Completed Blissfully lost

[Sinoa]

70th day of Fall, 512 AV
Sinoa Had been wandering around the strange city with great excitement. His antenna were twitching with happiness at each new turn of the street. He walked past a man who's scarf transformed into a snake and hissed at him and a lady who seemed to have no head. "This place...is WONDERFUL!" he said with glee. Everyone in the area seemed to give strange looks to the person Sinoa had been standing near not seeming to notice the small clay creature who was the actual culprit.
Sinoa scurried around on his six legs looking for more simulating things to look at not really putting much thought into where he might end up.

[Kuvarakh]

"Don't look at ME." Kuvarakh said, distracted from his own curious searching by the realization that everyone thought it was he that had just spoken. He had assumed it to be one of the few wandering spirits, inundating the city for a number of dreary weeks now, that was NOT hostile.

While not a spiritist himself, he had found some degree of success using hypnosis to drive the more annoying ones away. By encouraging the impression in the minds of these ghosts that they had seen his picture, framed on some paneled wall, accompanied by a plaque naming him a member of the powerful spiritist Craven family, he had sent more than a few of them howling in retreat.

But this one was not even visible. Was this a sign of a weak, non-threatening ghost, or a more insidious and stealthy one? He realized it was neither one as he heard an odd, tapping sound on the ever-shifting pavement-turned-cobblestone-turned-tile-turned glass-turned-pavement that served as walkways in the notoriously random city of Alvadas. The source of the tapping was scuttling away from him. Not, seemingly, from fear or haste, but, rather, eagerness. The arachnoid style of the lower body WAS repellent to him for the first instant, but the body was unmistakably clay.

There was an inherently happy demeanor about this character and Kuvarakh hoped he had not audibly gasped as the initial revulsion of anything remotely spider-like had seized him. "Excuse me, little...fellow...was that you speaking just now?"

[Sinoa]

Sinoa heard someone behind him say "Excuse me, little...fellow...was that you speaking just now?" He almost didn't hear him over the the sound of his eager feet. Being the only little fellow around at the moment he figured they were talking about him. He spun around and looked for the source of the voice with his unblinking eyes. He saw a man look at him and came to the conclusion that it must be him. Sinoa had taken notice that the man had seemed a bit hesitant in addressing him, he might be shy sinoa thought. He tried to calm himself down so as not to scare the man away, he remembered how skittish humans can be while growing up in syliras. "hello..were you addressing me?" he tried to speak in as soft a tone as he could and he finished his question by putting a smile on his child like face. He hoped this would be enough to make the human feel at ease.

[Kuvarakh]

"I was indeed." Kuvarakh said with a smile. He thought for a moment of crouching, but was honestly concerned that, with the exuberance the little fellow was displaying, he might just come rushing back, expecting an embrace.

'If not for the spider legs...' he thought to himself. He wished he was not so repulsed by arachnoid characteristics. But then again, it was his gasp those many years ago, and the resulting internal lung pressure, that had been the trigger for his understanding of how to accomplish the djed release to unlock his hypnosis ability.

The smile on the childlike face was disarming and he felt bad for his hesitancy. "Are you looking for anything in particular? Or perhaps you are looking for everything in particular? I've been here a couple of years now and can probably accommodate you in either event. More than anything, I must warn you, there has been a release of ghosts within the city. Spiritists are busy restoring things to normal, but there are many still about."

[Sinoa]

"I was indeed" the man said with a smile. Sinoa was happy to find someone friendly, he hadn't interacted with many outside of his Pyve and was a bit worried that no one would like him.
The man continued to talk and Sinoa listened intently.
"Are you looking for anything in particular? Or perhaps you are looking for everything in particular? I've been here a couple of years now and can probably accommodate you in either event. More than anything, I must warn you, there has been a release of ghosts within the city. Spiritists are busy restoring things to normal, but there are many still about."
Sinoa thought about what he was looking for, he was only a year old and had a hard time thinking what area he would like to focus on. He didn't really know what ghosts were and was a little afraid to ask for fear of his new friend thinking he was dim witted. He remembered one of his pyve friends telling him that when humans died instead of their bodies hardening into monuments they would rot away and the rest would sometimes turn into a living mist called ghosts. he had seen a few of them but they didn't seem like threats.
"I'm only a year old so I have very much to learn and see. That's what I like about this place, there is so many neat things to look at. I want to learn more about this place!....um... thank you for the warning but why do I have to worry about ghosts? sorry for my ignorance but I don't know very much about human matters....oh! my name is sinoa by the way, what's your name?"

