RP:Knowing Your Enemy

This is a Necromancer's Guild RP.

Summary: Lanlan goes looking for the Black Library in the Necromancer's Guild's tower and eventually finds Khitti there, doing paperwork to become the guild's new leader. After a bit of talking, she decides to allow him to pursue his intentions of learning phobomancy, but with one caveat: he has to learn it with her.

The Black Spire, The Dark Forest, Vailkrin

Khitti was in her office, on one of the midtier floors, the door opened to get a bit of circulation going between it and the window. Her eyes might as well have been bleeding thanks to all the paperwork she had to go through for her to officially take over the Necromancer’s Guild. Ugh. What was with all these guilds and paperwork? And why wasn’t she making Camina do this? “Sign here. Initial there. Date of birth here--wait… which birthday should I use?” Khitti did have two of them, after all. “Okay fine -original- birthdate. ‘Do you have any next of kin in the event of your death, whether it be by wayward spell, angry guildmembers, or apocalypse?’ Yes.” She wrote down Brand’s name. “‘Do you have any other you’d want contacted, in the event that your first choice is actually the one that murdered you?’” Khitti put down Meri, Quintessa, and Valrae’s names. “‘And what if -they- killed you?’ Hmmm.” The redhead tapped her chin with her shadow-ink pen. “I’ll just leave that blank for now, I guess.” She went back to signing and initialing her life away (again) (for like the third or fourth time) (at least one of those times were literal) and occasionally rubbing her eyes.

Lanlan is heralded somewhat loudly by the sound of his brass ferrule capped cane, and as its rhythmic tapping against the hard hematite floor reaches its zenith, the door is loudly swung open; to classrooms, offices, and laboratories. He’s definitely looking for something, or creating a map of the place, and trading mean looks to everyone he interrupts. Which is many people at this point, before at last, it’s Khitti whose office he approaches. He hastily grabs the handle and swings it open, intending to do what he’s been doing, and near violently shatter the occupants’ peace. “Oh!” He says, noticing Khitti swimming in paperwork. The one foot he intruded into her space, he slides back. He stands at the threshold wearing bright white slacks, shoes, and a tunic. A dark black vest with bright purple swirling runes, meant to imitate paisley, and a vibrant purple cloak. An outfit clearly meant to declare how much he is not ‘one of you’. “Khitti! So this is your office.” It’s a little awkward, but he powers through with lies. “Finally! I’ve been looking for you. Can I come in?”

Khitti had heard all that noise the drow had been making on the way to her office, but she tried so hard to ignore it. And yet, with a tower that was as quiet (at the moment) as the undead that usually occupied it, it was hard not to hear him. And so he was there and Khitti wasn’t sure if she should cringe or just jump out her open window. “Ah, one second.” She flipped back to that empty spot she’d left on the paperwork just a moment or two ago. ‘In the event that I kill myself because of people that just barge into my office, please tell Brand. He’ll understand. He hates people too.’ With a nod in approval at her own writing, she put the cap on her fountain pen and set it on the desk. It disappeared into a puff of purple shadows as Khitti shoved the paperwork aside. “Yeah, this is it. You can come in, I suppose. What is it that you want from the guild’s future leader?” Yes, she was ever so subtly throwing that out there.

Lanlan steps in like four small steps, not even enough to close the door all the way. “I was looking for–” then he’s stopped by surprise. “Con-congratulations! Wow look at that! We’re practically peers now!” Was this good or bad for him? He didn’t know. “I…knew you had it in you. Anyway…” he moves a little bit further in and sneaks a subtle glance toward her filings in case there were any with his name on it. “Actually I’ve just been giving myself a tour of this place, but I haven’t been able to find this Black Library yet.” He doesn’t even ask her to show him, just politely waits for her to offer.

Khitti tilted her head at his stammering. Hm. “And why would you be looking for that? House Mahara doesn’t typically let non-Necromancer’s Guild members enter the library. So, I could take you there, but then I’d have to kill you. Which is convenient really, considering the fact that it’s beneath the cemetery.” She tapped her chin with her finger. “Or maybe I could donate your body to the guild.” Dramatically, she sighed and shrugged. “Can’t be helped I guess.” She pretended to look through more paperwork, though she knew exactly what she was looking for. “Oh, I guess you get to evade Vakmatharas again as it seems you -are- in fact a member. Curious, that.” She shoved the paperwork into her desk and stood up, taking a few steps over towards where he’d stopped. “I suppose I could take you there. But, first, you should probably tell me why you decided to join the guild.”

Lanlan paradoxically smiles at her threat, an unfortunate defense mechanism most likely. “Wouldn’t be worth the effort, I’m too slippery it would take too long.” And when she finds his documentation, he slightly bends while throwing out one arm in a dramatic bow. “Of course! I’ll tell you.” He instinctually makes way for her as she moves toward him while determining the best way to answer. For some reason, the simple truth always seemed like the worst, and in fact it rarely even occurred to him. “Oh! How kind of you to offer, please lead the way. But considering the type of enemy that we are -both- engaged in fighting,” he begins, extra emphasis on the fact that they are teammates, “I think it’s only natural that I should learn how to defend against the various types of magics that these unsavory types employ. Besides I happen to have a sort of natural affinity for some things you might consider ‘dark’ magic.”

