RP:We Should Probably Talk

Part of the Through The Looking-Glass: Return To Wonderland Arc

This is a Devout's Guild RP.

Summary:Khitti asks Kailani to meet her at the Druid's Eternal Tree so they can discuss what must be done in order to help heal the Shadow Plane.

The Druid's Eternal Tree, Kelay

A note was left for a certain blue-haired hermit in her room at the Devout’s Guild, for her to name a time and a place if she wanted to ask questions about what she’d been a part of that day they went to the Shadow Plane to rescue Dominic. Eventually, a reply would come, the two would meet at the eternal druid tree in Kelay, and Khitti would get there first. She tried very hard not to stare at everything and everything in the area, but… it was kind of hard not to. Every ounce of this place was so full of life and light--it was the exact opposite of most of the things Khitti was used to. The creatures here and perhaps even the tree, no doubt, could sense the shadowy magic that had been “gifted” to her once upon a time, and now she felt like she was being watched. Judged. She was about as nervous here as Kailani usually was inside buildings and in crowded areas. Feeling waaay too aware of herself and everything around her, Khitti tried to keep her attention elsewhere. Like… her hands? Yes. She’ll stare at her hands. She’d failed to bring something more interesting, after all.

The blue-haired druid would show up at her suggested meeting point, on time as far as she was aware but it's not exactly like she keeps any amount of time piece on her. The sun is what she uses to approximate time, which means that Kailani could be a wee bit on the late side...and she'd be blissfully unaware. While the setting is more to Kailani's liking, it does not mean that the druid is suddenly more talkative. It's just clear that there is not the same tension held within her shoulders, and the look of disgust held upon her face when traveling into places like Cenril is distinctly absent. Khitti's discomfort with the location is observed as Kailani approaches, but the druid does not call it to attention. Mostly because she is not keen on it when people highlight her own discomfort -- it never helps. "Khitti," Kailani states once she is within speaking distance. There were a lot of questions that the druid had after her first trip to the Shadow Plane, but many of them Kailani figures are best answered through observation. Like. Just how often is Khitti prone to ripping hearts out? "It seems to me that even if we were successful in our last endeavors in the Shadow Plane, we still have a very daunting task before us."

The redhead looked up at the druid as she spoke her name and approached, olive-green eyes wide as they fixed on Kailani. “Oh, uh, hi.” Khitti wrung her hands a bit as she stood, her attention shifting away from the blue-haired woman and around the room before settling on her again. Finally, she sighed in defeat and nodded. “Yes. I’m hoping, though, that we can focus our magicks at the lake we fought near. All of their corruption stems from that spot and branches outward from there. I really need to find Emeritus too but… that might have to wait. He’s the treant I told you about, that needed healing. I’m certain he’s been taken elsewhere and it’s been so long at this point that I’m…” Khitti frowned and sighed again. “It’s probably best for us to focus on the lake first. He may be past the point of saving now.”

The blue-haired druid lifts a brow ever so slightly at the explanation Khitti gives. Like the first time around they attempted to have to have this discussion, Khitti was providing the druid with a fair amount to consider. "Ah, but if he is not past the point of saving then by waiting to investigate, it only increases the chance that he will meet his fate." The druid issues a bit of a shrug, "Yet despite my sentiments, it is your mission and you are the one with the greater understanding of the Shadow Planes, so I will respectfully defer to your decisions in this regard." The druid gives brief pause before going on to say, "So is there anything about this lake area that I may not yet already be aware of?" The details of their first trip were not forgotten, but one trip does not make Kailani an expert. She's aware of this.

