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Post by Sylvari Dawnsage on Oct 12, 2023 15:41:23 GMT -5
It's said by some elderly sages grasping at wisdom that there are ugly parts to every walk of life, and truer words were never spoken. They go further to say, however, that happiness lies in finding the path that you can bear with in the face of its ugliness. As Sylvari walked through a corpse-strewn battleground, mangled bits of discarded flesh in discordant piles all around, she doubted this sentiment very much. She was not here because she wanted to be, nor was she happily pursuing a path and could just overlook this bit of grisliness. Nevertheless, she had a duty and an oath to keep, and so, she carefully stepped around mortal remains hunting for particulars, knowing the bulk would never be properly interred or mourned.
All this careless loss of life, this wanton carnage, a result of the intersection of foolishness and evil. Sylvari had heard what happened, even before the parents of those who had been lost beseeched her to find some keepsake to grieve their children with. No one else would. The destruction before her was the start of an nascent gang, rough around the edges, and certainly no saints, with childish ideals of freedom from the generational tyranny of the Ashen Fathers. Whether it was a final straw that tipped the criminal syndicate into violence against the upstarts, or they simply no longer had use for them, they were ordered to be executed, here in the badlands.
The group was ambushed, cleverly and clinically, as they returned from gathering supplies outside the city. To their credit, the little gang fought well, with a few bodies wrapped in nondescript black wrappings littered among the proud embroidery of the rest, but in the end, the closing of this tale was a forgone conclusion. The Ashen Fathers must have seen fit to let the bodies rot out here, unafraid of the consequences for the tell-tale signs of their involvement.
"One day," Sylvari whispered in a shaky breath, "One day I will avenge all of you, and finish the mission you started." Empty words in the face of corpses, but they were all she could offer. Their fates were with the gods now.
Presently, she came upon the final body she had been searching for: a young girl of no more than twenty, her body mostly intact, save for the cratered hole where her face once was. Sylvari snarled at the macabre scene, too accustomed to death to feel sickness at its savagery, but too committed to life to be unaffected. She gently reached around the girl's neck for her prize: a handmade locket in the shape of a sparrow, made by the girl's deceased brother. It was the only treasure she could offer a mother who had lost both of her children.
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Post by Loex on Oct 12, 2023 16:54:29 GMT -5
Lo had been fitful for the past few nights, flustered by the annoyance of the Tome every time they tried to rest. They wandered the Ashlands aimlessly, wondering what had the Shadow so giddy and eager. As the sun was rising, the mage heard the first sounds of battle some distance away in a nearby canyon. Climbing to the top of a nearby hill, Lo found a secluded place to watch with a gruesome glee as two groups descended upon one another in wholesale slaughter.
Whoever they were, the battle was grisly and quite one sided. While the robed figures were cut down in droves, their ambush had caught the other group off guard entirely. After it finally quieted down and the remaining robed figures had moved off, Lo clambored down the hill into the canyon. Bodies strewn across the field in a grisly display of savagery and overwhelming force, giving the twisted mage a plethora of test subjects to appease the dark whispers tormenting their every moment.
Lo had been rummaging through the corpses well into the morning hours, avoiding the few travelers who moved through the area while performing dark and gruesome rituals on the corpses that were intact enough. More than one person had seen the carnage in the canyon and immediately returned back to the town... Someone was sure to come investigate sooner or later, and the mage was keen to gather whatever decent materials might be had first. With that thought consuming their mind, they set out once more to scour the fallen for anyone who hadn't gotten blasted into bits strewn across the field.
Spotting a young human woman, who had been run through several times, Lo made their way closer. Unnoticed was another woman, this one quite alive and in search of trinkets to return to the families of the slain. As they reached out and grasped the girl's head, the Draconynh finally noticed the lass and froze in place, claws gripping the still cooling corpse...
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Post by Sylvari Dawnsage on Oct 12, 2023 17:12:12 GMT -5
Sylvari was in the midst of murmuring a half-remembered prayer, her religious supplications to Solaria quite out-of-practice as a black-scaled hand entered her field of view. Slowly, purposefully, blood-red eyes traced the hand up to its owner from behind the black and silver veil which concealed them. The person was very clearly marked by their draconic heritage, with onyx scales tinged with green covering their body and twin pronounced horns curling around the side of their face.
