his ear. "Mind if I have a taste?"

"Shan! We need to speak with him first?"

"Later then", she whispered and ran her tongue along the outer rim of his ear before sliding past him, pressing herself against him.

E.T. began to nurse the baby. Although she was afraid of the milk being poisioned, she was more afraid that the baby would starve.

The baby suckling the milk seemed to grow healthy quickly, it's color becoming that of a well nourished child.

E.T. quickly finished her soup. She smiled a shy smile at Elwin and the woman who had given the baby the milk. She left, carrying the baby.

Catching the smile the woman suddenly appeared in front of E.T. "They say that pride goes before the fall. I ask you not to allow your pride to be the cause of the fall of this that I cannot never have. Take this, and let the child, and you, know comfort." With that the woman placed a bag full of platinum and gold in E.T.s hand and vanished.

E.T. puzzled over that. One thing was for sure, she did not want the gold and platinum, yet how could she refuse?

The fact was, that baby was not her own. The baby was the daughter of corporate honcho Frank Magna. She had kidnapped the baby so that that baby wouldn't grow up to be one of those bratty corporate kids. The gold and platinum wouldn't help that cause, but then again, if she starved, then it would all be moot.

Shandaril's fingers slipped down his cheek, his chest and then the front of his pants. "Seems to me you have more to offer than just soup." she replied in a breathy voice in his ear. "Mind if I have a taste?"

"Shan! We need to speak with him first?"

"Later then", she whispered and ran her tongue along the outer rim of his ear before sliding past him, pressing herself against him.

Elwin was on fire, frozen in her grasp, entwined in her musk, lost in her passion-filled eyes. He had not been this close to a woman since his wife died, and the creature named Shan filled Elwin with a need that surpassed his feeble attempts to restrain it. He touched the wetness on his ear, and smiled.

"Uhm...yes, later...please." Elwin stuttered, trying desperately to pull away from her. It took all his inner strength to do it. He walked towards the kitchen, and scooped out two bowls of chicken-vegetable soup, grabbed a loaf of bread and returned to where the dark stranger was sitting. Putting the bowl in front of him, Elwin sat down himself. The soup was the test. The soup was all. The soup would tell him what to do.

"Eat. Then we talk."

The woman was nowhere to be seen though occasionally the dark man tilted his head as though listing to someone whisper. He ate the soup casually, though his eyes would continue to wander around the room watchful. When he finished he sat back looking at Elwin. "Now we talk."

Every drop was gone, as it should be. Elwin was proud of his soup, and could not stand to see it go to waste. The beautiful siren was gone, and Elwin felt a sense of loss that tore at his heart, and his groin. He hoped that Shan would come back, and maybe he could show her a thing or two in the kitchen, none of it involving soup. In the meantime, the black-skinned creature in front of him had done his part, and now he must do his.

"Ok...I'm Elwin Sherbull. What do you want with me?"

"I understand that your family were the victims in a rather.... brutal.... murder. Much worse than seemed possible. I was sent to see what you knew about it and I need you to take me to the scene itself, or tell me where that is."

Elwins face, and very soul, grew dark at the mention of his family. Though he dreamed of them every time he closed his weary eyes, his waking thoughts studiously avoided the memory of them. Why this strange man would want to know anything, Elwin was unsure. It frightened him for some reason, but the strength of the Soupman kept him seated.

"Why? Who are you? Why do you want to know what happened...to my beautiful, beautiful family?" at this, Elwins voice cracked, his emotion showing through. He didn't wait for a reply.

"My wife was so...perfect. My daughter was a dream come true. Someone took them away from me, horribly, violently..."

He stopped, tears filling his eyes. His grief was overwhelming, and with it came anger, and the need for revenge.

"I've been sent to investigate because of the particular nature of the crime. There are things best left to the realms of darkness that sometimes make thier way to the realm of the light. The group I work for seeks to defend those who can't defend themselves and this quilifies as such. What did you see? Why were you untouched?" The man sat back, "I know considering the relation these are tough questions, but understand that I'm unfamiliar with what happened. We heard only of the horrendous nature of the crime and when time permitted we came to investigate."

A light touch at his cheek catches a tear. "I never understood tears", came the woman's voice, though she remained unseen, "my kind has no remorse. I wonder what purpose it serves."

He looked up at the stunning woman, who seemed to materialize out of nowhere.

"It's...a release. It allows pain to leave us, so we can breathe again." replied Elwin, surprised by her touch, and warmed by it as well. He allowed his tears to flow, grateful for the opportunity. He looked to the Dark Man.

"I...I was working that day, not here but in my old life. A normal day it was, until I arrived home. There were police everywhere and blood...so much blood. They...my beautiful, innocent girls, were slaughtered, torn apart like rag dolls and partly...eaten." he was trembling now, his face paling at the memory.

"The police said it was a "transient job"...meaning, they claimed that my family had been murdered randomly by some street-people, but I can't...I won't believe it. They were torn apart! Eaten! These are not the actions of a human!"

Elwin stopped to catch his breath, realizing his voice had risen. He wiped away his tears angrily, snuffling to clear his nose. He looked at the black-skinned man, a "drow" is what he called himself, and realized that someone finally wanted to listen, and help.

"My world...fell apart after that. I lost my job, my home, my family...I took the last of my savings, and hired a private detective to look deeper into this...he disappeared shortly afterwards, without collecting his fee. I only spoke to him once after I hired him, and he told me that he had found evidence that this was more than a random murder. He gave me two names, names I have researched but was unable to find anything about. Maybe you'll have more luck."

Elwin reached into his pocket and pulled out a battered wallet. From the wallet he took a small card, with some writing on it. He slid it across the table to...he realized he didn't even know the man's name! On the card was written two names.

"Grimpenward"

and

"Shentavo"

E.T. wasn't sure why she was walking this way. She hadn't wanted the money, but now that she had it, she wasn't thinking very clearly. She was going to a part of town she'd never been to before, but thought nothing of it. So it is for the homeless. With no place to go, there is constant uncertainty, but there is also lack of obligation. As she walked she found new strength with her new hope. Many thoughts were running through her head, ideas of what she would do with the money. E.T. had taken the baby to get it out of the clutches of the greedy, wasteful rich community, but she now found herself thinking of all the things that she would be able to provide for her.

She pushed those thoughts out of her mind when she realized what she was doing. Looking around, she found herself lost, but she never was completely lost. When home is always the nearest bench or closest door stoop, it's easy to find your way back. Nothing really scared E.T., but this neighborhood gave her an eery feeling.

The man raised a white eyebrow and looked up at Shandaril who only casually looked back. "This detective." he said to Elwin, "Do you know where his office was?" already referring to the man in past tense. "His files may contain important information....if thier still there. Also what district of the police were involved in the investigation, I may need the information from thier files as well." He glanced at Shandaril who smiled seductively. "And I need to know where the attack took place, I'll want a look at it. Was anyone else a witness? See anything, hear anything, sense anything, smell anything? Everything is important. Odd occurences at or nearby the scene prior to the incident. Odd occurences afterward. Anything might be important."

Suddenly the baby began to cry. E.T. picked her up and began to rock her, singing a soft lullaby. The fact was, she was learning to love this baby.

"You need a new name," she whispered softly. "I think I shall call you. . .Margaret."

The man raised a white eyebrow and looked up at Shandaril who only casually looked back. "This detective." he said to Elwin, "Do you know where his office was?" already referring to the man in past tense. "His files may contain important information....if thier still there. Also what district of the police were involved in the investigation, I may need the information from thier files as well." He glanced at Shandaril who smiled seductively. "And I need to know where the attack took place, I'll want a look at it. Was anyone else a witness? See anything, hear anything, sense anything, smell anything? Everything is important. Odd occurences at or nearby the scene prior to the incident. Odd occurences afterward. Anything might be important."

"No...no. I found him in a phonebook, and never went to any office. I do have a card from the cop that handled my case...he never returned my calls." Elwin took another card from his wallet, sliding it across to the black-skinned creature. It read "Det. Louie Collucci, Homicide, 4th Precinct" with a phone number.

"They...the house is gone: they razed it a year ago...my house. Built a condo right on top of it." It was all gone: the laughter, the light...the love. All Elwin had anymore was the soup, and a smouldering ember of vengeance.

"The police...they said it was a homeless gang that...killed my family. I know most of the streetfolk around here, and trust me, none of them would be capable of this." He paused, looking around him. The soup kitchen was beginning to fill up, but nowhere near capacity yet. His ladle could stay sheathed a little longer.

"Can I ask you something?" Elwin asked suddenly. "What's yer name?"

This had to be one of the weirdest days in Billy "Rat" Radcliffe's short life. As he watched the Soupman talking with the black-skinned creature, Rat slipped away from the group, wanting to distance himself from the strangeness. He noticed a woman...a girl actually, with a little bundle in her arms...a baby? He'd never seen her on the street before, and Rat knew everyone. Just then, the stranger got up and hurridly left the soup kitchen. Grabbing a breadroll, Rat followed the girl, his curiosity aroused. He stayed a long distance behind her, watching her wander aimlessly...she didn't seem to have any real direction.

He panicked when he lost sight of her, and picked up his pace. She was nowhere to be seen, and Rat wondered if he'd been made, and she gave him the slip. At that moment, he heard the frantic cries of an infant coming from his right. He moved towards the sound, and came upon the young girl, gently rocking her baby. She was singing softly, a gentle lullaby that Rat vaguely remembered from his murky past. He was entranced, and didn't want to interrupt.

The man looked up at him. "Demanis." Then looked down at the card, the first one more than the secod. "I'll see what I can find out. I can tell you that I know nothing mortal that can do what I've heard described. Can you give me directions to this place?", asked showing Elwin the policeman's card.

The man looked up at him. "Demanis." Then looked down at the card, the first one more than the secod. "I'll see what I can find out. I can tell you that I know nothing mortal that can do what I've heard described. Can you give me directions to this place?", asked showing Elwin the policeman's card.

Elwin gave Demanis the directions he needed to find the precinct house. He wasn't quite sure why he had opened up to the man, and the Soupman still had some unanswered questions.

"Please...tell me WHY yer doin' this? You don't know me, you don't know...them." He slid a picture of his wife and young daughter along the tabletop.

Demanis looked at the picture then up at the man. "I have no interest in this, but my Queen does. If what we suspect is true then this could lead to something larger. She has an interest in it, a humanitarian one." He then looked up at the beautiful woman, "Would you get the file we need, Shan?" he asked.

"Delighted", she responded as she flipped her hair and began to walk away only to vanish.

Demanis looked at the picture then up at the man. "I have no interest in this, but my Queen does. If what we suspect is true then this could lead to something larger. She has an interest in it, a humanitarian one." He then looked up at the beautiful woman, "Would you get the file we need, Shan?" he asked.

"Delighted", she responded as she flipped her hair and began to walk away only to vanish.

