Closed Shadow of Doubt (Perplexity)

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While Sylira is by far the most civilized region of Mizahar, countless surprises and encounters await the traveler in its rural wilderness. Called the Wildlands, Syliran's wilderness is comprised of gradual rolling hills in the south that become deep wilderness in the north. Ruins abound throughout the wildlands, and only the well-marked roads are safe.

Shadow of Doubt (Perplexity)

Postby Shai on January 19th, 2015, 10:23 pm

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Shai shuffled around over the edge of the tower, prepared to scale down with her eyes closed, when the newly appeared ridge of a door arch appeared at the base. Much more quickly than she had come to the roof, she descended. She angled herself around the tower to try and block the worst of the raging winds. Her efforts proved effectively futile when she reached the base, she couldn’t willing retract her cilia. Her flesh had pimpled against the cold and her cilia remained extended. Like a cat with bags on her feet, she had to slowly lifted her body off the tower’s face before dropping to the cold ground.

Before even inspecting the door, Shai’s first order of business was to pull on her mittens and boots. Although the boots and mittens were cold from not being worn, she tried not to shiver. Another chilled ripple up her spine might force her to stick to another surface.

Regarding the wooden portal, Shai took several chimes just to make sure she missed nothing. The symbol meant nothing to her, a sun and a triangle. Briefly she considered that perhaps a door handle would appear when the sun rose, but it would be several bells before that. Shai was patient but not for no reason. No handle, no key hole… Shai was no stranger to being unwelcome in a building, but it was odd not to have an obvious way in.

Mentally she shrugged, and applied force and boot to the door. Trying to kick it in with the sole of her foot.
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Shadow of Doubt (Perplexity)

Postby Perplexity on January 20th, 2015, 12:35 am

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The door gave way under Shai’s forceful kick swinging inward revealing the interior of the tower. The room was spacious with enough standing room to allow for a little over a dozen people. The furniture within the room was that of a scholar’s study. A series of bookshelves lined one of the walls though the shelves themselves were sparsely filled with decrepit books and web covered scrolls. Upon the floor was a moth eaten rug that might once have been described as grand. The color was an ashen blue faded with age. In the center of the room stood a spiral staircase that appeared to be made of wrought iron. Scattered about the room were a few cushioned chairs that had obviously seen much better days. The room was shrouded in darkness. To the immediate right stood a wrought iron candelabra with half-burned wax candles situated in the holders.

The interior of the tower was anything but inviting. Within the corners of the room figures lingered in the darkness. They remained on Shai’s peripheral and every attempt to focus on them would result in them vanishing as soon as she turned her head. Situated just in front of the bookshelves was a desk. The dark shape of a person could be seen seated behind the desk. An audible sigh slithered through the room crawling over the walls before dissipating into the wilderness. The specter manifested beside Shai in a somewhat more corporeal form then before though it still remained featureless.

There are two things that you should know before entering the Tower of Klet.” The ghost clasped its hands behind its back.

First, if into Klet you should go then a question of you will be asked. You cannot leave until an answer has been given. The second, if you should leave now then you will never again be given the chance to enter. Go in and risk never leaving or leave and never again be allowed to enter. The choice is yours.” The ghost gave Shai a nod before stepping into the interior of the room standing just past the entrance. It turned to face her then extended a hand to her. Klet continued to be a conundrum but in taking the ghost’s hand Shai would be able to explore the depths of its mysteries. If she declined to take the ghost’s hand then she would of course then be able to turn away from Klet leaving those questions behind.


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Shadow of Doubt (Perplexity)

Postby Shai on January 20th, 2015, 1:27 am

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Shai said exactly nothing. Amethyst eyes grew wide as they strained to focus on the dark interior and the ghost’s sermon with the same moment. Slowly her gaze trailed up the ghost’s form and settled upon his hand, focusing in silence.

Shai, there’s nothing to gain here. Leave this place and wait for the boat.

Reward is found only in Risk, and in our partnership risk is my domain. The Symenestra replied telepathically before stepping through the threshold. After her mind was made up, there was no hesitation come what may, Shai would accept the consequences.

The lithe larcenist strode passed the ghost without accepting his hand. On two counts, she had no desire to take his hand. The first, she didn’t like ghosts and had no desire to touch one unless necessary. Second, it implied a weakness and need for help she refused to accept, once again unless necessary. Necessity was the grease in the wheels, for a thief. Her pride could be put aside.

