RP:Curse Of The Mummy's Frakked Up Shadow Magic

From HollowWiki

This is a Necromancer's Guild RP.


Summary: Ernest finds Khitti during one of her training sessions with some of the newer students of the Necromancer's Guild and asks the Umbracryaestor for help with his own magic.

Death Cult Temple, Vailkrin

Khitti || Punch, punch, roundhouse kick! Gut punch, uppercut, legsweep! Khitti rotated through a few moves, both fists aflame with her signature purple shadowfire (the type that only came with magic straight from the Shadow Plane itself), as she showed a few new students the Black Tides. “Don’t depend solely on your fire,” Khitti said to the three. “And don’t use it just for offense. Let it guard you, just as ice would.” The redhead motioned for them to move back a few paces, put both palms facing outward and to the side a little, and spun around. The same flames shot out from her hands, creating a violet barrier between her and the students. “And allow yourself enough room to breathe. Living or not, the fire’s still going to hurt you.” With a wave of her hand, the flames died away and she stepped over to the three, pulling a bit of parchment out of her pocket. “Use this after each practice session, once you’ve put the salve together,” she said, handing over the list of ingredients and instructions on how to make the salve that Brand had once given to her. “Even me?” A vampire, the quietest out of the three and a bit of a bookworm, eyed his teacher, to which Khitti nodded. “Even you, Rhys. Trust me. I used it -a lot- when I was still a vampire. It helps immensely. It’s not some fancy instant healing potion, but it does promote better healing and soothes your hands, which honestly… it’s probably for the better. That way you get used to the pain, can better judge your burns, and know how to block out the pain when times are tough. Now, it’s time for all of you to practice the movesets. -Just- the movesets for now. You don’t want to be throwing together that salve when your hands are scorched.” Khitti’s students nodded, lined up, and started performing the moves that had been shown to them.


Ernest watched from the entryway, leaning casually on the wall, arms crossed, head tilted curiously to one side. Purple flames, huh? Now that it was the students' turn to try it, he figured now was as good a time as any to barge in. He took a step forward, casting just the slightest bit of air magic to help the "clink" of his spurred boots carry across the room, despite the whooshing noises of the fire. "Impressive," he said, with that signature stiff grin of his, tipping his hat in greeting. "Usin' darkness ta make heat. Don't make much sense t'me, I gotta say. We been properly innerduced? Name's Ernest." He held out a hand to shake. "I been lookin' through that book th' guild gave me back when I joined--already got myself a helpin' hand or two." A second hand emerged from the sleeve of Ernest's longcoat and offered a shake, though shaking this one would simply lift it away from Ernest's body; the disembodied hand would then drop to the ground and scuttle up Ernest's pant leg like a spider. "An' I knew curses already. But th' furthest I'm able t'get with th' shadow stuff is--well--mind if I show you?"


Khitti blinked as she’s spoken to, her olive-green gaze shifting towards Ernest. “I try not to think too hard about it. The Black Tides do not follow the same laws of nature that apply to the normal elements.” She went to take his hand to shake it… only for it to fall off entirely, hit the ground, and return to its owner. “A pleasure, Ernest. I’m Khitti, the guild’s Umbracryaestor.” That’s fancy talk for the guild’s Black Tides teacher. “And I see my friend Emilia is not the only one to have her own detached hand--not that she has that one-handed problem anymore since I made her a new one,” she said, clearly rather proud of her achievement. Khitti would give him another nod, once he offered to show her where he’d gotten stuck with things, “Go for it. I think I love books almost as much as House Mahara does, but they’ll only get you so far.” She stepped to the side, motioning to the students that had been practicing their drills to watch and take note of things.


Ernest grinned again and waved both his hands at her before starting. "No detachment issues here. It's a literal helpin' hand." This time, the little undead popped out of Ernest's collar to wave at her from inside his jacket before ducking back into a pocket. "Makes fannin' th' hammer a heck of a lot easier, an' he's great at turnin' pages. Now, where was I..." Ernest rubbed his hands together, closed his eyes, and concentrated on the ground. A touch of cryomancy, to start off--a square of frost forming on the ground as the temperature plummeted. Then, more intense ice magic: the square extruded itself upwards into a narrow pillar, rather slowly--not fast enough to launch anything upwards with, at least. Then, once it was just taller than Ernest himself, he stopped its growth and focused carefully on one particular face. Towards the top of the pillar, a circle of runes was forming, etching themselves into place as he carefully altered the surface with his magic. Then, once he was certain the runes were correct, he snapped his fingers and set off the magic circle. First, the outer edge glowed a faint blue, and Ernest quickly formed a small, thin, transparent dome of ice over it--maybe an invisible force field of some kind, to provide a surface for his frost--before the inside of the circle lit itself brightly on fire, the light from the blaze focused through his makeshift ice lens and onto himself as a spotlight. Then, he turned back towards Khitti and gestured at the ground, where the more focused light around him was able to create a much more defined shadow on the floor. He tipped his hat at it, while it stood still--and the shadow tipped its hat back, then started juggling little balls of darkness that glided across the floor. There was no shadow ice, or shadow fire in it--just... shadowPLAY. "I got this far," spoke up Ernest, finally, "but I cain't get my head around how I'm supposed ta make that," he hooked a thumb over his shoulder at his spotlight, "outta this." The shadow juggler let all its balls drop and put its hands on its hips indignantly.


