RP:Acts of Kindness
Summary: Pleasant and colorful summary here
Bardic Hunting Lodge
This rustic looking building is of a large size with two floors littered with many rooms. On the first floor is a large dining hall filled with long serving tables and comfortable chairs for all guest invited. Along the serving room are other rooms, one is a large library, another in a bathing room while the entire second floor is dedicated to bedrooms of all shapes and sizes. Whomever owns this building must be frequented by guests on an almost daily basis.
On this particular day, the bardic lodge just north of Xalious is crowded with people from various parts of Lithrydel here to visit The Arh'Nuk Fair. Kanna is no exception, though a gut feeling prevents her from actually going to the fairgrounds. Instead, she sits on a platform near the grandoise fireplace in the main hall of the lodge, dressed in her usual bright colors and jewlerly that clinks with every move. An instrument that appears strange enough to draw a crowd of curious children lays across her lap, longer than her than the bardess is tall. Her fingers pluck at the thirteen-strings, making a whimsical melody with magic imbued in every note to keep the lively spirits of the patrons alive.
Heavy and slow strides brought the elven vampire into the hunting lodge for some odd reason. Just a couple nights ago he made a promise to his wife to seek out serious help so he's trying just about any place at this point. His posture is poor, eyes are dark and baggy, and his hair is a mess. The Lyastri didn't care for dressing up today. He wore simple black leather pants, a plain black shirt, and his black fuzzy slippers. He liked black, obviously. Magik's normally enferno filled eyes were barely aflame as he enters the lodge and looks about, taking in the new area. He walks about the first floor, just looking for anything or anyone that could be of some help to him. His mouth starts to salivate just a bit as he scans the serving tables of the dining hall. A bit odd for a vampire to start craving actual food instead of blood. He involuntarily sniffs the air, catching a hefty waft of the fresh warm food. Nostalgia kicks in as he remembers life before his siring. After a quick shake of his head to clear his mind of such thoughts, he starts to make his way to the library. Like Quintessa had planned, perhaps he could do a bit of research as well. Who knows, maybe someone has dealt with this situation before. As his slippered feet make their way towards the library section of the building a catchy tune catches his elven ears. He stops in his tracks and turns around to search for the source. As a relatively tall elf, he spots Kanna plucking away at an usual instrument with ease. Curiosity gets the better of the male as he forgets about his intended destination and heads for the small gathering. However, he sticks to the sides to not block anybody's view. As he listens to the performance he starts to forget about whatever is ailing him.
Cornflower eyes flicker from the instrument to the pale elf as he slowly trudges over. The children of various races see the vampire approaching even as he stays at a distance and scatter to their respective parents, leaving the two relatively alone by the firelight. Her fingers make quick work of chaning the key of the tune to a lighter one, finishing the final verse. "It's a little hot out to be wearing all black, don't you think?" The human teases, leaning over the instrument to get a better look at Magik with an unassuming smile. "Come over, Amante doesn't bite." From behind the platform, a behemoth of a wolf's tail wags with an audible thump. If Magik were to come closer, Kanna would squint slightly at his pallid complexion, if not she would still feel the sense that the elven vampire was feeling under the weather. The strings are adjusted on the dragon-zither, and a new tune begins to play, one that imbues healing magic in the tune. Those already healthy would not feel any effect, but perhaps it would offer consolation to the sickly man.
