RP:Seance

From HollowWiki

Part of the Rise of Larket Arc


Part of the Agitation Arc


Note: This is primarily a Rise of Larket arc scene. I included it in Agitation as well because near the end Linn discovers that Kelovath and Josleen have one of the five items from the set of the Order of the Shade: the whip.

Summary: Hureig brings the witch Talyara and the enchanter Linn to Josleen’s home in Larket. Talyara and Josleen perform a seance and communicate with Andurla. Andurla says the words ‘fermin’ and ‘illusionist’. The whip of the shade tries to corrupt Linn and fails.

Kelovath and Josleen’s House, Larket

Josleen paces on the mammoth-fur Frostmawian rug in the marble Larketian living room between homey Xaliouan (??) couches (floral print, with doilies on side tables, for she has the design sense of an octogenarian). The decor from her various homes tie together in a style that is eclectic and wholly personal to the bard. She’s come a long way from living in a tent during the war, or before that, residing in an impoverished cabin with a lycan and his cubs. Now she calls a mansion home, thanks to the wealth of a man whom she loves and who loves her back, that same man incarcerated under false charges for the murder of a woman whose ghost haunts this very house. The giant Hureig leads Talyara and her companion to the estate that straddles the line between Larket’s northern quadrant and the eternal forest. As they walk up the carriageway he explains that from here on out he will need their utmost discretion and silence. They are to speak not a word of this to anyone. The client is [dramatic pause] Thane Josleen of Frostmaw. Josleen herself will explain the trouble. The giant bangs on the dragon-shaped iron knockers. Josleen sprints to the door and throws it open, all too eager to get on with the seance. Time’s ticking and Kelovath sits in jail! At the sight of Talyara she deflates like a popped balloon. Womp womp. “...Talyara?” She looks to Hureig, “What’s this?” Then Linn, who Josleen knows as a strange by capable enchanter and bachelor. “Linn?”


Talyara had received the most curious letter from someone whom she had never dealt with before asking for her assistance. “We need a witch,” the letter advised. After much consideration on her part (probably meditation as well), Taly had written back hastily agreeing to meet with this would be stranger and assist however she could. Now came the actual hard part—confessing to Linn that she had agreed to meet with a stranger to do something witchy. With Linn being the incredibly loving and supportive boyfriend that he is, he obviously was none to happy with the witch. She had recently been exorcised of a negative entity! She was still too thin and weak! What was she thinking?! Well, with Taly being the strong, independent (and stubborn) woman that she is, she immediately dissolved into tears and lamented the times she used to be able to help people with her abilities and how something like this would be good for her health. Naturally, while Linn trusted her judgement, he wasn’t going to allow her to do something spiritual on her own. So, Taly carefully packed her bags with her basic supplies and set off to Larket where they would meet Hureig and there he would escort her to the client’s house. The witch is intimidated when they reach they reach the mansion and the giant bids the couple’s discretion and secrecy. With an eyebrow arched and a quick look to Linn, she is about to respond when he informs them that the client is…Josleen. Taly manages to let an elven curse slip her lips before the knocker is lifted and the bard throws open the door. Talyara, who is noticeably more thin and frail than the last time they had met, musters a small smile and wiggles her fingers. “Uh, you ordered a witch?"


Linn trailed in behind Talyara, offering a nod of recognition to Hureig when they met, and another more respectful one as they crossed the threshold of publicity. The story behind why they were coming together, well, his idea wasn’t exactly how she thought it went. He trusted her, he really did. But he also worried for her because spirits dammit! Getting possessed again was NOT a desirable outcome. Also, he really wanted to tag along for his own reasons more than anything, but… well, she made a reason for him, he might as well just roll with it. Women can just be weird at times. As the client was mentioned he cocked a brow, Josleen? Should be – Taly’s curse interrupted the thought, which picked up exactly into what it was going to be originally. This was going to be interesting. He managed a light smile and wave of his own to Josleen as the door flew open, “Hey Jos. I’m with her. Long story.” Understatement of the week.


