RP:A Spot of Tea Under the Moonlight
This is a Necromancer's Guild RP.
Synopsis: A newcomer by the name of Joan stumbles upon a studious necromancer in the Vailkrin Graveyard. They share some conversation over tea!
Date: June 18th 2018
Main Graveyard Area (Vailkrin)
Raevyn sat nestled amongst the tombstones, legs folded beneath her in a cross-legged manner. Before her, upon the cool earth of the graveyard, a book, opened to some point nearly halfway through. Eyes, pale and blue, slowly scanned the crimson stained ink that had been written in various languages, along side illustration of the dark and macabre. In the girl’s lap sat parchment in which she scribbled and noted, with another book of a scholarly nature sat open face just to the right. From time to time the ebon dressed human would glance over and compare sigils, trying her best to decode anything of relevance.
Joan scratches at the back of her amethyst colored hair as she traveled through the graveyard, now and again she can seen stopping near a gave or tome to pick up something and straighten this or that, slowly but surely setting things to rights. A vampire with OCD...slow improvements can be seen from her work. As she approaches the younger looking girl Joan would raise a hand up in greeting, waving it slightly as she calls out a polite ‘Heyo.’
Raevyn had been lost for some time. Things as of late were spiraling out of control. Her closest friend had left her all alone, and in her sorrow, the young girl was often partaking in the indulgences of a good wine. She had to finish her work. It was important. And so, for today at least , she would do her best to try and keep herself on the right path. When Joan entered into view, Raevyn did not notice at first. The translations she had been making were on a roll, and the neophyte necromancer could not be bothered to pay attention to what was going on around her in the outside world. It was only when vocalization were made that the quill in Raevyn’s hand ceased its movement, those tired dead eyes lifting to seek the source. “Hello.” she replied to the stranger. The girl stared at first, not sure what to make of Joan or her outlandish appearance. She had never before seen someone with amethyst colored hair.
Joan drew up short, hands on slender hips as voided light violet orbs glance over the seated young girl, Joan was turned just a bit after she turned 35. Hence she had the look of a mature woman in her prime, a smile curled her pale pink lips as her eyes settle near the other’s. “Nice to run into someone finally. I just recently came back, names Joan.” Her left hand is lifted off her hip and held out towards the other for a handshake type greeting. “Who might you be dear?” She ask in a nice tone.
Raevyn was a little reluctant. Cold, even. It was quite unlike her usually friendly self;As by now there were usually some sort of pleasant smile on those ebon lips, or some sort of excitement in her voice. Instead, the tone was flat. Fatigued. “Came back?” Raevyn reaches up and pulls back the fur-trimmed hood of her coat, letting loose long strands of black hair to fall over her face. She reached up with a gloved hand and brushes them to the side, soon extending some sort of courtesy by reaching out and engaging in the handshake. “I am… Raevyn. ...Nice to meet you.”
Joan nods as she withdraws her hand, black fingerless gloves covered her hands from knuckles up till about elbow. Silver rings sewed into the fabric at each finger shown how the gloves were held in place at her hands. “Mh-mm, I traveled across the ocean when I was younger, looking for adventure. Sure did find it.” Laughs as she makes a point towards her odd hair color and eyes. It was not everyday you saw someone with no pupils, voided completely of irises. Joan didn’t seem to mind the cold nature of Raevyn, her good nature shining through with a full smile at showed off her pearly white fangs. “Thought it was high time I came back home, settle.” She makes a sweeping hand gesture at the partly picked up and cleaned graveyard. “Show that some of us care to be seen as decent people.”
Raevyn forces herself to make nice, to show semblance of happiness, and so she offers up a smile as best she could. She admired the idea that there were still those that sought to be civil in a time of unrest and ignorance. “That is… kind of you, then.” she said. The quill and parchment were set aside, folded between the scholarly book she had been using as a makeshift answer key while trying to decipher that strange and twisted tome before her. That too would be shut, only this item was safely guarded as she nestled it against her chest like some sort of sacred treasure. “I… am not from this land, myself. So, I suppose that this is my first adventure.” the girl admitted. “Has your home changed much since you’ve been gone?” The fangs and odd appearance were observed, but not commented upon. Well, this was not entirely true. “I like you hair.”
Joan dipped her head and bobbed it up and down a few times, “Understandable, many travel about seeking a new homeland.” Joan would notice the actions Raevyn took, but she didn’t question. Instead Joan would do the most polite thing she knew, offer the other some form of refreshments. “Sorry, where are my manners?! I have blood wine and some tea on me, some biscuits to, would you like to have an impromptu tea party with me?”
Raevyn’s eyes widened in surprise when the blood wine was the first to be brought up. The thought that such a thing existed was so foreign! Given that she herself could almost certainly pass for some sort of undead thing or vampire, she couldn’t exactly place fault for the offer. When tea followed soon after, Raevyn brightened up a little and nodde, accepting the proposal. “Yes. I think that would be quite nice, really.” The book she had been so adamant in guarding was set to the side, and the girl straightened her posture in a dignified way. She sought best to showcase her manners now, as Tea Parties, as impromptu as they can be, usually called for grace and civility. Or so she had been taught. From time to time, while the pair conversed, joan might be keen to pick up on faint whisperings that seem to emanate from nothingness.
