Arc:The Day I Tried To Live

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What would you be willing to do to achieve the impossible? What sacrifices would you be willing to make? Khitti is about to find out. Shadows, flame, and a horde of undead await.

Introduction

Khitti was merely a girl of fourteen when necromancers laid waste to her village. Hundreds died -- virtually everyone she had ever known -- and those not murdered became subject to the horrible experiments of a mindflayer. For Khitti, this meant being fused to Amarrah, a creature of the Shadow Plane. For others, like Khitti’s twin sister Lydia, this meant being turned into some kind of grotesque doll, rent asunder and then stitched back together with bits of other’s body parts. Only with Amarrah’s help did Khitti escape her captors and put the husk that used to be Lydia to rest.

For the sixteen long years since, Khitti von Schreier has played host to the shadow being -- a bitter and pessimistic thing, but ultimately as much of a victim as Khitti herself. But creatures of the Shadow Plane should never mix with mortals, and the magic seal holding them together could only last so long. Shortly after Khitti came to Lithrydel, the seal faded to devastating effect, and Khitti faced a hard choice: death, or vampirism.

Over a year has passed since Khitti became one of the undead, and she regrets her choice now more than ever. Vampirism has never sat well with Khitti; she considers herself to be a freak, a monster. The thought of killing innocents for sustenance turns her stomach. Dominic and Brand stand always by her side, but their mortality is a constant reminder to Khitti that she is not like them. She craves a normal life, a family... things the living take for granted.

And time has changed Amarrah, too; the creature has grown restless and malevolent. No longer is she the companion that Khitti once called a sister, bonded by their shared trauma as much as by magic. Now, Amarrah has come to blame the vampiress for everything that’s befallen the both of them. Now, Amarrah lashes out at Khitti and everyone she holds dear. And by possessing Khitti’s immortal body, Amarrah can claim a powerful vessel with which to get her revenge. She’s already tried a number of times before. It is only a matter of time before she succeeds.

Khitti seeks three things: to rid herself of Amarrah, before it’s too late. To find a cure for her vampirism, if she can. And to rescue the ghost of Lydia, who Khitti has recently discovered is trapped in the very same Shadow Plane that Amarrah once came from. To do any of it, she’ll have to embrace some of the very same powers as the necromancers that once tortured her. But, sometimes, you have to fight shadow with shadow...


This arc has been completed! Thanks to everyone that participated!!! -- <3 KhittiBrand

Prologue: If You Go Chasing Rabbits, Then You Know You're Going To Fall

Chapter Summary: Amarrah makes her unfortunate return and plagues Khitti's loved ones with her existence. Soon after, a broken enchanted necklace, the cause of Amarrah's reappearance, brings upon a vision of another world to both Khitti and Brand with the help of Brand's magic. This sends Khitti into a downward spiral and she disappears for nearly two weeks as she longs for a normal life and to be alive again. With an offer of his help after a long talk, Lionel urges Khitti to not only find a way to get rid of Amarrah, but to search for a cure for her vampirism as well. Brand's the first to find out, and while he's skeptical of whether or not a cure exists, he chooses to stand by her. Meanwhile, a rift, thanks to Khitti's disappearance, has formed between her and Dominic and only worsens as time goes on.

  1. Return To The Cave Of Misery
  2. A Different World
  3. Khitti vs Valen: Round 2
  4. There's No Place Like Home
  5. Time Spent With Cat(alian)s Is Never Wasted
  6. To Wish Impossible Things
  7. Almost Dead On Arrival
  8. The Most Unwanted Of Visitors
  9. Two Sisters, Two Separate Destinies
  10. Keep Your Enemies Close
  11. Miss Murder
  12. Bro Bonding (and a Bit of Blood)
  13. The Babes Of Frostmaw
  14. A Brief Encounter
  15. Briar Rests In Peace
  16. What The Water Gave Me

