RP:The Cost of Kindness
Part of the The God of Undeath Arc
Part of the You Must Have Been Human Arc
This is a Necromancer's Guild RP.
Summary: The first of the relic gathering begins with Kanna's abandoned homeland.
Kanna pores over the map with Camina, making sure the spatiomancer understands the coordinates to where they have to go. The error of margin is low, for there are only two points of entry around the small island so far away. She comes dressed in a black peasant top and skirt, both trimmed with periwinkle lace that matches the periwinkle bodice over her waist. Looped through the laces of her bodice hang several thick glass bottles with different plant matter and liquids within, no doubt all relating to poison of some sort. Access to Ikari had been closed off years ago, and no one knew the state it was in now. Throughout her hair, which has braided into twin buns so it doesn’t get her way, sprigs of baby’s breath and cornflowers peek out. Sure that Camina understands the location, Kanna waits for a moment when Khitti is free, as there likely isn’t much time remaining. “Ah, Khitti, I think I should warn you, when I was preparing these, I was, ah, seen, so… it's going to be more than the four of us today.” She looks like she’s waiting for the other shoe to drop as she cringes and adds, “I tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted that she know where I was going, and then she said she wanted to come with us…” Hopefully when Kailani arrives, Kanna can hide behind her as a druid shield in the event Khitti strongly disapproves of the newest addition that will be here any second now.
Kailani was not sure was sort of mission this would be, so the druid opted for overpreparation rather than under. The druid arrives wearing armor that appears to be made from black dragonscales, stitched intricately together with sturdy blue threading. Strapped across her back was her preferred weapon type, a polearm. A ranseur to be specific. Her weapon was upgraded not too long ago, the latest one being made of the rare celestial bronze. Fitting really, Kai and Khitti had helped Mathollak in its discovery. The druid has also thought to bring a few small bags which have been lashed to the belt that sits at her hips, full of various provisions and medicinal supplies, just in case. As the blue-haired half-elf approaches the group, they will notice she is absent from the company of her animal companions. Both Grimclaw and Aspen are presumably back home, safe with Orion. As Kai nears the familiar faces she is embarking on this quest with, they are greeted with a polite nod and a tentative smile. Kai may currently have mixed feelings, but she would still strive to be polite to the rest while they were supposedly aligned and unified in a common goal.
Shishi and Leralynn step out of a dark tear in space opened up on a road just inside Cenril’s high city wall. Initially a trio of people on the street go into a panic, thinking whatever the next Cenrilli disaster might be is beginning to unfold right before their eyes. The Titan of Winter, through one crimson eye, watches a dark haired human man in the group spin and take off running, presumably for the town guard. The Blue Demon raises a hand in an awkward greeting to the other two, “Yo.” He elicits a “Holy sh-...” from the half-elven woman in the group while the remaining man shouts back after the fleeing member, “Russell! Chill out! It’s Shishi!” He turns back to Orange and Blue and smiles faintly, “Sorry… he doesn’t follow sports.” Leralynn puffs out her cheeks, the girl has her usual collection of equipment strapped to her, is wearing her typical dark pants beneath a short, blue dress. She wears the enoki covered cloak that she has crafted to obscure her from detection by the undead. “Aye… Let’s go Blue.” The vampiric father doesn’t immediately obey the order and stops to sign an autograph or two while his iris fades back to its usual oceanic blue shade. With that done, the duo make their way to the meeting spot, arriving just a bit late with Blue offering up that same half hearted wave that he gave the fans on the street. It is unclear which of the pair is less excited to Khitti, but given Leralynn and Kailani’s last encounter at the Xalious tree, she is sure to take a wide, roundabout path to put herself at Kanna’s side before quietly eeking out a “Hey guys…” before pretending to be very interested in the map…
Khitti stared at the ground, idly messing with the strap of her satchel as Camina kept an eye out for everyone that was coming. She thought over the things that Kanna had said the night before and her obviously pensive gaze was in full view, crimson brows furrowed, and her lips twisted into a frown. “You keep looking like that, your face will stick that way,” the half-elf follower of Q’na teased. The frown shifted into a more annoyed one as olive-green eyes settled on the darkly clad, dark-haired woman. “See? That’s better. Gotta change it up now and then.” Khitti just rolled her eyes at Camina and shook her head, still silent. Camina watched her friend with slight concern, but ultimately left her be, letting her be on her own until the others showed up and went back to looking at the map with Kanna. And when they did show up, Khitti eyed Orange and Blue momentarily, only to then give Kanna a pointed stare after the necrobotanist tried to explain. “I don’t have the energy to fight about this right now. I’m too exhausted from everything else. But I’m incredibly disappointed and you should damn well know better,” the redhead said with an exasperated sigh. She pinched the bridge of her nose and rubbed at her eyes as she thought about how much Lanlan was going to yell at her and how Kasyr might go after Orange and her father next, now that Quintessa had been dealt with. Quickly changing the subject, Camina waved her hand at Kanna and pointed at the map. “Okay, I think I can figure it out,” the woman said in her thick islander accent. “Shouldn’t be too hard, yeah? My own belt of islands is around this area too.” She seemed confident. Camina took a step back from the group and held out both hands at her sides. The metal bracers that wrapped around her wrists shifted from their solid form to a liquid one, slithering down to the palm of her hands where they shifted once again into a solid form, this time as steel daggers. “Okay. Here goes nothing,” said the alchemist, as her daggers began to spark. Both were flipped up into the air, caught, and promptly stabbed into the space in front of her, literally ripping it apart. An inky blackness awaited them in the form of a portal and with a heavy sigh, Khitti was the first to head into the void before them, being no stranger to portals. Hopefully, just because they all went through the same portal, it meant they’d all show up in the same spot on the other side...
