The Benedict's Gambit

When they arrived at Katarina's death site the body was gone and all that was left was a note. Virik picked it up and read it outloud to the group.


Dear Misguided Fools,

Your efforts thus far are commendable...but I always repay what has been done to me. You took something important from me...so I will take something from you....I have her body...and I will twist it and break it until you no longer recognize her...this is your punishment I will not be so lenient next time.

Virik looked up from the parchment and was glad his veil hid his smile. "I...I am sorry Durant...the message is written in blood...Katarina's blood..."

As Durant listened to this letter, his stoic gaze began to break into tears and a furious eye.

"No...." He lunged forward and tore the letter from Virik's grasp.

"NO! I'VE ALREADY LOST HER ONCE TODAY, I'M NOT LOSING HER AGAIN! SHE WILL BE PUT TO REST AS A VALIANT WARRIOR!"

He slammed his arm into a nearby tree, bark splitting as a splintering sound blasted through the air.

"I OWE HER THAT!" Once more, he slumped to his knees and began to whimper.

"I owe her that much...." He wheezed out as he began to slump against a tree.

Veloran quickly went to his side and checked him before lifting him over his shoulder.

"He's exhausted, brother. We cannae continue tonight with 'im in this condition. Ah don't like it, but we need ta return ta camp 'til tahmorrow."

Durant coughed and wheezed as he began to try and struggle.

"I'm...fine...we need to get her....her back...I owe her....(Cough) I owe her that...."

Virik walked over and put his hand on Durant's head while closing his eyes and speaking with a deepened voice, SLEEP. Durant slumped forward into Veloran's arms in a deep slumber. "Veloran is correct....Everyone we must move back to camp. We will break first thing in the morning and keep moving. Gungir, Pujaz, you take guard positions. Veloran and I will relieve you when the time is right. Loktir and Gizzleback please see to our leader make sure he is comfortable."

Back at the camp things began to settle down and Virik decided it was time to show his brother just what he had done with the poor girl. He opened a portal and bade Veloran to step inside following soon after. Stretched out on a table, hands and feet bound, Katarina looked up and screamed. "YOU WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS...LET ME GO!"

Virik giggled and pointed to the various torture devices next to the table. "Have your fun brother...noone can hear her scream in here...but try not to do any...permanent damage....we need her alive."

Veloran gave an insidious grin as his brother stepped aside. Putting his helmet down beside him along with his hammer, Veloran loosened the straps on his gauntlets and smiled at the bound Katarina.

"Ya know, ah watched yer little boyfriend tahday...e's a mess. Might jus' 'elp 'im along and bring 'im a bottle a mead soon, watch the bastard drown 'is own plan in booze."

He began to look over the table with wild and sadistic eyes, slowly letting the pressure, fear, and rage build inside her before it spilled over.

"Gotta say...'ow 'ave ya been alive as long as ya 'ave? Yer not terribly bright, are ya?" Reaching across the table, he pulled a whip to his side, pacing back and forth in front of her.

"Tell me...do ya fear me little girl?" He made a vicious swipe across her face, a resounding crack as the whip made contact.

"DO. YOU. FEAR. ME?!" He roared in anger, shoving himself into her face.

He grew impatient as he waited for a reaction, and grabbed one of her arms and began to tighten his grip, waiting for the screams.

"Gotta admit, this is onea mah favorite things ta do....Breakin' the toys...." He hissed into her ear.

Virik smiled but grasped his brother's arm. "Easy brother...do not break her yet...I want her mind in tact for what I have planned. Have your fun but leave her mind in tact." He released his grip on Veloran's arm and stepped back.

Katarina centered herself but she could feel rhe fear and pain welling inside her. She spat at Veloran but otherwise ignored him her look centered directly on Virik. "You monster...what is your game...why are you doing this?"

Virik simply ignored her and watched knwoing his brother would have some fun yet and his turn would come later. Afterall..the more she could withstand the better a pawn she would become.

Veloran grinned as he wiped the spit away, nodding in acknowledgement to Virik's request.

