Completed Things That Go Bump In The Night (Radiant)

[Joris Mevelk]

29th of Spring, 514 AV The ink dripped from the brush onto the table, plopping slightly in a tiny inky black puddle on the smooth wood. They were like tiny little droplets of liquid midnight, black and timeless in the darkness that peered back up at the man holding the brush. Fingers were frozen as dark eyes danced over blank fresh parchment, the smell enveloping his senses and sending comforting shivers down his spine. It was sitting there and waiting for his artistry to be reflected upon it, the beauty of his craft in the arcane language of Glyphs that so spoke to the Mage Knight. Joris Mevelk was sitting at the lone table in his room, brush poised and ready to start on Glyphing a scroll before him. It was an average evening really, nothing out of the ordinary for the Mage Knight after hours since his patrols had been finished for the day. The tall dark haired man had opted to work on his Glyphing a bit before heading to bed, the dedication he showed to his craft being only surpassed by his dedication to the order of Syliran Knights in which he served. Not exactly a shining example of a knight, but he tried his hardest to prove to himself that he was better than Sunberth. That he had escaped the shadows that haunted his steps. The man looked rather uncouth all things considered; short dark hair was messy and looked rather like he had just gotten out of bed. A contrast to his well-trimmed goatee, which he always kept in pristine order compulsively. He was tall but also rather scrawny, certainly looking more scholarly than a warrior or knight should but everyone had their talents. His just so happened to lie in the realm of the metaphysical, rather than swinging around a sword. Joris was dressed rather lightly considering after this he intended to go to bed, a simply shirt and pants with his boots and coat off to the side. Joris’ hand finally moved; the ink dyed brush touching the center of the parchment and starting out the shape of his Focus Glyph, the central part of any scroll sigil. The brush moved carefully, forming a swirling vortex pattern that was what made up his Focus Glyph. Glyphs drawn by different wizards looked vastly different from each other, what mattered in them was the order and their placement Joris had found. The tall man defined the boundaries of the vortex with a circle on the edge, finishing up the Focus Glyph and allowing Joris to move on to other matters. The next was the Barrier Glyph, and this time Joris took it much slower and watched his brushwork so that he didn’t mess up. Barriers were where he made the largest margin of errors unfortunately, however they were rather easy to mess up on and once one did they would need to start from scratch. His Barriers took the shape of two lines that seemed to twine around each other like twin serpents, each swirling never endingly with the other in the embrace of its coils. The Mage Knight’s brush teased at the parchment as he brought the Glyph into being, this one being tasked with containment of what lay inside. This done Joris moved his brush to the corner of the parchment, sketching out a tree like shape that’s roots seemed to attach to the Barrier. It looked rather like the tree insignia that represented the Windoak, Joris thought it fitting to pay tribute to the icon in his Glyphing. This shape was what made up his Trigger Glyph and for it he actually needed to think for a bit, pondering over a good phrase of wording to use in it. Once he had something the tall man started writing it out in common along the Trigger itself. When the phrase ‘I’m a drunk Sunberthian barmaid’ is spoken, the Trigger will activate, lowering the Barrier and releasing the magic contained within the Focus. This task accomplished Joris set his brush down and stretched slightly, yawning a little bit as he had finished his work for tonight. A good solid scroll to be filled with a detachment function most likely, it was always helpful to have more of those lying around. The tall man stood from his chair and rolled his shoulders for at bit, looking over at the bed and pondering whether or not he should turn in. He had finished quicker than he had first expected, so perhaps a bit of Projection before turning it would be in order.

[Radiant]

In the Fortress City of Peace under the watch of Sylir, God of Peace and Civilization, and his crusaders, the Syliran Knight, crimes and shady individuals had no place, but of course, everything had an exception. For even in this most lawful city in Mizahar, the mischievous hands of Ionu, the Trickster God, reached through its sturdy stone walls and ceilings. One of his daughters, a member of Ionu's personal troupe of entertainers, The Inverted, set herself inside Sylir's walls. She had many faces and alter egos, but she called herself by the name of 'Karin', a Viper Dhani from Eyktol, Master Hypnotist, and Favored of Ionu.

