A man clad in only black walks alone along the road toward Jastrey at a leisurely pace. Staring intently at a book in his left hand, he seems to ignore the last remnants of the army packing up tents and arms as if they don't even exist. He strolls through the caravans and tighly packed formations like a ghost, neither budging for the other, yet neither interferring either.
He walks the long road to town never once looking up until he finally reaches the walls of Jastrey, and the lifelike stone statues of Haven Melrose and Thalenir Lestral. Putting the book away for the first time, he kneels at the base of Haven's statue and plants a solitary black flower at her feet. Placing his right hand on her shoulder he mutters to himself in Uordeq, "What's done is done, and can not be undone. I am sorry."
He pauses only a moment longer, and continues to the statue to Thalenir. "Aetheric winds bear you hence, friend. May Secronus release you from your prison, magistrate," he mutters again in Uordeq before planting a small matching black flower at the statues feet. He pauses briefly in quiet rememberance before taking a step backwards into the shadows, vanishing suddenly, only to reappear on top of the town's wall, where he calmly returns to his book.
Katri returned to the place where she had seen Alyial, creeping through the trees along side the road. Sure enough, she saw him just where he was when she had left and saw no one else near by. It appeared that he was still reading that book and she couldn't help but wonder who or what he was waiting for.
Glimmer approaches the figure atop the wall quietly and seemigly calmly. She goes through the gate and bows her head in a moment of silence for the statues of lost friends. She turns slightly red and pink and begins flitting at random when she rounds on the figure. "Well well well what is this. My personal plague master. Dearest Alyial, my sincere apologies for my decieving you. It must be said that I had sworn to protect Grishal long before you asked me to kill him. So I did what I thought was best for the town. Be that as it may, I expected more of you. A secretive plagued note? You could have just found me and plagued me in person. I do so love looking into the eyes of my intended murderer. I do so hope we are on even ground again." Glimmer quiets herself by placing a hand over her mouth, then in a burst of air says "SINCE YOU PLAGUED ME AND MADE ME FEEL A FOOL! I had hoped you could find some manner of respect in what I did and how I went about it, but you only reserve respect for kind I suppose. And that's fine by me. JUST FINE!!!!!!!!! I HAVE PLENTY OF FRIENDS HERE. AND I DON'T NEED YOU TO VALIDATE IT! I ONLY WANTED TO HELP EVERYONE. AND THEN YOU WENT AND MADE ME GET SICK. I suppose I should thank you for not killing me, but death would have been honorable. I'M TOO PRETTY TO HAVE BEEN THAT SICK!" Glimmer sobs in great heaving gasps and stomps both feet. She flits up to the wall and plops beside Alyial and continues her commotion.
Akon takes a quiet stroll along the path through Jastrey. Her hood is pulled against the sunlight, and her robes quietly swish around her feet with each step. Her hand, as usual, rests casually on the hilt of her dagger set upon her hip. She then frowns and looks up, eyes peering upward at the commotion on top of the wall. She pauses a moment, taking in the sight before walking just outside the walls of the town, looking up at the two. She then looks around the outside of the walls quietly, before deciding to keep on her way and not bother with the two. As she walks back into town, she passes a backwards glance towards Alyial and Glimmer, making sure no ill will comes down on the fae.
Alyial turns to Glimmer, finally acknowleding her presence and pulls a small vial out of his belt. Raising it up in front of one eye, as if to make sure that the contents were still good, he pulls down his mask for the first time and says plainly, I can make you feel the fool again if you so choose. I once heard that there is no justice in Jastrey, and I wish nothing more than to fix that little problem."
He counts off on each finger the names of those who escaped his blade, "My brother Wreynn," he says, touching his little finger, "The goblin, Grishal," he continues, gently pressing against his ring finger, "The wizard, Dalgoon," he snarls pressing against his middle finger. He pauses briefly, and walks to Glimmer staring her directly in the eye, "and lets not forget your miraculous recovery," he taunts wildly. "You should all be dead by now, but, my work must not be left incomplete. I'll bring justice to Jastrey, just watch."
From beneith his gi, Alyial produces a small green and black checkered pouch. Reaching in, he removes a small, glass vial with a waxy stopper. He raises the vial to the sun as if ot inspect it, and then carefully uncorks the vial and spits into it to moisten the contents. A thin bluish-grey mist begins to form around the powdery substance as tendrils of smoke start to wrap themselves around the assassin's arm. The tendrils begin to billow into full arms of smoke which expand further as they conceal the rogue in an astral haze.
The air begins to grow heavy and dense as a thick fog begins to settle around the gates. Barely visiable in the mist Alyial opens the book and begins to start reading a passage of the archaic text aloud.
"Seas of madness open unto me,
Breach the gates of sorrow and woe
Past anger and suffering and the plains of misery
Rise forth the garden of rebirth
Let spring the wells of faith eternal
Bring mercy to the souls of the damned
and let mirth pour from your fountains."
The bindings of the blue book moan as Alyial closes the book, placing it down in the mist. "Volchecka of the Oneroi, grant me an audience. Allow me to re-enter the astral as I did years ago. Show me the path of my salvation, make me whole once more." The sound of thunder cracks in the distance, and the angry moaning of skuthro can be heard from the direction of Alyial's campsite.
