RP:Blood In, Blood Out

This is a Necromancer's Guild RP.

Summary: Quintessa meets a kindred spirit in the dark child known as Lynn. Seeking the bond of sisterhood, Quintessa hastily enters into a bloodpact with Lynn to keep her secrets safe as she takes her under her wing. Quintessa then leads Lynn to House Dragana where she begins to show her dark mysteries, hoping to tutor Lynn in necromancy in the future.

Camp Fire

As you step into this dark area you see smoke rising up from a pile of burned wood. It would seem someone was here not long ago, camping. Curious that anyone would even desire to camp here, you take a slight look around. This dead end resembles the exact area of the twisted trees, with the exception of the tiny camp. As you glance down you can see foot prints, leading back into the forest, vanishing off. Your only way is back east. You can't help but wonder where the person has gone.

Quintessa Dragana circles around the dimly burning flames of the camp fire left behind by someone, her mismatched eyes of pale blue and golden hazel searching for signs of life- or undeath- in the surrounding tree line. Whomever had build this fire and set up camp wasn't here anymore and this annoyed Quintessa. The changeling didn't care much for uninvited guests in the forest she considered hers, and while she tolerated the occasional visit, leaving a fire unattended was a danger to the whole forest. "Who even does this...?" the young spellcaster wonders, walking up to feel the warn radial heat still emanating from the small fire. The cold of winter was leaving these lands, but Quintessa still wraps the inactive invisibility cloak she wears tightly around her as she idly taps a burning log with the toe of her boot. The hex blade stares at the fire as it slowly burns down, the light reflecting in her eyes as she ponders who left this here. Was it a spy? Was it Valsili plotting an attack? Quintessa grips the hilt of her katana tightly with her left hand as muses these things. "Whoever it is better not try anything funny..." The spoken warning was mostly for herself, but anyone lingering in the trees, hiding from her, would no doubt hear this, but chances are Tessa was just being needlessly paranoid about it.

Emilia |Children should not be left to wander the world along, let alone the Dark Woods. Yet, Lynn walked along through the woods with bare feet hardly making a sound against the dark forest ground. Though she was not from these woods the small being treated it with respect and a knowledge to not make noise as she moved. It was not easy to see who it was in the dark with a black hooded cloak pulled tightly over her small figure. In fact, this cloaked being stood under five feet in height at best guess. It was the noises of the woman’s voice that lured the preteen this way through the forest. Perhaps this was the missing mother that she was looking for, yet perhaps not. Sometimes it was hard to tell which were the living and which were the spirits in the overlapping worlds for the girl. The darkness of the forest did not help any. Traveling with the girl was a spirit of another, though Lynn had yet to meet another that could also see her. She was on the spirit side, floating alongside the preteen was a girl in ragged clothes with a head almost fully sliced off. It remained connected by a thin section of flesh, leaving the head to rest on the right shoulder. Reaching the edge where the smoke came from someone’s campfire Lynn stopped, remaining in the darkness with her invisible companion. With Quintessa seemingly distracted the child attempted to poke into her mind with a telepathic connection, just at the surface to let her small voice be heard, “One with a death wish.” It was an answer to her lingering question of ‘who even does this’.

Quintessa could feel the prickly sensation of another mind prying into her own, and although she did not possess any defenses to resist such an invasion into her mind, her aura reaches out to feel where this voice had come from. The changeling's boots dig into the soft forest floor as she pivots to gaze in the direction of the presence, Quintessa's sinister aura encircling the child, tasting the other aura. The hex blade's month is drawn into a straight line that betrays no emotion as she narrows her eyes. "Show yourself," the spellcaster demands, searching for someone in the darkness. Though her hag-borne eyes could easily see in the dark of the forest, she couldn't see the spirit lingering close to Lynn. But she could -feel- it. "Those will death wishes often find me here..." Quintessa coos, taking a step away from the fire in the preteen's direction. "And I've fulfilled more than one of those wishes, but you? I sense the taste of death around you but I sense no desire to die. What brings this one to the demesne of Quintessa Dragana, the Monster of Black Pond?"

Emilia |Lynn was not afraid of the darkness or the voice that called out into the woods. The aura around the small girl hidden in the darkness was rotted with death and darkness with only a splash of life muddled into it. Her voice pressed into the other woman’s mind again, “As you wish.” These words almost echoed in her mind before the small girl stepped out of the tree line into the dimly lit expanse in the trees. With small pale hands she pushed the hood from atop her head to reveal the mess of dark midnight curls that tangled around a very pale face with a dusting of freckles over her cheeks and nose. The eyes that stared out at the adult woman sported a similar issue to Tessa’s, they were mismatched too, except the girl had one eye a piercing bright green and the other a startling icy blue. As Lynn exposed herself the spirit with her followed suit, sticking close to the one she traveled with. This girl standing before Quintessa was no lost good little girl, but a child of death and darkness with a chaos in her nature. Her voice poked at her mind again, “I am looking for another, though that one is not you, for you walk on the side of the living.”