"Our plan? Ain't that obvious bah now girl? Ah mean think about it...A couple'a mercenaries come wanderin' in, sent by a king ta help yer wanderin' band'a misfits on yer journey....Ahm sure ya can put the pieces together...Ya seem smart."

Her silence spoke volumes as Veloran paced back and forth.

"Still nothin? Come now girl...Yah've GOT ta be better than that! Or are ya just along fer the ride ta keep Durant's tent warm at night?" He asked, vile sarcasm lacing his remarks.

"Durant will murder you when he finds out what you have done.", she cried as she spat at Virik ignoring Veloran completely.

Virik simply glared at her smiling through his facecloth. "I highly doubt it girl...you asked what our plans are? Well why don't we start by revealing our true identities." Snapping his fingers and speaking the magic word caused Virik and Veloran's clothes to shift and form until their normal black robes emblazoned with their dreaded symbol.

A dark cloth fell to the floor and Katarina screamed bloody murder as tried futilely and hysterically to move away despite her bonds. Her entire being rejected the sight before her.

With a voice that was suddenly cold and metallic yet deep and reverberating Virik spoke, "Oops...I forgot how loose that was...no matter...your mind would have broken sooner or later..." He bent to pick up the cloth and replaced it. "Veloran...have fun with her...but do not kill her...I have plans for her..." He then moved off into the shadows and sat in a tall backed throne contemplating the plans ahead.

A dark smile fell over Veloran's face as he stretched and swung his arms back and forth.

"Ah, feels much better! Like I was missin' a part of mah skin or somethin'!"

Quickly cracking his neck and lumbering forward, Veloran bent over beside the shrieking woman and smirked.

"Boo!" He hissed with a roaring laugh as she flinched and continued to scream.

"I'll NEVER get tired ah this job! Come on, louder girlie!" He cackled as he stared into her eyes, a cold, hungry, murderous intent emblazened through them, patiently waiting to see her response.

Katarina still struggled against her bonds and flinched when Veloran booed at her. Duran...please....save me.... Silly girl...you are trapped here...alone, no one will help you...you will become my pet...I have grand plans for you...but until then experience the horrors both physical and mental and please do enjoy! Katarina screamed as the assault of horrible images filled her mind.

"Brother...have fun with her....but don't take too long...we have work to do."

Veloran sneered and pulled away, pulling his arms slowly off the slab and staring at the nearby table full of materials and tools of torture.

"Ach, fine, fine, always more ta do, right?"

Grabbing the whip once more in hand, he slowly began to drag it across her body, watching the shivers and fear as it made contact and snaked along her skin.

"Come on now, let's make this interstin'..."

A single lash across her stomach was heard with a resounding echo.

"Ya know, he screamed fer ya."

Another lash, now with stifled whimpers.

"He begged us, BEGGED, ta go find yer carcass an' bury it."

A third power lash.

"Said it was the least he owed ya."

He leaned in and whispered in a hushed growl.

"Me? I think it's better than you deserve."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH NO I WILL NOT SUBMIT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Katarina's screams echoed in the chamber as she thrashed under the torturous

beating. Meanwhile her head was filled with flashing promises of hellish torture and whispered of surrendering to the darkness within. "DURAAAAAAAAANT HELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEE PLEAAAAAAAAAAASE I BEG OF YOU HEEEEEEEEEEEEELP AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH PLEASE STOP...STOP THE BEATING I CAN'T TAKE IT ANY LONGER PLEASE!"

Veloran sighed in a blend of disappointment and frustration.

"Tha's it? Ah've barely gotten started little girl! Ah mean ah knew ya weren't much, but is yer will THAT weak?"

The disappointment on his face began to warp as he turned away for a moment's thought.

"Nah....No girlie...we ain't stoppin yet...." He spun back around in the flash of an eye, whip cracking across her stomach, and with a surprising display of agility launched himself across the room, their faces inches apart, a vicious sneer on his face.

"We're gonna go all night till yer singin' little tunes o glee! Yer gonna break, little girl, and by the time ah'm done with ya, ye'll think it's torture that ah'm stoppin!"

