RP:Homecoming
Part of the Agitation Arc
Summary: Kovl returns to his home in Xalious after a lengthy sabbatical. He finds an exhausted Josleen and the two friends catch up. Josleen tells him of the terror that's befallen the village.
Picnic Area (Xalious Park)
Kovl sighs as he leans back on his hands, sitting atop a deserted picnic table. He watches the couples at the park enjoying their time together as they bite into their sandwiches, careful not to bite too aggressively. No, no. Never bite your sandwich too aggressively. One must be a lady, shouldn't she? However, Kovl isn't here to watch the couples be overly polite. Instead, the pixie came for the colors, the smells, and the sounds. As magnificent as his 'enhanced' senses told him the park was, his pounding head from his episode last night took some of the enjoyment away. Kovl groans. The pixie's attention turns to the sky. The clouds seem to ripple, contracting in some spots while expanding in others as if the sky were put into an intricate kaleidoscope. Time becomes lost, and the pixie begins to feel the high. His eyes, which were dark green normally, now seem to glow into a deep, bottomless blue, one side effect of the 'sap' he is experiencing.
Josleen arrives at the park trailing two young human boys who look to be about 8 and 6 years old. A picnic basket hangs on her forearm. The handle’s weight rubs red against her thin flesh. She’s lost weight since the last time Kovl saw her. New frown lines shadow her face, too. Although she still wears her make-up and hair just so, her weary expression betrays the youthful, carefree demeanor she tries to cultivate. The boys are hyper and run in circles as she unpacks tuna sandwiches. “Boys!” They run over, claim a sandwich each without sitting. “Can we go to the Fountain?” Josleen sighs and nods. They bound off, all energy and disregard. She sits at the table alone with her sandwich placed beneath her stiffly upheld chin. Her back is straight, shoulders low, hands squared on her lap. He stares ahead at nothing in particular. Her vacant gaze suggests her mind is elsewhere, far away from the sandwich and this park. The laughter of a neighboring couple snaps her out of it and she glances around and finally spies the pixie. “Kovl?” She asks incredulously. A smile quickens across her lips. “Kovl! Where have you been?” The question chirps with the easy cheer all well-groomed ladies can recall at will.
Kovl continues to stare at the sky, and though he hears a familiar voice, the realization his name was called doesn't hit him. Seconds pass: not enough to insinuate the pixie ignored Josleen, but long enough to make his reaction awkward. Wait for it... Three... Two... "Huh?" Kovl's head snaps toward the voice. "Josleen?" His wings start, and the illusionist flies his way carefully to the woman. "I was on a trip for research. What have you been doing?" Kovl's foot tests Josleen's table as if he is testing the tempurature of a lake. His pure blue eyes look to his friend curiously.
Josleen‘s face pinches in concern as she watches Kovl’s uncharacteristically lethargic flight and timid landing. “I… lots of things. It’s been a long time. Don’t know where to start, but the broad strokes are that I am still here, in Xalious.” Other important broad strokes are left conveniently undisclosed. “Where did your travels take you?” She pulls a bottle of apple juice from the picnic basket and offers some to Kovl. He can deal with the scale issues with his magic as usual. Josleen remembers her egg sandwich and takes a bite. Up close, it’s clear Josleen is traveling a long suffered road. Her skin looks more worn and rough, eyes less bright, hair less lush. At a distance she looks her same old self. The cracks are only visible to those closest to her.
Kovl examines Josleen closely as she responds, and his eyes follow the cracks along her face. "I heard of something that could help my illusions, so I checked it out." To change the subject... "Josleen, you look terrible!" The pixie blinks as he realizes he just faux pas'd and then shrugs off the idea. Kovl makes his way to the bottle of apple juice and uses his body weight to tip it toward himself. A small sip is taken, and the bottle thunks back onto its base as he finishes his drink. "Thanks."
Josleen stiffens when Kovl insults her and forces her face to go blank. Attacking her vanity is one of the most direct blows to her sense of being. Tempted as she may be to swing back with comment about his behavior, she instead flashes a synthetic smile, turns the other cheek, and glances towards the south west, towards the the fountain of corruption. Unsure of what gossip, if any, Kovl has heard, she refrains from tipping her hand. “I hope it was a fun trip then,” she says without looking at him. Too much pain has closed her off a little. She’s reluctant to lower her defenses now.
Kovl watches as Josleen stands, and the pixie stumbles back a little, feeling a bit off balance. "Josleen, stop." The pixie takes flight, readying his wings to chase after his hurt friend if needed. "I didn't mean it like that. I mean, you look worn. Tired. Please stay. It's been too long." The pixie stares at Josleen's cracks in her skin and sees them growing like canyons across flesh. He closes his eyes and shakes his head. Whoa, too much movement! Kovl forgets for a moment to keep his wings active and dips clumsily toward the ground before catching himself. "Please."
Josleen eyes Kovl in silence for moment. She sighs and her posture eases a little. Apparently he passed whatever test she pitted him against in her head. “I am tired,” she says with a shake of her head. “It’s been tough living in Xalious recently. I suppose you wouldn’t know…” She drags her fingers across her lips pensively then rests her chin in her palm, elbow on the table. “Though you don’t look up to the task of hearing recent news. It’s fairly grim.” Pause. “Have you been drinking?”
