RP:Masks We Wear
Part of the Wholehearted Wanderers Arc
Part of the Once Upon a Midnight Dreary Arc
Part of the You Must Have Been Human Arc
Summary: The mysterious singer that goes by Astanet unmasks herself to Kanna, and in return, Kanna allows her own mask to drop, if only for a moment.
Bard's Guild
Serene music plays in this area as a woman blows into a pitch pipe looking instrument, the sounds quickly calming you, almost putting you to sleep. She continues to play her object, the skills of this musician astounding and awe inspiring as she easily transforms mere notes into an awesome melody of mixed harmonies. You begin to get even more sleepy, though you spy a door behind her, perhaps you could get to it, if you weren't so tired and suddenly craving to leave this place as a nap is not on your daily agenda.
It is a quiet day in this spot Vailkrin. Well, to be technical, it is never daytime in Vailkrin, not that anyone actually cares. It is also not technically completely in Vailkrin, as it sits perfectly outside the grey area that marks the end of Craughmoyle’s tunnels, the end of the tunnel that runs beneath Vailkrin, and the portals to the different cities. It is perfectly neutral ground, which Kanna enjoys for the purposes of her endeavours. The purposely nameless bardess takes her residency on the stage, while Kanna sits at a corner table marking down the differences from rumor from known tips for the stolen items. Her curls, once a deep chestnut, but now turned a silvery-grey from the stress of Alithyk Caluss’ curse, are tied up in twin buns to keep out of her face as she works. Yet, it seems almost too quiet. Peacefulness was not something that Kanna was familiar nor comfortable with, yet, but she would have to learn.
Quintessa is definitely of the persuasion of people who knew how to take advantage of neutral ground, and the Hall of Guild’s was no different. Still, Quintessa arrives looking not quite like herself, but instead as Astanet, the blonde-haired feline songstress that she always used when dealing with bard business. Finally, Astanet would get her chance to shine, having finally caught Kanna relatively alone. With bundles of books and parchments almost overflowing from her grasp, the barefoot feline pushes the door to this area open and peeks inside, yellow irises flashing in the low light. “H-hello?” her light, airy voice disrupts the silence as she tiptoes in, finally spotting Kanna in the corner. “Oh! Perfect, you’re here…” Glancing around to make sure she wasn’t interrupting anything, she carries her bundle over to Kanna’s table, setting it on the adjacent one before she offers her a polite bow. “I never really got to showcase my skills last time we met so I was sorta hoping you’d have time for it- I promise, it won’t take long.”
Kanna looks up as the soft footfalls and airy voice call out for her. “Hi, we’re open…” The greeting trails off as she sees the familiar face, but the human’s eyes light up in recognition. “You go by Astanet, correct? It’s so great to see you!” Kanna stands up and returns the half bow in greeting. “Acanthus told me about the private show you did in Larket a while back, she said you were like an Ascendi up on stage.” She pauses as the feline’s words sink in. “You’d like to sing for us?” She looks over at the woman on stage, who gives a nod and steps off the stage. It's almost as if the second the seaborn’s foot touches the carpet instead of the stage, she transforms into a shy wallflower. “Acanthus told me to-- to get you a… a um… a pitch pipe next time you came by…” The nameless bard bows her head and disappears behind the curtain, leaving the two singers alone. Kanna’s eyes are full of stars as she looks up at the feline. “I’d love to hear your work!”
