RP:Sorceress's Stone

From HollowWiki

This is a Mage's Guild RP.


Summary: After extracting a chaos crystal from Iblis’s body, Pilar brings the crystal to Kyl’oriel, an esteemed mage at the Mage’s Tower. Disturbed by what he sees, Kyl’oriel asks to meet with Iblis.

NPCing by Josleen.

Mage’s Tower

Pilar walked through the Mage's Tower, eyes open for someone who could help her. She wasn't dressed like the other students were, all in robes. She had on a yellow dress and shoes and a white blouse, with her hair tied up and a white lily tucked behind her ear. An old brown satchel hung from her shoulder, and as she walked, she got some odd looks. Whether it was from her outfit or the contents of her satchel, she couldn't tell. She had an artifact of chaos magic in there, and anyone sensitive to magic would definitely notice it.


In recent weeks, Kyl’oriel lurks the halls of the Mage’s Tower more frequently than usual (which is saying a lot). His robes need ironing and perhaps a wash. If elves could grow beards, he’d be at lumberjack length by now. He no longer goes home for lunch, but instead brings droopy sandwiches to his office daily and eats alone. He stopped lecturing in halls decades ago and only trains a handful of individuals in the higher levels of study. His mentees at first did not gossip about their esteemed teacher out of respect, but eventually did, out of worry. Soon rumor had it that Kyl’oriel’s dreary disposition involves his ‘maid’ (everyone in Xalious knows that the human who Kyl’oriel calls his ‘maid’ is actually his romantic partner of many decades whom he pretends is a maid of out shame for mixing the races), and his ‘ward’ (similarly it is common local knowledge that Josleen is in fact Kyl’oriel biological daughter, not his adopted one as he pretends she is, which is frankly insulting to anyone with eyes as Josleen is his spitting image in many ways). Both Jessa (maid/wife) and Josleen (ward/daughter) refuse to speak with him in recent weeks. Jessa even left for Larket to live with the King and Queen in the castle. No one knows why they refuse to speak with him, except Kyl’oriel, who does not divulge details and deals with the pain (from this self-inflicted wound) by burying himself in the Tower and eating egg and tuna sandwiches, alone, in crumpled robes. Get a grip, man. The mage sulks past Pilar now, his shoulders uncharacteristically hunched, nose in a dense tome. The only thing that draws his attention away from the book is that peculiar magical current emanating from the vampiric student (Kyl’oriel can immediately tell what she is). “You there, miss.” Once she has her attention, “May I inquire what you’re carrying?”


Pilar wasn't a local of Xalious and didn't hang around much, so she's oblivious to Kyl'oriel's connection with Josleen. She'd never even spoken to him before, and only knew of him because of his reputation. She saw him coming but, outside of seeing Josleen's features in him (a coincidence, surely), didn't recognize him. She did recognize, from his robes, that he was a mage of import, though she couldn't imagine why someone like him would look so disheveled or smell so bad (really his smell is mild, but she's a vampire with acute senses). Pilar was already debating showing him the item when he asked about it. With some nervousness, she pulled a glass jar from her bag. “I, um... I'm not really sure, actually.” Inside was a bright green crystal, a concentrated poison of chaotic origin.


Kyl’oriel recoils from the crystal and blinks at it thrice. It doesn’t feel like anything he knows well, and thus his guesses veer into dangerous territory. Still, hoaxes do happen, even in magic (especially in magic?), and he won’t jump to conclusions. “Where did you--?” He clears his throat. “Please come with me to my office so that I may examine this further.” En route to his office. “What is your name, miss?”


Pilar wasn't that surprised at Kyl'oriel's reaction. It was potent stuff. If she hadn't started getting used to chaos magic, it might have put her off, too. She nodded when he suggested they go to his office, put the jar away, and followed dutifully. “Pilar Solana-Mendez, sir,” she answered politely. “I'm an apprentice here. This, uh, this thing, I was hoping to... to give it to someone who could maybe... keep it safe, or... destroy it safely. It's... it's dangerous, I can feel it.”


Kyl’oriel’s office is as you’d expect from a world-renowned author of non-fiction texts: books on books on books. He sits behind a messy desk and clears papers from the center of it. He gestures for Pilar to place the jar on the table. “How did you come to find this crystal, Pilar? And when? And what have you observed during your time with it?”


Pilar set the jar down, not looking directly at Kyl'oriel. She wasn't sure how he'd take the story. “It's a... it's a long story and I don't know if you'd believe me. I got it yesterday, and it's changed shapes four times since then. First it was all spiky, then it was a cube, then it was a... a... I don't know the name for the shape, but like two pyramids stuck together? Then it was round.” And now it was back to being spiky. “It's... It's a kind of poison, I think. My...” She glanced up at Kyl'oriel briefly then looked away, her eyes passing over his nameplate. “... My friend, she was attacked, by a, a monster. It, it was almost solid but also almost liquid. I think it was a chaos creature It, it poisoned her, and I, I tried to make it gather in her stomach so I could pull it out through her mouth, and that's what came out.”