This was the part he loved above all, playing the inquisitor, the brutal torturer. Watching his subjects break beneath him and descend into giggling fits of madness, having them as putty in his hands. Virik brought them in and made the final blows, but Veloran undoubtedly enjoyed his work in bringing them to the edge.

"Sing fer me girlie! SING FER ME!" He roared as he slapped her across the face, wildly roaring with laughter.

Katarina's screams rang out with greater and never before thought possible frequency and volume. Virik smiled as he continued his mental assault accompanying Veloran's physical torture with images that break down sanity and even deeper suggestions of surrendering to the darkness. The latter grew in frequency as time went on and he could feel Katarina start to surrender. Good.....give in...become my pet...I promise the torture will end...and you will see Durant again. "Durant?" Give up...you cannot win or escape so give in... Katarina screamed both mentally and physically until Virik felt her snap. Like a mirror her mind splintered with a thousand cracks which Virik filled with dark Eldritch magic, cementing the pieces together with unholy precision. "Veloran...I believe she is ready...."

He moved closer and retrieved a blank card from one of his many deck pockets. It touched Katarina's skin and a flash of light was accompanied by a final scream, of rage this time, and then she was gone. All that was left was the card now with a dark image of Katarina painted across it. Picking up the card he placed it back in his pocket. "Well...now that is over..."

Clapping his hands he ended the spell putting them back into their tent. "Get some rest brother.... tomorrow we move onto the next target....and the next victim.

Veloran grinned.

"Fine, fine...It is gettin ta be a bit late, eh?"

He started to walk to his cot, no sign of a lack of energy, just pure satisfaction. He lay down, and looked over with a smile.

"Hey Virik..." He gave a vile smile, one that looked malicious and sinister, but almost kind and connecting.

"...Be sure ta make her sing, girlie's got a lovely squealin voice." He whispered as he closed his eyes and patiently waited to fall asleep.

Virik smiled and snapped his fingers transforming their clothes back into disguise. He sat back in his chair and began to read his cards again. "interesting...." He sat back after a while into meditation to await the morning.
"

The sun rose over the party with no sense of hope or optimism, but silence and remorse. Durant did not come out of his tent till the sun was almost at its highest, and when he did, the group said nothing, allowing him to do as he pleased, moving around the campsite and doing whatever preparatory work needed to be done.

Veloran put up a veil of sadness and regret, his thoughts betrayed his outward visage.

"Heh, wonder if the lad's found 'is way ta the drink yet..." He scarfed down his food faster than the naked eye could see, and once the party had arisen he began to break down the tents in preparation to leave and move on.

"So...what's our next objective?" He asked nobody in particular as he began to move and clear out.

Maybe you can help him in that regard brother! Virik cleared his throat to get the the attention of the others. "I think the best course of action would be to break camp and move to the next objective.....unless of course...", he looked to Durant letting the rest of his sentence drift off. He was eager to see how much this loss had broken Durant.

Durant stood silent, clearly thinking through his words and thoughts before he voiced them to anyone but himself, and finally, he turned away as he took a bite of his eggs and sighed.

"...We break camp. We begin anew. We're moving double time for the next supply depot, and from there? Expanding to each depot in the county. This isn't a straight run to the the Arch-Primarch, we're going to tear his operation down piece by painful piece, we will make him rue the day he faced us, and we will destroy him with his own materials."

Veloran nodded, a smile almost creeping onto his face.

"Ah this'll be FANTASTIC! Idiot's declared war on our client now!" He thought to himself as he waited for the next instructions or responses to come from his "fellow adventurers".

Virik waved his hands and their tent packed itself and he was immediately ready for the road. He moved over to Durant. "We will make the enemy pay for their crimes....as we must eventually pay for ours...even the mistakes.." He moved past Durant and headed down the road waiting for the others.

Durant fell silent as Virik's words entered his ears, at which point Veloran smirked to himself and took the opportunity to ingratiate himself further with their "fearless leader".

