Jeremy continued his jog picking up the pace as they moved through a sewer gate. The two robed figures stepped through the gate and paused waiting for Aramil to pass through, Jeremy on the other hand continued forward.
The two robed figures stayed behind chanting inaudibly. Aramil can sense they are laying down heavy wards as well as preparing a rather nasty surprise that will obliterate this secret entrance.
Jeremy continues onward in silence with Aramil at his side. The adrenaline from his run up above in the streets of Ravnica was quickly wearing off leaving him with a feeling of exhaustion. Jeremy's pace slowed to a calmer stride as they got closer to the heart of safety. Jeremy looked up at Aramil and flashed a genuine smile, something they both weren't used to, and said, "Thanks..."
Jeremy grinned widely as they ducked through another sewer gate saying, "We are now!"
"Jeremy! Come here now and lower your defenses. I need an update now!" commanded Circu from the base of a spiral staircase that leads up to the Golgari Recyk goo that Aramil recalled from his days of training.
Jeremy paled not from fear but the natural dread that comes from leaving oneself completely defenseless. Balling his fists, Jeremy walks up to Circu and closes his eyes dropping all of his mental defenses so Circu could quickly scan the past events.
A quick laying of Circu's hand on Jeremy's head is all that it takes before Circu let's out a sigh of relief and Jeremy slouches, exhausted from the past events.
Circu turns and begins walking up the stairs saying, "Jeremy get some rest, I have work for you when you are back to full strength. Aramil, follow me to the interrogation room, we have a 'guest' that I need to introduce you to."
Aramil fell right in line, taking his usual place to the left and a few paces behind Circu. "Lead the way, sir. I have some frustrations to work out and I am itching for the opportunity to do so."
Circu pushes through the interrogation room, which was really just a dark dungeon-like cell where he could conduct his probes. Inside sat a man strapped to a chair in the middle of the room, head slumped forward resting his chin against his chest. The top of the man's scalp had been peeled back and a small portion of his skull was missing along with what appeared to be some of his brain matter.
Circu circled around the man a sneer of distaste on his face saying, "Now normally I would be more delicate in these matters. But someone from this group of theirs, the Infinite Consortium, happened to place some nasty mental barriers on him. I had to rely on a more direct approach and remove the portion of the brain that was interfering with our probes. The resulting information was quite revealing."
Circu gestured to the man that was drooling all over himself saying,"Feel free to delve into his memories whenever you are ready. Scanning them will be far more enlightening than telling you second hand. Inside those memories you'll find your target."
Circu came to a stop across from the man and sat in his chair waiting for Aramil.
Aramil nodded and stood over the slumped, lobotomized man. Holding his hand, palm down, over the man's exposed brain, Aramil closed his eye and thin, barely visible to the untrained eye, wisps of blue lightning danced along the man's skull.
Aramil cast his own consciousness out and into the man's mind, intent on learning what Circu wanted him to know.
Aramil felt his consciousness lower into the lobotomized man's memories. A swamp-like scene filled with stagnant water formed itself around Aramil. Occasional flashes of blue light would shoot out from random bodies of water, likely a reaction from his probing. Nothing appeared to be moving on it's own though, the only flow that existed was Aramil's presence.
He could tell that there was no resistance here, he merely needed someplace to start...
Aramil gave the slightest tug to find the man's most recent memories. Like Circu taught him before, he did not work too hard to pry the information out, but merely let it flow past him like water flows through an aqueduct.
When a particularly interesting memory would flow before him, Aramil would focus upon that memory to enlighten him as to what demanded Circu's lobotomizing.
All around Aramil the scene began to transform as blue lightning struck down at several pools of water causing a chain reaction. Soon Aramil was standing on top of a pond of water as rivers of blue water began to connect memories that flowed past his feet.
The most recent scene swirled beneath him revealing the man's sight looking out at Circu. Blue sparks of light floated upon the air about Aramil as he was brought into the memory.
As the swamp landscape transitioned into the memory. Aramil was strapped to the seat sneering at Circu taunting him, "You'll never break me! Already my agents are working to capture yours. Ravnica belongs to the Consortium now!"
Aramil's/the man's thoughts were racing in this memory. Several images flashed in his head. Some the man associated with being his agents, Aramil recognized one of them as being the mind mage that Tacha had slayed on the docks. The next series of images revealed Jeremy's, Roger's, and Aramil's faces among a select few other members.
"Ah..." whispered Circu saying, "So the Consortium got their hands on one of our necrosages..."
Circu sat down in his chair peering into Aramil's/the man's eyes saying, "What can you possible hope to keep from me what I seek when your surface thoughts are so unguarded?"
Aramil/the man growled at Circu saying, "Just try and dig deeper you ☺☺☺☺!"
