RP:Another Bookworm

This is a Mage's Guild RP.

Summary: Khitti and the creature summoned by Quintessa, The Worm That Walks, run into each other in the Black Library, but instead of a fight the Worm alludes to being on the same side as her. After a brief conversation, Worms and Khitti both decide to stick together and try to gather information from the citizens of Helshade, convinced they are searching for evidence of the mythical Library of Secrets.

Black Library

As you climb down into this room its immense size is the first thing that strikes you. The old wooden ladder creaks un-nervingly as your foot rests on it. This dimly lit room is huge and filled with dusty ancient bookshelves. On examination you can see the shelves are carved from solid black oak, strong sturdy and known for its arcane properties. Lining every shelf is thousands of books all colors shapes and sizes. All the books appear to be about necromancy and black magic and thus the whole subterranean chamber is filled with a most ominous evil aura that seems to sicken right to the soul of any who enter. The smell here is of stagnation for not much fresh air reaches this place; it seems to invade the nostrils like some strange miasma adding to the sickly sensations the room seems to invoke. On the walls hang various ornaments from candle stick holders that bring a tiny tinge of light to certain areas and preserved skulls of all kinds of creatures from Human to Dragon, Drow to Centaur and things even stranger than that. Faint but heavy footsteps can be heard against the cold stone floor distantly so it would be wise not to stay too long without sound reason.

Khitti || Searching for some sort of mention of a way to kill a god proved unfruitful. There were mentions everywhere of killing other impossibly strong creatures, but of course no gods. There wasn’t much left to look through in the shelves of the Black Library, but Khitti needed a break. With a heavy sigh, the redhead grabbed her satchel and pulled it closer to her on the table she’d long since chosen to work at. The worn and somewhat rusted, yet still seemingly intact case that held not only her tarot cards, but her planisphere as well, was retrieved and opened and the cards pulled out. The redhead eyed them with hesitation for a few moments, then sighed and set to shuffling them. After a bit more hesitation, a card was drawn. The Seven of Swords. Khitti grabbed her booklet and looked up the meaning. Betrayal. Deception. Sounded like it had to do with Quintessa… or maybe Lanlan, considering that stunt he’d pulled at the town meeting in Xalious, where he declared he wanted to make a god to fight another. Sigh. Shaking her head, she drew another card and set it next to the first. The Three of Pentacles. Teamwork, collaboration, learning, implementation. Okay, cool. Fine. But… Khitti picked up the card and brought it to her face. Something seemed off about it. Instead of the usual flora that adorned it, it had a darkly clad figure… with a metal mask. A sort of primal urge to flee clicked on in Khitti’s mind and her stomach twisted in knots. Hm, yep. That’s not good. Draw one more card maybe? This one didn’t even have a major or minor arcana on it. It was just a picture of The Worm That Walks. Doing… a Thinking Man pose. Khitti drew yet another card. Another picture of the Worm, this one it was in a nice velvet smoking jacket and seemed to be smoking a bubble pipe. Another card, it looked like it was in a swimsuit issue of a magazine, somehow wearing a stylish full body swimsuit with a hood and the mask. “Oooookay, that’s enough witchcraft for now,” Khitti said as she stood up and threw her cards in the metal box, closed it, and even locked it for good measure. She had so many knots in her stomach at this point that you could use it as a net. “I’m… just gonna go find Lanlan… and tell him I didn’t find anything. I did my part. The rest is on him.” Quickly, she gathered her stacks of books and started putting them back where she’d gotten them.

Quintessa || The Worm That Walks also roams and wanders. They know they have an important job to do but they don’t know what that job is yet. They weren’t brought back from a cold oblivion for nothing. After attending the meeting at the Xalious Tower and looking through all the books they had in their library it became clear the Worm would not find their answers there. In life the worm had been a scholar, and while much much of the knowledge they gained in life had been forgotten in the fog of death their feet still took them to all the places they studied before. Books on the Order of the Shade were rare, but if they existed they would likely be in the Maharan vault… or perhaps the Black Library. Slow steps took the Worm that Walks deeper into the mausoleum, the darkness of the library not an issue for a being such as they, but turning a corner found them staring directly at Khitti as she gathered up her books. The Worms all stopped moving at once, nervously frozen in place as they stared at the necromancer. “Oh no,” Perhaps the ethereal voice would be recognizable as the Worm’s. “We have to stop running into each other like this…”

Khitti || The hair on the back of Khitti’s neck stood on end as she dropped the books she was holding out of fright, a sharp hiss escaping her lips much in the same way she used to when she was a vampire. “Why are you here?” She didn’t turn to look at them, instead staring at the floor. Her hands balled up into fists, her nails digging deep into the flesh of her palms. “And why are those goddamn cards always right?!” The second question was more for the universe than the Worm themself. She should’ve known though. As if they were attuned to her clairvoyancy already, the cards had consistently served as a warning before the usual bad feelings she got sprung up. “I’m going to assume you didn’t get permission from the House Mahara to be here and you’re certainly not a part of my guild.” After attempting to compose herself as best as she could, she turned to face the Worm finally, her crimson brows furrowed with concern and her lips pressed into a grim line.