Quintessa beams when Kanna compares her to an Ascendi, her cheeks growing a bright red, even if they weren’t her own words. “Aye, m’name’s Astanet. Sometimes I go by Asta for short, um…” She glances over to her pile of books, then at the empty stage, and then back to Kanna, a word on the tip on her tongue. “Okay, let's start with a song…” She moves to grab one of her notebooks, flipping through the pages to find the right one. “Alright so… I wrote this song to be sung with a string instrument accompanying it but since I don’t know how to play one I suppose we’ll have to do this acapella.” She gives Kanna a fanged grin as she takes the stage, leaving the booklet behind once she knows which song to sing. “I wrote this song about a girl I like…” Finally, Astanet inhales slowly and begins, uncertain at first but quickly building up on her natural confidence. “There's blood in the water, and they're coming to bring me down. What's hope with no savior? Yeah, there's no one in this ghost town…” As she finishes this next part she begins to sway back and forth, slowly, softly like a leaf in the breeze. “She looked right through me- And I turned to stone. Medusa, Medusa, I've been here alone.” The emotion begins to rise in her voice, her innate fae magic causing the room to dim and shift with cool colors on the walls. “And I crumbled to pieces my body, my weakness is on the floor… And the wind will blow and blow and I won't be here no more…”
Perhaps it is the sleepless nights that are evident by the shadows under her eyes, or the stress of the job she has undertaken that shows its wear and tear by the ink stains and paper cuts on her fingers, but the way Astanet delivers her song and the pained undertone of the lyrics has an effect on the human. Kanna’s brows knit down to help her keep composure. Her eyes remain transfixed on the swaying movements and the changing hues behind Astanet. Before she has even realized it, Kanna has taken a seat again between the two tables as the song continues.
Quintessa continues, closing her eyes, allowing the song to take her like the waves of the ocean, her tone bittersweet, a hidden defiance under the sadness. “My wishing well has run dry, stars are dying in the sky. So I'll shed my blood and tears, I'll show no fear just to survive… She looked right through me and I turned to stone. Oh Medusa, Medusa, I've been here alone.” The next part she sings is wordless, a series of haunting but beautiful vowels that hang in the air like a siren’s call as she sways and dances, her beautiful darkness swirling around her in reaction to her budding magic. “She says, mortal one you've been chosen. You're beautiful, but you're broken. So hold on to this moment and fight until you're hopeless- There's secrets and riddles that live in these walls, there's ghosts of past heroes and I hear them call my name… We won't be tamed…” She pauses for a moment, knowing that instruments would fill this empty void normally but without them there is only the eerie echo of her voice. She opens her eyes finally, the effects of her magic slowly fading as she sings the chorus one last time. “She looked right through me- And I turned to stone. Medusa, Medusa, I've been here alone…” Once finished she awkwardly takes a step backwards and bows with a sheepish smile.
Kanna holds a hand to her face, only now just noticing that she failed to keep her tears back. “You… really love that girl.” The bardess wipes at her eyes with the back of her hand, taking a deep breath to regain her composure. “Acanthus was definitely right; you have what feels like an innate gift to channel the bardic elements around you. The effects of changing the lighting, is that something you know how to do consciously? I do it unconsciously sometimes if I am singing or playing a song that means a lot to me.” Kanna says airily to deflect from her tears, which fails because right after she says this, she sniffles. “Oh, come to think of it, she didn’t need to go to the back to get a spare pitch pipe, I still have a handful from the recruiting event. Do you have yours?”
Quintessa doesn’t realize she has tears forming too, but she blinks them away quickly. “I… do love her,” she admits, placing a hand on her chest. Amber eyes look around the room, watching the last traces of her magic fade away. “You mean… I’m doing that?” It made sense- that song was something very close to herself. She slowly makes her way down from the stage, a feeling of guilt hanging over her. Quintessa wanted to tell the truth about who she was. “No, I never received a pitch pipe. I must have forgotten mine,” she offers the bardess a smile that fades soon after, her yellow irises flickering away. “Kanna, there’s something else I need to tell you- but you have to promise not to tell anyone else, okay?” She locks eyes on the woman, meeting her gaze with deadly seriousness. “Promise me.”
Kanna opens the clasp of her satchel, and reaches her arm impossibly far inside which reveals that she has gone from her beat up, oversized rucksack to a bag of holding since she last left Vailkrin. “Ah!” She stands up straight and withdraws her arm, a pitch pipe in her hand. It is a circular little instrument no larger than the palm of one’s hand, with a slider that can align with the different musical keys engraved into the silvery surface. “I have had to keep many secrets in the short time I’ve been on this Hollow. For the person who sang so beautifully that it moved me to tears, an act that I haven’t experienced in many years, I am more than willing to keep one more.” Kanna says genuinely. There is no mask of the cheerful, flirtatious bardess, nor the mask of the good hostess that is helping the Bard’s Guild. In this moment, she is simply herself.