His coffee had grown cold, and the office was colder still. Detective Louie Collucci sat on a hard chair, smoking furiously. The 4th Precinct was in an older building, and the heating system worked fine...in the summer. He was three years away from getting full pension, and he would have to suffer through them here, in this decaying room. He turned to the report he was typing...just another gang slaying, street-scum doing what Collucci wished he could do...killing each other. The city was growing more dangerous every day, and the police force was under-staffed and under-funded.

Still, the coffee and donuts were free, and it was a pretty stable life. Once you'd seen the many ways humans could violate each other, not much surprised you. Collucci opened the newspaper and put his feet on his desk. There'd be plenty of time to finish the report later.

The office door closed and Shandaril suddenly materialized. "Hello. I'm here to get some information", she said as she strolled seductively to the desk. "A murder from a short time ago. The survivor was Elwin Sherbull."

When the beautiful woman appeared before him, Collucci thought briefly that he must've fallen asleep, and this was gonna be one fun dream...as quickly as it came, the thought dissipated, and the cold reality flooded in. He hurridly stumbled to his feet, knocking his coffee mug across the desk. He fumbled for his service revolver, strapped to his back. Drawing it, he assumed a two-handed shooting stance, and barked in what he thought was a forceful voice, but came out as a frightened squeek:

"Fr..freeze lady! Just stay right where you are..."

"Amusing", she said to him, "and what do you suppose you will do with that? You can't be heard outside of this room nor can you get out. And your little playtoy will do nothing. I've come for the information, then I'll leave you in peace. If not then", she transformed at that moment. Horns grew from her head and a spiked tail emerged, her skin becoming a glowing light blue and her eyes slitted like a cat's. "Then I'll drag you to hell and get it from you in much less pleasant manner."

When the gorgeous woman turned into a demon from his darkest nightmare, Collucci did what any other sane man would do: he wet himself. He pulled the trigger of his pistol, but nothing happened. He tried screaming, but no words came out. He made a move for the intercom, hoping to summon help, but his limbs were frozen and the air was as thick as molasses. The creature had asked about a murder, and the name Sherbull was familiar to him...too familiar.

No matter what happened now, Collucci realized he was a dead man. All that remained was to determine when and how he would die. He decided that he would prefer if it wasn't NOW.

"Uhmm...I'm sure I don't recognize that name..."

"Oh....I know what your thinking. You don't want to die. I can change that", she said to him as she reached one hand up, a razor sharp claw extending from her forfinger. She traced a line down with a gentle stroke from behind his temple to his jaw, her touch light as feather, and opened the skin to the bone. Pain like fire raged from the wound and yet there was little blood. "I can make you BEG for death, and grant it or not at my leasure. I will get all I need and more if I choose. I offer you a chance to live. Your last chance to live. Tell me what I need to know. I WILL get it anyway. I want to find the one who committed this murder. You see, you didn't get anywhere because only a demon can tear people apart like that. And only I, among all your officers here, can hope to best my own kind." Her voice was still sultry sweet, it touched the parts of the mind that felt a great desire for pleasing and pleasure in strange combination with the incredible pain that raged from the wound.

Kill.

A girl of fifteen runs down the street. Her unwashed brown hair flies out behind her and her thin young legs send her faster, faster-

Kill.

She had never been able to fight it, never been able to hide. All she can do is run and hope to leave it in her dust-

KILL!

"No!" She screams, sending nearby pidgeons scrambling for the sky. She stops and waits, panting,... nothing. The voice is gone again. Knowing it would only be a matter of time before it comes back, she tries to figure out where she is. The smell of food fills the and her stomach rumbles. Straightening her slightly ripped red t-shirt and her tattered blue jeans, she enters the soup kitchen.

Demanis eyed the young girl as she entered and raised the cowl on his cloak to hide his face. He wondered how much longer Shan would be. He hated public places, preferring to research and question in private. He also wondered how that ball was going that Lauralin had attended. She liked the privacy of a library or the darkened corner of a theatre as much as he did, that ball certainly would have her unnerved. He glanced again at the young one before settling again to await the half-demoness.

"Oh....I know what your thinking. You don't want to die. I can change that", she said to him as she reached one hand up, a razor sharp claw extending from her forfinger. She traced a line down with a gentle stroke from behind his temple to his jaw, her touch light as feather, and opened the skin to the bone. Pain like fire raged from the wound and yet there was little blood. "I can make you BEG for death, and grant it or not at my leasure. I will get all I need and more if I choose. I offer you a chance to live. Your last chance to live. Tell me what I need to know. I WILL get it anyway. I want to find the one who committed this murder. You see, you didn't get anywhere because only a demon can tear people apart like that. And only I, among all your officers here, can hope to best my own kind." Her voice was still sultry sweet, it touched the parts of the mind that felt a great desire for pleasing and pleasure in strange combination with the incredible pain that raged from the wound.

He was frozen, helpless as she cut open his face. He could feel her playing under the skin, the pain blinding him...and yet, he couldn't move. Spiders crawled from his ears, and made their way down his back to lay eggs in his anus. His parents screamed as they were flayed in front of him, big strips of skin thrown into a pyre of flame, the smell of burning flesh gagging him. His testicles were frozen, then crushed by a sledge hammer. He realized he was also terribly excited for some reason, and the hardness in his trousers gave witness to his erotic thoughts.

"Ok...OK...I'll tell you everything, PLEASE, no more...I'll give you everything PLEASE!" The big detective began to weep like a child.

"There isn't much left, anymore...I had orders to bury this case, and bury it deep. I...we...destroyed the file, and the evidence...I was just following orders!" Collucci was crying openly now, tears streaming down his face to mix with the snot running from his nose.

"Sherbull just got unlucky...they needed the hearts of a mother and daughter, and Sherbull was in the wrong place at the wrong time, is all..."

As the memory flooded back to him, Collucci spit the details out.

"They...died painfully, and...they were used first. The little girl was passed around...I...I...tried to do my job, but they told me to make this go away, or they would make me and my family...the next Sherbulls."

The smell of food fills the and her stomach rumbles. Straightening her slightly ripped red t-shirt and her tattered blue jeans, she enters the soup kitchen.

Elwin noticed the young girl the moment she came in, because her eyes were a mirror reflection of his own. She had a haunted look about her, as if she was carrying a painful burden. He knew this immediately, and his honed reflexes caused him to leap into action. Leaving Demanis at the table, Elwin tightened his apron, lifted his ladle in the air, and did what the Soupman does:

"Evenin', young miss...you look like you've seen a ghost! Come on over here, and I'll fix you up with a big bowl of vegetable soup...that'll fix what ails you...!"

Shandaril retracted the claw and stopped the teasing pleasure. She ran her unclawed finger along the wound, one last bit of pain before the injury sealed up. "And who are THEY, Detective?"

Shandaril retracted the claw and stopped the teasing pleasure. She ran her unclawed finger along the wound, one last bit of pain before the injury sealed up. "And who are THEY, Detective?"

The detective gulped air, drowning in his fear. The tightness in his chest was growing, and a sharp pain lanced down his arm. Oh goddamnit NO! thought Collucci, falling to one knee. He couldn't breathe, and spots were clouding his vision. A vice was crushing his chest now, and he realized with certainty that he was having a massive heart attack. He fell to the ground, his face beginning to turn blue. I'm dying, he thought with sudden clarity, and with great effort, he tried to save his eternal soul.

"There are things...in...sewers. The leader...calls himself...Kain." The room went dark, and Collucci whispered his last words.

"The Forgotten..."

Shandaril watched coldly as the man died, regretting only that his life force was leaking away. Had she known he would have died anyway she could have at least fed herself. Then the man would have at least died in ecstasy rather than pain. But she had what she had come for and so after his final breath she became invisible, walked through the door and returned to the mission. before arriving she stepped into an alley and became visible as the beautiful woman she prefered. Then she entered the eating area and approached Demanis. "I have some information at least, I can't get anymore as the man expired. Typical. Dying on me before I get my fill."

"Evenin', young miss...you look like you've seen a ghost! Come on over here, and I'll fix you up with a big bowl of vegetable soup...that'll fix what ails you...!"
"Thank you sir." The girl takes the bowl and sits at a nearby table. She quickly begins to inhale the soup. She soon stops, coughing and gaspng for air.

Elwin watched proudly as the girl wolfed down his blend of carrots, celery, broccoli, potatoes and onions in a chicken broth. The Soupman cometh. She ate so quickly that she almost gagged. Elwin approached her, shaking his head.

"Easy now, Missy, there's plenty more where that came from." He sat down across from her, wiping his hands on his apron. He stuck his hand out, a smile on his used face.

"My name is Elwin...folks call me the Soupman." He looked into the young woman's eyes, and saw nothing but fear...haunting, chilling fear.

Demanis leaned forward. "Expired?", he hissed in a low tone, "You killed him?"

Shandaril smirked, "Did I say I killed him?", she asked out loud, not caring if she was heard, "I said he expired. He grabbed his chest and gave me some information before he died."

"He had a heart attack", Demanis said, "did you call for help for him?"

"What do I care if he died. He knew all along what happened to Elwin's family and buried the whole thing."

Demanis sat back and absorbed this before leaning forward again. "He told you something else thought?"

"He said", she told him and suddenly the desperate whispering voice of the detective issued from her lips, "There are things...in...sewers. The leader...calls himself...Kain."
"The Forgotten...", then switching back to her own voice said, "That was all he had time to say."

Demanis sat back again as he took in the information.

The girl looks back at the man's smiling face. She is about to smile back when it strikes her-

...drive my claws into his face...

"I don't have claws, she reminds herself quietly before putting her own hand into Elwin's. "It's nice to meet you, Elwin the soupman. My name is Simone."

"Nope, you certainly don't have claws, m'dear," Elwin replied, taking her hand. It was cold, dry and the Soupman had to repress a shiver as he released it. Leaning over to the counter, he grabbed a loaf of bread and a knife, and began to cut a thick slice for the girl. Simone looked emaciated, and Elwin did what he did best: he fed the hungry.

"Here, now have yerself some of this...g'wan, dip it in the soup!" Elwin urged the hungry waif. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the beautiful companion of that Demanis character was back, though Elwin had not seen her enter the door. They were engaged in conversation, and the black-skinned man did not seem pleased. He wondered it if it had something to do with the questions Demanis had asked earlier.

Turning back to the girl, he found she had finished her soup. Smiling with satisfaction, Elwin stood up and refilled her bowl from the big vat, and returned it to Simone.

"Bon apetit, l'il lady. I haven't seen you around before...you from the city?"

Demanis made his decision and stood up. "We'll check out the sewers then, if we have to we'll bring in help. Let's see what we can find out first."

Shandaril was wondering when the fun would start. She had fought her own kind for millenia, both in the prime material plane and in the Abyss. She followed Demanis as he headed toward the door.

"Bon apetit, l'il lady. I haven't seen you around before...you from the city?"
"No," Simone watches as Elwin turns and walks away. Looking down at her food, she smiles. She speaks to herself, "No one's taken of me since mom-"

I wake up and mother is spralled out on the carpet. Blood stains spatter the walls. Father gurgles, "Go, before it comes back," as he falls next to her...

