Edric sat in an extravagant chair, his legs idly crossed in front of him as he scanned through a small collection of documents stacked upon his table. Most of them were reports - updates on the schedules of important people with even more important enemies. A few were new contracts waiting for his approval, detailing the conditions of their completion and, of course, the payment offered upon it. With a smirk, he separated one of the pages and tossed it into his luxurious, crackling fireplace, watching the paper burn with mild amusement. He didn't need reports on a lord in Razorplain when the dragon worshippers were more than happy to do all of the killing there without him. As a man with more than a passing interest in staying alive, he had been turning down every request coming from that city ever since he had learned about the possibility of a major Drakefolk offensive in the area. He wouldn't have known at all if it hadn't been for a letter he had received a few weeks back from an old employer of his, but given the source and the sensitive nature of the information itself, he knew to take the warning seriously. Leave it to the one person he wanted to see least of all to also be the only one still thinking about his safety.<br/><br/>His house, in a word, wasn't. He spent too much time traveling to bother maintaining the facade that he lived as an ordinary citizen of Northpeak, and the burden of owning property rights was one of many reasons why. There was nobody trustworthy enough to keep his possessions safe, and it was tiresome to socialize with the neighbors when they were all so detestable. His current place of residence was in a defunct underground bunker located just barely inside the city's walls that was once host to a cult of necromancers. Its original entrance had been collapsed years ago, but the main chamber was largely unaffected, which made constructing a new tunnel leading into it a simple and relatively inexpensive matter. Setting it up to feel comfortable had been the real challenge, but it was well worth the trouble; in his home, he lived like a king... and one without subjects at that.<br/><br/>Those were the best kind, surely.<br/><br/>Laying his papers on the table, the assassin leaned back into the folds of his chair and stared at the ceiling. A feeling of mild, nostalgic discomfort swept over him, causing him to grip the back of his neck and sit upright. It was a tiresome and all too recognizable memento from his old employer - a wound not of the body, but of the mind... or so Edric chose to interpret it. He hadn't felt the likes of it since they had last left each other's company, but then again, the most thought he had paid the man in the following years had been to dump all of the bounties that mentioned him into a separate collection, where they could be conveniently ignored. Keeping them at all was something of a habit, but an easily justified one. He wouldn't have been living in such opulence if he hadn't abided by it in the past, not that he would ever admit as much.<br/><br/>The unmistakable ringing of a small bell echoed throughout his bunker, followed soon after by another, and then a third. Someone was wandering around outside his home, most likely searching for a way in. The uncomfortable feeling returned in force, carrying with it a sense of dread that prompted Edric into action faster than he had worked in months. He stuffed the papers into a secure compartment, put out the fire, and fled into an escape tunnel along with most of his lightweight equipment in a matter of minutes. Cursing his own luck as he slipped a long and well-worn black cloak over his head, the assassin sprinted underground away from the heart of the city. He stopped only when the tunnel - and its lighting - ended with a crack in the wall just barely large enough for a human to pass through.<br/><br/>Somewhere within Northpeak's extensive network of catacombs, the lid of a coffin slowly creaked and spun open, releasing Edric Valcaedis from its otherwise empty interior. He shivered a bit at the sudden and drastic drop in temperature as he carefully closed the lid shut and tried to take stock of his surroundings. The whole place was sparsely lit by rows of slowly dying braziers, lining walls that were packed with skulls and other assorted bones. Due to the relative difficulty of finding an honest, loyal, and most importantly,<span style="font-style: italic">brave</span>gravekeeper in a city known for its long history of necromantic practices, the place was left unattended and kept under guard along with the rest of the church. It wasn't a very effective method of keeping corpse thieves from getting in or out, but they were rarely seen or caught, which kept the public happy and resulted in fewer unexplained disappearances among the city guard.<br/><br/>As Edric cautiously crept up to the imposing gate which would take him to the surface, the strange feeling in his neck became increasingly difficult to ignore. He picked the lock without trouble and began to climb the staircase, only to be stopped by a silhouette which casually blocked his only means of escape. Even with the daylight shining into his eyes, he could tell that it was no guard.<br/><br/>...No, it was something far worse. Standing at the top of the stairs was Koralheim Bronzefinn, wearing an expression more smug than any creature lacking a mouth had a right to wear. A "voice" that he wished he could forget invaded his thoughts in the absence of any spoken word.<br/><br/>"Ah, there you are Edric. For a moment I would've mistaken your movements for an attempt to evade me."<br/><br/>"Allow me to apologize for misleading you, then. I was, in fact, attempting to escape the throng of killers who are no doubt pursuing your head this very moment." he replied with a scowl. From behind the merman walked a large drakefolk woman that he surprisingly didn't recognize. "Ah, there's one now. I really must be going, if you don't mind..."