RP:Weighing Of The Hearts

Part of the The God of Undeath Arc

This is a Warrior's Guild RP.

This is a Mage's Guild RP.

This is a Devout's Guild RP.

This is a Necromancer's Guild RP.

Summary: Khitti finally fills Kasyr in on what happened during the night of the Xalious Tree's second and final attack and they lament over what to do about Quintessa, Kanna, and Leralynn.

Snow-Covered Path, Frostmaw

Kasyr was -not- enjoying his sojourn within Aramoth's kingdom. Sure, it provided the revenant with an ample amount of opportunities to try out his freshly returned power- and a seemingly endless supply of sustenance from the fallen families and foes scattered throughout the city. That said, it also obliged him to confront the same bitter nostalgia that had dogged him for close to the last decade. "Calice. I can't believe we failed to finish the job." Had he been too cautious in his approach? In his attempt to avoid the fate which had been prognosticated- he'd also contributed little in the conflict, beyond the suppression of the thralls. It's at this thought that the Kensai turns to glance over towards the transformed wyvern that lay prone in front of him, mired beneath a carpet of summoned swords. Even with it's eye sockets riddled with blossoming flowers, and tangled roots- it's gaze followed him as he pace back and forth, "And then there's you. The paltry left-overs. I'm stuck here cleaning up because our communications are a mess- et it's not like I can ask you for insight into -why-?" The bestial thralls teeth grimace at the Kensai, cracked fangs gnashing in response to the sounds being issued at it. Exasperated, the Kensai begins to stide over towards the ebon Broadsword he'd left stabbed into the ground a few meters off, "And here I was hoping we could find more of your friends. C'est la vie."

Khitti wasn’t enjoying things much either to be honest and she looked exhausted. And it wasn’t the normal kind of exhaustion--her soul was hella tired. She made her way through the streets of Frostmaw, much like the revenant was, an unenthused swipe of sword here and a sparkly burst of light magic here and there. “I think they’re gone, for the moment. Maybe,” she said to Kasyr as she made her way up the road. Well, she spoke too soon apparently, because another thrall managed to jump out of some bushes at her from behind. She just raised a hand at it and let loose a bolt of light magic, her line of sight on Kasyr the whole time as the creature fried and turned to ash. “Okay I was wrong.” There was a hint of smirk and a roll of her eyes. “If we have anymore surprises though, I’m going to just set this whole region on fire and be done with it.”

Kasyr wrenches the sword clear of the ground, heedless of the small bits of cobblestone that sprays out with the gesture, before he strides just out of reach of the wretched wyverns reach. For a moment, it looks as though he's poised to coup-de-gras the creature, and yet, he pauses- the sword simply held at the ready as he tried to gauge whether containment or simply annihilation would be the preferable outcome, "Do you -need- any other lab samples, ou non?" The kensai pauses, before glancing over his shoulder at Khitti, noting both the lack of enthusiasm -and- energy. "You look like hell. That have to do with-" He gestures off towards the vague direction of Xalious, "Whatever all that was?" The swordsman turns his attention back towards the wyvern, noting the manner in which it's wrigglings having begun to loosen the hold the steel-y anchors have on it. "Rhew." The delivery is deadpan, and the bladework more akin to a boop to the creatures nose- but the sheer scale of magical energy within the spell is enough to not only coat the creature in a sheathe of ice, but to keep it expanding for another few feet. Best to keep it intact, after all, in case they -do- need a sample. "Or is the whole, waiting for us to recover from the first wave wearing you down?"