Kill.

Shaking her head, Simone begins to eat again. "I haven't eaten this well since Halloween when I went around and everyone thought I was in costume-"

A pale-faced man invites a few kids into his house, saying there's a party. Curious, I walk over to thr window and... all goes dark. I wake up staring at a pale-faced head who stares back with sightless eyes. The kids are there, screaming...

KILL!

Suddenly, a thin, black chain with a dagger on the end of it shoots from Simone's side. It makes a hissing beeline for Elwin's neck.

"No!" Simone screams and the chain stops, it's blade centimeters away from Elwin. With an angry snap, it puls back into Simone's side. She stands quickly, knocking over her chair and shoves through the speachless people in a rush to get to the door.

Catching the movement out of the corner of her eye Shandaril touches Demanis arm, stopping him. "Perhaps we don't need to look any further", she says as she steps into the doorway blocking Simone.

Simone stops short as Shandaril apears in the doorway. "Let me past! It's coming!" Pleadingly she meets the abnormally beutifull womens eyes, "Please, if I don't run, everyone in this room will die!"

"Running won't help. Let it come." She said with an icy calmness that brought chills to the spine.

As the black dagger shot towards Elwin, he smiled, calmness infusing his spirit. If he were to die now, he would finally be reunited with his family. He was almost disappointed when the sharpened blade stopped short. The girl bolted from her chair, running towards the entrance, only to be stopped by Demanis and his companion. Elwin ran over, brandishing his soup ladle like the Hammer of Thor.

"Now, now...just leave the young lady alone, y'hear?"

"The young lady may be able to provide some answers as to what happened to your family. She obviously is or is possessed by something. And we may be able to help her if it's a matter of possession." Demanis replied calmly, although summon a shield of invisible magical energy to protect him.

He hoped Shandaril was up to the task because he was certainly no warrior and had limited magical attack and defense capability. His speciality was information gathering and infultration, that's what most of his magic was geared toward. He looked nerviously at Shandaril and shuddered at the cold dead stare that she gave the young woman. Shan, frankly, scared him. He questioned Laura's taking her in, but then he and Aveius and others were all questioned as well. She had a habit of finding the odd, the misguided and the castoffs of society and bringing out the best in them, but Shandaril was another question entirely. Her demonic blood wasn't just a matter of upbringing or altering into another species, it was a part of what she was. He then looked back at Elwin, "It's that or we spend who knows how long searching the sewers."

Elwin looked from Demanis to Simone, and nodded slowly. There were powers at work here that were beyond his ken, so he decided to leave it to those who were better suited to the task...such as Demanis and his lovely companion. He backed up a step, ready to intervene if necessary, his ladle held at the ready.

"You don't want to be going in the sewers, Mr.Demanis, sir...only death in there now...and the Forgotten..."

Elwin looked around, nervous at uttering the name aloud.

Demanis looked at Elwin. "Well apparently it's these denizens that were responsible. What, exactly, are the forgotten?"

Elwin shrunk back from his questioning...one does not speak of the Forgotten out loud. Gesturing with his finger, the Soupman indicated that they should step out of earshot of the street-people around them. He looked around before replying.

"Well, the Forgotten are...a gang, I guess...or a cult. Not much is known, except that if you step in the wrong place, you belong to them. They protect the streets...they are either heros or villains, depending on who you talk to..."

Elwin paused, looking around nervously.

"They say that the Forgotten are cannibals, and drink the blood of their enemies. They follow a tough who calls himself "Kain"...some say they ain't human at all!"

The Soupman grabbed Demanis' sleeve, speaking quickly.

"You can't find 'em if'n they don't wanna be found...and if they want you, they'll find you..."

"Well then", Shandaril replied, still eyeing the young woman, "then this will be easy. We simply get them to want us and they come." Her laugh was musical but cold as the grave. "Then we destroy enough of them to attain the interest of thier leader."

"Shan, I don't think that's a good plan", Demanis said nervously. "I'm an information gatherer, not a fighter. That was Aviues' department."

"Well HE is not HERE", she said lightly, "and YOU are. Show some backbone, it's not like we can be killed."

"Ahh, YOU can't be killed. -I- can." he replied.

"Oh yes, I forget how delicate you mortals are." she replied lightly. "But we came here to investigate.

"Precisely", he said, "INVESTIGATE, not ENGAGE. We can gather some others."

Shandaril sighed and goaded him, "The cute, quick one would take immeditate action. Are you saying that SHE'S more of a man than YOU are?"

It was a tactic, Demanis knew, designed to get a rise out of him. And he knew she was doing it intentionally. And he couldn't help himself. "Fine", he said, "let's check out the girl then form a plan to attract thier attention."

"Just let me-" Simone is cut short as an unseen force sends her flying into a wall. She slides down it slowly as everything goes dark...

The transformation begins between her shoulder blades were a single plate of black metal appears. From out of this plate slide new plates and from them, more new plates. The plates wrap down her arms and cover her hands with clawed guantlets. They move upward, around Simone's increasingly pale face. A black face place swings down, concealing the face and ending the trasformation. The being stands, still the height of the fifteen year old Simone.

"Foolish child, you should know you can't contain me," from behind the black face plate, a sinister voice hisses.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Elwin watched as the young girl was first flung against the wall by an unseen force, then transformed into...this...armored horror from Hell. Elwin suddenly found himself leaping at the creature, his ladle swinging in the air, a blood-curdling squeek escaping from his lips. He was the Soupman, and he had a duty to feed and protect the homeless. This monster was in HIS home, threatening HIS people, and while Elwin Sherbull might get pushed around, NOBODY messes with the Soupman!

He slammed into the creatures metallic shoulder, immediately knocking himself unconcious. He slid to the floor in a heap. The armored-beast didn't seem to notice anything had happened.

Shandaril smiled at the creature, her skin changing to an irridescent blue, her tail emerging, razor sharp with spike, eyes becoming golden yellow and catlike while long sharp claws emerged from her fingers. "Much better", she said as she prepared for yet another battle.

Demanis backed away calling to mind what few offensive spells he had. He knew this was a bad idea and wished that the others were here.

"Do you mean to fight me?" the demon's hissing voice sounds almost amused, "Perhaps I should inform you of what I can do."

From its body, chains streak out. They wind around Shandaril and, simply by turning, the demon whips her into the giant soup pot in the back of the room. The demon steps tword her, the chains retracting into its body and each of its razor claws growing to the length of a katana.

"Pathetic", Shandaril replies as she steps unharmed from her position, "I've known imps that can do more than that." Lightening fast she dances in, her claws slashing deeply across the legs of the demon along the back of it's knees then dancing quickly away, laughing, this time prepared for the chainlike extensions.

"And I've known mortals who where faster," the demons hisses as numerous shallow cuts open up on Shandaril's face. "You are obviously completly unaware of what I am. I am the Shadowblade, the cursed weapon given to great theif Gorjan. I took over his body and was passed through his blood line for generations. I have seen countless centuries of life and am not something that will be taken down by some pathetic sub-devil."

Shandaril smiled as the wounds healed instantly. "Hardly sub, even for half", she slipped in again leaving numrous bloody marks than danced aside as bolts of energy shot from Demanis outstretched hands impacting against the creature. "So are you responsible for the death of this man's family?"

"I don't pay that much attention to my victims," Shadowblade hisses, "I wouldn't remember if I his family was amung them."

Whatever it was wasn't demonic in nature. Demon's loved taking responsibility for thier wonten acts of murder and kept careful track. She couldn't afford to spend much time with this if she still had a fight ahead of her. She stood ready to fight, but wanted to get on with this investigation to face the opponent she truly needed. The longer she was away from the safe haven of Dragonsreach the more likely her enemies in the abyss would be to find her.

He crawled from the abyss of darkness into the light of day. Elwin shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs, not quite sure where he was. A black claw flashed by his face, and it all came rushing back to him: he was in Hell.

The two creatures danced and darted in front of him, moving too quickly for the eye to truly follow. Elwin hoped the good guy would eventually win...whoever that might be. On his hands and knees, he made his way to the kitchen, looking for something to protect himself with. Obviously, this had gone beyond a ladle...the Soupman needed more. Smiling, he slid a wickedly sharp butcher's knife off the table in front of him. He grabbed a small pot of boiling beef broth in the other hand.

Standing up, he stepped determinedly back into the fray.

Shandaril coninued the battle, hoping to end it before she attracted to many others from the depths of hell. Whatever it was, it was more along the lines of the greater devils than any of the common demons. Not that she hadn't faced the devils before, but it certainly called for more trickery than brute force and so far she had yet to find a weakness. None of the normal ways worked. If an answer wasn't found soon they would be having alot more company.

Somehow, he was able to approach the nightmarish creature from behind. Summoning all the powers of the Soupman, and all the Soupmen that came before him, he screamed a challenge at the foul demon. The great beast paused in it's battle, and turned it's big head toward him. Elwin flung the pot of boiling soup at the monsters face, the pot bouncing off of it with a metallic "clang", steaming hot beef broth burning into its eyes.

Demanis let loose another barage of energy as Shandaril, laughing merrily cut into the creature, now lashing at it's face with her razor barbed tail as well.

The demon lets out a bellowing laugh that turns into a girl's scream as the armor retracts. Simone sobs as she clutches her bunt and bleeding face.

Shandaril continues her attack when suddenly Demanis grabs her. "STOP SHAN!"

Shandaril looks at him, "That is no mere child, FOOL!"

On the rooftop of a building across the street from the soup kitchen, a pillar of thick fog surges up. It quickly fades, leaving behind a man in a white cloak. The left side of his face is dominated by a diagonal scar and his left eye is milky blue. Around his neck is a slowly spinning crystal and at his side hangs a katana.

"Two for the price of one," he mutters, his left eye gleaming.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Simone looks up, the boils and slashes on her face quickly healing.

"Why won't you just let me die?!" She wails.

Run!

"What?" Simone is visibly confused by the voice's command, "You want me to r-"

RUN NOW!!!

It is then that the front windows shatter as the door is blown in by a concussive blast of white light.

Elwin went flying, the concussive force of the blast lifting him into the air, throwing him bodily into the wall. For the second time in as many minutes, the Soupman fell unconcious, tumbling to the floor in a heap.

Demanis was thrown forcefully to the floor, his skin cut by the shattering glass. Shandaril turned calmly toward the new attack, the force of it seeming to affect her very little as she strode toward the door.

Simone is sprawled out like a rag doll, unmoving, as light continues to poor through the doorway. Three throwing stars, seeingly out of nowhere, burry themselves in Shandaril's face. The light dims and the white cloaked man enters. He smiles sadisticly at Shandaril before his eyes drift to Simone and Demanis.

"Well, well, well, how many Hellspawn can you fit in a soup kitchen?"

The throwing stars vanished and her wounds healed as she said, "Including you?"