Chapter 1: The Road To The Shadow Plane Is Paved With Good Intentions

Chapter Summary: Just before a mission with the Warrior's Guild, Khitti tries to force herself into another of those strange alternate universe dreamstates that her and Brand have shared before. Instead, while weakened from the shock Khitti gave herself, Amarrah takes over and controls her body. Brand returns to the inn and can tell right off the bat that something's wrong with Khitti. Brand and Not-Khitti head off to a mission with the Warrior's Guild, wherein Amarrah uses it as an opportunity to assault the guild. She fails, but the damage is already done. Some of the guild members no longer trust Khitti and she's placed under a lenient form of house arrest, with Brand or Esche as her guards, until she can be rid of Amarrah. The tension between Khitti and Dominic worsen, with Dominic's appearances becoming more and more scarce as Khitti delves deeper into her research to find the way to open a portal to the Shadow Plane. She succeeds, allowing herself, Dominic, Brand, Lionel, and Esche to enter the other plane of existence only to find that there are prophecies written about each of them. The prophecies are kept by beings known as the Shadowseers and are led by a towering undead treant named Emeritus, who helps them by giving them a book about the Shadow Plane, a map, and three Tikifhlee (dire Shadow Plane cats).

  1. Funeral Pyre
  2. Dagger in the Dark
  3. Scar Tissue
  4. Behind Closed Doors
  5. Mosaic
  6. A Disquiet Follows My Soul
  7. To Not Ask Questions
  8. Communication Barrier
  9. Stand By Me
  10. No Silver Lining
  11. Dead Souls
  12. Dead Memories
  13. Communication Breakdown
  14. Hourglass
  15. Oh, The Places You'll Go
  16. Masking The Truth
  17. A Cloud Of Strife
  18. And The Foam On The Shore, Granite
  19. The Trek: Into Darkness

Chapter 2: Revenge Is A Dish That Is Best Served Now

  1. Help Is Always In The Last Place You'd Expect It
  2. The Master And The Apprentice: Back To Square One
  3. Face Of the Enemy
  4. Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You?
  5. Goodbyes Aren't Forever...Unless You Die
  6. Poor Unfortunate Souls
  7. The Girl With The Mermaid Tattoo
  8. Life And Death Working Together
  9. Those Chicks And Their Stars
  10. Trusting The Enemy
  11. An End, Once And For All
  12. The Winged, The Icy, And The Dead
  13. Together Or Not At All
  14. Anathema

Chapter 3: If You Have Ghosts, You have Everything

  1. From The Pit To The Pinnacle
  2. A Bard, A Tattoo Artist, And A Necromancer Walk Into A Music Store...
  3. When The Song Of Friendship Ends
  4. Catching Up In Frostmaw
  5. Burden In My Hand
  6. Turning To The Dark Side For Help
  7. Days Of Our Lives: Lithrydel Edition
  8. Untimely Interruptions
  9. In Mysterious Fathoms Below
  10. Mosasaur Mandible Mishaps And Misadventures
  11. Lament Of The Star-crossed
  12. The Assassination Of Lady Larewen Dragana
  13. Made Of Scars
  14. The End Of The Line
  15. Keeping Up With The Khatalians
  16. I Hope You Suffer

Chapter 4: The Beginning Of The End

  1. Forbidden Libraries And Frost Giants
  2. We're Off To See The Wizard--Er... Necromancer
  3. Another Tat For The Khat
  4. A Deal With Death
  5. Curses!
  6. Once Upon A Dream
  7. The Day I Tried To Live... And Failed
  8. The Final Countdown
  9. The More Things Change
  10. Bad Company
  11. Pride, Prejudice, And Promotions
  12. The Night Is Dark And Full Of Terrors, But The Fire Burns Them All Away

Epilogue, Part 1: One More Time Around

  1. Letters From The Dead
  2. The Deconstruction of Falling Tides
  3. I'll Be Okay, Just Not Today
  4. Little Cup of Sorrows
  5. A Gaping Hole
  6. The Khat Is Back In Town
  7. A Wrinkle in Tides
  8. In Loving Memory
  9. Against All Odds
  10. A Spectacular View
  11. Operation DeceptiKhat
  12. Penumbra
  13. Roiling In The Deep
  14. Self-Inflicted
  15. Meri's New Student
  16. In Memory Of