It was her first instinct to head for the bookshelves. There was much to learn about a person from what they surrounded themselves with, but as her boots touched the rug, she spun. The shadows only now catching her attention. The ebony cloak hood fell back onto her shoulders as her neck craned trying to catch that which moved beyond her ken. The ever shifting unfathomable figures dancing just beyond her vision. Instead as she spun her interested settled on the shadow behind the desk. “This night seems very concerned with questions, I will try not to add to them.” Shai claimed trying to understand precisely what she had just walked into.

Curiosity still dragged her towards the bookshelf, but there was a rigid part of the polarized woman that demanded etiquette be observed. Of course, Shai’s version of decorum was usually entailed a lock pick. And yet again, the thief could discern things without suffixing them with a question mark. Symenestra, Semantics, and Shadows, what more could a girl ask for in one night?
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Shadow of Doubt (Perplexity)

Postby Perplexity on January 26th, 2015, 11:08 pm

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As soon as Shai stepped across the threshold of the tower the door slammed shut behind her. There was no going back now. The ghost dropped its hand clasping both behind its back. It turned to regard Shai.

The Night is filled with many things, Shai Nerium. Now is your first step toward finding out exactly what.” The ghost began walking toward the spiral staircase. As it walked candles began lighting themselves around the room illuminating the darkness. With the light filling the room details came into focus. The shadows were banished including the figure seated behind the desk. What was left was the skeletal remains of a long abandoned study that might once have been grand. Such grandeur was now nothing more than a memory.

There are presently five floors to Klet. In order to get out you must go up. In order to go up you must present each door with what it wants. With each door you open a piece of your question will follow. You have already been given the first piece.” The ghost continued its journey up the stairs until it reached the top pressing a hand to the wooden trap door leading up to the next floor. When it spoke it still as if it were standing only a foot or so away from Shai.

Be warned, each room will present its own challenge to you.” The ghost quirked its head. “Good luck.

With that it took a few more steps passing through the trap door and into what was presumably the next floor of the tower. Shai was left alone or at least as alone as she could be when bonded to a Familiar. Now that the darkness was gone from the room Shai would be able to see a large map hanging on the wall just behind the desk. A vast continent was elegantly drawn upon its surface though the geography was unrecognizable to the Symenestra. Resting upon the surface of the desk were cartographer’s tools, quill pens, and vials that once held ink that had long since dried up. Just beside the desk stood a smaller table barely larger than an end table upon which stood what looked to be bits of philtering apparatus. There rest upon its surface a few vials and an alembic filled with murky water as well as a mortar, pestle and a knife. The most obvious course of action was to simply march up the stairs and examine the trap door.

The door itself was made of a dull grey stone. It would have blended in with the ceiling of the room were it not for the fact that it was outlined by stonework. At the center of the door was a single hole not but a few centimeters in diameter. The hole was perfectly round and seemed to have just enough space where one would be able to insert something into it. Just below the hole there lay writing.

Give me life.

So it was that Shai’s first challenge presented itself. The question remained, how exactly did one give a door life?

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Shadow of Doubt (Perplexity)

Postby Shai on January 30th, 2015, 8:28 pm

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Shai left the books for later examination and followed the ghost to the door. As the candles sparked into life, the spider flinched and looked away, averting her gaze to the corners of the room. Her pupils slowly contracted to lessen her night vision and accept the supplementary luminescence. Whens he turned back the ghost had already uttered his parting wish of luck. The thief had lived too long in Sunberth to believe anyone who outright hoped for her success. There was always some angle just beyond what she could see, duplicitous at best.

Crouching beside the door, she took in the meager clue and socket. Where before the riddle had been difficult, Shai’s upbringing supplied her with the answer immediately. Or an answer, whether it was correct remained to be seen. Before that though, she wanted to explore the room. The ghost had implied no time limit and so aside from mortal needs, Shai would go forth cautiously.

Turning her back on the obvious next step, the spider moved back to the desk. The wells were hardened into nearly, but she took the time to look at each object whether she had seen them before or not. Very carefully she picked up the little ruler but couldn’t see a need for it and so placed it back on the table. The quill she took unrepentantly; she’d need it momentarily.

Beyond the table, Shai stood quietly before the map. She was considered fairly well traveled but in her, admittedly inaccurate estimation, the map did not look like her home. Holding out her hand palm up, she called to her familiar. “Chell would you transform please?”