Josleen, in contrast to Talyara, looks fuller and healthier. Sure, Kelovath’s incarceration has been stressful, but nothing like the stress she endured during the war. “I did…” Her voice trailed off as she weighed her options and reviewed history. Hureig, consistent to character, remained oblivious to the unspoken tension between the women. He smiled affably at all the small people, quite proud of himself for bringing them together. Of course, Josleen would have preferred to avoid a reunion with Talyara. The witch had apologized to her, and Lanara had sought to make amends several times since the hex, and that counts for something. Still, the bard had her reservations. But if she turned Talyara away, what then? Kelovath would remain in jail until a new witch could be found; it could be days or even a week. “Come in,” she said to both of them. “Good to see you again, Linn.” Then hastily she tacked on for the sake of civility, “And you Talyara.” The latter statement sounded less convincing. She showed them into the living room. Large curtains hung around bay windows. One of the curtain rods didn’t quite look like the others. Upon closer inspection, it looked like petrified hide (maybe it is). Several witchy supplies pile on the coffee table and around it on the rug. “I researched what is needed for a seance and bought anything I could find.” It’s all basic candles and glass, mirrors, etc, nothing rare,” she explained as she gestured for them to sit. “Thank you for coming all this way. Would you like anything to drink?” Hureig hung back by the door and refused to enter the room. He bowed, found an excuse to leave, and followed that excuse right out the door. Giants are very superstitious, like hell he’d hang around a spirit. A rolling cart by one of the couches bore wine, water, and tea. Josleen fulfilled drink orders as she explained, “I believe the house is haunted, and suspect I know whose restless spirit paces these walls. Her name was Andurla, a councilwoman in the city, and she was murdered last year by the former sheriff, a reprehensible man named Macon. Sir Kelovath, councilman and paladin of Arkhen, witness the murder, but Macon escaped the city before he could be arrested. Recently, a spate of attacks, disease, and murders have swept through the town and Macon resurfaced with fake evidence to accuse Kelovath. But the evidence, though false, has convinced enough people. Kelovath is currently in jail. What I hope to accomplish today with your help is speak with Andurla and get her testimony as to who murdered her. An innocent man’s freedom and reputation is on the line.” She paused for questions.


Talyara takes a visible step back and finds Linn’s arm, fingers curling around his wrist and holding on tightly. She stays like that for a few moments and allows the energy to roll through her. Maybe Talyara should have mentioned to Linn that she was now empathic and could feel and manipulate people’s feelings? Nah, I mean, what could go wrong? Josleen’s apprehension and feelings towards the witch are not just noticed but felt by Talyara who winces slightly. Letting loose a breath she didn’t know she was holding she nods to Linn and tugs him into the house with her. As Josleen leads them into a living area, the witch moves over to the table and places her bag down, examining the different tools that the bard had picked up. She had done well, although Taly was sure to use some of her own tools as well. “I’m fine thank you, but we will need a bowl of water if you wouldn’t mind,” she says kindly. Talyara listens as Josleen explains the issue at hand and what she needed her for in the first place. As she talks and fetches the drinks, Taly gets to work setting up. From her bag she pulls a black cloth and immediately spreads it out on the surface. She then goes about setting up the candles that Josleen had provided. A vial is drawn from the bag filled with some herbs and oil as well as a container of salt, a bundle of sage, a clear crystal, and a ritual knife.


Linn couldn’t help but notice Josleen’s little pause before including Talyara in the civil greetings. He’d only seen the two interact maybe once or twice, and being mostly oblivious to the history between them himself, was left a little puzzled to Josleen’s coldness, and even more as Taly grabbed on to his arm. Whatever it was, he did his best to reassure her given the present situation. As drinks were offered, he elected for simple water, remaining silent but attentive as Josleen explained the reason for bringing them here. He couldn’t help but rub his brows at the news; damn he missed a lot in the aftermath of the war between helping with the city and taking care of Talyara. Eventually he managed a nod, confirming he had heard everything, but he had no questions of his own. He had come here with the intent to simply see whatever might happen, but he was willing to make himself useful, and would lend a hand if needed for any other preparations before backing off to give them some space.


