RP:All Wrapped Up

Part of the The God of Undeath Arc

This is a Necromancer's Guild RP.

Summary: Khitti's been all wrapped up in personal matters, while Ernest is -still- trying to decipher what the hell Joan was on about. They also discuss a strategy to take down Caluss in case Khitti isn't there to help destroy him.

The Black Spire, Vailkrin

Ernest had gotten back to his room at the tower a couple of days ago, and the soreness he'd felt from his undertaking to get there was pretty much all gone. Exactly what kind of undertaking could leave someone as dead as him sore he'd left mostly to the imagination. "Stole an organ," he'd said, and then refused to elaborate. "I'll show y'all when I'm good an' ready," he'd added if further pressed. Well, today he was in a much more chipper mood, clinking his way through the hall with a bit of a spring in his step, tipping his hat to passersby. "You seen Khitti?" was a question asked more than once. He'd struck out when asking Quintessa this question, and Joan had only suggested one other person to ask regarding entry. Hopefully it was still going on. He wandered down to the board--maybe there would be some kind of notice regarding it--but as he scanned the different letters and ingredient requests and "have you seen this body?" entries, his grin turned confused, and then to a bit of a frustrated glower. He looked underneath newer notices to older ones. Nothing. Maybe it was a secret thing? To be scarier?

Khitti || Eventually, someone told Khitti that Ernest was looking for her and she’d make her way down from one of the tower’s middle floors where her office was and headed to where people had last seen the mummy. The redheaded human found him eyeing the papers on the guild board with confusion and she hesitated, not announcing her presence just yet. The “Mistress of Shadows”, as Quintessa liked to call her, looked weary. Not the kind of weary that comes from several long nights of research with little sleep. This was the kind of weary where it was obvious one was tired in soul and mind. A lot had happened within the past few months, and even though things were getting better, there was still a lot on her mind. There were good days and there were bad days--today was somewhere in between. “Ernest? You were looking for me?” Khitti finished walking down the last few steps she’d been standing on and finally approached him.

Ernest whirled around in the sort of way that one does, not when one is startled, but when someone has come bearing answers. and tipped his hat in greeting. "I was!" he said, quickly regaining his grin. "Folks're bein' mighty secretive 'bout this thing Joan told me I should join. Cain't find any information anywhere." He swatted the board with the back of his hand, dislodging a letter someone had pinned there. A Helpin' Hand leaped out of his pocket to grab it, and slowly attempted to drag itself up the wall to put it back. "Not even Quintessa'd let me in on it, an' Joan said she was one of th' folks runnin' the durn thing." The mummy squat down to pick the hand up and held it close to the board, where it triumphantly placed the message back into its designated spot. "Yer lookin'... busy," he said, taking note of the way she seemed to be carrying herself, "so I hope this ain't addin' t'yer workload, but. How'm I supposed t'join this Scare At Us prank contest I heard about?"

Khitti just kind of looked like Ernest started speaking elvish when he brought up the “prank”--which is not good because Khitti can’t speak elvish. Look, there’s been no time for it. It’s a wonder she even learned to speak common. It’s even more of a wonder that she doesn’t have as much of an accent as she used to. Anyway. Yeah. Ernest was getting a look like he was crazy as frak. “I… have no idea what this Scare At Us prank contest is, Ernest. It certainly isn’t something I came up with and I’m certain I would’ve been told about it if either Quintessa or Bradyn had started something like this.” He questioned the way she looked and she just shrugged, “I’m fine. Just a lot going on lately, is all.” Khitti pondered over what this contest could be, a hand brought up to her chin in thought. “What context did Joan mention this in?”

Ernest reached up and grabbed at the brim of his hat. Black smoke billowed off of it and as he moved his hand away the hat stayed on his head but the shadowy fog of the hat detached from it, coagulating into another hat, which the mummy threw down to the floor in disgust. When one has the ability to conjure ethereal hats, one does not waste one's real hat on throwing to the floor. It dissipated harmlessly into nothingness, splattering in all directions on impact. His grin had turned to a snarl. At this point, he was pretty certain he'd been had. Khitti said she was fine, so he moved on to the more immediate topic of his own outrage. "She kept sayin' somethin' 'bout how you were tellin' her ta practice her shadow magic ta qualify fer Scare At Us. An' was askin' me why I weren't doin' it. An' I said I ain't heard of it. An' she said ta talk ta you or 'Tessa 'bout signin' up fer it. An' now neither of you know what in tarnation it is, an' I'm startin' ta 'spect Joan was pullin' a fast one on me!"