Akon squints up into the sunlight as she watches on, holding a hand up to keep the rays from hitting her eyes. Her eyes then grow wide as the mist starts to grow and her attuned ears pick up the encantation. The usually composed woman shudders and back steps a few times. "By the heart of the dark one......" She mutters, looking on wide-eyed before calling out. "Glimmer! Glimmer! Get out of there!!! Glimmer! Get out of there!"
Katri doesn't move from her hiding place, scarcely daring to breathe or blink as she sees Glimmer yell at Alyial and Akon walk by. She hears a strange spell coming from Alyial as a strange mist begins to form and grow. She only looks on with curiosity until she sees Akon step back and begin calling for the Fae. Her eyes grow wide seeing the older, respected Uordeq react in such a way.
"Oh for Seelie's sake Alyial. You have no reason to hate us all. I don't care whaat you do to me. Leave my town out of it." At that, Glimmer turns to Akon and Katri and screams "Both of you, out of here, now. I'll let him kill me before I let him attack everyone else in town. It has to stop somewhere. Run Akon. This is no place for the sherrif. You must go to Taklinn right now and tell him of this. He will gather the town and be prepared. Go now." Glimmer then turns back to Alyial and says "Well played sir. Well played. I wasn't afraid of ye then and I'm not afraid of ye now. I came to ye for aid against the armies that marched, and I accepted my punishment for deceit better than any. I was smart enough to seek the corrrect healing for my condition. You canna' be faultin' me there. So if it's to the Astral we go, then let's get it done. I'll no more run from ye than any other." Glimmer plops back down on the wall and sends a glance to Akon, a final warning to send her for Taklinn.
Akon lets out a hissing grumble, muttering to herself as she gazes on at the gathering mists, still back stepping to keep her distance. "Damn fairies..they are more stubborn then Nohiraat....as if her dying is at all going to stop any of this." Akon glances up and around, hearing the crashing cracks surrounding them now as Alyial continues the enchantation. Akon then bows her head, and holds her hands over her chest as she mutters to herself. When Glimmer looks back to where Akon was, she is gone (Blend).
Katri blinked in surprise at Glimmer's call for "both" to run. The fairy was sharp. Katri kept a well thought out string of curses to her self and began to back away, still in full stealth mode, from the mists and the seemingly insane fae. Still, just because the female had seen her didn't mean anyone else had. She adjusted her position, re-hiding herself to watch and wait. She looked over to notice that Akon had disappeared and wondered if she had followed the Fae's wishes to retrieve the dwarf.
As Alyial continues the incantation, completely oblivious to the ranting fairy, the screams of angry skuthro are joined by the howls of the forlorn.
"As the lands are plowed by rage
The fields are sown by anger
Sadness weeps unto the ground.
Justice stolen from the weak
Offered as a sacrifice
Black flowers, blue mist, and blood
This thief dreams of life anew."
On finishing the incant, Alyial slices his palm along an old injury and bleeds directly onto the pages of the book before throwing it towards the center of town where it floats on a pillar of the blue smoke. Taking one last look to Glimmer, Alyial whipers, "What is done can not be undone," and steps backwards to the edge of the gate and allows himself to plummet to the ground, forming a mass of black flowers between the statues of Thalenir and Haven.
Akon watches on blended, but as soon as the book is thrown and Alyial jumps she emerges in full flight towards where the book was thrown. Upon finding where it floated, she pulls off her hood and tries to catch the book from where it floats and wrap it in the cloth.
Katri stared. Because she was out of sight, she allowed her jaw to drop for just a moment. What in the name of Tenaebrus had just happened? She watched Akon appear from nothing and grab for the book before looking back to the mass of black flowers on the ground, scarcely sparing a glance at Glimmer. She debated a moment before waking from her hiding place, face entirely covered. She walked within three feet of the flowers and knelt to look at them, mildly curious.
As Akon reaches toward the book with the hood a tendril of the smoke reaches out from teh blood stain on the book toward her, curling itself around her arm. The smoke appears to solidify and form into a large tenticle that begins to wind itself around her body. As soon as the tentacle has itself wrapped around Akon it tenses and rises into the air with her directly above the book and begins to return from where it came. The base of the appendage returns to a bluish grey mist and reforms into the cloud beneath the book.
Faster and faster it retracts until Akon's outstretched hand is touching the book. Like the tentacle before it, her hand begins to turn into smoke and disolve into the book. No sooner than her hand begins to disolve into the mist the rest of her body followed, leaving only the warlock's hood behind laying on the ground near the book.
Growing bored, Katri stood and turned away from the flowers just in time to see Akon vanish. Eyes wide, she races to help the other Uordeq, but she is already gone and only her cloak is left. Katri bends to retrieve it and glowers at the infernal book, holding her mentor's cloak. "What in the bloody name of Tenaebrus just happened?!"
Atasatch walking calmly along the road reaches the area when Akon's body dissapeared. "What the hell's going on here?!" He shouts he looks toward the book then toward Akon's cloak. He runs to Akon's cloak and looks toward Katri. "What happened here!?" He stands and walks fiercely toward Katri.
