RP:Facing Your Demons
Summary: After a long day of proselytizing, Raevyn gets an unexpected visitor. (Solo)
Date: May 20th, 2018
Makeshift Home
A small log built home on the northern outskirts of Larket. With wooden floors, the living quarters houses a single bed tucked into the northwestern corner, with a small oak dresser situated under a large picture window on the northern wall. A large leather chair is sat in the middle of the main living area. On the western wall in the middle of the home sits a small kitchen comprised of a simple counter, some cupboards and a small wood stove with a black kettle sat atop. A small bathroom with a basin and tub is tucked away behind a door on the southern wall. A sturdy oak door used to enter and exit the home sits on the eastern side of the home, across from the stove. There is a single window on either side of the door with cream colored curtains.
Raevyn stared into the bathroom basin and upon the reflection of that ghoulish figure she had made herself out to be. The black and white face paint seemed more unsettling in the dim glow of the candles scattered around the room, leaving the woman to appear much more less than human. What was she doing, she pondered. Why had she taken upon the task of deceiving the people of Larket? Petty revenge? Personal gain? She knew that what she were doing was wrong. Yet, she perpetuated the lie without hesitation. Maybe she was a bad person. Maybe Nasada's influence was taking over? What would come next? Would she soon escalate? Theft? Murder? Raevyn dipped her hands into the basin and pulled from it a helping of water to cleanse the paint from her face. No, not murder. She could never. The people of Larket deserve everything they will get, she reasoned. They hurt innocent people. They murdered innocent people. They tried to murder her!
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. Someone was at the door.
Youthful features, free from that thick painted disguise, twisted in confusion. Who could that be at this hour? Had the Queen sent someone to check in? Had someone mistakenly rapped upon her door? Was it Baelok? No! It must be Celaeno! She must have heard word and come to see her friend! The young necromancer excitedly bound for the door and opened it without much concern, only to stand there perplexed when she saw that no one waiting upon her answer. She stuck her head out of the archway and looked once to the left, then once to the right, stepping soon out onto the landing of the home to get a better view. The streets of Larket were quiet. Not a soul in sight. No late night stragglers, no rowdy drinkers, nothing. It was eerily quiet, with the only sound a gentle moaning of the wind through the nearby forest. "Strange." Raevyn said, as she turned and entered the home. She had made it merely three steps when once again there was a sound at her door, this time much louder. THUD. THUD. THUD. It rattled the nearby window! As before, the door was opened to the appearance of no one there, and much like she had before, the girl stepped out to see if she could find the prankster responsible. "I warn you! If you do not stop, I will call the town guard!" she called out in a huff, promptly slamming the door and bolting it shut in the process.
Prepared to catch someone in the act, the young ebon tressed neophyte stood near the window, partially concealed by the dingy cream colored curtains that prevented outsiders from peering into her home. She waited, watching out into the dark streets for any sort of movement, yet saw no one. After a considerable amount of time with nothing taking place, Raevyn wandered over to the bed and began to change out of her robes, neatly folding them upon the rickety dresser to keep them from becoming wrinkled. It was only when she had fully changed into a light, lavender nightgown that the door drew her attention for a third time. It was a gentle knock. Metallic sounding. Not quite as jarring as the two previous. Out the window she peered, seeing now a figure in robes. She could not quite make out whomever it could be. They did not run, however, and thus Raevyn felt that she could answer the door without much issue this time. The bolt was unhinged, the door slowly opened. Standing before her a familiar face- that of the fellow Guild member, Celaeno.
"Celaeno! You came!" the girl exclaimed, throwing her arms around the silver-handed elf with glee. Much to Raevyn's surprise, Celaeno did not reciprocate the act. She was blank, almost catatonic. "Cela? Are you okay?" It was at this moment that Raevyn noticed that her friend seemed quite off. She was pale. So pale in fact that she rivaled her dearest friend. And when Raevyn reached up to touch Cela's face, she would find that pallid flesh cold and icy. "Oh dear! Are you ill?! Come, get warm!" The elven woman was tugged over toward a wood stove, the heavy leather chair pushed over and Raevyn soon made her friend sit. She wasted no time in going to gather water for the kettle, questioning the vacant woman with worry. "Are you forgetting to sleep again? How many times have I told you, Cela? You need to take care of yourself. I don't know what I would do if anything ever happened to you." Celaeno did not return any sort of verbal expression. In fact, she offered no sort of expression whatsoever. Instead she leaned forward toward the wood stove to gather from it the cozy warmth. As Raevyn made return, she stopped to the sound of a disgusting PLOP. Upon the floor where Celaeno had been leaning, some sort of goop that looked like a mixture of blood and flesh. She grew concerned. “Cela? Are you okay? Are you sick?”
