RP:We're Not So Different

This is a Necromancer's Guild RP.

Summary: Celaeno approaches Khitti with a problem and both of them find that their pasts are incredibly similar.

The Necromancer's Guild Headquarters, Vailkrin

In the Necromancer’s Guild headquarters, Khitti was seated at one of the many tables. Two books were flipped open in front of her: a very large tome to read from and somewhat old and torn blue journal to write in. Opting for regular black ink this time, instead of using that shadow pen of hers that produce purple, Khitti scribbled info into the journal as she went along with a quill, dipping it into the black liquid every so often. She hadn’t wanted to come here to Vailkrin again so soon after she’d gathered her bandmates and made a name for themselves in town, but… she had to make her presence known because Larewen had practically forgotten about it in the wake of that civil war that’d begun two months ago. Other members of lower rank scurried around her in silence, looking for books on their chosen studies and finding a quiet place to sit down and read, much like the instructor had.

Celaeno was one of those underlings, of course, though she didn't step into the headquarters with her hood drawn over her head for study exactly. When coming into the building, she lowered it to expose her face, lacking the dark circles that she sometimes got when she didn't sleep as much as she should. Her hands stay tucked in her sleeves, though, as she winds her way through the tables, chairs, and other practitioners alike. She wore her mouth in a pensive line with a furrow in her brow, evidencing that she had a concern as she approaches Khitti and bows her head in greeting. "Good evening, Miss Khitti. Might I...have a word in private, if it isn't too much trouble?"

The Black Tides instructor had long since stopped her note-taking, her line of sight studying the table just above where the books sat. She had her own sort of pensive stare, but it was soon drawn towards the half elf, her thoughts shoved away for the moment. “What’s wrong, Celaeno?” There was concern for the other female written on her own features, those books both closed now, the attached ribbon bookmarks pulled down to mark her place. Weren’t they in private now? Khitti was about to voice this when she looked around and found the other students there. “Here. This way.” The redhead guided Cel to another area of the room, to another table, away from possible eavesdroppers.

Celaeno followed, casting glances on either side of her to the other students, to preoccupied with their own studies. Still, when she sat at the other table and folded her silver gauntlets atop it, she spoke in a softer tone than usual. “While attempting to commune with spirits the other night, practicing you know, Raevyn and I found something.” She unties the collar of her robes and opens it to reveal an odd circle of scars peeking out. They were sigils, plain as day, and at the center of them all was one meant to trap a soul inside something or someone. Those around it were roughly drawn, and seemed to coincide with it for the same purpose, save for one of the most intricate ones caught in the pattern carved cleaner than the others. “Our ritual woke a...presence stored inside of me. I knew my old mentor had done these before I left him, but I wasn’t quite sure what they had done. He only told me they would store something until later.” With how selective the young woman seemed with her words, it was clear certain details were being left blurry. “I...wanted to know if you might make more sense of them and perhaps help me alter them a bit.”

Khitti’s brows furrowed as she eyed those sigils. “Has this entity spoken to you at all? Or is it still mostly dormant?” The human shivered somewhat, her memories of her own run-in with bad necromancers sending a chill up her spine. “I… had something similar to this. I did not have binding runes etched into my skin, but perhaps the necromancers I had dealt with her much stronger. They had the help of a mind flayer, so it’s entirely likely.” Khitti frowned deeply, looking from the scars back up to Celaeno’s features, “What specifically is it that you’d like to know? If the question is ‘how to get rid of it’, that depends entirely on the nature of the entity within you. Mine was… problematic. We could attempt to get rid of the binding spell, but that may prove to be worse than where you’re at with this right now--especially if it’s something malevolent.

