Completed Storehouse Massacre

[Aranta]

There was so much commotion in the storehouse that Aranta could barely keep up with what was going on - one moment there were disembodied voices, the next there were corpses flying towards him; Arant realized after a few swipes that he could do nothing but try to keep them from hitting him, and he batted the corpses away, letting out a startled yowl when the decaying tongues were thrown, the one thrown at him bouncing off of his chest, leaving a thick patch of blood behind, clogging his nostrils even further. Aranta wanted to run - for perhaps the first time in his life, the Zith was well and truly afraid, but then he realized that he recognized one of the voices. It was Ferrin's, the squire who had been helping him learn to read, and who he had hunted with, and Aranta prayed to whatever god would listen that he was not dead, that he was not one of the disembodied voices floating around the room. "Ferrin!" he shouted, changing his course to the head for the voice he recognized. He tripped over one of the discarded corpses, stumbling to the ground and scraping some of the fur and skin from his knee. The Zith pushed himself to his feet, determined to keep going, and there was a sudden flash of light. To the Zith's sensitive eyes, it was enough to effectively blind him, keeping him from seeing the true form of the one who was tormenting them. He shrieked again in pain and indignation, a sound that had sent many a lesser creature running, before shielding his eyes and struggling forward, still trying to reach the one thing that was familiar in this place. Aranta had never had any experiences with ghosts before, and at the rate that this encounter was going, he would be more than glad to never meet another one. If he could just find his friend, then things wouldn't be so bad; it would not be the same as having a whole colony at his back, but it would be better than trying to brave this terrifying night on his own; Aranta was not so proud as to refuse to admit to himself that he was terrified, and that he needed help, needed the small comfort of having a companion with him to face the darkness.

[Jade Laken]

Jade heard her name called and instantly recognized the voice. Shimoje! He was up top with her after all. Grabbing her dagger from her boot she stabbed at the dead corpses who tried to attack her. Screaming had become a constant thing for the woman that night. At some point shortly before the animals left the dagger slipped from her grip and flew across the room. When something started grabbing at her again the woman freaked and tried to push it away until she recognized the feel of clothing. Stopping she heard Shim whispering her name while laying his head on her stomach. Panting still she gasped when the ghost woman appeared to her.

"Wait! How can you help us?" Jade asked.

Everything in her screamed to try and flee with Shimoje how on her heels, but her training from childhood would not give in. The Drykas well respected their dead, if there was a way that Jade could help. Then she would do just that, help no matter the cost.

"How can we stop them?" She called and covered her eyes when the bright light appeared.

The woman fought trying to open her eyes, but it was of no use. The light was too bright and the words the creature or person spoke only served to rattle her once more.

'Yes. Death.'

That was the last thing Jade would accept. Growling the woman stood when the light disappeared. Calling out to the woman and child once more she waited for them to appear again.

"I don't care what you have to do to me. Protect my friends," Jade said looking at them.

Possession crossed her mind, but she would not allow anyone to get hurt if it could be stopped. Stepping forward over several human corpses the blond raised her chin proudly.

[Ferrin Al'Mandrikan]

DATE, YEAR:
LOCATION:

With a sigh and shaking knees. Ferrin stood up abruptly and moaned. His chest acked and his chin throbbed with blood dripping down to his chest. The disfigured animals that were dead was now morphing and the spirits possessing those beasts through its limbs. First with its tongue. Ferrin had blocked the first throw of the tongue with his short broadsword. The tongue split and blood splattered over his face and Ferrin gagged at the aroma.

The limbs were next, and Ferrin stumbled as one of them struck at one of his legs pouring thick red liquid over it. The smell of decay lingered more on him. Ferrin couldn't breath in any more of what used to be fresh air. All that surrounded him was the rotten smell and decay. After all of the torture, it wasn't the end. The room was once a dark and musty. But, all of a sudden a bright light of a feel blueish white colour formed and nearly blinded Ferrin. Blocking the light with one of his arms raised above his eyes, he couldn't depict the form of the spirit.

It was still and quiet. But, Ferrin could recall a voice from earlier. Before this torment. It was very familiar and he had a flashback of teaching Aranta how to read and write just not to long ago. "Aranta?" Ferrin replied weakly as he walked from where he heard the voice echoe through the room. His legs were still buckling, but he can still walk and stand and all of that other good stuff. "Aranta- where, are you?" Asked Ferrin quizzically as he walked blindly with his arms out, but blade sheathed in its holster. Ferrin needed someone to be with, it was the fear of the fear that bothered him. The fear of being... Alone.

[Aladari Coolwater]

I sent a PM to Shimoje about this, but I thought everyone ought to know why the grading process is on hold. I was getting ready to grade this thread and had just a few questions first. Was this classified as a Guest Storyteller thread? From the response pattern and Shimoje's directions to the group, it looks like he was GSTing, but he also utilized his character (Shimoje), which I'm not certain is allowed. It very well may be allowed under special permissions, or this may be an unmodded quest where Shimoje simply led, but I wanted to check and make sure everything was good there. Secondly, is this spot a location on the linkmap, or one that was fleshed out in a development thread? It seems like it would be a fun location, but influential enough that it might need to be registered in the city, and I cannot find said registration. If, on the other hand, this was a quest that began because of a calendar event, ignore this question. Reflection knows what they're doing. I can give you lores on ghosts, but Spiritism as a magic requires the mage to manifest Soulmist, not just interact with the Ghosts, which did not occur for any character as far as I can tell from my brief run-down of the thread. Spiritism is also only taught through books and users to my knowledge, not simple trial and error like Auristics might be. So if there is an earlier thread where someone learned the basics or at least became aware of the process of Spiritism, I would appreciate a link to it so that I can award you the magic. Edit: Re-reading the Possession lore, I don't think Ghosts can possess the dead. It says things like "(Possession) allows them to enter the body of a living creature, overriding its controller and taking over for a while." and "Ghosts can possess anything that's alive, including animals." These statements lead me to believe that Ghosts cannot possess the dead, as they did the animal corpses in the thread. Once these things have been clarified, I will finish the grading process. Thanks, - Al