A way with death (pt 2)

by **Savis Maren** on January 29th, 2019, 9:50 pm

Savis Maren was more than just frustrated by the news of a monster possibly being the cause of the attack on Infinity's grounds. The implications of an intelligent predator on the prowl sent no short measure of panic, but the Nuit thanked her undead nature, which made pulling at the muscles to form expressions difficult, and their formation non-instinctive to begin with. It wouldn't do to have the Hunter, or worse yet, the ghost know the fear that trickled down her spine and shot through the fabric of her soul.

I'm no fighter... If the Wailer is as intelligent as this man implies, then it might know who lives in the manor. It might be smart enough to find us and end this wretched unlife of mine, she mused. The nuit truly feared for her unlife, not ready to surrender her mind, personality and memories to the machinations of reincarnation. Savis looked to Jomi, nodding in agreement when the ghost threw power from his soul and forced open the doors. The wood mashed into the sturdy walls, and Savis Maren offered an apologetic shrug at the bartender before she followed the ghost out of the Hunter's Guild.

Then, Jomi spoke, and even the fiery tempers of the ghost seemed to be muted and tamed by the implications spoken of at the Guild. Reason filled his words, and the Nuit nodded in agreement when he mentioned returning to Infinity Manor. Jomi mentioned arms, and while the nuit had no means of knowing exactly what sort of weapon a ghost could use, she didn't bother to ask. She had other things on her mind as the pair of them traveled up the peak of Zintia and towards Infinity Manor.

"Let's make this quick. We have no way of knowing if the beast is still-" the Nuit trailed off as her gaze fell to the bloodied grass that the Konti once languished on. There was a man dressed in the white robes that the Nuit recognized as Shinya, but his youthful features and nervous expression clued the Nuit into something else.

They left a youngling here. To stand guard? Perhaps while Jomi's getting his 'arms' I'll speak to this boy and see what's happened since we left.

"Did something happen?!" Savis Maren feigned, her voice suffused with a heavy worry as her silver eyes went wide with distress. The emotions were very much real, her outlet for the fear and nerves at last finding their release as the young Shinya narrowed his eyes at the sight of an undead.

"Do you live here? We've not been able to get a hold of the property owner and there's been a murder. We have some questions."

"Oh, Lady Craven has been out and about. She's so busy nowadays, preparing lessons and her goings on with the Dusk Tower. Surely you've heard of her?"

"Madeira Craven owns this place?" the Shinya responded, his features relaxing before he pressed on.

"She does, but I reside here and could certainly answer any questions you have, sir," she responded, her tone placating and her hands folded neatly behind her back. There was a tremor in her motions and Savis Maren wasn't ready to divulge anything of value to a 'green' Shinya clearly meant to stay on as a vigil.

"Hmm. I'm not the one you need to speak to. The rest of us went to the Twuele to dispose of the body. You're that Nuit woman. Savis, yes?" he asked. Savis Maren wasn't shocked to discover she was known. If anyone would know of the Nuit, it'd be a Shinya. Even a welp of this boy's experience would be aware of her presence. However, rather than being suspicious or shocked, he seemed merely there to observe and report, taking as little into his own hands as possible.

"I'll make my way to the Shinyama Pavillion, then," she answered in kind before releasing herself from the Shinya's company. When Jomi exited the manor with some sort of weapon in his transparent hands, Savis Maren cut him off before he could approach.

"The Shinya have already been here," she began, raising her hood while trying to move her features as little as possible. "They've taken the body to the Twuele. Let's proceed with haste to the Pavillion and go on with the notion of knowing nothing." A ploy formed within the nuit's thoughts as she fell into recollection.

A murder set on the grounds of Infinity Manor in the dead of morning. A missing Madeira is nothing new. The Spiritist is a busy woman and it'd be easy to provide an alibi for her. With the knowledge Jomi and I have acquired... we can be the ones asking questions. We can play the uninformed but wise. A suggestion that some monster infiltrated the city is already implied by that body... Providing knowledge to the Shinya and making ourselves to be useful is the reasonable path to follow here.

"Come, Jomi. We have everything we need to protect this home of ours," she reaffirmed, her lips curving into a smile.

We could even use this situation to our advantage, she mused as her short legs carried her in a shamble towards the Shinyama peak and its pavillion, where the Shinya lived and trained in service to Lhavit. With Shinyama being the neighbouring peak to the west, their pace was slow, but their progress steady until they could hear in the distance the grunts of martial combat, and the heavy breathing of disciplined, vigilant guardians honing their craft.

"Where should we begin?" she thought aloud, looking to Jomi before allowing her piercing silver eyes to wander the place in earnest inquistion.

by **Jomi** on February 7th, 2019, 5:10 am

Date 518 AV
"Speech"

"Let's make this quick. We have no way of knowing if the beast is still-"

Jomi paused in his steady march towards the manor, turning back to look at Savis as her words trailed off. The ghost followed her gaze to the black smear of dried blood that marred the grass in front of Infinity Manor. A young man, barely out of his teens, stood over where they had found the Konti woman's remains. The hems of his white acolyte robes were tinged pink by the remaining visceral as he paced the length of the crime scene nervously.

