Hex's Welcome

[Loreburn]

It was a rather murky day when Hex approached the town of Wistvale. He could see the lanterns along the town wall in the fog, little pinpoints of light that made it stand out in the darkness.

It was silent, strangely silent, as he approached. Except for a rhythmic knocking noise, coming from the direction of the gate.

[Hex]

It has been days since Hex had been in less than perfect weather. The air was foggy, the mist almost suffocatingly moist as he treaded on the road, holding nothing but his codex. 'Where are you?' he asked himself as he trekked through the haze. His eyes squinted in the misty darkness, the sunlight barely peircing through the smog-like air. He could see nothing.

He continued to walk on the road, as he knew that a town must be near. Muffled noises from the wilderness that surrounded him could be heard, his feet shuffling quicker and quicker as he wished to get out of any danger that might be near. After a few moments, he saw small orbs of light, motionless amidst the mist.

"A town..." he muttered to himself as he started to run towards the lights. Footstep after footstep, he ran as he could hear another sound, not one from nature. It was the knocking of a gate. As Hex approached, he slowed down to a confortable walking pace as he caught his breath, the mist thick enough to wear his endurance down faster than normal. As he approached the gate, he could that there was no one infront of him, and attempted to project.

"Hey! Hey is anyone there?" he said, walking towards the sound of the knocking. He tried to squint past the foggy air and find whoever was also outside of the gate.

[Loreburn]

The gate is wide, at least twenty feet. There seems to be no presence on the other side, at least nothing that Hex can hear. As he nears, the source of the knocking becomes clear.

A corpse stands at the gate. Its arms hang limp by its sides, flesh rotted and torn, flies buzzing around it. Naked but for a cloth about its waist, it is slamming its head into the wooden gate, each time making a sickening splash of gore and crunching its broken skull. As Hex approaches, it stops...and slowly turns to look at him. Its eyes are a faint yellow, clouded over, and its jaw is completely missing, strips of flesh hanging down, its shredded tongue among them. All over its chest are putrid, yellow pustules, gurgling softly and throbbing, a reeking rot seeping out of them.

On the opposite side of the walking corpse, a man drops down from the other side of the wall, a pointy-hatted shadow that holds a hand out to Hex.

Excuse me, sir! Sir, that in front of you is what we in Necrotics Extermination call a "Boomer." Now I'm going to ask you to stay still, and back away slowly. Do not make any...sudden...movements. I'm going to detonate it, and it is going to make a mess. Just...cover your mouth and back up slowly.

[Hex]

As Hex continued to walk towards the sound of the knocking, he saw something hideous. Some so vile and rather inhumane, he wondered whether it was his imagination or some kind of trick of the mist. It was a man, or at least, was a man. He, rather, it was a man who, with some form of necromancy, became alive once again. However, death had not been kind, as his flesh was of rotting animals, the odor almost unbearable. Too bad Hex doesn't have a gag reflex, which is something rather useful in certain situations, and this one is one of them. He wouldn't make a mess of his beautiful silk robes, at least. At a closer look, the necroped was already being devoured by the flies in which surrounded him. Beelzebub has been kind, I see... he thought to himself as he stood there, almost in utter horror. He looked into it's eyes, which were glowing with a slight soulless yellow tint, which would almost match the grotesque pus-filled pouches that covered it's chest.

A man across the wall spoke as he turned his attention (thankfully) from the beast to the being who was almost... controlling it from his guess. He warned him of what to do, and Hex nodded, as he slowly shifted backwards, covering as much of his face with his robe as possible. He hoped it wouldn't explode in his direction, but if it did, he could use wind magic to divert most of the bile and pus that would erupt from this... 'Boomer'... He readied himself as he continued to walk backwards, slowly, not breaking eye contact with necroped. He was far enough away that if it did explode, he would have some reaction time, but it might not be enough.

[Loreburn]

The man nodded.

Good thinking. Okay, this should only take--

Suddenly the corpse gave a small, growling moan and rushed forward, ragged arms outstretched for Hex.

No no no no no!