Josleen picked upon Talyara’s discomfort, but made no effort to dispel Talyara’s worry just yet. While she hadn’t spent months actively disliking the witch--she’s been too busy for that, she also hadn’t worked on internalizing forgiveness either. In her head it was easy to forgive; her heart was another story. She fetched a bowl of water when asked. Ultimately it was Talyara’s diligent work, the attention to detail and willingness to help, that most effectively thawed the ice between the women, bit by bit. Actions speak louder than words, did they not? “Should I sit somewhere in particular? Also… should I remove that?” She gestured to the peculiar curtain rod. “It’s a mammoth wand,” she explained. A mammoth schlong gifted by Hureig to ward off spirits. Josleen had no idea whether or not that really worked.


Talyara graciously accepts the bowl of water and places it at the very center of the table. Her green gazes goes up to the curtain rod that Josleen points out and she tilts her head to the side curiously. “Um, it doesn’t bother me. If you're comfortable with it, then let's leave it.” Talyara picks up the vial and attempts to uncork it, fails miserably, and hands it to Linn to open. “This is a simple oil. It’s for purification and protection. You don’t -have- to use it,” she says swiveling her gaze to Josleen, “but I promise it won’t hurt you.” Assuming Linn has popped the cork easily, she dips her finger into the substance and draws a little symbol near her third eye before brushing Linn’s hair off of his forehead and doing the same. She would then turn to Josleen and either repeat the process or recork the vial if she refused. Moving to the table, the witch leans over and blows on the wick of each candle. Perhaps surprisingly to those who had never witnessed this trick, the immediately ignite with a strong flame that danced around merrily. “Sit wherever you like,” she says to the bard with what she hopes is an encouraging smile. “I’m sure you have a million questions for this councilwoman; however, it is important to be patient when you ask each question. It will probably take her a bit longer to answer. To start we will invite the spirit here with us, and ask questions to verify her identity. Yes or no questions are preferable.” Taly will wait for Josleen and Linn to sit before taking the sage bundle in hand. Once again, she blows on the end where a flame ignites; she allows the herbs to catch before shaking the flame and allowing the smoke to plume around them. “I’m sure you’ve used this before. It’s simply sage and is used for the same purpose as the oil—purification and protection.” Taly moves about the room deasil before placing the bundle on the table without extinguishing it completely. Eventually she takes her seat, looking at Linn and Josleen in turn. “The most important thing is to be open to the experience. If there is any doubt in your mind, it will weaken the energy in the room."


Linn also had quite a bit of trouble uncorking the vial, eyeing the thing suspiciously after his fingers slipped off the cork a couple times. For a second he almost raised it to his mouth to open it with his teeth, but that was disgusting and he abandoned the venture immediately. With that sly grin of ‘aha!’ he grabbed a hold of it again, took a sigh to steady himself, and withdrew it slowly as if nothing held it against the glass in the first place. Because it WOULD take magic to open the damn thing. He offered the oil back to Talyara so they could continue their preparations. He went to take a seat on one of the couches, sending a glance Josleen’s way that was obviously asking for permission. If not… he’d sit on the floor. As Talyara explained how the séance was to go he listened perhaps a little more intently than expected; for one reason or another, he held an intense interest in this particular event. As she implored that Josleen and him stay open to the experience he nodded. He certainly didn’t doubt what a spirit could do, and any of those meta-doubts about what it’d do to the events about to be? Well, Taly had proven the power of her form of magic and all its intricacies to him before. He was ready to -see-.


Josleen hesitated before accepting the oily blessing. This same woman had made her a hag in the past, but she detected no animus from Talyara now. Besides, one of the few worse things than looking like a hag is being possessed or attacked by a ghost. And thus she nodded and bowed her forehead for Talyara to anoint her with protection. Josleen chin lifted toward the couch indicatively for Linn to sit with an expression that reads ‘Of course, of course, make yourself comfortable.’ She nodded to Talyara’s instruction and said, “I’m open.” And it was true, for the bard was superstitious and prone to believing in the paranormal--though in Hollow, you’d have to be crazy not to believe, right? “When asking yes or no questions, should I ask some false once? The wrong name of a family member, perhaps? To catch an imposter in a lie?”


