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Kynier's house is invaded by thieves, and visited by a ghost.

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A lawless town of anarchists, built on the ruins of an ancient mining city. [Lore]

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Broken Shadows

Postby Meriann on June 13th, 2018, 2:16 pm

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"Speech"


His anger was a surprise, but she should have expected it. She flickered away a little, her fists raised in a weak mockery of self-defence that would have looked pathetic even in life. She dropped her hands again almost instantly, and stood lonely and pale on the street. There was no more energy in her to do anything else for several chimes, at least. The thought that she was completely powerless terrified her, but Kynier seemed unwilling to hurt her yet, except with his words, and so she remained in a state of uneasy acceptance.

However as she listened to what he had to say, she began to change. Maybe it was the determination she could hear in his voice, or hearing him state his goal. As noble as it was, she could only hear his last words echoing over and over.
"Even if I have to bring it by force."

Her expression fell from one of wary, scared curiosity, to nothingness. Equally, her thoughts began to drop out of her until she was unmoving. Meriann should have been scared of his threats, having seen his magical prowess previously. Deep down she was scared too. On the surface, both physically and mentally, she was the picture of a statue, refusing to acknowledge the situation.

"Kynier... What do you want to change, about Sunberth, about this city? There's nothing anyone can do to change it's nature. No, it's best to leave, as I should have done. Go to the sea, Kynier. Go to anywhere other than here, Kynier." Her voice was dead and flat, lifeless as the dull expression on her face. Perhaps there was a little wistfulness hidden behind the death mask she had forced her features into, or perhaps it was just a trick of the light. In an unthinking gesture, she began to slowly scratch the corner of her eye with her ring finger, pulling down her lower eyelid over and over as she did. Her fingers were pale, and her nails ragged and short as they worked. The effect became more unnerving as she continued, not seeming to realise what she was doing. "Your life won't be good until you go and seek a better place than this." Her gaze was fixed on the man, her hair gently drifting around her shoulders yet still managing to look knotted and filthy.

Gradually she changed. Her normal appearance was exactly that- normal. The appearance she was changing into was anything but. Meriann no longer stood before Kynier as the youthful Svefra woman she had once been, but as the grimy corpse with her eyes gouged out that now rested in the ground. Meriann's former indecision and thought processes were lost as she gazed impassively at Kynier.

The reason for her change became clear as she continued. "Force causes death. Death causes suffering. Death causes misery. Death causes anger and confusion and pain like you couldn't imagine. How can you justify it, you arrogant man?"

"What do you want to change?"


Meriann faded back into her original appearance, her eyes once again peering from behind lanky hair, but she was less vibrant than before. In a quiet, timid voice, she repeated herself. "What do you want to change, Kynier?" Even in her strong reaction, there was hope. A wistful, wishful thinking kind of hope that she wished she could destroy before Kynier failed and she was forced to watch and try to understand further suffering as more people died for no good reason other than a fool's hope to change what could not be changed.
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Meriann
Never to be free
 
Posts: 100
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Joined roleplay: July 30th, 2017, 5:22 pm
Location: Sunberth
Race: Ghost
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Broken Shadows

Postby Kynier on June 14th, 2018, 1:28 am

Image
Meriann’s temperament seemed to change rapidly. Lifeless would be the term he’d use for anything else. Stoic. That would be the best term to describe it. Her form took a very neutral stance as her vocals gradually turned monotone. As she asked what he would change her appearance changed unexpectedly. As though rotting rapidly the skin molted and tore away from the bone. Most disturbing were the eyes. They were hollowed out with scratched around the sockets. Kynier realized that is what she truly looked like now.

Her words were confusing. Why would he go to the sea? It must have been more of a personal thing to her in life. Because for him there was no attraction to the sea-bearer’s life. Then she called him arrogant. She wasn’t the first, and won’t be the last. Kynier refused to let it bother him. Instead he stooped down to pick up the child’s body again. If this ghost was insistent on talking to him he would at least work while doing so. However, it seemed like the ghost was getting… tired? She was beginning to repeat herself, though he couldn’t tell if it was intentional.

Hoisting the body over his shoulder again, Kynier turned east as he spoke. “I wanted to destroy something. A way of life. But it’s something that maybe impossible. Before I’m in a position to do that, I need to change this city. Make it better somehow. Make it so people don’t just openly murder each other. Make them realize the value of another’s life. That another person isn’t just a commodity to be used.”