Quintessa couldn't help but feel shaken by the girl's appearance. Dark messy hair and mismatched- was Quintessa looking back in time at herself? There is noticeable hesitation in the changeling's movements, but her hand slowly falls away from the sword at her side. Whoever this girl was, she was not alone and she had the ability to see right through Quintessa's façade of vampirism and peer right inside her very mind. It was a dangerous place to delve too deep into, but the surface was safe enough, if not frantic. Memories of wondering this forest as a child herself flooded her mind, distracting her. "...the side of living..." Quintessa feels that she should be more concerned about her ruse being so easily dismissed by this... being, but she's not. Instead, Quintessa wants to know more, to understand what she was dealing with. "I try to bridge the gap between," Quintessa admits, "And though my experiments with vampirism have all failed, I come closer each time to understanding undeath with these failures." The changeling dares to more closer despite her instinct telling her to get away from this child and whatever it was that was haunting her. "Tell me, who is it that you search for? I might walk on the side of the living but perhaps I can still help you." Quintessa isn't sure why she wants to help this child, be it curiosity that drives her or the strange mix of sympathy and nostalgia caused by her memories.

Emilia |Lynn let out the most chaotic laugh that didn’t leave those lips of hers. It was an echo through the trees and the woods around them, filling the space between them as if someone had indeed laughed, yet it wasn’t this girl or was it. Her voice chuckled in her mind before she spoke matter-o-factly, “I walk the bridge between the living and the dead, not you. You walk the living, perhaps a taste of the other side with a talent to reach over and grasp into it.” While Quintessa walked closer the girl did the same without skipping a beat. The tingling in her mind shook a little as the girl pressed against her mind with more than simple words. It was images that she was attempting to force the other woman to see. Tessa would get a glimpse to see the world that the girl was seeing at that very moment. She would be able to see herself standing there from a lower angle looking up at herself in a mixed world of fog and greys. The fire was burning behind her along with wander spirits that seemed to be responding to the fire as if it could provide them warmth. It was a dual layered world of the spirit world lapping on top of the living. Turning her head Lynn shared the vision of the headless girl standing next to her a moment before looking back to Tess and letting the visons fade away so that she was her own two eyes again. Only words pressing into her mind now, “Her mother is lost again. Have you seen a headless woman wandering around here?”

Quintessa presses her lithe hand against her temple as the laughter reverberates through her mind. At first the changeling saw this as a threat to be resisted, but as the presence inside her mind started to show her things, images of the child's point-of-view, Quintessa relaxes and simply allows her mind to be prodded and manipulated however the spirit wanted. With a single, long exhale, the young spellcaster's aura switches from reaching out to accepting in, willingly seeing what Lynn could see. Blue and hazel eyes flicker to ghost girl next to her and the corner of her mouth twists up into a small smile. "Things are starting to make sense." she says, gaze flickering back and froth between them as Lynn-vision and Quin-vision integrated into a single perception. It was dizzying at first, but the teenager was able to adapt to it swiftly. "I'm sorry," Quintessa says, her smile fading into a slight frown, "I'm no good at finding lost mothers; I've been searching for mine all my life." The changeling cannot hide these memories from bubbling up to the surface. Memories of running away, wondering why here mother would leave her to be abused by her father in the worst place imaginable to raise a child. "But if a headless woman could be found wondering anywhere, it's Vailkrin. I'm sure you are on the right track. Tell me, is your mother incorporeal or does she still posses her body? If your mother's spirit is what lingers in this world I might be able to use a ritual to summon her. I can't promise it'll work though."

Emilia |Lynn couldn’t help but to be nosy to the images that Tessa let float to the surface of her mind. Easily watched by the small girl who was already in her mind. Lynn would watch each one to the extent that it was showed. She was playing nice by not pressing further into the open link to delve more into the depths of Quintessa. Glancing around the area as the link to the shared vision vanished Lynn shook her head sending curls dancing around her little body. A glimpse of small horns were visible beneath the curls before they settled into place over them again. Her voice back into her head, “Her mother is dead. She wanders these woods searching for her head. It isn’t the first time she has gotten lost.” Taking a step closer the girl started to close the gap between herself and the other woman in the woods. Lynn stopped when she was only about an arm length gap from Tessa. Looking up at the other there was a devious grin that lingered on those of hers. Her voice dancing in hers, “There are more spirits in this world than you can imagine. So many of them living as if they had not yet died. I wouldn’t suggest wasting your time finding a lost soul that doesn’t want to be found.” Reaching out a hand the girl moved to tuck a lock of dark hair behind Tessa’s ear. Her voice almost a whisper in her mind, “You can be my sister, if you’d like… I won’t tell anyone your lies…” It was true the girl could see past the false vampire guise, if only because she was in her head.

