Solo A Revealing Revelation

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An undead citadel created before the cataclysm, Sahova is devoted to all kinds of magical research. The living may visit the island, if they are willing to obey its rules. [Lore]

A Revealing Revelation

Postby Keene Ward on May 26th, 2015, 5:24 pm

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The thirty-fifth day of spring, 515 AV

His eyes stared blankly into space, auras flickering at the corners of his focus, though the one he sought either so incredibly illusive he could not latch on to it or, as he had suspected, it did not exist. The breeze, the companion that had seemed to join him for reasons beyond his comprehension, was as invisible to his enhanced senses as it was to the naked eye. It gave him pause, even as he slowly retracted the magic, to think that the breeze was, in fact, not an entity. If that were the case, it was possible that the wind itself was merely a figment of his own imagination, a potentiality he wasn't fond of per say, but one he could not discount. There was also the possibility that the breeze was only discernible due to his god given mark, which made the breezes and storms themselves an extension of that god, allowing them to operate under rules beyond those of the physical realm.

At any rate, it seemed the breeze had grown impatient with Keene's inert posture, pulling and tugging at his boots. Having no reason to refuse it, Keene allowed the wind to guide his path down from the cavern's face, careful to keep his footing with knowing steps, avoiding crumbling stone or sharp slopes. With motion once more returned to his limbs, he could sense the breeze's pleasure. There was little urgency in the way it ran past him, only to hover before darting off once more, which gave Keene the impression that a quest like that of a few days prior was not to be repeated that day. Stroll or not, Keene kept himself vigilant. Creatures, whether native or magically induced within the many laboratories housed under the citadels stony floors, were never to be underestimated, even when the winds seemed to calm. Air was not quite flesh and blood, and not every dangerous beast was enough to agitate the mostly impassive weather. Should anything do so, however, Keene had learned that it was a good indicator that life-threatening danger was nearby.

Fortunately, no such event transpired, and Keene followed the breeze without trouble. He walked for about a bell's time, but when they reached the destination, he did not need the playful tousle of his hair or gentle tug on his loose fitting shirt to alert him that they had arrived. Where there had been trees gathered in as much of a forest as there was about the mountain's base, there was only smooth, dark stone, a reflection of the obsidian cavern. In the center of the expansive radius stood what was, more or less, a stone statue. Carefully, Keene slid down the glossy edge of the crater, the breeze snaking its way down ahead of him to settle at the base of the glassy, black structure. Taking his time, he picked his way across what he imagined to be a battleground of sorts, one who's creator he had a feeling he was acquainted with.

When he did arrive to join the breeze at the statue's base, he found it to be only a few inches taller than himself. The features were mostly obscured, the general shape of human body was there, but the details were mostly masked by the quality of the obsidian, which Keene assumed was in part due to the force in which the magic was cast. There was no question that he stood in the crater of some vast spell, nor was there much deliberation spent on who might have cast it. Still, there was the question of who, as "why" was typically the same with all magic that the Wardens employed.
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Keene Ward
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A Revealing Revelation

Postby Keene Ward on August 3rd, 2015, 11:43 pm

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There was more than obsidian alone, however, and it garnered the majority of Keene's attention. The breeze drifted off, seemingly content to leave Keene to his own devices. Layer upon layer was wrapped around whatever was contained within the stone, though the shields seemed far less practiced than the elemental manipulation around him. Squinting some, Keene drew his face closer to the weaves, finding that they were hardly fitting one of Atziri's caliber. In fact, they were the work of someone below even his own comprehension of the magic. The layers, from what he could tell as he carefully sifted through them, were not for the purpose of multiple tasks, but to compensate for shoddy craftsmanship. Taking a moment to step back and survey the area, Keene frowned, eying the obsidian destruction around him. It was possible that Atziri was not the culprit, and instead another mage.

