The Halls of the Dead

[Dramiana Rosenthal]

Palsa Hydrasa
510AVThe 5th Day of Winter

To my Beloved Daughter. Seek the voices of the Houses of the Dead, for they will guide your feet to your father. I fear you must waylay your search for me to be at peace with those who have long passed and learn to find family in all the places we often forget to look. Companionship – not tolerance – will be the key to unlocking the next sigil. It is with a heavy heart that I must send you to such a mysterious place at the start of your journey, for to the untrained eye, its caverns are filled with despondency and grim tidings without future or hope. There is little joy with much tribulation. But I tell you that if you walk the footsteps of your father, you will see that Sahova is flowing with life outside of stagnation. It can be a place mirth and friendship. Pierce the Veil and seek out your first lesson. Only then will you be able to proceed. Find Me, ~Dra-Salvia Noire. Staring upward in awe at the grand buttresses and arabesques of the vaulted ceilings, poor Damiana was too aloof to notice that her chains were dragging about haphazardly (and nearly anyone could trip on them if they weren’t careful). Nyka never had anything nearly as elegant in all of her modest corridors. But now, she was among towering rotundas, mighty columns, beautiful tableaus, and grand tapestries. A bell-sleeve calmly closed her book and re-holstered it at her side by neatly tucking it into the silver chain. Black tatters rippled and swirled as she was too caught this way and that, tip-toeing about to stare and gawk at the grand architecture in the Palsa Hydrasa. For someone so adeptly lost, she sure didn’t mind much. Tourists…

[Vick]

A sigh left the childs lips as a dark blue shade of eyes peered past crimson bangs. Dark circles that were truly black from death and not from lack of sleep laid under his eyes. His lips were a dark blue and if one looked close enough they could tell it was not from any make up.If the child spoke they would see his tongue was a dark shade almost black but his body was still somewhat new.

His fingers kept tapping along the desk inside his room. The room itself was made out of stone like the rest of the building along the island. A simple bed was near the wall with the basic things a human would have even if Vick was far from human. He still kept them out of some reason reason inside his twisted head. He felt restless as he let his mind wander from idea to idea for his craft which was Malediction. A world magic that dealt with the use of bones and body parts living or dead. He was not the best but he was still learning each passing day.

He just shook his head as he let his mind clear of thoughts before moving from the desk towards the door. He would not find any muse in his room today it would seem even if he did not even know what day it was anymore. He was sure some golem kept track or he would just make one to keep track for him once he did remember what it was. The weather never changed and the only thing that did was day to night but even that was hard to tell inside the citadel. How old was he now? Another thing he was losing track of it felt like. Yet another problem for another day.

Where was he going? He was not sure off hand if he asked himself that question. He could stop by the lab but that had little point to him due to the lack of real solid ideas inside his head at the time. He wanted to have a little fun but so many things could be fun to him as he let his body wander on its own as his mind played with so many things inside his head. Maybe Lhex would have something for him in time?


Palsa Hydrasa, a place where Nuits came to patch up the bodies or get new ones. Not a place to see any humans other then if they were nuits. This was not a Nuit. How could he tell? Her outfit was a clear sign. Another clear sign was that he saw how she was looking more lost then any nuit he knew and he should have known since new nuits were not heard of that much.

He was glaring at her, walking around her stopping in front of her. He was just in the body of a child however with nuits you never knew with the bodies age. It was all of the soul and mind. How did she get here and why was she here? The words kept roaming around in his head as he did not say a word to her or even blink.

At last he spoke in a soft voice. His chest not moving as he spoke and once more he never did blink. “Who are you? Who is your master and why did they send you here?”

A simple question. or at least a set of questions. Who she was did not mean anything to him but the master part meant everything. He kept glaring at her as he hated humans overall. He waited for her to give him a answer. Her answer meant so many things.

[Dramiana Rosenthal]

Bright violet eyes danced and twinkled as she took in the exquisite sights and sounds of Palsa Hydrasa. The drapery of her gown turned and twisted so dramatically with every movement until she struck a tableau that had caught Vick’s attention. When at last her chains and gown had settled from her dervish-like musings, the figure of a young boy stood staring up at her spitefully and with copious amounts of curiosity.

It was only when he continued to walk about her that Dra-Miana’s gaze snapped to attention. As he paced, there were ginger actions to carefully move her long, silver chain drapery so that he wouldn’t run into it. Also, there was the mess of hair that was wildly unkempt that had to be carefully attended to so that it didn’t ‘slosh’ in the poor boy’s face.