In a panic, the mage ran up behind the corpse, holding his hands on either side of the dead walker's head. There was a dull red light from his palms, and a loud bubbling noise. Blood magic coursed through the Boomer, and there was a loud, wet explosive noise as it exploded. Its head blew first, spattering both of them in rotted grey matter and crimson blood. The body wobbled a second before it too exploded, the pustules billowing over before the chest cavity tore itself apart, rotting pus and boiling blood going everywhere. Loreburn was coated from head to toe, and Hex got covered by quite a lot of it despite his wind magic.

There was a long pause as the torsoless pair of legs stood between them a moment, then fell. Loreburn took a deep breath in, not having moved since he detonated the Boomer.

Well. That went better than it could have.

[Hex]

As Hex took one last final step back, the... thing charged forward towards him, as if with malicious intent, slightly frightened, he stood there paralyzed by fear, as the jawless subject of a cruel science experiment continued. The mage who conjured such a being up rushed towards the Boomer, his hands glowing a dull, almost crimson red. Breaking the paralysis, he covered himself in his robe's sleeve, totally covering his face as he tried his best to conjure up some form of wind to shield himself. However, as he could not see the Boomer, he could only hope it didn't explode, as the misty air was thick to move and provided little protection. As he heard the explosion, he felt the impact of gooey, disgusting parts of the Boomer. That wasn't so bad... he thought to himself, as he uncovered his face. However, what had exploded was just the head, and before Hex realized that, the rest of the Boomer exploded. His whole face and the front side of the robe was covered... I mean, COVERED with blood, pus, and God knows what else. His mouth, thankfully was closed, as he used his relatively cleaner sleeve to wipe most of that being off of him, his stomach churning from the rotting smell of puss and the rather hot blood. He stood there, wiping any residue off his Codex, which wasn't very much surprisingly, and trying to clean up any visible chunks of flesh or pus from himself.

The man spoke, as if trying to lighten the mood. Hex, being one fond of jokes, replied. "Well, I hope so... This is rather disgusting. It's hard to imagine anything worse." He laughed at his own joke, rather corny if he'd say, but he laughed as he tried to keep his lunch in.

[Loreburn]

Loreburn let out a long sigh, making a futile attempt to wipe his gloves on his robe.

Believe me, I've seen worse. I apologize this happened, I was attempting to let it detonate itself harmless outside the gates. Well, sort of harmlessly. Hell of a cleanup.

He looked up to Hex, and although he could not see Loreburn's face he could see the smile in his glowing eyes. He put out a hand for Hex to shake.

Manrick Loreburn, dark magic investigator with the Noctis Venator. I've been looking into a recent resurgence in necromorphs near here.

He looked at his hand, and then chuckled nervously, taking the crimson stained glove back.

Well...handshakes later.

[Hex]

The man before him revealed himself as Manrick Loreburn, and from the sound of his pedigree, he was no simple civilian. As he spoke, he put his hand forth in an attempt to shake hands, as if trying to become acquainted with one another. That would have been fine if, well, a Boomer didn't explode all over them, almost hesitant to put his hand forth, he also tried to rub his bare hands free from the excess load of... rather disgusting aftermath of an experiment gone wrong. However, the gunk wouldn't just be simply washed off without proper cleaning materials, and so he kind of stared at Loreburn, with a smile and a confused face, as if not knowing what to do.

"Well, maybe later we can have, you know, more physical contact hehe..." Hex let out a small yet timid laugh as he just looked at the mage. "My name's Hex Synn. Elementalist-in-Training and Knowledge Seeker. It's a pleasure to meet you." He smiled as he tried to genuinely come off as a nice person, even after what had just happened.

"So, tell me more about where I am, Mr. Loreburn," he said, looking around through the mist and fog. "Where am I? Some sort of magical institution?"

[Loreburn]

He wiped his hands together, trying to dry the gore a bit, then motioned to the gate behind him.

This? Oh, no, this is Wistvale. Booming little town. Lots of paranormal phenomena happening here lately. Which I why I was assigned to here by a magical institution, as you put it, to monitor, protect, and inform the populace on magical matters. That little...problem we just saw was something I've been looking into.

He blinked, seeming to just realize what he'd said.