Turning his gaze to the stone below him, Keene let a sliver of res drift of his finger tips pulling at the stone until a chunk of dislodged. Pulling it through the air to land into his hand, Keene let the remaining res decay into nothing as he stared down at the rock in his hand. A deep breath and a calming closing of his eyes later, the aura of the stone came to light. He could see the distant flames, the brittle quality of the aura's edge, the typical solidarity of stone. Just as with the other reimantic elements, the magical signature existed in a thin line just within the aura's outer perimeter. It was faded, a testament to the time since its creation, but it was not the same as the stones within the cavern. The color was a faded grey, and the perceivable strength of the res was hardly what Keene had expected in regards to the scope of the magical debris around him, though reimancy did lend itself towards impressive displays at the cost of the fragmentation of one's soul.

Setting the stone down, Keene turned back to the shields, his auristics fading as magic beyond his own comprehension of shielding was not needed for him to investigate the weave and quality of the spells that shrouded the obsidian structure. The weave was rudimentary, neither elegant nor practical, rather a hodgepodge of mystic fibers akin to a shoddy basket or poorly woven shirt. There were holes interspersed throughout the shields, though the shielder had taken them into account and created a new layer for each one. What the shield was supposed to stop, however, was beyond Keene's cursory inspections. It did not stop advances of flesh, cloth, stone, or any other physical property. The weave was too weak for him to attempt to test magic, as he doubted destroying the shield would serve to help him understand it any better.

Able to move his hands through the shield unimpeded, Keene ran his fingers over the stone only to draw them back in slow surprise. The stone was warm, something he hadn't anticipated. Staring at the statue through the layers of shields, Keene's frown deepened. The breeze had yet to return, and given the whimsy of the weather, it was entirely likely it wouldn't for days or more, if that. He was alone, surrounded by magical destruction, face to face with a statue that was, possibly, still alive. It was a situation he found improbable, but it sent a cautionary shiver down his spine none-the-less.
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Keene Ward
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A Revealing Revelation

Postby Keene Ward on August 4th, 2015, 12:33 am

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Keene drew upon his magic once more. Warmth was one thing, but if the aura lacked the beat of life, there was a better explanation than the immediate thought that whatever was encased in the stone was still living or something close to it. Focusing past the shields, Keene lifted a hand to press on the stone once more, the heat rising to meet him as the aura came into focus. It was too big for simple stone, that much was apparent, but there was no pulse. In fact, there was little else about the aura aside from the strange heat that was woven throughout the otherwise stony aurora. Again, the thin, grey line of magic was present, identical in signature to the stones around him. Pulling his focus back some, Keene checked the shields, the specific signature the same grey in each of them. Taking a few chimes to let the auristics fade, Keene stared back at the statue. So then, the statue was not alive. Warm, yes, but beyond that, Keene doubted the structure was much of a threat. In all likely hood, it was the outcome of serious overgiving rather than a battle between Warden and beast.

Djed sloughed off of him in a slow, steady cloud. It wrapped around him, freezing into place, coating his body in a protective barrier against magics. When it was finished, Keene took a few chimes to check his work, eyes trailing over the curls and winds of the frozen fractals. Satisfied, he turned back to the statue, tugging at the shields until they began to unravel. He could see how they were constructed, something that he remembered Master Relios speaking of during his rather fruitless lesson. It wasn't quite a learning experience, but it did remind him of how far he'd come in his own expansion of his abilities. There was a curious technique that the shielder had used, a layer over a layer with parts interwoven to make both stronger and more flexible, something he found odd as he carefully took it apart with his res. When he was finished, the statue stood mundane and simple.

