RP:Pet Cemetery

Part of the On Stranger Tides Arc

This is a Necromancer's Guild RP.

Summary: Bradyn gives Khitti the test necessary to move up to the Thanadule rank. She's successful and even gets her job as Umbracryaestor back, though she's unaware of it.

♫I don't want to be buried in a pet sematary...♫

Dragon Graveyard, Vailkrin

Bradyn :: Word has been sent to Khitti requesting a meeting, and given that it is Bradyn who is requesting said meeting, the topic of conversation for today is likely obvious. It has to be related in some fashion to the Necromancer's Guild, but the note asking for Khitti to meet at this particular location does not spare her any details. Bradyn does not see the point in delaying her test to the rank of Thanadule. Today is not a day that Bradyn feels like playing games of any fashion, so the vampire stands out in the open for Khitti to see as plain as day. The moment that his dark eyes alight on Khitti, the Maharan gets straight to the point, "Please refresh my memory. Last we spoke of your next promotion, we had established that you might require a test more specialized to your current skillset. You were looking to gain Mastery of the Black Tides, but had concerns how much you would excel in other areas, and thus wanted your test focused in that area?"

Khitti || “Basically,” Khitti said when she finally arrived. “I no longer have the capability to actually resurrect the dead. And while that’s not particularly a problem with me personally--” She never did care for it, after all. “--it’s obviously an issue with the guild. Which means I--and possibly the guild as well--needs to learn to adapt. I may not be the only one in the future with this difficulty. And while I understand the reasoning for needing to know each of the basic arts, that doesn’t mean everyone’s going to succeed in it. But, it does mean that they’ll have the -knowledge- of it, at least, and can hopefully apply that to their own personal set of skills.” Khitti shifted her gaze away from Bradyn, eyeing the nearest, seemingly full set of dragon bones. “I’m fine with being the guinea pig for this test. Better me than someone much less experienced that might blow Vailkrin off the map.”

Bradyn did not have anything further to contribute to the conversation when Khitti affirms that Bradyn has managed to keep the details straight. She's given free reign to present her case to Bradyn, not that it is really needed for the Maharan already understood many of her points.They would not be here otherwise. As Khitti's attention comes to rest on the dragon bones, the Maharan begins the test. One might think he might provide instruction of what will happen during this test, but Bradyn thinks it is obvious. He needs to see some advanced level Black Tide magics during this test. The area of reanimation and resurrection perhaps is an area that Khitti will not be able to master, but this is an area that Bradyn excels in. One of the many dragons within the graveyard is reanimated, but only to the extent that the skeletal bones find motion once more. The puppetier of this dragon is obviously Bradyn, but he is no longer within sight, having vanished into the shadows the moment that Khitti was focused on the dragon. It should be noted that the dragon that currently threatens Khitti was not the one the redhead was looking at. If she is not quick to figure that out, she'll find said dragon trying to bite down on her from behind. Not that it actually has a stomach to enjoy any meal, but those chompers will still do some damage.

Khitti || The obvious use of dark magic was not lost on Khitti, especially from someone like Bradyn. As paranoid as she’s been lately about some things (okay, really, when isn’t she paranoid?), she’s on her guard, but that doesn’t mean that Bradyn’s new pet was any less of a threat or quicker than she is for that matter. She resisted the urge to call him many curse words (she was doing it in her head though) and used the effort to instead summon up and arc of shadow-ice over her head for it to bite down on instead. Once that’s tended to, she shadowstepped elsewhere, quickly choosing a new skeleton to envelope in shadows, instead of the one she’d been focused on originally. Khitti summoned as much of the shadows to her from within the area and funneled it onto her own dragon’s bones. Thankfully, with the bones there, it was one less thing to do--but that was quickly being replaced with having to keep up the defense against Bradyn’s pet. When next it made its attack, Khitti would summon up another wall of ice in a half circle or so around her, leaving room for her to continue her work on her skeleton. It wouldn’t take long, but it took long enough when one was getting attacked.

Bradyn :: One can only hope that Bradyn would have the sense to stop this onslaught should things turn badly for Khitti, but it does not seem that the Maharan feels like the redhead is currently under any real threat of losing her life. The attack that Khitti is facing will not come to an end until Bradyn has seen sufficient skill from the redhead. He has thus far seen her shadowstep and put the use of shadow-ice to use, but variety was not the only thing that Bradyn was analyzing. He was also looking to see how much of a toll each spell took on Khitti, how quickly she was drained of energy. While the dragon may be assaulting her physically by using it's jaws to try and break through the ice wall that she is building, it seems that Bradyn has seen fit to up the challenge level just a bit. One might not expect a skeletal dragon to breath fire, but this one does. Or at least, the necromancer that currently has this dragon under his control does a fine job of making it seem like the dragon itself might be breathing fire. Yes, Bradyn swears he is not really trying to kill Khitti.