Nearly halfway to the Quay, Kynier looked over his barre shoulder to see if Mariann was following. “I want to abolish slavery. Here is where the largest market is. If I can do it here, it can be done anywhere.” When they reached the wall separating the Quay from the rest of the city Kynier just dropped the body on the ground with a relieved sigh. “One down…”

He turned and nearly walked through the ghost. Instinctually he stopped and would have gone around. But something was nagging at him. Kynier closed his eyes and meditated on his breathing for a chime. When he felt his djed he began the Auristic incantation to open his Sight. When he opened his eyes there would be a noticeable gleam to them as his vision began to perceive auras. Mariann essentially was nothing but an aura. Kynier focused on it to learn things that she didn’t or couldn’t say.

Deep inside him he felt something. A lack of something to be precise. That hole was bringing forth another sensation that he couldn’t quite distinguish. Normally he could sense what his living aura of focus could sense. With Meriann there was nothing, just emotion. Eventually the Sight began to irritate his eyes. Blinking it away, the djed stopped, and all the aura vanished. Kynier looked at the ghost apologetically. “I don’t know what it is you’re looking for. Or why you’re actually here. But I don’t know if there’s anything I can do for you.” With that he stepped around the ghost heading back home, to get the next body.




Kynier
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Broken Shadows

Postby Meriann on June 25th, 2018, 5:10 pm

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"Speech"


Meriann had followed Kynier, and had listened carefully to what he had to say. She was so very tired, but Kynier's words fascinated her because they were again not something she had been expecting. His was a noble goal, she thought, if a foolish one. Meriann thought almost nothing about slavery. Having never been touched by its corrosive influence, she assumed that slavery was just another mechanic of the world. Trying to stop slavery seemed on the one hand a goodly goal, and on the other a ridiculous one. As such, the ghostly woman didn't know how to react to his statements, though she looked troubled and a little calmer.

"So... You are a good person, then? And he and she who broke into your house. What of them? Bad people?" Did they deserve their deaths? Did she deserve her own death? Meriann had never thought herself to be a bad person. She hadn't killed, and she loved her family. She didn't wish people dead, and nor did Kynier inherently. The difference was that Meriann had been killed for her own stupidity, and Kynier... Well, he killed... For protection? Or perhaps for his mission to eradicate the terrible way of life that infested Sunberth. After all, though Meriann wished they hadn't died (the child in particular), they had been thieves, entering where they hadn't been given permission with the intent of stealing things that weren't theirs to take. They were an example of the kind of mindset the mage wanted to erase, the mindset of a people who just didn't care about their fellow man.

Meriann trailed behind him as she thought and as he collected the second body. She was oblivious to any inconvenience she was causing him, and she was deep in thought over his words. Finally, once he had dealt with the woman's corpse, she emerged from within the confines of the night and fell into ghostly, hovering step beside him.

"I think you have helped me, Kynier. I'm still not sure of exactly what I want, but... Well... I think I understand you now. I can understand why these two had to die. I think, maybe, once I understand why people are killed, I can leave." Her voice grew softer. "I almost did go, several times, since I was killed. It's so very strange, to live this existence. You cannot understand, Kynier. I'm so lonely. I want to feel again, and I know I can't. I wanted to do so many things... I was there, on your street, for a season I think. I didn't do anything, I just aimlessly drifted. Then those people broke into your house, and it felt wrong. I thought it was because they were disturbing the street, because I felt safe there and then..."

She broke off. "Now I've spoken to you, and now I think it might have felt wrong because I didn't want them to do what they were doing. At the same time, I feel a little freer since it happened. I've left the street. I've learnt something from you. Perhaps you don't care about me. But you have helped me, Kynier. So, thank you."

Meriann blinked in front of him, and smiled a tiny smile that only served to make her look sad. Her dark hair swayed in an invisible breeze. She reached out a hand to hesitantly touch Kynier's face, her fingertips trembling as they reached forwards. Then their ice-cold tips brushed his cheekbone, and she was gone. She blinked away, getting gradually less visible as she faded to hide from the world, her mind full with the thoughts of the night's broken shadows.
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Meriann
Never to be free
 
Posts: 100
Words: 87682
Joined roleplay: July 30th, 2017, 5:22 pm
Location: Sunberth
Race: Ghost
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Broken Shadows

Postby Kynier on June 26th, 2018, 3:06 am

Image
Strangely, no one else was on the street as Kynier walked back to his home, ghost in tow. In a way that was good. Kynier didn’t like the idea of being seen talking to a ghost. May give people the wrong idea. But Meriann asked some difficult questions. Kynier silently thought on them for a moment before answering her inquiries.