Kanna bites her lip as the tension skyrockets to new levels. Perhaps her choice in invitations for this adventure was ill-thought, but she was still convinced that they were the best people she could ask to come with her, especially since she had no idea what was going on with Quintessa and Karasu. The disappointment Khitti expresses cuts deeper than she ever could have thought, and the bard holds Leralynn protectively… At least, as protectively as she can when the half-elf is nearly ten years younger but still a foot taller. “I know we all haven’t gotten off on the best foot, but please try to get along. We all share a common goal. I’ll make you all be friends again after this.” She says, though the drip of sweat forming betrays her nerves. Thankfully, Camina comes to her rescue with the preparations complete. Kanna moves herself, and by extension, Leralynn, close to Kailani as she reiterates, “Thank you so much for coming. This creature is supposed to be the last of its kind, and none of us want to see it killed.” Then the portal is opened. The void beckons them all with an ominous call. Holding the straps of her soulbound koto close, she steps through.
The seas around the island are notably different from the pristine aquamarine of Cenril and Rynvale. These waters are a deep sapphire, full of life as seagulls and other birds dive from the trees down the rocky cliffs in search of meals. Though there is a larger landmass visible in the distance, this isle is no larger than the entirety of a decent-sized town, a quarter of Cenril at best. The town is very clearly abandoned, with the forests mostly having reclaimed the smaller buildings on the furthest outskirts. What is visible only consists of a few streets with homes and shops for staff, some overgrown cobbled roads leading to the docks, a long defunct lighthouse, and a grand multi-story manor with a shrine within its dilapidated fence perimeter. The influence of high elf architecture is present in the old wooden structures that are still recognizable. There is no one on the island but them and the animals, and of course, the onniont that resides in the large sapphire lake. Still, the distinct sense of being watched cannot be shaken from all those trespassing on the abandoned land. Even if separated, Kanna will have instructed them to make their way to the old manor that overlooks the lake. Already, Kanna is shaking. This place is like a memory distorted. “Orange.” Kanna calls to the young necromancer when she rejoins her. Kanna’s eyes are focused on the way the lake’s waters do not seem to ripple with the winds or create waves on the shore. “This creature is said to be an avatar of Vakmatharas. Would a divine communication with it compel it to the surface?”
Even when Leralynn appears, Kailani manages to keep up a facade of calm. Inwardly, the druid was lacking confidence in this group. Their loyalty. How it might affect the success of their overall goal. Kai is quite used to keeping her thoughts to herself, and keeps her emotions steady. Kailani is like water, whereas Khitti is the fire of the group. The redheads sentiments are made known in her fiery way. Someone needed to say it, even if Kai was not that someone. Rather than waste precious time and potentially let the conversation spiral into a full blown argument, the druid steps through the portal. The magic used to speed their travel seemed to go mildly awry. Kai was not entirely certain where she was or if she was even sent to the correct location. All she knew is that she had landed hard against the ground, the palms of her hands the only things that were keeping her planting face first into the earth. Kai’s landing places her just outside of the small village, leaving the druid with a choice. Does she go toward buildings? Or does she travel away from the village and head toward the lake? In the end, the goal was to reunite with her companions, but the druid opts to head the direction of the lake. After a short walk, Kai manages to locate at Kanna and Leralynn. Hopefully Khitti too.
