RP:Whispers in the Shadows
Synopsis: Celaeno stumbles upon Raevyn after months of silence. Upon telling her friend of all that she's missed, Celaeno is witness to the twisted trickery of the book of damnation.
Date: April 23rd, 2018
The Black Library
As you climb down into this room its immense size is the first thing that strikes you. The old wooden ladder creaks un-nervingly as your foot rests on it. This dimly lit room is huge and filled with dusty ancient bookshelves. On examination you can see the shelves are carved from solid black oak, strong sturdy and known for its arcane properties. Lining every shelf is thousands of books all colors shapes and sizes. All the books appear to be about necromancy and black magic and thus the whole subterranean chamber is filled with a most ominous evil aura that seems to sicken right to the soul of any who enter. The smell here is of stagnation for not much fresh air reaches this place; it seems to invade the nostrils like some strange miasma adding to the sickly sensations the room seems to invoke. On the walls hang various ornaments from candle stick holders that bring a tiny tinge of light to certain areas and preserved skulls of all kinds of creatures from Human to Dragon, Drow to Centaur and things even stranger than that. Faint but heavy footsteps can be heard against the cold stone floor distantly so it would be wise not to stay too long without sound reason.
Books. They were piled everywhere. Lttle towers of written word all erected to protect the student housed at the very center. A student that hadn't been seen in quite some time. Raevyn sat upon the floor in a cross legged manner, her hair hanging down and obscuring those pallid features from view. She was lost in translations, flipping between two or three dusty tomes and comparing them to the strange writings in the book of damnation that she and Celaeno had discovered a few months prior. Ever since that strange day in the Dancing Destrier, the girl had become withdrawn from the public eye. There had been odd occurences that frightened her; And so, she found herself a little nook, a familiar nook, in a dark corner of the world and forced herself to figure out this puzzle on her own. She missed seeing her friend, but this was for the best, the girl figured. Occasionally, from time to time, Raevyn would come out of the nook and gather more material from the Black Library to assist in her work to decipher Nasada's... Journal? Spellbook? Something. Today was one such day in which the neophyte necromancer would appear, opting to spend at least a little time in the library in case someone familiar should happen along. So far, on most of her excursions, the place was dead quiet.
Celaeno had stopped by the Black Library periodically as well, possibly hoping to catch a glimpse of her friend to confirm that the human was alright, decently fed at least--not that she could say much of herself with her recent plight. The dark circles under her eyes still stood out, though her cheeks were far less sunken than only a week or two prior (though Raevyn might notice some difference still). This time, she had a similar goal, though she beelined toward the section where she knew a few tomes on sigils applicable for containment circles lay rather than wander the shelves. When a couple books tilted to one side, filling the empty gap where the book she came for should’ve been, that’s when it entered her mind to start comb the maze of shelves more thoroughly. She went deeper into the library until the stacked fortress caught her eye. Hmm, she wasn’t sure whether it was the newest Novus Moirer or not, though she doubted it was one of their superiors. “Excuse me…” Once she neared, she peeked over the top. Her mouth went dry. “Raevyn?”
Raevyn flinched at the sound of her own name. Jumped even. To most, it would be assumed that the break in silence was something that anyone would startle to, but in all reality, the poor girl had been on edge for some time. Wide eyes lifted and settled upon the origin of that familiar voice, a lingering silent stare for no more than a passing moment. When recognition set in, the girl answered in a questioning state much like the half-elf. "Cela...?" It didn't take Raevyn long to bounce to her feet, skipping over a couple stacks of books to rush over and greet the woman with a relieved hug. "It's so good to see you! It feels.. like... forever." she admits. Blackened lips crease, a light smile, before she took a moment to better look over her friend. "How... how have you been? Are you well? You seem off." A hand lifts and gently touches the side of Celaeno's face, thumb brushed over a cheekbone. "Are you forgetting to sleep? Eat?" So many questions! Although, no one could fault the girl. It had been a pretty long time since they last met. Although she was glad to see the half-elf, Raevyn soon pulled away and took a step back. "It is you, isn't it?" she asked, with narrowed eyes. "You're not... in my mind, right? you're not one of those things?" Cue paranoia.
