I'm starting to think I don't know Gixx as well as I think I do. I avoid eye contact as I continue my futile efforts to get a drink.
"What are you doing?" Gixx asks in response to my frantic display.
"I'm trying to get a drink," I reply. Are the servants ignoring me on purpose? This is getting ridiculous. I will get up and kick some servants in the shin if this keeps up longer.
"You can have mine, I haven't touched it," he says calmly, "Looks like you could use it more than me." He's still slumped in his chair, but he's amused.
My ears flutter slightly. I'll take it! I reach out for his drink when I notice ripples in the wine. I feel a vibration running under my feet like a wave, then subside quickly.
"Did you-"
"Yes, what was that?" Gixx interrupts.
Even the norn pauses eating. We're all quiet and tense, trying to focus. It appears the human nobles didn't notice, or think its nothing more than a small earthquake. I forget the wine and try listening intently. My ears swivel back and forth quickly, trying to discern if it was just an earthquake or something else. My time in Orr left me much more cautious of anything out of the ordinary. I do notice that Gixx's ears perk up as well. Asura's know earthquakes, and that one didn't feel right.
Several moments pass and I start to relax.
"That was stra-" I'm interrupted again by a second vibration, one so violent that the walls shudder. I hear a distinct chittering before a swarm of rats come out from the grates in the wall.
The guests immediately run to the doors, exiting as fast as they can. Something's wrong about the rats, and not just that they're here. There are SO MANY of them! Not only that, but the rats aren't moving randomly. They're moving in lines, almost like they're organized.
Gixx, the norn and I head to the door, but I'm cut off from them by a string of rats. They get under my feet, causing me to trip and fall. Strangely, they focus only on me, leaving my companion's alone. In the rush, it seems they didn't notice I'm ripped away from them. Definitely organized, which meant someone was controlling them.
"Come show yourself!" I shout, as I fruitlessly try to right myself. "You can't hide behind your pests forever!"
With that the rats come out from under my feet to form a circle around me. Looks like I'm right. I stand up, and look around for the source/controller of the rats. I spy three figures on the upper balcony: a skinny, pale human with tribal clothing on that screamed "I'm a necromancer!," an asura in heavy armor with a greatsword, and the sylvari with the cold eyes I saw earlier that evening in the flashy clothes.
The dining room is now empty, the rats having herded the guests away. Overturned tables and chairs are strewn across the room. The rats are now feasting on the mess, making disgusting noises.
I smell a fight coming on.
"Commander Tippa of the Pact," the sylvari begins. "How are you this evening? Enjoying yourself?" she asks in a mocking tone.
"Fine. Better once I take you out for your shenanigans," I quip. I can't win in a fight against all 3 at once, no question. They don't want to just kill me, if they did, they had ample opportunity while I was flopping on a floor full of rats. Capture possibly? Ransom?
The sylvari laughs. "You're going to take us down while you lounge in a gutter full of rats? Amusing."
"You're new at this aren't you?" I chide. "Your entrance tries being dramatic but fails. Your banter is predictable, not to mention flat, and you're making quips at me before you even introduce yourselves." I shake my head. "You don't even look like you all belong to the same group!"
They all glance at each other briefly. It isn't just that they are all wearing different clothing, none of their colors matched or seemed to have a theme to them. They look like any random group of adventurers you might see at a tavern or on the road. Of course I don't really care about their (lack of) fashion sense, I'm stalling as I look for improvised weapons. Hopefully the Seraph would be on their way as well. I still have no idea of their intentions, and better to be safe than sorry.
Torches line the walls for illumination, but I can also use them as a weapon. I still have my Peacemaker's focus hidden under my dress and I catch a glint of steel not far from an overturned table near me. Hopefully its a sword.
"At least when the Inquest does this, they do it in style," I sigh. Shaking my head and pacing slowly, as if I'm disappointed. Really I'm making my way over to the glint of steel.
"Do you know who we are!" sneers the asura.
"Brigga!" the sylvari snaps, and the asura became silent. She still looks at me angrily.
"We," the sylvari says as she stands a little straighter, "Are Modus Sceleris."
I tap my chin as I near the table. "Modus Sceleris, Modus Sceleris," I repeat to myself. I'm at the table now, and place a hand on the edge of it leaning on it slightly. It IS a sword. A fancy decorative one that one of the nobles most likely dropped in the chaos, but I can tell it's quality despite the needlessly ornate hilt.
I look up at the trio and shrug half heartedly. "Never heard of it," I finish. I'm sure to maintain my aura of disinterest. Having a weapon ups my odds of not getting captured, or at least taking one of them down with me.