Joan squatted down as she set about conjuring up two pretty colored teacups with matching saucers and a three tier serving tray with an array of biscuits and cookies, finger sandwiches where provided on the bottom tier, as was proper for afternoon tea. A silver teapot appears between the two on a small flat tray steaming hot with the lingering scent of fresh black tea coming from the teapot. A small spoon appeared as well, with cute severing cups of milk and sugar. Joan would motion to Raevyn first to pour herself some tea and fix it as she liked as Joan answered the questions from beforehand. “Hm, yes, the energies I work with soak the color out of my hair, leaving it stark white, some with my eyes. I got tired of dying my hair all the time, was costing me a lot, I came across a foreign god in my many travels and offered him my services for awhile. In one of the many benefits I got my hair colored this lovely deep amethyst, and light lilac voided eyes. The changes are permanent, but I rather like the trade off. And yes, there has been quite a few changes since I left and now returned.”
Raevyn was a bit mesmerized by the eloquent display of conjuring magic. This was something she so badly wanted to learn, yet had been unable to at this point. It would make carrying around that scythe of hers a hell of a lot easier. Although she was warming up to the strange woman, there was still a modicum of hesitation to reach out for any of the offered good. Something about that whole ‘taking candy from strangers’ thing. Still, thirst was settling in and it did look good. “Thank you.” Raevyn said with a polite smile, finally reaching out to take one of the dainty cups and pouring herself from of that hot beverage. When she had made it as usually enjoyed, with lots of sugar, the girl took her turn to contribute to the conversation. “You… worked for a God? I… suppose I can relate to that in some regard. I too work in the service to a God. Although, I have never met this deity, nor do I have any real personal connection. I doubt I would ever be granted such favours. I preach his name to a local township, mostly in revenge for the horrible things they did not so long ago.” Raevyn shrugs. She didn’t really tell too many people about her business when it came to religious affairs, but given Joan’s only recent return, it was unlikely she would know anyone that would be affected by these misdeeds. “Have you been adjusting, then? I suppose if you left when you were much younger, then the change can not be too much of a shock? I am… uncertain what home would ever be like if I were able to return. I am not sure it would feel the same.”
Joan busy herself with making her own cuppa tea how she liked it after the younger girl was finished. Milk and sugar was added to her own, making it a lighter color as the milk was stirred in with the silver spoon. A rolling shrug is given before Joan took a long sip from her own cup, once she settled it back in the saucer she’d lick at her bottom lip before reaching for a napkin and selection a finger sandwich, she’d take a moment to bite into it before she’d chew in a quite grace. “Mm, yes I have been adjusting as you say.” She’d nod to indicate that the younger girl was correct in her assuming. “Not too much, and working for the foreign god was a learning experience that I’m glad I undertook.” She’d take another bite as she listened and thought about what the other talked about, her eyebrows raising with concern here and there.
Raevyn stared into her cup of tea, gentle stirring the murky drink with her spoon in idle thought. She listened, thinking about how her own journey in the name of a deity would ever play out. Perhaps not as much of a learning experience as this woman, she thought. A cool breeze would whip by the pair, leaving loose strands of hair to billow wildly in its passing. Raevyn lifted her gaze, searching out amongst the tombstones as if looking for something in particular. She stopped, staring past Joan and upon something that seemed to caused her heart to skip a beat. Raevyn showcased nervousness as she quickly looked down, words forced to resume conversation as a distraction. “What was it like? What sort of things did you learn?” Again, from time to time, a faint whispering would arise from the shadows- Origin unknown.
Joan finishes off her finger sandwich, using her napkin now to wipe any crumbs away from each corner of her mouth before she turns her neck and head at bit at and angle over her shoulder to see if she can spot what caused the younger girl to go wide eye. Thumbing at her nose as she sets her napkin in her lap her brow furrows as she watches the other. “I gotta ask...am I hearing things from the dead or is there some creepy low whispering happening?” As she ask the older woman would lift her left hand upwards, her index finger glows with magical energy as she draws a symbolic sign, with each movement of her finger the symbol begins to expand till an aura shield snaps up around both women. “Don’t be alarmed, it’s just a simple shield, you can step out of the protection should you feel the need.” Joan informs the girl before she drops her hand towards her cup of tea.
Raevyn seemed a bit worried, but tried her best to play it off as if she herself did not know what was going on. “Whispering? I have not heard any.” Corpse-like eyes shift over to the book at her side, where she pauses momentarily. It was only when joan began to cast some sort of protective barrier that Raevyn would tear her eyes away, looking toward the older woman with understanding for her action. Again she would offer excuse of some sort, “Perhaps it is just the graveyard. Despite being a resting place for those that have passed, i am certain that the spirits are themselves restless. It would not be unusual to hear or… see things out of place.” Whatever it were that Raevyn had seen was not visible to Joan, even though the disembodied voices came and went in passing.