Khitti || “No point in lab samples, I guess when the person in charge of the lab is M.I.A,” Khitti said with a shrug. Her line of sight shifted off towards Xalious and a frown made itself known. “We went to heal the Xalious tree, and everything was fine for a little bit… but then something happened. Caluss himself showed up with Kanna in tow. Leralynn, Shishi’s daughter, showed up too and of course Quintessa was already there. The whole damn thing was an ambush. That damned bug tried taking the tree for himself and we had to set it on fire. He literally shoved his big bug face into it and I’m pretty sure Kailani hates me for destroying the tree.” She rubbed at her face and eventually just sat down on the ground. Khitti felt the cold and yet somehow didn’t, her senses dulled by the overwhelming emotions. “Kanna is human again. Caluss cut her off. I don’t know about Orange. Last I saw her in the Mage’s Guild’s infirmary, she was stable. Quintessa is just… gone… Caluss took her… or she went willingly. I don’t know.” Tears started to well up in her eyes again and she was quick to turn her head away. “I’m tired, Kasyr. I’m tired of all of this. Tired of the betrayal.”

Kasyr remembered the the scent of fire in the air, had seen the tree blossom into new life- but the circumstances behind it had been nebulous to him. He had, after all, been busy retrieving Vesper- the blade which now hung precariously over the superfluous Saurian science sample. "Well, that explains a bit more about what I stumbled on at the end." And the pain that had rung through his very being. With a sigh, the black great sword is swung down- a brief surge of electricity all that's needed to turn the movement into a supernaturally swift slice that sees the wyvern neatly parted into two frigid halves, which then awkwardly tip over to reveal it's insides to the world. "Kailani can be as upset as she likes. I trust your judgement in the moment. So i'm glad you were there, and didn't hesitate to do what needed to be done." That said, as much as that topic was simple to digest, the rest of it was...substantially less so. "Are we -sure- he's cut her off?" There's a pause, as the Kensai's finger pinches at his nose. Shishi's daughter being involved in this was another wrinkle he didn't need. Had he been there, he likely would have attempted to murder her on the spot, if she'd been on the dead gods side, "Has anyone Interrogated the girl? We need what details we can get, but ...well. It might be best if it was someone with a more delicate touch insofar as finding things out. Daedria only knows how well Shishi is taking any of this. " No wonder, Khitti was tired. That said, the matter of Quintessa is. "If you haven't- I'd talked to Karasu. If anyone knows, it'd be her, j'pense- they are inseperable, after all." There's a pause, and the the kensai can't help but add, "And of the two, Karasu's the one less likely to be currying favor with some eldritch creature or another- and apt to give an honest answer of what she knows." The sheer exasperation and dissapointment that's carried in those words is hard to quantify. But then, Quintessa had been his student. He'd vouched for her- and here she was, at the center of yet another problem. Loyalty, indeed.

Khitti only nodded at the response regarding Kailani. The look she’d gotten from the druid was heartbreaking, even though Khitti knew that there were plenty of instances where fire was a good thing. She’d even named off a few to the blue-haired half elf that day. There had been a sickness in it that could not be healed, even with all of their magic. The only other choice had been to purge the land of it entirely. “I’m not surprised about any of this. I knew it was her and Orange that tainted the trees in the first place. I told her I would help her do what she needs to get away from him. I didn’t know about Kanna until she showed up. I only knew that Caluss had turned her into a ghoul. But things were fine. And then I guess they weren’t when Kanna was kidnapped after her duel with Shishi.” The sadness was gone for now and her rage heralded by a nearby tree bursting into shadowflames. “Lanlan, Val, and I talked to Kanna in the tower when she finally woke up. We went so far as to tie her to the bed while she was unconscious and put a bit of soundproofing metal on her mouth to keep her from trying anything. I believe her when she says that he’s left her. Leralynn helped her break free of him towards the end of the fight,” she said, watching the tree burn. “I don’t even know if Shishi knows. I don’t even know what Orange knew of Caluss in the first place. She should definitely be interrogated but there was something else…” She sighed and rubbed her eyes in aggravation. “I could feel Quintessa’s presence in the room where we were all at. As if her spirit were there? I could hear her every now and then. Crying. Felt her brush up against me at one point. She even left a message for us. That we’re going to be ambushed by Caluss in Cenril during the ritual Valrae has planned. I’m going to be there for that too, but we need to kill that bug soon, Kasyr. Much like the cabbage, he’s gotten away with enough as it is.”