Most of the time, if an Inverted showed themselves personally to an individual, it meant they saw a potential in them, what kind of potential? Only them and Ionu knew. This particular story began with Ser Joris Mevelk, a Projectionist Mage-Knight, sitting inside his cozy apartment, experimenting with his Glyph. As the tall Mage-Knight finished drawing the Glyph and set the Trigger phrase, he would hear a soft knock on his door. When the man approached and opened it, he would see a small girl, just reaching to about his chest, wearing a dark red cloak complete with the hood, the girl was carrying a wicker basket on her right hand, filled with apples.

"Uhm..." The girl's soft voice was filled with anxiety, then she procured a particular red apple then offered it to Joris, "Apple? J-just one silver miza..." From her initial appearance, the girl was a fruit seller, perhaps the daughter of a farmer, but her voice carried the subtle hints of djed coating it, washing over the Knight with a sense of acceptance and pity, she wanted him to let her into his apartment for the night, she even shivered a bit to play the part further. If Joris whisked the girl's hood, she would have dark wavy brown hair and matching large dark brown eyes.

[Joris Mevelk]

A knock came at the door, soft and rather strange to hear at this late hour and drew the attention of the Mage Knight almost immediately. A single dark brow rose up, one of curiosity that someone was calling upon him of all people at such a time. A frown settled over his lips, pondering exactly who it could be as he slowly started over towards it. It didn’t seem likely to be one of his fellow knights based on the softness of the knock, no that would have sounded clanking and loud as metal striking wood tended to be in most forms. Joris bore no weapons on his person at the moment, he hardly saw the need in his own home, perhaps overconfidence on his own part in regards to his abilities or just common sense. The tall man pulled open the door, his forward gazing moving down to find a young girl standing before him. A red cloak covered her body, hood pulled over her head to obscure her features and a basket held in her hands. An odd sight to see at his doorstep of all places; however the tall man didn’t say anything at first and simply regarded the child with a raised eyebrow as if arrogantly requesting she speak her business. The offering was made and the hypnotic arrows hit home unnoticed by the Projectionist, any strange feeling he might have had were buried by a bit of pity for the girl. She looked cold and still she walked the night streets trying to earn a bit of extra coin, which hit a nerve in the Mage Knight. How long ago had he been similar to this little girl? Though he had mostly been cutting purses and just trying to scrape together enough money to live day to day, a depressing thing really. Petch it, he had some money to spare. Weren’t knights supposed to be generous to others? Joris wasn’t exactly the wealthiest of knights or the highest in rank, but he made enough to live well within the city. Far better than he ever had back in his home city, so perhaps it was a good idea to spread around some of the good will to his fellows and what not. The tall man’s expression softened a bit as his trade mark grin settled itself upon his lips; he stooped down to look the girl in the eyes. “That’s a fine looking apple, girl, I’d say it’s worth two silvers at least eh? Sounds fair don’t you think so?” The knight said with a slight chuckle. “Why don’t you come inside while I get your payment ready? You shouldn’t be waiting out in the dark like this.” Joris invited, standing and moving aside slightly grant the girl entrance and if she did the Knight would close the door before heading to his chest. The man turned his attention away from the girl in that span of time, searching through his chest for the necessary funds and producing two gleaming silver Miza’s from the chest. This done the Mage Knight would turn back to the girl, offering out the money in exchange for the offered fruit. It was only money after all and he certainly made enough to afford to be generous considering a Knight’s lifestyle. Such were the benefits in working for a higher cause, or however the petch that saying went. “Right, here you are little Miss. Two silver miza’s for that delicious looking apple. You should probably head on home, I’m sure your parents wouldn’t want you catching a cold now.” The Mage Knight said, easy smirk still in place.

