"Alone, yes, that's the key word, the most awful word in the English tongue. Murder doesn't hold a candle to it and hell is only a poor synonym."
─ Stephen King
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Fusce mauris dolor, consectetur quis risus ut, convallis cursus nibh. Nulla sodales, mauris sed consectetur sollicitudin, sem felis fringilla urna, fringilla venenatis tellus ante eget diam. Nam nulla libero, vulputate sed lacus at, semper vestibulum sapien. In nulla ipsum, venenatis ac faucibus congue, suscipit eu mauris. Fusce ut sodales enim, sed pretium nulla. Aliquam ipsum urna, condimentum ut nisi ut, pellentesque feugiat quam. Ut non erat sed purus feugiat tempus vel nec magna. Nam vulputate suscipit luctus. Aliquam erat volutpat. Nam luctus lectus tempus, scelerisque justo ac, tempor nunc. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Curabitur vitae commodo orci. Mauris id metus consectetur, imperdiet magna in, tristique arcu. Aliquam luctus dolor ut tempus volutpat. Integer ultrices, nisl nec vestibulum laoreet, nisi dolor ullamcorper risus, eu lacinia odio nunc ut metus.
Fusce mauris dolor, consectetur quis risus ut, convallis cursus nibh. Nulla sodales, mauris sed consectetur sollicitudin, sem felis fringilla urna, fringilla venenatis tellus ante eget diam. Nam nulla libero, vulputate sed lacus at, semper vestibulum sapien. In nulla ipsum, venenatis ac faucibus congue, suscipit eu mauris. Fusce ut sodales enim, sed pretium nulla. Aliquam ipsum urna, condimentum ut nisi ut, pellentesque feugiat quam. Ut non erat sed purus feugiat tempus vel nec magna. Nam vulputate suscipit luctus. Aliquam erat volutpat. Nam luctus lectus tempus, scelerisque justo ac, tempor nunc. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Curabitur vitae commodo orci. Mauris id metus consectetur, imperdiet magna in, tristique arcu. Aliquam luctus dolor ut tempus volutpat. Integer ultrices, nisl nec vestibulum laoreet, nisi dolor ullamcorper risus, eu lacinia odio nunc ut metus.
[attr="style","overflow:hidden;grid-gap:2px;grid-template-areas: 'I1 I2 N N H W' 'I1 I2 CN CN BT V' 'I1 I2 A A EC EC' 'I1 I2 B B HC HC' 'I1 I2 G G NAT NAT' 'I1 I2 LAT LAT LAN LAN';display:grid;grid-template-columns:24% 24% 13% 13% 12.2% 13%;grid-template-rows:16% 16% 16% 16% 16% 17%;"]
[attr="style","grid-area:H;background-color:black;border:2px grey solid;padding:8px;color:red;font-size:130%;background-color:#141414;"]HEIGHT: 203.2 cm
[attr="style","grid-area:W;background-color:black;border:2px grey solid;padding:8px;color:red;font-size:130%;background-color:#141414;"]WEIGHT: 127.9 kg
[attr="style","grid-area:B;background-color:black;border:2px grey solid;padding:8px;color:red;background-color:#141414;font-size:130%;"]D.O.B.: February 24th, 1964
[attr="style","grid-area:HC;background-color:black;border:2px grey solid;padding:8px;color:red;background-color:#141414;font-size:130%;"]HAIR COLOR | TYPE: BLACK-BROWN [LAST KNOWN] | TYPE I
[attr="style","grid-area:G;background-color:black;border:2px grey solid;padding:8px;color:red;background-color:#141414;font-size:130%;"]SEX: MALE
[attr="style","grid-area:NAT;background-color:black;border:2px grey solid;padding:8px;color:red;background-color:#141414;font-size:130%;"]COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: MSSR | PRESENT DAY MOLDOVA
[attr="style","grid-area:LAT;background-color:black;border:2px grey solid;padding:8px;color:red;background-color:#141414;font-size:130%;"]LATERALITY: AMBIDEXTROUS, LEFT EYE DOMINANT
[attr="style","grid-area:OP;background-color:black;border:2px grey solid;padding:8px;color:red;background-color:#141414;font-size:130%;"]RELEVANT OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE: 345th SEPARATE GUARDS AIRBORNE, SOVIET-AFGHAN WAR | KGB, 1991 COUP D'ÉTAT ATTEMPT | FSB SPETSNAZ, FIRST AND SECOND CHECHEN WARS, ANNEXATION OF CRIMEA | COVERT INVOLVEMENT IN YUGOSLAV WARS FOR SVR
KNOWN INVOLVEMENT IN OPERATION HOMEBOUND.