Quintessa can't help but knee lower, her knees falling onto the damp ground that slowly soaks into her necromancer's robes as Lynn draws closer. "You mean to tell me a Dullahan roams my forest?" The teenager's voice was a whisper but it carried enough volume to be easily heard. This wasn't an issue, however, as Quintessa considered Dullahan fellow members of the unseelie court. "Yes, let her roam, lest she scratch out my eyes for staring too long. If your mother is comfortable in the Dark Forest she may stay as long as she likes. This is her home as well." As Lynn reaches out to tuck a lock of hair behind Quintessa's ear she freezes, unsure if she wanted to be touched by a stranger but also not wanting to turn any kind of affection away. The child's gentle gesture makes a smile come to her face, her lips parting to repeat the words, "Sister." The thoughts in her head were now too frantic for even Quintessa to follow, her need for self-preservation arguing with her desire to feel a connection with this girl. Could she trust her? Was this a trap? Did Quintessa care if this was a trap? There is a long silence that lingers between them for a moment before the changeling grins, showing off her mouthful of sharp teeth. "As long as you keep my lies secret we can be sisters. D-do you have a place to stay? My manor just north of here has plenty of space so long as you don't mind my undead servants shuffling through the halls. Something tells me that the dead don't bother you, however."

Emilia |Lynn felt strange having the other closer to her own height once she fell to her knees before her. She was used to be the smallest of the group; however, she was still this it just felt odd. Turning to look at the almost headless ghost that was in company of her. It was easy to tell that whatever conversation happened in the strange sudden silence was between the girl and the spirit. A moment later the pale fingers waved as her invisible companion left off to wander the woods to search on her own for her missing headless mother. Turning those mismatched eyes back on Quintessa the girl smiled to reveal a set of pearl whites with slightly sharper canines than most. However, this girl was no vampire or lycanthrope. The horns atop her head made that much obvious. Her words can with a sudden wave back into the other’s head, “I have always preferred the dead.” It was an answer Tessa could have expected. The girl was an anchor between the worlds, living in both at all times. That smile turned into a grin as she stared into the mismatched eyes of the other, “Are you willing to do the blood mixing to mark the occasion?” It was an odd question to ask at first meeting of one another. The intense look of those blue-green mismatched eyes boring into her. Would this woman of the woods seal her words in blood? Or run away into them.

Quintessa wanted to believe with all of her heart that this child was like her, an abomination who's origins would always be questioned by those she encountered. Nasty rumors of dark deities and demons pointing to her lineage. If Lynn's mother was actually a Dullahan then that must have meant that they already shared this bond, Quintessa's own mother being a night hag that dwelled in the realm of dreams. Could this child actually be another changeling? The only way to know for sure was to run some experiments, but that could wait; A blood pact was in order! Quintessa's lithe fingers quickly draw the mithril scalpel from her alchemist's belt and she flips it in the air before holding out her left hand palm facing the canopy. "A blood mixing is... agreeable." The hex blade says, her dark aura involuntarily reaching out with long, dark tendrils to caress the girl. "Would you like to say a few words or shall I start the oath?" The silvery metal of the blade glimmers in the dying light of the fire as it hovers over Quintessa's palm. From the determined look in her eyes she was fully committed to this.

Emilia Lynn watched with curious nature to that of this other, keeping her mind always at a link with the other even if she wasn’t currently speaking to her. Her thoughts that flipped past the surface allowing the girl to gain blips of them. She was a devious little dragonling that didn’t delve full truths to the one she was about to share her blood with. Her mother was not the Dullahan earlier mentioned, perhaps that was the headless girls mum. Holding out her smaller left hand with the palm side up the girl held no hesitation in completing the blood pact with this strange one of similar darkness. “I shall let you,” her words flitted into her mind. Lynn was not about to speak aloud to say anything. It just was not something the dark child did. When it would come her turn to be cut open by the blade her blood would bleed a deep red, almost black with a scent of something ancient. She was a mixed child of an ancient dragon of the lands and a human turned ice genasi. It was the darkness of her father that marred her blood. Tessa would be sad to learn this child before her was not the same as her, though she was something just as misunderstood and viewed in the world around them.