The Nuit was an erratic little thing: dodging about her to and fro in an attempt to size her up for several moments before asking her name. "Who are you?" he asked. "Who is your Master?" Alas, she was too transfixed on his appearance to answer straight-away.

Damiana took an alarming note of Vick’s chest, how it neither inhaled nor exhaled, and that several of his features were blue. He looked as though he had asphyxiated some point long ago, and the depths of his glossy black eyes did unnerve her. Still, there was something alluring and charming about him.

Perhaps it was the fact that he was a child that calmed her, and rather than answer him out-right, she had become so distracted in his cuteness that she kneeled and played with his crimson hair as if it were something unusual.

When at last her touch had left, she simply gawked at him – unable to part with disbelief that he was even alive. Indeed, she would have told him her name and who had sent her, but all that came out was the blurted statement: “Corpse?”

[Vick]

He was being touched. Such a odd feeling since no one had ever touched him in over 200 years. Not a hug nor even a pat on the head unless you counted broken bones before. More so it was a human who touched him. A ill forsaken human. Anger rushed in his long dead veins as he just looked at her. Not even her remark made him feel any better towards her as he did not say a word once she spoke.

He was not built for combat or even basic fighting. His body was just to slow and he even lacked magic that could be called forth to attack or even defend himself. He was just a researcher who could craft weapons and cursed items to aid the downfall of humans and anyone else who got in his way down the road. Yet who was she to pet him? She was not a nuit and clearly not a wizard in the island ranks.

His chest moved at last, his lungs breathing in the scent around him and he smelled something that was heavy with lavender. It took his brain a bit to understand that she was wearing it but it could had been on her skin or even clothing for all he knew as he let his lungs be still once more.

While he could have gone with the more magic way he felt is not worth his time or energy to find out more about her. Yet the idea came to him at last. She had no “master” in the island or she would have told him but she acted like she did not know much about nuits or she would not have called him a corpse. A insult to him on so many levels or at least he took it as one.

“Child, I will ask you again. Who are you and who is your Master upon this island?”

His voice was colder and harsher when he spoke at last. His movement did not change but he called her a child which was odd coming from a child looking person or at least a part of his mind thought so as Vick kept his eyes on her.

If she did not answer him then he would just call a golem to handle her. Death would be a common outcome then her body would be used by another nuit in time and her soul would either move on or become a ghost. In the end it did not matter to him what took place of her for she was just a waste of life right now in his eyes. Could she fix that flaw he held for her in his mind? Maybe but even then he would not hold his breath for it.

Yet if she did not have a master he would have a idea for her. The idea was just to take her and use her for his own personnel goals and let her become a lab rat. He would not go about dealing with paper work or waiting periods like that. It was her own fault for not listening to the TAS as it would had sent her to the right area but clearly she did not go to the right area or he would not be dealing with her. Maybe it was Lhexs way of giving him a new toy. A new toy sounded so fun as he let a smile play along his lips for once as he thought of her as his new toy.

He had not smiled in such a long time and he knew it was not a happy cheerful smile a normal child would have. He knew it would look far more sinister or creepy like as he kept his unblinking eyes on the woman who he had no idea of her name yet. Other then in his head he would call her toy. Toy would work even if she did not like it.

He would wait for her answer and even if she did give him a real master name he would not care or even listen but more grab her by her wrist and dragging her to his own area. If she did have a master then he would deal with it later but he had made up his mind. He had a new toy.

[Dramiana Rosenthal]

“Mia,” answered the young woman, half-taken aback by the shock of the young lad speaking in a much deeper tone. Gawking at him, the young Symanestra gathered about her chains and blinked, appearing quite dumbfounded. Considering his voice and manner of eloquence, the young summoner thought it best to address him as ‘sir’ rather than ‘lad.’

“I…I have no Master, but the child of Abraxis and Dra-Salvia Noire am I…”
Noires. Weren’t those the shamed wizard family from a long time ago? Even someone as old as Vick might have heard of them in passing from his childhood days. That name…perhaps a Spiritist back in his day?

“Excuse me, but …are…are you ill? You look it, sir-“ Damiana began to stammer, backing away slowly as the child continued his scrutinizing stare. “There’s a cold pallor to you, I mean. Well, to be frank, sir, you look rather dead. But if you’re dead, you can’t talk, right? I mean, unless you’re one of those ghostly folk? But if you’re a ghost, you’ve done a masterful job at keeping yourself tangible.”