Atasatch looks painfully toward the robes. A small tear runs down his cheek, he wipes it away with his sleeve before anyone could see him. He walks over to the Akons robes and slowly starts to fold them. The strong scent of brimestone bites at his nose, he makes sure to grap everything there and stands, only to looks at the book coldly and then to the black flowers. "One day Alyial, you will meet your end, be it by the hands of Jastry or at the cost of my life." He whispers to himself.
Gaius soon arrives at the scene, having seen the fog and heard the screams from a distance. When he is close enough, he takes a moment to gather in all that is occuring. He sees the book floating in the distance. "Crap," he says and takes off running, quickly covering the distance between where he is standing and where Atasatch stands. "What the hell happened here?"
Akon's laughter echoes in the air behind Katri and Atasatch. Her body reforms out of the smoke, her eyes glowing a deeper red than usual. She appears changed. A pair of batlike wings extend from her back and a pair of horns from her forehead. She smiles as she reaches for the hood.
"Whoops. Looks like I dropped something," she says with a hint of amusement, taking the clothes from Atasatch. A sly grin spreads across her lips. "No need to worry, though. Akon's returned to her nightmares, right where she belongs. You'll all see her soon enough."
With a malicious laugh that chills all present to the soul, Akon disperses back into smoke, disappearing as quickly as she appeared.
Gaius stops punching the ground, and slowly stands back up, regaining his composure. "That," begins Gaius, "is the thing I have been trying to keep an eye on for the past month. That is the thing that I've watched cause suffering every night. That... is an evil being who seems to be having trouble learning her place."
Blisdon Sighed, It's not sure when the commotion drew him into the crowd. He didn't recognize the uordeq who cast the spell in the slightest but recognized the name Alyial. His dwarven eyes have seen for weeks the constantly scuttling of the sketchier residents in jastrey meeting in secret and seclusion. "Ya Damned schemin' uordeqs. You play your games and move your pawns an' now it's up to a real dwarf to clean yer' filthy mess." He grumbled aloud, pushing himself through the princess and the werewolf, to close where the strange and demonic incarnation of Akon appeared. "Outta' my way, princess. " Blisdon let the words simmer on his tongue as he once again grinned a wicked smile that only a dwarf who has nothing left to lose could smile.
"For the town of Jastrey...and for the wild hunt!" He says triumphantly, stepping backwards a few dozen feet to give his stubby dwarven legs a long running start "Greater Banishin' Ritual o' the Angry F--king Shaman Right 'Ere," He bellows from just behind the furious tangle of his thick black beard as he Pounded his chest where all of town can see his bravado before taking off at a furious charge. He ran for what seemed like an eternity before connecting his foot with the dubious book in an attempt to punt it as far away from the entrance of town as he possibly could.
Solas stared at the creature wide eyed, before turning to Atasatch, mouth hanging open.
Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of his dwarf friend, charging the scene. The sight caused him to chuckle, which allowed him to regain his nerve from the site of the creature that had revealed itself earlier.
His light hearted look hardened as the dwarf kicked the book. "I have a bad feeling about this." he said aloud.
Katri blinked. She understood now, a little better than before, what that thing was. She drew her hood from her eyes. "We will get Lady Nivarian Back." She paused to reassure Atasatch. She ignored the dwarf entirely.
She spared a slightly sad glance at Gaius. "You don't need to be so hard on yourself. You probably couldn't have done anything anyway." She walked toward the tavern. She looked back at the deputy and murmered so low only his ears would pick it up, "That woman is my teacher. I won't let her die. I am here when you need me."
"That women is my friend... She is not an instructor or a person Im with. I'll go to the pit itself to get her back if I have to." Atasatch rose his hands to his face and eyed them for a few seconds. The blood on his hands dissapeared and the holes in his hands dissapeared as well.
Quietly Katri moves back to infront of the deputy. "Do not mistake what I would do for that woman. She has known me since childhood and cared for me. There is no word for friend in my language, but she is my mentor and I will not have you insult that bond." Her voice got even lower. This time she spared a glance at the dwarf as he kicked the book.
Solas looks at the group that had formed. "This woman appears very important to you all." He looks toward the Uordeq "I understand the sadness in losing both a mentor and a friend." He lifts his head. "I offer you my help as an Empyrean if any of you wish to accept it."
"Very true," She answers Gaius. She turns to see Atasatch at the book. "Gods, please don't touch that thing, too!" She said, her voice rather flat and emotionless once more. She approached it, not standing quite as close as the deputy. If the flowers were that bad, this book had to be far far worse. "Thank you." She replies to the empyrean. "I feel this may require all the help we can get."
The whispy traces of smoke begin to form again as Blisden performs his ritual on the book. However, instead of taking on a solid form, the begin to wrap and encircle the dwarf in a pale blue mist, wrapping around his beard and entering his nostrils. The inscription "S.U.C." on his sword begins to glow a pale blue as the mist coalleces around him. His beard begins to turn to a pale grey, then a white before finally thinning and then falling off his face. His eyes seem to darken, and then rot away to nothing as black flowers begin to grow in his eye sockets.
The mist churns around the dwarf and starts to pull away small pieces of his body. The shaman rapidly shrinks in mass until he's nealy half his original girth, merely a pale frame of what he once was. The flowers sink into his face and form dark circles around his eye sockets and deep golden eyes return to his face. As the mist clears away, an Uordeq stands where there was once a noble dwarf. Long white beard hairs lay between him and the book, which still sits open between those gathered here.