Josleen’s question pulls Talysara up short and she tilts her head to the side considering it. “That…is completely up to you. I will be channeling the energy, encouraging it and trying to amplify it; however, you are going to be the one directing the questions to the spirit. If it will make you feel better to ask verifiable questions that way, so be it. But I caution you not to make it too difficult, we don’t want to frustrate her before we get your answers.” A beat, “now, some confessions on my part before we start.” Taly swallows hard and tosses a sideways glance at Linn for reassurance before looking back at the bard. “I’ve spent the better part of the last few months being possessed by a negative force. He is gone, and I am me again, but if I sense anything negative trying to enter our safe space, I’m going to shut this down. Do you agree to that?” She asks pointedly.


Linn had made himself comfortable on the couch, if his forward-hunched, anticipatory stance could qualify as ‘comfortable’. When Talyara looked to him with the mention of confessions, he gave her a reassuring look and nod. Quickly he double-checked himself for anything negative that he may have been carrying. Luckily, he was clean this time around, as the dark objects he had been carrying have been deposited far away, and he hadn’t returned to touch them ever since his shattering realization about what his involvement with them did to both himself and others. It wasn’t his question to answer, but he returned an affirming nod regardless. Should the question find its way to him, she’d find no argument.


Josleen nodded emphatically when Talyara confesses her recent history. “Yes, of course. You are the expert here. I defer to your judgment.” As far as negative energy and items in the house, there was only one, in the master bedroom, in an enchanted chest hidden in the closet inside an unassuming hat box. It is one of the five items belonging to the Order of the Shade, that necromantic cult. Josleen honestly didn’t think of the item, and hopefully it won’t present a problem. Out of sight, out of mind, and perhaps with some terrible unintended consequences? She waited patiently for Talyara to begin, perhaps a bit apprehensively as she has never spoken with spirits so directly before, which isn’t to say she’s never spoken with spirit at all.


With that out of the way, Talyara gives Josleen a curt nod and then a kind smile. “It will be okay,” she assures before standing once more and taking up her salt. “Sorry to ruin your floor a bit,” she offers before sprinkling salt around the room, deasil of course, before returning to the table. The witch pushes one candle to the center of the table, next to the bowl, and reaches in her pocket to pull out a small quartz crystal on the other side. “Ready?” She asks the bard before reaching her arms across the table and offering her hands to Josleen. Green eyes close and she simply falls quiet for some time. With a reassuring squeeze to Jos’s hands she would begin her little speech. “Hail spirits of the other realm! We are gathered here today to reach out to you in hopes of communicating with anyone whose presence remains in their house. I am the witch, Talyara, here with the bard and lady of the house, Josleen as well as my companion Linn. We do not wish you any harm, we only wish to speak with you. Now before us on the table we have three items that you may use to let us know you are here. The crystal may be moved around on the table, the water in the bowl disturbed, or the candle flame extinguished. Now, if there is a presence here with us right now, please, use one of the tools to let us know your presence."


Linn remained hunched forward, his interest pulling him deeper and deeper into anticipation of just how the séance was going to go. Passively he nodded as Talyara asked if Josleen was ready, and as she spoke he found himself sitting up straighter, more respectfully. He also seemed to retreat into the couch a little bit, trying to relegate himself to a mere observer, but as the mechanisms of communication were explained he was drawn back into focusing on them, leaving him in a tense state of staring, trying to be respectful, but unfortunately awkward nonetheless.


Josleen held Talyara’s hands. She never thought she would do that after what happened, but for Kelovath she would, and besides, the witch was showing her kindness. After Talyara invoked the spirit there was silence for some time. Just as Josleen began to believe the spirit (if it was a spirit at all) would not speak with them, the water rippled. “Are you Andurla?” Several seconds passed and nothing disturbed the quartz, water, or flame. “Did you live in this home?” The curtain fluttered despite the window being closed. A crack in the sill or a spirit? Josleen tried again, “Was your husband Aldaren?” The water rippled again, this time more weakly. Steps raced on the floor above them. To Josleen’s inexperienced mind, it looked like the spirit struggled to make contact with the physical world. “Is this your home?” Josleen tried again. This time two sets of footsteps raised, one right behind Linn on the couch and another upstairs in the master bedroom. Josleen looked to Talyara for answers. Is it normal to hear more than one spirit?