From there, the young, wild-looking child placed her arms behind her back so that her chains wouldn’t be so cumbersome. “Tangling is a nasty business…” added Mia. “You wouldn't happen to know where I can go to practice summoning, would you? I don't mean to bother you, but it would be terribly convenient.”

With that, the girl all but ran past him in a happy (albeit distracted) dance of movement, turning back around with a bright curtain of black hair and silver fetter. “I hear that everyone here is dead, but you look so very much alive! At least, that’s what my book said, but I thought it was a metaphor! It must be wonderful having dead friends, then they won’t make fun of my gaunt appearance!”

Patiently, she waited for him, whispering, "Can you go through walls, too? That would be marvelous!"

[Vick]

If he knew any type of harmful magic he would had used it on her long before now. Just the mere sight of her gave him a fit of rage deep in his soul for some reason that he could not place. His djed rushed to the surface of his body once more from the layers of his soul. The world of colors shifted once more around him as the world of auras came back to his mind. He did not need to open his eyes or even look with them for his being could now see things his naked eyes could not.

Her aura he saw a mix of white, purple and what looked like indigo mixing together but for some reason he did not trust her words and even her aura gave him the feeling of mistrust and lies. Yet what was she not telling him? Was it the lack of a master or that she wanted to go work on summoning magic? So many more questions laid in wait yet he did not even think of them as the aura left his mind as his tongue clicked along the roof of his mouth slowly. His unblinking eyes never leaving her body.

“Use your eyes child. I may be undead yet I am far from a ghost. As for you Mia if that is your real name, you are now going to work for me. Rather simple don’t you think? Besides if you don’t which you can refuse. I will just order the golems to kill you and your body will then be used for research or just another Nuit while you cease to to live.”

His voice did not break or even laugh as he said the words as he took a step closer to her. He was not joking as the little childs body just clicked his tongue quietly to himself almost even if he knew ‘Mia’ would hear it. He had no problem ending her life or letting another end her life. Even if she was telling him the truth on everything from her name to even if she had a master or not.

He then just stopped all sounds as he walked forward. If she did follow him then he would keep walking but if she did not then he would not but call forth a golem or another wizard to get rid of her. In the end his day would go about the same one way or the other but he really did want to keep his new toy alive which was her.

What was he going to do with her? That question was rather simple even to a outsider. Test subject. They were always in demand and his research made him need to use a test subject even if he could test the items on himself but when he did that he always was risking more then just his body but his mind as well for malediction objects could change a person in more then one way good or bad.

He at last stopped before a doorway, a wooden doorway that looked like any others down a hallway of the same type of doors but this one he did not even second guess as he turned the handle of bronze and pushed it inward walking in side. Once she was inside he would then close the door but the room that they would see was rather simple to say the least. It was a rather good size room, a simple 20 by 20 with a opening in the wall itself on the right side of where they were standing.

A simple bed laid in the far left corner of the room, a chair and table in the middle, a chest on the far side of the door way. All in all a very simple room. If she looked in the other room she would have found a bathroom of all things. A metal tub would lay in the center, a chamber pot to the far left walls and on the other walls would have simple wooden benches. Throughout the room and even in the building itself the lightening was pleasant on the eyes and came from along the edges of the ceiling that on closer look was a wire of sorts.

Books laid about around the chest and bed of the room but Vick paid them no mind as he walked inside clearly at home for it was his room. If one looked at them they would find they were in his handwriting. Some were from the year 310 Av and some were a bit newer but all were in his voice and his notes of research projects or magical information that he took in and wrote down that he felt was worth his time. Any book lover would find them as something to hold on to or even to want but for Vick he just found them as a everyday item.

“Drop anything on that table then we will get to work. You are going to stay as my pluser if anyone asks but you have no need to know what that means. Just know that you work for me and you will behave. You will work 20 hours a day and then get some sleep. You will be fed as I forgot you need to eat but you will be fed when I feed you.”

He almost forgot that food was called for but he did recall that he had to eat long ago. He just shook his head at that thought as he waited for her to put her items on the small table but he would then lead her elsewhere for them to get started on work. He never did tell her where she would sleep or what she would eat. Or what she was going to be doing and never once saying anything of her using magic. Yet maybe he would later. Maybe.

[Vick]

[Since the player left the thread it will be a npc that was used during the thread. Panna has agreed to this so the thread is not wasted]


The room was filled with the soft cool blue light that came from the D-wire that was a common sight in Sahova. Another common sight was the nuit child called Vick, the only nuit that kept using a childs body for the past 200 years however he was inside his lab once more working alone like always.