"I reccomend trying to find another way to save her, before we touch this thing so carelessly." Katri frowned. "We can't help her if we're all trapped and in danger." She glares at the book. Suddenly she sees mist wrap around the dwarf and moments later an uordeq stands in his place. Katri stifled her laughter. "See, there's my point.. Don't touch it. Or touch it anyway..."
"BLISDON!" Solas shouts, rushing to the side of his companion. "What happened to you?" His head jerks around toward the people standing. "I am no longer offering my help, but instead requesting yours. Clearly whatever took your friend has transformed mine into an Uordeq. An Ironic motion, but one I would like revearsed none the less. " He speaks quickly. Near without breath. "So I give my word on the oath of the Wild Hunt I will help you find your friend. If you will help me. Please."
He jerks his head toward Katri. "It will do you well not to laugh at my friend, your highness." He turns back toward Blisdon, now an Uordeq.
As Gaius counts the mist begins to form around the book again, small tendrils reach out toward him at "1", they form larger at the count of "2", and reach out aggressively on "3", nearly missing the monk as Atasatch pulls him to the ground. The mist reels around forming a cyclone around the book until it dissapates again.
The sounds of laughter begin to form just outside the walls of Jastrey to accompany the screaming from the fields.
Solas inhales. "Storms coming." He says, grinning, lighting flashing behind him as he does. "The Hunt will not idly sit by as some Uordeq acts against one of it's members. The Hunt demands retribution." He says seriously. He turns to Blisdon. "There's still dwarf in you. I can sense it. We will get you out of this. The Hunt is with us. At last, we will have revenge."
"I don't like any of this. We need to do something, but so far 'Touch the book' seems to be a bad decision. I don't know how you expect to get retribution with these conditions at the moment." Katri shot at Solas. She would welcome the storm and the rain. It needed to hurry...
Katri let out a low hiss and took a step back from the book, echoing the deputy's question, "Who?"
She pulled her bow from her shoulder, and drew an arrow. She tied a scrap of cloth from her cloak to the end of it and, still touching it, murmured "The heart of the burning flame is life and death (10 fire)" to light the rag. She drew back her arrow and leveled it at the book before firing at it's cover's center.
Solas cocks his head, irritated. "That's it." He says drawing his blade. "Let's blow this thing and go home." He says to the party around him.
"May the Hunt be with me." The Empyrean focuses, inhaling the scent of the storm and grinning. He charges at the book blade pointed in its direction. In a furious rage, He pierces the book.
The mists around the book churn violently as the flaming arrow flies toward the books core. As the arrow passes through the mist, the fire is extinguised, the metal of the tip rusts and crumbles and the wood rots visiably before your eyes. By the time anything hits the book, its merely harmless dust.
The thoughts racing through The Dwarfs mind were clouded with the sharp agony as flowers as black as the magic that he was foolish enough to attempt to meddle with blossomed through his eyesockets and blinded him instantly. The Dwarf could only respond by howling in excruciating pain as every bone in his frame cracked and pressed together only to be reformed at half of their size.The quickly chaningshamans eyes would have been horrified had they been able to watch as his own flesh that was once so full of life and vibrant and full of life morph into a dull and sickly shade of grey as if he were a well preserved corpse waiting for burial.
It isn't until his sight finally returns with wide and rapidly blinking golden orbs for eyes that his physical pain is replaced with a deep dread of another kind. The once-Dwarf quickly finds himself reduced to a helpless whimper at first, His much longer legs beginning to grow weak and buckle as his new eyes watched the last of the beard that he had once been so proud and protective of fall from his face like autumn leaves. Something in this new uordeq snapped, never to return as he slumps to the ground, desperately grasping at several strands close by to where he fell.
"Mine...mine...I'm a dwarf. W-Whats a dwarf without...without his beard...?" His voiced faltered and often paused in between deep and panicked breaths as his arms desperately wrapped themselves across each other. The wispy strands of what was once his facial held still clutched desperately in his pale fingers. He gave up on speaking that night on the rocky path as a bright burst of light exploded from one of the clouds overhead. Something snapped in his mind never to return on this stormy night, he could feel it through his desperation and denial that things would never be the same just as real as the feelings of his bones that ached and burned from the turning that he just endured.
Something dark clawed through the confines of his mind, something that was too alien to have existed there once before in the mind of the fanatic warrior of the wild hunt.
Something monstrous.
Something Uordeq.
Thunder crashes and rain starts to fall as Solas's sword appears to pierce the book cleanly while the mist deals with the arrow fired at the same time. However, as he removes the sword from the book, there's not a scratch to be found. Not a page is torn, not a corner bent, however, the sword returns covered in thick empyrean blood. The sword falls from his hand and clatters against the road as a deep gash forms in Solas's chest and he collapses to the ground beneath the book. The mist swirls around him briefly but does nothing as his body lies there lifelessly on the ground. [soals slay].
Rasiri sits quietly as all of the attempts to move or destroy the book fail and then he stands and makes his way over to Katri and Atasatch. "Nothink is going to vork... that boook es tooo powerrrful. Ve need to find a vay to go get the people out offff the astral... i feel i vill prrrobably go vith all offff you theees time. Ve should probably go soon... how did all offff you make it in last time?" Rasiri cocks his head to one side and waits for Ata and Katri to respond.