(OOC: Is this man some kind of holy warrior?)

(ooc: More like a holy assassin with a few perks. I'll fill in the details as we go on)

IC:
The man moves with impossible speed, slaming Shandaril into a wall.

"How dare you acuse me of being one of you filth," the man's hand drifts to his katana. He tenses for a moment and dives to the side as a huge black sythe blade crashes into the floor where he had just been.

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"That false eye, the hatred tword demons," Shadowblade lists as the blade pulls back into it. "You must be Talshi. I've heard a lot about you."

Shandaril keeps her feet but realizes that this opponent is far more dangerous to her than the shadowblade. She prepares herself for the next attack calling on all her dark powers.

Demanis gets slowly to his feet, woozy from the pain and loss of blood. He tries to focus his mind, attempting to bring his spells to bear, but they come slowly. Unfortunetly he's only a dark elf, not a demon spawn.

"And you must be Shadowblade." Talshiturns to face the armored demon. "You're the reason I'm here. I'd like to ask you a few questions before I exterminate you."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"And what if I don't want to answer questions?" Shadowblade's claws once again grow to katana length.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Talshi shrugs, reaching into his cloak. He pulls out a golden marble and lobs it at Shadowblade's face plate. Another blast of white light shakes the room.

Shandaril looked at the badly wounded Demanis and then at the two adversarys. This wasn't her fight, she was here to find the one responsible for the man's family being killed. She could tell the white man was not the one, he had a holy aura about him. The other though was a different story, could it be the one? But the detective had said the sewers, the forgotten and Kain was mentioned. That didn't fit with any of these people. So she made up her mind, she lifted Demanis and carried toward the door.

He wobbled back to the real world, the gray haze slowly lifting from his eyes. Elwin saw that even more people were now fighting, a newcomer taking the place of Shandaril, who was helping Demanis out the back door. Seeing that all the other transients and street-people had fled, the Soupman crawled across the floor to where the young girl lay, moaning in obvious pain. He grabbed her by the thin material of her jacket, and dragged her to the door. Elwin called to Demanis.

"Wait! You can't leave us...her...here alone with those monsters! Please...help the girl, at least..." Elwin pleaded with the two powerful beings.

Shandaril looked back at Elwin. "Human's, so dense. She's more than you realize and better off dead."

Demanis struggled a bit in Shandaril's arms, "put me down, grab the girl."

"Are you both that thick headed? What do I care what happens to a possessed child?"

"If you don't then I'm staying", he replied.

"Then you'll die"

"Yes, and you'll have to explain to Laura what happened." he said.

Shandaril glared at Demanis who winced but held firm. Finally Shandaril strode back, grabbing the girl in one hand and Elwin in the other. "Just in case you get any other stupid ideas", she said to Demanis on her way out. Stumbling behind her Demanis followed.

Elwin was dragged along like a child, unable to shake himself free of Shandaril's grip. He bumped along painfully as the four left the building, scraping the flesh off his hands and knees. The girl was getting the same treatment, but at least she was mercifully unconcious.

Talshi was completly unaware of the group as they left for, in the instant between when the light faded and when Shadowblade retreated back into the girl, he had glimpsed the demons eyes.

The same red eyes that shown with glee as the beast's claw ripped across his face. The same red eyes that had been above the mouth that bit into Felicia's heart. The same red eyes that he had sworn to hunt until death finally let him see his fiance again.


"It was you who murdered my beloved Felicia!" Talshi shouts. Then he becomes aware of the fact that no one remains in the room. He angrly stomed out of the soup kitchen, following the trail of human and dark elf blood.

Demanis had already rented a room and led them through alley's to a nearby motel where he fumbled with the key but finally unlocked the door. Simone and Elwin got unmercifully dumped on one of the two beds before she shoved Demanis onto the other. "Rest", she told him simply, changing back into the beautiful woman aspect of her being. Even though Elwin had seen what she could become, the allure was almost unbearable. Demanis crawled up a bit further on the bed and was almost instantly asleep, while Shandaril moved to the window by the door and just stood in the twilight darkness, unmoving and watching.

As he bounced on the lumpy bed, Elwin saw Shandaril turn back into the exquisite creature that stood before him now. He wished desperately that she was bouncing on the bed with him, despite that fact she could turn into a demon beast from Hell. Elwin checked the unconcious form of the girl, who was deeply asleep. She seemed to be ok, and Elwin covered her with a blanket before stepping over to Demanis.

"What...what the heck happened back there? Who are you people??" he asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the girl.

"What do we do with...her?" said Elwin, pointing at the young girl.

"Kill her", came Shandaril's quick reply from near the window.

Demanis opened an eye, his skin had gone from a glossy black to dull black as he said weakly, "She needs more help than we give her here", and as he tried to say more he had a coughing fit that resulted in blood on the pillow he had tucked under his head.

"Kill her", came Shandaril's quick reply from near the window.

Demanis opened an eye, his skin had gone from a glossy black to dull black as he said weakly, "She needs more help than we give her here", and as he tried to say more he had a coughing fit that resulted in blood on the pillow he had tucked under his head.

Elwin ignored the comment, more concerned with the welfare of Demanis, who seemed to be in great distress. He felt helpless, no soup available to offer. Walking over, he pulled a blanket over the man, and touched his forehead, searching for fever. The skin was deathly cold to the touch. Then, he realized the danger the girl was in, and stood boldly in front of Shandaril, his eyes in line with her very ample breasts. His head felt foggy suddenly, and he almost forgot what he was going to say. Then he saw the girl out of the corner of his eye, and remembered.

"You...you can't kill this child! That would be too easy...can't you use yer powers to help her?"

"And you think you can stop me?" she chuckled. "I can't help her." She turned from him looking back out the window. "I can only destroy." she said, and voice was tinged with saddness.

Demanis slid his hand beneath the covers as the two conversed and felt the shard of glass that had penetrated below the rib cage. He knew enough to know that it was not in a good spot, but this place seemed to have no priests, and even if it did they wouldn't necessarily help a drow.

Rat had heard the explosion behind him, coming from the direction of the soup kitchen. It was then he noticed that the girls singing had stopped. He turned and ran back towards the shelter, drawn by the possibility of action. He arrived quickly, noting that the front wall had been blown in. Rat approached the building, looking in. He was bowled over by a man in a white cloak, who hurried past him.

"Hey...HEY! Yo, hey, whatsyer hurry?" he called, as he scurried after the large, cloaked man.

"I can only destroy." she said, and voice was tinged with saddness.


"Well, I don't much believe that for a minute...you can do anything you want. If you think you can't, then yer just a stinkin' quitter. Quitter's are weak, and yer much stronger than that." Elwin stared into her eyes now, defying Shandaril to prove him wrong. She was deadly to look at, even in her beautiful form, and he hesitated for a moment. The power of the Soupman flared in him suddenly, and he found the strength to carry on.

"Now, use yer hocus-pocus to do some good, or get the heck outta my way, girl: yer friend needs help." Elwin turned back to Demanis, noticing his obvious discomfort. He approached him cautiously.

"Uhm, Mr.Demanis, sir...if I can help ya, please tell me...I was a medic for three years, and I can't stand to see ya hurting...sir."

Elwin suddenly found himself against the wall, held in place by the seemingly frail woman with one hand. "Quitter? I've spent millenia in the abyss fighting the very creatures that tormented my father. I killed the being that was my mother. I have done more against demons than the entire clergy of Dragonsreach combined and you DARE question me?"

Demanis had never known Shandaril's past, he never knew why Laura took her in, but now he understood. "Shan", he said weakly, "Please, I need his help."

Shandaril let Elwin down slowly then returned to the window.

"There's a large shard of glass just under my rib cage. Ferranifer could tell you exactly where but I don't know anatomy."

"Hey...HEY! Yo, hey, whatsyer hurry?" he called, as he scurried after the large, cloaked man.
Talshi never liked mortals, so he pays this one no head as hurries off in search of his escaped quarry.

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Simone's dreams are full of Shadowblade recounting the tales it has heard about Talshi.

He once destoryed an orphanage to kill a demon who had done nothing wrong... He took on a familly of Gorgans and left with the mother's eye...

Simone wakes with a start. Shegets out of the bed and notices Elwin and Demanis. Demanis looks pretty badly injured.

"Exuse me, I think can help."

Shandaril looks at the girl. "I'm sure you could", she said, "but if was death he wanted I could at least give him a pleasing one."

Demanis looked at the girl, not sure of what she was about. The thing she contained was powerful. Shandaril would have her hands full but he was sure she could keep it occupied. What worried him most was that soon the demons would come for Shan, and they didn't care who got in the way. "I don't know", he said. "What is that which possesses you?"

Elwin was happy to see Simone up and around, and smiled at her. His back was throbbing, the result of being thrown against the wall by Shan. He also had a small cut on his head, which oozed blood. He looked at her again, gorgeous and deadly, and wished he could make her understand. Life was about choices...we are who we decide to be. Well, if he lived through this, Elwin decided to have a bowl of soup or two with Shandaril, and talk about the meaning of life.

In the meantime, he had lifted Demanis' cover, and noticed a large, jagged piece of glass imbedded in-between the 4th and 5th rib. At least, the ribs would be there on a human. Not much blood was leaking from the wound, but that could change if the glass was removed. Simone came to stand by his side, offering to help Demanis.

Elwin stood aside to let her look at the wound. He leaned over to watch her, and as he did, a few drops of blood from his own head-injury dripped, falling and landing on Demanis' cheek, dripping onto his lips. Elwin noticed, and apologising, bent to clean up his mess.

Demanis shrugged one should slowly and shallowly. "Not the first time I've bled on been bled on", he mumbled, "his eyes starting to slide closed. I'm going to take a rest Shan."

"Alright, I'll wake you later. You better not die on me, Laura will have my ass."

Elwin looked from Demanis to Shandaril. Usually, he would try and keep an injured person awake...but the man in front of him was far from usual. Maybe this was his way of healing himself? No matter, the huge shard of glass had to come out. Rolling up his sleeves, he called over his shoulder.

"Get me some hot water, and rip up a sheet for rags. I'm taking the glass out." Elwin said, examining the position of the glass. He could only guess at how much of it was actually in Demanis, but based on the shape of the shard, it should only be a few inches...hopefully, it had a clean edge as well. Elwin didn't want to cause more damage when taking it out.

Assuming that Elwin wasn't talking to her, Shandaril continued to whatch out the window. "Our friend is coming, he's getting closer."

Friend? What friend? Oh no...the man in white? Elwin was wrapping a hastily torn pillowcase around his hands, so that he wouldn't be cut by the glass shard as he removed it from Demanis' side. Simone stood beside him, mute, staring and unresponsive, and Shan was looking out the window. Clearing his throat loudly in her direction, Elwin called out to her.

"Hey, a little help here? Simone is a zombie, and I need some help with your friend...hot water and towels would be helpful." he turned and gripped the large shard gingerly, seeing Demanis wince lightly. He looked back, seeing that Shan was still at the window.

