RP:For What You've Done And For What You Will Do

Part of the The God of Undeath Arc

Part of the You Must Have Been Human Arc

This is a Necromancer's Guild RP.

Summary: Khitti asks Kanna to show her around Kanna's new garden in Vailkrin's Dark Forest, where Kanna's given a gift and a bit of hope.

Garden of the Dead, The Dark Forest, Vailkrin

Khitti checked her satchel as she walked up to the garden’s gates. Was it in there? Okay yep good. Two seconds later. Are you SURE it’s in there? Yes. Yes it is. Khitti sighed and patted her bag. This was going to be fiinnne. She’d asked Kanna to meet her there under the guise of wanting a tour--never mind the fact that Khitti’d been there before and positively gushed over the coolness of it all. After a moment of taking a deep breath and letting it out, the redhead pushed open the gate and took a step in, olive-green eyes scanning the area for the necrobotanist. And if she wasn’t there? Well, Khitti would content herself with watching the skeletons as they went about their work. And trying not to be slightly jealous about the fact that she didn’t think about that first and has to take care of her own garden like a commoner.

Kanna wasted no time when she got the invitation from one of the top active necromancers to make sure her garden project looked pristine for its first visitor. Tarantulas that wanted to feast on the fungus toads were gently ushered to the safe undergrowth, and the skeletons were cleaned of owl pellets and unused spiderwebs. After a few beats of Khitti scanning the garden, its creator steps out from behind a thick mushroom trunk. “Provectus Khitti!” With her silvery curls pulled back into two buns on either side of her head, Kanna bows her head in greeting before crossing the stone walkway to greet her. Kanna stands nearly a head below the necromancer. Blue eyes shining bright even in the perpetual Vailkrin darkness, she looks up at her with admiration and excitement. “I’m so glad you could make it! Apologies that this is so far out, but it was the first plot of land I found that could support the barriers. I think bringing it this far in from the known portals will make it harder for non-necromancers to find this place in case of looters too, don’t you think? Oh! I have a kettle going too if you’d like something to drink!” Kanna stops herself as she realizes she’s run out of air in her body. Strange, that should have lasted a lot longer. She didn’t talk that much already, did she? Taking a deep breath to replenish her supply, she adds again, “I’m happy you could be here.”

Khitti shook her head at Kanna’s apology, offering the undead woman a smile. “It’s no bother. I actually used to live here, at House Dragana. Spent more time in these woods probably than a lot of people that have lived here for decades or centuries,” she said with a smirk. “I frequent all the creepy woods in Lithrydel. The one most like the one near my home village is the Fog Forest.” She’d nod then in agreement, “I think it'll be fine from looters here. Surprisingly, my own garden like this in Cenril has survived despite the issues there. And I’m certain anyone that tries to take things from this place without permission would find themselves hunted until they returned it. That aside, I would love some tea.” Should she bring up the thing now? Khitti was unsure and was positively brimming with anxious energy. Regardless, she’d follow Kanna wherever the undead took her. “How have you been? Since the tree? You put yourself through so much… I was uncertain of whether or not to ask you to perform at the ball.”

Kanna motions for Khitti to follow her into the mushroom forest lining one side of the garden. Mushroom caps as large as loveseats block out the twin moons above, but the pathway lined with bioluminescent fungi of every color lights the way ahead. One patch of glow-in-the-dark fungus hops out, revealing a large toad underneath. “Aren’t they cute? I had to trade a lot of Dragana jewelry to get the trader to give these up.” Kanna commentates, seeming to ignore Khitti’s questions at first. She leads her to a mushroom trunk that has been hollowed out and fitted with simple window panels in the holes. At the center of the hollow is a firepit where a teapot far too pristine to be out in the middle of the woods whistles. In the light of the fireplace, Kanna removes the lacy gloves from her hands, revealing warped scar tissue where normal skin should have replaced her missing limbs. “While there were no psychological effects from what we did at the tree, I fear that the benefactor that granted me undeath is slowly taking away his powers as punishment. My hands should have grown back unscathed.” Kanna replaces the gloves and pours the hot water into two mugs. “I’m glad you asked me to perform, though. I’m a musician before all else.” Looking up at Khitti, her expression more serious, she asks, “And yourself? It seemed like you and the pretty girl with the nature affinity took a hard hit.”