Blisdon watched Helplessly as he watched his empyrean friends lifeless body fall to the ground beside him. He Could feel his mind changing, Something all the way in the deep corners of his brain whispering to him to leave his comrade behind and save the potions for when someone useful falls in battle.
"What use is a blind swordsman anyways?" Cackled the heavily accented voice from within him.
Blisdon reached for the potion himself...undoing it's cork and sniffing its contents as the blood of the empyrean seeped into his own clothes.
"Yes, Blisdon! Perhaps it will bring everything back to normal. One long draft and this horrid nightmare will all go away for you...."
"No!" Screamed the Uordeq, Tears welling up in his eyes "My name...My name is Blisdon of the Wild hunt. I've been bringing health to the sick and life to the lifeless for decades."
"Times change Blisdon, Look at the power you uordeqs have in Jastrey. Look at what you stand to gain..leave him... you say it yourself. 'Fate conquers all' My dear Duskling, Leave him and go to your true chosen destiny..."
Blisdon whimpered feebly in a weak resistance against the compelling force. He tilted his head up, his pale and grey lips touching the cool glass as he looked up into the night sky for the first time with the eyes of a monster.
However right as the first drop nearly touched his lips, he felt it. The first droplet of rain from the coming storm that resonated and all the way into somewhere deep in his core of his soul like sudden ripples onto a calm body of water. And from deep within him came the reply, With his heart pounding in rhythm with the beating of a thousand silent hooves in a wild unison. He could feel the strength of his timeless order keeping his will firm where he may have otherwise stumbled and fail. He could feel his purpose building within him like a sudden summer storm and without further hesitation he turned the blind empyrean over and emptied the potion of rivival into his still warm mouth.
It took several seconds for the potion to take full effect among a fully grown humanoid, but by then the Uordeq was already long gone from the scene. A badly damaged nearby bush standing as compelling evidence that he had Disappeared into the woods where a creature such as him belongs.
Katri did not pay much attention to the dwarf turned Uordeq and the revival of his friend, but instead looked at Rasiri. "I did not go last time either. I remained behind with Stiers to.. watch the tavern. I will be going this time, though." She said little else, but flexed her right hand a couple of times with a recent yet distant memory.
Solas sat up, grabbing his head. "What the-" He looked around. There was no sign of his Dwarven friend. "How could I have been so reckless?" He muttered to himself, still sitting in the dirt. He was angry with himself. He rushed in head strong, something he was trained not to do. He picked himself up off the ground and sheathed his sword. He hung his head in shame and took a few steps toward the rest of the party.
Meanwhile, Gaius has been focusing on himself, concentrating and relaxing his mind. His breathing has returned to a slow, steady rate and his heart beats calmly in his chest. He begins speaking to himself as he walks towards the book, "I am at peace with myself. I have centered myself."
He continues walking forward, ignoring everything else going on around him, focused only on the book. He had to know what potential awaited him inside its pages. He saw two goals before him: knowledge and the chance to save a friend. He had to take that chance while it was still available.
He is soon standing right next to the book. His thoughts race for a moment and he looks at the ground, doubting for a moment as he realizes how very stupid this decision could be... but the opportunity was there. Then, all of a sudden, his mind goes blank. He looks at the book and grabs it with both hands.
A blast of frigid air bursts from the book. Instantly Gaius is encased in a thick rime of ice. His hands slip from around the book as he topples to the groound, dead. (Slay Gaius)
Gouts of bluish fog swirl out of the book and pour through the opening in the wall, filling the field and road and piling up around the little group gathered around the statues.
"Soon, my dreamers, soon. Let your tool do its work and Justice shall come to Jastrey."
The voice echoes again through the mist.
Pendrad, slightly bleary eyed yawns and streches after being woken up from the commotion.
"I was having a fine nap till y'all decided..... oh whats this?" he says the magical book with the late gaius resting beneath it.
"Dead men and magical books are never a good omen." he says as he steps closer to the book.
"STAND BACK EVERYONE A TRAINED SORCERER IS WORKIN' 'ERE!" he shouts as he reaches in and caresses the book.
"See magic is alot like a woman you have to be tender with it for it to love you." Pendrad says and caresses the book cover.
"Tell me your secrets hun." (touch inspect magic)
Katri shook her head as she watches Gaius fall. She glowered at the book while it spoke and made a silent decision that she would, indeed, wait and then rip the bloody thing page from page when she got her chance. She nearly scoffed at Pendrad's display when he joined everyone. She rolled her eyes and murmured, "And another one bites the dust... This won't end well at all."
Thunder crashes and the rain falls heavier as Pendrad approaches the book. A strong wind blows the mist toward him as he reaches to caress the book's cover. The book radiates an unmistakeable magical aura as the mist forms into small fingers that caress Pendrad's face leaving his features softer and more elegant where they touched. It slides around the back of his neck and begins to weave itself into his hair, dissapearing into the back of his skull.
Pendrad's body grows stiff under the influence of the mist and he loses control of himself. Slowly he rises slightly off the ground and opens his mouth as the mist pours out and specral hands envelop and caress his body. "I'll be tender," a female voice says from inside the shroud of mist, "and you can know my secrets." The mists begin to receed from around Pendrad, as his now very feminine figure lowers to the ground.