Khitti || The undead’s explanation regarding his hand was answered with a smirk, but the Umbracryaestor kept quiet, watching as he went about his work, showing off what he’s learned. Booted steps brought Khitti in circuit around Ernest, those olive-green eyes taking in all that he was doing. “I’m going to be honest, I’ve not dealt with shadow magic by way of runes. It’s likely something I -would- have tried, but there was never a need. But--” She stopped walking finally, one hand on her chin as she considered things. “--that doesn’t mean it needs to be done in the conventional way. Our Acerbitor, Quintessa, has been helping me with runes so that I might use arcane magic, rather than dark, to properly learn how to wield the more advanced shadow elements that I’ve discovered recently. What you have right now seems akin to illusion magic and that’s not a bad thing. It’s far different from how I wield the black tides, but if you deal in curses, this sort of thing could serve as a distraction when needed, depending on how you unleash your magic. Now the question is, would -you- want to wield the Tides yourself? Or would you wish for your shadow self to do it?” With a wave of her hand, Khitti summoned up an ink pen full of purple shadow ink. While, normally, it appear -as- ink on parchment, Khitti used it differently now. The runes that he had made in the ice were copied in the air, twice, the purple shadows taking on a somewhat solidified form. The first set, with its corrections, would tie in a few illusion runes she’s seen offhand, empowering the thing created from it, to allow it to wield its own “magic”. “It won’t truly be the shadow’s magic, of course, but it won’t be directly in your hands like a regular pyromancer’s would be.” The second set took Khitti a bit longer, but it would eventually be done just the same as the other. “This one, however, would work much better if it were on your person. In battle, you won’t always have the opportunity to etch your own runes as there may not be time. However, if they were etched onto something else--a weapon or an article of clothing--you’d be able to tap into the arcane magic you wield normally, shift it to shadow magic, and use your own shadow magic like this,” she said, lifting a hand to show a ball of grey-ish shadow-ice form just above her palm.


Ernest tilted his head as he listened, examining the runes that she'd made, stepping over to where they floated in the air. As he left the direct path of the spotlight, his shadow-juggler disappeared, becoming indistinct again since there wasn't a hard source of light behind it. "Any reason not ta have both?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "If yer sayin' there are rune recipes an' sigils fer this stuff, I could use it in whatever combination I need, yeah?" The helping hand emerged from a pocket with a sketchbook and charcoal stylus, which Ernest took gratefully and started to copy down the new ones. "I was jes' usin' those runes there ta light my ice on fire, th' shadowplay was somethin' different, but if I can use shadow -runes-... say," he asked, looking up from his sketches, raising his eyebrows, "what's th' benefit of shadow ice 'n shadow fire over normal ice 'n fire, anyhow? Seems ta me you get better results when yer magic don't fade away in th' sun." He gestured back to the place on the floor illuminated by his spotlight. "Took me standin' in th' way fer there ta be a shadow there, see?"


Khitti shook her head, shrugging at Ernest. “You can definitely have both. I’d just keep in mind that at some point, your magic’s gonna run dry and the more you use, the quicker it’ll burn. It probably be -as- bad as when I use the Black Tides normally, but you’re still drawing out that magic from somewhere and that takes work. Maybe it’ll hit you less than it did me as a vampire. On the whole undead spectrum, I imagine you’re a bit more dead than I was, if that makes sense,” she said with a smirk. “I still felt pain. Still felt drained when my magic had run out. I have seen an undead one other time get to that point, but it took -a lot- of magic to do it. So, you’ll likely be safe, but just keep it in mind or it’ll come back and bite you in the ass.” The redhead studied him carefully as he wrote down the runes and the adjustments made, “I use my shadow magic all the time in the light. Nearly every day. Where there is light, there is always darkness. Focus on the runes, call the shadows to you. -Make- them listen to you.” While the spotlight Ernest had made still glowed brightly, the rest of the candlelights in the temple flickered as Khitti closed her eyes. Focusing, the shadows snaked outwards from their hiding spots, dark tendrils reaching out, clawing their way towards her. The darkness in the room grew stifling… until it all condensed itself into the palm of her hands. “There is -always- shadows. You cannot have one without the other.”


Ernest "hrm"ed at that explanation, and then the demonstration of shadow extraction. "Huh, okay. Didn't answer my question, really, but I'll admit that does give me some ideas..." If darkness is anywhere the light -isn't-, that made for some real interesting applications. "So, fer example. If'n I were, to, say..." He stepped back into the light and concentrated on the shadow on the floor, detaching a part of it and molding it into the shape of a fire rune. Then, he shot a glance at Khitti. "So if I were t'charge this here with energy, it bein' a shadow construct of a fire rune, would that be shadow fire? An' if I can make somethin' like that wherever there's darkness..." Hoooooo boy was that exploitable. Just for science's sake, he focused on the rune and shot enough energy into it to try and activate it.