Quintessa bites her lip before reaching into a small satchel on her hip and pulling out a small pinch of fairy dust. She steps away from Kanna before slowly sprinkling it on her head, whispering the words of a dispel magic incantation. Slowly, as if water were poured on her head, blonde hair turns black- her feline ears disappear into wild strands of even more hair. Her skin pales, scars tear across her body, and she grows several inches. When she finally turns mixed matched eyes of hazel and blue upon Kanna she would certainly already recognize Quintessa for who she was. “It’s me,” she says, smiling with her mouth of all sharp teeth. “I created this identity a while ago to travel more freely and I… I dunno, I discovered a love for singing for coppers in Cenril even if I didn’t need them.” She turns the pipes over in her fingers idly, a little nervous about showing herself like this. “I suppose… You know who I wrote that song for now.” Quintessa wants to reach out and hug Kanna, but she resists, not exactly knowing how Kanna would receive it given the last time they had a close conversation.
Kanna stares wide-eyed as the transformation takes place. For a long moment, one that must feel like an eternity for both of them, Kanna is silent, her cornflower eyes fixed on Quintessa’s mismatched ones. Before she says anything, though, the human jumps forward, wrapping her thick arms around the changeling’s torso and burying her head in Quintessa’s chest. The bardess still stands a good head shorter than Quintessa, but even from below, the perfume of wildflowers and lye would be noticeable. Likewise, Kanna takes a deep, shuddering breath full of clove smokes and earth. “I’m so glad you’re safe.” She finally says. Her brows furrow, and she pulls away. “What happened after Vailkrin?” As if just realizing where they are, Kanna holds out the pitch pipe. “This doesn’t change this, though, you are hardly the first person to register under a stage name for the guild ledger.”
Quintessa wraps her lanky arms around Kanna like a willow, sighing in contentment to be reunited with who she already considered her sister. “I’m glad you are too. After Vailkrin I-” her tone wavers, holding back tears, “I was betrayed- forced from Vailkrin- I…” she pauses, looking down at her pipe, her eyes filling with renewed determination when they flicker back up to meet Kanna. “Yes… Even Khitti goes by “Red” when she sings… This is normal.” She forces a smile despite the pain regarding what happened in Vailkrin resurfacing, toughing it out. “As Astanet nobody judges me for anything but how I perform. I can’t find that anywhere else.”
Kanna gives Quintessa a sad smile. “I know. I had always performed under my own name because I thought that I was so unimportant that I was never deserving of a performing name, and now I think it's a touch too late to change that. You, though-- You can sing under any name you’d like, and I know the guild’s caretakers will support you.” Trying to force the smile fails on the human, though, and it falls as she gently squeezes Quintessa’s scarred arms. “Come on, sit. You look exhausted. How is--” She bites her tongue, letting go of the changeling as she nudges her towards a plush armchair. Before Quintessa can attempt to discern Kanna’s expression as she stops mid-sentence, Kanna turns her face away to move towards a self-serve tea table set up for visitors. “How do you like your tea? Is Larketian Rose okay?” There’s that airy intonation of her voice again, the one she uses to act as though things are alright when they are not.
Quintessa follows Kanna’s instructions and sits with her, catching the subtle change in her expression as she turns away but not able to presume what it meant. If she was asking about who she thought she was then it was likely complicated. “Uh, y-yes, Larketian Rose, a single lump of sugar, no milk.” Quintessa inhales deeply, folding her hands on her lap. If Kanna was using that tone with her then it must have meant she was uncomfortable with the subject. Should she push? “Fine… I think ‘fine’ anyway. Recovering. Rebuilding. Yes, ‘fine’ for now.” She hopes that will be a good enough answer for Kanna before moving on, possibly to an even harder subject to approach and discuss. “So I… have been trying to explain to everyone the reason I did what I did… With… Y’know… But there’s so much left that I struggle to explain to them.” Her mismatched eyes rise from her lap, her fingers tracing over the scars on her hand and wrist as she tries to look into Kanna’s eyes “Things I’m not sure they’ll understand… What did-” ‘What did it do to you in the Chaos Realm’ is what she wants to ask, but she doesn’t. She bites her bottom lip, looking away before letting out a sigh, a new question of her tongue “Have you told anyone about what happened in there yet?”