[attr="style","background-color:black;border:2px grey solid;padding:8px;color:red;background-color:#141414;border-bottom:4px grey solid;font-size:130%;border-top:4px grey solid;text-align:center;"]SPECULATED SERVICE HISTORY:
[attr="style","background-color:#141414;border-left:4px grey solid;border-right:4px grey solid;border-bottom:4px grey solid;color:lightgrey;text-align:center;padding:5px;font-size:100%"]STOIAN AT NAGURSKOYE AIR BASE, 1990
[attr="style","font-size:110%;color:lightgrey;"]• Known to have enlisted into and operated within the VDV, or Soviet Airborne Forces during the tenure of the USSR. Enlistment, for Stoian, began at age 16 when he enlisted as a miltiary cadet into the Red Army. From there, stolen intelligence dictated that Stoian purposefully went through Airborne training as per his initial contract.
• After enlisting and graduating from the VDV programme within the Soviet military, Stoian was deployed in the 345th Separate Guards Airborne Regiment along with the 40th Army to Afghanistan in order to reinforce occupation during this period. Service records beyond this fact have not been recovered, though it is generally speculated that he was stationed within Kabul as early as January of 1984; additionally, Stoain saw combat past 1985 in the Panjshir Valley and was suspected to be working closely with KHAD and the Afghan army regarding matters of intelligence and training.
• 1985-1988 saw Stoian at the center of Afghan army training and recruitment, along with counterintelligence operations against Mujahideen fighters and CIA reconnaissance efforts. Available reports from the Central Intelligence Agency dictate that Virgil was an important trainer and supplier of arms for the Sarandoy during the late 1980s, and recovered photos confirm this involvement. The bloodiest year of the war, 1985, and Stoian's outstanding service to both the Soviet and Afghan military during this time may have had a factor in his accelerated promotion and subsequent increase in influence over Soviet supply activities.
• 1988-1989 was a period in which Stoian oversaw training of the DRA forces as the Soviet army began to withdraw from the region. It was during this period of evacuation and abandonment of the war effort that Stoian was approached for induction and recruitment into the KGB following the Soviet-Afghan War, with much of his duties and deployment following that of a Spetsnaz special forces soldier under the GRU. 1990-1991 saw little military intervention on behalf of the Soviet Union due to its imminent collapse, though Stoian was speculated to be involved in the August 1991 coup attempt by the KGB. Whether he was involved as an ally or as opposition to his fellow members is unknown to American intelligence at this time.
• The siege at Bojkovac within present-day Bosnia-Herzegovina on December 18th, 1992, for all intents and purposes, is the defining event of Stoian's military career which attracted the attention of the BLOODHOUNDS unit's foreign intelligence database. Codenamed OPERATION HOMEBOUND, the event saw the Bloodhounds Unit launch a covert offensive against unmarked SVR Spetsnaz soldiers in order to retrieve a high-yield nuclear device of alleged DESIGNATION: PARANATURAL origin and mechanism. While initial reconnaissance of the region revealed no abnormalities in troop movement and deviations from gathered intelligence, an underestimation of Spetsnaz troops resulted in a two-hour exchange of gunfire and munitions between the 36-man Bloodhounds Unit and an unexpected 146-man Spetsnaz detachment. The siege totaled 28 casualties, with 23 deaths and 5 wounded officially recorded. Then-initiate RAY GREENE was noted for exceptional bravery and actions above the call of duty. Virgil Stoian was uncovered as a primary asset in counterespionage tactics on behalf of the SVR before the siege and is suspected to have had a sizable influence in the flawed intelligence gathered by reconnaissance; additionally, Stoain's presence at Bojkovac was noted as a senior officer among the Spetsnaz detachment. Validation of identity has been provided through recovered footage during OPERATION HOMEBOUND.
• Following the decisive defeat of the Bloodhounds Unit at Bojkovac-- a failure which provided the rigorous standards of recruitment and training, specifically in SERES and environmental resistance-- Stoian continued his career within the SVR before being transferred to the FSB at the onset of its establishment in 1995. Following his induction, Virgil was deployed to combat zones within the Caucusus Region in the First and Second Chechen conflicts until the early 2000s. Due to the operations and identities of FSB personnel being a closely-guarded state secret of the Soviet Union and subsequent Russian Federation, intelligence regarding Stoian's specific deployment and actions past this point become largely inaccessible. However, classified service records uncovered via data breach in early 2020 place Virgil within the Crimean Peninsula during the mid-to-late 2010s, which further suggests his involvement in the region's annexation.