Talyara opens her eyes after she asks for the initial contact, catching a glimpse of the disrupted water. She keeps hold of Josleen's hands as she begins to ask the spirit questions. The footsteps above cause her to startle slightly but she doesn't release her grip on the bard. Instead eyes swivel around the room as one set of step seems to be coming from behind Linn before turning back to Josleen. "There's more than one," she whispers obviously. "It's not uncommon," she assures the bard. "We asked for spirits to come to us so come they did. Be patient with the answers, give them time." Taly closes her eyes once more, and takes a deep steadying breath. Linn probably wasn't going to like this next part. "If the spirit of Andurla is here, we understand your spirit is at unrest for the person responsible for your death continues to walk free. If you are here, I invite you to use my body as a vessel to communicate any message you wish to give." Cue a hard swallow by the witch.


Linn startled quite a bit himself as the footsteps echoed about the house, his head swiveling about to catch the sounds that lacked apparent cause. Talyara’s relative composure put him back at ease, though he was still a little tense as the otherworldly beings danced around them. When she went as far as inviting the spirit to speak through her, he sucked in a breath, trying to compose himself. Pursing his lips he looked to the witch with a reassuring, if anxious nod. Spirits were technically people too, with good as well as bad. And at least he’d KNOW there was a possession this time around. And she probably would as well. Take it easy, they could handle this. It’ll all end well. He repeatedly thought those thoughts over and over to himself to stay steady and avoid any PPSD (Post-possession stress disorder) that might hit him.


When Talyara asked Andurla to possess her, the flame whipped around violently. Andurla slipped her invisible, ghostly hand through Talyara’s chest several times, trying time and again to possess her but unsure quite how to do it. Meanwhile, upstairs, something much more sure of itself, a spirit with more experience moving the physical world, pushed around furniture. After several minutes, Andurla succeeded in possessing Talyara and forced the witch to say “Macon! Macon!” Just as Josleen suspected! Unsure if she could release Talyara’s hand, the bard instructed Linn to take a paper and quill from the nearby desk and write this down, everything. “Andurla,” Josleen said to the possessed Talyara once more, “I need you to prove that you are who you say you are. What information can you give me that no one else would know?” Andurla struggles to maintain contact through Talyara. Josleen’s question was too complex, and the ghost could only bark out single words at a time. Two words flashes in Talyara’s mind, but Andurla’s spirit failed to vocalize the words through Talyara’s lips. The words were ‘fermin’ and ‘illusionist’. The words only appeared to Talyara, and thus Josleen had no idea that Andurla communicated anything at all. “Andurla, are you there? How can I prove it’s you?” the bard insisted like the seance rookie she was. Upstairs, something heavy fell to the floor.


Talyara gasps as that ghostly hand of Andurla reaches into her chest in an attempt to possess her; it’s enough to take her breath away with each attempt. Still, the witch keeps her guard down, offering out her own energy so that the spirit can more easily latch on. Eventually, it proves successful and Talyara shouts, “Macon! Macon!” While the voice is still feminine, it is notably not Taly’s. She has done this before, shared her body with an entity. Thankfully, this time, the spirit was only attempting to communicate through her as opposed to fully possess her, therefore, Taly still retains some level of consciousness. As Josleen spews her questions, the witch can physically feel Andurla’s desperation but her inability to answer the questions through the witch. Time is moving a bit slower for Talyara, so it takes her some time to comprehend the words that are being shown to her and eventually her own voice finds its way to her lips after Josleen’s anxious questions. “She’s showing me…fermin…and…illusionist?” She says with a bit of a question in her tone.


Linn ’s head snapped upstairs as the sounds of furniture moving echoed through to the room they were in, tension continuing to build in his mind and body. He blinked hard as Taly cried out in a voice that wasn’t hers, and when Josleen told him to take some notes, he nearly jumped off the couch to his feet, briskly (and sloppily) scrawling out the word “Macon.” The next words that she said in her own voice managed to lower the roller-coaster of stress a little bit before finding their way onto the paper as well: Fermin, Illusionist. And just as the stress fell with each reassuring event, it spiked with every moment of discord, the deep ‘thump’ from above bringing his head twisting to look up at the ceiling again. “Something big’s moving upstairs guys…” he muttered out in the typical fashion of someone forecasting their obvious, imminent doom. Hureig made a good choice, getting the hell out of dodge.