Shishi steps through the portal before Leralynn and his foot lands on soft ground on the other side, a slight breeze on his face as he blinks his one eye in adjustment to the brighter environment than whence he came. “Oh…” He’s about fifty feet from the shore of the lake he’s meant to be journeying to. “Lucky…” Kind of. He looks around and spots the manor much farther from him than the lakeshore is. Does he really have to walk up there if they’re just coming right back down to where he is? He huffs and starts walking, throwing his hand up to block the sun from his eye as he moves. “Where’d they end up..?” Cut to Leralynn tumbling out of the portal about two hundred feet in the air. A seagull caws right next to her ear as she startles it with her spontaneous appearance. After a couple of unstable somersaults she extends her arms and legs out to stabilize her descent and casts a spell with the snap of a finger. There’s a massive firey explosion that occurs just south of the manor, pushing a powerful hot draft of air into the sky that magically catches on the blonde witch’s cape and severely slows her fall to the point that she is drifting like a feather to the ground, where she lands face first without injury. Dusting herself off as she meets up with Kanna, the girl ponders her friend’s question before nodding her flaxen head and smiling, “Aye. I have an idea to call it…” Blue will arrive at some point and ask, “Why didn’t we just meet at the lake?”
Khitti stepped through the portal and… right into a massive tree. There was lots of swearing as she pulled bits of bark from her forehead. And thankfully, she swore so loudly that some nearby villagers managed to find her and they played charades for a few minutes as Khitti tried to describe the lake. They pointed her in the right direction and she’d eventually find the rest of the group. Camina would find her own way, of course, but since her part was done for now, she’d take her sweet time, so her magic could recharge along the way. In the meantime, Khitti would just roll her eyes at Shishi as Kanna and Leralynn converse. “Because it would’ve taken us two weeks to get here by ship,” she said. For the time being, she’d cross her arms and wait as Orange did her thing to summon the creature.
Kanna feels her nerves lessening as one by one, her friends new and old rejoin her side. She almost feels like the Princess of Valaane from the storybooks, who could only find strength from the bonds forged around her. This was no story, though, they were now stranded thousands of miles from home with no help should things go wrong. As Orange prepares to start her communion with Vakmatharas, Kanna listens to the sounds of the dead village. To a trained or inhuman ear, some might recognize the sounds of branches being broken in the distance, and a low growl on the wind. Kanna considers something, then moves to take her heirloom koto off her shoulders and across her lap. As she opens the case, a shadow appears in the waters, but it goes unnoticed by the necrobotanist as she thinks of something. “Who were you talking to? I heard you describing the lake.” Kanna looks up at Khitti in confusion.
Kailani moves away from the group, just a little bit, so that she can stand at the shores of the lake. Her distance from them is not so great that Kai would not hear any cries for help. But until she heard some sign that it was time for them to proceed, she would take a moment to calm her own mind and her nerves by staring at the surface of the lake before her. She watched the way the waters rippled, looked for any signs of life beneath the surface, and etc.
Shishi squints his one open eye when Khitti answers his obnoxious question and wonders to himself ‘how are we getting back then?’ since the spatiomancer that sent them here hasn’t shown up yet. He shrugs and doesn’t voice his concern out loud. He’s not immune to the enchantment on Leraynn’s cloak so he can just barely make out the blurry necromancer shaped blob, leading beside Kanna as the group moves away from the manor and towards the waters of the lake. The girl goes through all of her ritualistic summoning steps, lighting her small candle that dangles from her hip and sets it down on the sandy dirt near the shore, and clasping her hands together while she explains her plan and sets it in motion all at once, “All of His agents are attracted to…” She’s never said the words out loud before, but she’s thought of it with this terminology for years after seeing it on Valrae and Leoxander among others, “The Aura of The Returned… Which is on you now, Kanna.” Her prayer to the God of Death is answered and the enchantment on her cloak is reversed, so that now Shishi can see her in crystal clear vision, better than he has ever been able to before. Now instead of blurring the senses of the undead, it enhances it. While the Onniont might not be an undead creature, it does sound like it is imbued with His nature. “You’re more an affront to Him now than you ever were before.” Her voice is cold and calculating as The Orange Witch stands and slips off her mushroom covered cape and steps around Kanna to place it on her back, “So we’re going to use you as bait…” There is a quick twinge of guilt on her face as she says that, but she shakes it off and asks the bard to, “Step into the water… It will come.”