[Radiant]

The small girl gave the tall knight a barely visible small smirk from under her hood as she promptly entered the Knight's apartment as if searching for a much-needed warmth, she immediately plopped down in front of his fireplace, or hearth, if he didn't have a fireplace, putting the basket on her left. She was oddly silent when the mage-knight took out his coins, indicating something was not quite right indeed with the small female. The girl didn't stir until the mage-knight approached her with the twin silver, the red-cloaked girl would then slowly turn around as she offered her apple... which was now green in color, the girl slightly tilted her head as she acted with nonchalance, politely receiving the money.

She would then stand up, her hood whisked back in the process, revealing her now darker hair and bright yellow reptilian eyes, some subtle changes here and there, to goad the Knight. If Joris didn't point out anything and let her leave, she would simply do so. If he did however, the girl would simply smirk as she made her way to his bed then plopped on top of it, curling her body in a manner that would be deemed odd for a normal young girl, "Ahaha~" Her voice, while still rather adorable and high-pitched in nature, lost its anxiety and stutter, the girl suddenly spoke with confidence, she then sat on his bedside, pulling out her back-length long dark hair from the confines of her cloak, letting it cascading down her back, "Why did you so easily let me in?" She asked a question as if it was a mistake for Joris to so quickly trust a deceptively young girl.

Should the Knight become edgy, the girl would raise her right hand, signaling she was not hostile, "Tell me," She swung her short legs, which didn't reach the floor from her position, back and forth, "I could be an assassin, a monster, a murderer, who knows, as a knight, I think you should know better to be cautious, no?" Then she laced her voice in a more aggressive form of hypnotism, striking Joris with a wave of fear, "Scary, right?" then she giggled, combining the image of a child and a manipulator in an odd juxtapose.

[Joris Mevelk]

The first warning bell for Joris that something was indeed off about this whole affair was the apple he was now offered was green in color, the same apple that had been red not moments ago. He took it in his hand, staring at it numbly for a moment and blinking a few times as he wondered if he was starting to see things given how easily the girl had acted about the whole thing. He hadn’t done a head detachment for a while so he did not see a reason his senses might be affected, and he knew the apple had been red not moments ago. The Knight was so focused on the apple he did not notice the girl climbing onto his bed until she was actually on there, her features looking a bit different than when last he had seen them. Something was very wrong, the Mage Knight suspected that something in the realm of the arcane was afoot and he did not like it one bit. He was on edge at the moment, his mind struggling to catch up to the situation but when it did he needed to muster all his fortitude to avoid diving for his dagger. The laugh… it seemed so very off compared to the girl he had seen just moments earlier, an act it seemed of some kind. The Mage Knight’s hands were at his sides, the one that was free from holding anything ready to unravel its astral form. He did not want to tear at the limb’s astral but if thing went south then he was more than prepared to do so, life or death situations of the most dire was when detachments like that were permitted. He could very well end up crippling himself if he did that too many times, not an appealing thought. The question, well Joris had though she had been an innocent little girl trying to get some extra coin, clearly that was not the case and something a little more sinister was going on. So here he was, in his apartment with the door across the room and his dagger near the bed where that girl was sitting. Apparently he couldn’t be trusting little girls now, certainly a maddening proposition if he had ever heard one. He was close to attempting to unravel his astral but held it in check, knowing full well that the girl was an unknown variable here. He needed to keep his head, at least for the moment. The lance of fear that shot through him was certainly not helping things. “Well, you could be one of those but if you were I’d be lying in a pool of blood on the floor at the moment. As for my caution, trust me kid I have my talents otherwise I wouldn’t be a knight in the first place.” Joris said, his tone as light as he could make it given the current situation though he could not hide the bit of unease. “So you caught me off guard, if you had been any of those things I’d be dead. Obviously we are both more than we appear so why don’t I start us off? Can’t afford to be a poor host to a lady now can I? Ser Joris Mevelk, who do I have the pleasure of hosting in my abode tonight?” The Mage Knight inquired, his dark eyes holding the caution in them though his expression possessed a bit of uneasy humor to it. He did not start to tug at his astral yet, willing to wait for a moment to see what this girl would do next. Judging from the short distance the Knight could have his astral out in ticks and hopefully before an attack could be delivered, however there were no guarantees. If this strange girl was some form of wizards like he was now suspecting and had none to subtly implied then she would likely have some method of her own to neutralize him. He was on the knife’s edge, teetering between thinking her a potential hostile or just an odd enigma.

