venomous opulence;

“It is a self-deception of philosophers and moralists to imagine that they escape decadence by opposing it. That is beyond their will; and, however little they acknowledge it, one later discovers that they were among the most powerful promoters of decadence.” ALASTAIR KASTAV

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nazirdbh:

“at least allow me to proof-read it first before you release it into the void,” nazir joked. “speed is of the utmost importance, my friend.” he shot the other male a dry look as he gathered his bowl and utensils from the table to set them aside for cleaning, “an excellent assumption. i can assure you i’m no more entertaining drunk than i am sober; my apologies.”

“no proof-reading,” alastair declared in a theatrical flair, goblet raised and spoon nearly clattered from the table, “we take our spelling errors like men. besides, i imagine Sithis finds grammatical errors endearing; reminds him that we’re only human.” with a chuckle and a shake of the head, he peered down into his empty glass, “no loss there -- i think the sight of you having fun in any capacity would signify the end of the world.”

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tristynisms:

“It would be all the more fitting if the reward was bloodwine.” He mused with half a laugh. “Eating cheese and wine in the company of a dead contract seems rather delightful to me. It sounds relaxing, I reckon we owe it to ourselves to occasionally indulge a little, where’s the fun in all work and no play?” 

Theatrically, Alastair laid his hand over his heart, nodding along as Tristyn spoke. “I reckon we owe it to ourselves to indulge sooner rather than later. The ratio of fun to work has been severely thrown off; cheese and bloodwine, I think, should be made a priority.”

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veryndbh:

“It’s their aim,” he teased, sliding down a bit further on the chair he’d been sitting on, his body seeming to melt as the alcohol worked its way into his bloodstream. “If they’d been drinking, their aim would be far worse.” Veryn glared at Alastair as he took another sip of his own drink. “I think it’s you who’s taking all the wine. There’s none left for me!”

With drink still poised before his lips, barely any wine left in his goblet, but just enough to make a notable difference, Alastair’s grin widened, eyes darting from wine-flushed cheeks to the empty glass at his companion’s side. With one brow quirked, he tipped his own goblet forward in offering, “Finish mine off? I think you could use it more than I; and your aim hasn’t suffered yet. I doubt it would now. And I must say, it’s a bit warm in here -- either the wine or the close proximity. Or all this talk of atronachs; stranger things have gotten me hot and bothered.” 

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tristynisms:

“I tend to go for the ale these days anyway, but I miss a nice jug of good spiced wine. I would kill a man for a glass.” He replied with a wicked smile. “I would love to kill off someone for their wine and get paid for it, because where there’s wine there’s cheese. And those two just go together far too well for me to pass up. Well I don’t think the Dread Father was all that in touch with our need for alcohol, I wish he was though, this job would just get even better.” 

“You would, and perhaps someday you be desperate enough to do just that -- I can relate to the feeling, at the moment. A murder in exchange for a jug or two seems a fitting trade.” Alastair mirrored his smile, wicked and poison and teasing all in the same vein. It was relieving to have a kindred spirit about; not all appreciated Alastair’s hedonistic wiles, but Tristyn seemed to, well enough. “Right you are; a perfect afternoon would culminate in sitting in a contract’s home, eating all of their cheese and drinking all of their wine -- why is that not a more commonplace part of our routine? We’ve been missing out on an opportunity.”

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veryndbh:

“I doubt that the assorted atronachs residing in Oblivion are sitting around a bar having wine and ale,” he teased, leaning in far closer than a sober person would, the smell of the drink passing from his lips. “Everything that can be conjured only lasts a short amount of time, anyway, so what would be the fun in that? Useful for swords and atronachs, not so much for alcohol.”

“How do you know how those slippery bastards spend their time?” he inquired with raised brow, lips quirking into a sly smile at the smell of wine on his breath, “For all we know, they could be drunks. It isn’t for us to judge them -- not when we two smell like wine cellars ourselves.” Alastair brought his goblet to his lips, taking a pointed sip while refusing entirely to pull away or look elsewhere; the game was entirely too entertaining to stop now.

[wickedgayblog]

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                                                     THE MEN OF THE DARK BROTHERHOOD 

“ what is life’s greatest illusion? “ 

                                “ innocence, my brother. “

                                                                                       ( find the women here )

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veryndbh:

“If there were such a spell, I wouldn’t need to be stealing your wine, now would I?” Veryn mused with a smirk playing across his lips. He was most skilled in conjuration magic, after all, and had never heard of such a thing. “Unless you think the realms of Oblivion contain some particularly tasty drink.”

“You just haven’t discovered it yet, I’m sure,” he chuckled, “Always disappearing to study your books -- I have no doubt there’s something there about the conjuration of materials that really matter. I also have no doubt that Oblivion has the best drinks; shame it’s so expensive to get to them.” And it was a shame he’d be willingly sharing his wine from the young mage from now on -- or perhaps not as much a shame as he’d readily admit.

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veryndbh:

He smirked at Alastair’s words, mulling it over in his already muddled head. With all the wine he’d drank, just about anything the man had suggested probably would sound like a good idea. “Just not Lis,” he said firmly. “It’s a good thing this place is made of stone, or I might just end up burning it down.”