There was a long pause. Shai suspected it was either contemplation or pettiness on being given a command. Regardless eventually the Irylid drew from her essence and his form expanded, rounding out the edges in a reversion of the melting process. Dreamily the ice sphere came to settle in the outstretched palm. He vibrated against her flesh to create sound, “What is it?”

“Have you ever seen this land before?”

“No.” He replied definitively.

Shai nodded contemplatively. “We might need it in the upper levels, but I do not want to anger the ghost. So would you examine it?” It was an easy choice, there was no ink available to duplicate the map even had the spider possessed any drawing ability, which she didn’t. Chell could recall anything he had seen though.

The sphere lifted off her pale hand and floated lazily before the map. Taking in what he could from the image. The general image was a simple thing for him to recall, it was the details the familiar was now investigating. Did the corners fray? What mediums did the artist use? Since the insane mage he was bound to had moved forward with her plan based on nothing but instinct, he was now apart of it as well. If any details he missed let to their folly, Chell could only begin to imagine he’d never hear the end of it. Not that he could forget it, even if Shai only mentioned it once. “I have it.” He announced after a few chimes, by humming in the air.

The Symenestra nodded and trotted back towards the door with her icey tail floating gentle behind her. It was her belief she had acknowledged everything the room had to offer, now to try to the test of the door. The concept of life was interwoven with one element in particular in Symenstra society, blood. It was certainly a substance she had with her. A dark claw jabbed into her palm, where the sanguine liquid could pool. Shai wet the tip of the quill in Viratas’s sacred domain and pushed it into the hole.

Lavender eyes watched warily, waiting to see if there was more to this riddle. Perhaps Shai had underestimated the tower.
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Shadow of Doubt (Perplexity)

Postby Perplexity on January 31st, 2015, 10:10 pm

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A simple enough riddle for a Symenestra that had spent the early parts of her life being taught the edicts of Viratas. As the blood tipped quill was placed into the keyhole the sound of stone grinding against stone filled the room. After a few moments the trap door had opened to reveal the second floor of the tower. As with the floor before it there was but a single open room to be seen. It was not as well lit as the bottom floor with the shadows pressing in around the edges of the room. The darkness clung to the corners like a living thing, impenetrable even with the aid of Shai’s dark vision.

The ghost was nowhere to be seen. It was either observing from parts unknown or it had simply left Shai to her own devices. The room that awaited the Symenestra larcenist was that of a bedroom. A four post bed sat in one corner of the room. It was draped with old linens dusty and weighted down with the greying of years. The floor was littered with bits of parchment with writing scrawled across the pages. An end table was situated next to the bed upon which sat a stack of books. Some of them had wax candles sitting atop their covers with the trails of melted wax pouring down across their covers. Whoever had lived in this tower must have spent hours upon hours scouring through page after page into the late hours of the night.

A marked difference with this room was the presence of a window opposite of the bed. Before it stood a spyglass situated atop a brass stand. Next to the mounted spyglass was a small writing desk where charts depicting what appeared to be the sky. At the center of that desk rest a book, the pages open for all to see. A single candle flickered gently beside it illuminating the text should it be inspected. Just a little ways into the room and slightly off to the left wound another staircase supposedly leading up to the third floor. The dark clung to the far edges of the ceiling like fingers scraping against the halo of light that painted the roof of the room.

Just as before, there was an inscription written upon the door but this time there was no visible keyhole.

Give me a dream.

A dream? How did one give a door a dream? What purpose did that serve? Such a thing wasn’t even possible. At least it shouldn’t have been possible. While the first of Shai’s riddles seemed to have been easy in finding its answer, this one was a puzzle on a whole different level.

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Shadow of Doubt (Perplexity)

Postby Shai on March 2nd, 2015, 6:40 pm

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Chell floated around the room while Shai strode directly towards the next door. Again there would be time to explore but first the matter at hand. What she found gave her long pause. A dream. The spider traced the words with the tip of her finger. The tower was growing ever more personal, or if not the tower then its Master. It felt like someone was trying to know her and it made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

Turning away she noted the new chamber. A dream and a bed; the connection was too obvious. Immediately she discarded it for multiple reasons the chief ones being the obvious and the second because falling asleep in this haunted tower would be impossible and ill-advised.