Aramil/the man thought, Tezzeret's mind mage better have done a good job in here...
Circu's hand laid on Aramil's/the man's head. Circu cast an unfamiliar spell, at least unfamiliar to the man, Aramil recognized it as a signature spell of Tolan. A bright flare of blue mana filled Aramil's vision as Circu crumpled to the floor before his feet. The spell had been turned back on Circu in some sort of feedback loop buried deep inside the man's brain.
Circu slowly rose off the floor glaring at Aramil/the man. Then walking over to a side table Circu grabbed several blades and scalpels saying, "I'm terribly sorry, but whatever your associates did is preventing our normal methods of extracting information without leaving signs. That's okay, we have plenty of other methods at our disposal."
Circu began sharpening one of the blades in front of Aramil as the thought raced through his head, Oh god, oh god, oh god...
As Circu's blade cut into the scalp Aramil's/the man's voice filled his ears as he blacked out. The memory dissolved into a shower of water that settled into the pond of water at Aramil's feet back in the swamp scene...
Back in the swampy hub of the man's memory bank, Aramil turned now to the images of the Consortium agents, and the victim's memories of the organization as a whole.
A flow of water passed beneath Aramil until it formed into three other images. One showed a portrait image of the dead mind mage, a triangle image seemed to float further down in the water, one line connecting to a blonde man who had two more lines shooting off towards a haze. The mind mage and the blonde both had lines plummeting into the dark depths of the man's mind. The connection formed the triangle with the man, mind mage, and the blonde, together they formed a cell with the man as it's lead.
From the depths were another line connecting to the third portrait image of a man clearly from another plane. The man had tanned skin and long brown dread lock hair. His eyes were filled with a lust for power.
This is the initial flow of memories. Do you want Aramil to push into the man's memories of the Consortium or look into these men first?
Aramil focused his energies and moved his hands through the streams of the man's memories. He wrapped his consciousness about each man in turn, delving deeply into each individual at a time before moving on to the next.
Aramil's thoughts focused first on the man he was probing discovering his name to be Dainon ah'Bah. This man was apparently the leader of this cell of the Consortium reporting directly to the dread-lock man Aramil saw in the vision of Consortium memories. Apparently Dainon was a skilled blade master with no skill in magic but a wealthy knowledge in the anatomy of humanoids, poisons, and traps as well as skill in stealth. He viewed himself as Tezzeret's watch dog.
Blondie was the cell's diplomat, treasurer, and information dealer. Dainon knew the man by the name Jith al Ban. Dainon's instincts didn't trust Jith but one of Tezzeret's lap dogs, another man named Jace had said the man was clean, so Dainon followed orders and simply took lead of the cell as ordered. Jith's contacts had found some information in Ravnica and Estark that was of interest to the Consortium. All Dainon had been told after passing along Jith's report was to follow any further leads.
That's where the third man of the cell came in, the mind mage Drols Tith. He was a some what talented telepath in reading surface thoughts in a crowd. With enough time and focus he could gain access to most minds, the process simply took too long to be useful in combat. Most of the cell's work had been in covering the tracks of the Consortium's interests usually providing back up for another agent.
Dainon knew one of Drols failed missions had been the reason for the cell's mission change. A man had been on trial and left enough evidence that the verdict could have gone either way. Drols part in that mission was to provide mental defense for another agent should things go wrong, a task he failed at miserably. Tezzeret had passed word down that the man on trial was an asset of sorts to the Consortium. Tezzeret was furious that the cell had failed for the first time. Dainon had been both furious and filled with glee for he had the chance to make Drols pay for his failure.
Dainon had been torturing Drols for a month when Jith came up with rumors and hints of a secret hidden behind all of Ravnica. Those little rumors had ruined all of Dainon's fun as he had to let Drols recover for their next mission. Months of watching had gone by as Drols reported anomalies within certain people's thoughts. Time passed by and they finally got lucky. The suspected organization was in the middle of cleaning up after one of their own. Dainon's traps were set in place with Drols acting as the bait. A small probe to catch them by surprise and get them to chase falling right into his death trap, save for one injured being.
That's when Dainon told Tezzeret they had to act fast, within a day if the Consortium wanted to catch this mysterious organization off guard. Tezzeret agreed and sent Jace to extract information and place barriers on Drols and himself. The mind mage Jace left Dainon and Drols with some goodies from Tezzeret passing along a message, "Tezzeret does not want failure again. Find these men, bring them in for testing, and see if we can turn them on their own cause."
As Aramil shifted away from the cell to focus on this man Dainon reported to, this Tezzeret, he encountered something strange. Dainon had a strong image of the man in his memory and knew deep down that his loyalties were due to this man, but beyond that everything was blank and fuzzy. Aramil could detect a powerful memory wipe done by the hands of one less skilled than Circu or himself. He could see the slight fragments leading to memories related to the man Tezzeret but everything beyond those edge fragments seemed to have been ripped out completely...