A pregnant pause hung in the air as Jomi watched the gears turn in the undead womans head. And when she finally opened her mouth her voice was high and thin with simulated shock.

"Did something happen?!"

The acolyte looked towards the sound of distress, only for them to narrow suspiciously at the sight of the undead. Jomi took the chance and dropped his materialization, allowing himself to fade into a column of mist. All but invisible in the mid day sun.

"Do you live here? We've not been able to get a hold of the property owner and there's been a murder. We have some questions."

Nah.

Jomi back away from the Nuit and the acolyte. Trusting the much more clever and learned Savis to dodge the questions from the prying stranger.

Slipping away the ghost entered the Manor through the wall and was imediently assaulted by a tsunami of thoughts and emotion. The young Architrix was scared and confused, having witnessed the murder and Jomi ditching it to investigate and then having all the strangers gathered within its property. And the structure was taking the opportunity to dump all that pent up emotion into the thread of consciousness that linked them.

Jomi's mists vibrated with the intensity of the emotional assault, but he didn't have the time to address it properly. Instead the ghost countered with gentle soothing thoughts and forced them back through the psychic link along with the promise to explain everything when he got back.

Infinity fell back into a sulking silence as the ghost moved through the richly coloured furniture towards the fireplace. Above the carved mahogany mantle the stuffed head of a snarling tiger looked down with shining glass eyes.

"Pardon me, Raj."

The ghost summoned a the latent energy in his soulcore. A wave of electricity washed up into his hands as Jomi moved them to brace under the tigers fuzzy chin. He directed the energies to push up against the pull of gravity to tilt the head away from the wall, allowing the ghost to reach behind and pull out a long silver dagger from its hiding place.

The ghost took a great unneeded breath as he balanced the flat of the blade in his hand. The star fire dagger was gifted to him by Leth and was virtually weightless, allowing for easy handling even for a ghost. Jomi hadn't a clue how to use it properly but just having it there was enough to sooth the ghost's nerves.

The blade was cradled in his soulmist as the ghost floated out of a window and towards the Nuit. He pulled in his mists as he moved, starting at his head he gathered the errant wisps back to his core. The mists around his began to take the shape of a long haired young man, his shape becoming clearer as the mists packed down, creating definition around his body. But before he'd even had the chance to open his mouth the Nuit had risen her hand in the universal sign of 'shut up'.

"The Shinya have already been here. They've taken the body to the Twuele. Let's proceed with haste to the Pavillion and go on with the notion of knowing nothing."

Jomi said nothing, instead he nodded in acknowledgement, thankful that at least one of them had a plan. Or at least enough of an idea on what's happening to pretend to.

The streets were bustling with the midday rush, but they parted for the undead as they approached. Jomi walked behind Savis, silently stressing about the interview to come. Dark lines etched themselves into his barly visable face and his soulmist coiled wildly around his frame as he focused his energy on organizing his thoughts.

"So Savis, what are you planning on telling the Shinya? I suppose it would do to get our stories straight."

The Pavillion loomed over the distance as the duo made their way to the neighbouring peak. The sounds of training weapons and grunts of exersion echoed off the grounds and greeted the two undead as they stepped onto the stone walkway.

"Where should we begin?"

Jomi couldn't tell if the Nuit was being fllipiant or serious. The impassive default expression the corpse wore gave nothing away. A useful asset if they intend to lie to the Shinya, Jomi mused.

"I suppose we find out whose in charge."

Jomi vanished from Savi's side only to reappear deeper into the yard and directly in front of a young Acolyte as the teen drew his back his arm from a training dummy. The teen gave a shout of fright, pinweeling hard as his arm automatically redirected the force of the punch away from the ghost.

"You don't look important, take me to someone who is."

Boxcode by Allassanachassanya

by **Savis Maren** on February 13th, 2019, 9:11 am

Showing one's hand is often the sign of a fool or a novice. The one who keeps their secrets the longest is the one who will win out in the end, the Nuit reflected. Thoughts were kept veiled, her inexpressive features making it easier to hide the torrent of fire that dwelled within her soul. Gone was the doubt, and gone was the hesitance of seeing this fiasco through. Once given an avenue to success, the Nuit sought to follow it closely and prove to herself that she was fierce, indeed.

Even Jomi seemed to understand the gravity of the Nuit's words. At the very least, he looked the part. He nodded in agreement, keeping his mouth shut as the pair continued their ascent. The sun passed well into its path in the sky, Syna's light brandishing its warm glow through the peaks of Lhavit. The acolytes were in the midst of combat, some with their arms limp at their sides, holding onto poles or wooden weapons as they dueled one another for supremacy. Savis Maren had never seen Projection used in this way, to create distance between fighters and she allowed herself to take a moment of distraction.