"Well, I guess it's more important to try and destroy something than save something, right? If you have to confront your white-cloaked "friend", why don't you try talkng to him instead of just turning into a monster and ripping his fraggin' throat out??"

Without waiting for her reply, Elwin gripped the glass a little harder, and slowly began to slide it out of Demanis.

"I didn't start that fight", Shandaril replied as she walked over to the other bed and begin ripping the sheets with ease. Once she was finished she looked around, "Where's your well?"

"Use...the...tap!" Elwin grunted, delicately trying to dislodge the glass. "Like I said before, lady...your destiny is up to you. He may have started the fight, but you can finish it...HOW you finish it is your choice."

Almost the same words Laura used. She still struggled with the how, millenia of struggle and a demon's natural want for destruction still extremely strong. "I have no idea what you mean by....tap." she said, "here." She set the bowl down, though somehow it was now filled with water and placed her hand it, bringing it quickly to a boil, then returned to the window.

The glass shard was much deeper than Elwin had originally thought, and it was obvious that something vital was most likely injured in the man's body.

It was deep, so much deeper than he thought. In a human, the spleen would have been sliced through, as well as massive damage to the lower lung, intestines and...and...Elwin shook his head, knowing that the creature, by all rights, should be dead now. Taking the glass out further, without a full surgical team and operating room, would only make things worse. Gingerly, he snapped the protuding edges of the big shard, until only a small piece jutted from Demanis' side.

"Listen miss, we need to get Mr.Demanis here to a real doctor...I can't do much more for him...and I think he's dying." Elwin walked over to the towering woman, looking up at her in admiration.

"You...you HAVE to be able to do something...fix him, or whisk him to another dimension or something...don't let him die. Please." Elwin would fight death to the very end. It had taken his wife and daughter without a battle, but he would be damned if he would let Demanis go without one.

She looked at the man inquisitively. "You don't even know him, why should you care?" and she seemed genuinly perplexed. "But to answer your question I know of only three places I could take him. One wouldn't care, one would kill us instantly and the only haven either of us have is Dragonsreach, and Kern seems to be closed off from us right now. I've tried. You see, as I'm using my power then I'm attracting the attentions of demons, and they're not pleased with the fact that I'm alive despite thier best efforts. So if I don't get out of here soon, or at least have the luxary of banking my powers so as to be undetectable then we're going to have alot more trouble than you can fathom. As for a doctor" she shrugged, "A drows anatomy is different from yours. I doubt they would be able to do anything."

She looked at the man inquisitively. "You don't even know him, why should you care?" and she seemed genuinly perplexed. "But to answer your question I know of only three places I could take him. One wouldn't care, one would kill us instantly and the only haven either of us have is Dragonsreach, and Kern seems to be closed off from us right now. I've tried. You see, as I'm using my power then I'm attracting the attentions of demons, and they're not pleased with the fact that I'm alive despite thier best efforts. So if I don't get out of here soon, or at least have the luxary of banking my powers so as to be undetectable then we're going to have alot more trouble than you can fathom. As for a doctor" she shrugged, "A drows anatomy is different from yours. I doubt they would be able to do anything."

"I care because I still can. You should try it some time." Elwin was confused by the her words, but he did understand the sound of someone giving up. Anger rose in him, his face reddening, and the dread power of the Soupman lurked in the shadows. He restrained himself, and looked back at Demanis. For a man with night-black skin, he was looking deathly pale.

"If you can't help him, then I must. Just tell me what to do," Elwin whispered, his voice breaking, "just tell me what to do. Please."

She looked at Elwin, then at Demanis. 'I've never tried to SAVE anyone before', she said out loud, obviously not realising what she was saying. Intentionally out loud she said "I know his anatomy, but I don't know what to do."

She looked at Elwin, then at Demanis. 'I've never tried to SAVE anyone before', she said out loud, obviously not realising what she was saying. Intentionally out loud she said "I know his anatomy, but I don't know what to do."

Elwin thought quickly. Nothing came to him. He thought some more. Suddenly, he had a plan. No, actually he didn't. He was stumped. He looked at Shan.

"I'm suspecting you don't know how to draw a picture, if you have problems with taps. Tell me, what's in here...here...and here?" Elwin asked, pointing at different locations. He looked back at Shan...she was beautiful, deadly and useless as crackers in a good soup.

"Well from what I can see his thernic is most likely severed. The intestine is probably ruptured, at least, and it was at least close to his heart. I would guess it didn't penetrate or there would be alot more bleeding around the wound. If it does, don't worry. The blood flow will stop and the other heart can sustain him. The biggest problem would be the thernic, if he loses that then he has nothing to cleanse the blood. The next would be the intestine, it could leak into the body and cause infection. But he could also lose alot to internal bleeding if the thernic was cut."

Suddenly, chains uncoil from Simone. Unlike the earlier razor chains of death, however, these chains end in blade "hands" of various sizes. Simone's mouth opens, but is Shadowblade's voice that come out.

"Move, I can help him."

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Talshi was close... He knew he was close...

Shandaril cocks an eyebrow but steps aside. She was certainly in no better position to help than the creature that possessed the child. "Why do you possess her? Can you not survive without a host?" Her tone was neutral, not challenging. And she wondered why she even asked. After all, what did she care?

Elwin was trying to ignore the continued weirdness around him, and continued to tend to Demanis' wounds. When Simone unfurled her chain-hands, and Shandaril did not object, the Soupman backed away, letting the two mystical creatures do whatever it was they had to do...this was all becoming a bit much for the slight man.

He went to look out the window where Shan had been a moment before, and saw in the distance a flash of white...the Hunter! He looked at the women, engrossed in their conversation. He realized that they needed time to do what they needed, and Elwin would get them that time. He climbed out the window, using the fire escape to descend quickly to ground level. He started walking towards the adversary, reaching behind him to unsheathe his trusty soup ladle. Making sure his apron was straight, and asking the Gods of Beef n' Barley to fortify him, Elwin stopped twenty paces from the large man with the snow-white cloak.

"By the power of the Soupman, I command thee to HALT!" yelled Elwin, waving his ladle with menace.

Shandaril was keeping track of the man in white, but was not keeping track of Elwin. When his shout arouse she looked toward the window. The man was a holy fighter of some sort. With luck he'll simply ignore Elwin, or at least make the encounter only unpleasant rather than lethal.

Shadowblade's chains wrap around Demanis, binding him to the bed. One chain rises over the Dark Elf's chest, at it's tip forms a long, slender needle.

"Keep Talshi back," is all the possesed girl says before the needle plunges into Demanis' flesh.

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Talshi's eyes narrow. Foolishness like this is the reason mortals irritate him so much. Putting a hand on his katana, he shouts back to Elwin. "By the power of the Sacred Moon, I, Talshi the Omnipotent, comand you to stand down. Your failer to do so will be considered defiance and none who defy die plesantly.

"Now there's one difference between us", the beautiful woman replied stepping from nowhere, "when a man dies to me it's normally in the throws of passion and they die in the greatest pleasure they have ever known."

When the man in white spoke, Elwin nearly wet himself. Still, despite his fear, he did not give any ground. He had lost his fear of death long ago, and while he wasn't a big fan of pain, he wasn't a coward. He swung his soup ladle in a crude figure-eight, trying to look deadly. When Shandaril appeared beside him, he let out a sigh of relief, thankful for the deadly shape-changers presence.

"Your defiance has been noted." Tightening his grip on his katana, Talshi lunges forward... and disapears. For a couple instants, there is the sound of a woman singing and the Talshi reapears behind Elwin and Shandaril. A deep cut opens on Shandaril's chest while the top of the ladle seperates from the handle and clatters to the ground.

Talshi is grabbed from behind, the woman's taloned hands cutting into his back easily as she thrusts forward and grabs his heart. At her attack the phantasm disappears to be replaced by three others, these more solid and deadly than the decoy.

The hand in Talshi's back melts away the instant it enters his body. He turns, the hole in his back healing and addresses the real Shandaril.

"You obviously have no idea what you're dealing with. I am an Omnipotent, a human given imortality through the blessing of the Sacred Moon. My very blood is purity, no demon can touch it. Besides, I no longer have any use for my organs. And as to these illusions, pearl the serves as my left eye allows me to see in levels of dark energy, you stick out like purple paint in a grey scale."

The other three begin to tear at Talshi, being demi shadows and not completely illusion. The claws tearing at his flesh.
Shandaril looks at her newly healed hand, "And I'm not completely demon", she replies, and disappears with Elwin, leaving the demi shadows to fight Talshi.

In the room she appears with Elwin, "We don't have much time.", she says to the little girl.

It all happened too fast for the Soupman: one moment, he was facing the enemy, resolute and ready to rumble. The next moment, he was back in the small, dingy room, half a ladle in his hand. He looked at it with sadness...it had been a good ladle, and had served many a scoop of chicken vegetable soup to the hungry. He tossed it to the corner as Shandaril told Simone to hurry. Elwin rushed to the window, and was shocked to see no sign of the man in white.

"Uhm, Shan...I think we're in trouble..."

"This isn't trouble, you should been there for the demon scourge from the abyss. Thousands poured through the opening to our world. The free corps held them long enough but THAT was trouble. This is a nuasance. But remember Elwin, he's GOOD, I'M evil. Funny how things work isn't it? What's the line between good and evil and is it as clearly defined as you had once thought?" Shandaril looked at the girl expectantly while the shadow duplicates fought the holy man.

Now was not the time to consider good, evil or how the Yankee's were doing this year...but Shan had a point, and he thought about her words as he watched her duplicates battle the man in white. All Elwin knew was that Demanis wanted to find the killers who murdered the Soupmans family, and that was good: Shan worked for him, so by definition, she was good too. The man in white was trying to stop Simone as she worked to heal Demanis, so that was bad.

All in all, Elwin was confident that he was now fighting the good fight.

"How much more time do you need?", Shandaril asked the girl, "the longer I stay here the greater the chance of attracting more attention."

The needle pulls out of Demanis' skin.

"Done," Simone's voice calls out. "I don't know how much longer he's be unconcious, however is wounds are healed. We need to get out of here now."

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"Purify!" Talshi's booming comand is followed by an all-consuming wave of white fire. When it clears, the duplicate's are gone. Talshi advances toword the group.

"Well, well, well. Can the Hellspawn come out to play?"

"Sure", Shandaril replied, "demons coming up." With that she opened a gateway to the abyss that swallowed Talshi and then grabbed Demanins and suddenly all were in a warehouse. "We arrived here, it's about a day from where we were." She laid Demanis down and looked at Elwin, "Where are these sewers?"

He was starting to get used to transporting, and Elwin recovered quickly enough to try and answer Shan's question. Looking out a window of the old warehouse, he got his bearings and considered their location. He looked back at Shandaril and replied.

"About a block that way, there should be a maintenance door leading to the first level. Once in there, we should be able to locate the entrance to the lower levels. Are you sure you want to go in there though?" he asked, knowing that none who entered the sewers ever came out alive.