Quintessa wouldn't waste anymore time once given permission to continue, her idle thoughts suddenly replaced by the arcane passages she had memorized long ago. "Let it be done." As the changeling presses the tip of the blade into her flesh her corrupted blood seeps out, defusing dark mana into the air around them as she chants "Gwaed fy chwaer..." and the mystic essence in the air swirls around them both. "Blood of my blood, sisters in darkness. Let our pact be made. For as long as you keep my nature a secret I will protect you and treat you as if we shared the same mother, for now we are as blood." As she speaks she continues, cutting into Lynn's hand and mixing the blood as they used to in the old days of the dark tribesmen. Lynn was not a changeling like her, but she knew they were kindred spirits in one way or another and now that the pact was made they were officially bonded. "Mae'n cael ei wneud." Quintessa says, sealing the pact as the magic she had channeled sucks to the pair of girls. The magic wouldn't compel either of them to do anything but they'd know if the other betrayed them, the lime-green magic searing into the fresh wounds on their hands before fading from view. "The pact has been made," the changeling informs, a delicate finger tracing over the cut on her hand. "But I don't think I even told you my name... It doesn't matter, our bond is stronger than names now, but I am known as Quintessa. What shall I call you?"

Emilia |Lynn watched as the blood mixed with one another. The dark cursed blood of the changeling with that of the seed of an ancient monster. Two darklings bonded in one of the oldest bonding methods known to people. As her blood bonded with Tessa’s a glimpse of the spirit world would flash before the girl’s eyes as if the gift was her own. Alas, it would not be her gift to share except when within the company of her newly formed blood sister. The other would have to focus and learn to hone in the skill to see the spirits around them, letting her see into the bridge of death that Lynn walked. When the girls were not together the sight would fade away from her letting her live peacefully in the living world alone. Slowly taking her hand back the girl never stopped from that grin as her voice danced her in her mind, “Kiilynn, but everyone simply calls me Lynn. I definitely like you better than my brothers. Remind me, once my mother is found, again, to introduce you two. I am sure she will happily accept a fourth child. I do hope that you enjoy the wintery chill as my mother is ever so frozen.” Closing her hand over the wound the girl would slowly open her hand to reveal the sealed wound, though a black scar like vein remained in its place.

Quintessa wipes the blood from her scalpel on her robes and slowly stands, dusting the dead leaves and moss from her slightly damp clothing. "So you have brothers too? I would very much like to meet the rest of your family." Quintessa begins to think about the frozen wastes of Frostmaw and the crying child in the snow. Was that where Lynn was from? So many questions to be answered. "Ever frozen?" Why did that sound so familiar. The spellcaster remembers something like that being written before about someone in the Mage's Guild. A very famous person who ruled Frostmaw for a time. A powerful mage that Quintessa idolized to the point of seducing her estranged husband... "Like an elemental? A genasi of some sort?" These being we extremely rare but the changeling had read about them before while trying to discover the cause for Magik's illness. Him being a fire genasi had to be debunked during her research. "How interesting. I like you too, Lynn. I think together we shall do many fun things, yes-yes. So, would you like a room in House Dragana? I can show you all the secret places hidden within their walls."

Emilia |Lynn nodded her head to answer more than one question all asked her way. Her voice came in with a wave of what seemed like tiredness mixed with it, “Yes, my mother is a Genasi of Ice, but not who you probably think of.” The girls mouth then opened, but the yawn sound only could be heard in Tessa’s thoughts. Such a strange little child. It had been a long travel for her to reach the dark woods. Her words picking up again in her mind, “I would very much like a room in House Dragana. It has been long days of travel to reach these woods.” The mention of secret places hidden sparked her curiosity. The mischief she could cause in that house using the hidden places and her powers.

Quintessa giggles like did when she was Lynn's age, remembering all the trouble she used to get into all by herself. It was only five years ago that the changeling was the mischievous preteen looking for trouble, going places she shouldn't. "No, there's no way you are Satoshi's child. I'd know. No, there is another ice Genasi that I know of that contacted the Warrior's Guild some time ago... I think I'm suppose to teach her the basics of swordplay or something. I'm not sure, Lionel wasn't clear, but this gives me the perfect reason to seek her out- But all that can wait. I have to show you the catacombs under the manor- Oh! And the trap I designed to catch giant spiders!" As the Baroness speaks she leads the child north through the forest to House Dragana, the dark mansion build by Larewen Dragana long ago. Quintessa grew up in the shadow of this place, dreaming of discovering its secrets and now it was hers. "I have so much to teach you, my darkling."