Kanna quirks a brow at Khitti’s unease, but is soon distracted by the cloak around her shoulders. She looks at Orange’s conflicted expression with furrowed brows, but she knows better than to question the methods of the devout. The bard moves to stand, then reconsiders, first taking off her shoes. She takes the heirloom koto in her arms, folding its two outer panels inward so it's compacted again to be no wider than her chest before finally standing up. “I understand.” In her mind, she adds, ‘It’s the least I can do for allowing it to use my body to harm the Holy Trees.’ “I remember that I was never allowed to come here by myself.” She says as she tentatively takes a step into the water. Its like ice on her skin. “I think only one person could touch the waters during the summer festival… Maybe I was allowed to remember it because I did not know the connection to the Onniont…” She wonders, as she takes a step forward, then another. All is silent for a beat. Then… it appears. Alabaster fish scales that reflect the sunlight like polished steel on a serpentine body rise up from the lake, its size rivalling that of a dragon, enough to the point that one must wonder how it fits in the lake at all. Just how deep do the waters go to allow a creature of this size to be in it? The waters lap against Kanna’s knees, drenching the lace hem of her skirt and sinking her bare feet in the silt, but she dares not move. Long whiskers on either side of its face move with an unfelt wind as serpentine eyes look one by one at those gathered. Then its maw opens, and a scream erupts from its maw. “LEAVE!” The lone word echoes around the island and in the skulls of the mages and druids. Those who are versed in necromancy would recognize its energies immediately as a phobomancy spell, its force increasing with every pulse. In the forests surrounding the lake, more feral cries answer the onniont’s scream. “Kailani…!” Kanna begs quietly, barely audible through the sudden eruption of sound. The beasts that have reclaimed the island’s forest would be upon them soon and already, Kailani would be able to see their shadows in the treeline advancing.
Kailani was calm and centered while Khitti was trying to resist falling into a panicked state. The druid could hear her the concern in the redhead’s voice, even though she only uttered a single word. Kai did not have the chance to say anything even if she wanted to, Kanna steps into the water and steals all of Kailani’s attention. The druid remained on the edge of the shoreline during those few silent moments they had. And then the creature appeared. It was angry, it probably had a right to be too. Necromancy may not be Kailani’s specialty but death was opposite of life, essential to keep the balance of all things, and so Kailani at least had a basic understanding of the energies she was feeling even if she did not actively wield them. As the blue-haired woman had promised Kanna, they would do this as peacefully as possible. The woman who is not prone to speaking commands the team in a stern voice, “Whatever you do, do not attack anything directly. Defend yourself if you must but try not to harm -anything-.” Kai could only hope that the group would listen to her, for she turned all her attention to the onniont. As a druid, she could attempt to utilize her magic to charm, but anyone with any basic respect of nature and the intelligent creatures that live within it know that this route is not always effective. It’s not always appreciated. Some beings have the ability to resist or break free from being charmed, only enraging them further when they realize what has happened to them. Against their will. The druid kneels at the water’s edge and begins to speak to the onniont with nothing but respect, and like it was actually intelligent enough to understand her. In the druid’s mind, it was. There were plenty in the world who would not see her logic. “We do not come to cause any trouble for you or to bring you any harm. We are here with a purpose, but we come with only good intentions and hope that you might hear us out and help us.” While Kai spoke, her voice carried a certain level of calming energies to it. Subtle, so as to not overstep her bounds in these attempts. If the onniont remains hostile, Kailani will remain steadfast in her position and will repeat the words she just uttered. This time in elven. The process repeats until…either the onniont makes a choice to hear them out or until all hell breaks loose.
