RP:Three Out of Four Basic Arts

This is a Necromancer's Guild RP.

Synopsis: This time, Joan and Pyde meet in one of the classrooms inside the Black Spire (necromancer guilds HQ) to go over a third basic art requirement.

The Black Spire

The entryway of the Necromancer’s Guild is a true testament to an affinity towards dark magic. The foyer is massive in size, with a vaulted ceiling with beams and buttresses capping a series of wide marble staircases that lead up to opulent corridors. Every landing opens to a mezzanine formed by arches and a wrought iron filigree railing overlooking the entry hall. From a position upon the travertine tile floor, it seems that the tower extends further than the spiral staircase can reach. The walls are a mottled, onyx stone, hewn to a smooth face and polished to a mirror-like shine. This dark stone meshes well in an eerie sort of harmony with the stained glass windows that litter the building, colored in various shades of red and arranged in geometrical patterns within the window frames. A quartet of chandeliers, each one crafted from thin, wire-like strands of emerald to resemble a tangle of vines and leaves, hangs in cordoned quadrants from thick chains attached to the ceiling. The heady scent of pungent incense and rich, flavorful cigars wafts through the labyrinthine halls.

Myriad doors and entries stretch out from the cavernous room, each one bedecked with archaic splendor and subdued style, leading one to believe that maybe the tower is bigger on the inside. One chamber seems to lead into another, and on and on through a maze of far-reaching rooms. The majority of these are classrooms and laboratories or dorms and study halls, while others are offices for the teachers and higher ups of the guild. A massive library, an armoury, and rooms to be used for spellcasting practice that has been enchanted to protect the entire tower from wayward magic can also be found amongst the chambers. The walls are tiled in jagged obsidian, while the floor seems to be a solid sheet of semi-precious hematite stone. A constant, calm patter alerts visitors to the presence of a circular fountain with a low lip at the center of the room. Jets of water are propelled from the perimeter of the pool and into the middle, where three steel-wrought sculptures of a black widow spider, cloaked skeleton, and a multi-limbed, humanoid woman--the Spider Goddess, Vakmatharas, and Delisha respectively--surround and direct their attention towards the middle of the fountain. Floating in the middle of the three is the guild’s sigil, the skull of which is made from the same onyx stone as most of the tower, though it has a faint red aura around it, and the several layers of runes orbit around it, in much the same way as a gyroscope. Flickering censers dangle from every corner of the room, wafting violet-black smoke and the aroma of lilies while casting ominous puddles of light and shadow. A flight of stairs nestled inside an alcove, along the left wall through a sculpted archway, leads down to the basement.

Joan awaited in one of the magically spelled classrooms on the upper level, the vampiric healer had spent her time summoning and channeling her icy purple shadow claws out from her pale fingertips. The icy shadow claws waved in and out of sight for a few moments as she poured more concentrated into channeling these dark icy shadow claws, exhaling a held breath the woman kept her focus as she took a few swipes at a lines up row of vegetables, starting with the smallest and working her way through the last, a winter squash. As her icy purple shadow claws sliced through the squash the coldness from the shadow claws freezes the vegetable, the pieces of now frozen squash fall and shatter onto the floor. With a litter of frozen vegetables pieces on the floor the woman would then point and focus at the pieces, the icy purple shadow claws would sizzle as it turned into flame claws, keeping the same purplish color this flame claw also wavered for a few moments before it to steady, using her index finger claw, she point it towards the frozen vegetable pieces sending the purple shadow flame towards them, the frozen vegetables would sizzle, defrost and cook from the focused shadow flame directed at it all. The smell of roasted veggies filling the classroom.

Pyde scampers into the room just before the display of magic took place. The Fermin's eyes go wide watching in fascination. He scurries over to where Joan was practicing. "Good evening. That was quite the show. Is that what I will be learning to do today? Also, are any of those veggies good to eat after that? Just kidding, considering the magic that was used it might be a 'tad' spicy."

