RP:A Rain Of Ravens

This is a Necromancer's Guild RP.

Hanging Corpse Tavern

Synopsis Vareth meets Joan inside the Hanging Corpse Inn. Vareth's book attracts Joan's attention, and they converse, where Vareth makes his interest in joining the Necromancer's Guild known. They make their way to the graveyard, where Vareth demonstrates his abilities by animating a flock of ravens. Joan and Vareth then part ways, Joan with a promise of further communication from the guild.

Vareth nods to Joan in greetings. The hood of Vareth's robe is pulled up to shadow his face, but it isn't difficult to pick out the blue-black skin of a Drow along with a hint of white hair.

Joan had spent the evening here at Hanging Corpse Tavern, trying to unwind from her long shift at the Chapel recently. The vampiric healer had gone through a large amount of blood-spiked hot cocoa to help relax, Steadmen having made sure that once Joan was finished with one mug a fresh new piping hot one would appear via one of the many working servers. At this point they all knew Joan's preferred drink of choice and just how she liked it to be served to her. Joan had her booted feet kicked up near the hearth, the chilly undead woman soaking up the heat coming off the merry burning fire.

Vareth has been here since before Joan's arrival. The slight Drow huddled in his mostly unadorned black hooded robes, sat at the bar nursing the same cup of cheap wine. Vareth must imagine himself, hidden, or at least incognito. His slender hands holding the cup of wine a little too tightly have light blue-black skin, allowing anyone of even average perception the chance to know that it was a Drow sitting there. The slight rise and fall of his chest betray that he is among the living. Perhaps the only sign he belongs here in Vailkrin is the book strapped tightly to his belt by various leather straps and buckles. The glimpses of the cover of the book show a face, straining to get out of the very skin-looking natural "leather" cover. If stared at, it is plains that the face is slowly moving, and at times a soft moan can be heard emanating from it.

Joan exhaled tiredly as the vampiric healer looked up she finally noticed the soft moaning coming what seemed to be some sort of 'book', "Hey there stranger...mind telling the book to muffle it? If it wants to moan about it take it upstairs to one of the rooms up there, yeah?!" She cranes her neck slightly to spare the hooded fellow a 'really?!' type of glance before jerking her chin towards the stairs.

Vareth has the grace to look embarrassed, with slight purple coloring his cheeks betraying the emotion. He takes a moment and a deep breath to compose himself, and then slaps a hand over the cover of the book. Which, incidentally, does nothing to muffle the moaning. It may have managed to become slightly louder. Vareth turns to respond to Joan and says in halting common, "Dos can hear it? My deepest apologist, usstan thought that it was only myself that was subject to that sound. It is not...common, to hear the call of the Black Book. It is normally those who follow the Great Work who do..." He trails off and narrows his obsidian eyes at Joan, his gaze thoughtful now, examining the vampiress in a somewhat clinical manner.

Joan raises one finely shaped amethyst brow as she shoots back the cloaked drow an 'oh yeah?' kinda glance from her voided light violet gaze, she flips open her satchel to dig into it and pull out her spell book, this one was made of living Kraken flesh. The inky wet wet-looking binding flexed slightly as it responded to its mistress' touch. "Yeah, I get it, I'm Joan Blackheart a necromancer and healer with the local guild. I hold the rank of Thanadule within." She offers a small smile before lifting up her mug of hot cocoa and taking a long quiet sip as she curiously studies the other.

Vareth keeps a hand on his book as he replies, which does nothing to drown out the moaning. He leans forward, his face betraying none of the emotion that his body language implies. His voice comes a bit quickly, showing his interest as well. "Usstan is named Vareth Faerlyn. Usstan am but a student of The Art, but usstan was seeking out the very same guild that dos hold rank in, Thanadule Blackheart."

Joan waved her free hand in a 'don't bother manner' as she spoke, "It's just Joan, we don't go by titles in the guild. At least, I don't think we do." She offers a mere shrug of her vested shoulders before patting at the space near her at the table she was at by the roaring hearth. "Come on over and pull up a chair, ask anything you want I will answer them as best as I can."

Vareth isn't able to keep the suspicion from his face, but he does stand up from his place at the bar. His hand still clasps the wine glass tightly, betraying his inward anxiety at the situation. He strides over and noisily pulls a chair over, still a safe 5 feet away, to where Joan is seated. Gathering his robes in his left hand, he sits down. Looking at Joan, he takes a perhaps dainty sip of his wine and says to her, "Usstan seek entrance, to put it in simple terms. Usstan wishes to explore my potential and learn more than usstan can in broken Trist'oth."