• The Bloodhounds Unit has since begun a resurgence of inquiries into the whereabouts of Virgil Stoian due to emerged reconnaissance photos and recruitment sites that have captured his likeness; most presently, intelligence is investigating his ties to the DESIGNATION: DEVIANT coalition of the GOLD STANDARD and its founder, AURUM.
[attr="style","background-color:black;border:2px grey solid;padding:8px;color:red;background-color:#141414;border-bottom:4px grey solid;font-size:130%;border-top:4px grey solid;text-align:center;"]PROFILE OF BEHAVIOR:
Stoian's ferocity and danger in combat is largely owed to his upbringing under the Soviet-era military industrial complex. He had been groomed for a soldier's lifestyle since his youth in Moldova; evidence of quick promotion in his respective duties has reinforced the threat level of Stoian in particular, along with his involvement in various recruitment and training efforts. Due to his presence in training and supplying Afghan army troops in the late 1980s, it is perceived that Stoian possesses a high level of aptitude in both unconventional and conventional military tactics, along with the ability to communicate and teach this information effectively to largely unskilled masses.
As a trainer, Stoian is also rumored to have a low tolerance for weakness and suspicion. This claim is further evidenced by his activities during the First and Second Chechen Wars in which Virgil supplied firearms and tactics training to Russian-allied Chechen groups; additionally-- if the claims of Stoian's ties to Aurum are deemed true-- the threat level of GOLD STANDARD terrorists also suggests an unrelenting and ferocious training process which breeds indomitable loyalty in radicalized cells. While Stoian himself has not been observed to directly involve himself with GOLD STANDARD terrorist attacks (see JP MORGAN FUNDRAISER ATTACK), available informants claim that he is heavily involved in the research and acquisition of resources for the cell, which can explain the possible use of refurbished and modified Cold War-era Soviet technology and machinery. Stoian himself has only been spotted once at a potential GOLD STANDARD training site in the Maldives, though further reconnaissance cannot confirm identity at this time.
Available psychoanalysts under the Bloodhounds Unit, though unable to conduct a clinical assessment without direct access to Virgil Stoian, have deemed the pursuits of "Balaur" as a result of obsession with strength. In an age dominated by parahuman and paranatural threats, men such as Virgil stand out amongst procedural threat assessments and database inhabitants; subsequently, his involvement in OPERATION HOMEBOUND as an aggressor has raised his profile considerably. Further clashes with Bloodhounds Unit adept Ray Greene in the Chechen Conflicts has formed a pattern of behavior that largely intersects with the paranatural, leading the Bloodhounds to place Stoian in particular within the PARANATURAL WATCHLIST.
The distinction should be made, here, that Virgil Stoian is not a parahuman, nor does he seem to possess any latent parahuman gene as shown in recovered DNA sampling. The threat of "Balaur" lies not only in physical capabilities, but the mental ability to recruit and train large amounts of radicalized terrorists within short amounts of time-- along with Cold War-era classified information that may prove to a great danger to the national security of not only the United States, but the Russian Federation. As such, it may be advised that communication between the Bloodhounds and the FSB is established for matters regarding Stoian and his current whereabouts, if applicable.
Virgil's loyalty to the Soviet Union throughout his tenure as a trained operative seems to be at conflict with his current ideology, which largely sees him at the forefront of a recruitment effort for anarcho-capitalist terrorist cells; however, analysts have attributed this shift in ideals to a pattern of disillusionment in his country after the failed coup of 1991 and the subsequent Chechen wars which resulted in his deployment to the Caucusus. Further disillusionment during the Crimean Conflict in 2014 may also be a motivator, as Stoian notably left the service of the FSB in late 2017 to perform as a contract mercenary and drill instructor for para-military companies. Confirmation by foreign intelligence of Stoian's encounters with ex-Green Beret RAY GREENE may inform further inquiries about the subject.
Involvement in metahuman affairs on behalf of Stoian may suggest a new venture into the paranatural for the Moldovan, as his involvement in OPERATION HOMEBOUND suggests a trend of behavior and modus operandi that frequently aligns within the intersecting spheres of the mundane and parahuman; most presently, Stoian represents a remnant of the Cold War that has persisted into the modern world on the basis of a stubborn refusal to adapt.