Pendrad gets up and inspects himeself then walks a good distance away before he sits down.
"obvious changes, not a mutation though." He says as he strokes his chin.
"Unmistakeable presence of the astral. The book also can change reality, looks like we are dealing with a Oneiroi." Peandrad says as he spits on the ground in front of him.
The bushes rustle and out stumbles a rough looking Tregard. He wears the same clothes from his fairy poo incident with twigs and grass added to them. He scratches his two week old beard and calls out "What's all the ruckus! I'm trying to get some slee--" The bard cuts off as he notices the floating book.
His eyes nearly pop out of his head and his mouth makes a slient O. He wraps his flea-bitten blanket and walks slowly around the book. When he reaches for the book he hears Really! You're gonna do this again. Do you not remember the last time you grabbed a magic book. I seriously doubt you can handle a third voice in your head.
"Fine." growls Tregard, "I'll approach the situation as I've been trained." He pulls out his book/pillow and begins to jot down notes. Magic book seen floating in middle of town. Several townspeople incapacitated. Author and subject of book unkown.
Tregard takes and a deep breath and chants:
Magick tome a spinnin'
in the air
pray tell us the matter
that you bear
Echoing cackles ripple through the air, seeming to come from every odd angle around those gathered around the book. Then the smell of brimstone and sulfur permeates through the gathering winds.
A soft chuckle issues from behind Blisdon as he hides in the woods. "Oh....there there....what is such a fine specimen like you doing here all alone? Mmmm...such delicious features you have. Why is it I've not seen you before?" The voice coos softly, gently in Blisdon's ear as Akon's form materializes behind him. Though her voice is not Akon's. It's gentle, smoother, and her form is adorned with horns, batlike wings and a tail that swishes oh so gently from side to side like a diabolical feline.
The book raises and turns its pages to Tregard. The mist parts as he recites lyrics and the writing on the pages begins to disolve into a large blob of ink on the center of the page. The ink swirls around and expands in a violent splattering across the page. Ornate shapes begin to form along the edges of the text and the image of a mirror takes shape between the pages - a single, solitary mirror guarded on either side by a pair of stone dragons.
Tregard is able to see his reflection in the book, his two week old beard sitting scraggly on his face with bits of twigs and leaves. As he continues to look, the mirror cracks down the center and a disembodied scowling face emerges from between the pages of the book. It moans woefully as it passes through the party, and the book settles again once more, the image of the mirror still visiable on its pages.
The mind of the once-dwarf was racing and swamped with the panicked gibberish thoughts like that of a desperate and cornered beast. To the point where his new and much more sensitive nose didn't immediately take notice of the faint hint of sulfur in the air as it gathered around him until the tempting and heavily accented voice broke the silence.
"Ah..Akon? Vh-Vhat do hyoo.." Blisdons heartbeat quickened from within him and he had to take several seconds of calm breathing and clearing his throat before allowing himself to continue "Whaddya want, Uordeq?" His voice was now much deeper, slightly reminiscent of old times, but unnatural and uncertain within his new body. "I..I Didn't ask fer'...zees 'ere....nobody 'vould."
The unfamiliar accent creeped upon him again, escaping from his tongue with the familiarity as if he had been speaking in that accent all of his life.
"Hyoo-You're not zee sheriff, are you?"
Akon's form cocks her head to the side and smiles, and runs a tender fingertip delicately along the smooth Uordeq face of Blisdon's now beardless countenance. "Oh...but I am...and so much more. And I just want a little company. Is that too much to ask?" She looks up around the other people. "Seems you lot could use it...this is a -dangerous- place after all." Her eyes flair and burn hot red as she speaks the word 'dangerous,' seeming to take on a wickedly amused smirk at that.
Blisdon recoiled in shock, which later gave way to shame and an uncertain fear as for the first time in his adult life another being was able to touch his bare chin and cheeks. The Uordeq could only stare at the creature wearing Akon with his wide and unblinking golden eyes.
"Something...more, you say?" His silky and accented voice trying to match pace with the strange sheriff before him. "Power?"
The Uordeq didn't have to look up, he could feel the thunder finally crack in the darkened sky and with a bright flash of lightning the first plump droplets of icy rain began to fall from the black blouds above. "Indeed this place is dan..dangerous,-Cause o yer' damned schemin and colludin' ways!" Barked Blisdon in a much more gruff and to-the-point voice. "And now.."
At first it was hardly audible, just the visible movement as the shamans much smaller chest bounced up and down rapidly. But soon a wide and wicked grin stretched inhumanly across his pale features. "And now -HA!-It's me who has to pay your -Nyeea-Ha! Hahaha!- debts!" Blisdon was reduced howling in fiendish cackling and dementia as he looked upon the uordeq , Perhaps the shaman would have spoken more had not everytime his grey lips parted to make the words, only uproarious and indisputedly batshit insane laughter managed to pour fourth instead.
"Haaa! Haha! Hehehe...hahaha!"
