Closed Exorcism of a Lifetime

[Chameleon]

She claimed Alvadas wasn't home. That part he knew - he had pushed away all claims that it was home what seemed like an eternity ago. After all, home was safe, not a place for a genocide. Then she stated the Avanthal wasn't either. What was she on about? Avanthal was the only home left, wasn't it? His face twisted in even more confusion, refusing to accept that. Was she trying to say that Avanthal was destroyed? Gone? That they had no home left.

The ghost wasn't certain how to take the next words. Morwen was home. What did that mean? Morwen wasn't a place... Was she lying to him? Maybe she wasn't Vantha, maybe...

In rebirth. Before he had a chance to snap again with his confusion, he settled, letting her explain to him. Maybe she had meant Morwen was home and maybe she was right. The ghost wasn't certain whether if he was angry anymore, or just confused, and slowly, was starting to forget why he had even taken this body - who this body even belonged to.

He wasn't destroyed. That was what she had claimed. And those other claims - he could be another Vantha, or a bear, and regain his gift from the only goddess that mattered - those other claims pulled him in, as intoxicating as that thousand miza reward that had resulted in his death. But he didn't trust them. Was there even a life left for the Vantha? An Avanthal to return to?

"You mean," he asked, trying to gain some clarification, "Avanthal remains? Strong, undestroyed?" He hoped the Avanthal Alvadas that had been resembled nothing of his actual home. That had to be strong, unbreakable, a safe haven for him to return to, to even consider what she said.

"Yes," came a reply before this Vantha girl could even speak. An old woman, coated in wrinkles with the same Vantha eyes approached. To the ghost, it was Miss Tapeesa Skyglow, a Vantha he knew by name but by little else. To Madeira, it would be Einar, who sent her a knowing glance in case she let something spill out of that lying mouth of hers. "Avanthal is ready for your return."

Was he telling the truth? Did anyone even know the fate of Avanthal? The ghost was too caught up in the lie now. There were two Vantha before him, two telling him to leave everything behind. Telling him to come home.

Maybe it was the right time to listen.

"How?" The words came out swiftly, tinged with desperation. He was ready to leave. But in this body, he almost felt alive again. Before, that had fueled his anger, been part of the plan to make them all pay. But now that this girl before him was offering to give Lhex the responsibility, whoever that was, he was ready to go. If only he could figure out how to pry himself from the body, let himself leave.

Was that how it worked? "How?" he asked again, voice visibly straining now. Was this the Speaker's continued punishment? Refusing to let him go? The ghost struggled in the body, but wasn't proficient enough in his own skills - or certain enough with them - to break free. "Tell me how!"

[Madeira Dusk]

Exorcism of a Lifetime
Date
hour

Einar came up behind her, and Madeira nearly sighed in relief at having backup once more. To her her cousin was unchanged; presenting the same messy brown curls and dark eyes he shared with his brother. But she knew better than to expect that to be what the ghost saw as well. As she faced the Speaker again she reminded herself to be careful. She could expect Einar to be giving a Vantha lie, but she could assume nothing else. Was he male or female? Old or young? A prominent member of their community that she should recognize, or a passing face on the street? They now had to play this little game together.

There was an edge of panic in the ghost's voice as he demanded to know: "How?"
How what?, she wondered, confused. His eyes cast around, and his mouth worked in wordless desperation. "How? Tell me how!"

He seemed ready to die. He responded to Einar positively, and his anger appeared to have abated. So why wouldn't he let the Serpent go? Her eyes narrowed and her mind rifled through all she knew about exorcism. One thing that stuck out was that it took effort for a spirit to stay in the living world. That's why the longer a ghost has been walking in this life, the more powerful they were thought to be. It takes a certain kind of resilience to keep going for centuries when it was so easy to pass on.

He should be going. It should be easy. Did he have some mental block, some residual hate, that wouldn't let him leave?

"I'll show you how." Madeira threw out desperately, sensing the impending meltdown if no one rose to met his climbing panic. She couldn't make him die, that process could only be voluntary. But she could get him out of Severus.

She turned to Einar and nodded. Behind the Lie her mouth was set in a thin, determined line. "Please take care of him, I'll be right back."