Khitti followed the undead, taking in all the sights as she was led along. “It’s all entirely wonderful!” She let out an actual audible gasp once they got to the hollowed out mushroom, her eyes as wide as her kid’s when he saw something that fascinated him. No clue where he got that from. Nope. “Kanna, you live like one of the princesses in my fairytale books. No! This is more like… the one where the girl falls down the rabbit hole…” Was it even possible to reach this level of cottagecore? Alas, probably not for Khitti. She frowned as she turned her attention towards Kanna’s hands, crimson brows knitted together. “Dare I ask who…?” She went to work crafting two bandage-like bits of shadow magic as the girl poured the tea for the two of them. “Here. Take these. It should hopefully help heal them more. I’ve used it on Quintessa in the past and it helped her.” Khitti shook her head. “I’m alright. I’m not sure about Penelope though… I still need to check in on her as well. But she seemed well enough at the ball. I wanted to bring you something too. To thank you for your help with the druid tree. I expect we’ll need the same with the one in Xalious when the time comes and I don’t want you to think that your help isn’t appreciated. Both with healing the trees -and- for helping with the ball.”

Kanna takes the shadow-bandages with a grateful nod. “You can make these with Black Tides…?” She asks in awe as she looks them over, making sure to take in every textured detail as she wraps her hands with them. Though she has no sense of touch, there seems to be a sense of relief as the magic starts to take effect. “Quintessa called it the Great Insectoid. From what she found, the magical signature I have is identical to the poison in the trees that--.” She almost said ‘we’, but thinks better of it, “That the vandals used.” She holds out the tea for Khitti to take. “I’m glad that my help was useful. In a way, this garden is a gift to you and the rest of the necromancers as well. In the event that I become incapacitated because of this, the new poisons and related antitodes discovered will be safer out here than in the graveyard where non-necromancers can freely traverse.”

Khitti’s features took on their own serious look as she listened to Kanna speak about her undeath. “Caluss did this to you?!” She did her best to contain her anger, but it was clear she wasn’t pleased. Eventually, she sighed. “What do you think will happen… if Caluss does take back that power?” The frown returned, as Khitti was reminded about her own past with undeath and how she really didn’t have much choice in it, even if she’d said ‘yes’. She took her tea and sipped it carefully, the warmth of it seeking to pacify her. “And yes, I can make those with the black tides. I think anyone that trains in that art should be able to, even though my magic comes straight from the Shadow Plane itself. I ended up joining the Healer’s Guild when I realized I could use it to heal. There’s more than enough people that can heal with holy magic or herbs, but not enough that can help the undead and people that depend on dark magic.” The redhead drank a bit more tea, then reached into her satchel and removed a thin, square metal box from it to hand over to the other bard . “I’m glad I had this made for you then, on the off chance your powers should wane.” In it was a diadem similar to the ones handed out at the Yule ball, in that it was enchanted as well. “It’s made from yew and willow, for their connection to death and dark magic. Hellebore and belladonna are woven into it.” She motioned to the slightly pink-tinted white flowers and the dark purple deadly nightshade berries. “The hellebore can be plucked from it and they harden into a metal-like state to be used like throwing stars. The belladonna berries dry when picked, so you can either use it in your alchemical work or they can be crushed and blown at a victim to poison them. And finally, the teardrop crystal hanging in the front is made of obsidian from the volcano called Ashfall Peak in the Shadow Plane. I’m sure you can feel its latent dark energy. Draw on it when you need it. The energy may run low after prolonged use, but it only needs a bit of time to recharge. The hilt of one of my swords came from the same place.” Khitti went to drink more tea to let Kanna inspect her new crown, but she stopped short when she remembered one more thing. “Oh! It’s enchanted to look however you wish it to. I didn’t want to stifle your creativity if you wanted to play around with it a little.”