Though it was exceedingly unlikely, Sylvari safeguarded herself against prejudice by responding in question rather than violence. "Good morning, are you looking for a loved one among the fallen? I'm sorry to say, there are no survivors here, only sadness and a rotting trove that would attract scavengers."
While she did her best not to direct any of her words specifically, the venom in her tone could clearly be heard. There was no mistaking Sylvari's opinion on the subject of graverobbing. From where it was slung across the blackened plate mail of her back, the mighty warhammer Sylvari wielded pulsed with a small emission of icy arcana in response to its master's distress [Spell Blade, Arcane Soul].
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Post by Loex on Oct 12, 2023 17:44:56 GMT -5
The mage let go of the corpse and backed up a few paces, clutching their staff in anticipation. Damn it all... they were too slow in picking over the remains for subjects... and here was someone who seemed to have a bit of a righteously indignant outlook on those who practiced dark arts. They pondered a moment on how to respond, wary of the arcane weapon across their back.
"No... I have no interest in trinkets and baubles... have of them what you will... I'll be leaving now, unless you're some sort of witch hunter or dog of the crown... but you won't be dragging me back to some torturous cell of stone and iron to be starved and beaten. What is your purpose here?"
Lo slipped their hand inside their robes, tapping the cover of the wretched tome within... There had been an eerie quiet from the Shadow since they'd set out this last time in search of other subjects. The mage stared anxiously back at the woman, ready to throw up a distraction and be long gone before the dust could settle. Of all the rotten luck, they didn't need this interruption when they were so close to making another breakthrough. Letting out a heavy sigh, they prepared for what might turn into another life or death situation, trying to push down the roiling emotion and memories of so many similar situations that had led to torment and misery...
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Post by Sylvari Dawnsage on Oct 12, 2023 18:01:32 GMT -5
The backpedaling and rushed words of the dragonkin gave further credence to Sylvari's suspicion that this person intended to make off with the valuables of the dead. The protestations against return imprisonment, however, gave her pause. Sylvari decided to employ a different, gentler tact to a person clearly anxious and afraid.
She sat down and displayed her hands very clearly in her lap, far from the hilt of her weapon. Sylvari knew, however, after years of training, she could be on her feet with weapon in hand within an instant, vigilant for any sign this encounter would turn hostile. She adopted a carefully neutral expression as she gazed up at the newcomer.
"And I am not here as a witch hunter or 'dog of the crown', as you so eloquently put it. Now that we have told one another what we are not doing, perhaps we can share what we are. I came to this place looking for keepsakes for the families of the fallen to remember their loved ones by. Why have you come here...?" Sylvari struggled to punctuate her sentence, realizing introductions had not been hand.
Equal parts smooth and slow, to demonstrate her peaceability, Sylvari extended a gauntleted hand. "Sylvari Dawnsage. May I know your name?"
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Post by Loex on Oct 12, 2023 18:18:44 GMT -5
"Lo... that is what you may call me. As to why I'm here... well... I need subjects for my 'research' into certain magic. There aren't many places I can easily acquire such things, and I'm not keen on making new research materials in other ways unless necessary. Beyond that, I won't disclose more, other than that body is intact enough for my purpose..."
Lo tried to shake off the anxiety and overwhelming urge to bolt, the woman clearly could handle herself and was no stranger to violence. Warily, they released the unearthly tome and stood by waiting for her response.
'Tch, just blast her already you cowardly wurm... then you'll have another!'
'Shut... UP!'
'Touchy touchy... sheesh, it's true and you know it.'
'Like hell, want me to toss your sorry pages into that frigid hammer and let you battle it out?'
'Coward... weakling... wait til my strength recovers.'
'And why should I? You're less than useless thus far...'
'If it weren't for my magic coursing through your pathetic veins, you'd still be rotting in that cage...'
'If it weren't for you existing, I wouldn't have to live this life either. Some day I will find a way to destroy your tome, and your foolish hubris from this realm.'
'Like hell... you've tried countless times, even if you aren't aware of it.'
'W... What?'
'heheheh AHAHAHAHAHAHA!! See!! LITTLE WURM!! You dance on my strings and don't even remember trying to cut them... yet you call me a fool?'