His present purpose under the GOLD STANDARD is not unlike that of his days as a recruiter and instructor in the 20th and early 21st century, which further suggests Stoian's refusal to depart from his own perceived purpose. Whether he joined GOLD STANDARD due to similarities in ideology to Aurum or strictly because of superior monetary compensation as a mercenary is presently unknown; determining Virgil's motivations in providing training to terrorist cells may uncover useful intelligence that may be used to compromise Stoian in the future.
Additionally, he may be used as a weak link in the chain of command, depending on whether or not his loyalty to the GOLD STANDARD is able to be exploited.
[attr="style","font-size:110%;color:lightgrey;"]As a result of Stoian's work as a mercenary following his departure from the FSB, a majority of undercover foreign contacts have reported Virgil's presence at multiple points around the globe. While largely a freelance mercenary as dictated by initial records of contracts and payments recovered from GCA archives, the period of April 5th, 2020 to September 21st, 2020 saw a sizable uptick in both active contacts and scheduled monetary compensation for Stoian; increased employment and payment during these months has been largely attributed to Stoian's encounters with Aurum during this period. Analysts under the Bloodhounds Unit have speculated from database records that Virgil largely acted as a contract killer for the terrorist leader before being brought into the GOLD STANDARD as a more permanent addition to the group.
Additionally, digital payments across international servers have been traced to a remote site in the Philippines with suspected ties to GOLD STANDARD merchant accounts and Bitcoin wallets; when this information was handed over to relevant authorities, a raid uncovered GOLD STANDARD-branded technological equipment and three suspected terrorists that expired before interrogation could take place. Additionally, satellite imagery recovered from American orbital reconnaissance placed a suspected terrorist training cell upon a remote island in the Maldives, of which Stoian was suspected of overseeing. A raid by relevant NATO forces uncovered traces of Virgil's presence at the base, though his identity was not physically confirmed. All present terrorists expired before questioning could take place.
In 2021, the JP Morgan Fundraiser attack did not see Stoian making an appearance, though BALTHIS FAVRE and "ARGENT", two trusted lieutenants under Aurum's employment, were primary antagonists for the duration of the event. Recovered weaponry from GOLD STANDARD terrorist cadavers revealed similar weaponry to that which Stoian had sourced in the past, though immense heat damage to the barrel and bodies of the firearms had largely rendered them untraceable. A singular Russian-produced PM sidearm was recovered with minimal damage, however, and no serial number was found upon the body of the weapon. Available analysts have speculated that Stoian has been sourcing his supplies through secondary supply depots, almost all of which sell unmarked surplus technology which is subsequently refurbished and often-times upgraded by GOLD STANDARD technicians; additionally, Stoian appears to conduct these purchases himself, as evidenced by his presence at the December 26th, 2020 Marshfield Warehouse raid. These reports are corroborated by domestic informants.
The direct link between Stoian and Aurum is presently unconfirmed, though there is heavy evidence that he acts largely as a recruitment beacon and instructor for a majority of the GOLD STANDARD. Additionally, as evidenced by previous investigations into supply deals, Virgil is a connection to refurbished equipment and vehicles that Aurum uses. Whether or not he is considered a lieutenant or an expendable asset is unknown at this time; additionally, his current whereabouts are unknown. Satellite imagery has returned no leads as to the whereabouts of the GOLD STANDARD base of operations, though numerous trafficking and training sites have been located and raided to no avail.
[attr="style","overflow:hidden;background-color:black;border:2px grey solid;padding:8px;color:red;background-color:#141414;border-bottom:4px grey solid;font-size:130%;border-top:4px grey solid;text-align:center;"]CURRENT RULES OF ENGAGEMENT:
[attr="style","background-color:#141414;border-left:4px grey solid;border-right:4px grey solid;border-bottom:4px grey solid;color:lightgrey;text-align:center;padding:5px;font-size:100%"]"IF YOU SEE HIM, IT IS BECAUSE HE WANTED YOU TO."
[attr="style","font-size:110%;color:lightgrey;"]Direct contact with Virgil Stoian is usually a result of necessity rather than a choice; having classically trained as a long-range marksman, Stoian is most comfortable with distant engagements and providing oversight with the aid of a spotter. As such, he is rarely directly seen in the thick of a firefight, though footage of OPERATION HOMEBOUND suggests that his experience in close-quarters engagements is more than adept. Melee is predictably ill-advised. One-on-one engagement is also ill-advised.
Yesterday, upon the stair, I met a man who wasn't there! He wasn't there again today, Oh how I wish he'd go away!
"Listen, you don't need to mince words with me, James. I know it's bad. Just... tell me how bad."