Celaeno ’s face seemed to light up at confirmation from her friend, the girl actually appearing her age for once rather than years older. “Raevyn!” She met Raevyn at the edge of the tomes and squeezed her back tight, going as far as to lift her up, as much as their similar heights would allow. “It has been forever! Next time I demand a note so I can use a tracking spell to check on you.” Said in jest...perhaps. She seperated when her friend did, though, doing her own once over of the other to make sure she was filling out her clothes and her studies hadn’t taken too much toll on her. The questions make her sharp, tawny cheeks gain a rosy tint. “...Only occasionally. But I can finally perform necrotic magic at full strength. I have a lot of catching up to do so I can prove to Mister Mahara I’m not as sickly as I seemed. Oh, so much has happened, where do I begin?” Though her own curiosity burned as she glanced inside her friend’s little corner, wondering if the macabre treasure they had found was still inside. The questioning tone in her friend’s voice shifted and caused her to revert her attention back to the matter at hand, her own gaze narrowing with concern more than suspicion. “You’re seeing people familiar to you, not stranger’s bodies? I’m still very much alive, not for lack of trying to stay that way either. Test me whatever way you deem necessary...What’s been happening?”
Raevyn wets her lower lip, a hint of pink protuding through black as she tries her best to answer Celaeno in a coherent manner. "I don't know. Things. Dark things. I think. The shadows. They talk to me. They call out. I see... yes. I see familiar faces in the darkness. But they're never real. Never. It's a game. A test, maybe. To see how far they can push andpull before I break like some little toy. But I won't break. I won't. I'm onto their game." The necromancer nods and grins like she were smarter than whomever she were speaking of. "it's like tendrils. Tentacles. They get into you. Into your mind. And they latch on and refuse to let go." Pale blues glance over slender shoulders toward that open-faced book of damnation still sprawled out upon the floor. After a few moments of silence and quiet thought, Raevyn turned back toward Celaeno, seeming to disregard everything that was just spoken in favor of the half-elf's news. "Full strength? That's wonderful! You must have been so hard at work! I..." the girl pauses to think. "I think my studies have been neglected. I hope the guild won't be angry with me." A light shrug. "Anyway. So, what has happened? Do tell! It's been so, so long, Cela. Fill me in on what has been going on with you!"
Celaeno :: “Perhaps its a defense mechanism of the book, something you know who put in place to protect his secrets.” Her smile pressed into a grim line as she listened to Raevyn’s symptoms, chin bobbing along with understanding. Her visions hadn’t been as frequent, still there and unnerving, but more a well kept secret consistently swept under a figurative rug. That dust pile would surely get high enough to trip over, but she seemed to be sustaining her sanity under the delusions, for the moment. It served as yet another reminder why she had to get stronger...sooner than later. “Yes, I have been working desperately hard one might say. I had a set back when my actively practicing necromancy agitated a dormant side effect of my father’s soul tampering. Lesions breaking out along my vital organs every time I used serious magic was how the healer put it. I consumed far too many potions when trying to assist in the Shadowplane against Kahran...that went well, by the way, though there was a death. As for the affliction, Khitti managed to rid me of them with some kind of healing energy. Not a pleasant experience, but blessedly short all things considered...Oh! She lost her shadow abilities, but has since become a paladin or templar...some holy warrior for Cyris. She also had her baby, a little boy named Dominic. He’s...small and soft and seems well behaved, albeit he slobbers on things.” How else could one describe infants if not predisposed to them?” She takes a deep breath as she gathers her thoughts about the guild and ticing off the news on her silver fingers sends taps echoing throughout the dank chamber. “We have a new member, Miss Genevieve. She’s very talented and helped me overcome my difficulties with raising corpses. I still have quite aways to go, but I have the basic concept figured out at least. Mister Mahara is...himself. Pragmatic as always, but he has given her and I a task to complete together. As for being angry, you have, essentially, been studying a rather advanced textbook. That in itself could be thought of as advancing your theoretical knowledge, so still beneficial to your advancement.”
Raevyn's brow furrowed at the influx of information. There was just so much to take in that she felt she might burst! "Lesions? Holy warrior? A new member?" It seemed more time had past than the girl initially realized. The largest tipoff to this was the fact that there had already been an incursion into the Shadow Plane! How could she have missed out on that? Tears began to well in Raevyn's eyes as she tried to put together how long she had been hidden away from the waking world. "Y-you went into the Shadow Plane? When?! I am so sorry. I... I'm not.." Pallid palms lift and cradle the sides of her head. "I'm so stupid! There was a plan! How could I have forgotten! Lionel... Khitti, they must be upset that I abandoned the mission! I can not show my face to them again! I... I must write a letter, something." The young necromancer turns away from her closest of friends and hurries back to where she had been sitting. Frantically, she opens her satchel and pulls from it her own journal, furiosly writing while trying to collect her thoughts. "So much has happened. I can not believe I've been so selfish that I neglect my duties- To my guild. To my mentors. To.. my friend." Raevyn looks up at Celaeno, "I'm so sorry I was not there for you. I'm so sorry, Cela. What was I thinking?!"