Brigga's ears fly up in anger. Someone has a temper! The sylvari raises her hand to silence her before she can speak again.
"We are here to offer a challenge."
"Unless you're afraid to fight us . . . Skritt-ears," the asura drags out that last insult.
I laugh. Not my usual bubbly laugh, but my angry laugh. Some described it as maniacal, I prefer the term "passionate." I have a habit of laughing when I'm angry. It isn't something I worry about, as I rarely got to that level of angry. Congratulations Brigga of Modus Sceleris! You now witness what few have!
When I finish laughing, I notice that my attackers have a wide array of emotions on their face. The sylvari looks as stoic as before, and the human and the asura are exchanging confused glances at each other.
"SOMEONE did their homework!" I giggle, "Or more rightly did it FOR you, since I can't imagine a bunch of hare-brained thugs being too good at gathering information."
The asura looks as if she is going to retort, but the sylvari cuts her off again.
"You're taking our challenge then?" the sylvari asks.
No need to hide it any longer, I reach down and pick up the sword. I twirl it loosely. It's of decent quality, and should hold up in a fight. Since its obvious they aren't going to mindlessly attack me, I go and take a torch off the wall. I have a sword and a torch, and although I would've preferred a secondary weapon, it would be more than enough to handle this trash. Not to mention I still have my hidden focus.
Still giggling, I nod.
"Not alone she's not."
Gixx didn't flee the scene like I thought. Was he hiding? He walks up to me and stands by my side. I give Gixx a small nod of acknowledgement. Can he fight? I don't remember ever seeing him actually battle, even in Orr.
"3 against one is hardly a fair fight," he states.
"A battle is no place for an old scholar," sneers Brigga.
"It was going to be a series of one on one battles. We're not without honor," the sylvari says.
I break into laughter again. "This from a group that purposefully caught me off guard without my best weapons, completely unprepared and outnumbered. Guess that's the only way you thought you'd have a "fair" and "honorable" chance at winning?"
The sylvari's stoic expression cracks in irritation. It's clear that she's the leader of this little group. I can't wait to set her on fire. After I rip off that asura's ears of course. Skritt-ears! She is going to pay for that.
"You also have no problem laying traps and harassing travelers in the Shiverpeaks," Gixx chimes in coldly.
I wasn't joking when I said I had no idea who they were. Gixx, however, apparently did. He's holding his cane firmly in his hands, and twists it. It whirrs to life, extending to twice its length. It crackles with arcane energy, the crystal bulb at the top glowing. A collapsible staff. Very nice! I really need a good look at that thing when this is all over.
"We've revised our tactics," she says with a cruel smile. "I'm glad we impressed the head of the Priory."
She snaps her fingers. The nobles that rushed out of the room earlier are now filing in to the top balconies, being herded in by what I assume are other members of their guild. Some of them are wearing Seraph gear. That explains how the guards got dispatched so easily. My anger is starting to subside, replaced with concern. Is she going to use them as hostages? My mind also questions how Gixx escaped. Did he stay behind in the chaos and hide?
"Now I'd like to impress all these nobles as well," she turns to the nobles and gestures grandly at them. "Behold! The power of Modus Sceleris."
That was a cue, as the asura with the greatsword sprang down from the balcony. She lunges at me and I tear off the bottom half of my dress, flinging it aside in one fluid motion. It's distracting enough to let me dodge out of the way easily, and giving me some extra mobility.
Was the sylvari serious? All this was just some sort of stupid display of power? I can't blame them for wanting to make a name for themselves. Taking down someone of my stature would be a nice notch on their belt and improve their notoriety. Doing it in the middle of a heavily fortified city even more so.
I manage to keep myself just out of the range of Brigga's greatsword. As much as I loathe to admit it, she's good with that thing. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Gixx dealing the human. I was right about him being a necromancer, and he's also the source of the rats. He has those disgusting things fighting for him, which Gixx is keeping them at bay. He's surprisingly spry. Good. I can't help him and fend off my attacker at the same time.
"Afraid to fight!" screams my opponent. No, you idiot I'm scouting your skills!
I dodge backward twice, putting a good amount of space between the two of us. She lunges forward, just what I wanted. I tossed my torch in her face, setting her on fire. It wouldn't last long though, just enough time for me to switch to my focus.
She screams in pain, but instead of pausing, she swings her greatsword around wildly, letting out a rapid series of attacks. Her blade is a smear of silver and the air around her warps with each passing of her blade. I hear some of the nobles gasp. Meh. It doesn't matter how flashy an attack is, if you can't hit your opponent, its pointless. The display is for what she assumed I was going to do; come in close after damaging her, but she's wrong! Instead, I send out a ray of light from my focus. It hits her with a blinding flash, then bounces back to me, putting a temporary regeneration spell on me.
