Closed The Return Home

[Kylar]

32nd day of summer

It seemed as though it had been the longest of lifetimes since he had even considered returning to his original home of Ravok. To Kylar, it was the last idea he had had that didn't involve his being the conduit for the creation of items for the betterment or destruction of any situation that he felt necessary. He had grown to detest his time on the island trying to further the knowledge and creation of a group that had an agenda based on something long forgotten.

He had returned to Ravok in the hopes of furthering his own agenda. His detest at the Sahovan Nuit and their need to build and wait for the return of the leadership of some kind of greater nation through their power. All he wished to do was create for creations sake and perhaps in one time carve out his own niche in the world as his kingdom or at least his small domain and not have to worry about the rule of others.

As he was walking through Ravok re-familiarizing himself with the streets, the twists and turns, and the over all layout of his home he found a man asleep in an alley a bottle of liquor in hand. Looking himself over he realized his body was in less considerable shape than he wished it to be. As he walked by the man, the snoring drowning out his slightly shuffled footsteps, he bent over and picked up the bottle smashing it into the head of his target. The male was a slightly younger guy with short black hair and a slightly toned form under his hunter's garb. After making sure his target was completely out he took the body to a building he had found earlier on in the day.

The smell of the building was what you would expect from something lacking true repairs and maintenance. Some of the wood had started to rot and the stone had the smell of molds that grew in the dark. Kylar set the man up on an area he had put together earlier for just this occasion. The pyre he had made would support the both of them with ease. He would take his long black coat off and bundle it up shoving it over the face of the young man holding it tight while he waited for him to stop breathing. After a short time he went to hear for a breath after pulling his jacket off. Smiling to himself he would go to his pack set off to the side and pulled out a piece of charcoal.

Setting up for the ritual was time consuming in more ways than he cared to have it be. He slowly started to draw each symbol over the vital areas that came to him without any prior training. Each one was drawn to perfection and ready within thirty chimes. Kylar would then slowly climb over the individual as he opened the mans mouth he noticed that there wasn't anything wrong with his teeth. Kylar couldn't help but smile as he slowly started the transfer the ichor slowly seeping form him bit by bit.

As the process continued on the bits that slowly seeped out of him took more of his presence from his current form starting first with his smell then hearing. As the bells drew on his sight and sense of touch slowly withdrew from him leaving only his mind in the body. As the final parts of the session drew near he was starting to feel the breathe returning to the lungs of the man he had captured and mobility was starting to return to him.

[Miro]

Miro wandered about the Docks on patrol. He loved to walk this part of the city, so full of non-citizens. It was often there was illegal activity going on, enough to entertain an Ebonstryfe apprentice. However today as the wizard wandered through an alley today he came across the most peculiar sight. It was of a man hobbled over another still one. Their mouths seemed to be touching.

Not only was this odd, but as well there were drawn runes across the body on the ground. It seemed as if the man may be dead. The one on top however, that was much less likely. In order to make sense of the situation, the Aurist began to focus his senses on the two bodies on the ground. He attuned his aura to adjust and give precious insight. It lightly burned his soul with a magical exercise.

The undead's mind began to flash with images and understanding quite quickly. The most immediate realization was of the dead bodies. Indeed the man on the ground was dead, with no heartbeat, but so too was the man atop him. However the one below hadn't a soul, it had already left. The other however still very much had a soul. A Nuit it seemed.

Yes, that would make sense, Miro mused to himself on what he saw. Finally things were starting to make sense. The Aurist was able to see the horrid condition of the animate corpse, quite worn. It would seem this was the body transfer ritual the Nuit performed. The ichor being transferred was able to be observed as well, the interesting process it was.

Miro only waited for this process to end, optimistic to meet an undead. Perhaps this man practiced magic. Even better if he was a Sahovan Wizard. That was the hope always held for a Nuit seen. To find a wizard was always a treat. It also seemed the man was quite vulnerable now. The Chained One willed his Auristic sight to fade and merely waited for a chance to meet this Nuit.

[Kylar]

Slowly he would start to move as he let a gasp out from the new throat he had acquired. His eyes would flutter a bit as he tried them out and started to readjust to his surroundings. As he finally felt secure enough in his state of mind he started to move out from under his old corpse struggling with the cost of the transfer upon him. He would slowly start to look about still adjusting his eyes as he did so when he finally realized he wasn't alone.

He would let out a weak snarl as he looked at the other man in the room with him. "Who are you to stand witness to my personal business as if you were invited?"

Still very slowly he would start to grab some of his belongings from his old corpse starting with a cube of many smaller cubes and holding it close as his hands went over it getting a better feel for it again. His eyes never once truly leaving the man he had found watching him. As he got a feel for the cube again he moved on to other parts including anything with his insignia on it and started to put it on the main piece being his cloak.

