Darkened Horizon
Lap dog amongst hounds
After the original meeting Cyrus had been shown to a room and had been assigned a guard, though Cyrus didn’t know why. His guardian as it was called was Thiess. At first Cyrus was taken aback but Thiess sat down with him and filled him in on what was happening. “So why did that woman say I was in even more danger? Who are the assassinites? Why am I here? Who are you?” Cyrus blurted out as soon as Thiess sat down. “Hold your fur, one at a time” Thiess said pulling back his hood so that his face could be clearly seen. He had electric blue eyes and many deep scars on his face that made him seem older than he actually was. “When you refer to the woman I assume you mean Canis. Well long ago in the ancient manuscripts of the four emperors an article referred to five brothers that would be useful to the cause against the rising evil” Thiess said in a fatherly tone, not taking his eyes of Cyrus. “The rising evil?” Cyrus said looking confused. “Well lately there has been more activity from the dark powers, we not sure what exactly but six months ago Occidentalis and the council of the four kingdoms decided that to counter the presumed threat they would to put into practice the plans that they had laid down in reaction to prophesy” Thiess explained. “Prophesy?” Cyrus questioned. “Never mind now you will learn more in due course” Thiess retorted “so what next…ah yes I remember, who am I? Well my name is Thiess I am a member of the Benandanti Wolves, I am one of the five Wolfen fangs, Battle masters or elite if you will, there can only be five and when one dies the best member of the Wolfen claws takes his or her place.”
“You’re a werewolf?”
“Yes I am, I’m three hundred years old”
Cyrus looked confused. “The wolfen gene that flows through me prolongs my life, if I'm lucky I may live to see five hundred” he said looking at his hand as though he expected to see the blood pumping through the vains.
“And who are the Assassinites?” Cyrus said looking at his own hand comparing at how relatively smooth and pale it was when compared to Thiess’ hand. “They are an Ancient cult of assassins. We thought they where destroyed when the last elements of evil where destroyed. When the five united kingdoms battled the evil armies, on the east side of the dread mountains a thousand years ago. But rumour has it that at the dark temple some members escaped through the black portal there to the warp of the damned Inferno, and it seems that the rumours have now been confirmed true because they have suddenly appeared back in this world. They are rejects of society usually, werewolves, vampires and other foul beasts trained in the dark arts of assassination, they are a mix or dark magic and twisted brutality.” Thiess finished giving a big yawn. “So why am I here?” Cyrus continued. “As I said before the ancient manuscripts described that five brothers would help in the fight of new evil that would avail itself. We are not exactly sure what this means because it is still been decoded and it’s slow progress but lately we started searching for five brothers in light that evil is starting to stir again and the benandanti need more to hep us combat them, we thought that your family was the one that the text had referred too and it was confirmed when your two brothers where assassinated by the assassinites…and so here you are…we have other Benandanti wolves that are out now collecting the other two remaining brothers.” Thiess finished. “So who are the Benandanti Wolves?” Cyrus added now he came to think of it. “We are an ancient society of werewolves and wolves that have pledged our lives to five or four as it is now kingdoms werewolves are the main bulk of the force, we are a military society in time or crisis. That’s why we all carry weapons, mean while the wolves are our hunters and spies yet they do still fight for us in battle. We basically are an elite unit, we use our werewolf powers for good not evil, yet some don’t follow us and there are evil werewolves” Thiess explained. “Yeah one of the assassinites is one” Cyrus added. “Aye that would be true he’s a defector of our ranks, that’s why he is so good at what he does, he was trained by us.” “Anyway there are only 700 of use so we are very few. And that’s about it but you’ll learn more as time goes on.” Thiess finished. Anyway I’ve got to go and check out some stuff, I’ll come back later and get you because there’s a big meeting happening later
The atmosphere that now hovered the hall was deadly silent and mirrored the faces of those that where present. About 50 men women and wolves sat at the table that was parallel with the hall, in front of that was another table that was at right angles with the first. No one was talking and silence rained supreme over the room. The leading Benandanti werewolf as Cyrus found out was called Occidentalis or Oco as his friends called him. He would sit in the centre of the table flanked by his two Wolfen commanders outside them were where the Wolfen fangs sat but they where not there, they where in a meeting with Oco and the Wolfen commanders Thiess was in there also but he would come and stand the side next to Cyrus so he could fill him in on what was happening and the meeting requirements. Outside the fangs was the top four Wolfen Claws two on either side.