The asura stops attacking once she's blind. Now's my chance! I move in closer, but careful to keep a safe distance between us. Once I'm within range, I let out a flurry of attacks from my blade. Each slash let out a cutting projectile in an arc. When the first few hit, my opponent dodges out of the rest. That's one of the problems of that attack; it can only hit in a straight line directly in front of me. Another was that it's less accurate the farther you are away. The blades did some damage, but not as much as I hoped.
Drawing first blood made Brigga more cautious. She's backing up toward her companion, regrouping most likely. I might be unprepared for a fight, but I'm not going down easy.
I took a quick glance at Gixx. He's definitely taken some damage, but appears to be holding up well. I move closer to him, as the lull in the battle grew. It's obvious that the necromancer and the warrior are going to co-ordinate their attacks, and we need to as well. I notice that the Sylvari acting as the ringmaster was content to sit and watch from the railing above. Who knows if she was going to stay a spectator for our battle our not? I'd have to keep tabs on her, just in case.
"How are you holding up?" I ask quietly, not taking my eyes off our opponents across from us.
"Fine. Though I'm a bit rusty," he gives me his half-smile. "Those rats are giving me more trouble than I anticipated. Are you-"
He didn't have time to finish his sentence as the necromancer let out another swarm of rats. Gixx quickly countered by laying down a ring of electricity around us, stunning and frying many of the rats. The necromancer looks nonplussed, as he's already summoning more.
"I'm not setup for dealing with a lot of enemies like this," I say quickly. What I wouldn't give for my hammer now!
"We need to-," he's cut off as the electrical field faded and the asura rushes toward us.
She isn't looking at me though. She's looking at Gixx. Not good. The magical energy around Gixx's wrist changed from a sparkling white to red. He quickly casts a spell that causes the ground in front of the asura to erupt in a small fountain of lava.
"Ah!" She tries to sidestep out of it, but I use the chance to leap forward at her. She dodges backward, but I keep pushing ahead. Time to get aggressive! A one-handed sword isn't the best weapon to go against a greatsword, but there are some distinct advantages. I have speed and mobility on my side. My attacks won't do as much damage as hers in a straight power comparison, but I can get more attacks in than she can. Plus, I've got my secondary weapon for a wider variety of attacks.
I keep pushing her back, side stepping and flanking when I can. Then I feel the ground under my feet become cold, and a black miasma wafting up from it. The necromancer. I get out of the well as a quickly as I can, but I feel the effects of whatever spell he cast. I feel weak, and a bit sick. Pushing the feeling aside, I try to use my focus again, sending out the ray of light. The asura dodges it easily, and it dissipates. I'm too far from Gixx and the Necromancer for it to hit either one of them. Which means I'll be stuck with this condition for a bit.
I feel the floor grow cold under my feet again. What on earth is Gixx doing?! I can't take down my opponent with all the reinforcement she's getting. I use my focus to create a shield around me as I attack again. I take the risk, and look at Gixx. I see the problem immediately. The rats are keeping Gixx busy with defensive spells to protect himself, leaving him little chance for an offensive attack. In the meantime, the necromancer is using his staff to put extra pressure on him, and using his wells on me instead.
I need to change tactics and focus on the necro instead. My shield breaks under the next heavy greatsword attack. I roll away from her and run straight to Gixx, with her in pursuit. I feel the floor tremble beneath me for a moment, but ignore it. As I continue to run I realize a line of rocky, shaking earth had sprung up behind me. As my pursuer crosses it she curses under her breath and her run becomes a strained hobble. Alright Gixx!
Casting that spell cost him some defense. The rats quickly swarm him just as I reach him. I concentrate for a moment ignoring the rat's attacks, and call magic from the flow of the Eternal Alchemy. For an instant all is still and I can feel the pull of magical energy condensing around me. The rats flew off us in all directions as my spell finishes, a small protective bubble around us. A sanctuary.
As soon as the spell is cast, I go straight for the necromancer. Gixx seems to understand what I'm trying to do. He puts an electrical field around himself, just as the asura is about to reach us. She runs into it full speed, and her body spasms and twitches comically while caught in the field. Gixx put some distance between him and Brigga, and begins to cast another spell. As I rush towards the necro I feel an extra boost in speed. Gixx again I'm sure. The necro's eyes widen in panic, realizing that if he didn't do something fast, I would be cutting into him soon.