Kasyr would normally have to contend with the flow of blood which rippled out from the foes he slew- and yet, despite the wyverns size, there's little to be accounted for. The ichor which flows out from it's ruptured organs is threadbare, as though it had been husked out and left to roam free. How much of it could even be considered -animal- and how much was plant at this juncture? These morbid contemplations were set aside as Khitti continued to debrief him on the situation, the swordsman providing the necessary "Hmms" as she rattled through the details. That they didn't need to kill Kanna was certainly good- given, she had played in instrumental part in his return. That said, the matter of Leralynn perturbed him. "Considering that it was -two- trees that were blighted, with grave repercussions- and then they attempted to interfere and finish the job on one. . ." The Kensai steps away from the macabre display he'd made, only to lean against the dilapated ruins of what had once been a home, "I'm not sure ignorance is really something you can genuinely claim. Once we resolve this matter, we should perhaps see about orchestrating a meeting between her and Noah. He claims to be a specialist pertaining to matters of the mind. Having him see if she has some sort of deep rooted misanthropy, might be a good idea. Just so we can know if we'll need to keep tabs on her in future." Because Shishi is -definitely- going to appreciate contingency plans surrounding the possible assassination of his kid. The sigh that issues from the Kensai when that thought flickers through his head is absolutely world weary, and made all the worse when his attention flickers towards Quintessa. Was he supposed to feel sympathy? Anger? Grim satisfaction, perhaps, at where her machinations had gotten her? He's not sure, in that moment- there's simply a hollow ache, and the lingering question of whether an earlir choice would have led things elsewhere. To one less problem in need of solving. " I'm going to do my best to hold the fort here- since I'm fairly certain I can ensure that things can function with relatively few here deployed. Et that should deprive Xicotl from replenish his troops with any of ours. If you need to take them along with you to meddle with that ritual, you have my leave." The response is frigid, clipped- and it's only a few moments later that he realizes how much he skimmed over the matter at hand. How he avoided asking the more pressing question, "What do you think we -should- do about Quintessa? Honetement?" It helped that it was just them. If he'd poised that question around the others- he could only imagine the indignation that would have come from Karasu, the sense of betrayal, and defensiveness. 'She's not a problem to be solved'. He shut his eyes, trying to will away the image of the girl he'd at one point thought he'd known, and the nightmarish image he'd seen when surrounded by an endless field of sand. He needed to be present, to make the right choices.

Khitti sighed. “I think there’s a lot of us that could benefit from this Noah and his help.” Probably not Khitti though. She grimaced at the thought of trying to sort out her own issues with a stranger. “Perhaps all three of them should see him. Kanna I know, at least, was absolutely under Caluss’ control for that whole thing. I don’t know what we should do about Tessa though… -Really- do about her, I mean. You heard the things she said in her lab in Vailkrin. She wholeheartedly believes creatures like Caluss are ultimately better than any of the gods--and that’s even after knowing what the ones you and I follow have done for us. What Xalious had done for Odhranos. How do you fight against hardheadedness like that? I’M not even that stubborn. My husband isn’t even that stubborn either and he can’t stand the gods.” She put both hands out, with her palms facing upward, like a scale that was weighing things. “So you’ve got that on one side,” she said, letting one hand drop quite a bit. “While on the other hand, you’ve got these acts of atonement that she’s done or expressions of remorse. She was genuinely upset the day she came to me after the first attack on the Xalious tree. She has literally warned us of another impending ambush by way of some sort of astral projection. There’s been other things too, I’m sure, but it honestly hurts too much to think of.” The other hand dropped a little, lifting the bad side up just a smidge. “I don’t know what to do because I know I’ll be a hypocrite for it, if we try to punish her. You and I do what needs to be done because we know what will happen if we don’t. But I cannot entirely fault her for siding with Caluss for power to protect people, if that’s what she’s doing. Because I do the same thing with Caluss’ own creator. I don’t know where the line should be drawn, Kasyr. Do you? Because that’s what’s the hardest part about all of this. My brain and heart have been in a tug-of-war since this happened because I know logically, we should punish her--hell, she should probably be burned or hung or beheaded for it--but I know in my heart that I would make choices like these too if it enabled me to save my family from something. I would absolutely get every ounce of power I could to keep my husband and children safe from creatures like Xicotl and Caluss.” There’s another sigh. “So, I guess it comes down to one question that we need to ask her and go from there: Why did she do it? Why did she do any of it?”