Gathering his res in front of him, Keene let it gain speed, spinning it faster and faster until it whirred with energy. With a twitch of his finger, the disk of res shot forward, gathering air a tick before it hit the stone with a whine, slicing through the chest before dissipating into the air behind it. As the statue's free half hit the ground with a crash of stone against stone, Keene stared down at what was left behind. The center of the statue was as much as stone as the outside had been, and a cursory touch told him that the heat was fading. It was possible the shields had been meant to hold in heat, for whatever reason, and that was why the stone was warm. Beyond that, however, there was little else in the barren crater. He spent several more chimes further investigating both parts of the segmented statue, but it seemed the shields had been the only true parts of interest to him.
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Keene Ward
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A Revealing Revelation

Postby Keene Ward on August 4th, 2015, 5:02 am

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The breeze had not returned, but the wind had begun to pick up, drawing Keene's attention back to his surroundings. There was a palpable chill in the air, one that was uncomfortably similar to that of the courtyard within the walls of the citadel.

"I was pushing for: 'blow it up into little itty bitty pieces', but I guess 'slice it in half' is probably a good second." The voice came from a robed man directly across from Keene, arms crossed and eyes appreciatively appraising what could only be his own corpse. "The precision though..." He let out a whistle, raising both brows with a fair amount of praise. "Very tidy."

As the ghost spoke, Keene took the opportunity to gaze into the entity's aura. His djed shifted under his will, grey clouds rolling through somber skies, until they came to the horizon of his senses, filling his gaze with a greater power that caused his vision to shiver beneath its force. When the magic had been activated, Keene's naturally penetrative gaze grew all the more so as he stared at the pale, hollow glow of the specter's aura. It was not unlike what Keene imagined it might be. Though the man had materialized so that he appeared as human as the form he took, the glow about him was very similar to that of any other spirit: the faded edges and foggy mist haloing a slightly brighter, pale grey glow. It was larger than he'd expected, not quite comparable to his own, but still telling of an entity of power, or at least... an echoed strength that was unclear whether or not it was still present in force. In either case, Keene felt the flow of djed tingle just behind his eyes. Res came easiest and most natural to him, thus even while it fueled another magic, he could feel it ready to assist him should he require it.

"So..." The ghost turned towards him, eyebrow raising in a sort of mix between expectancy and uncertainty. "Do you... speak?"

Cutting off the flow of djed, Keene blinked a few times to disperse the residual flecks of aura from his vision before replying in an even, "Yes."

"Oh." A span of a chime passed between them in silence before the ghost tried again, his voice wavering with a slight apprehension. "Well, ah... Thank you for letting me out."

Keene blinked, only then realizing that the ghost had been contained within the statue in some capacity. "Were you in the stone?"

The question seemed to take the ghost by surprise, his own face blank for a few ticks before he shook it out, replacing his expression with a sheepish grin. "Well... I was the stone for awhile, but when you showed up and started poking around my shields, I slipped out through the holes you made."

A frown played at Keene's lips. "The stone was warm."

"Was it?" The ghost didn't seem particularly concerned. "Anyway, it's good to be able to stretch my soulmist." He arched his back, hands swinging as he eyed Keene with a slightly more cautious gaze. "Thanks for that, by the way."

All Keene offered was a nod of his head, unsure whether the spirit was benign or deceptively hostile. The two sized up each other for a time, one with a casual stance while the other took a more rigid role. Neither spoke, though there was little hostility between them, and as time passed and Keene came to the conclusion that the ghost was more than likely not going to attack him, it seemed the incorporeal man had arrived at much the same deduction.

"So now what?"

Keene shrugged.

"Right. You're not the one who died, turned into a ghost trapped in his own smoking corpse, and then when you're finally freed didn't pass on." Each word found the ghost's voice getting more and more agitated, the edges of his body flickering until he calmed himself with a heavy sigh. "I don't suppose you've seen any metal talismans nearby?"
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Keene Ward
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A Revealing Revelation

Postby Keene Ward on August 4th, 2015, 7:39 am

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Keene blinked before shaking his head, garnering another slightly more frustrated sigh from the recently freed ghost. "I don't see why you would. The damn vagik is probably somewhere in the Kalea region laughing it up." There was a slight pause. "What year is it-" His brow raised some as he noticed the leather vambrace on Keene's arm, though there was only confusion where there might have been recognition. "Wizard...? I'm Harold. Harold Wingwright." He moved to extend his arm, but the distance between them made the motion a bit awkward, as they were already having to speak a bit louder than was common for a conversation to hear the other clearly.