Khitti smirked at the drow. Perhaps she was actually joking about killing him. She’d always had a dry, morbid humor that not many understood. As he stepped aside, she’d led the way out of her office, down the hall, down the staircase, and out the door into the Dark Forest as she listened to him. “I suppose I should not be surprised that you do have an affinity for such, but personality-wise, you just don’t seem to be the type, even if we do share a common enemy. I’d question Valrae too if she decided to join, even if she has likely used dark magic before.” Khitti shrugged. “I didn’t used to be the type either, but I just got used to it, I guess.”

Lanlan becomes slightly suspicious when she leads them outside. Because the library -must- be connected to the main building, so why would she be leading him away from it unless it was for something nefarious. Though she didn’t seem like a murderer unless it was during a fit of passion. He’s wary, but he continues going along with her. But perhaps the preoccupation with being alive makes it more difficult to be deceptive. “I admit I find some of it repulsive and unnatural,” he confesses, “but I’d like to not be so afraid all the time.” Then he hears how that sounds. “Because they employ so much fear magic, of course! I need to learn how to defend against it.” He hurries up to her, tapping his cane several degrees quicker to be able to see her face since she was a little ahead of him. “What do you mean you didn’t use to be that type? What type were you before?”

Khitti surprisingly led Lanlan out of the forest too! And into the city! Maybe she intended on feeding him to the masses of undead that lived there. That would be quite an unfortunate and uneventful way for him to go, and he needed oomph and pizzazz and all that for his death, clearly. “It’s perfectly fine for you to have favored subjects. The black tides--that is, my shadow magic--was a “natural” affinity for me. It wasn’t mine from birth, but I excel more there than I do a lot of the other sub-arts of necromancy. I’m not fond of… reanimation and working with the bodies and all that. Which is silly I guess, but…” Khitti shrugged. There was a long story behind all of that and she was certain Lanlan was likely not one to hear it. And then he actually asked and she gave him a rather uncertain look. “I didn’t like having magic in the beginning. Besides it being the type that killed my entire village, magic is illegal in my homeland, so it was bashed into our skulls from the start that any magic of any sort is bad, so it just felt wrong. Being what I thought then was permanently fused with the essence of someone from the Shadow Plane didn’t help either.” She paused a moment at the cemetery gates. “That was her, by the way. The thing that helped us with that whole thing with Kasyr. Half the reason why you’re even alive now. It was Amarrah. I guess she’s a shade now.” Clearly, Khitti was still somewhat confused over this. She sighed and opened the gate and continued on inside. “Fear magic is an advanced art. Something I’ve considered a few times, on whether or not to try to pair it with my shadows. You’ll learn a little about it in your intro book that you’ll receive if you haven’t already.” Eventually, she’d come to a stop and motioned to a staircase. “Down there is the Black Library. It’s not a part of the tower, as the tower itself is fairly new and this library has been in Vailkrin for a very long time. Advanced arts are off limits until you reach a certain rank. But… Considering you sound like a special case, I might be tempted to allow you into some of the material ahead of time. On one condition, of course.”

Lanlan only thought about dying when it came up. That being said, he’d been thinking about dying very very often lately. Perhaps he needed to start working on some kind of life insurance policy, and in that case he was obviously in the right place. But he wasn’t there yet. As he listens to her, he finds they actually have some things in common. “No reanimation? I always thought that the main reason people joined this guild was because they longed so much to bring back someone they loved…” Then he shook his head and chuckled, “Or you know, wanted to control people who wouldn’t be missed.” That seemed the more obvious type, the haunting black cloaked villain resurrecting bodies to do his bidding! “But the black tides are definitely the most noble and beautiful of dark magics,” he says somewhat haughtily, as if he were the best one to judge such things. “Magic…illegal? I’m surprised I haven’t heard more people,” he clears his throat while he prepares his new voice, in her accent, “talking like this! It sound like a -terrible- place.” He stops using the accent after that, in case it was offensive. He’d like to not be sometimes. But when she talks about Amarrah, he’s reminded of his own experience being possessed. “...She saved us but.” He feels as if what he’s about to say is controversial, and steels himself for the backlash. “If it was up to me, people who take over another’s body through possession or magical domination would suffer the most -severe- of punishments. Do you…let her? Amarrah?” And Haladavar hadn’t suffered enough. Neither had Ernest, for that matter. Finally, they reach the library, and he becomes visibly and obviously happy. “Oh! I knew you weren’t just leading me somewhere to die! See that? If only we could all trust each other more.” But he quiets down, she isn’t letting him have free reign just yet. His smile turns from joyous to mischievous, “One condition? Of course, tell me what it is.”