When Madeira crossed the no-mans-land and returned to the knot of concerned Cravens, she waved their anticipated inquiries away rudely. She did not have time, and she did not have the brain power to spare. The Lie was becoming harder to maintain as it ate into her concentration. She scanned the ground in front of her, and right where she left it, behind the heads of the house and at the edge of the crowd, was her rucksack. From within she pulled a closed circle of jade beads that flashed prettily in the light.

She hung them around her neck and began her walk back. She imagined how the Vantha girl's raven hair would shine, how her wind burned skin would crack around her smile. She imagined these things and thrust them out before her, demanding this to be the version of herself that he ghost saw.

As she approached Einar and the Serpent she threw down the beads. They collapsed into a crescent shape that she kicked into a crude circle with the toe of her boot. She stepped inside and offered her hand to the Speaker.

"Come on, we're taking you home."

She smiled for him, painting a gentleness over her expression that she didn’t feel. But fake gentleness was better than real pity. Once he was out of the Speaker, perhaps he would be able to follow his natural course again.

[Chameleon]

Exorcism of a Lifetime

The pretty Vantha girl left. The ghost, furious at everything, was ready to throw a tantrum, to get rid of this body once and for all. He almost did, too, until the sight of her raven hair returning soothed him. Pretty, he noted on the jade beads around her neck. Where did she get those things from?

They were on the floor as soon as he noticed them, kicked into a rough circle. She stood inside. Hand outstretched.

A portal. With his lack of knowledge, he called the loop of soul beads a portal. A way for him to fly back home, in a moment.

The ghost moved Severus forward. Closed the Speaker's eyes subconsciously. One foot was stepped over the line of ghostbeads. He imagined going home, and for a moment, he could feel the resistance created by the safe zone. Then, his willpower to stay disappeared, and the barriers went down. As the ghost left the body, left this world in an instant, he hadn't even realised he had still been waiting outside the safe zone.

Then he was gone.

Severus, seizing control of his own body after forgetting how to do so for so long, stumbled forward, arms out ready to catch himself using the young girl - she had to be a Craven, surely - before him. Einar leapt out, trying to catch him from behind, but his arms slipped through outstretched hands, still reaching for Madeira to break his fall.

Once the pair had composed themselves, the speaker finally stepped back, brushing fingers through the flowers on his beard which had softened to a baby blue. He regained himself in a position of superiority, even as he nodded in turn to the two Cravens who were in charge, and it was impossible to miss the commanding nature to the man. Despite that, a light layer of frustration ran across his cheeks, flustered at the unfortunate events that had happened, and how he had seized up instead of fighting back.

It took him a moment to recognise this Craven, the pale ghost like girl who could almost be mistaken for the things they worked with rather than a spiritist. But when he did, a short smile peeped out on his lips, a nod of gratitude sent in her direction.

"Madeira Craven, I presume? And Einar Craven? We've met before," he stated, directing the statement at the man beside the girl. The tone with which he spoke was less questioning, doubtful at his assumptions, but with an air that he simply wanted to give them a chance to introduce themselves.

Einar caught on quickly. "Yes, it is nice to meet you again, sir. Although not the most pleasant circumstances, I'm afraid."

Severus waited a second, to give Madeira a chance to respond too, or to decide that she wasn't going to no matter how long he waited. Then he spoke again, same cool tone, "I am forever grateful for the service you have just conducted for me. I'd rather not consider what might have happened should you have not stepped in. I assume you have properly... dealt with him?" His fingers twirled in the air, searching for the right word. When he had, he left a gap, as if he desired an answer, but would cut the speaker off before they had the chance.

"Either way, after all your efforts, you deserve to gain a favour from me." His gaze deliberately avoided the older Cravens and focused on the two closer to him, making it clear his favour was for them and for them only. "Is there anything you need currently? Or do you wish to spring this favour on me at a later date?"

His eyes watched closely. He knew, from his vast network if intelligence, what would interest both, but Einar at the very least was reluctant to say anything. Instead, he let that calculating gaze fall on the other, more mysterious, more unknown, to him, of the two. "I doubt there are many things too big for me to do for you," he continued in his cool voice, "Is there anything that comes to mind?"

[Madeira Dusk]

Madeira didn't know if it was a trick of the light, or the mirage of her expectation, but she would swear she saw the exact moment that the Vantha ghost left the Speaker by the flickering spark in his eye. But she did feel the unsourced chill, that gentle shimmer in the air, that meant the ghost had moved on.