Without missing a beat, Keene simply inclined his head towards the man, his own words carrying through the gentle evening breeze with an ease that was almost suspiciously effortless. "The five-hundredth fifteenth year after the Valterrian. My name is Keene Ward, and Initiate of the Wardens."

The ghost stared at him, edges blurring as his control over his materialized form slipped. "Five... hundred?" He ran a hand through his hair, the motion doing nothing to alter the state of his well kept mane. "Well petch. I've been dead for two hundred years then?" The words were muttered to himself, but Keene didn't have much trouble picking them up with a raise of his brow. "That bitch is probably long dead then... Petch. Petch petch petch..." His diction slowly slipped into something close to panic as he thought out loud, muttering becoming mumbling until he turned a wide eye towards Keene. "Wait-wait. You're a...Warden, right? Or well... a Warden's Initiate? What exactly do you do here?"

While the shift of abrupt, Keene had little issue answering the ghost's questions. Though the light was beginning to fade, Keene knew the way back to the cavern well enough that it wouldn't be much of a problem to make his way home in torchlit darkness. The ghost was a novelty, and one that he had no reason to ignore. "The Wardens protect Sahova."

"And by extension... her residents, maybe?" There was a hopeful whine in the back of the ghost's voice.

"It seems logical, yes."

"Great! Wonderful! Excellent!" The ghost clapped his hands together, a smile wide across his features. "I need you to do something for me- or... well..." His brows knit in momentary rumination before they darted back into the slight arc of his smile. "For one of the Masters." Keene gave no indication that the man should stop which was taken, perhaps a bit liberally, as "please continue". "Right. Well, I was supposed to find this talisman - I don't have any idea what it's supposed to do - that someone stole from one of the labs, but..." His hands moved in a vague gesture to indicate the destruction around them. "It didn't pan out well for me." Clapping the wandering hands together, the edges of his body once again more or less solid, Harold concluded with a merry lilt to his voice. "I need you to find the talisman for me."

It wasn't so very different from the things that Risabel had asked - or perhaps the better words was coerced - him to do in the past, though an artifact of unknown capabilities was a slightly more dangerous target than bones or furry, yapping creatures. "And that will put you to rest?"

The ghost shrugged. "It's the only thing I can really think of. I was stuck in that rock for a long time. There was a lot to process, and I'm pretty sure I processed most of it. Finding the talisman is the only thing I never really accomplished, at least, that I can still accomplish anyway." His eyes shimmered with a questioning hope. "So you'll do it?"

Keene frowned, and expression that found itself mirrored in Harold's own face. "I can try. It's been two hundred years. Do you even know what it looks like?"

"Oh!" Harold's face lit up, his high spirits returning some as he offered a sagacious nod. "I can show you!" He took several confident steps forward before pausing, a slight apprehension in his voice. "You don't mind being possessed, do you?"

There was a twitch at the corner of Keene's lip, but he simply replied, "I would prefer maintaining control of my body."

"Of course, of course. Full mobility for you, Initiate Ward!" With that, he extended a hand, leaving it in the air for Keene to match the rest of the way. The tick their palms met, the man shimmered into his more ethereal form, gaseous body drifting into Keene's, filling him with the chilled sensation of the dead. Unlike the first time he'd been possessed, Keene forced himself to accept the alien feeling, to allow the ghost residence within his own body, and he could feel Harold poking around, his frigid soul mist pressing against the steady thrum of Keene's heart. Wow, you're pretty fit for a caster.

I exercise daily.