Vick was a wizard in Sahova and had been for many years however none of his works lasted off the island for people to take note of or at least he felt like that was the case. He knew a few types of magic but his main form of magic was a world magic called Malediction. It dealt with the dead in most cases taping into the djed of the bones to form new products however he could work with living bodies but he did his best not to.

A skull laid on his work table untouched by Vicks fingers and art. The skull itself was from a female Zith who he was told that was rather skilled in detection which the zith was known which helped the hunting skills they used. Vick was unsure how well her detection senses were however he knew he could tap into it using the skull which held the mind. The mind was the key to using for it would help the user understand what it meant to understand what it was like finding something or someone that was hidden or at least around.

The skull felt smooth under his fingers and that alone told him it was fresh. The fact that he worked with bones since 310 av also did help in understanding the age of the bones on a overall time frame. As his eyes kept looking at the top of the skull his little fingers moved to the iron pick that he had used so much over the years. It was always kept sharp for when Vick was done with it when he did a job he took a sharping stone to it to keep it in shape. However it did not cut the bone like butter and it would not until he used other means of magical ways yet for now it worked just fine for his jobs.

Malediction was rather easy on paper but it took such a long time really understanding everything about it. Even after so many years of working with the craft he felt like he did not even make a impact in the research world. What research could be gain from the dead one would ask? He did not know how to answer them however his products were a range of things from weapons to items that could aide one. Like the skull would have done with aiding someone with detection.

The pick felt so right in his fingers as he pressed it along the skull, his crafting could not be called skilled or even the best however it worked for what he needed it to. He could not crave wooden statues out of wood or stone however he could crave into bone and that is what he really needed to do.

It would have dangers however Vick was no longer worried of dangers from products. For he had a little worker who he had forgot the name of but it was the female he had just met not that long ago. She was a odd one however she would work fine as a pluser. Willingness had no meaning to Vick and neither would the island care of such a word when it came to a living person who showed no skill in anything.

Vick paid no mind to where she was at the time. Really he had no care for keeping her alive or dead for she was just a simple ugly human. All humans were ugly to him for he no longer saw them as people but as lab rats. It was humans that cast him out of his own home and made him stay on the island. It was humans that brought him here to the island on the boat ride so many years ago. How he hated humans.



The tip of the pick slowly moved along the top of the skull. The task was the hardest however you did not need to use brute force for then you would risk breaking either the tools or the bone and that would had been a waste. This step just took countless hours for he had to etch along the bone and form the first circle. Circles were rather common in malediction due to that was what it mainly was. The product had two circles, an outer and inner circle. In between the circles he would use sigils to help keep the magic stable then inside the inner circle was the key to the magic which would turn the djed into the end product.

Sadly he did not know much of the Zith so he could not do much overall off hand. His magic also dealt with knowing about the life of the person. If the person was a kind soul then he could not make much of a weapon to kill without a reason however he could make a item that could help someone find peace when working with people and helping the people find it more willing to follow the one with the item.

The gap of time slowly became foggy to him as the outer circle was done at last. The circle was a light indention. He could make it faster by painting the circles however if the circles were ever broken then the magic would turn off in plain terms. That is why he craved them inside the bone so they would last longer.

However he could still work with the product but he could not make it as pure as he wanted. It would just give basic uses at best but it was not the first time he could make a true malediction product. Then again he knew that few powerful products could be made when he was given random people without a background. That made it hard to make true products but also made the risk of things going wrong higher.

After he had worked on the outer circle he pushed the tip of the pick inside that circle doing the same motions to form the inner circle. Everything had djed from plants to people. Even when people died the djed was still locked away in the bones and it was Vicks job was to pull it out then to reshape it. The circles were the tools that acted like shovels digging into the pool of djed then he could twist and turn the raw djed into something more solid that he wanted.

After the inner circle was done he looked at it slowly. He would have blown air along it to remove the bone dust however he had an idea awhile back as he moved to the desk in the middle of the room. The drawers opening without a problem as he pulled out a glass tube. Slowly and with care he slowly tapped the dust off the skull into the little thin tube. He would save the bone dust however it would take many more products before he got any good amount of the dust to use for any ideas. However it was a goal to have and give him something to work with down the road.

He did not have many more steps to do. The circles were larger then normal and took a good amount of the skull up but that would give him more room to work with in the final steps. In between the circles he wanted enough space to draw sigils which would help keep things in a stable working manner or at least try to help. He always had a hard time with runes and sigils over the years however that did not stop him from using them in his work. He found they did help somewhat as he used them a few times on is items.

