RP:Book Smarts
This is a Necromancer's Guild RP.
Summary: Kanna goes in search of a necromancy tome at Countess Dragana's request for the ghoul to gain control of her impromptu army. Instead, she finds Xzean, who gives her a small lesson in connecting to her thralls.
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.
Kanna could barely be called a necromancer. At this time last year, she had been an ordinary human, going from tavern to tavern to play her music and collect stories to make new songs with. Now, the ghoul was tasked with learning how to control the small undead army she had accidentally created, without the first idea of what it meant to control another being. A mindless thrall on a chained leash enters the grandeur of the Necromancer’s Guild headquarters before a small woman that was once human follows behind, holding the leash that seems to be tied tight around her arm in case her hand is not enough. Only a moment is spent giving the entryway a onceover as she fixes her silvery sage curls. Despite it being her first foray into the guild, she seems to treat it like a public library, flitting from bookshelf to bookshelf in search of something as the undead struggles to rise to his feet. “Stay.” The woman points a greyed finger at what was once an elven man, who in return seems to ignore her command. “Sit.” She tries again, though her tone is disinterested as if expecting at this point for it to ignore her, which it does. A look of disappointment crosses her young features before she resumes her search for any introductory book to necromancy. The zombie pulls the chain taut as it seems to move away from its owner in search of food.
Xzean who is sitting there in his enruned black hooded robes, reading a book entitled "Reanimation: Advanced Spells and Rituals". He looks directly at the ghoul, seeing her difficulties. He closes the book in his hands, hanging onto it as he walks towards Kanna. He says, in a voice with a tinge of kindness behind the cold of the grave, "I see you are having some difficulties, young ghoul. Can I help you perhaps?"
Kanna turns with some surprise, not seeming to have expected anyone else down in the darkness of the crypt. The undead at her command snarls at the approach of the other visitor, and moves to attack what it seems to believe could pass for a meal. With what seems to be a practiced reflex, Kanna wraps the chain around her hand, drawing the mindless creature up until it is nearly immobile at her side. “Yes! So sorry about him, ah, would you have happened to have seen a tome by the Wizard Jenkins? I was told to study his works first to get my friends under control.” She flashes him a practiced smile.
Xzean scoffs at the mention of Jenkins, and responds by saying, "His works are barely worth calling a book. I certainly wouldn't fill your head with his nonsense. Hrmmm." This young ghoul needed actual tutelage, not some book, if she was truely going to gain in power. He says after a moment of thought, "I can show you some basics...I am no officially teacher of the guild, but I have been doing this for 300 years." He says with a slight smirk. He had been a Necromancer far longer then there had been a Necromancer's guild.
Kanna tilts her head to one side, then another as she considers the offer. “That’s quite the impressive resume. I suppose there would be no harm in it. What am I supposed to say to these things to make them at least stop attacking my living friends?”
Xzean responds, "There is no certain word. To control undead of any kind, you must form a mental link. I know, it sounds odd. But you must use your mind, connect to their negative energy. You should feel them, if you close your eyes. Go ahead and do it now if you wish."
Kanna looks from the elder vampire to the mindless ghoul at her side. “Alright, then.” She obeys his instructions and closes her eyes. Her nose wrinkles slightly as she tries to think of what she would like the creature to do. “The only negative energy I think we share is our hunger.” She comments idly. Then, as if an oil lamp has been set alight, her eyebrows raise. “Oh, I suppose that would be our link.” The ghoul quiets as she focuses her energy, then lowers its arms to its sides. “He stopped growling, is he okay?” The fledgeling necromancer asks her impromptu instructor.
Xzean lets out a slight laugh as she asks if the undead is "alright". He responds to her, "Undead do not have any sentience, other than basic urges to kill the living. You are the Master, you are in complete control. And if you do not believe it, you must repeat it to yourself until you do."
Kanna opens her eyes, pouting at the vampire. "They might not have sentience, but they were still mortal once." Her eyes flicker to the ghoul, who soon resumes its gnashing with her concentration broken. “Even if… I was the one that killed them.” If she could still draw breaths, she would give a sigh. Instead, she opts to brush a chunk of rotting flesh that had fallen on her shoulder to the floor. “I suppose I do own them now, though.” Kanna gives a half smile up at him. “Thank you for the lesson, dear.” With a flick of her wrist, a wooden bracelet slinks up effortlessly and transforms into her hand into a red rose. “For your services.”
Xzean shakes his head at the offer of the Rose, Xzean says, "I do not need payment for teaching, but I thank you for the offer." Xzean ponders for a second then offer, "Do you wish me to destroy or take over control of your ghoul? You seem like you could use a break."
Kanna draws her hand back. The flower morphs back into a wooden bangle that clinks down to join many others on her wrist. "No, that won't be needed. I don't really get tired in this state." A hand gestures at her deeply shadowed eyes, seeming to refer to her undead status. "I just have to make sure he doesn't hurt anyone." Another yank of the chain is given, the bard seems to effortlessly throw the creature over her shoulder. "I suppose if there's nothing worth reading here, we have no reason to be here and he can go back to the others." She smiles, moving back to the stairs of the crypt. "Oh. My name is Kanna, by the by."
Xzean smiles slightly, as it was a name already known to him. He replies, "Mine is Xzean, the Master of Bones."
Kanna gives a slight tilt of the head, returning the smile. "What an interesting name. I'll be sure to keep it in mind." With that, she climbs the rungs and drops her undead thrall onto its feet, who obediently walks back out into the dim sunlight of the Vailkrin Cemetery with none of the stupor it seemed to have inside the Library. She would just ask Quintessa for the book later.
Xzean nods to Kanna, his mind already inside of the book he had been reading when he arrived. It was a treatise on advanced reanimation principles. Just what he wanted.