Lumbering forward with a pat on the back, sympathetic smile, and a hearty laugh, Veloran took the lead and chuckled.

"Ignore mah brother, the Arch-Primarch will fear us an' tremble at our steps! Come on, friend, let's get movin', maybe there'll be a town nearby as well we can stop in an' resupply, eh?"

Durant nodded faintly.

"Indeed, we should restock..."

The band set off and stopped in the nearby town of Trelarch. Stopping at an Inn virik retired to his room leaving Veloran to converse with the others and weaken Durant more.

Veloran allowed Durant to move freely through the town, uninhibited by his visage.

"That boy's gonna find 'is way ta trouble all on 'is own, he don't need mah 'elp there..."

Settling into the town, and wandering about, Veloran decided to examine the town layout, in preparation if they would need to be fighting, and thought to subtly observe the rest of their ragtag group.

"Now, who's next on tha block...."

"Phallus....Cross...Cups...A strange fortune indeed. It seems..ah yes!" Virik muttered to himself as a knock came upon his door. Upon opening it he was subjugated to the cold solemn stare of the ever silent Orc Shaman. "Welcome Loktir...how may I help you to..." The orc said nothing pushing his way into the room. "Well...you certainly are a strange one..."

The Orc spoke in a low but serious grumble, "Cut the act Wizard....I know not what you are...but the spirits have revealed to me WHO you are..." Virik's eyes slanted but he kept his calm demeanor. "Please sit, Loktir was it? What have your spirits revealed to you?" The orc sat but kept his guard up. "You and your...brother have made a name for yourselves...the spirits show me much blood lay in your wake." Virik poured some tea and took a sip of his tea in his own way and began to lay out his cards. "We aren't so different you and I. You speak to spirits...i use spirits trapped within these cards to access the chaos of the void. We both know more than most about the otherworldly powers." Virik removed his veil, "And we have both paid the price for such knowledge."

Loktir did not even flinch at the sight before him. "You have paid much more than I it seems." He put a hand to his heart. "I care not for this world anymore...to be free of this curse, I will allow you to continue unmolested, but if you cause this mission to fail...if the Arch Primarch lives..." The orc stood and spread his robes revealing a scarred body and a giant black hole where his heart would normally lay. "I will give up more than this...to see you dead." With that the Orc left the room leaving Virik to his thoughts. "Well...fate is indeed a strange mistress..."

Veloran scoured the town, looking at whatever small shops passed his way, and above all else, keeping a constant eye on his surroundings, looking for his targets. It may be Virik's specialty to organize and plot the demise of their targets, but Veloran always took pride in helping set the stage, watching the dominoes fall. The girl was a joke to him, she proved little challenge at all, too trusting, and far too weak to have been of any use. The others, they would have to be far more watchful, and he knew it.

The dwarf amused him, they kept good company, and they enjoyed a good drink together. He wondered how long he would last before he fell among the ranks. The shaman he cared little about, that was more Virik's type of amusement. Then this "Pujaz"....The mysterious ones were always either incredibly fun, or boring as all hell because there was nothing special about them. Obviously, he hoped for the former. And finally, their "leader"....he would enjoy watching him crumble.

But patience was the key, and like it or not, Veloran knew he would have to wait. Their goals would be met, but if they happened too quickly, they'd loose out on a major payday, one of the best they'd had in quite some time. They had little need for the gold, most of life's necessities they could simply take, but the thrill of the hunt, the feel of gold...the joy of payday, that was what kept him going.

and for that, he could wait.

Virik was still contemplating his thoughts when he sensed it. His hand pausing just over the card he had just seconds before placed, the card still yet unseen. Getting up from his chair he replaced his veil and grabbed a staff that was leaning in the corner. He rarely used it but if his intuition was correct...he would need it and much more before the day was out. Dear brother...do you sense it? Something wicked this way comes...and for once it isn't us...." He left the room quickly leaving his set unfinished. Whether it would have made a difference or not is unclear but it may have given him something to think about, the card which he had just placed the five of swords...a card of defeat...