He calls his rats to him, but it does him no good. A rain of fire comes down around the two of us. Looks like I bought Gixx enough time to cast his spell. The rats run straight into the bombardment, and he awkwardly tries to get away from me while dodging the fire.
"VELAND!" I could hear Brigga cry behind me.
"NO YOU DON'T!" Gixx yells. I didn't have the luxury of looking to see what's going on behind me, but it seems Gixx is handling it. Looks like the tables have turned.
I send out the ray of light to the necro and it bounces back and forth between us. Blinded, burned and with no time to call more rats, it was the perfect opportunity. I let out my concentrated flurry of attacks, then leap forward again. No way I'm letting up now. Again I concentrate, tapping into my magic. The next slash of my blade sets him alight. Taste some justice! He screams and flails, trying in vain to put out the magic flames. Unlike his friend, he doesn't have heavy armor to protect him. For extra measure I focus my magic again. A ring blue-white flame erupted around us, just as the rain of fire ended. No escaping the fire for you!
He stopped screaming and fell to the floor, the smell of burnt flesh filling the air. He's still moving, but it's obvious he's not a threat anymore.
I turn to face Gixx and the surviving opponent. Brigga isn't doing well. Gixx had summoned an earth elemental, which is keeping her busy as he flings ice spells her way for extra pressure.
Looks like a good time to take advantage of the situation. The asura has her back to me, bad move. I run within range and let out my flurried attack again. She moves partly out of the path of my attack to dodge one from the elemental. Fortune is on my side as she still hasn't noticed me. She screams as the ranged blades tear into her right side, shredding her arm and destroying a good part of her ear. I wanted to rip both her ears off, but I'll take it.
"Couldn't summon that thing earlier?" I quip at Gixx.
He snorts. "You couldn't make that Sanctuary earlier?" he retorts.
The asura clutches her bloodied side, letting the greatsword fall to the ground. The earth elemental is about to attack again, but crumbles as a pink white streak of energy struck it. A cloud of purple smoke appears where the elemental once stood. As the smoke clears with illusionary butterflies fading away, the Sylvari stands tall. She's a mesmer. Fantastic.
"Got tired of seeing us pummel your lackeys?" I challenge.
"We're more than happy to share the beating," Gixx chimes in. Nothing like some good old-fashioned smack talk synergy!
She narrows her eyes at us, getting into a battle stance and raising her greatsword. Where was she hiding that thing? Gixx and I prepare ourselves. We have no idea how skilled she is, but she had plenty of time to observe us. A competent mesmer is a pain to deal with, an excellent one a nightmare.
The room is silent as we eye each other. I shift my weight back and forth in preparation for an attack or dodge if need be. Gixx tightens his grip on his staff, and grits his teeth.
The standoff breaks when the sylvari pulls out a concealed device and presses a button. WIth that, she and her companions disappear in a crackle of electric energy and smoke. Coward. Now I'll never be able to set her ablaze.
Gixx relaxes the grip on his staff, and begins inspecting me.
"I never got the chance to ask how you were earlier," he says.
"Ha, she didn't hit me once!" I boast. Was the room always this warm? It's probably just the post-battle high.
"But that necromancer did," his brow furrows in concern.
"A good night's rest and I'll be fine," I brush him away, but instead of walking away in a confident stride, I wobble. Gixx reaches out and catches me before I have the chance to fall. Without the heat of battle to focus me, I realize I'm feeling worse. Maybe that necromancer did done more damage than I thought.
"Thank you," I mutter, as he lifts one of my arms over his shoulders to steady me. We accidentally bump heads in the process. The downside of our race having such heightened intelligence meant getting close could be awkward. I give him a small smile and he gives his lop-sided one in return.
"I-" he's interrupted by the sound of cheering coming from the balcony. I raise my free hand up and give a victorious wave to the nobles above us. With the three main fighters gone, the other members holding the nobles hostage fled. Apparently that teleporter only had enough energy for three. I'd hunt them down myself, but I definitely need to see a medic. I'm sure the Seraphs can handle it. That mass teleportation worries me, I've seen someone do that before. That was Inquest tech. I'm starting to have some ideas of what's happening.
Author's Note: Modus Sceleris was added to Guild Wars 2 sometime in the fall of 2012. Looking back, it seems they were an early test for guild missions (some of the bounties in the game even use similar mechanics). There's not much about them except that they're a fighting guild. I hope Anet goes back and fleshes them out. Also, battle scene! I took some liberties with the fighting system because no one wants to read things like "Tippa hits Brigga with Zealot's Defense causing 888 damage!" I tried to keep it as close to GW2 as possible, without outright naming classes or attacks if possible.