Kyl’oriel scribbles down notes at Pilar speaks and asks questions for clarification. “How many spikes? Can you draw it?” “The pyramids, fused at the base, or at the tops?” “Perfectly round or oblong?” “Was it exactly this type of spiky before, or is the shape slightly different?” “Has it changed size or color?” “Has it always been completely solid?” “Has it made any noise?” “Has it vibrated, hovered, or otherwise moved on its own?” While his questions may seem random, they are indeed methodical and winnow out possibilities of what this thing could be or what school of magic is may belong to. “Can you describe the creature that attacked your friend in more detail. Size, color, smell, shape. Also when and where did the attack occur? You said yesterday, but at what time? Day, night, twilight? Why do you think it was a chaos creature?”


Pilar hadn't expected all these questions, she had hoped to just unload it and be done with it. But she answered to the best of her ability. “Um, I, I don't remember exactly.” “At the base.” “Spherical.” “Um, it looks pretty similar, but it could be different, I don't know.” “I haven't watched it all that close, but it's about the same.” “As far as I know.” “No, not that I've noticed.” “Outside of changing shape, no.” She hated to recall the incident, as it had been one of the most terrifying of her life. But, she feared consequences if she refused to talk. “It was, it was about the size of, of a dog? A medium-sized one. It was kind of black but also see-through, and it was kind of round? I don't remember a smell.” Pilar took a deep breath and sighed. “It happened in my home, around midday. I was in the bedroom, and I heard my dog barking. I came out to see the thing on my friend's head, suffocating her. I, I froze it, then took care of the poison. The body, I, I didn't know what to do with it, so I stuck it in my oven and burned it. I think it was a chaos creature because... because... I don't know, it was just the feeling I got. Plus it left behind this, and THIS definitely feels like chaos.”


Noticing that Pilar is reliving her trauma, Kyl’oriel slows down his questions and offers sympathetic grimaces and words. “I am glad you and your friend are alright, physically.” He nods at her final statement. “Indeed it does, based on what you say, seem like a chaos crystal. However, there have been hoaxes before and so I must be thorough. Just a couple more questions. Where is your home? How did your friend come across the creature? Also, what race and affiliations does your friend have?”


Pilar rubbed her arm nervously. “We, uh, we live in Chartsend. I don't know how it got into our house...” A blatant lie. “And I, I don't see what her race has to do with anything.”


Kyl’oriel blinks at her latter comment like he’s confused by her comment, then remember she’s a novice and he’s a teacher and so he must educate her. “Racial enemies may have set up the attack, or certain creatures like to prey on certain races. Elves versus drow, lycans versus vampires, shire ghouls like to eat hobbits, and so forth. Also affiliations, lots of groups have enemies.”


Pilar nodded. “Okay... She's, um... she's drow. She's got a... complicated history, but she doesn't have any affiliations as far as I know.”


Kyl’oriel stiffens a bit at the ‘drow’ bit. He’s met a handful of respectable drow in his day, just a handful. “I won’t ask for the details of her history as it is impertinent to do so, but if there is anything you wish to share that you think may be useful to me in better understanding how this crystal came to be imbedded in the toxin of a chaos creature in Cenril… I’d like to hear it.”


Pilar chewed her lower lip. The longer she hesitated, the more suspicious it would appear if she lied, she knew. But she wasn't sure how much was okay to share. “I... Um... She's, a, um... a mage. A... a chaos mage...”


Kyl’oriel squints at the response. “A drow chaos mage… is your...friend?” He leans back in his chair, steeples his fingers, and peers at Pilar over them. “That’s a very dangerous combination. What is your friend’s name? Would she be willing to come to the Tower to meet with me?”


Pilar crossed her arms. She didn't like his attitude. “She's... Her mind was damaged in the past. She can understand people fine, but has trouble speaking. And she fears men. If I was with her, she might be willing, but... I'll have to talk to her. As for her name... I call her Ibbles, but her actual name is Iblis.” Kyl'oriel, learned as he was, might know the meaning of that name. 'Deceiver.'


Kyl’oriel takes in a sharp breath at the name. Things have taken a very dark turn. “If you could bring her in to meet with me, I would appreciate it. I will hold onto the crystal in the mean time and study it. If that is all…?”


Pilar twiddled her thumbs. “Promise... promise me you won't try to... I don't know. I want her safe. Okay?” Drow or not, chaos mage or not, Pilar cared for her Ibbles very much.


Kyl’oriel is amused by the fact that Pilar is more worried for Iblis than she is for the safety of the tower and a renowned, peaceful elf scholar. But in truth he has no intention to bring harm to Iblis. If he deems her dangerous, there are procedures for that, and if he doesn’t, then their meeting shall be purely academic. “I have no ill intentions. I am a man of learning.”