"Flo, I just - I've never seen something like this before."
Florence sat in the sterile room, arms folded over her chest. She felt cold. It was always cold, in the hospital, but that usually didn't bother her, much. No - this wasn't the air. This was fear. She'd worked here long enough to know what was going on. By the time it reached this point, you weren't given a survival rate. You were given a prognosis. She leaned forward in the plastic chair, then stood, moving behind James. She'd worked with him long enough, too, to know what the look on his face meant. Concern. He never showed it around patients, but she wasn't a patient, was she? She was a coworker. A friend.
"Listen, Flo, I'm not even - not even sure what's happening in these. It could be leukemia, but that wouldn't explain these patterns. It's like something's eating away at your bones."
"Oh, come on now," she retorted, placing a hand on the scan and slipping beside him to get a better look. "You're not going to tell me I've got osteoporosis or something. I know what I saw in the last body scan. The growths around my spine were massive, James. I can - I can feel them when I lay on my back. There's this fucking pressure there. I can barely sleep through the night anymore."
James looked at her apologetically.
"The only other thing I can think of is FOP, but I've only seen pictures of that in textbooks. You'd need to go to a specialist for a second opinion -"
"I want a biopsy."
He paused.
"Are you sure?"
Flo nodded. She opened her mouth to say something more, but they died in her throat. James' face shifted from concern to pity, and she turned away, trying to hide the dampness forming in her eyes.
"I just want to know how long I have left."
---
The long, thin bones rattled in a cup at her desk. She stared at them, eyelids drooping from restless nights, face sallow and apathetic. These were the first ones James had taken out, two months ago. She'd sent a core sample from them in for testing. They'd come back healthy - though, structurally distinct from human bone. No cancer, no indication that they had been growing in a place they weren't supposed to, just - normal, porous bone. It had only taken a few days for them to grow back inside of her. She asked James to take those out, too. By the time the third ones grew, though, she didn't ask. She just let them grow. And grow. And grow. Tiny nubs jutted from her back now. Sitting normally in a chair was uncomfortable, laying down was impossible. Two days ago, she broken one of them accidentally while trying to pull on her jacket. It was excruciating, then, but the pain had settled into a dull throb, and already, the bone seemed to be knitting itself rigid again.
Slowly, she picked up the phone, other hand reaching - shaking - for the tiny, yellow business card with the faded edge.
"Hello? Yes. Florence Mitchell. We spoke earlier. Yes, that's fine. I can take off work this next Tuesday. Eleven would be perfect."
She set the card down, thumb running idly over the text.
"Of course. Of course. Thank you. Goodbye."
---
Nothing she could do. There was nothing she could do. She lay on her side in bed, fleshy appendages dangling from her back with an all to noticeable weight. She could move them, if she focused. Was her back changing, then, too? Muscles changing in density, shifting where they connected? How much more would change? Dr. Sherrick didn't seem to know. He said there was no way of telling. That it was different for everyone. Still, she resisted, plucking a new feather every time it broke through the skin, wrapping the tumors tight against her back with bindings every time she went out, no matter how much it hurt. She was losing focus. God, maybe she was even losing her mind. She couldn't look at herself naked in the mirror, could barely force herself to shower, and when she did, she didn't dare touch her back.
Feeling them meant they were real.
---
Florence sat at the edge of the hospital rooftop, wings wrapped tightly around her shoulders. Her eyes scanned the people milling about the entrance - there, just on time for his shift to end. She watched him as he stopped off to the side, settling in a bench, hands cupped around his coffee as he blew gently at the steam. She'd tried to send an email. Tried to leave a phone call. The first felt too impersonal. The second - too close. Eventually, she had settled for a letter. A letter she could pour her heart into, but never have to face the consequences for. Just drop it and fly away.
The paper fluttered down to the pavement below, and for a moment, she paused, making sure the man below found it. He glanced up in time for it to hit the sidewalk, then stood, picking it up off the ground. His eyes scanned the first line.
James, I'm sorry.
By the time he finished reading it, the rooftop had long been empty.
Shapechanger. Vyta can use her action to polymorph into a Small or Medium aquatic creature, or back into her true form. Her statistics, other than her size, are the same in each form. Any equipment she is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. She reverts to her true form if she dies.
River Body.When inside a body of water, Vyta can use her bonus action to become part of it. While in this form, she is immune to bludgeoning, piercing, slashing, fire, and poison damage, and has resistance to magical damage. Her swim speed increases to 240 ft. She is unable to can’t attack, cast spells or use other powers, talk, or manipulate objects while in this form, except for her manipulate water ability.