The Irylid had paused before the spyglass while Shai meandered around the room. Her gazed up at the stars and though he would never admit it part of the familiar was looking for his home. If asked though he would have answered it was analytical research on location. Nearby Shai stopped and lifted the book from the desk, supporting the spine on one forearm she dislodged the candle with the other.

She backed up against the door and slid down into a sit. Using the edge of a claw the pages flipped in her hand, looking over the contents. Though her eyes traced the pages, her mind was wondering. Her lips parted, “I do not know much of dreams Tower, but I do know of the specters that haunt one’s sleep. I cannot make one up because I also do not know what a Tower would dream of if it could, so instead I will tell you what I see when I close my eyes.”

By this time Chell had drifted back towards his Mistress, it had long been a curiosity what Shai saw in the night. He knew it wasn’t pleasant, he’d been there when she woke up screaming or tangled in blankets and sweat.

“Dreams always begin the same and different all once, because they do not really begin that just are right in the middle of what it was. My sweetest dream takes place in my homeland. Suspended over a vast chasm of nearly endless depth and darkness hangs a city of silk and ethereal beauty. The homes are like cocoons with ropes of silk as paths between them. It is not a place for outsiders. I had a home there, a nest is what we call them, and in my dream I am always at home, at first. Sitting on the embroidered cushions that my family made from the silk of the Kalinor. I hold a long quilt of the darkest black fabric, stitching at the ends with a silver thread. Its a small blanket because I am making it for my son, he is in his bed just beyond arm’s reach. It rocks itself.” Shai paused for a breath and to clear her throat, “Some time later, I do not know if it is bells or chimes, the cradle stops. I get up to investigate and find it is empty. That is where things change.” Shai shifted and pulled her eyes from the book altogether, abandoning the façade.

“What happens next has changed over the years, sometimes because I learned more about the events of that day sometimes because of the people around me. They always end the same though, I crawl through caverns to the surface, where the vast forests of Kalea meet me and a dirt path used to wagon wheels lies at my feet. It was the end of the kind life my kinswomen know and the beginning of my time on the surface.” Shai sighed heavily, resisting the urge to hide her face in her hands. “But with it, whether I step forward or dash back into the shadow is always the urge to find the missing piece of my soul, my sweet boy…” She trailed off gently at the end, her fists clenched and the book fell into her lap. Whether the door gave her entrance or not, it would be a long painful moment before the mother could make herself move.
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Shadow of Doubt (Perplexity)

Postby Perplexity on March 7th, 2015, 12:52 pm

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Dreams. They are curious things. Sometimes they tell us who we are. More often they hint at who we were. Sometimes though, they tell us who we might be.” The voice that came from the darkness was smoother than the silk of Kalinor. Woven through the rich cadence were promises of things Shai wouldn’t possibly understand. The flame upon the candle flickered but the flame continued to burn brightly even as the darkness in the room seemed to grow even more so. The shadows practically hummed with life, almost to the point that Shai would swear she could hear them whispering. The flame dimmed to little more than an ember glowing in the writhing blackness. All was still for what seemed like an eternal stretch of silence.

The flame returned to life.

Hello, Shai.” Crouched in front of the Symenestra was a woman scarcely illuminated by the timid flame of the candle in Shai’s hand. Her skin was the color of midnight with hair that seemed to be made from the shadows themselves. Her eyes were alight with knowledge, dark and sacred knowledge, truths that would break the minds of mortals were they ever revealed. Thus, she evoked a sense of secrecy and mystery. She had one elbow propped upon a knee with her chin resting in her hand. There was a soft smile on her lips as if the Symenestra woman greatly amused her.

Shai of Web Nerium, you have shared so much with me tonight. More, perhaps, than I thought you would. So I chose to end this game.” The woman brushed s stray strand of dark hair out of her face.

I have been watching you for some time. You who seem to bring the night with you, wherever you go, clinging to the shadows, lurking in the night, embracing the urge to go where others dare not. So as you have shared yourself with me, I shall share something with you.” She gestured vaguely to their surroundings.

You came here seeking an answer. You came wanting to know what lurked inside the walls of Klet. Many things. More than most are prepared to face. Klet is a temple of a different sort where that which mortals cling to most dearly are made manifest. Built by one of my faithful so very long ago.” The woman shifted and the dark seemed to shift with her.

So Shai, I have a question for you.” She leaned in closer. Rather than the dark be banished by the light of the candle it only seemed to grow in strength closing in around Shai. There was no malice however, no clawing evil dwelling in the pitch that surrounded her only the hushed whispering that never ceased.