[Radiant]

The deceptively waifish looking girl kept swinging her legs back and forth as the knight opted the 'social' way of conducting things, just as she planned, it seemed he now saw her in a new light and looked genuinely curious, of course, mages were always curious of the unknown. The girl herself was also intrigued by the Knight, though she acted confident, the girl didn't know about Joris' powers... yet. Was he a Reimancer? Morpher? Hypnotist? She didn't know. She loved to play this game, a game of stand-off between two arcane-touched humanoids.

"Ahaha," She giggled again, "Perhaps you are right, if I was a monster, you would be dead? But... what if..." Karin then slowly picked up Joris' dagger - assuming he wouldn't attack - then absently examined it, "This 'monster' wants to 'play' with its prey, this 'monster' is not interested in killing your body, this 'monster' wants to kill your mind." Precisely at the end of her sentence, her bright yellow slits seem to dimly flash as she sent a subtle wave of 'caution' at the Mage-Knight. A small girl threatening a Mage-Knight, most would call her insane, but let those simpletons think whatever they wished, they more they did not know, the more fun and easier it was to pull their strings.

She put down Joris' dagger on its previous spot as the mage-knight introduced himself, "I see," the girl then tilted her head slightly, "But what are names? What are identities? And why... does it matter?" The girl then used both of her hands to cover her face, keeping it up for about five ticks, when she removed them... her features drastically altered to one resembling Joris himself, almost without flaw, even her voice mimicked him to the 'T', "How can we be sure I'm not you and you are not me? For all we know, I might be just a manifestation of your mind, a hallucination," She swiped her face again, dropping the illusion, "Which is real? Which is fake? How can one be sure of the 'truth' where the 'truth' is subjective in the first place?" The girl then grinned, a cheerful smile on her face, "But for this particular moment, you can call me 'Karin', Ser Mevelk." She climbed down from her bed then gave him a polite curtsy.

"So," Karin nonchalantly quipped as she took off her dark red cloak then folded it neatly, putting it on top of Joris' bed, acting as if the apartment was her own home, "Answer my questions, tell me about what you think, just assume I don't know about what you are thinking at the moment."

[Joris Mevelk]

Joris very nearly was close to saying petch it all and tearing at his astral to try and catch this girl by surprise when she picked up his dagger, his body tensing up. She started speaking again and it most certainly did not endear her to him to hear what she was saying, madness seeming to have taken this particular creature. She was threatening him? A Mage Knight of Syliras? Of all the ways to commit suicide Joris figured that this was a sure way to do it, however he merely watched the smaller girl at the moment as he was reminded that madness needed to be met cautiously. The fingers on the tall man’s left hand started idly tapping against his thigh, a gesture seemingly the product of nerves and in some ways it was though in actuality it was a gesture used to keep his focus. The man was trying to focus on slowly and subtly unraveling his astral body on his right arm, which still was at his side merely hanging there. He started inwards and worked his way slowly outwards, the strands of his Djed being plucked to give birth to the action he desired, and spending pieces of himself to make it so. His concentration was briefly shook, the unraveling halted and made his arm feel numb, as the girl changed her face and started speaking gibberish. It was his face staring back at him, his voice he heard speaking those gibberish words and any doubts of whether or not the girl was a fellow weaver of Djed were tossed out the window. Her magic was strange to him but Joris did not doubt that it was indeed the tapestry of Djed that was making these things happen. Dark eyes narrowed slightly; caution further beckoning him to get his astral out as soon as possible and thus he resumed the unraveling process. The questions were turned upon him and the Mage Knight saw this as the perfect opportunity to stall for the time he needed to safely detach his astral from his physical, though even with gestures tapping at his leg he knew the splitting of attention would make the unraveling take even longer. He smirked at the questions turned upon him, they sounded like a bunch of madness induced gibberish to him but he’d play along if it gave him the time he needed. He could not continue without taking some precautions here, that would have been stupid for any wizard. “Well Karin, by all means, make yourself at home. Please.” The Knight offered sarcastically as he noted the girl was acting as if she owned the place. “In my honest opinion? Identity matters a great deal; it’s what gives us our convictions yeah? It shapes and molds who we are on the inside, how we define ourselves. It’s the person others can love and care about, if you have only a jumbling of identity how can you ever have any of that for truly? If we think about what might be real instead of what we know to be real, then we shall simply walk the path to madness.” The tall man said. “As for what I think, what does it matter what I think? You obviously have your mind set to one side of things while my own is on a different, albeit probably more lucid one, I doubt my words will bring you to my way of thinking just like I doubt you can convince me I’m a little girl and you are a grown knight.” The tall man stated as he continued to tug at the strands of his astral, reaching the joints finally. He could feel it coming loose, his spent Djed slowly detaching the arm from its physical shell and in another chime it would hopefully be fully out and ready for use, though the question was if he had another chime. The girl was proving to be a little unpredictable, her magics trying to affect his perception of reality and honestly it was a little scary. On the inside he was fearful of what this creature could do to his mind, however he was keeping up a front of nervous caution rather than one of abject fear rather well he thought.