"Hold on," she said, allowing her vivid silver eyes to peer into the distance. She approached, and Jomi's words were heard at a distance as she made her way so that the faces of the Shinya younglings were in her view. Then, she pulled at the depths of her soul, djed rising to her eyes and protruding from her. Two lashes of djed found their mark, and Savis Maren watched as each of the Acolytes unleashed the inner djed in starkly different ways.

The one on the left, whose physical arms are in motion... His aura is in motion, his power shifting from limb to limb, she noted. The flared of djed as they shifted with each of his movements was one thing, but the end result... he moved with speed quite contrary to his size and shape. He sprung forth with the grace of a dancer, dodging the pole as it slammed down on the ground before making a lunge and connecting with his opponent. The Nuit was astounded, seeing the movement of djed within the otherwise normal looking mage and then... it happened. His aura convulsed, and he fell to his knees beside his downed opponent, the pole crashing to the ground.

"A stalemate," she said, curious to venture into what had just happened, but even the precious seconds it took for the short exchange to ensue was more than they could afford to waste.

"So Savis, what are you planning on telling the Shinya? I suppose it would do to get our stories right," Jomi called out, and the Nuit allowed her connection to aura to flicker into nothingness before she turned to face Jomi again. The ghost seemed out of his element, no longer in a position where he could simply unleash chaos and have the result end in his favor.

"Quiet," she said, her voice a hiss that cut through the thick air. She stepped forward, allowing djed to rise within her arm. She cradled her astral body before she raised the limb from its physical bonds. She lashed forth with her astral hand, the physical falling limp at her side. She covered the ghost's mouth with her spectral fingers, finding that with this limb, she could touch him. With more and more information coming to her, she privately filed that tidbit for future reference before she said,

"You're Madeira's oh-so-devoted servant," she said, her tone clearly sarcastic in nature. Whatever ghost and Spiritist were to each other, Rostam seemed to wish to contradict in their earlier meeting. The nuit didn't know, or want to know, what was really the score there.

"You heard a scream. You saw a body. You're new to town, and you couldn't find the people to report to, and you went out to find your much cleverer housemate, the illustrious Savis Maren. You found her, and you returned home. This isn't my story to keep in check. I'll pretend to be ignorant of the details, so that when the Shinya from the house comes back, our story checks out. Then, we turn the conversation over to the next leaf, and suggest that some monster might be on the loose and that we feel threatened by its proximity," she told the ghost, keeping her voice low and straying closer. The hiss in her tone was nearly silibant, fully intent on making it as difficult for a passerby to understand her as possible.

Then, when she finished answering Jomi, the ghost sprang off and began to torment a young soul. Two older acolytes were in the process of carrying off the combatants of earlier, one of which (Savis couldn't remember by their appearance) seemed to be foaming at the mouth. Suspecting a case of overgiving, the Nuit paid it little mind as she found the spasming Acolyte that was unlucky enough to find Jomi's ire.

"What was that for?!" the acolyte answered, clearly both in shock and terror of the ghost's rude intrusion on his otherwise peaceful day. The Acolyte shook his head,

"Fuck off, ghost dude. Can't you see I'm busy? The pavillion is full of lazy-ass Acolytes that can help you," he added, his fists clenched before the Nuit cut in. With her projected limb still pulled out of her body, she reached forth and grabbed Jomi by the scruff of his neck, pulling him back like a dog let off of his leash. She let out a low, but loud click of her tongue, using the ghost's rudeness and punishing him for it before she said,

"That's enough out of you, ghost. Your mistress insists on the two of us spending some time together, but may Zintila's wrath consume you if you lash out like that again!" she shouted, allowing her countenance to turn to embarrassment before she said,

"I'm sorry. He never learned his manners. I'd like to ask for your help, instead." The Nuit took to a placating smile, her lips curved just enough to give a semblance of pity for he Acolyte's hardships.

"Yeah? What do you want, then? I said I'm-"

"Just a moment of your time. We were referred here by a comrade of yours. Who could we talk to if we wanted to report an incident?" The Nuit kept her question brief, cutting off the acolyte whose answers only seemed to keep him farther and farther from his goal of peace.

"Talk to Kagaya Ona. She's a Devoted. Or one of the Protectors. Really, anyone that isn't an Acolyte."

"And how can we tell if they're an acolyte?"

"We have a uniform. Protectors have a black sash with white stripes. Kagaya would have a dark blue robe. But really, just find anyone. You'll figure it out," he added, clearly affronted by the confrontational treatment.

The Nuit nodded in acknowledgement and began to turn, pulling at Jomi to follow her with her projected limb. the ghost was light, and unless he actively combated the action, she'd seek to pry him away and bring him close enough to tell him,

"You need to stop. You're only hampering our efforts, which require a much lighter touch," she said, seething at the incessant need to clean up after the ghost's outbursts. The Nuit allowed her gaze to branch out, burying her astral arm into the corporeal flesh, at last ceasing her manipulation of the astral body as she sought to employ the entirety of her focus on searching for a suitable person to speak to.