Zion - LotNM Character Prologue (Dillan Flynn)
Zion - Path of the Moon Mother
Prologue, Dillan Flynn
The ferret flittered from desk to table, from bookshelf to dresser. Everywhere he went the papers, parchments, scrolls and documents were hurled into the air. "Come on... come on..." he growled, turning the once-tidy room into the aftermath of a hurricane. Dillan knew that Bosley De'Keart had what he sought... but he simply did not know where.
The guards within the hall had been easy enough to bypass; two were interested in the girls he had to offer-- the third accepted nothing more than a simple pinch of White Sand. The drug was easily more expensive than the two girls combined, but Dillan felt the opportunity well worth any cost if it meant that he would stand a chance at recovering-- "The Arcanum..." he whispered, eyes settling on a furled scroll scribed on bluish-gray parchment, rolled and sealed with the symbol of the crescent moon.
The ferret gazed hungrily at his prize, eyes greedily locked on target. He grabbed for it with both paws, only to find the illusion fade into mist at his first touch. He had hoped that the warlock wouldn't have noticed the intrusion until it was too late. "Damn you, Bosley! Show yourself!" the ferret snarled, "I know you're there!"
"Now, now, Mr. Flynn..." came the patronizing of the bat Dillan had come to know all too well in the past few weeks, "is that any way to greet your host?"
Dillan's teeth grated as he spun around, trying to locate the warlock. He knew all too well that the crafty bat was capable of many kinds of illusions. He was running out of time and, if Bosley De'Keart was half the wizard he claimed to be then the bat knew exactly why he was after The Arcanum. Still, he realized, it didn't hurt to bluff.
"You were short on your payment, Bosley." Dillan steadied his stance and placed his paws on his hips, "You know that I never allow anyone to get the better of me on a business deal."
"I followed the contract as you wrote it, Mr. Flynn... I would consider it a completed transaction." the wizard's voice came from everywhere all at once... or did it?
"No... I had fifty yards of parchment sent to your keep." the ferret countered, "You promised me that you would cover the shipment costs if you received your supplies before second moon..."
"So I did." the warlock responded. Dillan perked his ears as he tried to hone in on the voice.
"You had it on the night of first moon." the ferret countered.
"And I had every intention to cover the costs of shipping." came the reply. Dillan could tell that the wizard knew what he was up to. Bosley was not a fool... but he did tend to underestimate the competition-- Dillan had many faults, but reading others was a strength. The ferret could easily tell that the wizard had thrown his voice, but he didn't let on that he knew.
Dillan turned in the direction the bat wanted him to look and he watched as the wizard or, rather, a carefully constructed illusion of him materialized holding the scroll. "Then why didn't you?" the ferret challenged the illusion, pulling out a knife, "You say one thing after doing another." he didn't really care about the shipment-- it was just an excuse to gain information on the bat's keep.
"You covered the costs before I was able." Bosley responded.
"Bullshit." Dillan noted, taking a step closer to the wizard's simulacrum. He rotated his ears ever-so-slightly to catch the next set of reverberations from the still-invisible wizard's words.
"Spare me the dramatics, Mr. Flynn... we both know that you're here for more than repayment." the illusion tapped the parchment on its palm. Dillan casually admired the wizard's ability to include the tiniest detail in his show including but not limited to the sound of the parchment crinkling as it touched his paw. Dillan smirked, realizing that the sound was not an illusion, rather, the fake wizard in front of him was merely mirroring the actions taken by the invisible one... the wizard almost directly to his right, less than 15 feet away. Dillan had hit targets much further than that.
"Perhaps we can reach some arrangement." Dillan offered, providing the wizard with a single way out. Good buyers were hard to find and he wasn't about to burn bridges if he didn't have to.
"I fear we may be too far past any hope of an agreement, Mr. Flynn..." the bat explained, "You've come close enough." the illusion held out a hand; the wizard still thought that Dillan believed the illusion was the real Bosley De'Keart.
The ferret came to a stop, "Pretenses aside, wizard: I have come for that scroll." he brandished his knife, "You will have to excuse me-- I am dreadfully short on time so I must get to the point. I could pay for it if you like... or we could do this the hard way."
"And now your true colors show, Dillan Flynn." the bat noted in haughty victory, "No... I do not think any price you could offer would make me even consider parting wi--" the illusion's eyes went wide as a dagger sprouted from its chest. Dillan let his paw hang in mid-air for several seconds as the simulacrum faded away and the wizard came into view at the end of the blade's thrown trajectory, exactly where the ferret knew he would be.
"Bosley, Bosley, Bosley..." the ferret wandered over to the bat who began frantically trying to bring his paws up, muzzle moving ineffectively, unable to speak. Dillan reached down and picked up the parchment where it lay beside the wizard's spasming fingers, "Everyone has a price-- it's just a matter of trying to figure out the right kind of payment."
The ferret casually strolled for the door, "The hollow bladed dagger was twenty three coins... custom made, you see. The nerve toxin inside is harvested from a rare Wild Land quill boar... almost fifty coins per dose... there were two doses there... enough to kill a Minotaur." Dillan pushed the door open, making his way out into the hall as the bat's breathing finally halted and the shakes ended. He glanced over his shoulder, "Keep the change."