Just Above The Black Library, Vailkrin

Khitti || “Quintessa’s thing is poisons--she’s even the instructor of it. Another higher up, Bradyn, is the instructor of sigils, curses, and incantations. So, everyone has something they’re good at. We do like for people to study and even participate in the other arts, at least somewhat so they can show that they have a working knowledge of it, at least. Dark magic is a lot like arcane: there’s a lot of subcategories that can be mixed and matched. Back when I helped Larewen Dragan lead the guild, I even opened it up to non-necromancers. Healers can learn much regarding anatomy and poisons. Rogue-types can benefit from the black tides.” Khitti shrugged again. “As for my homeland, I’m not surprised. They especially would’ve been terrified of it after hearing about what happened to my village. I don’t even know what they said about me, beyond me being banished. And Amarrah? I… don’t know. It used to be that she'd do it whenever she felt like it. And maybe she was just running off that muscle memory. But she seemed… remorseful? It’s been a long time since I felt like that… It was literally ripping me apart from the inside out.” Khitti looked pensive for a moment, but ultimately shook her head. “Anyway. No, I did not lead you here to actually kill you,” she said with a smirk. “Don’t get caught taking books from the restricted section or you’ll have to deal with Bradyn. If you -do- require something from there, try to have Quintessa or I with you. And the one condition? You let me learn with you.” She waited to see whether or not he was alright with it before continuing. “But feel free to learn without me too. I do plenty of research and whatnot in my own time too.”

Lanlan became a little incredulous as she told him about the others’ strengths, but specifically when she said they like people to study in participate. Him, participate? “I dabbled in poisons once and I know uhh a few runes,” he said, telling one truth and one vast understatement. “But what do you mean by participate. Like a demonstration?” That would be almost like blasphemy for him. Especially since many of the people he might show his power to could be enemies. Then again, that shouldn’t be a concern if he earnestly did want to be allies. Well, did he? “Maybe I can participate. I can see the wisdom in that. But you were lucky to be banished.” Imagine if she wasn’t? Who would’ve saved him just a few days ago. “Maybe a lot of us are.” That’s the best thanks she would get at this point. “If she was really remorseful, then…” he actually doesn’t know what a shade -should- do to apologize, he just has animosity toward things that control others. “Then I don’t know. She should…write a letter. She did save us but, she could’ve asked? Right?” He has no idea. “Fine! Fine, I won’t get caught taking anything,” he says, choosing his words carefully. But learning with someone else? Like at the same time? He’s never done that before. At first he’s disinclined to respond, but then he realizes how it might actually be helpful. “Actually. Yes. Because if I need to learn how to defend against it, I’ll need someone to try to use it against me won’t I? It would make things go by so much faster.”

Khitti can almost see the gears turning in Lanlan’s head and it’s… kind of a lot for Khitti. She was surprised he was able to think critically and outside the box like this. So far, it seemed like he was unable to, unless it was solely about himself. She tried hard to hide the fact that she was a little bewildered by him, but it still showed now and then as she spoke. “Participate. As in like attending classes. We basically run like the Mage’s Guild here and some of the other academies. Lectures. Study hall. Lab work. Except we just focus on the necromantic arts, unless perhaps something from one of the other schools of magic can assist us, which sometimes they can. It’s why I joined the Mage’s Guild in the first place.” She chuckled a little at his thoughts towards Amarrah. “That’s just how she is, but… I dunno. I’m gonna go look for her in the Shadow Plane soon. I’m pretty sure she’s there.” Khitti sighed somewhat, then turned her attention back towards the way they’d come from. “I need to get back to that paperwork. And yes, that’s precisely why we tend to study and train with one other. Even if you practiced something on the dead, it’s still wise to have someone with you as back up in case something goes wrong. And something almost -always- goes wrong.” She paused. “You… stay out of trouble.” Another pause. “Or something. Just don’t get caught.” She was very insistent on that. Almost as if she were saying he could do the thing, but she wasn’t going to be the one to say that out loud. She had, after all, “borrowed” many a book from Larewen years ago. “You don’t want to anger Bradyn. He might actually make good on any threats he might give you, which may or may not include taking out your organs while you’re still alive.”

Lanlan knew that in theory, the Mage’s Guild did run classes with an actual student and an actual teacher. He just wasn’t a part of them. “I thought those things were only for idiots,” he says matter of factly. Maybe it’s part of the reason he was only really good at one thing, and dabbled in others. He didn’t consider that though. “Back to the shadow plane, huh.” He thought of telling her she needs to stay here to focus on ending the threat of Caluss, but that seemed vaguely dangerous. “Don’t get killed out there, it would be bad for everyone.” Her insistence that he not get caught was threatening to make him think she didn’t want him to get hurt. But it must not be that. “Don’t worry, if I do it won’t come down on you. And…” he was unsure if he should make this joke, for his own well being. “My organs are already promised to another.” After that he descends into the black library, to begin a haunting enlightenment.