Raevyn approached from the side. There was no answer once again. Nothing to indicate that she was responsive to anything that Raevyn had said. PLOP. More of that gross reddish fleshy goop hit the floor. Nervously, Raevyn continued to creep around the side of the chair with her heart stuck in her throat. "C-Cela?..." she called. It took everything for the necromancer to keep herself from screaming bloody murder when she finally saw the half-elf head on. Like some sort of disfigured candle, Celaeno was melting! Her face, what was left of it, was covered in large boils and pustules that had seemingly burst open. Chunks of flesh were beginning to slip from muscle and bone, falling to the floor with that same sickening PLOP. Those stormy grey eyes looked upon Raevyn, pleading for the necromancer to help her. Raevyn didn't know what to do. She took a step backward and lifted a hand to her mouth. She wanted to vomit. More of the evlen woman's flesh began to slip from the side of her face, revealing in full the left side of her jawbone. Without warning, tendrils of obsidian exploded forth from the holes in Celaeno's face, wriggling and writing as if reaching out for the terrified necromancer. Celaeno began to move, to shift forward in an attempt to stand. She would not make it very far, however. The silver-handed woman fell forward onto her hands and knees as more flesh began to ooze from bone, and soon she crumbled into a heap. Before Raevyn's eyes it was as if time suddenly moved forward in an unnatural manner. The body and flesh of her friend began to rot and decay at an alarming pace, and soon she had turned to dust in the blink of an eye.
"CELA?!" Raevyn called out, rushing forward to where her friend had been laying just moments ago. All of the elven woman had been fully disintegrated; Flesh, bones, and clothes. It was a fine dust. Powdery. Soft. Tears started to well in those dead blue eyes, but before they could break the barrier of her eyelids, Raevyn was startled by a voice coming from behind her. Correction. Voices. They spoke as one, a dissonance of pain and suffering, a sound of both men and women. "You are weak. You will not survive this. Give in. Let it consume you." The girl whipped around to find some sort of disembodied shadow floating before her. It was large and stood tall enough that it hunched against the ceiling. "Wh-who are you?" she asked. The reply came with a raspy, sinister chuckle. "You know. Deep down, you know. Give in. Surrender and I shall show you mercy. I shall make the transition easy on your soul. You will not feel a thing."
Defiance. This was the only thing that the girl could muster, despite the fact that her hands were atremble from the fear she felt deep down. "I-I have found your book you foul thing! I have already begun to translate it! I will use it against you! I will not show you the same courtesy!" The shadowed creature slithered higher along the ceiling, looming over the poor girl as if to intimidate her. "Foolish girl. If you think that there is anything in there to help you, you are quite mistaken. Already it seeps into your mind. It eats at your soul. You have manifested its infection, and it will only be a matter of time. Give in, human. This is a battle you cannot win." Raevyn stepped forward with her head craned back, a fierce determination in her eye as she challenged his claims. "Then do it! If you are so confident, then show me you intentions!" The shadowy entity did not speak. It did not move. "You can't, can you? You are not strong enough. It's why the dreams stopped, is it not? It's why your emergences have been so far apart...?" It then dawned upon her, "You're... weak. Dying... You need me to survive. That's it, is it not?"
Those words cut through the demon's shadowy mass, a sword of determination and contempt piercing the creature right in its heart. Like a banshee, it shrieked a thousand shrieks and rushed at Raevyn as if to attack the girl. Her hands flew up, her eyes snapped shut and she tried to shield herself as best she could. The blackened mass exploded into a cloud of smoke as it made contact with pallid flesh, soon dissipating into the air as if it had never been there in the first place. Despite the realizations gained, despite the boost of hope that the creature was waning, Raevyn could not help to bite her lip with worry as she slumped into the chair she had originally set up for that terrible phantom of her dearest companion. She would need some time to dwell.