'Enough of your noise...' In their mind, Lo lashed out with a vicious swipe, and swore they felt it find purchase for a brief moment as it passed through the Tome Shadow. All went quiet once again within, though outwardly they'd been muttering to themselves and trembling.
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Post by Sylvari Dawnsage on Oct 12, 2023 18:43:37 GMT -5
Sylvari sat still, painfully so, her face never turning from Lo throughout the entirety of their response and subsequent episode of muttering and trembling. It was as plain to see as the sun in the sky that Lo was fighting an internal battle and had suffered much. Whatever the circumstances, however, Lo's ominous statement about their 'research' set off the tolling of alarm bells in Sylvari's mind.
Given her own practicing of many considered to be dark arts, she took a unique pragmatist view of the magic that she assumed Lo alluded to, but there was a prejudice for a reason, heightened fears grounded in seeds of truth. Many who reached into the abyss or practiced necromancy did so for dark purposes, and while Sylvari was among the few who would not consider the art itself to be evil, she was obliged to stop its use in nefarious designs.
"I appreciate your apparent restraint, though I hesitate to question what you might consider to be 'necessary'. You state the body is needed for research purposes, and luckily, I have not promised return of the victims' bodies. I cannot allow these corpses to be used for evil, however. So, it seems we are at an impasse: you cannot pass up an opportunity for resources, and I cannot allow you to take them unless I can see your intent."
Sylvari's challenge was delivered in a calm, even polite, tone, but the meaning of her words was clear, as was the considerable force of personality she suffused within it.
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Post by Loex on Oct 12, 2023 20:39:42 GMT -5
She wanted to know about their research... heh what an intriguing opportunity. Lifting their staff, they stabbed the iron ringed shaft of wood into the ground. With slow movements, they pulled a grisly tome from their robes. A flick of the wrist tossed the book at the woman's feet. "If you'd like to know, feel free to try and figure it out... whatever that is at least." Lo replied with a cold stare to the book bound in leather scraps from various humanoid species across the realm. While they weren't often confronted with the nature of their research, if this avoided conflict with the woman it was fine... and if she happened to become afflicted with it... Lo pushed the idea aside, knowing the Shadow was hellbent on making their life a nightmare. Lo looked visibly weakened when they released the book, as if it held some unseen part of them and not having it on their person greatly diminished their threat. After a moment the mage slumped heavily against their staff, bracing themselves from collapsing to the ground. The last thing they wanted at this moment was to be unable to fend off an attack, as the woman before them seemed deathly serious about her warning. The Tome: Bound in strips of leather, crudely stitched to one another and dried with age, the book was scrawled in a strange reddish ink with golden highlights. On it's cover, there are strange symbols bordering a seemingly living script that doesn't seem to take on a language or meaning. Inside, the book is scrawled with more of the strange symbols, alongside macabre illustrations of torment, decay and death as well as what looked to be some sort of ritualistic incantations and instruction... though the words were only discernable to someone who could read Abyssal. Not only was it a grisly and altogether unpleasant book to behold, but it seemed to emanate a powerful darkness. Those familiar with undeath would be able to sense an ancient sentience to the book, not unlike that felt in the presence of a Dracolich or other ancient and powerful undead, something akin to a phylactery.
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Post by Sylvari Dawnsage on Oct 12, 2023 21:24:39 GMT -5
Sylvari was no longer able to be physically repulsed, given her undead nature, but though the embers of her heart had died down to nothingness, the flames of justice still burned brightly within. Consequently, she had to fight the urge to fling the wretched creation as far from her as she could.
Two things aided in this endeavor. Firstly, Sylvari saw how Lo looked weakened and wane parting with the tome she now held. It seemed to her the height of folly to give away the source of your power unless you were desperate to be rid of it, a sentiment she could empathize with well. Secondly, as if to confirm her suspicions, the book itself pulsed with a unique arcane resonance, distinct from Lo, that Sylvari could see as plain as the dragonkin before her [Chaos Touched]. It was as foul as it was ancient, an edifice of decay reaching back several lifetimes.
Despite her initial reactions, Sylvari could not help but feel extreme pity for this person to be so subjected to evil. She held the book in one hand, gingerly, as if it might explode at any time, and walked over to where Lo had collapsed. She took their weakened claw in her hand and pressed it over the book, still holding the other side. She gave her most hopeful smile that she could muster, given the circumstances.