Khitti || There’s several seconds of blinking as Ernest has his outburst and further explains the situation. “No, she wasn’t,” Khitti said at length after processing just wot in tarnation the mummy was going on about. “It’s ‘Sceleratus’. It’s the second rank in the guild.” The redhead reached into the satchel at her side, pulled out the beginner book given to everyone that joined the guild, and flipped through the pages for a moment until she reached the brief chapter she needed. “See? You’re here.” Her right index finger pointed to ‘Novus Morior’ on the book’s list of the guild’s hierarchy. “Joan is currently at Sceleratus. Quintessa, Bradyn, and I are all Provectus Malus. Joan is in the processing of working her way to Thanadule. At that rank, you are allowed to become a teacher of one of the basic arts, if one wishes too.” Khitti squinted a bit. “Did you… even receive this book? And are you interested in moving up the ranks? What was it you specialized in again? Maybe there’s something in the advanced arts that you might benefit from.”

Ernest glowered at this information. It wasn't that it was unhelpful information, just that Joan, in her ridiculous way of playing into his mistakes, had led to him looking mighty foolish. Well. She wanted a prank war? She'd get one. Later on, he'd curse a small gold coin into very faintly and ambiguously calling her name once every forty-five minutes or so, in order to mimic that sensation a person sometimes gets where you think you hear somebody calling you from a distance but it turns out that it was your imagination, then hide that coin someplace inside her room while she was out in a highly inaccessible location. With any luck, she'd go completely mad within a couple of days. "I ain't bothered with th' borin' bits," he said, dismissively. "Skipped right ta th' lessons. Teachin' never innerested me, but now that y'mention it there -was- a book I was tryin' ta read that th' librarian kept hidin' from me, said somethin' about how no one's morion could get hold of it. I kept tryin' ta tell her it ain't a helmet an' there's a whole person under this hat, but she weren't havin' it." There was a pause, and Ernest squinted at the titles in the book. "'Novus Morior', I guess. Awful pretentious. I hope y'know I ain't addin' these t'my business cards." Speaking of which, she'd asked about his specialization! "Speakin' of which, you asked 'bout my speciality!" Ernest's alert status on the Fourth Wall Watchlist just jumped another level. He's now an Indigo threat. "I happen t'be quite good at doin' curses. Matter of fact I out-cursed that no-good half-deity whatchamacallim varmint Caluss once. Sorta. More'r less. Cooked up a curse special-like jes' fer that Xzean feller, too. Cursed my spellbook. I got a buncha cursed ammo right here in my duster, if'n y'wanna see..."

Khitti shook her head, having seen that look on Ernest’s face. She knew very well what it meant--she did it no less than five times a day. “Don’t listen to Joan, for the record. She seems to mean well, but I also think she might have a few screws loose. She -does- have a restaurant in -this- forest, after all.” She didn’t look at all impressed by this. What sort of person puts their restaurant in a spider-infested forest? Sure, it worked for the Necromancer’s Guild. But the guild’s members could take care of themselves. What about the people that go to the restaurant that don’t have any magic or special abilities? That’s just bad for business. Khitti pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation. “If there’s some other sort of “mix-up” like that, you let me know and I’ll be sure to clear it up for you. I apparently can’t trust anyone else around here to pass proper information on to those that need it.” She wasn’t very impressed by -this- either. Khitti did listen to Ernest though and took in what he specialized in, as well as his mention of Caluss. “I swear to Vakmatharas, I’m going to go to the damned Chaos Realm myself and give that bastard a light show he won’t forget,” she said with a growl. If Gevurah had not advised against it, she likely would have already. “That aside… Between your skill with curses and what I’ve seen of your black tides, that already is enough to move you up a rank. We’re usually supposed to do a small test for this rank as well, just so we know what you’ve been working on, but to be completely honest, if you end up helping us get rid of that overgrown cockroach, I’ll get whatever book it is that you want, for you, if you’re not at the proper rank after he’s dead and gone. He’s frakking up my home to all seven hells and back and I’m getting tired of having to clean up his messes.”