Akon's form shakes her head. "Tsk tsk...poor helpless creature. You've brought this all on yourselves. Only dreamers make dreams, regardless of their race. Though I must say I think the dark eyes are an improvement, dearest Blisdon." She cackles. "I'll be around should you desire....my company." She says as she steps around him, trailing her finger along his chin. "Pleasant dreams..." And with that Akon bursts into smoke and dust, the air ringing with a chorus of screams as she vanishes. Each scream would hit each individual town's person's ear with a piercing familiarity. Their own agonized voice, the scream of a loved one, reminiscent of nightmares from their past and present. Even Akon's true voice is heard crying out in a tormented shriek.
Tregard begins to sweat as he views his horrible image in the mirror. Perspiration mingles with vomit and fairy poo. Looking a bit rough, eh says his ever constant hitchhiker. Tregard ignores the taunt and refocuses on the book that has return to orginal spot. The bard croaks out
Book, let your pages turn
show us your truth
that sets our minds to burn
O' let us learn.
As he finishes speaking, a shriek splits the air and he trembles.
As Tregard chants, the pages flip rapidly, quickly displaying pictures, spells, incantations and rituals long lost to Orn. A wealth of information and long lost knowledge of the planes flits quickly across the pages barely visible to any that are paying attention. The book stops briefly at the last page, showing an image of a human wizard holding a bunny in one arm, a spoon behind his ear, and a blue book in the other. He looks pleased and content, a madman regaining a fleeting sense of sanity.
Katri slowed her run to a stop near the now rather effeminate Pendrad. She looked around but only saw the people she had left, along with a rather dirty and ragged looking human chanting at the book which behaved oddly, seeming to erase the markings from its pages as quickly as they appeared. She couldn't help but give a light laugh at the brief image of the human and bunny that appeared last. She shook her head and could only wonder, "What in the hell?"
She regained herself and looked at Pendrad, "What has happened? I heard screams, and Lady Nivarian's was among them? And the human chanting?"
As the shriek increases it pitch and volume, the voice in Tregard's head howls. The two sounds battle in the vortex that is Tregard Maynard's mind. The tiny section of his psyche that isn't embroiled in the hellish fight returns to the book.
The power of the book beckons the gnome forth. The captivated Tregard inches towards the tome, trying to store every bit of information in his broken brain. He stops when shown the last image of an madman. His next question comes in a dry whisper
O' grimoire thy of brightly shining hue
thou last image reflects true
of man, rodent, and spoon too
whose identity you give clue
((OOG: Yes Tregard is gnome now. One word:Ruin))
Waiting for the chanting to stop and for pendrad's reply, Katri walks to the nearest of the black flowers and glares hatefully at the day-nightmare inducing plant. She looks back at the book hearing the voice of the chanter mumble something, only to see he's no longer a human but a gnome. If she hadn't seen what she had already seen with Akon and the others, she would think she was growing madder by the second. In a moment of frustration she glares at the flower again and kicks it.
Behind Katri's ears lips whisper, low and smooth, their warm breath playing against her neck. "Horrible little things, aren't they? I never was much a fan of them myself...and they smell horrible...at least to me.." Then the voice cackles and should Katri look for their speaker, there is nothing but a remnant of dust left behind, floating in the air where the voice issued from.
The book flips rapidly from page to page, seemingly trying to find an answer to the question posed by the gnome. Pages change seemingly at random from the front of the book to the back, stopping briefly on the cracked mirror and the image of the wizard each time the pages flip through. The mist begins to form strange and barely distinguishable shapes, like clouds floating across an otherwise clear sky, shifting from one to another.
The pages continue to turn, and the mist forms more distinguishable shapes above it. Fredrick Douglas appears briefly in the mist, clutching something on a chain around his neck. The mist shifts to the form of a small rabbit, its ears twitching nervously from side to side before condensing again into what appears to be a small spoon, finally, the mist forms into the shape of a large war hammer as the pages stop turning. The mist disolves again around the book leaving it open to the very first page. The only thing legible is the large letter "I".
The image of Douglas puts Tregard on his arse. He pull out his dagger and rushes at the book. The howling in his head stops and the voice curses. NO TOUCHY THE BOOK, GNOME it bellows. "SHOVE OFF! "Tregard retorts. "I'm gonna to gut this frakker! " A muffled squeal is heard as the bard falls to the ground. His mouth is locked on his right hand and the blade falls uselessly on the ground. "Let go!" yelps Tregard through his teeth. NEVER the voice answers back. Tregard's right hand grabs his hair and slams his head on the ground. Each hit is accentuated with a "Let go" and a "No".
Anyone who had been looking at Katri would only have seen her stumble from where she stood and land on her hindquarters, square in the middle of the black flowers. What she had seen when it happened, however, left her more than a little shaken. She jumped up from the flowers almost instantly with a hiss, as though she had been burned. She gave a low snarl at the flower before looking up to see the mist form it's images and for the pages of the book to flip. The mist figures had captured her curiosity. What was Douglas clutching and why the rabbit? She could not see the pages of the book well enough from where she stood to know more than what was on it appeared to be a picture. She hissed once more at the flowers and rejoined the group.
Akon's figure's voice echos around Katri in a cackling taunt. "What didn't like them? Didn't think you would...." The cackle rings out.
Akon's form then materializes over Tregard, kneeling down over him. "Such fretting, poor poor observer. Such peace you could have...go on...end it then hmm? Hit it a little harder..." She sneers. "No more horrors....no more voices....hit it a little harder...."