Epilogue, Part 2: The Fog Clears

  1. Always Something There To Remind Me
  2. And The Rock Cried Out, "No Hiding Place"
  3. The Art Of Remembering
  4. Irony
  5. Return To The Dark Side
  6. Something Entirely New
  7. And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder
  8. Shadows Looming Beneath The Fog
  9. Priorities, They Are A-Changin'
  10. Out Of The Black

NPCs At A Glance

Amarrah:A creature from the Shadow Plane that was tethered by scientific and magical means to Khitti von Schreier over 16 years ago. Long did she regard Khitti as a sister as Khitti did in return, but now she's become corrupted by years of angst due to being stuck in Khitti's body and time spent away from her homeworld. What once was an innately good-natured being is now full of venom and spite and takes any chance she gets to ruin Khitti's life, usually in the form of trying to kill Brand, Dominic, and Lionel. Amarrah, through the combined efforts of her father, Facilier, and Khitti, was resurrected. Promptly afterward, she was murdered by none other than Khitti. The vampiress ripped Amarrah's heart from her chest, took control of Amarrah's body via Khitti's necromancy, and forced her to scream as Khitti simultaneously burned Amarrah with her shadow-fire and froze her heart in shadow-ice.

Lydia von Schreier: Khitti's twin sister. She's 16 years dead thanks to the necromancers that murdered Lydia and Khitti's parents, tortured Khitti and fused her with Amarrah, and turned Lydia herself into a undead abomination. Unbeknownst to Khitti, Lydia's spirit has been with her this entire time as a result of Khitti's necromantic powers channeling through Lydia's enchanted violin. This called Lydia's soul from the Shadow Plane and when she was needed most during Khitti's capture by Raiez Vayne the Blue dragon, she aided Brand, Dominic, and Pilar via their dreams. Lydia's ghostly energy was entirely spent after urging the three to not lose hope and to bring Khitti home safely. She flickered out of existence, was once again trapped in the Shadow Plane, and there she remains until Khitti can come to rescue her. Lydia's spirit was rescued from the Shadow Plane.

Further Reading

  • Pre-Arc Information:
    • Do You Believe In Magic?: The arc prior to 'The Day I Tried To Live'. It's home to several RPs that were key in building up to Khitti's quest to rescue her sister, get rid of Amarrah, and find a cure to her vampirism.
  • Unfamiliar Locations:
    • Plane of Shadows: Here is where the magic of necromancers of all sorts and other users of the dark arts stem from. Not listed on the aforementioned wiki page are the Plane of Shadows mirrors of Catal and Dhavislaav. (At this time, those are the only two outside of the main Lithrydel map that had lore created for them. Others -could- be created if it was necessary for an arc, but please speak with Khitti first as she was the one that wrote the wiki page to begin with. Your ideas would certainly be considered and discussed, not only with her but the admin as well.)
    • Sanctuary of the Damned: This continent, smaller in size than Lithrydel, but still much bigger than Rynvale Island, is this world’s parallel of Dhavislaav, the home of Khitti von Schreier. Unlike its counterpart, the Vale of the Damned is overflowing with dark magic. Here is where Amarrah, the shadow creature that inhabits Khitti’s body, hails from and was plucked from by nameless necromancers for their dark deeds. The majority of Sanctuary is mountainous, giving way in areas for forest valleys filled with black trees that seep a toxic, green slime from their bark.
    • Humanoid Creatures of the Sanctuary of the Damned:
      • The Umbrawisp: These are the keepers of the dead. Various mage-types are found within this tribe, mainly that of necromancers. They herd and temper the souls that wander the Sanctuary of the Damned so that they might remain docile and not lash out at the Umbrawisps. These neutral folk are human-sized, in varying heights, travels within the shadows as a wisp, and can shapeshift into a faceless, terrifying creature that’s near to seven foot tall, but that’s typically only used in defense against their mortal enemies. These are Amarrah’s people.
      • The Nightwraiths: The Nightwraiths is the race of beings that terrorizes the the Umbrawisps. Quite possibly more evil than the cannibals known as the Gloomgluts, they were once part of a single tribe, living in harmony with the Umbrawisps until a fierce, unforgiving warrior took reign over them all, and forced the magic-using Umbrawisps elsewhere. Their lot focuses on the melee classes, such as warriors and assassins, with the occasional death knight.