Khitti || Clearly annoyed, but not at Ernest, Khitti crossed her arms over her chest and eyed some random spot beyond the mummy, her lips pressed into a grim line. “Congrats, you’re now at the Sceleratus rank. To move on to Thanadule, you’ll have to work on potions and poisons, since I’ve also seen what you’re capable of with runes as well. Probably would be best to work on that a little more too though, since it coincides with your black tides spells. Once you think you’ve studied and practiced enough with all four basic arts, you need to come find one of us that’s at the Provectus Malus rank. It’s up to you who you decide to choose, but just know that Bradyn likes to make a big show of things--or he did anyway with my test. I don’t know about Quintessa, but I’m pretty straightforward with these things. I want to know what you know. I want to see what you’ve missed and point things out that need to be pointed out. This isn’t a contest. This is for your benefit, should you wish to continue moving on up, and I want you to actually -understand- what might have went wrong, if something -does- go wrong. I’m not here to judge you, like others might. I’m here for knowledge and helping others get -their- knowledge, for whatever it might be used for.” She paused a moment and sighed, then shook her head, and opened the basics book again. “That said, there may be at least one advanced art that may pair well with your curses,” she said as she flipped through the book to the right page. “Fear magic. Also known as Phobomancy. It’s not something I really spent much time looking over, as I’m working on learning the advanced arts of the black tides that I discovered exists. It says that fear magic takes a bit of psychic skill to use, but honestly, you could probably create curses to bypass that somewhat. It’s also more suited to illusionists, but you are rather good at manipulating shadows and could work something similar. There’s a whole section detailing them at the back of your beginner book, but it’s mostly informational and explains each one. If you reach Thanadule, then you’ll be allowed to delve into the books that cover those topics. It might be best to look over that section once though, so you can see if any of the other advanced arts might suit your needs.” She looked to the mummy, waiting to see if he had any questions or needed clarification.

Ernest grinned broadly at how Khitti felt about Caluss and was about to launch into a (perhaps slightly exaggerated) tale of how he'd helped Kanna collect enough juice to alter the curse on her, when there was more information to absorb. Khitti's way of explaining things was simple and to the point and he couldn't help but appreciate it--even if he did slightly miss the opportunity for a bit of dramatic action. Still, he hoped that this meant that book on more advanced shadow manipulation would be made more available. When she got to the advanced arts and talked about Phobomancy, he was at first dismissive--he had a curse that was designed to trigger a fear response--but when she mentioned that curses could be added to it something clicked. A fear response using ordinary magic? Or manipulation of the spooked state? That could indeed be useful, although it sounded difficult and like a lot of work. Maybe there was a curse that could mimic some of those effects, though... but in the meantime, there was that potions-and-poisons thing. "Thank you kindly fer th' rank, an' I look forward t'stompin' that bug with ya. So..." he paused before asking his question, "if poisons're a necromantic art, does that mean any ol' rattler qualifies fer No Fuss Morning Sir?" The grin had by this point transitioned from a "pleased with my accomplishments" smile to a "now I'm doing it on purpose" smirk.

Khitti got that look on her face, like the woman from the ‘the WHAT’ meme. You know the one where the woman was forcing a smile on the outside, but on the inside she was clearly confused and trying to process things. “The uh… the what now?” She blinked a few times, still unable to comprehend just what the heck Ernest was talking about. This was probably how he felt when Joan brought up the rank names and failed to properly explain things to him. “It’s an odd subject to add to the list of things that someone has to learn to move up in the guild, but it’s not for nothing. The poisons are fairly obvious in their use, but potions can be used for more than just healing. A lot of necromancers will use the knowledge to make something to preserve bodies, to keep them from rotting too quickly. There’s stamina and magic restoratives too that help when someone is low on energy and needs a boost.” She tapped her chin for a moment. “What sort of weapon do you use? You said you had ammo on you?”

Ernest had his hand-crossbow drawn and spinning on his finger before Khitti had even finished her question. One of the Helpin' Hands crawled out of a pocket and onto his shoulder, carrying a selection of crossbow bolts tucked under a finger. Situating itself, it started tossing them down to his other hand one at a time, where he quickly batted them back up to his shoulder in a circle. "Take yer pick, every color of th' rainbow an' then some, though if yer wantin' a special curse that's gonna take me a bit ta set up." He tossed the spinning crossbow up, then reached behind his back, caught it, tossed it up again, swung his arm back around and reached through the hoop of crossbow bolts to catch the weapon again, and somehow it was still spinning as he pulled it through. "An' if you were askin' 'bout th' bug comment, I meant Caluss. I dunno what it is, I jes' know it needs a good stompin'."