Gabriel was halfway down the table and Galvon was near the top end. From what Thiess had said the closer you where to the top of the table the high up the ranking order you where. Cyrus couldn’t had Thiess write down the order of the ranks when he kept forgetting them and having to ask what they where and what order they went in. Thiess quickly scrawled down the basic order and current number of the “top” wolves. But said there where certain ranks that branched off the main chain so it wasn’t exactly accurate. Apparently there was a separate tree branching off Shadowfoot for the Wolves but Thiess didn’t bother writing them down.
1. Benandanti Commander- 1
2. Wolfen Commander- 2
3. Wolfen Fangs- 5
4. Wolfen Claws- 20
5. Benandanti Werewolves-250
6. Shadowfoot
7. Prowler
8. Black wolf
9. Grey wolf
10. Wolf
11. Cub
12. Associates
The door to the side of the top table opened. Oco strolled out accompanied by his commanders and three Fangs, the other two where no ware to be seen. Everyone on the centre table a top table stood up dead still like statues as he walked to his seat and stood in front of it. He raised his hand “please be seated my fellow brothers”. Everyone sat, except Cyrus and Thiess that where in the corner and had not been provided with seats, as Cyrus was not a member he wasn’t allowed one at either of the tables. Oco also remained standing, he was dressed in the same armour as the Benandanti but his was lined at the rims with gold, as was his emblem that was on the chest plate of his armour. The two commanders either side had theirs laced with silver instead of gold. For the rest of the Benandanti they had a canine’s above and to the left of the chest plate symbol so they where on the left side of the chest, going from one to five across then a new line would start. The Fangs would have two rows of five canines, the canines where painted on in brilliant white so they stood out.
“As you know we have had to call his emergency meeting in light of the new threat that has presented itself…we now have proof that our worst fears have been realised, the Assassinites have returned from the Warp of the Damned Inferno.” There was a stunned silence, a few faced turned to each other in surprise, a few whispers traversed the table, fear was now recognisable in many of the faces. One woman stood up. “Shadowfoot, Larissa” Thiess whispered in Cyrus’ ear. Oco bowed his head in recognition and sat down to let her speak. “How many Assassinites do you speak of?” she said. She sat down and Oco leaned over towards on of his commanders that whispered something. “If records are correct four masters and one Lord escaped through the portal, we must assume that there are currently five, but in truth we do not know how man escaped, it is possible that there are more”. Another man stood up. “Wolf, Lucius” Thiess whispered. “What form are they?” Lucius said before he sat down. “From what we know two are Vampires and one is Falmear the Benandanti defector...the other master and lord we are not sure as they have not availed themselves to use as yet.” There was hushed talking, “Falmear defected from our ranks" Thiess whispered. "In the light of this new information every Benandanti must now carry their Finalka" Oco declared. “A small poisoned blade special against vampires, kills them in one cut. It’s about a foot long” Thiess whispered in Cyrus’ ear.
“Also every Benandanti must now take the nightwax again" Oco was saying.
“Potion that slows down transformation into a vampire if we are bitten” Thiess continued.
“We shall dispatch vials immediately, every one must carry at east five” Oco continued. “They last about two days” Thiess whispered.