He glanced at Demanis, who seemed to be resting more comfortably than before. His black skin was regaining some lustre, and it looked like whatever Simone did had worked. He walked over to her, and put his arm around her comfortingly.

"Ya did good work, young lady. You should be proud of yerself."

"I came to do a job", Shandaril replied and it'll be done." She looked at the young girl and seemed to stumble over some words before finally get out, "Thank you". She then thought for a moment and looked at the girl again, "Care to put those to even further good use? We have some rats in the sewer."

Deep within the dankness of the sewers, voices rose up, chanting in unison. The words were unknown, the language already lost in the sands of time. The sound of their words overwhelmed the screams coming from their victims. One by one, the dark acolytes approached the bound and naked prisoners, digging their teeth into the soft flesh of the terrified victims thoat, sucking deeply and powerfully, drawing the life-blood into their own bodies.

Through this ceremony, they hoped to become like He who they followed. Their Master had told them that this was the only way to guarantee life in the coming apocolypse. He himself had taken the name of the End-Bringer, granting him great strength and black wisdom. He listened proudly as they chanted the name of He Who Claims the Living.

"Kain...Kain...Kain...KAIN!"

"Care to put those to even further good use? We have some rats in the sewer."
The voice that chuckles out of Simone's lips is Shadowblade's. "One so powerful as you is afraid of some rats?" Simone's head shakes, "We will stay, but only because you are the only one I've ever seen overcome Talshi so easily. When he comes back, and he will, it will take all of us and then some to supress him. For the time being however, I will leave the girl in control of my powers. Healing you're friend took a lot out of me."

Simone shakes her head, "Where are we?"

"Somewhere between heaven and hell", Shandaril replied, "where exactly is up to each of us." Then she headed out toward the door that Elwin spoke of.

As Shan exited, Elwin called out to her.

"Wait! What about us? You can't leave Demanis in this state, alone and unprotected...and you certainly can't go in the sewers without...well, without someone to watch yer back. We should bring him with us, that way Simone can care for him, and I can...help you."

Shandaril chuckled at Elwin. If nothing else he had spirit. On the other hand he had a point. Only the girl was here to watch over them and she didn't trust the entity that resided within her. On the other hand having a wounded man, an unarmed man and a some demonic or magical spirit that couldn't be relyed on wasn't her idea of someone watching her back. But if she left them and the holy man returned.... She looked from Elwin to Demanis to Simone, indecision written on her face. She had always been a loner, she wasn't used to making decisions like this.

He saw the indecision in her face, and Elwin was pleased: it made her look almost...human.

"Look, Demanis is lighter than he looks...I'll carry him while you keep an eye out for the nasties. Simone...well, she can tag along. After all her help, we can't just leave her here...and, she may be able to help us even more."

Elwin didn't want to think about the dank sewers, and the horrors that resided within. He had a healthy fear for the Forgotten, as any sane man would. The only thing stoking his bravery was the thought that Demanis and Shan might be able to help him find the murderers of his family, and aid in the bringing of vengeance. He looked at Shan again, trying not to think impure thoughts...virtually impossible, due to the fact that she was the most beautiful creature Elwin had ever met in his life.

Shandaril nodded, happy to have the decision made. "Then lets get going while we still have time."

Elwin led the way, Demanis tossed over his shoulder, no heavier than a large child despite his adult size. In the shadows of a shuttered building, he directed them to an unused maintenance shaft. Looking in, only darkness could be seen, and a dank, musty smell assailed their senses.

"Well, this is it: down through that tunnel, then we should be able to find an entrance to the lower levels."

Wanting to look as manly as possible in front of Shan, Elwin led the way into the darkness.

Shandaril followed Elwin inside, her eyes immediatly adjusting. As they got into the deeper darkness her eyes began to glow with an eerie red light. She could see perfectly in any light or none at all, a gift of her demonic heritage.

Simone went in after the other two. Her eyes also ajusted, Shadowblade had trully left her in control of all of its powers.

"So, what exactly are we looking for, guys?"

"Good question", Shandaril replied, "I suppose we'll know it when we see it. Assuming it doesn't rip us to shreds before we have a chance to see it." Her voice had a tone of laughter in it as she said this, yet she knew full well that it certainly could be the case with Elwin and Demanis. She doubted Simone would fall so easily and knew she wouldn't.

Simone went in after the other two. Her eyes also ajusted, Shadowblade had trully left her in control of all of its powers.

"So, what exactly are we looking for, guys?"

Elwin was thankful that Shan had taken the lead, for a number of reasons, one of which was that he was effectively blind in the darkness of the sewers. Secondly, he needed to keep his hand on Shan to prevent himself from getting lost, as she led them deeper into the dank tunnels. His hand rested on the voloptuous curve of her hip. He liked being blind at this moment.

He heard Simone's question, echoing off the wet-slicked walls.

"We are now in the domain of the Forgotten, girl: we'd do well to keep our voices down...and I'm not exactly sure why we're here either, but Demanis and Shan seem to think that the Forgotten have something to do with the murder of my family...and as you can tell, when Shan wants to do something, she does it."

They trudged on through the ooze that flowed past their feet. Demanis was light in his arms, and Elwin could hear him breathing comfortably. He hoped the drow would recover soon, as he seemed to be a natural leader. They walked on, blind in the dark, until they came to a round door, rusted shut and covered in moss.

"That's it." he spoke to Shan, his hand sliding down accidently, unable to resist a slight squeeze of her firm buttock. Shan dripped sexuality, and Elwin was ashamed of himself as he usually had complete control around women.

"That'll bring us to Level 2, which no one ever goes into, unless they don't plan on getting out. Shan, think you can handle the door?"

Shandaril purred at the squeeze but then reached out for the door. The rusted metal gave to her fingers and she ripped the door off with one hand and tossed it aside, then led in.

A gust of musty, damp air swooshed out of the opening, smelling of mold, mildew and death. The sound of skittering claws told Elwin that the legends of the giant rats were true. Looking into the darkness of the stairwell, he decided that no matter what, he must not only act like a man, but also like a gentleman. Bowing low to Shandaril, he swept his arm in the direction of the door.

"After you, m'lady."

Shandaril giggled. "Lady, I haven't been called lady in ...." she actually couldn't remember if she ever had. "Well if any ever dead it was near the beginning when the demons and devils still fought across the universe, before the time of mortals. I was born to one of the first, before it was forbidden. Not that it stops any of those in the abyss, but there are ways around any bargain." Shandaril headed in, following the twists and turns of the underground, her step resolute and firm. The rats she would stop at, taking a moment to pet them in an a strange turn of kindness before continuing on.

Simone had paused at the door, looking behind her in obvious distress. Elwin took her hand, pulling her gently towards the entrance.

"C'mon, sweetheart...we gotta move. Can't stay here, y'know?" She did not resist, but she didn't really help much either. He succeeded in getting her in through the door. It was like stepping into a black pit, and he tried to have faith that his feet would find a floor, not a gaping maw of doom.

"We need light." said Elwin, to the darkness.

"Light would put us at a disabvantage", Shandaril replied. "It wouldn't be wise. If they see in darkness they can see our light and arrange an ambush, if they can't then I can see them well before they see us. If we both don't need light and have none then it's a matter of who reacts first. Not meaning to boast but I'd relay on my demonic heritage to get the edge there. Well .... okay .... So I DO mean to boast. But the facts remain the same."

He had waved them into silence the moment he beacame aware of their presence above. Intruders, heretics...meat. The large, cloaked man smiled beneath his hood, anticipating the carnage to come. He looked over the assemblage below, hundreds of acolytes, hungry for blood. Destiny was here, and soon, all would be as it should, and as it was decreed. Barking an order to the hulking creature beside him, the man known as Kain drank deeply from a silver goblet. He watched as the hunting pack was assembled, satisfied with their discipline. When all eyes were upon him, he spoke to them all.

"It has come, my children: the Destiny begins! Go now, my fearsome dogs, and bring us the meat. Bring them to me alive...except for the demon. Kill it."

Kain turned and left the dais, his personal guard close by his side.

"Light would put us at a disabvantage", Shandaril replied. "It wouldn't be wise. If they see in darkness they can see our light and arrange an ambush, if they can't then I can see them well before they see us. If we both don't need light and have none then it's a matter of who reacts first. Not meaning to boast but I'd relay on my demonic heritage to get the edge there. Well .... okay .... So I DO mean to boast. But the facts remain the same."

"Well, that doesn't really help me, does it? Listen, we need to get Demanis on his feet...he just needs a little boost." Elwin desperately wished he had some of his patented red-pepper soup...that would bring the Drow around quickly. He was effectively blind, and as he walked forward, he held his arm out in front of him. At first he thought he had hit a wall, but then Elwin realized that his hand rested on the strong shoulder of Shandaril.

She turned at his touch, and Elwin suddenly had a very firm hold of her perfect breast. He wanted to apologise and let go, but his body did not respond...well, not in the way he was asking it to. He let Demanis slide off his shoulder, landing heavily in the sludge. He watched as his other arm snaked around her waist, and drew her in close. He could smell her now, a musk so potent that all his nerves cried out in pleasure. His mouth found her long throat, standing on his toes, and he kissed her with increasing urgency. He realized he was not himself, that something was driving him to this fiery passion. He fought to regain control, but to no avail.

"The Soupman Cometh, indeed." Elwin thought to himself before letting the wave take him away.

Shandaril almost took him but knew it would kill him. Unfortunatly, just like the charm she couldn't control the draining affect her love making. He would die, though happy, but he would die none the less and she couldn't afford that right now. She pushed him away, though gently. "I don't think you would appreciate the end result", she said, "you would die. Now what is it need for Demanis?"

Her great strength was more than enough to break the hold that Elwin held on her. As if waking from a dream, the slight man shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs. Realizing that what happened was not a dream, he looked at Shan, grateful for the darkness that hid his shame.

"I...I'm so sorry, m'lady...I don't know what came over me. Uhm, I think Demanis just needs something to get him going, like smelling salts or the mystical equivalent...or a slight shock, or a dose of sugar...do you follow?"

Shandaril took a moment to gather herself. The act was delicious and she hated resisting, even though the end result for her partner might be lethal. It was as much a problem for her as it was for them, the charm. She had no idea what smelling salts were and didn't have any sugar, but shock, now that she could do. She reached down and electricity arced from her hands to Demanis. His body leaped at the electrical discharge and .... he stopped breathing. "Oops", she uttered, "well THAT didn't work."

"What have you done?" Simone freaked out when she noticed Demanis wasn't breathing. "Do something or he's gonna die!"

"I don't know what to do", Shandaril replied, "I tried what Elwin said but it didn't work."

"I don't know what to do", Shandaril replied, "I tried what Elwin said but it didn't work."