Celaeno ’s gut soured as she watched Raevyn’s stunned expression and noted the extra moisture gathering in her best friend’s eyes. It had been too much… Then the migraine hit and she winced, pressing her palm to her temple as the lecture rang on through her skull. Her twin did have horrible timing when it came to starting to pay attention. She pushes the throbbing down as she follows after Raevyn into the book fort, abandoning her pack to the outside as she steps her way inside and squatted beside the human. “A letter of explanation is a good idea. Better yet, see them in person if you can to reassure them you are fine. That will help save face and maintain civility. However…” She placed her hand on Raevyn’s arm, hopefully stilling her writing for a moment. “Your guild, mentors, friends are all still here. If they weren’t, they are not worth your time. If there was ever a time to be selfish, it’s now. This prolonged fit of studying wasn’t some academic curiosity you followed on a whim. It’s an essential. You can help others to a point with this thing inside you, but for how long? Your sanity is important. Your continued existence is important. If there’s guilt, make up for it after you’ve solved this problem. Either way, I will still be here, just as I will always be.”
Raevyn had already written half a page by time Celaeno made approach- She always was a speedy writer. As much as she wanted to continue, the touch to her arm did in fact initiate a pause in her actions. Raevyn would not quite look up, however. Whether it was from embarrassment, or shame, or perhaps something else, she just could not seem to look Celaeno head on. One thing of note, however, was that the young woman would instead peek from time to time out of the corner of her eye; Something out of view in the shadowy parts of the library seeming to hold her attention. Raevyn tried with all her might to not address whatever it was, instead keeping her eye to the floor the entire time she spoke. Whatever happened in the last couple of months has bore itself deep into her fragile mind. "I know you are right. I know it. But there is a nagging inside that I have neglected those I made promise to. You, first and foremost. I said I would help you with... your problem, and I could not even be there for you. And Baelok..." Right. Baelok. He still had not made return. "I don't think he's around anymore. I think... he's gone." This would automatically lead to her next point. "What if you're wrong? What if something happens to you, next? What if you're just gone one day? I should have been there. I should never have strayed." Once again, from the corner of her eye, Raevyn stares off into the shadowy parts of the library; And in doing so, her breathing begins to hasten.
Celaeno ’s wrist pulsed under her gauntlet where a certain bracelet lay, her own dark energy straining a moment at her friend’s ominous doubts. She understood that nagging firsthand just then...if only it was from her own conscience rather than someone else’s. “I...admit I’ve come to the same conclusion about him. Baelok is missed, his sense of humor and blunt lessons especially.” She gritted her teeth, halting as her containment spell was pushed against. “As for me, I have a feeling I will have no shortage of problems for you to aid me with. Cari is still a liability and despite Khitti’s powers making them fade, my father’s mysterious marks remain. Those are held in check, for the moment. Unlike yours which...seem to be a tad…” In her mental strain, she didn’t quite notice the off nature of Raevyn’s stare. It’s the other’s breathing that tips her off, making her finally follow the path of the other’s gaze. She reached out her senses, despite her sister’s protectiveness buffeting the spell that contained her, making her wrist and chest pulse all the stronger. If Mister Mahara were there, he might have made his eavesdropping so hidden neither of the friends would notice, and she didn’t think he would insight that sort of anxious reaction unless he felt like smiling. She moves her hand from Raevyn’s arm to rest on the human’s back instead, meant to be both reassuring and a sign for anything watching that they had her to deal with as well. “...unpredictable.”