Aramil accessed a faint memory where Dainon was screaming furiously at Drols.
"You were supposed to check anyone entering and exiting that damn court room! How could you miss another mind mage!"
Drols spat blood on the ground at Dainon's feet saying, "I checked everyone I saw coming in and leaving that room! By the time Beleren called for help the verdict was already being issued and the other mind mage lost."
Drols collapsed to the ground as Dainon's fist slammed into him. "That's no excuse! You should have been listening with your mind! Not watching with your eyes! The whole purpose of your being there was to use your skill to provide us with a safety net. Instead you botched the mission costing the Consortium a valued asset while giving us away to another unknown organization!"
The memory continued on with Dainon beating Drols into unconsciousness...
The water beneath Aramil's feet shift back to the core figures associated with the Consortium in Dainon's mind. Branching off from Drols and Jith were two lines with shadowy figures tied to the ends. Those seemed to be an indication of Dainon's understanding of the Consortium's structure. Three per cell, with knowledge of those in other cells limited.
Satisfied with the workings of Dainon's cell, Aramil turned to the braided figure from another plan, and focused his energies on sifting through Dainon's memories of the man.
Again Aramil finds a void where the memories had been ripped out by... the man Dainon had referred to as Jace. The same man from that familiar court case and the events that took place at the Festival...
Jace was staring into your eyes saying, "This is the first time I've tried to create a defense against another mind mage. I've only ever encountered one before from that case. If this spell holds then it should create a feedback loop on whoever tries to pry into your mind. Just have to find the right place to anchor it..."
The memory fades to white as Dainon lets out an irritated grunt...
The creator of Maro's Magic 8-Ball!
Jeremy continues onward in silence with Aramil at his side. The adrenaline from his run up above in the streets of Ravnica was quickly wearing off leaving him with a feeling of exhaustion. Jeremy's pace slowed to a calmer stride as they got closer to the heart of safety. Jeremy looked up at Aramil and flashed a genuine smile, something they both weren't used to, and said, "Thanks..."
"Jeremy! Come here now and lower your defenses. I need an update now!" commanded Circu from the base of a spiral staircase that leads up to the Golgari Recyk goo that Aramil recalled from his days of training.
Jeremy paled not from fear but the natural dread that comes from leaving oneself completely defenseless. Balling his fists, Jeremy walks up to Circu and closes his eyes dropping all of his mental defenses so Circu could quickly scan the past events.
A quick laying of Circu's hand on Jeremy's head is all that it takes before Circu let's out a sigh of relief and Jeremy slouches, exhausted from the past events.
Circu turns and begins walking up the stairs saying, "Jeremy get some rest, I have work for you when you are back to full strength. Aramil, follow me to the interrogation room, we have a 'guest' that I need to introduce you to."
Circu circled around the man a sneer of distaste on his face saying, "Now normally I would be more delicate in these matters. But someone from this group of theirs, the Infinite Consortium, happened to place some nasty mental barriers on him. I had to rely on a more direct approach and remove the portion of the brain that was interfering with our probes. The resulting information was quite revealing."
Circu gestured to the man that was drooling all over himself saying,"Feel free to delve into his memories whenever you are ready. Scanning them will be far more enlightening than telling you second hand. Inside those memories you'll find your target."
Circu came to a stop across from the man and sat in his chair waiting for Aramil.
Aramil cast his own consciousness out and into the man's mind, intent on learning what Circu wanted him to know.
He could tell that there was no resistance here, he merely needed someplace to start...
When a particularly interesting memory would flow before him, Aramil would focus upon that memory to enlighten him as to what demanded Circu's lobotomizing.
The most recent scene swirled beneath him revealing the man's sight looking out at Circu. Blue sparks of light floated upon the air about Aramil as he was brought into the memory.
As the swamp landscape transitioned into the memory. Aramil was strapped to the seat sneering at Circu taunting him, "You'll never break me! Already my agents are working to capture yours. Ravnica belongs to the Consortium now!"
Aramil's/the man's thoughts were racing in this memory. Several images flashed in his head. Some the man associated with being his agents, Aramil recognized one of them as being the mind mage that Tacha had slayed on the docks. The next series of images revealed Jeremy's, Roger's, and Aramil's faces among a select few other members.
"Ah..." whispered Circu saying, "So the Consortium got their hands on one of our necrosages..."
Circu sat down in his chair peering into Aramil's/the man's eyes saying, "What can you possible hope to keep from me what I seek when your surface thoughts are so unguarded?"