Khitti || It would not be the first time that a dragon did something Khitti did not expect. Now was no different. Khitti held up her ice wall for as long as she could, but it soon succumbed to the dragon’s flames. Or Bradyn’s flames through the dragon. Whichever. Between diverting her magic between two targets, it really was not taking long at all for Khitti to tire out. She was human after all. The redhead dodged out of the way, the shadows she summoned up still clinging to her own dragon. Her aforementioned hair, however, was Bradyn’s current victim. He singed the ends! Ugh. She had words for Bradyn, but unfortunately for her, he wouldn’t get them. She did what she could to continue to dodge and shadowstep out of the way, adding more shadows to the ever-growing pile as she went. Soon, the shadowy body of her dragon was fully formed. Khitti’s newfound ability of object permanence came into play as the shadows solidified, giving the dragon wings, unlike its bony opponent. It took flight as sweat broke out on Khitti’s forehead--it would seem that jumping off castle walls and opening massive portals to the Shadow Plane were far easier. Purple shadowflames erupted from the dragon’s mouth, bearing down its full force--and Khitti’s--on Bradyn’s puppet. All the while, Khitti knew she could not stay in one spot for long, even if her dragon was now on the attack. More shadowflames were summoned up, this time from Khitti’s palmed, and shot out at the dragon in two streams as she kept on the move. Khitti’s dragon would not last for long. It was weakening, even as it continued its onslaught, despite Khitti’s success in object permanence. That didn’t matter, of course. Controlling it, however, was much different than just creating it.

Bradyn would not feel bad about Khitti's singed hair, so it is probably good that Khitti cannot locate Bradyn to have those words/is too distracted not being eaten by the dragon. It would seem that Bradyn sees no reason to keep the attention of the dragon within his control focused on attacking Khitti. Well. Mostly. She will have to deal with a tail whip as the beast turns to face her summoned shadow dragon. Everything that Bradyn is doing is very intentional, down to the tail whip. That physical assault just as she was finishing summoning her shadow dragon would help to show if she could maintain the connection despite further distraction. If it were broken, she would have a challenging time maintaining control of the beast. Outside of that, Khitti is completely forgotten, as Bradyn's dragon is very intent on brawling it out with Khitti's. This battle would not ensue for long, just long enough for Khitti to demonstrate if she had control over the summoned beast or not. Once Bradyn has his answer, his skeletal dragon would fall apart and turn back into a lifeless pile of bones...Which would mean that Khitti would have to show one more skill: the ability to dispel the creature she spent so much effort summoning. With Bradyn looking for so many aspects during the tail end of the test, the bar was clearly being set high for the red head.

Khitti || The tail whip sent Khitti flying up into the air in the same sort of fashion as one does with a leg sweep, and then promptly fell down to the earth again on her back, knocking the wind out of her. The shadow dragon faltered a little, but did not disappear entirely, still keeping up its side of the fight, shifting from shadowflames, to trying to ice down the bone dragon enough to keep it in place. Soon, for Khitti, controlling the dragon became akin to summoning all three of the current black tides around a weapon--this time around the bones were her conduit. Khitti would take her time getting up, when it was clear that Bradyn’s pet would lose interest in her, doing her best to focus what was left of her magic on the fight. And when Bradyn’s dragon was allowed to return to its rest? Khitti damn near collapsed from the amount of energy she put into it, as well as having to dodge blows of her own, but thankfully used another pile of bones next to her to lean against. Her dragon, however, would not make it to the ground before the shadows dissipated; instead, once the magic was gone, the bones seemingly dropped from the heavens, falling where they may, and Khitti having to dodge one more “attack” from her own pet to keep from getting squished.

Bradyn :: It did not escape Bradyn's attention that Khitti was forced to dodge blows from her own summoned creature. Control was the most challenging aspect of any summoning and Khitti was being expected to do it after being launched through the air by a dragon tail. The fact that she was assaulted by her own creation is something that Bradyn analyzes with a grain of salt. The test has come to it's conclusion but Bradyn does not reveal himself to Khitti, she'll continue to be denied the chance to fuss at Bradyn about her poor hair. He also will not be doing the humane thing and checking to see if Khitti is okay after this impromptu battle. "Welcome back to the rank of Thanadule." She will hear echoing through the air. The skeletal familiar that is traditionally given at this rank manifests in front of Khitti. Shortly after, Khitti would find herself alone in the graveyard...though it may take her a moment to come to this realization, for Bradyn has not been seen since the start of this test.

Khitti smirked at the air around her, once she got her bearings again and Bradyn “welcomed” her and did his disappearing act. The skeletal familiar would stay there, perhaps animated by Bradyn himself or even residual magic from the guild’s headquarters. Whatever the reasoning for its animation, it no longer was when Bradyn officially took his leave. It crumpled into a nice neat pile that Khitti could collect and take home. It would seem she had more work to do--and this time, it might prove to be easier than the dragon. But as for the dragon… Khitti would be back. That thing was going to have a life of its own if it killed her. It wouldn’t. But probably mostly.