[Kuvarakh]

Kuvarakh's smile broadened and he chuckled. "My name is Kuvarakh, and I am an...uh...hypnotist." He had been about to say alchemist, but he remembered, in his conversation with the Pycon historian, Saige, that Pycons were not always well-disposed towards alchemists.

He managed to keep the smile unbroken on his face as he hurried to change the subject. "You say you are only a year old. Well, Sinoa, I am one hundred and fifty years old, if you count my time as a living man in addition to my time as a Nuit." Sinoa seemed not to understand the word, but eager to hear more, so Kuvarakh continued.

"There are, a far as I have yet learned, three fates for the living. One is to die and be reborn through the grace of Lhex, reincarnated some call it, where the soul leaves behind the shell of the body and goes to wait for a new one. I have no doubt a more learned devotee of the gods could explain it far better. For that matter, we have a temple here. The Temple of Ionu, if you would like to see it.

"Then there are the ghosts. These are people that have, for whatever reason, refused to join the masses waiting for reincarnation, and remained behind clad only in soulmist. Many stay behind for angry reasons. Some out of love they can't bear to be parted from. Some are simply confused about their situation and still think they are alive and going about their business. I suppose there must be countless reasons for it. Some of these spirits can become quite powerful and many are vicious and spiteful. This is why I warned you about them. Then..."

Kuvarakh grinned and let a flourish indicate himself, "...you have me. A Nuit. We are sort of a combination or a compromise of the two." He sat down to come to near eye level with the child-like face. "Technically, I died more than one hundred years ago. That is, my original body did. But, through a dangerous ritual, I am able to... dislodge ...my soul from a body and enter a new one. Now, it has to be a dead body, but with all the djed storms and accidents that happen everyday, there is usually no great difficulty finding one when I need to. I realize this all has a rather morbid sound to it, and I will not deny there are some Nuits that are not of a kindly disposition, but then that's pretty much true of all types, isn't it."

He didn't really want to go into any of the emotional aspects of potential immortality, the boredom, the hesitancy to make friends only to see them grow old and die before your eyes, the increased feeling of separation and detachment from the protocols of society. This subject was already growing more dismal than he intended.

He stood up energetically and clapped his hands. "So, we are in the city of the God Ionu, and he is the god of Illusions. This what makes this city so exciting. You just never know what you'll see!"

Just then, the ground shook and a row of buildings rose on a steadily growing mesa of glass. The sun glittered and glistened within, refracted and reflected by a thousand surfaces into ten thousand rainbows, which arced over their heads.

Kuvarakh's neck craned as he followed the path beyond sight of the city walls, his jaw hanging in appreciative awe. "Just so..." he marveled.

[Sinoa]

The man's smile broadened and he made a chuckle before he responded. "My name is Kuvarakh, and I am an...uh...hypnotist." Sinoa had heard of hypnotists his friend Muka Had learned that skill while on his travels and used it to pull pranks on people by making them do silly things. He wondered if Kuvarakh would teach him how to be a hypnotist.
Before Sinoa could ask him Kuvarakh continued.
"You say you are only a year old. Well, Sinoa, I am one hundred and fifty years old, if you count my time as a living man in addition to my time as a Nuit.
"wooow" Sinoa thought "he could learn so much from this human"
The term "Nuit" perplexed sinoa but he stayed quite while Kuvarakh explained human death.
Sinoa was astonished at just how complex humans were, death wasn't a final destination for them he wondered if pycons only left their bodies behind and were born again as new pycons.
The god of the pycons Harameus is the god of transformation so maybe pycons just become transformed into something else like a bird or mountain.
Kuvarakh mentioned a temple to the Ionu the god Ionu and possibly taking Sinoa to see it sometime. Sinoa wondered if this was considered a betrayal of his love of Harameus but came to the conclusion that Harameus wouldn't be against him learning about another god.