Kasyr almost misses the sense of pressure that would come when he'd been holding his breath, when he'd be forced to let out the stress he'd been holding in. But that small mortal reminder is no longer there. There's nothing, but a dull throb in his head as he tries to make sense of everything he's seen of the woman- all the actions she's taken in context to what Khitti is saying. At least on that front, he can offer a bleak fact, "It's not the first time, even beyond Calice." It's a petulant misinterpretation of the name- but one that some part of himself still views as meaningful. Still, Khitti has more to add, and so the Kensai listens- both to what's being said, as well as between the lines. To the part of her -hoping- to be provided some justification one way or the other. "I've seen the pettiness of the gods. I have seen moments of fallability- et, in that breath, that made it easier to understand them. There is.." His hand clenches slightly as he searches for the right words, trying to encapsulate the knowledge he'd been granted through communion, by witnessing their miracles and mayhem, "an order of magnitude between us and them, even the smallest among them. But they -aren't- perfect. To resent that lack of perfection es, I think, normal, peut-etre. Just as anyone might resent any imperfect ruler they are beholden to. But she seems to almost think that she can do better- et chooses to follow any source that might -spite- those things which she reviles- et can grant her the strength to do so. Calice, es one- but she also followed the creature that was once bound to me, Gospel. Entities that are malign at their core, in their agenda." There's a pause here, as the Kensai gestures off towards the shrubbery, "In fact, I'm almost curious if she would have done the same here if it had made an overture. She pursues -power-." And that simple acknowledgement twists his insides a bit and hangs heavy on the tip of his tongue, because in that moment- it feels like it twines far too closely with her fixation with him, those moments of intense interest, her eagerness to see him returned & even those passing promises of loyalty. She hung at the edge of power, eagerly seeking some way to contain it. "We've -seen- the ruin wrought by Gospel, By caluss, by so many entities like this. We've seen it's agenda- the very -minds- and souls of it's victims crushed into almost empty shells of their former selves, beholden to its' twisted whims." There's a momentum here gathering, the words solidifying the train of thought with each fresh sentence, "She doesn't -do- this to protect her family, or others. We're at the -heart- of what she hurts, all in pursuit of her ambition and power. I've -seen- people be faced with this choice, and they risked, or laid down their lives to ensure their loved ones were protected. What she's done is heaped kindling on a blaze that would consume us all." And yet, despite all this righteous indignation- where did that leave him. Why had it been easier to simply chalk Orange up as a potentially necessary sacrifice- where he was still talking about what to do. It would destroy the shambles of trust that Karasu still held in him- but hadn't Quintessa's apprenticeship proven that such a thing was fleeting at best. "We'll do what's necessary. it's what we always do. Because it's not like we can trust anyone else to do so." Perhaps Krice, in that moment- but there was something unpalatable about allowing him to correct the Kensai's mistake. "I think, we need to find and talk to Karasu when we have time."