Khitti || Curiosity took over the Khat as she eyed the Helpin’ Hand and the crossbow bolts with a mischievous grin. “Oh, I don’t actually know how to use a crossbow. I’ve got a bow, though. I pair it, or my gladius and harpe, with my magic. Harpe as in the sword; not the musical instrument. Though I -do- use my dark magic with my violin as well...” She took one of the bolts and inspected it, appreciating its craftsmanship and the dark magic that she could sense from it. “If you hollowed out, you could create a poison or potion and store it inside to use on others. I doubt you’d have an issue with it being undead, but just poisoning the tips of arrows or bolts, or blades of whatever sort can be tricky. Storing it inside the tip of your bolts could prove better at afflicting someone, like I imagine it is with your curses.” She handed the bolt back, to either one of his Helpin’ Hands or Ernest himself. “I’m honestly excited to see what you cook up, Ernest,” she said, offering him a smile. “Melee weapons are one thing, but I don’t often see people utilizing the ability to combine their magic with ranged weapons. Most spellblades tend to opt for swords and such. As for Caluss…” She sighed, her smile fading. “I think trying to find a way to weaken him might be the best. Maybe some sort of poison or your curses or something. Long story short, he’s a demi-god created by Vakmatharas. He’s hellbent on turning the entire world undead to control all of us and has gotten a headstart on it all by way of this zombie attack in Cenril and having certain individuals poison the Xalious tree and the Druid’s Eternal tree. I did the undead song and dance years ago. I got a cure for my vampirism from several gods, including Vakmatharas, and I don’t intend on going back to that life unless I have no other choice. My light magic may weaken him also or may even provide the needed final blow--especially since Cyris was the one that gave it to me--but there’s no real guarantee. So, I think we need to find as many ways to weaken him as we possibly can. But--” Her attention had waned from Ernest’s form and eventually made its way back to him. “--if you’ve truly gotten in a hit on him, then I have faith you’ll figure something out.” Her words were genuine, and that smile returned, even if faintly.

Ernest || The remark about storing poison in his bolts had Ernest scrunch up his face at first, but then the thought that it was basically a nonmagical form of a curse struck him and he instead looked thoughtful. That meant that he could, in theory, slap someone with Tyrant's Dissent and still hamper the crap out of them with a separate shot. Worth investigating, for sure. Maybe something violently hallucinogenic. That'd be lots of fun. He brought himself out of his daydreaming when Khitti started talking about Caluss, and focused again. His face turned to a disappointed glower through most of it, but perked up a bit towards the end. "It's always th' world, ain't it. Ain't one villain out there with an ounce o' professionalism. No, gotta have all the things." He rolled his eyes and holstered the crossbow, catching the bolts he was juggling and handing most of them back to his Helpin' Hand--all save one, which he held onto. Ernest || "So I was approached by a client." No mention of who the client was. Professional courtesy and all. "Client says they been cursed by this thing, an' asks if I know how ta break it. I ain't familiar with th' client's particular curse, an' they keep referrin' to it as a god. I tell 'em what I know--god-curses are the exact same as any other curses, they're jes' real powerful 'cause gods tend ta have lots o' ill will ta pour into 'em. An' I say th' two of us put together ain't got 'nough anger issues t'rival a god, but if I have 'nough power I could try an' make some alterations to th' curse. So I put t'gether another curse what stores up all th' ill will from folks th' client meets, an' say t'be real annoyin'. Client bugs th' crap outta everyone fer a few months until we got a full jar, an' I slam that sucker into th' curse. I'm talkin' full-on light show an' everything." As Ernest described the process, he held out a hand with little shadowy smoky figures in the palm, surrounded by a magic circle. Lightning crackled between them, and the one that was clearly wearing a tiny hat sparked with an internal blue light that flowed from it into the other one. "I'm wadin' in weapons blazin'. Slap this off, smack that away, break this part, ain't nothin' I cain't handle, an' then th' varmint has th' audacity ta break my circle!" The circle broke as smoke of a deeper black than the figures started to rise up and surround them. The blue light flickered and weakened. "Breaks in, slaps its curse back on, starts eatin' all this power we picked up. I'm runnin' outta juice, an' everythin's happenin' real quick-like. So I'm keepin' in mind what th' client wants most, an' I focus real hard on the specific part of th' curse what governs that bit--an' I break it. An' I use th' last of the energies ta keep it at bay while I seal th' change under an incantation he ain't -ever- gonna figure out, an' even if he does he ain't ever gonna bring himself ta say it." Ernest beamed as the smoke figures dissipated into nothing with a flick of his wrist. "It'd be much too embarrassin' fer someone who's takin' over th' world ta say." Ernest || There was a brief pause, and then Ernest all but had a lightbulb appear over his head. "I say. I developed a curse meant specifically fer someone who eats curses. An' this Caluss thing was pretty quick about eatin' up all th' power we collected. D'you suppose you could make a curse with yer light magic? Or at least replicate it? Because if y'can," he clapped his hands together and rubbed them maliciously together, the beginnings of a mad giggle escaping during his dramatic pause, "I say we hit 'im with th' Curse of the Tricksy Rabbit: Sunshine Edition."