Quintessa || The masked face of the Worm remains expressionless as Khitti interrogates them, their hands raising up to their sides in a sign of submission. “I’m not allowed in here?” The question comes as a surprise. Did they ever get permission in life? “It’s not exactly guarded… or locked… and the undead that lurk otherside didn’t seem interested in me… I uh…” The worms begin to squirm again as they try to figure out how to explain this to her. “I want to stop the Order of the Shade… or rather I wanted to long ago, decades ago. Back then I believed there was a book about them but I can’t remember where I saw it. It’s not in Xalious or Cenril… I figured this was the best place to search before I look for it in Frostmaw.”

Khitti shifted her stance somewhat uncomfortably as the Worm spoke and ultimately, she sighed. “It’s not really too heavily guarded, but it’s just known that the Maharans lord over it, and they don’t take nicely to people taking their books without permission. I literally -do- have permission as the Necromancer’s Guild leader and I still get crap for it sometimes.” Working with Bradyn was, as always, difficult for even the smallest things. “What is the Order of the Shade? It sounds… vaguely familiar, but also I just went through nearly every damn book in this library looking for…” Khitti paused, the real answer just on the tip of her tongue, but she chose to lie a little. “...something else, so that doesn’t particularly mean anything.” Despite the fact that she still had that ill feeling in her stomach, Khitti somehow knew that it was merely because of the Worm’s presence alone. Was she actually going to help this creature? She wasn’t sure yet.

Quintessa || The Worm nods thoughtfully. “The Maharans- the vampire house? Yes… I suppose that makes sense…” They seem to trail off, like they are thinking of something as Khitti continues. “Oh, I wasn’t going to take it. I have a deep respect for books and would never…” They don’t finish one thought before moving right into the next. “...The Order of the Shade were a group of necromancers trying to bring about a New Age… for centuries my family stood against them until…” The Worm holds onto the wall to steady themself from the influx of memories that were trickling in. “Until I died. I failed to stop them from doing whatever they were planning back then and now… Alithyk Caluss… I didn’t even know about it… And that the Order was successful in releasing it from whatever prison the Gods saw fit to lock it inside of… I fear this New Age is upon us.” The Worm lets go of the wall to stand up straight. “We have to find the key to destroying this Alithyk as soon as possible. There must be a book that contains that information -somewhere- I can feel the knowledge escaping the fringes of my memory…”

Khitti frowned at the Worm’s explanation. “I see.” And that’s all she said for what seemed like the longest time. But during that span of time that felt like it stretched on for eons, it was clear by the look on Khitti’s face that she was weighing options in her mind, the gears turning in hopes of figuring out just what to do… and what to say. “I thought that he was your boss. Much like with the other creature that had been sent after me weeks ago.” Regardless of whether or not the Worm responded to that, she was silent again. Eventually, she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “There is a fable, apparently. One a colleague of mine found. It spoke of a group of people that came together to stop a god, with five objects of power. But in order to stop it, they had to steal its ‘spark’ first. There is some sort of library called ‘The Library Of Secrets Taken To The Grave’, which apparently has all the information needed. I have found nothing about it here. There was no mention of an Order of the Shade, however, from what the letter I received about it tells me. My search here has been unfruitful, and while I’ve yet to return to the Frostmaw library to look there, I had considered turning to people I know in the Shadow Plane about it first. The Shadowseers in their version of Larket, The Lake of Echoed Screams, are keepers of prophecies and other sorts of knowledge. But… there is a chance they won’t know about it either. It may not even be in either plane of existence for all I frakking know.”

Quintessa || The Worm pauses for a long moment just as Khitti had, but when she says those magic words ‘Library of Secrets’ that missing piece snaps right into place. “It’s no fable,” They ensure, “The Library of Secrets exists but getting there… “ The Worm seems visibly deflated at the news that no word of the Order of the Shade had been found here. For whatever reason, Worms believes her. “You should exhaust every resource you have to find it… In my time we had an Archmage- does someone like that exist? They will have access to many things a lesser scholar like myself simply does not… But I will help you. I was created to be a puppet by that strange girl… Quintessa… But she has no control over me now. That is all I know about my current situation… I felt the separation the moment I put on this mask.”