Josleen‘s brows wrinkled at the two new words. “...Illusionist? It would make sense… a clue perhaps…” She focused again on the spirit, remained open, and asked, “Andurla, where is the fermin?” The spirit made one more attempt to answer Josleen’s questions, but something in the spirit world or the energy matrix or who knows what sweeps Andurla away. The candle flame extinguishes and Talyara would feel Andurla was suddenly gone. The energy in the air felt different to Josleen. She looked to Talyara for answers again. “Did we lose her?” She looked up at the ceiling. “And the thing upstairs, is it gone?” She looked fearfully towards Linn and asked, “Could you take a look upstairs? I think it’s gone, but maybe Andurla left a clue upstairs?” If Linn investigated the bedroom he would find a hatbox knocked to the ground. A black chest the shape of a flute case (but thinner) hummed with dark energy. It called to Linn ‘Take me’. Evil, dark, of death, an item imbued with the blessings of Vakmatharas himself. It begged for Linn to secretly, stealthily, take it. Free it. Go on, Darth Linn.


Talyara continues to try and feed her energy to Andurla in attempt to keep the two linked. Taly feels the answer on the tip of her tongue before she suddenly gasps and hunches forward as the spirit leaves her body abruptly. The witch tries to catch her breath and her hands release Josleen’s, her own coming to clutch at her chest. “We lost her,” she confirms disappointedly. “Something yanked her away suddenly, I’m sorry.” She shakes her head, unsure if she was able to even help the bard or not. When she asks Linn to check upstairs, Taly nods to him, as if silently letting him know that she was okay and he should go investigate.


Linn took in a breath as the candle extinguished as he too felt a shift to… something familiar. Taly’s statement confirmed that there –was- a shift, her follow-up beginning to raise his suspicions at the particular feeling that was taking a hold of the room. When he was tasked to go upstairs he nodded before taking a deep breath and rubbing his hands together, mentally preparing himself for whatever might await him. “Let’s go see…” he muttered before beginning his march up there, that strange familiar feeling growing stronger and stronger, guiding him right to the displaced hatbox. Quirking a brow he dropped to his knees to take a closer look at the blackened chest within. “Just what are you…” he whispered out, his hand reaching out to take a hold of the container. Just before he grabbed it, he hesitated as the mental alarms began kicking in, taking a concerningly long time hovering over the chest as he continuously ran through his mind over and over and over to catch and filter the discontinuities as he came close. This thing wanted something from him. Eventually he cracked a grin, “I’ve dealt with things much more slippery than you. You want to keep yourself a secret huh? Well, you tried too hard” he whispered back. Hildegarde’s warnings of insidious, mind-warping substances might not apply one-to-one here, but it was proof that such stuff existed, and probably were what let him break the metacognitive argument. Had Taly and Josleen not come up by the time he reached his conclusion (He lost track of time, it was a while), he’d come down with the case in hand, visage grim and locked in an intense focus on the world about him. “Did you have any idea this was upstairs Josleen?’


Josleen smiled weakly to Talyara. Once Linn left the room she said, “Thank you, you did well. Thank you. I have a lead now. The fermin. I’m not sure what it is… but…” Already she formulated new plans, new strategies. There’s always a way, and she always found it. She offered Talyara water and waited for Linn to return. The fact she let this man wander her home unsupervised suggested she trusted him, knew him well enough. When Linn returned, she gasped at the case in his hand and darted to take it from him. “Yes! How did you find this?” She laid it down on the table and held a hand firmly over it as though afraid it could walk off at any moment. “It’s one of the items of that old necromantic order we investigated in Xalious last year. Kelovath and I found this during the war, hidden in a secret attic.” Linn may recall that Josleen once told him that Krice has another item. Krice berated her for that, oops.


Talyara offers a weak smile to Josleen in return. She wasn’t up to her full strength yet and to say this took a lot out of her was an understatement. There was a shift between the pair, and Taly could feel that the bard was genuine in her thanks. She graciously accepts the glass of water and drinks from it while Linn is upstairs. He’s taking a while though and she is about to suggest they go look for him when he returns with a black box. The enchanter’s question is a curious one, the box didn’t seem like it was much, that is until she felt the energy radiating off of it. Taly nopes right away from the table, standing and retreating to the opposite side of the room, still clutching her glass of water.