“It’s hard to say. It is easy to say yes I am. But… when analyzing it from an unbiased perspective, I don’t know. I’ve done bad things without regret. Like tonight. While I have set goals that I feel are good, and worth pursuing, I know that I will have to do questionable, and terrible things to accomplish them. As for those two… She probably was. The boy, impossible to tell.”

Entering his own home he approached the already smelly corpse. The adult was much more difficult to manage as he slung her over both his shoulders. His upper body stooped a little beneath the weight. Still he carried on and retraced his steps to the wall of the Quay. While he had nothing more to say to Meriann, she was certainly talkative. Kynier wasn’t sure if he had really helped her. Without knowing how she died or who killed her, it was impossible for him to say if tonight’s occurrence was at all related to her own demise. As to why people killed each other, the reasons were nearly endless. Yet if they were boiled down to their sources he could only think of a few. Money, love, and survival. For the intruders it was about money, for him it was always about survival.

As he dumped the second body Meriann spoke of feeling freer. Kynier watched the sad smile formed as she reached towards his face. The bitter cold of her spirit caressed his cheek lightly. Though uncomfortable he tried not to wince. Then she faded from sight. He stood alone in the street for a moment before heading back home again. Of all the forms trouble could take in Sunberth, he never expected ghosts.
Kynier
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Posts: 851
Words: 1156083
Joined roleplay: May 13th, 2018, 3:14 am
Location: Sunberth
Race: Human
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Medals: 7
Featured Contributor (1) Featured Thread (1)
Overlored (1) One Million Words! (1)
Sunberth Seasonal Challenge (1) 2018 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)
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Broken Shadows

Postby Meriann on June 26th, 2018, 9:51 am

Image
~


Meriann


Skills
Materialisation: +1
Possession: +1
Soulmist Projection: +1

Lores
Sunberth Location: Kynier’s house
Kynier: A dark-haired mage
Possession: Feeding ones soul into a stranger’s body
Magic: Strange portal
Meriann: Feels sorry for dead youths
Meriann: Wishes to be stronger
Kynier: Talks to himself
Kynier: Thinks he is the man to bring change to Sunberth
Kynier: Has given Meriann much to think about
Meriann: Wishes to discover why people kill

Notes
-Meriann’s soulmist will be weak for roughly ten days, and requires rest during this period.

This was a self-grade. Please PM if you see something wrong.


Kynier


Skills
Observation: +5
Subterfuge: +1
Weapon (Short Sword): +2
Reimancy: +2
Auristics: +2
Voiding: +1
Endurance: +3
Intimidation: +1
Rhetoric: +1

Lores
Subterfuge: Using the surrounds to hide
Short Sword: Simple defensive strike
Short Sword: Unrelenting attack
Overgiving Effect: Stabbing headache
Reimancy: Directing res at short range
Short Sword: Two-handed thrust
A cut across the neck is very bloody
Auristics: Working through mild overgiving
Auristics: Meriann’s aura
Ghosts: Formed of a mist-like substance
Voiding: Forming a small portal
Voiding: Using the void to remove spilled blood
Overgiving Effect: Convulsions and sickness
Meriann: Unstable, blue-eyed ghost
Ghosts: Are cold
Endurance: Lifting a dead body
Intimidation: Using verbal threats
Meriann: Appearance in death and in life
Lore: Kynier’s vision for Sunberth
Ghosts: A brief insight into their unlives
Rhetoric: Explaining an idealistic goal
Meriann: Wishes to discover why people kill

Notes
-One pulled shoulder muscle, aching for about fifteen days
-Stabbing headaches for the next ten days, at random, usually upon waking

This thread was very enjoyable to write, and very enjoyable to read! It was a fascinating insight into why Kynier operates. If you aren't happy with my grading, I'd be happy to talk over any issues you have. :) Happy writing!
User avatar
Meriann
Never to be free
 
Posts: 100
Words: 87682
Joined roleplay: July 30th, 2017, 5:22 pm
Location: Sunberth
Race: Ghost
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