<br/><br/>"Oh no, Kala? She's protecting me, actually. Worse things afoot than drakefolk. If it were that easy, I wouldn't be here to hire you."<br/><br/>Edric sighed. "Before you even reached my 'doorstep', as it were, I was overcome with two regrettably familiar sensations. The first was a slight tingling at the base of my neck, and the second, a direct result of the first, was a feeling of indescribable envy for those who share my profession, and have never experienced the feeling of their own impending doom. There may indeed be worse things than drakefolk about, but I can scarcely think of one worse than yourself, merman."<br/><br/>"Ah, and to think I worried that your cynicism and charming tongue would have grown weak in my absence. It is good to see you are still at the top of your game, Edric." Koralheim responded, "At least the church is momentarily preoccupied this time."<br/><br/>"And what has taken their place as the foremost seekers of your death? Is it the vampires? Artificiers, perhaps? Your list of enemies is so extensive that I would be unable to keep track of them all even if I cared to."<br/><br/>"Oh, you actually didn't guess it this time. I finally beat you at that little game, it seems." Koralheim replied mirthfully. "Though I can't promise that either of those things won't be a problem along the way, of course. So, the usual contract?"<br/><br/>"You really don't understand how men of my profession work, do you? You give me a name,<span style="font-style: italic">I leave your company</span>, and a few days later, a man with that name disappears. This 'usual contract' of yours is an abberation by which you force me to serve as a glorified brute, following you around that you may delight in my continued suffering. I question the need for you to fill that position when it is clearly taken already." he said, gesturing towards Kala.<br/><br/>"Well, I'm going to visit Sven again. I know you do enjoy that, at least." Koralheim offered. "Besides, you can busy yourself with killing other assassins. I'm sure the bounties I counterbid must certainly be given to other killers." he reasoned. "Perhaps we could visit Rasha. She asks of you sometimes."<br/><br/>The merman didn't even deny it. Their 'usual contract' was starting to look like an inescapable reality, although the prospect of thinning out his competition was more than a little tempting to Edric. Killing assassins always weakened someone else's claim to power, and a shrewd businessman like himself was always in a position to exploit those with a need for power. He spent a few moments silently weighing all potential profits against the risks involved before letting out a defeated sigh. There was almost no sum great enough to buy his company, but 'almost' wasn't good enough to stop Koralheim.<br/><br/>"...Very well, but if you expect me to deal with that woman a second time, you will be sorely disappointed."<br/><br/>"Oh, Lady Rasha? She's somewhat fond of you, I assume. She often asks if you have any plans for your soul after death, and if you're willing to sell it in advance." Koralheim replied cheerfully. "I wouldn't dare answer for you, of course."<br/><br/>He put a hand to his chin in mock contemplation. "Plans for my soul? Damnation, perhaps. I suspect it would be a more pleasant experience than relinquishing it to her, in any case."<br/><br/>Koralheim shrugged. "You might become a zombie like Sven; his buisiness is quite profitable. A zombie assassin would certainly be quite a thing to have stalking about."<br/><br/>Edric had always hated how casually Koralheim spoke about him and his profession. He knew that nobody could "overhear" a telepathic dialogue, but without the ability to silently communicate back, he had to choose his words far more carefully. There were too many people in Northpeak who could use his identity against him, and that was to say nothing of the strictly illegal business he conducted. Talking to someone with such an obvious lack of discretion was uncomfortable, even though the nature of telepathy rendered such things redundant. It was, if nothing else, inconsiderate.<br/><br/>"Could we discuss this elsewhere, or preferably not at all? This city has enough rumors of undead killers without us supporting them by lurking around its graveyards."<br/><br/>Koralheim shrugged again, lightly this time. "Very well. You never did get used to just thinking your responses back at me, did you? Guarded thoughts, the mark of a good businessman." he explained. "Well, have you any errands to finish? I'd like to make for Rez by the usual means sometime soon. Oh, and perchance, have you ever encountered an angel?"<br/><br/>Edric's expression, already more transparently dour and venomous than seemingly possible, somehow managed to intensify beyond even that. "No," he stated grimly, "I have not."<br/><br/>"Oh. Well I figured as much." Koralheim responded. "Very well then! Perhaps you will get to try something new. Shall we depart? We've another traveling companion, it seems. It might please you to know that he irritates me quite plainly. I figured I could lessen the immense weight on your shoulders with the news of some suffering of my own."<br/><br/>It figured that his employer would have stepped up his game in the most ridiculous manner possible. Dragging Edric into conflicts with the church was no longer sufficient, so now it had to be angels. He briefly wondered if he would be enlisted to kill gods in the future, but stopped himself rather quickly before he had a chance to succumb to the crushing despair of it all. Instead of voicing an ultimately futile complaint, he fell in line next to Kala as the three of them departed.<br/><br/>"A man who irritates<span style="font-style: italic">you</span>? Pay me triple the standard fare and I'll consider solving that problem."