Joan leans back in her wooden chair, kicking back enough that the front two legs lifted off the ground, Joan idly kicks one leg back and forth as she uses her supernatural skill to keep perfectly balanced as she was, her chilly pale pink lips twitching as she gives the drow another glance, "Okay, might wanna ask where we meet up here above ground. We gather anywhere from four locations, three are right around here in Vailkrin, just before you cross the bridge to enter into town there is this massive Black Spire. A bit beyond where you hang a left at the large Blood Fountain and go into the cemetery you will stumble upon our Black Library, and further beyond the dragon graveyard, there is the Death cult Temple. You are welcome to any of those areas as they are open to all budding necromancers. Our fourth location is a bit of a trek out in Frostmaw." Joan slid her kraken flesh-bound tome back into her satchel before reaching to finish off her latest mug of the delicious spiked hot cocoa. "I can do your entrance test slash exam, and from there I just let our higher-ups know that you showed me a bit of what you can do and they go from there. Very simple and easy." She flashes a fully fanged smile now.

Vareth offers a smile to Joan at last, matching her fangs one with his own, seemingly to warm to her after she displays abilities, no matter how slight. He nods, a bit eagerly, and says in response, "Ah yes, usstan get ahead of myself. Proper questions to ask, of course. Would it be too bold for me to ask how I might go about requesting such an exam?"

Joan perks her brow once more upwards as she lightly taps at her vested bosom, "Just ask, I'm right here." She chuckles softly as a server comes by to take her empty mug, sliding a new fresh mug next to her before taking their tray over towards the bar. Joan had a running tab here for her drinks and snacks which she settled at the end of every week.

Vareth looks at the look that passes by on the waiter's tray with a hungry gaze, and his hand that had been covering the tome on his belt now goes briefly to his stomach, cradling it. With a sigh, Vareth turns his gaze back to Joan. He replies, "Ah, usstan did not understand. Informality, is alien to usstan, yes? If dos might grant my request, usstan wish entrance into the guild of Necromancers."

Joan leaned on one gloved elbow as she gave the drow an amused look as he watched the tray with her empty mug be taken away, "Order something to eat my dude, I'll cover the cost. Can't work your very best on an empty stomach."

Vareth gives Joan a grateful nod and waves a waiter over. Vareth whispers in the waiter's ear, but Joan's vampire hearing easily picks up what he is saying. "Rothe...err...sheep, dos call it. Sheep, if not then meat of some kind. Bloody, barely cooked. And bring the blood and juices on the side in a cup." Vareth nods the waiter off and then turns to Joan once more while they wait. "Kind of dos. Usstan is indebted now to dos. This is ussta first journey to the surface, and certainly the first lengthy conversation usstan has had." The waiter returns with a piece of meat, nearly raw, alongside a cup of meat juices. Vareth lays into the meal with gusto, washing down his bloody meat with a cup of bloody juice, which might be a Drow custom or might be that this Drow is very strange.

Joan looks towards the roaring fire in the great hearth as she allows the drow to enjoy his meal in a polite quiet manner, she listens politely but once more waves off his comment in a 'don't worry about it' manner. "It ain't nothing, all I ask in return is when you can return the favor for someone else when you have the funds.' Joan wasn't much of the so-called typical vampire, as she was rather kind and nice. It came from her being part of a merchant house, manners and being kind and polite got one further then attitude. Once Vareth seemed finished with his meal the vampiric healer would nod towards the exit, "The graveyard isn't too far from here, if you wanna head out there. Or you can do something small here, just don't wreck the place. I mean, my fellow guildmate Pyde, he is a fermin and happens to carry about with him a pouch of bone meal, so he can do quick bits of magic in small, confined places. It's really up to you what you wanna do and where you wanna do it. I just gotta witness it."

Vareth looks around, wiping a bit of blood from his purple lips. He nods and quietly responds to Joan. "The graveyard would be more appropriate, xas? I believe no harm would be done there, but there are times...xas, the graveyard." Vareth nods his head, as if encouraging himself, and stands from his seat. He walks to the door and politely waits beside it for Joan.

Joan took the time to grab up her fresh new hot mug of spiked hot cocoa, with a tilt-back against her icy pale lips she slurped up the hot liquid within as the drow made up his mind and let the vampiric healer where he would like to go to show off some of his skill for her to witness. "Alrighty." She said, lowering the front two legs back down to the floor and scooting it back from the table as she rose then went to join the eager drow. "It doesn't gotta be anything too flashy or showy. I raised a mouse skeleton." She explains as she leads the way out of the tavern and out towards the Blood Fountain, there she hangs a right and makes her way towards the massive, huge graveyard proper.