[Radiant]

"Aaah~" After putting her cloak down, the small girl then lay comfortably on top of Joris' bed, shifting herself as she yawned, her long dark hair strewn beneath and around her, the girl then sleepily looked to the ceiling before turning her gaze back to the Mage-Knight. Whether she was truly tired or merely acting remained to be seen.

Her reptilian gaze kept locking itself to Joris as he gave his answers, if a keen observer was witnessing this, then they could see how different these two individuals were. One was a tricksters, a creature that manipulate minds and perceptions, twisting the fragile truth until everything became an illusion, while one was a Sword of Sylir, a resolute defender of Justice, laws and morals were as clear as black and white to him. The utter opposite of their nature was interesting to behold, one could say for sure.

"Identity," Karin smirked mischievously, but unlike a child, but a woman seducing someone as she lay on the bed, "Is something that our blind perceptions fabricate to comfort ourselves in this world of illusions." The girl then brushed a hair out of her face, "What do you see me as now, Ser Joris? Am I a fruit seller? Am I a little girl? Am I a monster? Or I am just a very rude child intruding your home? Who knows, heck," A look of playfulness flashed itself at Joris, "I may even be old enough to be your great-grandmother... ever think of that?"

The girl then patted Joris' bed, beckoning for the Mage-Knight to join her, "Differences, of course, we will have differences, if you wish to think I'm trying to convince you something, it is your choice, I'm just opening your eyes to the 'truth', which is not there in the first place..." Karin exhaled, a look of an old woman wise beyond her years replaced the mischievous petite seductress one, she took out the two silver mizas that Joris gave her, only they were now a pair of sapphire and ruby, "What is the truth? Truth is like a tapestry, with weaves and strands in which we can manipulate, now come hither, Ser Joris, I shall show you this power... don't you wish to know? Protect the people from this kind of power? You first have to know what kind of power it is..."

[Joris Mevelk]