The Nuit went on to talk about ghosts and how they are people that refuse to change which Sinoa found strange being a pycon change is what we strive for.
He told them about how they can sometimes be vicious and spiteful which made Sinoa a bit sad but he made sure that he would be careful of the ghosts.

Sinoa was brought back from his thoughts and to the conversation when Kuvarakh grinned again and let a flourish indicate himself, "...you have me. A Nuit. We are sort of a combination or a compromise of the two." He sat down to come to near eye level with Sinoa's face "Technically, I died more than one hundred years ago. That is, my original body did. But, through a dangerous ritual, I am able to... dislodge ...my soul from a body and enter a new one. Now, it has to be a dead body, but with all the djed storms and accidents that happen everyday, there is usually no great difficulty finding one when I need to. I realize this all has a rather morbid sound to it, and I will not deny there are some Nuits that are not of a kindly disposition, but then that's pretty much true of all types, isn't it."
Sinoa couldn't help comparing Nuit with hermet crabs, because they both use discarded shells as homes. he didn't really find this morbid after all this talk he though of humans bodies as protective layers much like the clothes they wear.

The Nuit stood up energetically and clapped his hands."So, we are in the city of the God Ionu, and he is the god of Illusions. This what makes this city so exciting. You just never know what you'll see!"

Just then, the ground shook and a row of buildings rose on a steadily growing mesa of glass. The sun glittered and glistened within, refracted and reflected by a thousand surfaces into ten thousand rainbows, which arced over their heads.

Sinoa was so in awe of the sceptical he stood with a grin on his face for a moment before willing him self to reply " Thank you for your explanation, I found it very interesting. Human's are much more complicated than I had imagined" Sinoa paused for a minute to gather his thoughts and then spoke again "Would it be possible to teach me hypnotism? I would very much like to learn if you have the time, "

The streets had become quite and they were the only two left on the road. At the far end of the street behind Sinoa a translucent being made its haunting presence known, It was far away but it's grotesque appearance could be seen. The creatures face had been mutilated to the point were it no longer looked human probably caused by an illusion gone wrong. The creature couldn't see as there were only empty eye sockets were the eyes used to be because of this the ghost had yet to take notice of sinoa and Kuvarakh.

Sinoa not talking notice of the impending threat continued talking
"the Temple of Ionu sounds like a fun place too could you possibly take me there?"

[Kuvarakh]

Kuvarakh half registered some comment about the Temple, but his focus was on the approaching ghost. If not for the influx of ghosts all through Autumn, he might have believed it to be an illusion, it was so horrific looking. His understanding was that ghosts could affect they way they looked if they chose. For the most part, it was accepted doctrine that kindly spirits didn't want to upset people with some grotesque appearance, but hostile ones wanted people to be horrified, either because they wanted to display the suffering they were out to avenge, or they were simply malicious.

He did not believe for a chime that this ghost could not "see" them, despite its scarred, gouged out eye sockets. That was surely just a gimmick to increase emotional impact on its victim. It suddenly became obvious why the street was so empty. "Never a damned spiritist when you need one." he muttered under his breath. He forgot about the spider legs and turned the little clay figure towards him.

"Listen, Sinoa, that thing could attack us either by using its soulmist to throw stuff at us, or by trying to possess one of us. In fact, just its touch is able to inflict mild injury. It's sort of like something left in an icebox too long, sort of a frostbite effect. I honestly don't know what it could do to clay, so stay behind me. If you say anything to me, call me 'Lord Craven'. That will shake it up. In the meantime, let's walk over by the water. A good sudden splash of water can help interrupt a possession attempt."