Shaking his head in frustration at the beautiful but seemingly stupid woman, Elwin failed to understand how a creature with so much power was unable to do someting as simple as help her friend. He looked at Demanis, unable to really see anything in the dark, the mans black skin obscuring things even further. Feeling with his hands, he felt Demanis' chest, feeling the slight beating. He was breathing, more steadily as time progressed. Elwin looked up at where he remembered Shan to be, and spoke quietly to her.

"You see? You CAN use your strength to do good things. Do you understand what I'm saying? You DID it, m'lady...and I always had faith that you could."

He looked back down at Demanis, who was breathing regularly. Taking a ratty pack of matches from his coat, Elwin lit one, bringing the flame close, illuminating the dark Drows face. His eyelids were fluttering, and Elwin knew he was almost there.

"Mr. Demanis? Mr. Demanis, sir? C'mon, time to wake up, buddy..." Elwin slapped the man lightly on the cheek.

"Alright, alright," Demanis mumbled, "I'll get up Aveius, just don't tell Arleena." He opened his eyes and looked up at Elwin. He seemed confused but sat up. "What happened? Where are we?" Shandaril let Elwin explain as she peered into the darkness ahead.

Some quivered in antcipation, others simply wiped the drool from their chins. They could smell them now, the meat, not far above them...warm, fresh and calling to their bloodlust. None moved from where they hid, until the word was given by the hulking creature that shuffled ahead of them. When the beast raised it's massive claw skyward, the horde disippated, skittering and scampering through the darkness, hunting their annointed prey.

Shandaril cocked her head slightly, "We're about to have guests", she said.

"What kind of guests?" Demanis asked getting slowly to his feet.

"Dinner guests", Shandaril replied.

"So thier pleasant?", Demanis asked.

"Only if you like being the main course", and with that she proceeded forward, anticipation of the bloodletting to coming coursing through her.

Elwin was so happy to see Demanis up and about that he failed to hear the dire warning in Shan's words. When he did dial in to what she was saying, his blood suddenly ran cold: they were being hunted! The dark things were coming, nightmares that were better left unspoken, let alone unseen. Elwin was weaponless, and felt very small and vulnerable. He sidled up to Shan, feeling her strong form beside his, and felt a little bit braver. He peered down the long tunnel, straining his senses, but heard nothing. This meant nothing as he had come to respect Shans mystical powers: if she said someone was coming, its because they were. He waited, the power of the Soupman a dim spark within him.

(Okay, I just have to say this. I love the power of the soup man thing, I think its great.)

Shandaril ignored the form beside her and continued, relying on her demonic senses to find the creatures the sought them. Hunter and hunted, but who was who? Demanis followed up, obviously still weak. "Shan? Don't you think we should go get some help now?"

"Yes", she replied simply, but continued deeper into the sewer.

Near a small motel, the air rippled. White fire blasted out, burning a neat little hole in reality. From out of this hole stepped Talshi.

"Shandaril will burn for this," he muttered as the hole closed behind him. "Astral wings." A pair of phantom dragon wings sprouted from his back as he lept into the air and flew of in search of his prey.

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"There's a lot of somethings coming," Simone yelled. "I think we should turn back!"

Shandaril shrugged, "Go if you wish."

Demanis stepped forward, "Shan, our job was to get information, not face them."

She turned and looked at him, "We'll have all the information we could possibly want very soon."

Like a black and musty wave they came, spilling from the ceiling and small cracks in the wall. Loping and leaping and screaming with hunger, they overwhelmed the small group with their force of numbers. In the darkness, nothing but pale limbs could be seen, and the sound of slavering, slobbering, drooling creatures echoed down the narrow tunnel. Six of the creatures fell onto Elwin, binding him and carrying him off into the darkness before the others could react. They had their hands full anyways. A handful of creatures surrounded Simone, reaching for her with mangled claws. Demanis had been forced against a wall, a dozen of the slimy beasts hemming him in. A score of creatures threw themselves at Shan, only to be repulsed, battered and broken. For every creature they would dispatch though, three more took its place and slowly, they were pushed back against the door. A horrific and chilling roar was heard, and they could feel the vibrations of something BIG coming towards them.

He smelled them before he could see them, and by the time he saw them, it was too late. Before he could even get out a muffled scream, a cold, clammy hand clamped down on his mouth and he was grabbed by many other gnarled hands, quickly hog-tied then thrown roughly over the shoulder of one of the bigger creatures. Within him, the power that was the Soupman rumbled threateningly, but failed to rise to the surface, like an over-cooked carrot. Without a ladle, the great power would lay dormant, unable to manifest itself. Elwin was frustrated, and a little scared. He was blind as they carried him deeper into the dank sewers.

Shandaril laughed with glee as she ripped into the creatures. This was something she knew. She ripped them apart as they came. When the largest one that came on registered she smiled. It was a smile as cold as ice. She continued destroying the minions, growing tired of the entertainment, anticipating the fight to come.

Demanis was weak and fading fast. His magic was geared toward information gathering, very little was self defense and he realized that he was about to lose this battle.

Simone ran, hurrying down the tunnel. She could hear the things gaining on her, though, and it seemed there would be no escape-

I left you my powers, stupid girl, use the chains! Shadowblade's voice was weak, but forceful. Simone turned and a nasty barbed chain lashed out, cutting the things to bloody ribons. Simone smiled sadisticly as more poured for her, killing these things was almost fun! She sent a masive whirling blade through the oncoming hoard, laughing as it shreaded them like a weedwacker.

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Talshi's wings beat more furiously, he senced his quarry nearby.

...and still they came, an unending wave of pale, soiled flesh, bulbous eyes searching. They scratched and tore, ripping with their yellowed, pointed teeth, tearing into each other as well as the meat they were sent to get. The drow went down under a mass of flailing arms and legs, with more of the creatures piling on. The chamber was now filled with a sea of writhing flesh, and in the middle stood Shandaril, laughing at the hordes.

As fast as she was, the sheer number of attackers allowed many blows to rain through, but her flesh healed virtually instantly. The creatures were in fact, trying to steadily push Shan back towards the tunnel entrance, and were succeeding. Simone had bought herself some time with her living chains, but the ground beneath her suddenly gave way, and she was grabbed by many pale, clawed hands, and dragged down into the darkness, the ground swallowing her like quicksand.

The gollums redoubled their efforts, pushing Shan back. In the distance, she could see Demanis being tied up, and dragged away. Before she could react, she was hit by a wave of rancid gas, so putrid and powerful that it caused dizziness, even to a being such as she. The smell was so thick, she could taste it. The creatures reacted before she could, backing away from Shan and the tunnel entrance. Standing in the dim shadows lurked a massive, lumbering form, towering over Shandaril.

Shandaril looked up at the tower creature and smiled. "At last", she said to it, "I hope you have finished throwing away your playthings." Her form altered into her that of the demon she was born to. "Shall we dance?"

Demanis stopped struggling and slowed his breathing. He had to conserve what strength and magic he had left, and he knew that the harder he worked now the less chance he would have later.

Even as she fell, Simone's razor chains kept swirling, puraying the thing that tried to grap her. She landed hard, however, and passed out.

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Behind Shandaril a blinding white light traveled up the tunnel. Talshi's wings faded and he landed next to the demoness. Eyes locked on the giant thing, he made his decree:

"I am Talshi the Ominpotent. You will imediatly surrender to me the girl, this demon here and back down or you will suffer a most unenviable fate. I'm already pissed and no one kills my quarry but me."

The massive beast shambled forward, a wave of putrid, rotting gas preceeding it. It was huge and virtually shapeless, and as it got closer, Shan was sure the creature was made of feces. It had to bend over, it's size ttoo big for the small tunnel that enclosed it. With a mindless roar, it lifted its arms, and a huge wave of thick, brown liquid poured from his hands, covering and engulfing Shan as well as the newcomer, Talshi. The thick sludge that covered them hardened quickly, immobilizing them. The monster stepped closer, lifting its arms over its head, preparing to smash them down on the unprotected heads of it's victims.

Shandaril vanished from the cocoon only to appear behind the creature and let forth a blast of pure energy. It struck with great impact and intensity.

Talshi was gone before the goo hit and, as Shandaril's energy caught the thing in the back, Talshi's jumping kick caught it in the chest.

The blast hit the creature dead on, catching it squarely in the chest. It flowed through him, leaving a gaping hole which immediately closed itself up, with no obvious harm to the hulking mass. It turned quickly, its great speed belying its massive size. A stream of vomit and feces poured out at Shan, sttriking her before she could react, filling her mouth, nose and eyes with the steaming fecal matter, and blinding her temporarily. The creature swung a huge fist at her, smashing her through the air and into the wall, bricks exploding everywhere.

Talshi's kick had even less effect than Shan's energy blast, and the man in white found his leg firmly stuck in the creatures chest. He could not pull loose, simply because he could not get leverage. Pushing against the creature only made his hands sink deeper into the the steaming monster. With a roar, it opened it's mouth, and swallowed Talshi's head, cutting off all sound, vision and worst of all...oxygen.

The gollums had scuttled away, back to their Master. They had captured two of the three intended victims, and they hoped Kain would be happy. Elwin struggled against his bonds as the pale, rat-like creatures carried him deeper into the darkness. Demanis was not far behind, also bound and seemingly unconcious, perhaps due to his earlier wounds. Simone was being hunted by the worms, digging new tunnels, seeking her warm flesh.

Shandaril stood, spitting and then looked at the creature. She was prepared to unleash the flames of hell when she saw the white man's predicament. He would be cought in the inferno. Instead she turned, and began to seek out her companions, following the gold, delicious taste of thier souls.

The shambling beast turned and followed Shandaril, as she was his true quarry. His Master had bidden him to kill her, and so he must. The creature suddenly melted, the floor seemingly absorbing its mass. Talshi fell to the ground, his leg now free and fresh air floating around his feces-covered head. His white robe was now heavily spotted with brown and green.

The beast re-formed itself in front of Shan, as if growing from the floor. It...farted a ball of gas at her, which ignited immediately, causing a huge explosion of methane. It blew her back 20 feet, and before she could recover, the beast had encased her in himself, his shit-skin hardening into diamond-hardness. This was a creature of dark energy and magicks, and the coccoon of crap restrained the great mystic energies that flowed in Shan, defeating her attempts to teleport out.

What the beast didn't know was that Talshi didn't need oxygen. His heavy breathing as he stood, white flames cleanising his cloak, was a force of habit and a sign of anger.

"That... is... it!" Talshi's katana, The Moonsinger, left its sheath. From it echoed a young girl's song. Talshi charged the creature and vanished, reapearing on the other side of it. After a few tense moments, the best splits open and Shandaril was freed.

"Strange times call for stranger allies," Talshi called to her.

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Simone ran down the tunnel. In front of her, a massive worm burst though the wall. Simone's scream was cut off as she was covered in dark armor. Shadowblade had recovered and the worm's head was crushed by a mace the size of two men.

"I was never your enemy but by your own choice", she said as her nails elongated into flaming talons and she cut into it, burning the creature with each stroke with a flame no mortal could produce.