If I gave to you a tool to help you find that which you search for so desperately, would you help me too?

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Shadow of Doubt (Perplexity)

Postby Shai on March 7th, 2015, 8:45 pm

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The hot wax drooled down the side of the candle, curling around her claws and cuticles. The burn brought her back from her emotional trance. Holding on to the candle, she listened in reverent and terrified silence. It wasn’t until that moment, the voice spoke that Shai understood truly the tower was alive. To hear the Ghost imply it was sentient was one thing, to comprehend it on a visceral level was entirely different.

Chell already knew of her son, they had tried once to find the boy and failed. Shai’s demeanor after had kept the Irylid from questioning it, it had been a series of bad seasons. It was news to him that the specter’s in the mage’s dreams were of that same boy. The frosted sphere had nestled in the crook of her neck as she spoke.

Shai’s effort went wholly into not cowering. The shadows encroached, shadows which her eyesight couldn’t penetrate in the least. Always in the face of a danger mortals know every day, even the in the presence of magicians, she had shown a brave face. Now it took all of her willpower not curl into a ball away from the rapidly metamorphosing world flickered around her. The flame sputtered and reignited of its own volition. With the tiny spark’s resurrection came the advent of anything being within the chamber.

She tried to push aside the fear, swallow it and let sink cold and hard at the base of her abdomen. Maybe she could act but the weight of her fear held her in place. Will power and fighting spirit began to push it further, her full given name was what finally brought her out of the trap. Only Symenestra knew the name of her web, she’d never told a single soul on the surface. Pupils contracted to their greatest diameter; a futile fight against the darkness that had taken over the room.

The woman held a skin tone like the Akalaks. Shai had been to the city of waterfalls once before, the dark hued tones of flesh were so foreign that the Symenestra had experienced homesickness nearly her entire stay there. What she had never seen though, was a woman with flesh like it, all the Akalaks had been male. There was no doubt from her words, this was the mistress of the tower.

It fit then, that questions were what she had. Questions were the topic of this night, the ghost had asked many, the tower more, and now they had arrived upon the overwhelming question. That which led to this moment between the dark and the phantasmal women. There was time in the span of a mortal for a myriad questions and answers.

Shai rose to her feet, back still pressed against the wall. Clutching the book to her breast and still wielding the candle against the engulfing night. The one thing she wouldn’t do was look at away. Let the fear take her strength and freeze her thoughts, but she wouldn’t turn from the moment at hand. The miniscule flame danced and Shai adjusted her hand to grip the spear of wax. “I have not the strength of will to deny you. If this tool can place my foot one step further, I will embrace it as I would a lover.” Her voice sounded startlingly certain, given that her heart hammered and her breath hitched. She was a thief and a mercenary, the contract was everything, it was also something tangible in this madness that Shai could latch onto. “Name your price, and I will see it done if it is within my abilities.” Nothing mattered more than repairing the rift within her, if this dark and mysterious women had even the barest hint of a key, the widow would jump at it.
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Shadow of Doubt (Perplexity)

Postby Perplexity on March 9th, 2015, 11:56 pm

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The dark woman observed Shai for what seemed like an eternity. Her endless eyes were searching, for what? That was something unfathomable. When the silence was finally broken it was accompanied by a smile and a soft laugh.

The price, Shai, is a life lived in service to me. Go into the world and wherever you go, search. Search for that which is hidden. Find that which is secret. Share these with me. You need only whisper to the shadows and I will hear you. Mortals cling to the belief that what goes on in the dark remains unseen. You will learn that couldn't be further from the truth.” The darkness writhed billowing forth to swallow the entirety of the room. The flame upon the candle blinked out of existence. The woman vanished and all things passed from the realm of sight. Shai would feel the gentlest of touches upon her body accompanied by the silk voice of the woman. The feeling of being enfolded in the arms of another would pervade her senses.

Turn to the shadows, Shai. Speak to them. They will listen if what you say is worth hearing.” A single breath ghosted over the Symenestra woman’s body. A breath that became a sigh of winds sweeping across an open landscape. With the winds, the darkness cleared only to reveal the pale light of Leth radiance shining over a ramshackle conglomeration of tents and shanties. Shai stood in the shadow of a tent. Soon the noise of civilization reached her ears.
Sunberth.

Those fishermen would certainly be annoyed when they realized Shai wasn’t waiting for them.

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