on November 24, 2018
at 12:36 am
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Archive for wester
20 results.
on December 1, 2018
at 12:38 am
on December 8, 2018
at 12:41 am
Hidden away in a private office, sat Wester, content at his desk. It was damp and dark, lit by a number of lanterns and only really closed off by an ornate curtain, but that was the kind of office space you could expect from the Order of Whispers if you wanted to work at headquarters. They were situated in a cave after all.
Not that Wester minded -as a higher ranking agent, he’d worked hard for this space, and it was his own. He took a sip of ale from his favourite mug (it had “Mornings, am I right?” carved into it – classic!), casually adjusted one of the various raven figurines on his desk, and went back to work.
It was mostly just paperwork: reviewing applicants, approving field work assignments… that sort’ve thing. Boring to some he supposed, but Wester far preferred the safe dull desk work over the messy dangerous field work. And since he came back from his mission in The Grove, boring desk work was all he did. Exactly as he liked it.
Wester leaned over and carefully scrutinized the applications on his desk. They’d been getting a lot lately. He picked one up – some necromancer named Rhenoth. Looks like he’d been scouted. The application was more a formality than anything else. He placed it in the “Approved” pile and went back to the rest.
An asuran engineer… a charr warrior….another asuran engineer… another sylvari necromancer. Also scouted from the looks of it. He squinted at the applicant’s name…
The Mute?
“WEEEEEESTER!”
A loud singsong voice cut through Wester’s comfy little office ambience like a cold knife. A cold DARK knife – there was something ugly behind its far too cheery tone, and he could feel droplets of sweat forming on his neck despite himself. I’ve heard this voice before.
And indeed he had.
A short sylvari with a shock of spiky hair was looking down at him with an aloof grin.
Bandi.
Oh spirits, he’d forgotten about Bandi.
He hadn’t heard him come in, and before Wester could say a word, the tiny plant was already making himself comfortable: casually leaning over Wester’s desk, propping his elbows onto its surface and carelessly knocking over a few figurines in the process. Wester opened his mouth to protest –
“Wait, no!” Bandi laughed. It was the kind of laugh that was a little too loud, a little too cheerful. “My bad, I mean Stein Steinson, right?”
Wester’s heart plunged deep into the pit of his stomach. He hadn’t heard that name in years. He shouldn’t have heard that name ever again! The cold sweat on his neck began to form into small rivers. Where did Bandi hear that name?! What was he after?! Why was he-?!
And then Wester remembered that night in the Wychmire Swamp, the humid air that clung to his clothes, the smell of mud and grass… and the words Bandi had said so nonchalantly at the time:
Tell me Wester, do you have any secrets?
And suddenly Wester realized exactly what this was about.
“Okay, okay” He said as calmly as he could muster.
Bandi didn’t seem to hear him.
“So, Stein Steinson,” The sylvari sang playfully, emphasizing each syllable of the name so that they hit Wester’s ears like bullets. “I took your advice, took a nice break in Hoelbrak-”
“OKAY I SEE WHAT THIS IS-”
“Gotta say, I’m more a wine guy myself, but the ale there ain’t bad!”
Bandi wasn’t even looking at Wester anymore, his back against the desk as he lazily examined one of Wester’s raven figurines.
“BANDI!”
“Specially liked the ah, Hunter’s Ale.” He playfully tossed the figure in the air, caught it, and tossed it again. “Good shit.”
“WOULD YOU PLEASE-”
“Oh, and I brought a new recruit with me. You’ll love her. Goes by The Mute. Great listener.”
Had Wester not been so blinded by his ever rising panic, he may have noticed that through a sliver of his curtain door, you could see someone. A tiny masked sylvari was standing out in the hallway surrounded by a horde of masked undead minions. She was nervous and a little bored. He did not see this. He was busy snatching Bandi by the lapels of his coat in urgent frustration and jerking him over the desk.
“BANDI!”
The plant’s smile didn’t even waver. “Yes, Stein Steinson?”
“WHERE DID YOU HEAR THAT NAME?”
“You mean Stein Steinson?” He swore he saw that damn salad’s grin grow larger. “Is that the name you mean, Stein Steinson?”
“YES, BANDI! PLEASE!”
And suddenly the playfulness in Bandi’s voice vanished, replaced with a tone of boredom and slight annoyance, like he was talking to a simpleton.“Darling, I just told you I was in Hoelbrak – where do you think I heard it?”