Vareth follows the vampiress along to the graveyard, solemnly quiet as they breach the gates. When Joan mentions a mouse skeleton, a slight smile crosses the Drow's purple lips. Vareth walks through the graveyard, quiet, as his dexterous and long-fingered hands undo the buckles and straps holding the large book tight to his waist. The book itself remained closed with a single latch across the cover, but Joan can by chance perhaps feel it straining against its bonds even from her position. Vareth chooses a tombstone, seemingly at random, and sits down in front of it. He places the grimoire into his lap and undoes the cover. The book suddenly slams open, pages screaming open and closing quickly, and just as quickly it stops on a certain page. Vareth pulls back his hood, letting his long white hair flow down his back. His obsidian eyes scan the text, his fingers following his position on the page. Oddly enough, no noises issue forth from either the book nor Vareth yet, quiet where before there was none.

Joan had stood back a good distance, enough that she had a clear view but not enough to get caught in any magic when it happened, as a precaution the vampiric healer lifted up her hands, pushing her dark magic out through them to set up a magical barrier just in case...she didn't know how practiced or not this drow fellow was and she didn't feel like having someone else's magic rebound back on her when all she was doing was watching and assessing!

Vareth begins to chant in his native language, murmuring over and over "Ori'gato dro fre'sla doeb d'aphyon" while holding his left hand out towards the tombstone and the area of the grave. Nothing much else seems to happen, no energy appears and certainly nothing undead shows up. Vareth finishes his chanting with a sigh and lowers his hand to close the grimoire. But when Vareth tries to force it closed, it is obvious there is some force restraining him from being able to force the cover shut. Then suddenly, a caw sounds from above, and a raven lands on the tombstone in front of him. The caw sounds off, sepulchral. Looking at the Raven, it is easy to see why. It is dead and rotting, most of its flesh hanging on by mere shreds. The composition of the bird should have prevented flight but the obvious Necromancy animating the raven did not seem to care. Then there was another caw and another, and suddenly dozens of these undead ravens were landing on every tombstone surrounding the two of them (except in a very precise bubble where Joan raised her defenses).

Joan cast her gaze around as those undead ravens began to appear, she gave a slight nod of her head in approval, most certainly they were undead and risen. She lowers her outstretched hands but doesn't call back in her magic just yet. Those ravens might just decide to attack if Vareth's control is not solid upon the summoned undead. "Nice, now see if they will listen and obey your commands, just a few simple ones are all I need to see."

Vareth nods, his face a mask of concentration and control. He raises a hand upward and, as a flock and with eerie necromantic precision, the raven take off and seem to simply hover and wait. Vareth waves a hand left, then right, as if conducting. The ravens follow every wave of his hand through the air, a symphony of silent dark magic. Then, suddenly, Vareth closes his hand and every single raven, now simply a carcass, drops to the ground in a rain of decay and old death. Vareth closes the book, which now seems satisfied to be closed, and he hastily does the straps and latches up to secure it to his person. He then stands and turns towards Joan while raising his hood once more. He nods to her but says nothing.

Joan slowly called in her magical barrier ward back to her inner core, the purple aura color slowly absorbed into the slender vampiric healer the light dimming till Joan just stood there once again normal. "Not too shabby, but you normally want to keep what you first summon up. Like Snickers here..." Joan opens up the breast pocket on the front of her vest and pokes at it to wake up the snoozing zombie little white skeleton mouse, its tiny partly bone head pops upwards, and its little part nose wiggles as beady ruby red eyes stare out at the drow. Joan gave the little mouse a small sliding finger pet along its skull before patting her breast pocket once more, so it knew to duck back in and snuggle back down. She offers a fully flashed fanged smile towards the drow. "Alrighty, I will jot off a note to my guild leader Khitti, and let them know what has happened. You should hear back from them in a bit. Thank you for showing me what you can do, and I hope to be guildmates with you soon!"

Vareth nods in response to the comments about Snickers, commenting only to say, "That was not ussta first...Usstan has been animating things for a long time." His shoulders sag, and his exhaustion shows in the sudden lines on his face. "Usstan thank dos for this. Rest is in order. Usstan shall be staying nearby, and Us...I hope to hear from dos and the others soon." With that, he begins to slowly walk away, weariness dragging his legs back towards Vailkrin.