“This gives us another problem, the Assassinites also know the prophecy, they know about the five brothers, and they have already moved against them, one is safe in our hands.” Everyone turned in their seats to look at Cyrus. Cyrus was taken aback that he had just been thrust into the spotlight. Many at the table bowed their heads in recognition and respect, a few waved. Cyrus calmed down now he knew that they where at least friendly, having previously not known what there reaction would be like. “This is Cyrus, you shall give him every Courtesy you can, you all know how important he is. He is under personal protection of the Benandanti, I trust you shall honour that” he added. Everyone turned back round and nodded in agreement. “As you can see Lupis and Rainem are away, they are currently trying to bring in the other two” Oco finished. Larissa stood up again. “Begging your pardon sir but Cyrus is here and we are bringing in the other two, what has happened to the other two?” she questioned, a few at the table murmured and nodded in agreement, looking expectantly at Oco. “Good question…as I said before the assassinites know the prophecy, they got too the first two brothers before we could, they where mutilated by the assassinites”. There was a stunned silence, Larissa stood again. “Would this affect the prophecy?” she quickly added. “We are not sure what impact this turn of events has on the prophesy” Oco said blankly. He stood up and raised his right hand. Everyone else in the room did the same. “He speaks then say what he says” Thiess whispered. He raised his hand, Cyrus mimicked the motion. “May Shadow hide us" he said in a loud voice. “May Shadow hide us” everyone mimicked.
“You’re a werewolf?”
“Yes I am, I’m three hundred years old”
Cyrus looked confused. “The wolfen gene that flows through me prolongs my life, if I'm lucky I may live to see five hundred” he said looking at his hand as though he expected to see the blood pumping through the vains.
“And who are the Assassinites?” Cyrus said looking at his own hand comparing at how relatively smooth and pale it was when compared to Thiess’ hand. “They are an Ancient cult of assassins. We thought they where destroyed when the last elements of evil where destroyed. When the five united kingdoms battled the evil armies, on the east side of the dread mountains a thousand years ago. But rumour has it that at the dark temple some members escaped through the black portal there to the warp of the damned Inferno, and it seems that the rumours have now been confirmed true because they have suddenly appeared back in this world. They are rejects of society usually, werewolves, vampires and other foul beasts trained in the dark arts of assassination, they are a mix or dark magic and twisted brutality.” Thiess finished giving a big yawn. “So why am I here?” Cyrus continued. “As I said before the ancient manuscripts described that five brothers would help in the fight of new evil that would avail itself. We are not exactly sure what this means because it is still been decoded and it’s slow progress but lately we started searching for five brothers in light that evil is starting to stir again and the benandanti need more to hep us combat them, we thought that your family was the one that the text had referred too and it was confirmed when your two brothers where assassinated by the assassinites…and so here you are…we have other Benandanti wolves that are out now collecting the other two remaining brothers.” Thiess finished. “So who are the Benandanti Wolves?” Cyrus added now he came to think of it. “We are an ancient society of werewolves and wolves that have pledged our lives to five or four as it is now kingdoms werewolves are the main bulk of the force, we are a military society in time or crisis. That’s why we all carry weapons, mean while the wolves are our hunters and spies yet they do still fight for us in battle. We basically are an elite unit, we use our werewolf powers for good not evil, yet some don’t follow us and there are evil werewolves” Thiess explained. “Yeah one of the assassinites is one” Cyrus added. “Aye that would be true he’s a defector of our ranks, that’s why he is so good at what he does, he was trained by us.” “Anyway there are only 700 of use so we are very few. And that’s about it but you’ll learn more as time goes on.” Thiess finished. Anyway I’ve got to go and check out some stuff, I’ll come back later and get you because there’s a big meeting happening later
The atmosphere that now hovered the hall was deadly silent and mirrored the faces of those that where present. About 50 men women and wolves sat at the table that was parallel with the hall, in front of that was another table that was at right angles with the first. No one was talking and silence rained supreme over the room. The leading Benandanti werewolf as Cyrus found out was called Occidentalis or Oco as his friends called him. He would sit in the centre of the table flanked by his two Wolfen commanders outside them were where the Wolfen fangs sat but they where not there, they where in a meeting with Oco and the Wolfen commanders Thiess was in there also but he would come and stand the side next to Cyrus so he could fill him in on what was happening and the meeting requirements. Outside the fangs was the top four Wolfen Claws two on either side.
Gabriel was halfway down the table and Galvon was near the top end. From what Thiess had said the closer you where to the top of the table the high up the ranking order you where. Cyrus couldn’t had Thiess write down the order of the ranks when he kept forgetting them and having to ask what they where and what order they went in. Thiess quickly scrawled down the basic order and current number of the “top” wolves. But said there where certain ranks that branched off the main chain so it wasn’t exactly accurate. Apparently there was a separate tree branching off Shadowfoot for the Wolves but Thiess didn’t bother writing them down.