Severus, now alone in his body, teetered and fell forward into her arms. She struggled to hold the larger man up as she gasped with relief. The Lie dissolved in her mind, her muscles unspooled, and a feeling of giddy relief washed over her.

"Sir, are you alright? Severus? It's ok, sir, find your feet."

With some effort the two untangled themselves. In jerks and shudders Severus threw off the trauma of possession and regained his overbearing composure. He lost some dignity, and it showed in the brush of frustration across his cheeks and the disintegration of his carefully maintained appearance. But nothing could damped the aura of superiority that rolled off of the Speaker. Even standing there with his ridiculous beard in shambles and his soul twisted and beaten, Madeira had no doubt that if he commanded that the crowd disperse, they would.

Which made it all the more disarming when the corner of the man's lip lifted and he nodded in her direction with gratitude, before revealing that he knew her name.

"Ye- Yes, I'm Madeira. It's an honour to meet you, sir."

Between her cousin and herself he asked if his unwilling passenger had been properly 'dealt with'. Madeira stepped in to respond.

"He's been exorcised-" Severus cut her off, and she meekly closed her mouth. Instead, the man launched into something she did not expect. He offered them both a favour. A favour from one of the most powerful men in Alvadas. Madeira's eyes widened and her mouth gummed up. She flicked a glance at Einar, somehow expecting this to be a joke.

But Severus seemed to have singled her out. He was looking down at her with bright blue eyes, expecting and answer. Madeira pulled everything she learned from Lying to rearrange her face into something polite and controlled to mirror Severus. She spoke with the propriety benefiting a Craven lady.

"That is very generous of you. I am content with what I have right now, but I am please to know that I can count on you in the future, sir." She smiled, and inclined her head in acknowledgement of his generosity. But inside her mind some tiny part of her shifted restlessly. A little spark of greed stirred to realize that a powerful man owed her, had offered her anything she wanted. If she was smart about it, the implications could be enormous.

[Chameleon]

Exorcism of a Lifetime

A slight smirk lifted on Severus' lips as he watched the girl react. She tried very hard, he had to give her that. But she was so young and inexperienced and completely at lost in front of a Speaker. If she was to become a proper Craven, she'd have to work on that.

At least she was clever with her request. While Einar still twitched - reluctant to voice what he wanted, but with a clear thing in mind - Madeira met it coolly, with a professional mindset. The smirk shifted to a pleased smile, nodding efficiently. It was clever people who held favours until they needed them the most. Clever, or indecisive, but this girl didn't seem to be the latter.

"I'm sure you'll use it wisely." His eyes sprung onto Einar, who almost jumped with the suddenness of the movement. "Come with me so we can talk about your request." And without another glance elsewhere, Severus strode away, leaving a trail of petals behind them. The other Craven looked curiously at him, then nodded towards Madeira curtly.

"Nice working with you." Then he was off, the petals disintegrating as he trod on them. People clamoured everywhere - at the Cravens, at the speaker, at the spot of the exorcism. Some yelled at Madeira, asking questions. A few even stopped to thank or congratulate her. The order that had been attempted moments before cracked like a glass, and the chaos rushed with the weakness. Familiar faces were swept away. The ghost town watched as the life poured back into it.

~~~

This, was a great thread! I really enjoyed it all, it was so much fun to write, and reading your writing was a pleasure, too. Thank you for the opportunity to mod for you - and here are your rewards! Let me know if you have any problems with them, but otherwise, enjoy:

 

Skills

• Persuasion: 2XP
• Rhetoric: 2XP
• Tactics: 1XP
• Socialisation: 2XP
• Negotiation: 1XP
• Observation: 2XP
• Acting: 3XP
• Spiritism: 2XP

 

Lores

• Severus the Serpent: Possessed by a Vantha
• Madara's Presence: A Big Deal
• Tactics: Baiting a ghost out of a body
• Spiritism: Using a Vantha lie
• Home: Where the deity is
• Finding gods through Ukalas and rebirth
• Icewatch bears: Morwen's children
• Spiritism: Using ghost beads

 

Other

+A favour from Severus the Serpent, to be asked of whenever. (See a storyteller before cashing this in)