In the midst of all the chaos, one thing remains constant. Gaius is still lying there near the book, water and ice slowly dripping of his body as he does nothing. At first glance, it may seem that he is sleeping, motionless, but something just seems off. Time seems to pass slowly for Gaius, the world constantly changing around him, ignored by all.
First, a sorceror approaches near the body, but paying it no mind as he attempts to caress the book floating just up and to the left of Gaius' unbreathing chest. A strong wind blows and Gaius' hair moves about erratically, but the monk himself does not stir. The sorceror, somehow different, walks away, apparently unaware of the man lying only inches from the site of his transformation.
A chanting fills the air soon afterwards, but Gaius remains unaware. Perhaps he cannot hear the song or perhaps his sleep is just too deep. The chanting man's focus, however, is on the book floating slightly away from the body on the cold ground. Strangely, Gaius does not seem to mind that he is being ignored. A cackle erupts from near the book, but it is quickly obvious that the cackle does not emanate from Gaius. In all this, he still has not moved. A strong smell fills the air. Is it brimstone? Is it sulfur? Gaius does not know.
The book begins to flip pages rapidly, begging Gaius to look at it, to see what is inside. Gaius still shows no interest. The book he was so interested in only moments before is now completely out of his thoughts. Before long, piercing screams fill the air. Gaius feels that he may have recognized at least a couple of the screams... or he would, had he heard anything at all. The chanting continues, the book continues to flip pages, and Gaius continues acting out his paralysis. Time continues to pass...
If anyone were to bother to closer examine Gaius, it would soon reveal that his fixed state is due to a far worse fate: death.
Solas could only stand at a distance as The Monk fell. "What the-" He started, as Pendrad changed forms. "Fuck?" Solas stood by silent and shameful of his reckless outburst. He was, admittedly, scared, a feeling he hadn't felt in some time. His hand subconsciously moved to his chest where the wound had once been. He couldn't help but feel, well, helpless at the power of The Astral.
Solas snapped his head in the direction of the Screams and Laughter of coming from the forest nearby. The screams violently reverberated in his skull. He reached up clutching his head. "What in Banekeril's good name is wrong with this town?" He said aloud, but to no one.
Tregard stops struggling with himself and whimpers at the third voice. Blood flows from a gash on his forehead. Per Akon's request, his right hand reaches for his head, yet the left hand bats it away. This is followed by the left slapping Tregard's face with enough force to send him sprawling several feet.
The bard comes to his feet and stares at Akon's form overhead. Forget about Akon, you're out of your element. The gnome belongs to me. Now shoo! I got business to atte--. He cuts himself off with a fist to the solar plexus. As he falls to his knees, he wheezes "I'm not yours!"
Dark laughter echos as Akon's form lets out a full on guffaw, the laughter mixing with thunder crashes. "Ooooh, that's it Tregard! Let him have it! Show him who's boss! If you end yourself..you'll end it for the both of you...come on now..." She picks up his dagger off the ground, edging closer, offering it hilt first. "It's not that hard.....and then it will all be over....all be over....do yourself a favor darling, you deserve peace..."
Gaius' eyes flutter for a moment as he regains his senses. He sits up and rubs his head, looking around. He sees the book floating nearby and leaps to his feet, running straight away from the book.
He stops soon afterwards, still very tired and cold from his ordeal. "W- W- What just happened?" he stutters, teeth chattering, to no one in particular.
Taklinn can be seen walking out of the tower and he walks yawning and stretching his arms towards the sounds of a ruckus. "What in Espidrel's beard are ye dolts screamin' about. Ye can't get a nap fer anything in this town with all of ye running about like goblin children!" He surveys the scene before him and nods to the dripping wet monk. "Why do ye look like a drowned rat lad?" He spots Glimmer on the wall and waves, saying "I thought we were rid of this durned book, but it comes back like sores after a good night in a tavern in Rica! I guess its the gift that keeps on givin!" He climbs to the top of the wall and sits next to the fae, saying something in a whisper in her ear, and then turns to view the scene around him. "Didn't ye warn em to leave the blasted thing alone lass? I ain't fer knowin how we are to stop this madness again!"
Tregard wrestles with dagger, tumbling away from the book. The phrase, Your fingers are like butter (Fumble), is heard and the knife falls from Tregard's fingers again. This is followed by Hey you got in me friend(Charm) and the gnome ceases wrestling with himself. Tregard stumbles blindly to his feet and laughes at the scene. He sings:
So let's sink another drink
'Cause it'll give me time to think
If I had the chance
I'd ask the world to dance
And I'll be dancing with myself
He scowls at Akon's form and hocks a blood loogie at her. "Hatemonger" he says with a bloody smile.
Katri ducked into the trees by the road inside of town the moment she saw the man in black appear on the wall. "Vhat in the name of Tenaebrus?" Her words were little more than a breath. Her curiosity was strong but the words of Akon echoed in her head and did not bode well for her asking him any direct questions. There was a book in his hands, which he calmly read. She assumed that it was the book she had been told about. Even if she didn't want to listen to her former advisor, she knew she was still to weak from her episode to dream of approaching another frog, let alone the man before her. Taking a silent breath, her decision was made. She gathered her strength and bolted off to find Akon, making a note to herself to see if he still remained afterward.