Kanna moves quickly, placing three heaping spoonfuls of crushed and dried tea leaves into a chamber of a kettle with a single well-weathered fire rune engraved into its side so that it is always warm. The kettle seems to be older than both of them combined, and will likely be sitting there long after they are gone to continue carrying secrets whispered amongst bards in here. She drags a small jar, presumably the one with sugar cubes, closer to her body. The things Kanna is able to do with her hands has run out, and with it, the distractions she is able to afford herself from thinking about unpleasant things. She takes a deep breath in. Her tone is calm, too calm, as she answers, “Who exactly would I tell about this? Which part? The murders I committed when I wasn't of sound mind? The murders I committed when I -was- sound of mind? My field trip into Perdere?” The glow of the fire rune fades, and Kanna pours the fragrant tea into two cups. The scent of roses and tea leaves are disarmingly relaxing in light of the subject at hand. “And for what purpose other than to remind myself that it happened and that my soul is so blackened because of it and everything else that has ever happened to me that I will be personally escorted to Perdere by Vakmatharas when I leave this world?” She places one cube in Quintessa’s cup, and four cubes in her own cup. When Kanna turns around, she is all smiles again. “It can’t be changed, though, so all that is left to do is move forward.” The bardess places the cups in front of Quintessa and takes a seat.
Quintessa shrugs weakly, “I suppose…” her hand reaches forward to take her cup, tightly clasped around it to feel the warmth. “Kasyr made me talk about it- some of it anyway, but he doesn’t seem interested in hearing the truth, he only cares about demonizing me. He doesn’t understand that I’m a victim in all of this too… he doesn’t care about anything but his own power…” Another sigh follows before she shifts the subject away from him. “Who would you tell indeed… Nobody will understand. Nobody but me.” Quintessa offers a weak smile in return to the one Kanna offered her, before testing her tea with a sip. Still too hot. “It talked about you in there, yknow…” she continues, waving her hand over her tea, small shards of ice falling in, cooling it slightly. “I think you were going to be its Queen or something… And I was to be your handmaiden- The Lady of Maggots.” She scoffs, “What an honor, huh?” Her words drip with venomous sarcasm. “It forced me to serve as a forgemaster, creating more undead than I could reasonably count, served as its eyes to the mortal world and still I wasn’t good enough.” She laughs weakly, a dry, humorless thing. “The story of my life. Not good enough to lead the Mages- Not good enough to lead the Necromancers- Not good enough for Vailkrin… What will I be good enough for? I have nothing anymore… I’m nothing. Maybe once I finally lay down to die I’ll be good enough for the worms to eat.” She lifts her cup back to her lips and takes a drink. “Ah, perfect.”
Kanna touches her pinky finger to the edge of the hot water to test the water, but does not remove it whereas Quintessa puts her cup down. She just stares down at it as the skin reddens and the flush creeps up her finger. “I would have sooner subjected myself to an eternity of beheadings as an undead rather than be its queen.” The bardess removes her pinky and turns her hand palm up. There is definitely a low-grade burn on her fingertip now. “I would do it knowing that I could feel pain in that place, too. It truly wanted me to replace the fae princess that scorned it in lore and broke the last remnants of its mortal heart from before Vakmatharas created it.” Kanna opens her mouth to say something else, but bites her lower lip as Quintessa laments all the slights received in her young life. “Seven years is nothing to most races, but for short-lived people like us, it feels like an eternity, doesn’t it?” Kanna takes the cup with the hand she intentionally burned herself with, making sure to hold her burnt finger outwards as she lifts it to her lips. “I might only be seven years your senior, but the world will be.a completely different place once you are my age and I go from perpetual spinster to proper thornback. If you were destined to lead something, that something will come to you.”
Quintessa sighs, her breath blowing the steam from her tea away. “I don’t think it cared at all what we wanted. Why do you think I tried so hard to destroy it from the inside? I could never allow such flagrant disregard for freedom and consent.” Quintessa reaches forward, grasping Kanna’s hand gently and turning her finger upward to gaze at the burn. “There’s no reason to make yourself feel this pain any longer. Like you said- it’s over, we move forward now.” Saying it out loud causes her some doubt, however, and her gaze becomes far off- far from this room as this imagines the future. “Seven years…” Quintessa shakes her head, reaching into her satchel to draw out a small, tin container of ointment, which she flicks open with a finger before applying some of it on Kanna’s wound to soothe it. “There’s not much left of me- What will be left in seven years?” She spreads it out to cover all of the reddened skin before releasing Kanna and closing her tin. “I have to pivot- change my strategy. It’s not just my reputation and my influence I have to repair, but my body and soul as well. I’ve been left shattered and maimed… If I do not take better care of myself then I won’t be alive for another seven years.”