Elwin slowly awoke, aware that he was moving, but confused as to why. In a rush, the memories came flooding back at the same time he realized that he was securely bound and gagged, being carried by a dozen of the pale-skinned, frog-like creatures that had attacked him in the tunnel with...Shan! For a moment, he was very worried for her, fearing the worst...then remembered that Shan was virtually unstoppable. He hoped briefly that she would come for him, but decided not to count on it. He could only rely on himself:

The Soupman.

SHAN - TALSHI
The creature slowly reassembled itself, annoyed at the white flea that hopped about, cutting deep into it's fecund flesh. More annoying still were the flames that Shan burned it with, the mystic fire setting aflame the methanous emissions from its skin. It screamed in frustration, knowing that fire was poison to it. The massive beast slapped at itself, dislodging huge hunks of feces and waste with each hit. It turned to face the assailants, and once again vomited twin pillars of brown sludge towards Shan and Talshi.

SIMONE
The great worms burst through the walls of the cavern, their huge maws opened wide, circular rows of deadly teeth coming at her. When her armor first appeared around her, the worms stopped their advance, their mouths closing. Despite the fact that Simone tore into one, killing it instantly, they made no move towards her at all. A strange humming noise came from them, a keening of sorts, and somewhere in her mind, Simone realized they were...praying to her? As she stepped forward into the narrow tunnel, the giant worms parted, allowing her through. They followed her on each side, as if they were Honor Guards.

Elwin
The party had arrived in a chamber of sorts, a small fire burning in the corner. Elwin's eyes adjusted rapidly to the dim light, grateful of having sight again. The room seemed to be a kitchen of sorts, with bones, pots and cooking utensils scattered about. They tossed him unceremoniously on the floor then left, closing the makeshift door behind them. Elwin was left alone in the dark, wondering if he was going to become someones meal.

He felt the bruises beginning to swell, new ones added as he was thrown to the hard, dirt-packed floor. He was alone, in the semi-dark, bound securely. He was able to look around, and noticed the bubbling cauldrons, battered and dented pots and pans, as well as some small piles of fur and bones. He knew he had to do something, before the chef came back and made Elwin into the "catch-of-the-day". He rolled over the ground, bumping into the rough-hewn wooden table. The luck of the Gods was with him when a large butchers knife fell off the shaken table, imbedding itself in the ground, scarce inches from his head. He gyrated and twisted, and eventually was able to bring his tied hands to the blade. A few quick rubs later, and the rope began to split and fray. Moments later, Elwin was free.

He stood slowly, strectching his aching muscles and rubbing the circulation back into his limbs. He approached the door quietly, listening for sounds from the other side. Hearing none, he tried to open it, dismayed to find it was securely locked. He then investigated the room thoroughly, retrieving the knife that helped to free him. Then he saw his salvation, sitting forlornly in the middle of table, awaiting his touch.

A ladle of power.

Taking it in his hand respectfully, Elwin felt the power flare within him, the strength of beef n' barley flowing through his body, the wisdom of tomato-vegetable bringing clarity and focus to his mind, and the energy healing powers of chicken-noodle mending his battered bones. He thrust the ladle high into the air, energy crackling around him. Now, there would be a reckoning:

The Soupman had been unleashed.

Shandaril saw the flames affecting the creature and summon more. Thrusting forward she allowed the flames of the abyss to enter the creature, burning with great intensity as they sought out anything that would burn.

My friends,

Sadly, Real Life will be kidnapping me for the next few weeks, and I will be travelling to San Francisco, Las Vegas and San Diego on business. I will have very limited access to the net, but I will try my darndest to get on and post. In the meantime, I'll award control of my characters to Dragonsreach so that y'all can keep the story going. I return Oct.30, and will post my ass off at that pont. Have fun, stay well and RP ON!

I can, and will be posting ALL DAY Friday, Oct.15.

Steve (Gawdly)

PS: Vampirum will also be absent, as he uses my PC to log on. He tells me that the shit-monster burns very well, the worms feel the evil in Simones armor and will now work for her, and that Kain is on his way to eat Elwin. Oh, and Kain is not OUR Kain, just a fanatic who has taken his name.

A ladle of power.

Taking it in his hand respectfully, Elwin felt the power flare within him, the strength of beef n' barley flowing through his body, the wisdom of tomato-vegetable bringing clarity and focus to his mind, and the energy healing powers of chicken-noodle mending his battered bones. He thrust the ladle high into the air, energy crackling around him. Now, there would be a reckoning:

The Soupman had been unleashed.

Elwin looked around the small room he was in, his eyes adjusting to the darkness, his energy restored as if he had eaten a large bowl of chicken noodle soup. He noticed two doors on opposite sides of the room, one of which he came in from. Both were locked, seemingly securely. He searched the rest of the room, finding nothing of interest, and nothing that could help him get out of the fix he was in. What he DID have was all the fixin's to make a decent soup, of sorts. There were scraggly vegetables, turnips mostly, and some large bones filled with marrow. They didn't look human, and that was good enough for Elwin. He started a fire in the pit, and brought a large pot of water to sit atop it. He began to dice the vegetables, whistling a little tune.

When in doubt, make soup.

Once the creature was dispatched she allowed her powers to locate Elwin and moved on toward him with a determined pace.

ooc: Hello, it's Mageddon. I'm using a different nation now. I thought this died!
IC:
Talshi
Talshi walked over to the pile of smoldering crap and spit on it. Realizing Shandaril was already disappearing into the darkness, he followed her, tapping the crystal around his neck so it emitted a dull blue light.

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Shadowblade
Shadowblade stared at the worms for a moment. Then, he laughed.

"Well hello, my pets. You know what I am, don't you?"

Shandaril eyed Talshi a moment before swallowing her pride, "I'm afraid my skills and abilities are more toward combating my own kind, can you find Elwin faster than I?"

Talshi
Peering out with his false eye, Talshi saw in degrees of power. Staring intently past the abysmal shadow that was Shandaril and through the many lesser shadows that must be the gollums, Talshi found a source of mortal energy.

"Found him... damn!" Talshi took off through the tunnels, hoping to reach Elwin before the black shadow beneath him did.

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Shadowblade
The room began to shake and Elwin was thrown to his knees as a worm burst through the floor. On its back rode Shadowblade.

"Need a lift?"

Shandaril sped after Talshi, hoping to find Demanis with him. She knew the man wouldn't look for Demanis, but an innocent human he would.

When the ground began to rumble, Elwin did what any sane man would do: he kept stirring his soup. Seeing the demon-woman astride the great worm thing gave him pause, and made him happy...though not as happy as if Shan had come through the door.

"A lift? Well, you'll have to wait until I'm done...can't hurry a good soup, doncha know?"

With that, he returned to the wrinkled turnips he was happilly cutting into cubes. He looked back at the woman, and smiled serenely.

"Maybe you should go and find our friends...soups on!"

Shandaril was getting close, she sensed the living soul and moved closer until she found the door. She braced herself, ready to fight and threw open the door. The sight that she beheld gave her pause. She had a lived a very long time and has seen many things in heaven, most things on earth and almost all the horror that hell had to offer, but this completely confounded her. She had found Elwin .... and he was making soup.

Demanis lay in the dark, though he didn't notice. The darkness into which he was slipping was much deeper than any that could be found on earth.

When she stepped in the room, Elwin felt a huge weight lifting from his shoulders. Shan was more beautiful than ever, despite being covered in what looked to be fresh feces. He didn't bother restraining himself and with a whoop of joy, ran to her and threw his arms around her, lifting her into the air with joyous abandon. Well, he TRIED to lift her, but as she towered over him and was easily twice his weight, he ended up just grunting. Still, his happiness knew no bounds, and he released her, beaming with pleasure.

He was still smiling when the Vampire entered the room.

She watched as Elwin came bounding over to her and was rather amused when he tried to lift her. She was much heavier than she looked, her muscle density that of a demon rather than a human and even her flesh was denser though still soft and alluring. She placed a hand on his shoulder, "We need to get you out of here."

Then her gaze shifted to the newcomer and she smiled.

The Vampire glared at the intruders, the vermin that had invaded his Sanctum Sanctorum, and destroyed his followers and disrupted the carefully laid plans he had. He was tall, taller than most men, and of a solid build. He was dressed in thick black leather, spikes protuding from virtually everywhere. Hissing, he drew in a breath, and growled at them.

"I know thee not, but I can smell your blood. Your time is over, and the Destiny has come. This world is Kain's now...and I am KAIN!" this last was screamed as the vampire launched himself towards Elwin and Shandaril, his speed belying his large bulk. He slammed into them, knocking them to the ground. Grabbing Elwin by the throat and lifting him into the air, Kain began to squeeze, his grip like cold steel.

Shandaril stumbled and stood then reached out, grabbing the vampires fingers and snapping them back, breaking them. "If you smell our blood, fool, then you must know that I am no mere mortal." After she freed Elwin, she grabbed the vampires neck, twisting vicsously with all her demonic strength.

Kain's fingers snapped from her great strength, tearing a scream of agony from him. The pain caused him to drop Elwin, who landed on the floor hard. The scream dislodged his teeth, which came flying out to come to a wet, sliding halt in front of the Soupman. He looked down in curiousity.

"Since when do vampires wear dentures?" he wondered aloud.

Kain was on his knees, holding his crushed fingers and sobbing like a child.

Shandaril looked down in disgust and simply grabbed the 'vampire' by the scruff of the neck. She reached over, pick up the teeth and deposited them in her pouch then took Elwins' arm. She had already sensed that Demanis had left the world of mortals. "We go", she said, "our task here is finished, we report to the Queen."

"Sweetie, I'll follow you anywhere but..." Elwin stepped around the weeping man...not a vampire, but a simple and delusional man...and walked over to where his soup was bubbling merrily. He carefully ladled it into a large wine-pouch that was lying close by, and slung the sac over his shoulder.

"No use in wasting a good soup!" said Elwin as he returned to Shandaril's side. He paused, and turned back to the "vampire". Shaking his head in disgust, he swung his ladle with great force, smacking the sobbing man across the jaw. He fell to the ground, unconcious, or worse. Then he turned back to the statuesque demon-woman, smiled and bowed.

"Ready when you are, m'Lady!"

Shandaril smiled. Elwin owed this man more than just that with what happened to his wife, but he seemed satisfied and laid a hand on his shoulder still holding the 'vampire' in her other hand. With little more than a thought she teleported to the mansion, and chaos....

(OOC - they would walk into the mess in the destiny thread at this point, or rather teleport in.)

Shandaril smiled. Elwin owed this man more than just that with what happened to his wife, but he seemed satisfied and laid a hand on his shoulder still holding the 'vampire' in her other hand. With little more than a thought she teleported to the mansion, and chaos....

(OOC - they would walk into the mess in the destiny thread at this point, or rather teleport in.)

<<OOC: Great, and that also gives us a chance to work on Destiny until Tarl posts...so, with that, I guess you could say that this is THE END!>>