“Of course, not Lis,” he laughed, “Lis is an ally in this struggle. How about this --” he leaned forth, the imminence of a jest playing in jovial lines across his face, “You come up with a spell that’s good for creating wine out of thin air -- and not for burning down sanctuaries -- and I’ll owe you a favor. Any favor -- long as Lis approves, of course.”

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mxllymxd:

taking a page out of alastair’s book, molly brought a hand to her chest and stared, wide-eyed, across the table at him, “your personal stash? i’ve been blessed by the divines, surely–what could i have done to deserve this?” joking as she was, she couldn’t help but snatch the bottle up and pour herself a cup, nervous that alastair might change his mind. “all jest aside, i fully expect this wine to change my life.”

he couldn’t help but laugh at that, tossing his head back and sliding his wine safely onto the table. “certainly nothing that the divines would say is worth blessing, that’s without question.” but, then again, none of them were quite within the bounds of being blessed by the divines any time soon. “and i jest not, good lady,” he grinned, nodding to the blessed bottle, “expect a full turnaround by the end of that glass. the stuff’s just that good.”

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dbxander:

At the story, Xander snorted, shaking his head. “This is why they say to start small and work your way up. It’s the key to anything. Definitely worth another try, gods know we could use it. Hell, might even be worth a few quick trips out just to snag some here and there without killing anyone, even if that’s much less fun.”

“At the very least, it’s a great story to tell at parties,” Alastair chuckled, “Given any of us actually get invited to actual parties. Nevertheless, you’re right; in the name of the drink, I would absolutely be willing to give it another go. Just no more barrels, and no more hills for a while. It would break the monotony of this place for a little while, at least.”

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bloodyadisla:

“Well I’m certainly not the culprit. As much as it resembles my favorite snack, it’s no substitute for the real thing.” Adisla raised her eyebrows at the sight of the lounging man before her. “Maybe its a good thing the wine has mysteriously disappeared. I doubt you would be incredibly effective after drinking a bottle or two.”

“Aye, it resembles it, but can you actually drink it?” he wondered aloud entirely unaware of whether or not his question would cause offense, “Your innocent face fools no one, my dear; for all we know, you may be in cahoots with the spiders -- they’re notorious for smuggling wine away as well.” Alastair matched her indignant expression, thoroughly feeling the few glasses he’d already had, “Oh, don’t give me that look. I work better after a few drinks.”

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veryndbh:

“Something like that,” Veryn said with a smirk. He certainly couldn’t disagree, and while the wine was having its effect on his faculties, he kept finding himself staring at Alastair. “I, uh, have never thought it seemed like a particularly good idea. Too dangerous.” He reached out for the wine bottle, only to find it empty. “Damn spiders.”

“Something like that.” The echo was punctuated by an ever-growing smile, eyes locked upon the wine-flushed mage before him with amusement and curiosity. “But you have every right to be dangerous every once in a while,” he added, tipping his own nearly-empty glass forward in thought, “Be dangerous and call it experimentation. And start with the spiders. A joint effort against them may be warranted here.”

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mavenxblackfyre:

Maven, having had returned from a long night of stalking a contract, dumped her quiver on the table by his feet. “Have you spent the whole night complaining about Wine.” Maven asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and yawning. “…seems lucky for some.” Maven smiled and sat down heavily on the chair to his right.

“You look like hell,” Alastair grinned, eyeing her quiver, as well as the notable sheen of work on Maven’s person, “Well done. For you, I’ll share.” What was left of his own personal bottle was pushed across the table, offered up in its entirety. “And I will do my best to keep a lid on the complaining.”

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nazirdbh:

“i imagine the dread lord might frown upon his servants killing each other over wine; perhaps that’s an activity best reserved in service of sanguine. indeed; something about it does seem to invoke merriment. though i might attribute that to the fact that most of us aren’t entirely sane.”

“the dread lord is going to receive a very strongly-worded note from one of his servants if the wine doesn’t stop disappearing right out from under my nose the moment i deign to blink.” a pointed sip from his cup, and then, “sane or insane, the good drink is the great equalizer. still waiting, though, for someone to succumb to the urge to do a drunken jig after a good kill. that’s a sight i’ve been hoping for. i would ask you to oblige, but... i have a feeling i’ll meet with only disappointment there.”

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tristynisms:

“Don’t ask me, I rarely get any before it disappears. I reckon there’s some black magic involved.” Tristyn mused. “But I bet you someone around here is hoarding the lot in their chest. We could always just go out and steal some, but then again we’re supposed to be assassins, not thieves. Petty theft is more the Thieves Guild’s territory.” 

“Hell, even I’m willing to share; someone’s determined to be a miser-- you’re right-- and I don’t like it. Haven’t been properly drunk in far too long.” Far too long meaning a little over a week, which at present felt much longer than it seemed. “I may just seek out a contract for the express purpose of killing someone for their wine. You think Sithis would understand the need?”

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veryndbh:

“Sure, if you were ugly,” Veryn mumbled against the rim of his once-again empty cup. The teen snorted, nearly spitting out some of his wine. “I have a feeling that alcohol would not be particularly helpful for the aim of my fireballs,” he said with a laugh.

“Well, then it is certainly a good thing that I am notoriously un-ugly,” Alastair smirked, trademark smugness tinging every syllable. It was all in good fun, of course; though he was a prideful man, he was not an abrasive one (most of the time). “Not the aim, perhaps, but the power--” he chuckled, "Wine makes everything better; have you ever tried any drunken spell-casting?”