Shishi shuffles his feet and moves away from Khitti at her direction. Fortunately his eye is on Leralynn and Kanna now, feeling the strange attraction to the former ghoul through the reversed enchantment on the cloak, so when the former vampire lights up, he isn’t staring directly into the flare. The monstrous beast appears and casts its spell. Blue takes one single step backwards, the black tie around his neck enchanted to dampen intrusions into his mind keeps the fear magic from taking full effect on him. In response to the hostility The Blue Demon’s eye shifts from blue to a glowing crimson and the shadows in the area, including the dark flames on Khitti’s hand, flex unnaturally in response to the activation of the family’s curse. Leralynn freezes, captured completely by the phobomancy, despite her ability to identify it. She turns and bolts for the treeline, unable to control the effect of the spell on her legs, but at the same time her hands are clapped together and is pray-casting yet another bit of necromancy on herself to dispel the effect, interposing her pious verbal components with various curse words in her moment of panic. Her prayer is answered and she comes skidding to a stop, no longer under the control of the fear, but is now face to face with the treeline and whatever is approaching from within…
Khitti’s whole body stiffened as the creature invaded their minds with its warning. Defend. Defend defend defend. Right. Yes. Got it. Khitti actually thanked the gods that Kasyr hadn’t joined them on this journey as they didn’t need three murderhobos to incinerate the whole of Kanna’s homeland right in front of the bard and the nature-loving Kailani. But it’s then as the roars from the treeline strengthened and got closer that Khitti heard them. THEM. A fear the likes of which hasn’t been seen in public gripped the redhead, to the point that she didn’t even notice Shishi’s influence on her own magic. The twilight witch trembled, both of her magical lights out entirely as she no longer had the will to cast them. Darkness overtook her as the fierce cries washed over and through her, entering her very soul. All the while, Khitt, in their shared mind, was screaming at her to do something. This was a man who had punched an illusion-werebear in the face--he had no fear. Now wasn’t the time for her to freak out, but Khitti begged to differ as she stared at the forest.
As the phobomancy works its way over the island, Kanna is rooted to the spot. Her eyes have taken a thousand-yard stare as the horrors of what Caluss subjected her in the Chaos Realms replays in her mind, as she sits in the nameless desert alongside a naive arcane steward who would soon leave her alone, and watches again as a memory of someone she loved vanishes, leaving behind a journal with indecipherable text and a sketch of her before she had been touched by the God of Undeath. Tears roll down Kanna’s eyes as she is seven years old again, walking home from the festival fields after being told to stay where she was, only to open her parents’ chambers and see her mother hanging from the ceiling, fulfilling the ominous prophecy she had whispered just the night before. She is eight years old again, staring down the red-hot brand of an organized group of slave traders who take a sick enjoyment in telling her where she is being sold to, then in the next instant, she is looking on in horror at their mutilated bodies, dead by her own hand. The onniont’s maw closes, looking down at the druid kneeling before it. The phobomancy spell ends, though Kanna remains rooted to the spot, unmoving. The serpent growls again, but gives a tilt of the head, as if unsure about something. Its body lowers until its jaw is nearly touching the shallow waters of the shore. A rough exhale sends mists of the lake out on Kailani as it considers her. Her energies had worked. Up close, the group can see that each of its teeth is as large as they are, but they are not the teeth of predators. This was a creature that was meant to live peacefully, nourishing itself on plants and small game, only lashing out in defense. Then, it speaks.
Its mouth does not move, but all can hear its words. “Naive mortal, led astray by yet another hunter. None seek us out unless it is for the purpose of killing us. We have been here since the era of dragons, only to be hunted off by your kind who wished to do us harm.” Its head swivels around to Kanna, who is still unmoving. A powder-white whisker curls inwards, then brushes the bangs from Kanna’s face so it may touch her bare forehead. “You have Haruka’s face, but your scales are white like mine. Curious that something like you should have the aura of those who defy Vakmatharas’ will.” The invocation of her mother’s name seems to break Kanna out of her trance, her teary eyes focusing on the beast. “B-beast… A beast that calls itself the God of Undeath…” Kanna hiccups, unable to stop the tears from the phobomancy. Kanna pathetically cries out, “It wants to kill Vakmatharas, and we need your cry to-- to help stop it.” The onniont considers Kanna’s plea. Serpentine eyes flicker to Khitti, her gaze frozen in fear over the forest, the vampiric man taking a defensive stance, and the flaxen-scaled woman looking between Kanna and the serpent. It nods understandingly at Kailani and speaks again. “You already have all the pearls of my ancestors, yet you came seeking the last pearl of our kind? Your auras do not bleed with the same greed as those who came before you. You must be foolish. That is not a crime. I see the weight of your sins that bear down on you, and the aura of those who wish to do good. I will offer you a compromise if you truly seek a route without violence. Gather the screams that still haunt this place so that I may sleep in peace, but use the pearls your ancestors stole from mine to do it. But be forewarned, Hind’s creatures have not taken kindly to those who disturb this reclaimed land. I cannot quell them now." When all goes quiet, the onniont’s speech complete, three large male bears barrel out of the forest, enraged by the primal fears that the onniont inflicted upon them. They sensed dangers, and these two-legged trespassers were it.