1. Benandanti Commander- 1
2. Wolfen Commander- 2
3. Wolfen Fangs- 5
4. Wolfen Claws- 20
5. Benandanti Werewolves-250
6. Shadowfoot
7. Prowler
8. Black wolf
9. Grey wolf
10. Wolf
11. Cub
12. Associates
The door to the side of the top table opened. Oco strolled out accompanied by his commanders and three Fangs, the other two where no ware to be seen. Everyone on the centre table a top table stood up dead still like statues as he walked to his seat and stood in front of it. He raised his hand “please be seated my fellow brothers”. Everyone sat, except Cyrus and Thiess that where in the corner and had not been provided with seats, as Cyrus was not a member he wasn’t allowed one at either of the tables. Oco also remained standing, he was dressed in the same armour as the Benandanti but his was lined at the rims with gold, as was his emblem that was on the chest plate of his armour. The two commanders either side had theirs laced with silver instead of gold. For the rest of the Benandanti they had a canine’s above and to the left of the chest plate symbol so they where on the left side of the chest, going from one to five across then a new line would start. The Fangs would have two rows of five canines, the canines where painted on in brilliant white so they stood out.
“As you know we have had to call his emergency meeting in light of the new threat that has presented itself…we now have proof that our worst fears have been realised, the Assassinites have returned from the Warp of the Damned Inferno.” There was a stunned silence, a few faced turned to each other in surprise, a few whispers traversed the table, fear was now recognisable in many of the faces. One woman stood up. “Shadowfoot, Larissa” Thiess whispered in Cyrus’ ear. Oco bowed his head in recognition and sat down to let her speak. “How many Assassinites do you speak of?” she said. She sat down and Oco leaned over towards on of his commanders that whispered something. “If records are correct four masters and one Lord escaped through the portal, we must assume that there are currently five, but in truth we do not know how man escaped, it is possible that there are more”. Another man stood up. “Wolf, Lucius” Thiess whispered. “What form are they?” Lucius said before he sat down. “From what we know two are Vampires and one is Falmear the Benandanti defector...the other master and lord we are not sure as they have not availed themselves to use as yet.” There was hushed talking, “Falmear defected from our ranks" Thiess whispered. "In the light of this new information every Benandanti must now carry their Finalka" Oco declared. “A small poisoned blade special against vampires, kills them in one cut. It’s about a foot long” Thiess whispered in Cyrus’ ear.
“Also every Benandanti must now take the nightwax again" Oco was saying.
“Potion that slows down transformation into a vampire if we are bitten” Thiess continued.
“We shall dispatch vials immediately, every one must carry at east five” Oco continued. “They last about two days” Thiess whispered.
“This gives us another problem, the Assassinites also know the prophecy, they know about the five brothers, and they have already moved against them, one is safe in our hands.” Everyone turned in their seats to look at Cyrus. Cyrus was taken aback that he had just been thrust into the spotlight. Many at the table bowed their heads in recognition and respect, a few waved. Cyrus calmed down now he knew that they where at least friendly, having previously not known what there reaction would be like. “This is Cyrus, you shall give him every Courtesy you can, you all know how important he is. He is under personal protection of the Benandanti, I trust you shall honour that” he added. Everyone turned back round and nodded in agreement. “As you can see Lupis and Rainem are away, they are currently trying to bring in the other two” Oco finished. Larissa stood up again. “Begging your pardon sir but Cyrus is here and we are bringing in the other two, what has happened to the other two?” she questioned, a few at the table murmured and nodded in agreement, looking expectantly at Oco. “Good question…as I said before the assassinites know the prophecy, they got too the first two brothers before we could, they where mutilated by the assassinites”. There was a stunned silence, Larissa stood again. “Would this affect the prophecy?” she quickly added. “We are not sure what impact this turn of events has on the prophesy” Oco said blankly. He stood up and raised his right hand. Everyone else in the room did the same. “He speaks then say what he says” Thiess whispered. He raised his hand, Cyrus mimicked the motion. “May Shadow hide us" he said in a loud voice. “May Shadow hide us” everyone mimicked.