Khitti sighed. “The problem is that I don’t even know the first place to look for Emeritus. Another being like him, Cirice, was hiding in the city that mirrors Vailkrin called Helshade, away from Jessamine and James… the two that we fought. There was an attack when I was there with her. James was posing as Brand and when we finally managed to find her, he attacked her and ran off. I’m certain they must’ve changed hiding places at this point. I’m hoping that if they sense that the place is being healed, that Cirice will come out so Emeritus can be helped if she and the others haven’t healed him already.” She frowned and shrugged, “There’s not much else I can do for him at this point. If they don’t come out or contact me in some way, I can’t help. It’s possible they don’t want my help but…” There’s another shrug. “As for the lake, before Jessamine and James took over, it was used for scrying. It was filled with souls and one in particular spoke to the people that lived there, the Shadowseers. The dead speak to each other. Hear things. See things that we can’t. The Shadowseers are the keepers of prophecies and other knowledge that’s passed on to them from this “lady in the lake”. In theory, things should go back to normal once we heal the lake, with both of our magicks. As you saw, we were close to the forest too, Sage’s mirror. The White Woods is the place I spoke of before with the plants that spew spores. If we have to go into the forest to work on things there too, we won’t be able to breathe properly. I had masks made and enchanted to help with that though and I’ll be bringing them just in case. The main thing about the lake right now, beyond the corruption… is that it was filled with bodies.” Khitti’s frown worsened somewhat as she continued, “They were under the snow my son made as well. Do you happen to know a way to speed up decay? Burying them all may take too long. I suppose we could burn them… but if there’s a way for the dead to help, then I think I’d rather do that.”

Kailani is silent for the duration of the time that Khitti is speaking, and then for a considerable amount of time afterward. There are numerous things that the druid is trying to puzzle through, her hermitish ways mean that she is not always the best with names.. Has she ever heard the name Cirice before during there discussions? Honestly, the druid struggled to even recall the name Emeritus at first. James and Jessamine were a bit easier to recall, she could actually place faces to their names. It's hard to forget the name of someone when you have seen their heart ripped out. "Ah. No," Kailani says in answer to Khitti's question finally. "Decay is a natural process, I have never had need to speed up or slow it down. That seems like a topic more fitting for a necromancer. Burning is probably the fastest solution, but we'd have to remove the bodies from the lake. Another thought would be to heat the temperature of the lake itself, but if there is any life remaining within the waters then that would surely kill them off too. That option would take time as well, but warmer waters would expedite the decaying process." There is a gentle shrug for the blue-haired woman is at a loss for additional answers.

Once Kailani had touched upon the solution of a necromancer, Khitti facepalmed, but didn’t say anything until the druid had finished. “Right. Yes. Sorry. I’ve not had the ability to use any necromancy abilities beyond shadow manipulation for some time, so I kind of forgot. We’ll go with the burning then. I’m not keen on leaving them around to decompose on their own. If and when the wildlife come back, I don’t want them eating them or something… I don’t fully know what they did to corrupt these people.” Khitti sighed and rubbed her eyes. All of this work for a place she didn’t even live at… it was incredibly tiring. “Do you have any questions or anything? We didn’t get much of an opportunity before to go over anything much, unfortunately, thanks to those two taking my kid. It was all so rushed feeling and I’m still uneasy about it all.”

Kailani was slightly perplexed by Khitti's facepalming gesture, at least until Khitti goes on to explain herself....Which happens pretty shortly after said facepalming so the confused look Khitti is getting is short-lived. Eventually Kailani shrugs off Khitti's apology, not overly concerned with it one way or another. "I guess we will be doing things the hard way. I suppose that it is well known that the easy way is often not the right way, so it is probably better we just settle on this course of action from the start." No necromancy, no boiling to increase the rate of decomposition...just a good old fashioned body burning. This will be a first for the druid, and hopefully a last. Her expression does not reveal it, but she's not entirely pleased with the prospect of helping to create a pyre of death and disease, even if it was needed. "I don't really think I have any further questions, honestly. I think most of my curiosities in this matter are really only solved with experience, I could question but the best we could do is speculate answers. I think the best we can do in this case is come up with the plan of action, as we have done, and hope for the best."

Khitti nodded along as Kailani made her good points known and stretched a little, “Alright. Gather whatever things you think you might need and meet me in Larket tomorrow. Same spot as before, in the woods to the north of the city. I’ll pack a few things too, like food and whatnot, in case -something- manages to go wrong.” The redhead hoped that things would not end up with them getting stranded there somehow, like Meri had, or kidnapped like Brand. It was hard for Khitti to put that out of her mind right now, but she tried really hard to do so.