Khitti shook her head, “Sorry. Uh. Forgot about that part. Basically, I think it depends on the situation. Just adapt to your surroundings, whether it’s the environment or the person you’re fighting. There are perks to using certain magicks in certain places. You’re not going to use ice magic in the desert. You’re not going to use fire in the middle of the ocean when you’re down in the depths. Shadow magic is a bit stronger here because we are in literal darkness all the time in Vailkrin. There’s some places, like the Fog Forest in Rynvale, the Deep Dark Forest in the Enchantment, and the Dead Forest in Venturil where this type of magic would flourish a bit more. I don’t really have a choice. I have dark and light magic. If I’m fighting a horde of non sentient undead, I’m gonna opt for the holy. You just need to know your magic inside and out.” Ernest went on, showing her his interpretation. “In theory, yes. It should be shadowfire. It may not be as potent, however, as you tapping into runes or sigils etched into… say… some sort of wristguard. You would not have to waste the magic to form the runes, because it’s already made. That’s like comparing cantrips to soulbinding. Runes like that--” She pointed at the one he’d made from shadows and was now activating, “--would not be as potent as this.” Khitti conjured her own shadowflames. “It’s like a hierarchy. I imagine you could probably write more advanced sigils in the future to try to mimic it as best as you can, but as far as I’m aware when it comes to that stuff, it won’t ever be as strong as the “real thing”. This is why you’ll almost never see a spell blade with a true mastery over a specific type of magic. There will always be some aspect that is lacking.” The flames were snuffed out, her attention focused on him again, “Hopefully, that answers your questions now.”


Ernest grinned as the shadow rune lit itself on a dark, mostly smoky fire, and rubbed his hands together as he listened, nodding along with the explanation. "Makes sense, yeah. Permanent runes where possible. Can do, actually. Got myself a spellbook someplace where I put a buncha rune recipes an' such. Gonna copy these in there when I got a chance." He concentrated on the little flaming shadow rune, watching its flames flicker upward into the air. With a little "come hither" gesture with a fingertip, the dark, smoky trails started to wind their way towards his hand. "Might even figure out proper spells with this stuff eventually, now's I've got it made. Won't need runes forever if I can jus'... y'know, make it. Like you said, right? Hierarchies." He let the shadow-smoke curl up in his hand, and then sort of... unfolded it into a tiny, smoky juggler. "Still immaterial. An' it ain't warm. Needs work. But I'm likin' this. Not -quite- sure what all I'm gonna do with it yet, but I'm gettin' -plans-." The little skeleton hand popped out of his pocket again, and Ernest transferred the juggler to its palm before extending his hand to shake with Khitti again. "Sorry fer takin' up so much of yer class time, Umbrella-Cryin' Stork. Found myself in the neighborhood, thought I'd ask about what the heck I was supposed to do. Subsequently got enlightened."


Khitti || “I can give you a bit more enlightenment, if you’d like. That cryomancy you’re using? Try using the techniques for normal elements with the shadow ones. My husband’s an elementalist that taught me that. It’s essentially the same. The magic just comes from different places. It works with fire too. Once you get the proper somatic components down, you’ll do just fine,” Khitti said with a faint smile. “And hey, that’s what I’m here for. Quintessa’s still learning, Bradyn couldn’t give a rat’s ass about the Black Tides, and Lorkain… wherever he is--” She stopped and looked around. That lich had to be around here somewhere. He hears all and knows all. Well, not really. But he’s a jerk that likes to eavesdrop and yell at Khitti. “--is a bit too strict when it comes to his teaching methods. If you can’t find me here and need more assistance, then I can usually be found in Cenril at my shop or the wharf, or the Devout’s Guild headquarters in Kelay.” Khitti looked towards her students, those of whom she had almost forgotten they existed! The poor dears. “But yes. Do practice often and I’m sure you’ll get it soon. I’m going to escort these three back to the Black Library.” If there was nothing else to be said to her, Khitti’d give Ernest a bit of a lazy, half-assed salute and would head on north through the cemetery.


Ernest did indeed plan on experimenting with this rather often--if he could get the shadow-fire to act properly, maybe he could transfer the techniques to real fire and then skip over that whole part of learning to cast pyromancy without runes. "Sounds great," he said, giving a thumbs-up as he made the shadow-juggler leap from his helpin' hand into his actual hand, then concentrated. It was a shadow, but if it -could- freeze, then maybe--as he watched, the little guy started to crystallize, forming itself into a dark little ice-man in his hand. "Oh yes. This is -definitely- gettin' added t'my routine. Thanks for th' tip!" He tipped his hat to her, then casually tossed the juggler aside, not even watching as it hit the ground and shattered into tiny pieces of ice, which promptly sublimated into nothing. He had more important things on his mind than toy carnies, now.