"I see. This is a wretched curse you hold. I assume your research is to get rid of it, or at least attain mastery?"
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Post by Loex on Oct 12, 2023 21:39:41 GMT -5
Lo looked better when she returned the book physically, but there was a distinct sense of terror and disdain for a moment as they straightened up.
"You're partly right... the tome itself could perhaps be useful, but whatever is bound to it needs to be overcome... doubtful my research will prove to do much other than fuel my own depravity and descent into whatever force keeps this wretched tome haunting my days... My honest advice, destroy the thing if you can... even if it takes me with it, at least I'll be released from the madness that plagues my every moment."
Lo stared blankly ahead, the weight of tortured days and fitful nightmares had been stacking by the second onto the mage's psyche. They looked utterly defeated, ready to slump to the floor and await their doomed fate. Better at the hands of a strange warrior woman than rotting away in some box beneath a festering castle... Let her strike on principle and ease the mage into a frigid nothingness, for it would be the closest thing to happiness or peace the Draconynh could fathom experiencing.
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Post by Sylvari Dawnsage on Oct 12, 2023 21:57:13 GMT -5
Sylvari carefully considered Lo's plea, keeping her face decidedly neutral as they spoke. A less empathetic person, or at least one who had not experienced such existential terror, might have written it off as the misspoken ravings of a tired mind, addled by struggle, but she knew better. Hells, I've been there, and still might be. Damned if I didn't think of ending it all and sparing the world the trouble. I won't accept this, not just because Lo is a person in need and I've sworn an oath, but because they are me. If I give up hope on them, what chance do I stand?
It was a shameful selfishness that Sylvari quickly buried under the auspices of virtue, but it remained her most potent motivator.
"I refuse." Her simple phrase was plainly spoken, almost flippant, as if a petulant child denying a menial task, but her conviction carried weight all the same. Sylvari reached up to remove her veil, displaying freely her cursed eyes and looking hard at Lo.
"You see, I know a bit about struggling with monsters. You are not beholden to your circumstances, only what you choose to do with them." Sylvari thought back, to the words that Taki had given her months ago, words she still treasured within her heart. Sylvari had never considered herself eloquent, so hopefully a wiser tongue would find purchase in Lo's despair, as they had for her. "A wise friend once told me, 'Anyone trying to make the best of their own path while paving the way for others is a kindred spirit. No matter your past, circumstances, or upbringing, the actions you take and choices you make today and into the future are all I will ever know... and all I will ever begrudge a person.' I pledge that I will help you defeat this curse, and I will not rest until the day comes when you can smile freely again."
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Post by Loex on Oct 12, 2023 22:18:28 GMT -5
Lo hadn't expected any different, and was honestly still pondering why she hadn't unleashed the hammer at her back already when she slipped her veil back. Their eyes widened for a moment in recognition, they'd read about those cursed by the sanguine thirst before... Though much of it was fool's tales and ghost stories to keep younglings in line, there were some shreds of truth and commonality between them. What followed was an even greater shock to Lo, for they'd only experienced the selfish desires of the world, both their own and others... How could someone take such a stance in life? How did one stare into the madness of this world and not become maddened themselves? The mage's psyche spiraled into panic and chaos as they tried to process the idea presented.
It didn't take very long for them to start trembling again, only this time they crumpled to the ground hard. Curled up tightly in a fetal position, the mage shook violently and thrashed about on the ground. This went on for several seconds before a dark and foreboding stillness washed over the area. With a sharp and powerful breath inward, Lo's body let out a wild and cackling laughter that sounded nothing like their voice. As they stood up again, the usual sickly green of their eyes had given way to a swirling, ominous yellow that bared a toothy grin.
"HAH!!! That sniveling wurm wouldn't know how to smile if you beat it into his face with your flashy hammer little lass... No one ever will... they are bound to me and will serve my purpose for as long as I see fit. Help all you like, this will always be the result. Lo experiencing happiness, kindness or good will of any kind is far more painful than any blow or spell... Just as intended." The voice was hollow, almost disembodied and devoid of emotion or sympathy... this being was here to gloat over another soul taken by their corruption and darkness, and radiated a more intense form of the Tome's magic.