Linn hesitated as Josleen asked about the black box. Despite managing to crack its influence he still had his doubts about ousting its nature. “It was upstairs in a box that got knocked over. I guess that was what the noises were.” His gaze remained suspiciously focused on that box, barely managing to catch Talyara backin away from the thing. He simply pursed his lips and nodded in confirmation. When Josleen got a little more into the details of just what it was his eye twitched. “Sounds about right, that’s some nasty stuff right there.” Just how he knew that so surely, well, he probably never had the chance to explain to Josleen. “So Kelovath…” slowly he began tracing back to the stories behind why they were here today. “You said he was a paladin? Does he know anything else about this thing?”


Josleen glanced sympathetically at Talyara as she backed away from the table. “It hasn’t affected Kelovath or I, if it’s any consolation, but… You’re perhaps more open to this sort of energy…” To Linn’s question, she said, “Aside from the fact it’s evil, he doesn’t know much. We know as much as you and I discovered about the cult. We’re keeping it safe for now, but perhaps not doing such a great job. What, with Kelovath in jail still… Did you ever learn more about the cult? Talk to Krice?”

Talyara scoots over to the couch and sinks down into the cushion. This is a conversation that Taly is unable to participate in. For one, she’s using all her energy to remain awake and upright. Secondly, she has no idea what they’re talking about. Cult? Talk to Krice? A brow raises as she turns her face to Linn and gives him a silent piercing look which clearly asks, “what have you not told me”?


Linn rubbed his brows at Josleen’s news that she and Kelovath were unaffected. Why did it have to be him? Whyyyyyy. As she explained he nodded with a brief glance of ‘yeah, it’s -obviously- evil.’ When she mentioned Krice again he sighed. “Once, way back. He clammed up, and rightfully so. And that’s a topic I know can’t be pressed on. I spoke with Larewen when Hildegarde was in Vailkrin before the war, she had a couple leads that I was looking for, but I never heard back from her. Besides that…” he shook his head. “Got too caught up in everything else.” The timing on Linn’s trips to Vailkrin would set these events quite far back, and Linn caught enough of Talyara’s look to return one that asked for some more time to explain.


Josleen nodded as if she expected as much. Things went quiet after the monster was summoned in Xalious, gathering momentum somewhere in that long-winded way immortal beings have of taking forever to do anything. Meanwhile all the mortals have wars, exorcisms, and in Josleen’s case, boyfriend #2. She rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed. “Well, thank you both again. Talyara,” she smiled at the witch. “I’m glad you’re well. I didn’t know if you got caught up in the war or not.” Her tone suggested the visit was over, but she’s too polite to say it outright. But visiting hours were coming to a close and she wanted to tell Kelovath what happened here as soon as possible. She missed him dearly and her daily schedule revolved around his incarcerations now.


Talyara could feel Josleen’s anxiety with getting over to the jail to speak with Kelovath about what had transpired. Standing once more, she places her glass on the drinking cart and begins to collect her own items she had brought for the seance, throwing them haphazardly in her bag. She didn’t mind the polite way in which the bard was kicking them out. She bows her head and offers Jos a smile. “Glad to see you are well, too. And happy I was able to help, even in a minimal way. If you need anything else, just let me know.” Cue another look to the enchanter, one which conveyed that he had some ‘spainin’ to do. Still her hand finds his and she gives it a little squeeze. “Maybe we can stay in a nearby inn tonight?"


Linn nodded to Josleen as well, and as Talyara took his hand so they could leave he found himself nodding to her too. “There’s one in Larket if you don’t want to go far. Besides that there’s always Kelay.” Yeah, he had some ‘splaining to do. When they were about to leave he caught another glance at the notes he wrote before bringing the dark artifact back. His writing was –awful- in his haste. “Uhh, one second.” Breaking off he picked up the quill to rewrite the few words on the paper more legibly, only to find it wasn’t writing. Why? Oh, right. Ink. He liked pencils much more, finicky and easy to break as they were. Much more slowly he repeated the words, the originals likely illegible without a preconception about what they were supposed to be. With that, he quickly rejoined Talyara so they could head out and hopefully not go into another disaster about past events he hadn’t even thought of, or remembered the exact details behind.