Elementalist? Oh, splendid! Are you not affiliated with the Venator? Did you receive training, or are you self-taught? Pardon my curiosity, it's strictly professional, I assure you.

His voice was genial and friendly enough, and there was no trace of ulterior motive in his voice. Magic, to Loreburn, was his passion and science.

[Hex]

Hex looked through the fog behind Loreborn once more to evaluate his surroundings. The gate wasn't of the finest quality, and bieng able to see some shaggy shacks and some run down houses in the distance, he could tell that this place wasn't really of the wealthy sort. He looked back at the mage in front of him and smiled, as he had realized his face had turned quite... disappointed for a moment there. He spoke once more.

"Yes, I am an Elementalist of sorts. Able to wield fire, water, earth, and air. I am a master of none, however, as I am self taught and I am still working on perfecting my magic." He spoke with a sort of cheerful air around him as he continued. "I have read up on the Noctis Venator but I do believe that I would not be fit for such an institution, politically. However, their fountain of knowledge and quest for improvement of magic always excites me... I'd rather have connections to them rather than be a part of them myself."

"As for my training, I had received some from my mother, but mostly, I had to learn from my own. She was a Dryad, able to bend and move plants with ease. I could do it with the earth she bore her roots in, the water from the pond she drank, the air around every tree, and the flames that consumed her in the end..." Hex stopped for a moment, remembering his mother with great honor. "... But I could never get myself to even move one single leaf."

[Loreburn]

His eyes widened, and he put a hand to his black chin in thought.

A dryad, interesting. So your magic is bloodsourced, with an informal start and self-taught after. Fascinating. The Noctis is a support organization for magic users of all stripes, and I am sure we could find something to help you. I in particular would love to investigate and study your abilities.

He stopped himself, and straightened.

But! As I was saying, I was investigating an infestation of necrotics in the area. Would you like to join me? Would be a fascinating exercise!

[Hex]

"Um... sure?"

Hex had never had to deal with necrotics before, and therefore, didn't really know what to do, but he agreed by nodding as he spoke his words. He was kind of intrigued by what other kinds of magic there were, but in his heart, he just felt like that wasn't right.

"You know, I think that the Noctis would be interesting to you know, be friends with... But studying magic for me is more than just 'magic', as it's more like me getting in tune with nature around me. I'd appreciate the offer, but I think I'd stick t my vagabond methods."

He smiled as he perked up, slightly proud. He knew that the Noctis might be powerful, but was it really for him?

"So... What would you need me to do? Wield fire to burn their flesh?"

[Loreburn]

He chuckled and walked past Hex, into the fog.

Well. If it comes to that, yes. I prefer the term "cauterization."

Picking his way down the road, watching either side of it for something.

And I perfectly understand. Friends is all I ask. The Noctis would rather you be neutral than against us. Now...I just saw the break earlier...ah, here.

He ducked off the road and into the woods, nodding to Hex.

Come along, friend. We're going to go kill some zombies.

[Hex]

"Well, if it must be, we can cauterize them too.~"

Hex laughed as he walked towards the man, a member of Noctis. He saw him walking towards the forest, from the opposite way he came. Slightly puzzled as to why they would walk into the forest, he stopped and turned to Loreburn.

"Um... so... We are going into the forest to kill zombies? If we are, is it possible to take a torch with us>? It'll make wielding fire a lot easier."

As he waited for a response, he stared into the darkness of the forest, as it was eerily calling him forward as it seemed. He swallowed hard before he turned back to Loreburn, hoping he'd comply with bringing a torch.

[Loreburn]

He paused at the treeline, seeming to think.

You know, you're probably right.

He walked past Hex to the gate again.

I'm glad you're here. I'd forget my hat if it weren't magically attached to my head.

He reached the gate and seemed to talk over it to the other side. There was a murmur of voices, and a torch was thrown to the ground beside the dark mage, making him jump away. Apparently the guards didn't like him. He thanked them anyway, either oblivious to their feeling or uncaring, and walked back past Hex holding his new prize.

Right then. Follow me. The necrotics all seem to be coming from a cave I found earlier.