Kailani remained kneeling at the shores of the lake as the onniont speaks to both herself and Kanna. Kai had managed to complete her part of their endeavor, she got the creature to at least listen to them. There was an ache in Kailani’s heart when the being speaks of being hunted, to the point that the one that they see before them is the very last of it’s kind. Death is not something that Kai wishes about the onniont, something that the creature can sense about both Kanna and Kailani. When it comes to the deal, Kailani remains silent. What the onniont asks is beyond Kailani’s own knowledge, but Kai knows that Khitti and Orange had to have been invited along for a reason. The druid would have remained kneeling if the bears had kept their distance, but three of them barrel through the forest. Not wanting to see anyone find their death today, Kai is to her feet to follow the instructions that she gave to everyone else earlier. Defend, but do not harm. The druid would shift her focus from the onniont to this, leaving the rest of the group to figure out how to gather the screams that still haunt this place. Kai assumes that they onniont must be referring to spirits of some sort. Either way, the bears. Kailani will try and keep the bears at a distance. This task would be so much more easily accomplished if she had a griffin at her side, but Grimclaw is not here. What Kai does have is an easy command over there elements. Some of them come more naturally than others to the druid, like water. And so the druid leans into the elements of water and earth, trying to channel their energies to accomplish two different tasks. First, earth. Roots would spring forth from the ground and lash themselves around the paws of the bears, trying to rip their limps out from under them and send them toppling to the earth. Kai knew that this would not be would not stop them permanently, but the idea was to slow them enough so that Kai would cause a wall of ice to build in the space between the group and the bears. The more time that Kailani was able to give herself before they reached that wall, the thicker and taller the half-circle barrier of ice would be.
Shishi mutters, “What is that thing saying?” seemingly to himself. The enchantment on his neck tie is still doing its work, and a side effect of that is all but silencing the telepathy of the scaled beast communicating with the group. When one of those bears from the forest emerges near his daughter, The Blue Demon doesn’t hesitate. These creatures are right about one thing, Shishi is the danger. As he moves towards the treeline at monstrous speeds, shadows congregate at his left hand and take physical form in the shape of a small, thin slashing blade. All in one motion The Titan passes Leralynn by and cuts upward through one of the bear’s forelimbs, as it passes through flesh and bone, the thickness of the dark blade increases, making the cut rough and gruesome. It is then that the roots summoned by Kailani sprout up and entangle this animal and the others. The Demon’s eye is burning red and he may not even realize through the terrible fury that his target is being restrained, but those restraints do assist him when he dives on top of the dismembered beast and bites and claws at it, more feral than even what the bears were presenting themselves as. He draws blood and drinks it in from many wounds, the liquid holding little value nutritionally to the vampire, but the act is a display of violence that means to inspire fear into the other ursine defenders present, if they’re even capable of it. Orange snaps out of her fearful trance and looks back towards Kanna and the Onniont while Blue feasts. She rushes back to the necrobotanist’s side and sets up her candle again, having been extinguished with the rising waters of the lake when the gigantic creature appeared. A seance it is then. She hurriedly requests that the pearls are laid out around her while she hastily traces out runes and symbols of The Death God into the muddy, sandy ground in a summoning circle and seats herself in the center. Hands clap together and her oceanic blue eyes close and she begins the prayer to conjure the voices of the fallen onnionts. If Kanna and/or Khitti want to join her to expedite the casting of the summoning spells, they could find space with her at the center of the circle, but perhaps they are better served harvesting the cries as they come. After a few minutes, during which the pearls begin to glow brilliant white one by one, the half-elven girl opens her mouth wide with a crack heard in her jaw and a powerful, deeply pained and saddened scream spills out from the teenager who should have no rightful way of naturally making such a sound. The spell is in motion at this point and will have to be physically stopped once the work needed is done, until that point each past scream will force its way out of the girl one by one until they are all spent, or her life is…
Within their shared mind, Khitt bashed against the wall that separated him from Khitti, ramming it with his shoulder, his whole body’s force put into the motion. ‘Goddamn it, Khitti, it is literally going to tear you apart and eat you, woman! How in the hell has Brand dealt with this for so long?!’ On the outside, Khitti was in a daze, half watching the forestline, half listening to the serpent’s words. On the inside, cracks began to form in the wall, stone crumbling. Khitt stopped shouldering the wall and started punching it, the wall shuddering and breaking with each hit until it finally toppled at his feet and Khitt managed to push through. The magical change from Khitti to Khitt was so fast that it left Khitti-like blur in Khitt’s wake, the taller of the two redheads still in a punching motion. He came to a stop and put down his arm, blinking as he looked around. Yep, there’s the fish. And Kailani and Shishi are dealing with the bears. “You know, I didn’t think that’d work.” He turned his attention then to Orange and Kanna as they prepared for the seance and he moved to their side. “Hey, don’t worry. We’ve got this,” he said as he summoned up a massive ball of shadowflame and tossed it up into the air. It exploded after a moment, releasing smaller orbs of purple flame that danced around above them like will-o-wisps. In much the same fashion as Khitti when she called to spirits to bring them to her, he combined bardic energy with necromancy. ♫When the summer dies, severing the ties, I'm with you always. Always. Will you walk the line? My path serpentine. Remember always, that love is all you need. Tell me who you wanna be… and I will set you free. There's a darkness at the heart of my love, that runs cold, runs deep… The darkness at the heart of my love, for you!♫ It was a song to Vakmatharas, or rather a song from him, and it helped to draw the souls to the three necromancers like moths to a shadowflame.