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Post by Sylvari Dawnsage on Oct 12, 2023 22:41:30 GMT -5
The weight of Sylvari's displeasure at this turn of events could be felt physically as well as emotionally, as an aura of icy magic enveloped the two, small storm clouds beginning to form overhead. As Sylvari radiated more and more outrage, the storm swelled and grew, and presently snow began falling as the ambient temperature plummeted [Sheer Cold].
In stark contrast to the freak blizzard, Sylvari's eyes blazed with an intensity to match hellsfire. "So, I take it you're the one who has dug its claws into Lo's mind. Always good to put a face to evil before I cleanse it." Sylvari leaned in, dangerously close, assured of the slow reaction time of the fiend by the weight of her arcana. "And even better, you can see the face of your doom, close and personal, and know that your reign of terror will be drawn to a close, by my hand, and by Lo's."
A wicked smile spread across her face, then. "Or did you think I didn't notice how you disparaged them? You're afraid of them aren't you? I bet you thought them an easy vessel for the taking, but it's only in moments of tempest that you can claw back a modicum of control. Don't worry. Justice gives with an even hand: I'll free you from your terror as I rip you out and cast you back into whatever pit you crawled out of. My oath is satisfied upon delivering promise of your demise. Begone; you're not wanted."
Sylvari dismissal was punctuated with an intense stare and weight of presence that demanded attention and obedience [Powerful Presence].
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Post by Loex on Oct 12, 2023 23:26:15 GMT -5
The woman responded with a powerful cold spell that sapped the Shadow's strength, causing them to drop the staff in hand. Bitter cold wreaked havoc on the mage's body, causing their scales to become brittle and stiff and sapping any heat from their bones. Terror gripped their face as the woman leaned in with a hellish gaze, her words filling the Shadow's very essence and causing them to pull the tome from Lo's robe. The symbols on the cover ceased their endless madness, forming into something ordered, patterned... though it was written in the Abyssal tongue.
Instead of opening it to the first pages or somewhere in the middle, the Shadow turned to the very last page, reading the only inscription in the entire book that hadn't been written in the magically deceptive ink.
"Valuun demnach nazemel... Jhemah trakom Indimina... Vos na'hall suralos... Loex'Vutha Darastrix'Sjach... Rheyghon domah'xin..."
As the words seemed to emanate from every shadow and bit of darkness in the area, the golden glimmer of Lo's eyes flickered and faded away. When the last was spoken, the tome rose into the sky. It's cover darkened, as if being burned from within by some unseen inferno... the leather strips began sloughing off, falling to the ground in a rough ring. A sickly purple glow emanated from the charred strips of flesh as the book itself hung suspended over the opening portal. Ghoulish, incorporeal claws of flame and darkness reached up to the book, passing through the surface of it's pages. Pained screams, horrid nightmarish wails, and an overpowering stench of sulfur and oily soot accompanied the bizarre happening. The gruesome claws slowly pulled away from the pages, dragging with them an inky blackness that seemed to distort light itself.
A pair of beady golden eyes stared blankly ahead as ancient magics from the earliest days of Charon were torn apart violently. The damned had come to collect a wayward demon, and it could only obey under the weight of the vampiress' overwhelming influence as it cast it's own banishing spell...
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Post by Sylvari Dawnsage on Oct 12, 2023 23:42:02 GMT -5
Sylvari had leapt back at the start of the spectacle, crouching low into a fighting stance, sure the demon would fight back when threatened, but the advance she was waiting on never came. Instead, as the creature read out dark speech from the accursed tome, the magic that emerged, ancient and powerful as Sylvari could plainly see [Chaos Touched], seemed to be directed within, rending the fiend apart at the seams. It wailed. It gnashed. It fought.
It smells. Gods, fighting demons is not so glamorous as the stories lead one to believe. Sylvari pinched her finger over her nose, hoping to block out the putrid scent. That was, until Lo's body finally stopped trembling under the weight of the spells it was subjected to.
Disregarding her own safety, Sylvari rushed forward to catch them, as the dragonkin began to topple, braced from their fall by strong arms. She searched their eyes for traces of remaining foul taint, for any signs that the demon still held sway, but was unable to garner much from their lack of response.
"Lo! Can you hear me? It's alright. I'm here." Sylvari cradled them in her arms much the same as she had been, when she was at her lowest. It was an unconscious response, perhaps the truest indication of the purity of her soul that the greatest kindness she had received, she wanted to visit onto others.
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