Ab Antiquo

Contracted Target: Damacus
Contract Parameters: Confidential

Assailants:
Kains Son
Unknown number/identities of other Void mercenaries.*

Defenders:
Lannair
Malice
ophelia
Reyna
Nemesis
xxsacrificexx
Jauk
Anima
Moon Girl
melanctha
Archontohs

On the evening of October 9, a tectonic shift reverberated through the city. More than the deed itself - the first meaningful blood spilled since World War Ravenblack - it was the nature behind the act as mercenaries gathered for the first time in recent memory to attack a man who is arguably the highest profile target possible. Initially thought to be a lone wolf kamikaze as Kains Son initiated the assault, but was soon discovered to be much more as The Void came for Damacus upon flushing him out, with the one time warring leader of both the House Dumont and the Alliance and the current patriarch of the Agrippa-Lokason unification boldly besieged upon in an opening salvo that would simultaneously announce their presence and make the city once more question its values.

Our city has historically clashed with groups who do not conform to the accepted standards of warfare and accept payment for their deeds (see: Adopt-A-Twig, et al). Clinically detached warriors rose once again to claim that mantle, but have since been met with swift retribution. "No," the core power of the community said at once. "Not this time." The methods of handling contracted assassinations have been a subject of controversy each time they arise - some argue to accept the loss of blood and not waste the resources in fighting that which never yields, while others have yet lofted their swords to proudly declare their stand, each method producing varying degrees of success.

Events still unfolding around us, we pause now to examine this clash of ideals. The first vial landed soundly and swiftly as The Void struck Damacus, but the resulting retaliation against them was just as synchronized and unflinching. Those noted above rose to defend Damacus, unloading their long-accumulated stocks. As was expected, some members of The Void have shrugged off the shackles of torpor and open their own volley at each presented opportunity as the defending force attempts to keep them at bay (important to note here is The Void does not demand its hitters not honor torpor).

Inventory noted to have been used by the defending side*, as gathered by this reporter through a variety of witnesses, includes but is not limited to: 362 Scrolls of Turning and counting since that report days ago and unverifiable but doubtless countless numbers of scrolls of displacement, UV grenades, garlic spray, holy water, and wooden stakes. To their professional credit, The Void has not retaliated against any of the defending parties - but, in contrast, has only landed six vials against their intended target. For all you number junkies out there, Damacus began this conflict with 14,462 pints of blood and appears to have bitten at least four hundred pints between hits, while Kains Son started with 1813 pints and received countless hits since; reports indicating he may have necroed infrequently as well.

What was initially thought to be a battle of attrition - the coin of a dormant but ever working lineage versus the payment provided by an anonymous client - has seen a change in the tide. Damacus has been in Shadows since early Wednesday, apparently deciding to not provide the opportunity to finish the contract. Witnesses state that The Void, Kains Son in particular, has been moving and biting daily only to be rezeroed (alleged to be the primary hitter here is Lannair*). A notable aside, reports state that zeroing Kains Son once his blood has risen can vary wildly - taking anywhere from five minutes to six hours, with full, coordinated waves sometimes taking upwards of three hours of preparation. The stalemate lingering, other questions have risen from the tongues of our citizens.

With the Praetor of the Republic of Ravenblack, alongside three individuals who have been (though currently their allegiances remain unknown) active and public members of the same clan taking up arms, some wondered if the normally reserved group was taking official action. When questioned by this reporter, the leading titan that is nitenurse remained ever cool and classy, stating simply - "The clan is not involved. Family is family." A sentiment a certain lineage-orientated reporter can certainly agree with.

*Damacus and affiliates were unavailable for comment despite attempts to reach them for clerical accuracy. As there have been no direct witnesses to many of the skirmishes, much information remains unfortunately unavailable. Attempts will continue to be made to remedy this and updates will be provided as they come.

"it was the nature behind the act as mercenaries gathered for the first time in recent memory to attack a man who is arguably the highest profile target possible."

Ya'll forgot about Scythian . Hero to all! The lone wolf who took on the city and its elders at a great expense to his own reputation and network. Asking no one for help, pity, excuses, or applause, he named his foe and valiantly fought against him for the purest of all reasons - Cuz. When the dust blows through the streets and we clink our glasses to the old days, let us never forget those who came and went before us who tried and though failed at ever really impacting their intended enemies, succeeded at impacting our hearts and minds blowing them away like the dust they shook away from our dying city.


Now there ya go Liander: That's how you fluff up a bit of nothing news. Not that this isn't great, you really did a good article by taking a huge void of information and filling it in with presupposition. It made it sound super exciting and actually reminded me a lot of when Smilner and Charish used to write for the original VNN from the early 2000's. They caused a lot of trouble. Very good stuff. I love this kind of writing personally. Spoon meets pot, caution to the wind, roll the dice on being found out. Next time you want quotes come to me honey, I'll give you some rigged numbers that'll really light some fires! I can't believe I used to ignore this paper!