Kanna looks down at her koto as the words of the serpent repeat in her head. These mother of pearl flowers that formed foxglove petals on her koto, they were petals of the dead. Her family heirloom was a creation from death. Leralynn’s request almost goes unheard until Khitt’s song and shadowfire forces Kanna to turn around. Tears streaming down her face, she rushes back to shore, her nails digging frantically at the delicate lacquer of the soundboard. The shaped pearls are torn out in quick succession, with Kanna giving little heed to the safety of the thousands-year old foxglove wood being exposed to the elements as a consequence. She couldn’t afford to think of the irreversible damage being done to her prized possession. She quickly throws the pearl petals down around the young half-elf, barely able to keep up with the extraction as each one lights up no sooner than it is removed. Kanna’s chest heaves, her heartache weighing her down as the crack of the dragon-zither resounds. “♫In this world you tried, not leaving me alone behind.♫” Crack. “♫There's no other way. I prayed to the gods that you’d stay.♫” Another crack. The onniont is not unmoved by the display, lowering its head. “♫The memories ease the pain inside, now I know why. All of my memories keep you near. In silent moments imagine you here.♫” As Kanna and Khitti alternate their lyrics, and Orange works her pure unfettered necromancy, the thrown petals come together, their jagged edges coming together like long-lost puzzle pieces finally reunited. “♫All of my memories keep you near. Your silent whispers, silent tears.♫” As Kanna holds the high note, a reverberation of magic from the three necromancers combined stretches across the lake, lighting up the spirits of the dead. To those who look closely, they see not only the spirits of the onnionts who came before this one, but the spirits of the dead residents of Ikari crying out from their death years before. All of them are drawn to the forming inexhaustible jar as the spell crescendos. “♫Together in all these memories, I see your smile. All the memories I hold dear. Darling, you know I will love you 'til the end of time.♫” Where Kailani and Shishi have taken up post as defense, the other two bears are successfully ensnared by the roots Kailani summons, the sudden display of druidic magic unfamiliar enough to them to bewilder them. The ice wall forms between Shishi and the two other bears, effectively protecting the group from the bears, or the bears from Shishi. The creature stands no chance against the Blue Demon and goes limp, it's only crime having been a primal need to defend what it believed to be its land. Shielded from the gore just meters away, the other two bears bite at the roots, emitting panicked cries. From the treeline, several pairs of eyes and smaller faces can be seen peering out to see what will happen next. A nudge too far, and a cub nearly falls out of the brush, but scrambles back into hiding.
Kailani tries her best to not end up too distracted by the ritual at hand, between the screaming and the singing it made it very hard for the druid to keep her own concentration on what she was meant to be doing. The bears. Thankfully she seemed to have a bit of luck on her side today. The woman was expecting this battle to not end so easily, for them to continue to try and rampage by mauling her wall of ice. Sven knows even against ice, those bear claws could do some serious damage. When their reaction seems to be to calm, to fall into a sense of intrigue and wonder, Kailani approaches the wall of ice she just formed. A hand is pressed against the wall, right where one the bears heads would be. A soft slow emanates from her hand as she leans in close to whisper, “Go back home to the forests.” It was more encouragement than command, for Kailani really did not want to see them lose another companion. If it seems like they are willing to follow this advise, the roots that entangle any of the bears will fall loose and disappear into the earth beneath them. Only once Kailani was sure that they would not be a further threat to their group would she let her attention finally shift to the ritual that was at hand.