Magikrios doesn't blame the children for dispersing but still manages to offer one or two of them a soft smile as they pass by. However, should one of them make a smart comment or such, he would bare those fangs of his. He knows what he is. Fiery eyes, pointed elven ears, a towering 6ft4in frame, all black clothing, fangs just barely visible and miserable looking. He's not the most inviting creature around here. As Kanna's audience numbers drop to just one sickly vampire, he picks up on her words. A soft chuckle is heard before he replies with, "Only color I own. Brings out the bloodlust in my eyes." Dork. Heavy slippered feet are on the move again, bringing himself a bit closer to Kanna upon her invitation. He mockingly squints back at her, looking for her ears, "Where's your.." However, he regains his composure as her soothing notes fill his ears. He tries to not react to the music but his foot starts to tap in time with the song. The Lyastri closes his eyes for a moment, as a calm sweeps upon his soul. After a brief moment of what felt like weightlessness, he gets hit with a sudden force of pressure from inside. His fiery eyes snap open and he is suddenly pulled to the opposite side of the room, leaving a thick trail of smoke in his wake. He tries to plant his feet into the ground to stop whatever force is dragging him, but it's not very effective. As he reaches the farthest point of the building, his back slams against the wall with enough force to form a crack in the building and he collapses onto his rear on the floor. "Not now. Not here," is all that goes through his head as his body is suddenly covered in small black flames, pluming off even darker smoke. The D'Chath tries to stand to get out of the building before things get worse but whatever force dragged him across the room is still trying to pull him through the wall that he's resting against.
For a moment, the mood is peaceful, and the teasing comment goes completely over her head. A smile stretches across her dimpled face as Magik seems to enjoy the tune, by the sound of his makeshift percussion. Out of the corner of her eye, the pale man seems to leave, but then she smells the acrid smoke. The music stops when he slams into the wall. "Sir?!" Kanna gasps and moves to stand up, nearly forgetting the delicate instrument on her lap. Her fingers work with practiced dexterity, quickly dismantling the instrument so it can be placed down safely, and hopefully out of harms way. She quickly steps across the wooden floor to approach him as panicked patrons flee the main room. A few curious bystanders remain near the staircase to observe the anomaly, but make no move to assist. Kanna tries to put her hands on him to calm him down and recoils immediately, her hands reddening from the strange flame. "Sven have mercy." She says softly. Seeing him throw himself against the back, Kanna rises to her feet and concentrates, holding her burnt palms out. Bamboo slithers through the cracks, creating a reinforced wall to keep him from breaking through while she tries to figure out what she can do to help him.
The temperature in the room rises substantially as Magik's form is thickly covered in a black enferno. The Lyastri looks to the concerned woman with eyes of panic as her feet draw her closer. He's lost control. His body tightens as he's pulled tighter against the wall. No words of warning escape his mouth to prevent Kanna from touching him, even though he's screaming at her to stay back inside his head, hoping his mouth will follow suit, but it doesn't. The wall behind him continues to crack, quickly forming a large indent as the newly formed bamboo fights to keep everything intact. The smell of burning bamboo starts to fill the air as fiery whips start seeking out the original source of alleviation. The whips slam throughout the room and lick at the air, missing Kanna by just inches, though she would feel the intense heat irradiating from them. One of the whips manages to find a random patron near the staircase. The man's leg quickly finds the whip coiled around it, burning down to the bone immediately. It continues to twist around the poor soul, pulling the man towards Magik and still snaking its way up the man's body until he is fully wrapped up. By the time the whip retracts back to Magik, the innocent bystander is nothing but a pile of ash. By this time, Magik's eyes are tightly closed. He's trying to fight off whatever is pulling him into the wall. One final rogue whip of black fiery energy manages to strike right infront of the broken down instrument then simply disappears. Finally regaining control, the elf's body seems to relax as the fire extinguishes, leaving the room in complete destruction, but his body still smoking. As he reopens his eyes, he scans the room and lets out a deep sigh, "Great.."
Kanna lets out a frightened gasp as the tendrils make their way around the room. By now, her companion has awoken and taken notice of the imminent danger to his human. From behind the marble partition protecting the fireplace, a large russet wolf stands and whips its head towards Magik with a snarl. With only two bounds, it crosses the space and forces itself between Kanna and the clear threat. The whip that misses Kanna by inches slams into its side, but it curiously has no effect on the creature. "Amante!" Kanna cries out in worry. The fur erupts in black fire, but seemingly extinguishes itself. Acrid smoke fills the room, making the human gag. Her eyes follow one whip as it splinters the floor in front of the heirloom koto. The smoke that rises obscures her view of the instrument. "Dear Hind!" Terrified both for and of the man, she flees across the room to ensure the safety of the koto. The wave of destruction passes as she clutches it tight, and the smoke clears to reveal the two patrons alone in the room. Everyone else has fled, save for the one person who know lies in a pile of ash. The wolf steps back slowly, a low growl rumbling from its chest in warning to the elf. Kanna, against her better judgement, asks in a meek voice, "What was that...?"