“Th-That’s-” Wester’s fingers began to shake, loosening their grip on Bandi’s coat.
“Honestly,” The tiny plant slipped away from Wester with ease. “I don’t know how you norn expect t’keep any secrets. Yer whole culture’s built on gossip, bragging, and alcoholism!”
The norn’s mind raced – who back home told him? Who had he talked to?
“Ain’t nothin’ looser lipped than a drunk – never mind a braggart one! Or a bar full of ‘em, get me?”
He couldn’t have.
“What are you… saying?”
“I’m saying all I did was walk into a bar, drop a few lines about this norn fellow I work with – fabulous beard, bit nosey, and BAM! Every drunk wants t’fill me in on yer ‘legend.’”
He had.
Wester sunk back in his seat, shaking. “Y-You’re joking!”
“And let me tell you, what a legend!” Bandi laughed with newfound enthusiasm. “How has no one looked into this before now?! Did they just think yer too boring or somethin’?”
This was not the reason why. The reason was more so that Wester stayed ahead of the game, keeping people from digging into his past by digging into theirs first. He considered it a “social insurance” of sorts that got easier to keep the higher his rank got. But now…
“How much did you-?!” His shaking had worsened, fear quickly filling every corner of his mind.
“Not that I think yer boring. Quite the opposite!” Bandi reached for the figurines strewn about Wester’s desk and started arranging them in a line as he talked. “Yer ‘legend’? Hilarious! Did you really change yer name and join the Order to get away from your ex-wife?!” He paused in his arranging to give Wester a meaningful look. “She says hi by the way.”
“You spoke to Birna?!” Wester nearly jumped from his chair, his face painted in dread.
“Birna?” Bandi looked confused for a moment. Then a smile crept slowly across his face. “…I was talking about Ingvil.”
As Bandi’s smile grew wider, it dawned on the norn just what he had done, and he could feel the color draining from his face. “W-Wait!”
“You mean there’s more?” The sleek little syvari’s eyes sparkled with mischief.
“Don’t!” Wester bellowed.
“I’m joking, of course I talked to Birna.” Bandi said cooly. “And Ingvil, and Marta, and Dagrun. You really tried to get away with marrying all of them? No wonder they wanna kill ya.”
Wester watched numbly as Bandi casually flicked one of the figurines, toppling the line of them like dominoes.
“You… talked to all of them…” Whatever color he had left was gone. He wasn’t shaking anymore.
“Ya even have kids, mate. Ya really should visit em more often.”
The norn wasn’t listening. He was defeated -slumped, lifeless and pale in his chair.
“Bandi.”
“Yes?”
“What do you want from me?”
There was a pause.
“What do I want?” The plant stopped smiling, his voice cool and calm. “I want this clear…”
He leaned in close, barely inches from Wester’s face, and the norn watched helplessly as Bandi’s face grew dark – eyes burning with a rage that filled the entire room. It was suffocating.
“Don’t. Fuck. With. Me.” Bandi snarled. “Do you understand?”
“Y-Yes!” Wester gasped. He was trapped in the fire of Bandi’s glare. It was hard to breathe.
And then the rage and the darkness lifted as Bandi pulled away with a smile. Almost lifted – it lingered still in the corners of the sylvari’s eyes.
“Oh good!” Bandi said with a sigh of relief. “I’m so glad we had this talk! I feel better, don’t you?”
Wester didn’t respond, but Bandi didn’t seem to care. The norn stayed frozen in his chair, not really listening as Bandi yammered nonchalantly about this or that, gave a mocking bow, and swept out of his office with a flourish. He stared out after him blankly, glued to his seat with a fear he was struggling to register.
Whoever Bandi really was, Wester no longer wanted to know. Ever.
*
Blueten perked up as Tora emerged from the office.
“Are you done?” She was eager to move on.
“Yeah, jus’ wanted to check in on yer application.” He tossed her something and she fumbled a bit to catch it.
“What’s this?” She turned the object back and forth between her fingers, examining it. It was wooden and shaped like a raven.
“A good luck charm. Cute right?” Tora gave her a quick grin and moved past her. “Let’s give you a quick tour of the place, shall we?”
He wasn’t as readable to Blueten as he used to be. Was he lying? It was a cute charm though. Distinctly norn-ish. She decided to let it be.
“Do you think they’ll accept me?” She said as she made to follow him, her army of minions skittering close behind her.
Tora simply smiled in response.