Celaeno 's eyes widen when Khitti talks of mind flayers and such. She shudders herself, only attempting to imagine what that must have been like. When her future boss starts speaking of problematic spirits and the like, she shakes her head, rubbing the scars and glancing down at them a bit fondly. The expression flits away as quickly as it came as she schools her features back to something more neutral. "She didn't speak to me, but to Raevyn through me. I was...possessed for a short time. She's an innocent in this and, despite that I would like to eventually free her, I want to study enough to accomplish that myself eventually. I feel...responsible in a way." She sighs, slouching on her elbows and frowning as she considers her next words carefully. There had been other incidents related to the scars... "For the moment, I believe she is only partially aware of things. I would like to be able to speak with her and perhaps even let her experience things as I do sometimes to make her time in me a bit more bearable."

Khitti leaned back in her chair, absently resting her hands on her stomach, that of which barely had that pregnant bump (though it was likely more due to the fact that finally gotten to a healthy weight after all these years). “How long ago did this happen with your former master? She may be an innocent, but it can quickly turn. Or she can be lying. My own was an innocent as well. She was tore from her body in the Shadow Plane and put into me through a mix of science and magic.” Khitti held out her left arm, showing off the mermaid sleeve tattoo that covered the scar, the raised bump from where the long gash had once been only somewhat visible. “Amarrah had been with me since I was fourteen years old. She was my sister, my companion in our shared trauma, but over time, she turned to madness because she could not return to her home for quite some time. Her form also corrupted my body, after my own magical seal faded away. I had to be turned into a vampire to save my life.” It was obvious she wasn’t one now, so there was likely more to the story there. “Beings are not meant to share bodies like this. It’s dangerous for you and for them.”

Celaeno actually gulped, seemingly blind sided as she peers down at Khitti's scar under the strategically placed ink. Her clarification was barely audible, something she had been holding on for months and forbade herself from telling anyone except only recently. It just slipped out now. "She's my twin..." Her attention turns back to the necromancer, meeting her eyes with her uncertainty obvious. "It happened...I'd say a year or so ago, a little before I lost my hands for the ritual to resurrect her. I believe she was stored in me as the initial step until the body was done, but that is...a longer story." She sighs, rubbing her temples as a throbbing headache started there. "I must say you have thrown my original request a bit askew, Miss Khitti. Now it seems I need counsel on how to proceed with this..."

Khitti nodded carefully in understanding as the half elf went on and revealed the identity of the entity. ‘Heh. I had a twin too,” she said at length, her expression and tone bittersweet. This was all entirely too familiar to Khitt; it was quickly opening up only recently closed wounds and it was starting to show. “A spirit will be far easier to deal with than a being from another plane. There are steps we can take to soothe her before the sigils are removed. The question is: do you want her to remain here with you in spirit form… or do you want her sent on to the void? She could remain here for a time, but ultimately, I would suggest having her move on when you were ready. There is also the option of bringing her back from the dead entirely. If you went this route, you would have two options here as well: bring her back as an undead or make her fully living again. The latter is much more difficult and would require holy intervention.”

Celaeno 's expression turned sad as she turned back to her chest and those marks. She sighed and leaned back in her chair. Unfortunately the conversation seemed to be having a similar effect on her as her shoulders droop some. "I...would like her be able to stay with me for a time, even as a spirit. Not trapped inside me, at least, she would never want that." She bites her lip, shaking her head at the other two options. "She could have come back as the former, though I stopped it. The original goal was the latter but...I think she would want to move on to new adventures once she sees I'm taking care of myself alright." She quickly rubs her nose on her sleeve as it was starting to phlegm up and her eyes were starting to become a bit too shiny. "How would that work? Is it something I could help with? I wasn't deceiving when I said I feel responsible...And could there be protections in place for her safety until she would move on? As much as she would hate being trapped somewhere, she's been safe so far." She bites her lip as she reminds herself that her knowledge of the sigils wasn't quite as thorough as she hoped. "Well, to the best of my knowledge she has been. The one thing she asked Raevyn was to get me to...let her out."