Magik grimaces as he looks at the destruction of the room. He knew he shouldn't have came here while it was bustling, but the elf is in desperate need of atleast some information from hopefully inside the bard's library. Another innocent life taken on accident because of this sickness that he still knows nothing about. All he knows is that it causes chaos when someone tries to interfere. The question is why. The Lyastri locks eyes with the wolf as it closes distance between the two. Had Magik's bonded wolf been here, there might not have been any lodge left at all. Luckily, he's with Magik's daughter, Mirshann, on their own adventures. As he remains locked on the wolf, he slightly bows his head, trying to show the wolf he didn't mean any harm on purpose. His gaze then shifts back to Kanna as he remains seated on the ground, "I, um, that wasn't me. I mean, it was me, but I didn't mean to.." He deeply sighs before continuing, "I don't know what's wrong with me..Had I known you were a bard, I would have kept my distance." He does notice that her instrument hasn't been damaged, so that's a positive, right? After the shake of his head from side to side, he lowers it, staring at the ground. The elf genuinely felt bad for scaring the female. Black flames flicker in and out all over his body as he wishes he could summon the energy to just slip out of the lodge, but he remained on the ground, bamboo still crackling behind him.
The wolf that accompanies Kanna returns the bow of the head to Magik, its hackles slowly lowering themselves as it keeps its head lowered. It appears the creature is at least intelligent enough to realize that the man truly means no harm. The bardess tentatively sits up straight, her knees to the ground and feet underneath her, with the folded instrument across her lap as if she were going to play. A realization comes to her in the few beats of silence that passes while Magik nods his head and Amante backs off from its threatening stance. “Then its my fault. I’m very sorry to have upset your… condition. That spell was supposed to ease your pain-- at least, it looked like you were in pain.” She grimaces a bit and sighs, standing up, looking around the lodge and surveying the scene. From under one of the many, many layers of chiffon skirt she wears as part of her ensemble, a layer with multiple pockets is revealed. A glass vial with a curiously bright sky blue liquid sloshes inside, seeming to glow slightly as she crosses the threshold. Her accompanying wolf lets out a bark, then a whine. Standing before the Lyastri, she kneels and sets the vial down at arms’ length from him. “I’m not sure if it would help, but maybe its worth a shot. It is a pure-mana concentration of one of my spells. A few drops in your tea should help you be able to rest.” With that said, she rises and takes a step back. “I hope you’re able to solve whatever ails you.” Without waiting for an answer, Kanna crosses the main hall, instrument and bag in hand. No patrons at the lodge meant no more tips, and so, she was off to find another hunting ground.
The Lyastri slowly shakes his head from side to side as he takes the blame, "This wasn't your fault. I should have kept on towards the library. The only thing you are guilty of is being able to create such catchy tunes." The elf offers her a soft smirk, but it quickly fades as Kanna places the vial down before him. Although extremely hesitant, he takes the vial and slowly swirls it in front of him. Her words do not go by deaf ears even though he's concentrated on the blue liquid. He quietly repeats her words, "Few drops.." By the time he goes to thank the bard, she had already turned her back to make her leave. "Thanks," says the male softly to her back. Two figures soon enter the lodge as Kanna exits, faces hidden by dark hoods. They keep to themselves as they make their way through the destroyed lodge, heading directly to Magik. The Lyastri manages to summon enough strength to stand before the two hoods, "Be sure to get that bard thrice her normal pay and see to it that this place gets fixed up asap." Both of the hoods nod in unison before one of them walks to the center of the main floor, waving a wand about to send everything back to their rightful place. Tables and chairs fixed upright, food in their proper containers. The damaged floors and walls fuse themselves back together as good as new. Magikrios drapes an arm over the hood that remained with him, "Let's go." Using this mysterious figure as support, the elf exits the lodge and heads back to the Sage forest.