No shyke? He could feel the ghost's surprise, though it only lasted for a few ticks before he gathered himself. Alright. Are you ready? Before Keene had a chance to ask just what he might be ready for, there was a rush, much like waking from a dream.

"-ed you to get this back."

The pale, slightly puffy hand of the nuit pointed to a detailed drawing. Depicted from several different angles was a mandible of some sort. Wrapped around it was a cord, one that he knew to be made of gold, that extended upwards from between the two bones that would have hinged onto the upper portion of the skull. He studied it, the image ingrained in his mind, even as the nuit started to talk again, the words were muffled, barely registering as noise. He needed to retrieve the talisman. There wasn't a whole lot else he cared to know.


The memory started to fade before another rose to fill its place. This time, Keene was a bit more prepared, though the immersive nature of Harold's shared mind was difficult to keep separate from his own in the moment.

Flames erupted from his fingertips, the res transmuting far faster than it should as he flung them at the woman before him, the curl of her lips just visible beneath the black hood that hung to conceal the rest of her features.

"Forethka!" The woman's voice was fluid, like a trickle of water, if that water possessed force enough to wrench the fire out of his control and send it careening back at him. His hands moved in a flurry of movements-
highly inefficient -before the flames narrowly swept past him, pulled by his own silvery res to land behind him in a burst of blistering heat.

"G-Give it back!" His voice was hoarse, weary. He could feel his skin blistering, not from the heat of the flames but the writhing confusion of his own djed. "It's not yours!"

"Oh?" There was a slight hiss to the woman's words, something brightly glimmering against the dark folds of her concealing robes. "Are you saying it's
yours then?"

"Well... It's-"


There was an interruption in the memory. Colors rushed through Keene's mind's eye, halting for a few ticks on a blurry image of the amulet given three dimensional form before Harold's voice sounded in his mind.

I'm... That was more tiring than I thought it would be.

Wait. He could feel the ghost beginning to slip out of his body, but there was one thing Keene wanted to do first. The ghost stopped his retreat, a vague curiosity holding him there as Keene fed his djed into his senses, staring down at his hand as he did so. The familiar aura was mottled, Harold's grey mixed with his own pale blue, separate entities, but intertwined like a twig in a bush or a rabbit caught in a trap. Alright. He let the magic recede, the strange, knotted behavior of the intertwined auras settling into his memory for future use should he ever need it.

You sure?

Yes.

Okay. The ghost drifted from him, leaving behind a stiff, aching sensation. It felt as though he had undergone a particularly rigorous sparring session, only instead of most of his body feeling sore and out of sorts, it was his entire body. Both human and ghost took a few ticks to gather themselves before the specter turned to give Keene a weary smile.

"So... You'll take care of it?"

"I will keep an eye out for it, yes."

The ghost's face fell into a somber expression, eyes holding Keene's. "Do you promise you'll look for it?"

Another pause passed between them as Keene considered. Whatever the amulet was, there was certainly value to it. After about a chime had passed, he slowly nodded. "I promise."
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Keene Ward
Chilly Wizard
 
Posts: 902
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A Revealing Revelation

Postby Dravite on December 8th, 2015, 9:27 pm

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G R A D I N G

Keene Ward

Experience

  • Wilderness Survival: 1
  • Logic: 2
  • Investigation: 3
  • Auristics: 3
  • Socialisation: 2
  • Storytelling: 1
  • Rhetoric: 1
  • Spiritism: 2
  • Shielding: 1

Lore

  • Geology: Obsidian
  • Auristics: To determine life
  • Auristics: Reading the aura of a ghost
  • Harold Wingwright: The ghost from a statue
  • Harold Wingwright: A two hundred year old ghost
  • Harold Wingwright and the missing talisman
  • Ghosts: The art of possession

Notes

How fun, a quest to find the talisman... I like! Looking forward to seeing where you take this one. Enjoy the rewards.

Edit: To add spiritism and shielding.
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