Further in a circle they seemed to go in this twisting conversation, dark eyes narrowing ever so as Karin continued to speak. Though it seemed nonsense to some degree to him, he had learned that truth was never certain in matters of the arcane no matter how much one tried to enforce that. Still this… creature behaved as one far different than a mere child, spoke with more supposed knowledge of the world than any being her age could possibly fathom. As this form merely another fabrication of this persona she crafted around herself? That seemed a fast track to madness though; questioning the faces others wore might very well cause one to start jumping at shadows. His efforts in detachment were rewarded when finally his Astral managed to unravel itself from his body proper, his arm at his side losing all feeling and he could no longer control it. Fortunately he had made certain to keep both his arms at his side to make it look more natural, if his arm had suddenly gone limp one might start to draw conclusions. The Mage Knight flexed his incorporeal fingers, sending signals out along the pathways, commands being carried out rather quickly due to his proximity. Of course now that he had the limb projected there was the question of what he was going to do with it. He was then invited by Karin none to subtly to sit beside her, causing the knight to blink as he formulated his stratagem. The tall man started thinking quickly as he walked slowly to the bed, masking the swaying of his other arm by mirroring the motions as best he could with the arm he could control. All the while his projected limb would follow him, Djed continuing to flow out of him to feed the projection though it was certainly less taxing to only project one limb. Meaning he would have some time at least before he needed to surrender control. “A sweet promise, though I wonder at the price. Our kinds of people are not ones to so easily part with what we know after all.” The man stated, sitting on the side of Karin opposite of his dagger. As he sat he positioned his good hand to fall between his knees which he had open in a sloppy posture, his limp and useless arm flopping there. Joris would then start tapping again at the inside of his thigh again with his good hand, his gestures for the casting as he attempted to keep his full attention on Karin. His incorporeal and invisible limb moved around the girl’s other side, fingers outstretched to grasp the dagger in a moment’s notice. He was the one out of control in this position, he needed to establish his own abilities while masking them somewhat in the same mystery she did her own. That was his stratagem, a bit of reversal upon the girl to indicate it he was no one to toy with at her leisure. “You know something, Karin. You were right, at least about our perceptions. Sometimes it seems that people won’t know something until its right before their eyes. Even then, one never knows what one might really see in the end.” The tall man said, signals being sent along his projected limb. His Astral fingers gripped tightly around the dagger and lifted it from the bed, moving it into the air and bringing it out a bit away from Karin but still within her field of vision. He did not want to threaten exactly; more remind this child that she was playing a dangerous game with him. He possessed powers that might very well be strange to her as well, something that could very well work in his favor or could blow up in his face. He was still unaware of the full extent of her abilities after all; she could very well look upon this display and laugh. “So, we’ve each shown a bit of our hands. Let’s cut to the heart of the matter yeah? Why did you really come here tonight? What brought you to my doorstep and not another?” The Knight prompted, keeping his hold over the projected limb and giving the child a slight grin. He inferred that he knew more than what he was showing, not exactly lying but not exactly the truth but in this situation he would take what he could get. This Karin was dangerous, that much was certain though it remained to be seen if that danger was good for him or bad for him. The Mage Knight was wary of this power she wanted to show him, very wary as any good mage was. However he was curious enough that he had yet to become hostile towards her, simply fiddling with his dagger with projected fingers.

[Radiant]

The Viper Dhani shifted her position on the bed, her hand moving behind her head to support her head, leisuring on the Knight's bed, truly acting as if she owned the place and Joris was the guest. As mysterious and deceptively powerful she appeared to be, Karin had no knowledge about the astral magic of Projection.

She had no auristics as well, making her unaware of Joris' invisible astral flying about, Karin's powers lay in manipulating the mind whether through illusions or hypnotism, she occasionally used Morphing to drive the facade even further. "A promise? I didn't promise you anything, it is your mind that assumed such, I merely gave an offer. 'Our' kind? Ahaha, who you do you think you are? Who do you think I am? Is the fact that we both have two eyes and one mouth enough to make us 'kin'?"

The Viper smiled as she kept listening to Joris' answer, "For once, you are correct, Ser Joris, our senses blind us to the truth, I can show you... how fragile the 'truth' is." The Dhani turned her gaze into Joris' dark eyes, "Come hither an-..." The girl paused when she saw the dagger gaining a false life and moved about on its down, the small girl smirked, "Interesssting..." Her inherent Dhani lisp showing, she gave a tone of curiosity, but of course, the drop of sweat tricking from her forehead noted her wariness, Joris was a Mage-Knight, he wouldn't be accepted for petty reasons, the Dhani expected this, but still, seeing his power first-hand was different.

"So this is your power?" Karin then smiled, but her slitted eyes keeping watching of the dagger, "I'm here for a... 'trade', you sssee, teach me about this power and I shall show you mine... The Trickster saw something in you, Ser Joris." Of course, Karin played around the fact that Joris might not know about Ionu, "What will it be? Will you embrace knowledge or will you shun it?"