Manipulate Water. Vyta is able to control water at will. Her range and area of effect includes the entirety of the Greer.
Soul of the Greer. Vyta's health is tied to the health of the river. Drought and pollution have a negative impact on her - she gains permanent points of exhaustion appropriate to the severity of the situation. If the river dries up or grows too polluted to sustain life, she dies. Additionally, she is unable to leave the river or water from the river for 24 hours. Past this, she loses her abilities and resistances, and gains a point of exhaustion for every hour after she spends outside of the river.
Innate Spellcasting.Vyta's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 20), and requires no material components for the following spells:
at will: plant growth, druidcraft, create or destroy water 3/day: charm person, tidal wave, cure wounds, lesser restoration 1/day: persuasion, tsunami, antipathy/sympathy
Actions Bite.Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: (2d4 + 2) piercing damage.
Water Jet. A stream of high-pressure water erupts from Vyta's mouth. A creature hit by this must make a Dexterity saving throw, DC 16. On a failed save, the creature takes 2d6 bludgeoning damage and is knocked prone. On a successful save, the creature takes half damage.
They say the sun never truly shines in Loch Duwain. That even when the sun hangs high over head, peaks and towers cast their shade upon the valley below. The deeper you travel in the city's depths, the darker it grows, and at the center of it all - The Blackpool, tucked in crescent oasis - one cannot truly tell the difference between day and night. Those who have lived there, though, know a different meaning. True, the city lies in mountain shadow. True, candlelight flickers through the depths of noon. But the truth of why the sun never shines in Loch Duwain is because its families have much to hide.
Mankind is a covetous sort. They long for that which they do not have - the wealth of their neighbors, the power of their rulers, the very forces of nature themselves that govern the machinations of our world - and mankind, of course, will do all in their power to acquire it. This is the principle the Rithe of the city live by. They shy away from this, concealing their misdeeds in secrecy and occult, but the truth lies bare for any with half a mind to see it. Perhaps the pinnacle of all desires is the cold fire that drives them most - eternal life. Even the purest of the Rithe, elvenblood barely tainted by mundane, do not spurn this yearning. Centuries they may have lived, and centuries more to pass, but in time, their bodies will fail, their minds rot, and their souls unshackle from this mortal world.
They could not stand the thought. They detested the thought. And so, instead, they sought answers.
They sought answers in the rumors of a deathless king building a coffin of its own design. They sought answers in the spirits that dwelled in the land, and the whispering stars that some claimed spoke above. They turned to the ancients of distant seas, to the infernal creatures of decay beneath the earth, in faiths of fire and faiths of cold and faiths bathed in the blood of countless victims. Still, they found nothing.
It was, perhaps, by accident they stumbled upon a Truth. Not immortality, as they had sought - but life. Binding a soulless spirit to a lifeless husk, they made them - a foul mockery of nature, cold metal and colder shadows. They were not alive, yet they lived. It was there the Briga were born.
Briga. Hollow. Empty. Lie.
They saw promise in this. Vessels that sustained life, but would not age. The first were insufficient - they lived for a day, then began to lose their bodies, then shortly after, their minds. They would dissipate into the mists from which they were born, leaving only puddles of metal in their wake. Shackles of iron were made, not only to control, but to contain. Symbols to keep their forms stable. Names to make them whole. In a cruel irony, the same thing that gave them permanence also made them slaves. To exist is to be at the whims of forces beyond your control, after all, and in the hands of a summoner, names hold power. The Briga were bound by the very things that made them, forced into petty servitude at the hand of the resentful Rithe.
It took time - time enough for many generations to come and pass - but Loch Duwain, once darkly magnificent, soon fell to the rot its rulers feared. It was not age, in the end, that proved their poison, but desire. The Rithe fell into squabbles, and they turned their secrets on themselves. Dark sorceries scoured entire bloodlines from the earth. Halls bathed in red, shades like knives whispering through unsuspecting dreamers. Things came to simmer, but the rot remained, and the families remained forever in schism. It was at this time the Briga found new purpose. Light, they moved weightlessly across the eaves. Dark, they slipped between the shadows. No soul to trace, no magic to feel, little more than a breath on the wind past unsuspecting windows.
And - if caught - little loss to the Rithe that sent them. They would not betray their masters' secrets, no matter what pain was brought upon them. How could they betray?
The city lived on, if only just, and its people lived on with it. A husk of its former glory, split in realms between the darkened days and the horrors of the nights.