As he waited for a response or possibly even forgetting he had asked he would start to stand making sure his clothes were able to fit the way he wanted so he could still feel the same even though his look was completely different. He would then start to very slowly sit down again and start to twist the bits and pieces of his cube as he started to talk silently his mind whirling with what he had to do. The steps to his plans had started moving forward and now there was a new piece to the puzzle something unexpected and unwanted.

[Miro]

Miro was not surprised to be received with some level of hostility, but it did not alarm him. This was a Nuit, a fragile being, as it lacked a mark of Uldr. Not only that, but Rayage had spoken in the past of the ritual. It took a while to adjust to the new body, and the process itself left one vulnerable. This was obviously a defensive reaction. That was something the Chained One enjoyed. There was a chance for fun here.

"Who am I? That is the question, now isn't it? I am not sure who I am yet. Maybe I am a casual observer. Maybe I am nobody. Perhaps even I am the man you will soon call friend. But, of course, if one were to judge me by my appearance, I'd be something else entirely. If you were to want my opinion, I am just a fool drawn in by whimsical curiosity, same as always. What matters is what you think."

The Hypnotist began to hiss forth a laugh at this Nuit stranger. There was a wickedness within the wizard at this time, eager to toy with a target so vulnerable. "You know, we're going to figure this out. It'll be fun, okay? We will play a game." He began to walk forward and snicker again to himself, already set on playing. The fun of it was to startle his playmate, but not cause them to flee. "Don't worry, I'll make the first move."

To cause fear for the sake of causing fear, that was a strange pleasure. It was a form of domination, sure, but there was something more to it. Something about observing the most primal of defensive reactions. To see a lesser creature squirm, it was so pitiful it was almost cute. "You, you are a Nuit, and you have just switched bodies. You are lucky that I understand your kind." Or unfortunate when one considered what would come next.

Miro began to hum gently as he walked forth with feet that tapped in rhythm. His arm swung up and down as he snapped in sync with every other step. Be began to flow Djed from his person and expand his aura of influence. The cold grey eyes stared locked onto the Nuit as the humming intensified. The vibrations of his vocal cords struck an odd note and sustained it, almost like a screech in itself.

Hypnotism was a unique magic in the way it was cast. Few other disciplines had such variable methods of casting the same spell, and few required such intricate methods of delivery. This was especially true for powerful spells. This was what the wizard had in mind, a new manipulation that formed in his mind. It was a manifestation of his own fear, a release of his own horrors. It caused a rise of fear in him as he imagined it in his own mind.

Djed poured from the undead and was woven into a spell. The strain of the magic was not as great as he would expect, especially with the closed gap between them. An emotional response of fear set the stage to what came next, the images practically flowing out of the Hypnotist. He began to hiss a chant, "Rise, rise, beady little eyes. Swarm, swarm, eight-legged form. Bite, bite, chew with all your might."

The chant would intensify and so too would the spell. The tinge of fear would intensify, and there would be something more. A feeling, not an emotion, a physical feeling. A creeping sensation that would start at the legs and move up and spread across the body. If the Nuit looked down he would see a swarm of furry little spiders. Their black bodies would crawl all across his body, and any swatted off would be instantly replaced.

For a moment the artifice of hypnotic fear would spike and hit a peak and then disappear. The only hints of fear left would be the remnants and that naturally produced. Though to shake off such a feeling was not an easy thing. Once rooted, fear was hard to rid of, especially with a swarm of spiders across the body. In a few ticks the spiders would fade away too however. They would turn to dust and be taken away on the wind, as if they were never there at all.

There was no denying it now however, even for a master, the strain of such a technique was great. To discover the hallucination like that and use it in conjunction with the taxing emotional surge took a lot out of him. Though the techniques were both only used briefly, they brought with them a heavy toll. The same could be said of the spell's effect on the target though. "It is your turn now."

[Kylar]

Kylar would start to move towards the man in front of him his anger rising higher as he snarled looking towards him. In his hands was his cube that he had just retrieved from the old form he had occupied for so long. He was tired and had just been through agonizingly long pain in his transfer from corpse to corpse and all he knew was that this mind in front of him wouldn't even give him a straight answer.

"What I think you gods awful creature is that you should give an answer befitting the question. What I think is that you are nothing more than an annoyance who doesn't know the truth to why he does what he does and I think that responding to questions with a question is more annoying when it is from a person to another person."

As he stopped speaking he listened to the man when he started up again his rage growing with the need to find a way to shut up this creature that seemed to know more than Kylar would have enjoyed his knowing. He would stop as he started to watch the man as he rocked back and forth the strange sound coming forth stopping him as he would move his head at a few different angles to try and catch it from a different aspect. As it intensified he would close his eyes tight his body slowly sinking to the ground again as he would pull his legs to his chest and his hands on his ears.