Khitti shrugged somewhat, “I imagine she would be allowed to live as she had before she died. If she were ready to move on, she could just leave Lithrydel all together and make her way elsewhere if she wished. But, getting help from the divine, especially those that are not quite so happy with the magic that’s been bestowed upon us, could be problematic. I’m already researching things with regards to the gods, so I could keep an eye out there. But, maybe perhaps it’s best to just free her from you and leave her in spirit form and allow her to decide. She may not even want to stick around here at all. I don’t particularly care for the idea of creating more physical undead and having them bent to our will, but I’m in the minority of that here, nor am I one to press the opinion onto others.”

Celaeno glances ceilingward, as if gods lived there in that very room and were eavesdropping on their conversation. "I...think you're right, that parting us would be best and going from there. I know for a fact she would not want to exist as an undead. And, at least for now, I'm of the same opinion as you when it comes to those sorts of servants." She crosses her arms over her chest and purses her lips, her nose wrinkling, her entire face contorting a bit really as she ponders over the plan. At least a course of action had been decided. She leans forward a bit and exposes the scars more visibly for Khitti to see. "I imagine removing these things is not easy and will probably hurt..."

Khitti peered up at the ceiling not long after Celaeno had. Were they listening? The gods? Had they been listening this entire time to -her- requests? Her own were just as dire as Cel’s and yet… there was nothing to show that Arkhen, Loda, and Cyris was paying attention. No holy light would penetrate the dark magic-filled building, no ethereal servant of the light to relay their messages. “We will find the best, most painless option possible, Celaeno, I promise.” She wasn’t going to say it out loud, but Khitti envied the half elf. In order to get her vampirism cure and destroy Amarrah, Khitti had to die as well--and that was likely to not be the case with Cel.

"Thank you...I owe you for this, whether you'd accept it or not." For the moment, she felt an odd kinship with the human woman in front of her. The similarities had been lucky, uncanny even, and if asked she would truthfully say she did feel very fortunate her own situation was not as dire as others she had met--despite how it had seemed upon leaving home. That was perhaps the reason she tried for one more question, one she hadn't even consulted her dear friend about just yet. "Um...one last thing that has been happening since my sister...woke up I suppose, is that I've been feeling these tugging sensations on occasion. I assumed they were her, at first, attempting to communicate. Today, though during one of them I...thought I saw that teacher in my reflection in a mirror. It seems too convenient to be a coincidence. I'm trying to make sense of it. I don't know what else he put in those marks..."

Khitti nodded again to Celaeno, even offering the woman a smile despite the dour mood of the conversation. “It’s fortunate that you found me when you did, it seems. Fate or destiny or whatever you want to call it.” She squinted in thought at the last bit Celaeno revealed to her, a ‘hm’ passing her lips. “Is he dead? Perhaps he bound some part of himself to you as well, regardless. I don’t think it’s a coincidence either. Before we get rid of the marks entirely, we may want to lessen its hold some to figure out more clues.” After a bit more thought, she side-eyed where she left her things and frowned a little, “If there is nothing else, I must return to my studies. I have unfortunate, pressing matters of my own that I need to prepare for as well.” The frown worsened, but she didn’t divulge further.

Celaeno wet her lips and shook her head. "I left him alive, but not in a good situation. He might have passed on. Or he's alive and...well either way you're right." She stands, bowing a bit deeper than usual. In thanks, in possible reverence, all were possibilities at that time. She does offer a grateful smile in return, minding not to pry, though her interest was more piqued than when they first met. Instead, she replies with, "I hope your work finds you a happy outcome." She turns on her heel, her full backpack jangling a little with her stride as she makes her leave.

Khitti too felt a kinship to Celaeno, but she had a bad feeling. Whether the feeling was for herself or for the half elf, Khitti didn’t know. She watched the woman wandered off towards the exit, her frown not budging from its place on her lips. “I hope so too…” She said quietly to herself before getting up and returning to the table she’d taken up a spot at before.