Shishi sits perched atop the lifeless form of the bear he’s reduced to a pile of blood, fur, and bone. He wipes the red liquid away from his face with the back of his left hand, smearing it on his cheek, and then licks the excess off from wrist to knuckle. The one glowing red eye of The Demon shifts towards the ice wall and the two other bears beyond. The feral titan draws shadows to his side and uses them to rip open a portal to the creatures trapped on the opposite side of the ice. He stands and takes one step towards the opening into the shadow plane that will transport him across the barrier and hesitates as Leralynn’s channeled screams crack and she wobbles in place just as the creation of the jar is completed. The flame at the end of The Orange Witch’s candle doubles, triples in size, a visual indication of the drain on her magical energies increasing. As always, her dog in this fight isn’t those looking to put an end to Caluss, it is herself and proving that she is capable of living up to the legacy inherited from her first necromancy teacher. She coughs once and forces herself to continue, the forced breath merely a momentary interruption before the next deathrattle scream begins with the same tremendous force of the others. Then Blue is there. In less than an instant he is upon her cradling the girl in his arms, surrounded by writhing tentacles of shadow that snuff the flame of the candle out and wreak havoc on the runes traced in the ground around the girl. Once enough damage has been done to the ritual site, the scream stops and Leralynn hangs lifeless in her father’s arms, her mouth hanging open gruesomely. He glares at Khitt and Kanna, “Did you get it!?” He doesn't actually care.
Khitt continued his song, letting it entwine with Kanna’s own and Leralynn’s unhinged screams as the three of them called the souls to them, letting their cries become trapped within the jar. When he was finished, and after he looked over his shoulder to make sure the animals were no longer attacking, he returned a glare to Shishi, though he didn't answer the vampire. He had slightly better self control in that regard than Khitti, so long as whatever the situation was didn’t involve his wife. The redhead peered down at Kanna amongst her sadness and frowned, a hand placed on top of her head, patting it softly. “You’ve sacrificed so much… More than anyone would understand,” he said at length. “Even if there’s people that refuse to see it, just know that there are some that do.” He meant himself, and Khitti of course. The witch reached out for the jar, waiting until Kanna was done with it, intending to do what needed to be done with it on his end of things, in Khitti’s place.
Kanna weeps openly as Leralynn falls limp, the last petal seals the lid shut, and the last heirloom of her home is damaged far beyond what she can repair. The seance is done, and a weight has been lifted from the cursed island. Khitt’s hand is warm against her chilled head, but his words sadly seem to offer little comfort to the grief that overwhelms the bard. The onniont lowers its head, its snout only inches away from Shishi. “What a brave child. A heart confused, but strong and pure.” The whiskers gently reach out, brushing against Leralynn’s face. “There are those in the other planes who want to speak to you. You will see them again now when you dream.” To Shishi, another whisker touches the space between his brows where the eyepatch does not cover skin. There is a brief small flicker of light as a vision is bestowed upon him. “Your predilection for violence will be your downfall, not your ally.” It says as the whiskers pull away. Far from the others, the bear that marvel at the ice give the cold wall a tentative lick as a sense of calmness washes over them. Guided by her words, the beasts move into the trees where their young await; the discovery of the fallen would come another day and out of sight of the young, thanks to her efforts. The whiskers move to Kailani, resting on her shoulder as if it were a hand patting a comrade in battle. “Your connection to Hind is the strongest I and those before me have seen in several centuries. Nourish it and it will flourish.” To Khitt, the onniont addresses, “You of two spirits, you speak and sing of death and sacrifice though you know of it just as much as the one you comfort. You are a worthy devout, as much as the humans who once guarded me and the box they made from my ancestors.” It cannot comfort Kanna, as inconsolable as she is right now. The bard alternates between stroking Leralynn’s damaged face and letting her tears fall into the ruined dragon-zither. “Perhaps someone with the aura of those who defy Vakmatharas is just suitable enough to stop another of the same aura. All of you. Please do not return here. It has been centuries since I have slept, and I intend to do just that.” The onniont looks out at the ruined manse, thinking of the human with brown scales that dedicated part of her short life to ensuring the world would never seek it's kind out again for selfish purposes, and the screams that rang out the night the island fell to ruin. It slithers into the lake, disappearing into an impossibly deep pool until its shadow disappears again and the sapphire lake becomes still again, leaving the group of unlikely heroes to collect themselves for the journey home.