While she tried to find comfort in Celaeno's words, to show concern and question the other's difficulties with certain past family members, something strong pulled at the necromancer's attention. The forsaken book that had been haphazardly left on the floor was picked up, pages gently turned in idle thought as that corner stare kept to the shadows not far from where the pair hunkered down. As if beset upon by some sort of haunting, faint whispers would eminate forth from shadow, an undiscernable litany reaching out like a siren's call. The book in Raevyn's hand was snapped shut, and soon, she stood and faced the shadowy hallways without hesitation. "M-momma? Father?" she called, eyes squinted, trying to make sense of the forms in the darkness. With her call, the whispers answered back, louder. Should Celaeno look up, she would see not far into the shadows, two robed figures standing side by side. A man, and a woman, emaciated and corpse-like. Their hair, thin and whisky, eyes naught but blackened sockets, teeth grey and elongated. The female of the pair extended a hand out toward Raevyn, and the young woman seemed to respond. "M-momma? Is... it really you? I knw you would come for me. I knew it!" Raevyn looked toward Celaeno. "Cela! You must meet my mother and father! You must! They came for me!" Again, more whispering. From the bottom of those robes, the half-elf might have taken notice of long tentacle-like tendrils that seemed to wiggle and writhe against the floor, keeping well away from any source of light. "Momma! You must me Celaeno! She's the best of friends! The best!" Raevyn suddenly darted off toward the pair, not once giving her companion time to answer. She was excited. Happy! And most assuredly, mistaken in her vision. Stranger still, Celaeno would not be given time to respond, as Raevyn would be gone quite shotly; For as soon as that woman's footsteps entered into darkness, she seemed to disappear, almost as if she merged with the shadows like some sort of phantom. Was it an illusion? Some sort of trick of the mind? Had Raevyn actually even been there, or were the effects of that book playing games with Celaeno now?
Celaeno knew of Raevyn’s background, knew enough about the types that burned people at the stake for practicing necromancy that they did not forgive that easy if they were anything like the ones she encountered back home. “Raevyn, think. Your parents aren’t part of the guild, they’re not even part of this realm, they shouldn’t be here!” She struggled to keep a firm grip on her friend’s shoulders, but before she knew it, the other had already darted out of her grasp toward the spectres. Suddenly the book became her last priority as her friend simply...vanished as if the shadows themselves had consumed her. She relied on her senses, her soundness of mind, the logic of the world. The pressure of a human body under her gauntlets convinced her her friend had been there. That damned book before her eyes convinced her Raevyn had touched the place. And the impulsive onrush of her youth made the snap judgement to handle the thing. Don’t let the library have it...she still stood convinced it had to be the key to freeing the one she held as dear as a sister. So, as she should have done with her flesh and blood, she tucked Nasada’s book under her arm and rushed toward those shadows, as if Raevyn had simply run through some kind of portal she could possibly find a way into. “Wait!”
There would be no use. Where once Celaeno's friend had been, was now empty space. No rips. No portals. It was just musty, dead air. The book did not react, no matter how many times Celaeno might try. The whispers had stopped. It was all too eerily quiet. Raevyn's belongings had been left behind, her satchel, her coat, and that personalized spellbook of hers. The upside? She had been making progress with translations, which were neatly noted upon page after page after page. Many things were detailed in full. Summoning rituals, sacrifices, enchantments and curses. Nothing exactly that would help the young necromancer with what she sought most, but she had been getting there. Closer, day by day. Already she had been translating some passages about that sword so detailed on many pages- But to its origin, or its whereabouts, still quite unknown. Regardless, with all her possessions still present, Raevyn was still nowhere to be found. No trace, physical nor spiritual would be felt. Was she whisked off to some fantastical dream world? Some sort of personalized haven? Or did she meet her some sort of cruel, twisted fate that left her like those the book had summoned? Time would only tell.
Celaeno ’s gauntleted fingers curled in, the joints creaking with the strain from how hard the half-elf’s will pressed them. She gritted her teeth a she stood in the empty shadows, nothing but dry air and the return of that dead quiet surrounding her. Had she ever calculated that this was a risk? Perhaps in fits of doubt that she quickly pushed away for her own sake. Unlike Carina, she had no way of knowing if that invisible tether had snapped and Raevyn was lost to her. She wasn’t nearly as advanced enough in her necromancy studies to search. Her breathing is measured as her insides twist and harden. Empty hope still remained as she clutched to that book still. ‘It’s a warning,’ her sister warned. ‘That stuff isn’t any good.’ And in that the girl might have agreed with her twin, yet her keen mind already struggled to map the beginnings of a plan of action. She turned away from the shadows back toward the notes, the spellbook, the pack, all of those precious belongings. Would they vanish with their owner? Greedy as always when it came to forbidden books, she parked back down, crossing her legs and setting the tome on them with the infernal line of text scrawled across the title with the two other languages staring at her, seeming to mock her. Inside there were answers to something...and she needed them. She left the tome closed for the moment, but took her friend’s notes and started to read. She had no patience for time, only action, and her constant vow to follow Raevyn wherever she might go and drag her back, even if that might mean a little bit of hell.