Kovl dives to the table and catches the surface with his boots as if to prove a point to himself. "If I were drunk, could I do that?" The pixie lets a smile cross his face. "What has happened in Xalious? I've been sleeping for the past week when I made it home." The pixie pauses. "A long trip like that sure makes one tired. I've not yet gone to the Mage's Tower. I've not caught up on gossip. Did a cat grow wings and make Xalious plead fealty?" That was Kovl's weak attempt at a joke in his current state. Seconds pass, and whether Josleen begins talking or not, the pixie interjects. "Sorry about the looking terrible thing."
The corner of Josleen’s lips flap in and out of a smile the cat-with-wings joke. “I wish, she murmurs.” Elbows on the table still, she holds her hands before her face, briefly rests her forehead on her hands then looks up, taking a deep breath to summon her energy. He’s right. She is very, very tired. “Well.. I suppose it started in the early fall…” she begins. She explains at length and with a flair for story telling the following events: A series of black magical storm, very small, began rolling over Xalious. Inky black corrosive rain destroyed some crops, this park. [She waves a hand dismissively at his apology.] Turns out the storms were the end result of failed summoning attempts by necromancers who were worshipping a lich that at the time was also attacking Frostmaw. The necromancers were briefly apprentices in the Mage’s Guild. The lich had two phylacteries. The second was Hildegarde’s heart. Hildegarde was stabbed through the heart, killed, to kill the lich. Since then Aramoth’s High Priestess Leone has resurrected Hildegarde, and Frostmaw has its own troubles now, but Josleen chooses to focus on Xalious. The necromancers were not defeated, however. They are trying to resurrect the ancient drow sect called The Order of the Shade. Earlier last month, they succeeded in summoning a terrible, huge, evil undead creature from another plane. It is at large in Hollow and said to be the harbringer of the end days. Josleen, during this time, has been conducting investigations and research and trying to with the the Guild, but the Guild is secretive and has been uncooperative. Also, there is political unrest in Xalious. Some people, including Josleen, want to town to become a democracy with a mayor. Once all of this has been dishes, she opens for questions, so to speak.
Kovl moves to sit, but his tiny hand misses the table, ending in his butt plopping against the table. As Josleen tells her story, the world begins to tilt and move, and Kovl swears the table is breathing. The illusionist grasps at the table to keep it from tumbling over in the world's wake. Of course, none of this was really happening. Kovl's mind is a wonderland right now. The pixie's gaze snaps back up to Josleen as she mentions first the necromancers' involvement in the Mage's Guild and then Hildegarde's death. Anger begins to swell throughout Kovl's body as he learns of these events, a feeling that is intensified by the sap's activity within him. The pixie's skin gets hotter. Whether this is a result of an earlier lesson from Svilfon or an effect of the drug is unknown to Kovl. The mage speaks before he thinks. The Guild's leaders are people he deeply respects. What if they have a good reason for not involving themselves with these affairs? Kovl has no capacity to think about that as he answers. "The Guild released these necromancers with secrets on the world, and the Guild is going to contain their mess." Whether this statement is true to reality is unknown to Kovl, but he sure -feels- he is right. "I'll make sure of it." Josleen's statements about Xalious' political layout and aspirations for it fall to the side. Kovl's distress is clearly evident.
Josleen smirks incredulously at Kovl’s assertion that he will convince the Guild to do more than they currently have. “I hope you deliver on that, Kovl. We could certainly use the Guild’s power, though I hope they work with the villagers rather than work over our heads, if you know what I mean. You know my father is a respected member of the Guild.” Any other connections, as in via Ezekiel, are deftly left out of the equation. “I have always admired the Guild, loved it even. But we help our loved ones be their best selves, don’t we? I believe that the Guildis its best self when it represents and serves the will of all villagers, not just its members. We all coexist here. The Tower wouldn’t be where it is without the village supplying it. I think the Guild leadership forgets that sometimes.” Her sandwich is only half eaten and sits there forgotten.
Kovl nods weakly as Josleen acknowledges Kovl's promise. Doubts fly into his mind as she continues to speak about what it means to be a guild and what the village has done for it. Well, it's too late to back down now. "Of course, they'll help. Do you know who I am?" The pixie forces a smile. "I'll convince them." The pixie stands and stumbles over the 'tilting' table thrown from the 'tilting' earth. "Um, hey. I can't talk with you about this anymore right now. I'm feeling a little dizzy. I'll talk with the guild. I swear." Kovl's artificially blue eyes move back up to Josleen, swearing their honesty.
Josleen chuckles briefly at his playful manner. It’s hard to sustain mirth in these dark times, but it’s always a pleasant surprise to hear herself laugh. Her hands shoots out instinctively to steady him as he starts to teeter over. “Alright…” she says as he starts to excuse himself. Concern twists her lips to one side. “But Kovl. You alright? Why are you dizzy? And your eyes. They’re dark. Are you feeling well?”
Kovl isn't expecting Josleen's hand to steady him, and as soon as she makes contact, Kovl stumbles in the opposite direction. The pixie stops and takes a breath, realizing how silly it is that he jolted from her hand movement. He pats her hand as if he meant to do that all along. "I'm just a little sick. I'll be better tomorrow." Kovl looks up at Josleen and gives her his cheesiest grin to convince her.
Josleen doesn’t believe Kovl but is too polite to say so. He seems in control of himself enough to not be at risk, at least. “Well then. Take care, yea? And don’t be a stranger. Hard to miss each other in a village as small as this one.” She smiles, genuinely for the second time during their encounter.
Kovl nods at Josleen's words. "You'll hear from me now that I'm in town. And don't worry. I'm sure my family can whip up something for this illness." The pixie smirks and takes off, heading in the direction of the Mage's Tower for the first time in months. "Bye, Josleen. Thank you for talking!"