Aramil/the man growled at Circu saying, "Just try and dig deeper you ☺☺☺☺!"
Aramil/the man thought, Tezzeret's mind mage better have done a good job in here...
Circu's hand laid on Aramil's/the man's head. Circu cast an unfamiliar spell, at least unfamiliar to the man, Aramil recognized it as a signature spell of Tolan. A bright flare of blue mana filled Aramil's vision as Circu crumpled to the floor before his feet. The spell had been turned back on Circu in some sort of feedback loop buried deep inside the man's brain.
Circu slowly rose off the floor glaring at Aramil/the man. Then walking over to a side table Circu grabbed several blades and scalpels saying, "I'm terribly sorry, but whatever your associates did is preventing our normal methods of extracting information without leaving signs. That's okay, we have plenty of other methods at our disposal."
Circu began sharpening one of the blades in front of Aramil as the thought raced through his head, Oh god, oh god, oh god...
As Circu's blade cut into the scalp Aramil's/the man's voice filled his ears as he blacked out. The memory dissolved into a shower of water that settled into the pond of water at Aramil's feet back in the swamp scene...
From the depths were another line connecting to the third portrait image of a man clearly from another plane. The man had tanned skin and long brown dread lock hair. His eyes were filled with a lust for power.
Blondie was the cell's diplomat, treasurer, and information dealer. Dainon knew the man by the name Jith al Ban. Dainon's instincts didn't trust Jith but one of Tezzeret's lap dogs, another man named Jace had said the man was clean, so Dainon followed orders and simply took lead of the cell as ordered. Jith's contacts had found some information in Ravnica and Estark that was of interest to the Consortium. All Dainon had been told after passing along Jith's report was to follow any further leads.
That's where the third man of the cell came in, the mind mage Drols Tith. He was a some what talented telepath in reading surface thoughts in a crowd. With enough time and focus he could gain access to most minds, the process simply took too long to be useful in combat. Most of the cell's work had been in covering the tracks of the Consortium's interests usually providing back up for another agent.
Dainon knew one of Drols failed missions had been the reason for the cell's mission change. A man had been on trial and left enough evidence that the verdict could have gone either way. Drols part in that mission was to provide mental defense for another agent should things go wrong, a task he failed at miserably. Tezzeret had passed word down that the man on trial was an asset of sorts to the Consortium. Tezzeret was furious that the cell had failed for the first time. Dainon had been both furious and filled with glee for he had the chance to make Drols pay for his failure.
Dainon had been torturing Drols for a month when Jith came up with rumors and hints of a secret hidden behind all of Ravnica. Those little rumors had ruined all of Dainon's fun as he had to let Drols recover for their next mission. Months of watching had gone by as Drols reported anomalies within certain people's thoughts. Time passed by and they finally got lucky. The suspected organization was in the middle of cleaning up after one of their own. Dainon's traps were set in place with Drols acting as the bait. A small probe to catch them by surprise and get them to chase falling right into his death trap, save for one injured being.
That's when Dainon told Tezzeret they had to act fast, within a day if the Consortium wanted to catch this mysterious organization off guard. Tezzeret agreed and sent Jace to extract information and place barriers on Drols and himself. The mind mage Jace left Dainon and Drols with some goodies from Tezzeret passing along a message, "Tezzeret does not want failure again. Find these men, bring them in for testing, and see if we can turn them on their own cause."
As Aramil shifted away from the cell to focus on this man Dainon reported to, this Tezzeret, he encountered something strange. Dainon had a strong image of the man in his memory and knew deep down that his loyalties were due to this man, but beyond that everything was blank and fuzzy. Aramil could detect a powerful memory wipe done by the hands of one less skilled than Circu or himself. He could see the slight fragments leading to memories related to the man Tezzeret but everything beyond those edge fragments seemed to have been ripped out completely...
"You were supposed to check anyone entering and exiting that damn court room! How could you miss another mind mage!"
Drols spat blood on the ground at Dainon's feet saying, "I checked everyone I saw coming in and leaving that room! By the time Beleren called for help the verdict was already being issued and the other mind mage lost."
Drols collapsed to the ground as Dainon's fist slammed into him. "That's no excuse! You should have been listening with your mind! Not watching with your eyes! The whole purpose of your being there was to use your skill to provide us with a safety net. Instead you botched the mission costing the Consortium a valued asset while giving us away to another unknown organization!"
The memory continued on with Dainon beating Drols into unconsciousness...
Jace was staring into your eyes saying, "This is the first time I've tried to create a defense against another mind mage. I've only ever encountered one before from that case. If this spell holds then it should create a feedback loop on whoever tries to pry into your mind. Just have to find the right place to anchor it..."
The memory fades to white as Dainon lets out an irritated grunt...