Tradesfolk
IS OFFLINE
8
Renown
Crescent Isles
ring ring ring ring ring ring ring, BABY CROWS
334 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jan 23, 2024 21:38:35 GMT -5
Rena hums softly to herself, eyes softening a little as she glances over her husband’s spirit. It’s her fault he’s like this. Her actions that killed him, her actions that brought him back in this manner. She smiles softly, gently rubbing the softly cheeping Distant Whistle on the head, “...’s okay, 'lor'tyrlr 'no1. You’ll have someone your own age to play with soon enough…” even as her free hand carefully, gently digs into the bedding that fills most of the satchel…and comes out holding a single egg. Blue shell, brown spots, cold as ice.
She gently carries the frozen egg back outside, a pensive frown on her beak as she carefully holds the tiny thing. The crow steps back into the circle, carefully cradling it close, “...the Hag’s curse is strong. I expect their souls are just as firmly bound as Bell’s, but I don’t have the knowledge to check myself…” as she slowly, cautiously approaches Sylvari, keeping her eyes forward and her body language as neutral as she can manage. it's...not easy, with the freshly un-repressed memories flooding through her mind, but after devoting a great deal of her focus on sorting things out within her own head during the trek to retrieve the egg, she's...managing. she'll need at least a few more minutes of proper meditation to get her head back in the game, but she's at least stable, which is something of an improvement.
1 - Little one
|
|
Fighter's Guild
IS OFFLINE
20
Renown
Crescent Isles
"I only bite if you want me to, dear"
793 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Sylvari Dawnsage on Jan 24, 2024 10:59:26 GMT -5
Sylvari's face remain impassive as she stood where she had before, immobile as a statue. Her crimson eyes glinted slightly as she swiveled them downward to gaze at the tiny egg held before her. Unfortunately for Rena's wishes, whatever magic was cast on this egg was not an ongoing spell, nor did it have an innate domain, leaving nothing to fill the vampiress' nostrils. She gave a tiny shake of her head, almost imperceptible.
"Whatever magic was wrought on your little one has long since faded, there is nothing left for me to sense. Spirit calling is your area of expertise, Rena. If you cannot detect the presence, we must simply fashion the body and call afterwards to see." Wanting to spare her friend from any more excess pain, Sylvari broke her stoic vigil to brush a comforting hand to Rena's shoulder.
"Are you certain that you can call your child's soul without fail? The last thing I want to see is you calling an abomination instead of your little one." The justiciar's eyes took on a darker hue as she pressed her lips into a frown. "In such instance, I would be compelled to strike it down and forbid further ventures."
|
|
Tradesfolk
IS OFFLINE
8
Renown
Crescent Isles
ring ring ring ring ring ring ring, BABY CROWS
334 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jan 24, 2024 23:50:21 GMT -5
Rena tilts her head, trilling quietly as she clicks her beak in thought, “...quite certain, so long as I have the eggs. Without those or some other connection…I’d put it on a coin toss between the the chicks and an ancestor, and I couldnae tell y’ which chick or ancestor,” she hums softly, “...but I’ll call the spirit before shaping the body. Just to be sure. Spirits conjured in the manner of a Spirit Guardian cannae do ‘arm, so even if I do conjure something beyond what is expected or desired, we need merely strike twice to banish the apparition”
The crow sighs, cracking her neck and moving a little closer to the edge of the circle to make room before closing her eyes and focusing. Her attention turns inwards once more, though she angles away from the burning darkness, away from the crackling frost, away from the mind-bending warp in reality, and toward the shifting smoke that connects her to her husband. She dives into that smoke, but pulls away from the pull toward her husband, instead working to craft another current. It’s…hard, and it leaves her sweating and shaking, but after a couple minutes a small cloud of black and emerald smoke flows from the egg in her hands and into the air, coalescing into a tiny, naked chick, emerald smoke pouring from beneath closed eyelids as it lets out a soft cheeping sound.
Rena grins as her own silver eyes open, once more soft and full of kindness and love as she gazes upon the spirit of her child. Then those eyes harden as she focuses once more, this time channeling the dark fire in her heart out to form a shell of bones to house the summoned spirit.
One dull-taloned hand snaps out to catch the newly formed skeletal hatchling even as the child begins to fall, emerald lights flickering in the sockets and a ball of emerald fire sitting in the little one’s ribcage as they let out tiny, frantic cheeps and chirps.
Rena shudders, letting out a wet, almost broken laugh as she clutches her newly resurrected little one to her chest, cradling the skeletal chick like they’re made of glass, trilling and chirping and cooing back to the little one as Bell rushes over, his own amber eyes wide and watery.
|
|
Fighter's Guild
IS OFFLINE
20
Renown
Crescent Isles
"I only bite if you want me to, dear"
793 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Sylvari Dawnsage on Jan 25, 2024 10:42:49 GMT -5
Sylvari watched Rena's summoning with guarded interest. She couldn't shake the feeling this experiment would end in failure: if not an abomination then the wrong spirit. She didn't know how spirit calling worked. Was it possible to banish an unwanted spirit in favor of a desired one?
Her worst fears were quickly quelled as the called spirit was obviously a young one, clearly confused by its environs. The justiciar could see by her friend's eyes that the correct spirit had come, and Rena worked quickly to fashion the skeletal frame that the spirit would inhabit. The vampiress could not comprehend why this facsimile of embodiment was preferred over the spectral form of Rena's husband, but she chalked it up to a mystery of motherhood that she would never have the opportunity to comprehend. Perhaps the lure of physical touch was so strong that even bones would be preferable to nothing, a sentiment Sylvari could understand, being alone for so long.