Kanna runs a bandaged finger over the delicate entwining of wood and accents. Though she cannot feel the ridges of the willow, nor the satin feel of the hellebore, she can feel the amount of care taken to ensure that this was properly crafted to last for many moons. “This…” Her eyebrows furrow as she looks up. “If I could cry right now, I would… I’ve never received a gift like this before, so I’ll be sure to take extra measures to ensure it's always safe.” Kanna carefully mounts the diadem onto the crown of her head. As if responding to her soul, the yew and willow curves to rest behind her ears. Something Khitti had said before sticks, and Kanna mulls it over. “Healing the undead… Would such a thing be possible among others infected with the same curse that I have?” Kanna smiles. “If my time as an undead, or rather, being a part of Lithrydel is coming to an end, then I think I’ll do some investigation as to whether I could do so.” She talks about the end as if she were discussing whether a malbec or a merlot would pair better with a dish. There’s a flash of a faraway look in her eyes for only a moment. “I believe we’ll be going to the Shadow Plane soon, at least from what I heard from Quintessa and Leralynn. I wonder if I’ll get to see Ashfall Peak for myself…”

Khitti smiled as she watched Kanna put on the diadem, grateful at the choices she made for its creation and the fact that the undead approved. “I think that it could be possible. It might take a lot of work. Some of them might be too far gone however. I think, at the very least, they could be brought back to the point that you are at. Where they may be undead forever, if they wished it, but maybe not return back to their former selves. We might have to put our fate in the gods with that one. I had to, when I sought out a cure to rid myself of my vampirism years ago. I killed and died for it. We had no real way to know that I’d come back, but I eventually did. I think, though, that if we are able to bring them back to sentience, though still undead, “I think they should be given the choice of whether or not to remain in undeath.” Meaning, of course, that they’d put them down if needed. “They didn’t choose this. Just like I didn’t truly have a choice in becoming a vampire back then.”

Kanna looks up at the near-celebrity with wonder. She had heard of her vampirism and the vague details of her quest to rid at least herself of the curse. While the bard’s memory of her own return to sanity was muddled, she was sure that Caluss’ work was weak enough to not require a full ritual. The Insectoid was no god like Vakmatharas, just a failed demigod. “From what I’ve parsed from Cenril, all variations of undead that are not vampires have become heavily frowned upon. There are rumors of plans by the mayor’s team to have the entire quarantine zone incinerated to create new jobs for its reconstruction. If those undead are able to gain sentience and wish to explore their second life, I suppose making sure they’re in a stable-enough condition to travel to Vailkrin would be needed; I wonder if I could do something now even though I’m not ahh…” Out of air again. It was always troublesome to gauge where she was at. A deep breath, and Kanna continues. “I suppose that’s looking too far ahead, though. I’d like to explore if the others like me could be brought back to sentience as well.” Kanna smiles up at the necromancer. “I knew it’d be great to have you out here. You’ve given me a lot to think about. Thank you, Khitti.”

Khitti had been so wrapped up in her thoughts about Caluss and the undead that Khitti had completely forgotten to acknowledge Kanna’s want to go to the volcano. “We can certainly go some day. There’s nothing stopping us. Leralynn needs to go to the druid tree’s mirror in the Shadow Plane though, and Ashfall Peak is where our Rynvale lies. But we will go. I promise.” Returning back to the other part of the conversation, Khitti pressed her lips into a grim line at the new rumors. “I’m not going to let that happen,” she said, finishing off her tea and handing the cup to the undead. “I know Valrae won’t stand for that kind of discrimination either. I know Cenril’s got its own issues, but it doesn’t need to become like Frostmaw or Trist’oth with their xenophobia.” She stood finally and sighed, realizing it was probably time for her to go. “We’ll figure this out soon and I’m gonna kick that Great Insectoid’s mandibles in for starting all of it. You know where to find me if you need more healing. And if you want to take any cuttings from the plants in my garden in Cenril to add to yours, you may do so.” She tried her best to give Kanna a smile despite her emotion flaring from the news in Cenril.