Khitti smirked somewhat at the mention of ‘god-curses’. “I’m entirely familiar. Had a curse put on my entire bloodline in trade for Vakmatharas’ part of my vampirism cure. Curses, much like rules, are made to be broken, and break it I did.” She listened to the rest of his story, that smirk of hers continuing to grow somewhat as the shadows made a play out of it. And then he finished, and he posed that question, and Khitti could only blink. Light magic curses? “You know… that’s a good question. I’d attempt to bottle it up for you somehow, but light magic and undead don’t exactly mix.” She let out a ‘hm’ then too a few steps away from him, giving a bit of space between them so as not to harm him--she was starting to take a particular liking to this mummy, after all. “This is the magic in its natural state.” Bright and shiny and somewhat rainbowy like a prism, the ball of light looked reminiscent of a stereotypical star, ie: the type kids draw or described in works of fiction, and not the suns that they actually are. “And this is what it looks like when I use it to heal.” With a bit of concentration, it shifted to something a bit more pliable, its color white, yet pearlescent and still vaguely rainbowy. “In this form, it’s moldable. I can apply it to a wound like a bandage, and depending on the severity of the wound, it heals it can heal it in minutes. That said… Curses are not my forte. But, if you can work out the spell for it, I’m certain I’d be able to use it myself. If there’s a chance that I can’t fight with you and whomever else when it’s Caluss’ time to bite the dust, then I can load you up with as many bolts as you want.”

Ernest already had the theory of the Tricksy Rabbit figured out, but given he wasn't particularly keen on figuring out exactly how dissociative that light magic would be to his state of being, he wasn't sure precisely how to bend light magic into the absurd loops and circular logic that he'd managed to twist curse energy into. However, "I can absolutely write down exactly how it is I twist th' curse energy all up in knots fer makin' it. Ain't hard, jus' complicated. Did it that way on purpose, makes it harder ta eat an' untangle. Best make sure ain't nobody gets their claws on it save you an' I, though. Wouldn't want somethin' like this ta go rogue." With the word "rogue", he made spooky magic-fingers and spread his arms out, demonstrating the unwanted spread of the idea. "An' I'd avoid testin' it on yerself. Tricksy's designed ta rob a caster of all their magic, be a nightmare ta break, an' be real annoyin' elsewise in th' process. It don't shut off once yer magic is gone, either. You'd prolly need me specifically ta uncurse ya if'n y'get got." He grinned mischievously--preferring to state the exact effects of the curse in his paper, later--and tipped his hat to her in thanks. "Oughta get goin', then, if I'm gonna write it all down. I'll have a Hand deliver th' theory to ya later. Thanks again fer the 'scaly ratness'," he winked, "an' I'll see ya soon. Prolly after I get th' organ moved inta my office. Or my office moved to th' organ. Whichever ends up workin' out better." With that, barring final pleasantries, he set off down the hall to prepare some writings and a fancy new title to wave at the librarian.

Khitti nodded along as she listened to his instructions. “Test it only on people that piss me off. Right. Got it,” she said with a smirk. She could think of a few people she’d like to use it on. Maybe she’d make a few extra for herself… or at the very least make a copy of the curse afterward, for her own research and whatnot. “Very few people get access to my research notes and all that--and by “very few”, I mean no one, so it’ll be safe with me at home. Got it all under lock and key and a few enchantments because I don’t trust anyone.” Khitti shrugged nonchalantly, that smirk of hers still kickin’. “I will certainly keep an eye out for the delivery and congrats again on your new rank! Like I said before, I’m excited to see your progression with things.” She could not deny that Ernest’s way with magic was rather intriguing, and she considered maybe asking him for lessons on it all some day in the future. Once he made known that he was to leave, however, she’d offer him a smile and a nod, and then finally continued on her path out of the tower, and headed in the direction of Cenril.