At Rena and Bell's heartfelt reunion with their little one, Sylvari felt very much like an intruder on this tender moment. She walked a short distance away, turning her face to give the family their privacy. Noe wanted to bound over and greet the new arrival, a creature of bone, the same as him, but something in his mistress' aspect revealed the foolishness of such an endeavor. Instead, the little dragonling brushed up against the vampiress' leg, clacking his jaws forlornly at her strange emptiness within.
|
|
Tradesfolk
IS OFFLINE
8
Renown
Crescent Isles
ring ring ring ring ring ring ring, BABY CROWS
334 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jan 25, 2024 14:33:54 GMT -5
Rena holds the skeletal hatchling close, chirping and trilling right back as she smiles, tears rolling down her cheeks as she gently nuzzles the little one, cooing and shuddering as the chick cheeps softly, pressing against their mother. Bell smiles softly, gently hugging his wife and nuzzling into her feathers, closing his eyes and trilling happily. Those amber eyes open again, gazing at Sylvari, and the ghostly crow nudges his wife.
Rena blinks, glancing up and tilting her head, then she slowly, quietly walks over to hug her sister, trilling softly, “...thank you, Syl…I…I can’t even imagine how long this would’ve taken without you…or even if I’d’ve been able to pull it off…” she shudders, gently cradling the newly reanimated chick in one arm while she hugs her sister with the other, tears still rolling down her cheeks.
Bell glides over, smiling softly and gently hugging his wife from behind, trilling happily as he relaxes properly for the first time in...a while. not only is there hope for his family, but his wife is back. sure, she'd been fine before this, but...she hadn't been fine, not really; the guilt of what the hag's curse had forced her to do had broken her mind in half, leaving a dark, bloodthirsty devourer locked inside a weaker facsimile of the woman he'd fallen for...but now she's back. the wild, brazen and dangerous woman he loves is back, whole and hale in mind and body.
|
|
Fighter's Guild
IS OFFLINE
20
Renown
Crescent Isles
"I only bite if you want me to, dear"
793 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Sylvari Dawnsage on Jan 25, 2024 14:49:58 GMT -5
Sylvari was drawn from her inner thoughts as she felt Rena's arm slide around her and pull her close, a desperate need, a tentative joy too frantic to be assured. The vampiress smiled softly, leaning slightly so she could return the embrace as she spoke in hushed tones to her sister of bonds.
"Of course, Rena. How could I call myself a true justiciar if I had let this injustice stand? I am very glad you are closer to reuniting your family. It is my fervent hope you all can be reconciled together after the pain you have endured."
Sylvari's heart ached, simultaneously happy for Rena and quietly despairing of the fact that her friend had mended better than her. A dark thorn of envy wormed its way into the justiciar's mind, an ugly and unwelcome thing in this otherwise joyous moment. Sylvari hated herself for harboring such wicked thoughts, hating even more that she was unable to chase the nagging jealousy away.
How weak and pathetic I am to begrudge a woman's joyful reunion with her family. It is not Rena's fault that my own family turned me out, and she has been nothing but kind and accepting. I am truly a wretched monster for this.
Despite her inner turmoil, Sylvari smiled wide and hugged her friend and her family warmly. She was a woman well acquainted with sorrow and well-versed in how to conceal her pain. If she was doomed to have such unseemly sentiments, she would at least spare her sister from them, refusing to ruin this happy moment.
|
|
Tradesfolk
IS OFFLINE
8
Renown
Crescent Isles
ring ring ring ring ring ring ring, BABY CROWS
334 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jan 25, 2024 17:59:03 GMT -5
Rena trills softly, smiling and gently squeezing her sister, “...even still. You didnae ‘ave to…but ye did anyway…even if ye werenae family, we’d be in y’r corner after this. If’n ye need anything, you tell us an’ we’ll be there as fast as we can”
Bell nods, smiling softly as he trills and hugs his wife a little tighter, amber eyes fixed on the tiny, skeletal, perfect little creature in Rena’s arms, the hatchling softly cheeping as they nestle into their mother’s embrace.
The living crow hums softly, reluctantly pulling away from her sister, eyes once more calculating and…cold isn’t the right word, but there’s a certain sharpness to that unfocused gaze as she considers something, “...don’t have the skill t’ raise any o’the others…an’ just havin’ two spirits out at once was a drain…though that seems to be gone with the wee one settled in something physical…” she frowns, tilting her head a little, "...I'll need to practice both necromancy and spirit calling to make this work...need to be able to have multiple spirits and shells up reliably...and having multiple callings available in a short amount of time will make things easier as well..."
|
|
Fighter's Guild
IS OFFLINE
20
Renown
Crescent Isles
"I only bite if you want me to, dear"
793 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Sylvari Dawnsage on Jan 25, 2024 18:47:36 GMT -5
That response was enough to shake Sylvari from the mire of despondency in which she found herself, at least for the moment. The vampiress gave her dear friend a grim slash of a smile.
"You've done well to master blending these traditions together so swiftly, sister, but you seek more. You seek growth, the strength of experience: the kind best found in combat. Come along, Rena. Let's see how well you've subsumed your inner beast. I know just the thing..."
Sylvari began striding purposefully towards the woods, Noe jumping with great strides in obvious excitement, The crucible of battle called to the vampiress once more, and she would have her sister at her side to meet it.
|
|