Joan frowns, yet accepted Raevyn’s explanation. “Yup, creepy and all. Even for me!” Joan chuckles before she shrugs it off and goes to answer the questions about her experience working with the foreign god. “He came to me personally while I was living in the area he was known to have a church and strong following. Said he had been watching me for awhile and asked if I would like to join him in his following, spread his word and all. I didn’t have much going for me at the time so I joined up and pleaded myself to him. Worked up the ranks in his following till I reached the highest loyal rank. He changed me mentally and physically. It was...a blessing at the time, and for years I was faithful as one of his new beings.” She’d pause there, finger running along the edge of her teacup as she did. “His attention turned away from me and I was left alone to my own devices, I grew disenchanted...alone without his presence and guidance I went through a period of self reflection, decided his path was not what I wanted anymore. When he came back I asked to be released from him and his service, most of the powers that came with beings one of his newer behind were stripped away when he granted me my desire.” She spreads her hands out wide now. “Here I am...back almost how I was. Changed somewhat for the better.”
Raevyn seemed somewhat surprised by this revelation of Joan’s. “You… gave it up, just like that?”” Raevyn lifted her cup and took a sip of Tea, every now and again to look to the shadows of the graveyard as if searching for something- or someone. “That is… admirable, I think. Not many in your position would be so willing to give up such a privilege. I would be afraid to think that most would choose to be greedy and lust for further power. To perhaps go mad in the end.” The girl chewed on her lower lip the further she thought on the idea. The fact that Joan had been a proselytizer in this God’s name was a bit reflective of her own deeds in most recent times. “I am not sure I would want to be offered such a position myself. I speak the word of… a God currently, but not to such lengths that he would even take notice of me. And if He did, it is not a notice that I think I would enjoy.”
Joan chuckles, “I wanted to do other things with my unlife. Giving up being the creature he changed me into gave me more freedom to be my true self again.” She’d finger the pointed end of her earlobe, another tell tale sign of her being a vampire. “I can return to his service should I want, and most don’t go mad, we became sirens. I was his siren of blood. He was a foreign god of corruption, he liked us to corrupt the good, the decent, the kind hearted.” She’d wrinkle her nose, “That is all good and everything, yet it gets to be boring, hounded by knights of the realm, thrown in jail, threaten with hellfire by some do gooder goddess of fury. It blew, evil can only go so far when surrounded by the forces of good.”
Raevyn nods, slowly. “I would think so, yes. I much prefer to see that there is… someone to counter evil in a sense. The light to stand against darkness, even if at times darkness is more of a comfort.” A truth that the girl knew all too well. Something she seemed to revel in more and more as of late. “I’ve never heard of such a thing. A siren. Although it sounds like an experience of great learning. Something that you can hold onto and cherish, something to grow from.” A forced smile taints those blackened lips. The girl falls silent now, head once more lowering to look upon the archaic tome she had set off to the side. She reached for it, resting it into her lap and flips a few pages here and there. The pages, cured and leathery, play host to ghastly images and writings inked in dried red ink- Or what one would hope is ink. “Did the corruption leave any sort of lasting effect on you?” Raevyn then asked, curiously. The whisperings that were once in passing now grew stronger. To joan, they would be voices, barely above audible levels, that would echo from her past; Whisperings of those she might have once feared. And should she look around the graveyard, her eyes might play tricks on her, showing the vampiric woman apparitions of perhaps those that might have some sort of hold or vendetta against her. They would be quick images, gone in the blink of an eye.
Joan shakes her head, amethyst colored hair shakes side to side as the vampire settles back on her hands stretched out behind her back, resting the shifted weight down into her palms. “Nah, I’m still my own person. The foreign god is big on personal choice. He claims to be like Satan.” Joan would roll her eyes here, but one can’t really tell she did that. Joan would look amused as the whispered continued, a smirk played along her pale pink lips, she had nothing and no one to fear. The knights and the goddesses agents would dare not seek her anymore once she renounced the god she had followed. And sort of vendetta was settled when she did time in the clink. If she saw anything the woman would just nod her head....but Lostwolf died and passed on, his spirit had never sought her out.
Raevyn nodded in understanding, reaching over soon after to collect her satchel. She slips both books into the bag and seals it, soon to rise to her feet. “It was been… a lovely conversation. Thank you for the beverage. I must be going- I have some work to do.” Raevyn put on her best, polite smile. “Welcome back to your home, at any rate. I am certain we will meet again if you are to pass through this graveyard often, or have business with the necromancer’s guild.” A casual glance past Joan and into the further tombstones caused that smile to fade, returning the girl to nervousness. “I wish you well. Have a good evening.” Raevyn turns and hurries off to the south, almost as if afraid that someone would follow.