Khitti || “I mean, to some extent, I resent them too. There were literal prophecies written about me in the Shadow Plane. Things that they did not have to let come to pass and yet, they did. For better or worse they did. But they also purged me of my vampirism and brought me back from the dead. Vakmatharas himself allowed me to be reborn. I still work with them, for them, because I know what they’re capable of,” Khitti said. “But, now that you mention Gospel and Tessa now as well… Things… make a little more sense. These things she craves power from might as well be gods, but they’re on this plane of existence. They’re not in the Higher Plane. They're here with us. It makes them more believable. I’ve never seen Arkhen but I’ve felt his flames. I’ve never seen Vakmatharas, but I’ve felt his cold embrace in the void. She hasn’t had experiences like that. She just knows what’s real and tangible here with the rest of us. And that’s what she believes. And… if I had not had those experiences… I think I would be the same exact way as her. “I sacrificed my sister and my family's souls to be alive again. And I would make that choice time and time again if Q’na sent me through some sort of time loop.” She looked down and stared at her hands, like she could see all the blood there that she’s washed them in over the years. “I was not wrong when I told her a few years ago that she and I are more alike than she’ll ever really understand. And that’s why this is killing me.” She sighed. “Yes. We’ll do what’s necessary. Because we have to.” Khitti adjusted herself enough to dig the blade of her gladius in the ground, using it to push herself up from the spot she’d chosen to all but collapse in. “I need a drink. Or several. We’ll talk to Karasu, but in the meantime, I’m ordering whiskey from Sage.”

Kasyr doesn't say it, but he can certainly understand it. Whilst he owed his continued existence to the Ascendi, he also lived with the burden that had been imposed on him. He'd witnessed the sheer pettiness of their designs- been powerless to stop them directly. The recollections are bitter enough to press his lips into a firm line- but they are facts he's long accepted. As for Khitti's admission about her family, "...I can't speak about how difficult a choice like that would be, to make..." And yet, it's not entirely foreign- for in a pique of madness, he'd once devoured a comrade who forgave him in that very moment. And even been entreated to consume the remnant of another, so that they might not be parted. Wretched little moments of weakness that lingered with him. Now that he could drink, the idea certainly was appetizing, "You fit to make the trip. Haven't been able to make use of any courier birds, and I don't think it'd be wise for both of us to leave."

Khitti just shook her head. “If I leave, I’m not coming back here for quite a long time. I want my bed and my husband, and to sleep for the next century. My assistant, Camina, was due to eventually make her way up here to check on me. I expect she likely felt the arcane magic fluctuate when the tree died and when it was reborn. I’ll get her to deal with it and any other supplies we might need.” With the intent to go back to the fort for now, Khitti took a step away from Kasyr, but then stopped and turned to face him again, a mix of confusion and concern written all over her face. “Did -you- know that there was a damned chrysalis in that tree? Did you see the moth?” She wasn’t crazy, right? She had seen it? That’s what had healed the Xalious tree? “We would’ve been frakked to hell and back if the arcane magic was gone entirely. How would we finish off Xicotl? Or Caluss?” And it would’ve been her fault. Someone had screamed for the tree to be burned and she hadn’t hesitated. She would’ve been one out of so few that could use magic, since neither of her own stemmed from the arcane. There would’ve been panic. And blame. And judgment made. And more death.

Kasyr tries to make sense of what he'd seen in that moment- but it was the aftermath of the blaze that had truly stood out to him- of Valrae twisting in the area, Of Lanlan's floor crumpled on the ground. What residual elements he'd seen had been once magic had been restored, and so he's not able to provide Khitti with the answer she seeks there, only a, "Mmm." And yet, when she once more voices her doubts, there are words he can find, "I think we would have been worse off if he'd succeeded. I think there's good odds our window of opportunity to win would have neatly closed, there and then. And we wouldn't have had to worry about what came next." There's a pause, before the Kensai provides a wry, "That's our reward. We get to live to worry about the next problem. And the what-ifs." And then he's sticking his hands in his pockets and moving to follow after her to the fort- his mind now mulling over his own personal assortment of what-ifs. Of the possible choices he could have made differently, that might have seen this moment averted. Some of them are even pleasant, and yet most carry a bitter tinge fueled by hindsight.