Joan crane her head slightly as she looked towards the smaller creature, nodding she focused on pulling in the purple shadow flame claws, “Yeah, this evening you are gonna try to summon and channel any of the three types of the Black Tides. There is shadows, flame, and ice and those of us not from the shadow realm can only seem to channel this.” She made a face as the dancing shadow flame flared out and left just her normal icy pale fingertips to view. “I never asked Khitti more about the subject as I got busy focusing on other areas of the dark arts as my main concern. But we all need to be able to use the Black Tides in some way. Part of being a practicing necromancer in this guild.” She step towards the now cooked veggie pieces and work to pick up the pieces into a dustpan she picked up nearby. “You could try to eat them…but they was just cooked on the classroom floor…not telling what kinda germs are on them now.” A grin offered once she deposited the picked up veggies into a trash bin, the vampiric healer moving out of the way now as a few novices moved into the classroom to finish the quick clean up and then set a new setup upon the main table.

Pyde smirks at the remark about germs on the floor. "I was more worried about the magic used to cook the food. I grew up in the sewers, so any floor germs wouldn't bother me. But as a entertainer, that would be unbecoming of my professionalism." The mini-mancer out of habit, cracks his head to the side and stretches out his arms and fingers with some small pops. "Alright, let's try this." Stretching out his hands as if to put on a show, Pyde casts out mental images of threads of magic towards the vegetables on the table. Focusing on a spacious gourd, he fills the plant with shadow magic to the bursting point. Small legs and arms burst out of the gourd sending seeds across the table, and a tear splits open where a mouth and a couple eyes would be. The Fermin has the puppets dance around on the table for a bit before dropping it to the table as a hideous jack-o'-lantern.

Joan stands back as the shadow magic filled vegetable puppets move and dance about on the table, the few novices that stayed to observe seem impressed, clapping is heard and seen from them and Joan herself as she joins in. “Good showing, have you used the Black Tides before? Excuse me, I know you were part of the guild before me so I figured you had a understanding of the basics, tho I also am aware that the addition of the Black Tides is a recent addition to our learning course.” She acknowledges the fact Pyde is the older guild member tho not gifted with the same level as she is. That pesky streak of those in the dark arts to wander off and away tends to run rampant.

Pyde reconnects with the gourd he was controlling with his black threads of magic. The gourd regrows its shadowy arms and legs. The Fermin thinks for a moment, "So I saw a Death Knight do something similar to this. So I will try modifying the idea of pulling off the same thing. The Death Knight took her sword, plunging it into her victim. Then channeled what looked like dark magic into her blade and fire the corpse on fire that way." Pyde sets alight the magic threads connecting to the squash, imagining tremendous heat as he does. The gourd sets ablaze exploding across the table and catching the other items on fire of the same black flame. "Uh, sorry about that. I am not sure how to put the flames out with the dark ice."

Joan had raised a brow as she watched, a novice close by ended up splattered with flaming gourd pieces, his nose wrinkled up as he brushed off the pieces, Joan herself had the mind to put up a force field at about the last moment sparing herself and her outfit. “Khitti might like that.” She voiced aloud as the two other novices picked up the leftover gourd pieces, they snickered at the one novice that got ‘flaming gourded’ setting the classroom once more into a clean state, the poor vegetation from this evening was taken away to be disposed of properly. “Just need to cover one last requirement then you should be ready to show Khitti. She might even bump you up in rank.” Joan smiles down at her fellow guild mate as she made a motion towards the classroom entrance/exit. “Have you claimed your bed yet here in the ‘Spire’?” She asked in a friendly tone while making to exit the cleaned up room now.

Pyde frowned at the mess he created. "That didn't look quite right from what I saw. The Death Knight had turned her victim to ashes. Like her fire had burnt so quickly or so hot, it disintegrated her target. I will need to practice to get to that point. Anyways, no I didn't claim a bed here yet. I knew there was a dorm, but I hadn't thought about staying here just yet. So used to traveling on the road and sleeping where I can. You can't believe how hard it is to look this good and clean, and be a road walker." He looks to the novices and begins to chuckle himself. "Well as unintended as it was that was rather funny. I will remain here until our next lesson or if I am summoned by Khitti."