Glyping was rather easy in the end. It dealt with learning basic runes to form sigils which worked on many different building blocks. Once you learned the information then you could just keep working on it as the runes were different to each wizard however every wizard could tell what the runes meant if they knew glyping overall. Vicks runes were a simple X with lines over the top and bottom with a circle warping around looking like a hourglass overall. This hour glass figure warped around the skull filling in between the circles.

The insides dealt with a simple word that was craved into the bone. Detection. It was what the zith were good at overall just by being a zith but if he had any luck maybe this one would had been even better at it. The better they were at it then the better the item would have worked however even that could only go so far as his skills also would limit him to how powerful objects would turn out. He had only heard stories of how powerful they could become but one day he would match the power of gods.


His carving was done at last, his sense of time long gone as he took the dust once more into the tube slowly filling it. If he took a guess he would have filled the tube after ten products which was fine with him. He took the pick once more pushing it in his left thumb, the white ichor leaking slowly out of his dead veins, To turn the magic on he needed to use his own blood but as a nuit he had no blood like humans did. He did however have a acid like blood that worked just as fine as he pressed it on circle. No bright light or sounds came but this magic was not flashy as other types worked. He knew however that it worked as he took a simple thread and needle he kept on hand pushing the needle in his skin slowly patching up his thumb. Painful however his body did not heal like a humans did. Undead had its perks and downsides but he was use to burning his skin or sewing it to stop the bleeding. He had to cut into his own body a few times to remove metal or other objects.

His djed came from the depths of his soul looking at the object. The aura came into his mind but he saw nothing bad of the object par say however he was not going to test it out. He had that human he could let use then if that went well he would sell it. Even if it went bad he would still sell it and the money would go to paying off the lab he had owned.

He would normally add a chain to form a necklace however this one he felt like did not need one. He just took his paint tools dipping them into a black paint before slowly painting over the skull. He would normally just cover the marks but this time he painted all of it black which made it look so very odd to him. However maybe some teenager would want it or random person. It did not matter to him on who bought the item it just meant that someone would buy it.

After the paint dried he place the skull in a white cloth picking it up making sure he did not touch it himself. With that he left the lab looking for that odd little human to play with. Maybe she would enjoy the game he had in mind which mainly dealt with her testing out the magical object.

His little child body moved from room to room searching slowly for signs of the new pet. He would had asked Drainira however it had been some time since she was in sahova. She use to be a high level golem however she took a body and left after a mess. He had missed her but he would get over it as he stopped at last at his room. It was the same wooden door that looked alike on the others however since 310 AV this was his room. He knew where it was no matter what as he pushed the door open however the soft blue light that filled the room showed no signs of the human both in his room and in the bathroom.

However a note laid along the table, it was short but he knew the handwriting even if it had no name. It just told him “My office.” Yet no one would understand it unless they lived his own life. It was his master, Boss, and it meant that he was both in his room and odds are he knew where the new pet was.

The little fist knocked along the red door at last before opening it. Boss’s office was dated before Vick even knew. Little golems lined the walls ranging from small to large that came from when Boss was a child which was before the world was torn apart. Boss was sitting behind a large red wood desk with a smile on his face like always when Vick was near.

“You wanted to see me Master?”

Boss just laughed softly as he shook his head, “Now now no need for the Master bit Vick but yes. I wanted to let you know that human you found a few days ago is out of your hands. She got to near Qiao and well you know the rest.”

Vick did all to well, Qiao was a high ranking member of the island and knew that you could not be in three feet from him or else you would risk more then death. Even the undead feared him but Vick just had a soft smile on his face without even caring about the fate of the little human.

“Pity, I wanted to test out my new toy on them but I will just send it to the office for selling.”

“Without testing it Vick?”

“I know it will work but not as detailed. By the way how long has passed since I started work on this?”

“Always are a little child Vick when it comes to time but a few days. Don’t worry of the item, just leave it on my desk and I will take it for you. I need to head to the office as it is and well I will send a golem with your payment. Just try not to keep to many pets next time or keep them by.”

Vick just had to laugh at that as he did as he was told leaving the skull on his desk before leaving. He would go play with someone but who would be his next play toy? That was a question only time could answer in the end of things.

[Tarot]

Vick Skills: +2 Malediction +2 Carving +2 Intimidation +1 Auristics +1 Glyphing +1 Painting Lore: How annoying humans can be