[Sinoa]

Kuvarakh muttered something about a spiritist and then spun Sinoa around. Sinoa was very confused for a moment and then saw the creature. He was stunned at how repulsive it looked and was over come with a sudden feeling of terror.
Kuvarakh snapped him out of it with his battle plan. Sinoa listened and was ready to help in any way he could.
The first thing he did was scan for a water source, a large fountain sinoa hadn't noticed before was to the right of them.
"There!" Sinoa pointed at the fountain "we can use that fountain Ku..I mean Lord Craven" Sinoa said like a solider before battle
"I can't fight but I can help him with my flute" sinoa took out his clay flute from his bag and held it above his head "Maybe i can calm him or um.. distract him some how!"
He hoped his flute would be of use rather than a hindrance, he really wanted to help in some way.
He skurried to the Fountain before Kuvarakh could respond and Jumped onto the ledge of the fountain.

The apparition smiled a bloody smile menacingly in their direction but wasn't moving very fast Merely drifting softly towards its new prey.

[Kuvarakh]

Kuvarakh noticed the cruel smile form on the apparition's face. It corresponded disturbingly with the exact moment Sinoa had called him "Lord Craven". He had thought the statuesque little pycon had said it loud enough for the thing to hear. It shouldn't be smiling.

Ha had enjoyed success with hypnotically convincing these wandering ghosts that he was a powerful spiritist from the notorious Craven family. He didn't see any reason why it shouldn't work now as well. The approaching threat must have simply not heard. He would have wait for it to get closer.

He waved his hand towards Sinoa to tell him his location was good, hiding the motion from the ghost. He took a step towards the ghost and took a breath. He didn't need to breath for the normal mortal reason of oxygen enrichment of the blood, his dead lungs did not perform that function. But the muscles still expanded them normally, pulling air within. This was only for the purpose of speaking. Even a potentially immortal Nuit still needed air to power his vocal chords.

But for Kuvarakh, the inhaling and holding of breath made for the inner pressure that enabled his hypnotism ability. He was able to access his djed this way, subconsciously relating the anticipated release of this air pressure into a substitute release of djed. He did so now as the ghost came up to him, it's face a mask of macabre hostility.

Kuvarakh let the djed flow to engulf the upper portion of the spirit before him. He decided to use the same hypnotic strategy which had worked several times already. He touched the impression this ghost held, and upon enforcing his mental alteration of it, suddenly realized he had made a dreadful error!

Before, he had been able to affect a shift of perceived memory, whereby the spirit would visualize an image of Kuvarakh's likeness, framed and hung on a wall over a plaque naming him as a member of the 'Craven' family. Up until now, every ghost had run from the imposed belief that they faced a man capable of dusting them into oblivion.

This ghost, Kuvarakh realized with dismay, was far too consumed with a fearless, near suicidal hatred of the Craven family to care. Kuvarakh was suddenly backlashed with a wave of punishing sensations of agony, his mind full of the ghost's own vengeful enforcing of HIS memories. Memories of torturous impalings with soul darts at the hands of Craven mercenaries. Spiritist thugs, hired by a vengeful half-brother wishing to be rid of the original deed to his farmstead. He had needed to be rid of the spirit of the lawful landowner in order to overlay his false document, giving him title to the entire estate. When the brother's ghost had risen to counter the claims put forward by the thief, the spiritists had converged on him, tormenting him and nearly destroying him. And now he wanted revenge.

Kuvarakh's mind reeled with enhanced sensations of guilt and torture. He pulled his djed back in a panic, not noticing the trail of presence following his consciousness back into his mind. His thoughts numbed and he started losing feeling over a large portion of his body. Too late he realized his unrestrained retreat had opened his mind to possession by the ghost.

His eyes managed a last look at Sinoa, holding the flute and he made one last bid for protection. His djed was reeled in, but with the ghost invading his mind he still touched its perception. He implanted a thought that the spiritists had used a magic flute in their violations of him. A flute that forced him to dance. Then his self awareness faded into the background as the ghost completed its possession and turned its malice towards the Pycon.