Khitti visibly cringed at the mention of ‘archmage’ and whether or not they had one. “We do. Sort of. But… He is the one that found the fable in the first place and that’s all he found about it.” And then he left it up to the rest of the group to do the work. Classic Lanlan, of course. He’d already made it known to Khitti that he didn’t like doing research and all that. It had been a wonder to her that he even learned how to be a mage in the first place. Then again, he had probably been magically-inclined upon birth--the exact opposite of Khitti. She turned her back to the Worm, then moved to a shelf where she’d found information on cults and had gone over days ago. At length, she did find a book on the Order of the Shade, but it too seemed to be mostly legend. “Here. See if there’s anything worth your time in there.” All the while, she was busy musing over the fact that the mask had been the thing that disconnected the creature from her daughter. Back when Quintessa had revealed to Khitti that she was not, in fact, a vampire, Khitti had looked into fae-related things. In much the same way a certain “dark knight” made sure to find the weaknesses of even his allies, Khitti too did the same. Her holy magic had been one thing… And cold steel. There had even been strange things like pouring salt or sugar in front of a fae, forcing them to count each and every grain. Khitti kept this to herself, however. “Probably best to keep the mask with you then. I’m not surprised she did this to you. Even without Caluss, she’s always been inclined towards experimentation.” She paused again, considering other things now. Dare she travel with the Worm to the Shadow Plane?

Quintessa || The Worm deflates once more. “The current Archmage thinks it is but a fable? The situation is worse than I feared…” The scholar also muses on the situation until Khitti speaks up again, leaving a mutual silence between them that the Worm did not find uncomfortable. “Yes… that’s why I wanted it back after… After Centril… She ordered me to collect this mask before that ritual in Cenril… I was compelled to complete that final task but then…” The Worm that Walks trails off again compleplating the nature of their existence. “That girl, Quintessa she… She’s gotten herself in over her head… This isn’t something she has any business experimenting with… My remains no less. I was happy dead… but I suppose she has given me a second chance to make up for my past failure. I’d thank her if I still wasn’t annoyed that she brought me back in the first place.” Worms shakes these musings away. “In the meantime do you think we should split up? I will head to Frostmaw’s Frozen Library- that is unless you want to follow me around. I understand why you wouldn’t trust me but I see no reason for you to chaperone. We will work faster by ourselves. The Realm of Shadows is not a place I have much experience in so perhaps it would be better if you went. I’m afraid my current state doesn’t build a good rapport with strangers.”

Khitti || “Unfortunately, the current Archmage is a self-absorbed ass and I still intend to find out how he got that title in the first place, but that’s another matter for another time. He does think that the fable has some truth to it, as most tales do, and as you’ve already confirmed,” Khitti said with a sigh and a shake of her head. “As for my daughter, this is not the first time I’ve been betrayed by her and it may not be the last. I’ve told her so many times to come to me for help, but she refuses. Twice now, she has chosen the insect and instead of reaping glory, she’ll get consequences instead.” There’s another shake of her head, before the redhead continued on. “All that aside, I think you’d find that you fit in there much more than I do, in the Shadow Plane. I don’t know how well guarded the Frostmaw Library is these days, but the frost giants aren’t so keen on folk like you and I--and by that I mean, they don’t care for necromancers and dark magic and the creatures made by them.” She finally gathered up the books she dropped and put them on a cart, with the intent of coming back at some point to put them away before Bradyn strangled her to death. With a few somatic gestures, a portal to the mortal plane’s mirror opened up, brimming with dark magic energy, that of which crackled along the outside of the doorway. “But, if you’d rather take your chances in that cold wasteland, the choice is up to you. Just keep to the shadows. And stay away from the fishing pond in the forest. There’s a fisherman there who’s nuttier than a cake log and would probably try to use you for said fishing.” And with that, she’d step through the portal to Helshade, thankfully greeted by the city’s portal room this time around, rather than a random person’s house.

Quintessa || “I think the citizens of Frostmaw will have more to worry about than guarding some old library from a bag of worms like myself but… point taken. I should adjust my plans a little. After all, it seems like following the thread to the Order of the Shade doesn’t matter anymore. This is beyond them now, they’ve already started the end times…” As the portal opening up the shadow realm appears before them, Worms can’t help but feel the tug of curiosity that drove them so powerfully in life. They had to admit to themselves that visiting Helshade would be interesting, and they would not get another chance like this again- not in the near future anyway. “...Alright, you’ve convinced me; I’m coming with you. Hope you don’t mind if I just let you do the talking when we get there…” And with that the Worm that Walks walks right into the portal after Khitti.