As the sound stopped and the words poured forth from the unknown assailants mouth he still did not understand and suddenly realized there was something crawling on him. It was strange at first as he scratched at it and then started to swat it off and felt more joining the constant crawling. As he continued to try and stop the creatures on him he finally looked seeing more and more spiders as they kept working their way on to him he would start to hiss and swing wildly against his arms and legs and torso his movements rash and uncoordinated.

As he became covered in the spiders his panic grew to the extreme as he closed his eyes again and suddenly realized that it had all stopped. He would slowly open his eyes and look himself over his body clean of all but the sensation that they had ever been there and even that started to dwindle away. He would then look up and snarl again as he slowly stood and looked him in the eyes again.

"Such a trick must take a tole on a body hm? perhaps it is something that might make you weak and need to rest? I would think that with such a situation with it being my turn if i did something harmful to your body it would be one of those situations that we would both end up doing more harm than good in a "game" as you put it."

He would stand completely straight and look the man in the eyes the fear gone replaced again by the rage as he shuddered away the rest of the feelings from his encounter with whatever had happened to call so many spiders and make them vanish.

"I don't know what you did, why you did it, how you did it, or what would possess you to torture someone who only wanted to regain his former ability to do his work but I would like an answer to who you are so that I might know my assailant before he kills me or lets me go."

[Miro]

Miro gathered himself quickly after the cast spell, though taxing it was. Such a thrill, to use the magic in such an overwhelming way. For a while the target was dragged helplessly into the effects of the spell, though Djed limited the duration greatly. It was not long before everything slipped away and the hallucination and rush of emotion were gone. This revealed it for the trick it was and helped the victim clear away the shock of it all.

Perhaps it was not the best technique to use on a Nuit. However the creature spoke to him from a position of weakness. It tried to act as if it knew the status of its opponent, though clearly it did not. No, instead the corpse bluffed, but it was an obvious ruse. Sharp rhetoric proved the age of the undead, but there was no way around this struggle. The game was not one that could be quit. Especially when one hadn't even taken a turn yet.

The Reimancer laughed to himself as he focused what of his Djed his will could still muster to his hand. He pooled the substance and closed his eyes as he concentrated on the task at hand. The wizard let out a slight scoff as he attempted to clear his mind. There was a moment of silence between the two, however it would not last long. Such an opportunity was one best not wasted.

Miro's will gave shape to his Djed and a flow of aqua colored Res spouted from his hand as a thick cloud of gas. The substance erupted from his skin at an astonishing rate and began to rotate inward and concentrate. For several ticks the Res would flow from the wizard and compact into a solid form. As the gaseous dome began to reduce in size the caster slowly clenched his fist around it. All of his will and effort became focused in his right hand.

By now the Chained One breathed heavily, his entire body on edge, pulsing, burning on the inside. He began to shape an element in his mind, an elemental ideal. The element of earth refined in a new way, a more powerful way, a stronger way. The Reimancer drew his closed fist close to heart and focused his vision upon it. He hissed a new incantation, "Tyne", and forced his Res to transmute into iron. The spell left him slightly weak, but he could not stop now.

The fresh-bodied Nuit attempted to reach out again, a request of a name, but it was more like a plea of mercy. The corpse-walkers knew no other way. Though by the time the transmutation was finished, there was not much question as to how things would go, but a response was given nonetheless. "You use your turn to ask my name? Well, fine, it is Miro. As for the killing part, that doesn't have to happen, as long as you stay still. You won't be let go this turn."

The end result of transmutation was a simple spell. An iron spike with a sharp point at each end, much like a double ended nail. The Chained One opened he hand and admired it for a moment. Then he began to call upon his Djed again, only this time he could only manage a bit. He was indeed tired, and to force things along would mean to overgive. Yet again the aqua colored gas began to pour from his palm.

Much like before the spell formed an orb, only not nearly as thick, and the mass did not concentrate as before. However it did still move. It swirled about, but never broke the perfect spherical shape. He exerted his elemental control and the iron spike began to rise, as if by some magnetic force. It spun and pointed directly for the Nuit down the alley. In such a weakened state, slow as they were already, there was not much that could be done.

The Res concentrated around the spike as the Chained One clenched his fist. He focused his Djed in his right leg and began to charge the pathways to redirect Djed across his core and into his right arm. The muscles in his arm began to tense and grow more capable, an easy enough spell to manage. He drew his arm across his chest and flung it forth, the iron spike sent at the Nuit with alarming speed.

Admittedly the accuracy of a Flux throw as such was not great, but the Res that coated the spell kept it true. It was aimed directly for the Nuit's left shoulder, right at the joint where the bones met. The shot wouldn't be perfect, but it would do the trick. If it happened to hit bone it would do serious damage. It was entirely possible that if the spike hit in the right place it could cause a clean pierce, in one side and out the other.

[Nemesis]

. Thread Grade Pending Greetings! If either of you decide to return, throw a PM in my direction and your grade will be posted. Thank ye, -Nemesis