For clarifiation Kains is the ONLY one fighting this. No other hitters. But seriously, great article.

Just curious, aside from listing there was probably other Void members which has now been rebuked, which part of this article was fluff or stirring the pot? A mercenary attacked a well-known member of the public, and a very large group, many of which are clanned (hence asking for nn's opinion) retaliated in kind. Shouldn't these things be reported on?

Perhaps the defenders and Dama would care to give an interview to enlighten us as to what is 'fluff' and what is 'fact' - Ab has an open door policy where interviews are concerned, and we even do the people the courtesy of not taking their words out of context.

I'm afraid we can't comment on that at this time.

I mean, I wouldn't say there was fluff. Liander just painted a rather nice picture of the events that took place. He could have wrote something like 'Someone was hit, shit went down, people hit people back'. Which would not have been very interesting to read.

Good job Liander.

Ezra wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 22, 2017 11:32 am

Just curious, aside from listing there was probably other Void members which has now been rebuked, which part of this article was fluff or stirring the pot? A mercenary attacked a well-known member of the public, and a very large group, many of which are clanned (hence asking for nn's opinion) retaliated in kind. Shouldn't these things be reported on?

Working backwards from the last thing you said to the first thing you said, yes they should. I know everything I said sounded sarcastic, but it wasn't sarcastic, it was honest in a snarky way. While I have attitude regarding this article because Liander recently made a snarky personal comment on my recent binding thread and here he is writing a piece that heavily gives wind to a "party" of assassins that otherwise would not be on anyones (read mines) radar save for all the good press which makes me think he has a horse in the race (I drank a lot of coffee so you can read this run on as one breathe) despite that I objectively truly like it. It's like seeing someone you hate rocking a super fly outfit and you're like, "Yeah they look good, but I still hope they trip and chip a tooth." So keep rocking Liander, you look good, but I hope you chip a tooth.

Having said that, I believe the article is a bit of a ruffler and agitator because it takes something that actually has happened a few times in recent history to not only Dama, but to some other people folks care about (I'm only looking up names if I have to, but Scythian's attacks are one and those people that zeroed LPK is another, AdaMaS and Smilner have been slinging holy water off the radar) Things have been happening, but this one seems to be getting a lot of attention because for whatever reasons, as a reader I believe it appears, the AB really wants to push The Void and give it a bump. That's cool and that's okay, that's a choice newspapers get to make and often happens...I'm only acknowledging my opinion that I believe this isn't as big a deal as the writer thinks it is and that he is using information and lack of information in the best way possible to make it sound a lot cooler than it is. Number of hitters is one, this being the best thing since whatever war is another, it reverberating though the city is another fluff line that assumes the opinion of the city almost like trying to persuade a feeling into being, choosing to call our lineage dormant and set that table while then leading into how Dama is in Shadows while Kains is a busy bee...the language is all set up to fulfill a particular narrative. It's a consistent language and I feel as though it was well told, but I disagree with it and see it much differently.

I've always preferred Liander's writing style to the boring restatement of facts. Remember journalists hunt down stories, not just lists of numbers. The numbers support the story like a splint supports a bone; how the reader interprets the story dictates whether the flesh on the bone is healthy or diseased. It's a matter of opinion, on that you're right Jauk love.

I have no idea where the bollocks I was going with that altogether too anatomical metaphor. Good thing I'm not a writer. I'll stick t'me booze.

Either way, lovely article. Thanks for the peek into current events Liander. As for the nonsense happening on the streets...

That's much more enlightening on your take. Thank you for responding. I hope you can see how your original post seemed to have less issue with the tone of this article, and moreso the content.

I can agree with the tone. Liander's known as a pretty bombastic and dramatic reporter, which is what makes his articles fun, but he's never denied having a personal bias -- which is, and has always been, "I like bloodshed." However, if I remember correctly, Scythian's attacks were reported on/talked about when they first began, until everyone realized he was just doing it just to be a buzzing fly and not to fulfill any purpose. Likely the same with Smilner and AdaMaS, though I haven't heard of their attacks. I do think it's a very different ballgame when someone is paid to attack another, though, because that necessitates an outside, shadowed party to fund those attacks.

Was there a tectonic shift? Nah. Is it interesting, moreso than the other attacks you listed? I think most people believe it is, even if not everyone. I also disagree strongly that Liander's own hard-on for Splinters Lite is any endorsement by Ab itself. Having someone report on a topic doesn't necessitate endorsement, and a single writer's dramatic love of anything bloody doesn't mean there's a bias in the paper as a whole.

But I'll be the first person to tell others to take my brother's zealous flair for crowd appeal with a grain of salt. (Love ya, Li! )

Thanks again for better explaining your take! Different viewpoints are what keep papers honest.

Note from the owner:

Ab does not endorse Void.

Dae