Kanna winces as Quintessa’s hands, calloused from years of hardship and abuse towards mastering a craft, take Kanna’s own, equally calloused from hardship and abuse from the same dedication, albeit a different craft. “I don’t think Berrentram would like it if you were not around to see his tenth birthday. You know that’s around the starting age when they realize what kind of hoard they will keep?” The airy carefree tone wavers. When had her eyes filled with tears? Kanna blinks them away and gently pulls her hand back when Quintessa has finished her triage. It reminds her of when her limbs would fall off and Quintessa would take care to hold her limbs in place until the unholy magic mended the pieces whole.”If I may… Perhaps your strategy should not be to rebuild in anticipation of conquering. All power brought you is heartache. When was the last time you…” She opts to leave ‘and my sister’ unspoken. “...Were truly at peace?”
Quintessa takes a moment to listen to Kanna, truly listen, her cup of tea back to hovering just below her mouth. “I…” Her brow furrows. All she knew was conflict and fighting. She can’t recall a time in her life when she was ever at peace. “I have never known peace, Kanna… but I would be willing to give it a chance.” She smiles before taking a long drink, wetting her throat before she continues speaking. “What would you do in my place? Would you just forget about your home… everything you’ve ever known because some jerk told you you have to leave? I don’t know how else to move forward from this but to fight back.” Quintessa's tone isn’t argumentative, she’s legitimately looking for another way.
Kanna scrunches up her face in discomfort, making a wrinkle appear on her freckled nose as she averts her eyes. “I might not be the best person to ask about that. I really did forget about my home and everything I had known for the first ten years of my life because someone made it clear that if I stayed, I would join the graves. That is only somewhat similar to what you experienced because you could wield a sword, but I think we were still terribly outmatched against our adversaries.” The human takes a long sip of her floral tea, her face relaxing and a noise of contentment escaping from her nose as the sugary concoction pleasantly burns at her throat. Placing the teacup down, Kanna resumes. “We do what makes us happy. For me, at least for right now, that means helping the Lithrydelian Bard’s Guild locate their stolen items while someone to lead the guild is recruited to take over affairs from the caretakers. They gave me shelter when I first caught a boat from Rynvale to Cenril, so I will do everything I can to repay that kindness.”
Quintessa might frown a bit, her gaze drifting away as she nurses the rest of her tea. “Happy…” There is a great sadness now that hangs over Quintessa like a cloud as she tries to think about what makes her happy. “It’s so fleeting isn’t it? Here today, gone tomorrow- it’s hard to say what will actually make me happy anymore. The last time was when we killed… It.” She offers a wary smirk, “It’s not as if I can kill gods every few years… Or can I?” She sets her cup down before folding her hands in her lap again, fidgeting with uncertainty. “I’ll help you then, with the Bard’s Guild. My works of passion, my books and my songs. They bring me happiness sometimes- when I mean for them to. If you help me get more eyeballs looking at my words and more ears listening to my music then I’ll make sure every one of these items are tracked down. You have my word.”
Kanna smiles a genuine smile this time, leaning in slightly. “If happiness is fleeting, then chase it and create it for the people you love until you find something worth doing for the time you have left here.” The word ‘hypocrite’ screams and gnashes at Kanna’s mind as she says this. “I’m glad to have your help with this…” Footsteps approach from the inner rooms of the Guild, and the Nameless Bardess appears with a confused expression. “Have you seen this request yet? I swear this letter was not on the bulletin board a few hours ago.” Kanna shakes her head and stands to take the letter. Scanning over its contents, Kanna’s eyebrows disappear under her silver fringe, and her eyes flit to Quintessa with a smile lighting up the features that were so downtrodden just moments ago. The mask of the cheerful bardess has returned. “Since you still have access to the necromantic arts, perhaps you can help sooner than you think…”