Signs in the Mist: Part I : Team B.E.D.Z.

[Zenai]

OOC@ Darik: Remind me to stab you and/or pummeled you up but not beyond the point of death. I suppose we would need to wait for the Turtle to come and respond for the craven?

Zenai’s conclusion of his newfound friends was that Eridanus was a tolerable fellow and good with the two long swords he had, if taken at face value, while Darik was just a little petcher who needed to be high-fived for his galls…in the face…with a chair. Zenai would need to take note to avoid Darik at all times if possible and to watch out his hands, his dirty street urchin hands. At the thought, Zenai checked his pockets just in case the Darik-thief took anything from him. Nothing…yet. Bob chimed on his opinion on Darik and Zenai concluded that Darik is better off being used rather than being friends with. Why do such people exist anyway? In Zenai’s opinion, they should be locked away and to do manual labor for the rest of their lives. On the other hand, Eridanus has proven himself a potential good ally with some sense of honor and non-jerkiness. One of the rare few kinds of people in Sunberth and it would be wise to stay in contact. A plus was that he can fight unlike Darik who seem to only good for running away and stabbing rats; a liability in a team. Finally, there was Bob. What is there else to say about him other than he is Zenai’s friend. Zenai would probably need to redefine the term “friends” later on since now isn’t the time for it. Still, Bob adds in another advice and it seems he has to kill or disable the possessed one then avoiding getting possessed yourself.

Darik called for them to stop and for a moment, Zenai thought his thoughtless conversation has alerted the craven to their whereabouts. Petch, he was a fool. Such a Fish in such a dangerous city which only be made more dangerous with the presence of craven ghosts. He needs to take more care about himself. Foolishness only begets death. It was in a trash can; a good place to hide in and spring an ambush. Zenai got ready for the inevitable and drew one of his talon swords slowly from its scabbard. No need to alert that craven ghost that they knew it was there and was about to spring their own surprise attack. They all got tense when Darik approached the trash can with his knife drawn. Seemingly tired of the suspense, Darik quickly opened the trash can and stabbed whatever was in there. To his relief, it was only a dog which yelped when it was being stabbed at. He would rather stab a dog rather than get possessed by a craven ghost. Zenai felt a bit of sympathy for the dog and apparently, Bob as well. Zenai wondered for a moment if Bob cared for animals more than people. He dismissed the thought; there was no time for musing and wondering since there were out in a dangerous territory.

They kept going; letting Darik let them while Zenai and the others followed from a respectable distance as he trusted Bob more than the thief-boy. This precaution proved itself worthwhile when Darik again heard more rustling and went off to confront it. Zenai decided there and then that Darik was a moron and often blinded by his own ego and arrogance. The boy was going straight for a craven. A craven! How daft could the boy be? Zenai fought down his conscience, this was a matter of survival and the little petcher does deserve it for some crime that Zenai wouldn’t know Darik has committed. Bob nudged him and said something about old times. He knew what he meant and gone into hiding where Bob wanted him to. A typical ambush so when Darik comes running back, they could jump the craven and kill it. Zenai was surprised that he even remembered such things but he was glad of it anyway. Ambushes and surprise attacks were frown upon in the knighthood but Bob had opened his eyes to such things. It made survival and living a lot easier.

Zenai walked softly and drew his other talon sword. He hid behind some crates that were stacked. His hiding spot would allow him to stand but still hid himself from the craven. He peeked out of his ambush spot, taking care not to be seen by the craven, and saw Darik was still on his way to being bait. He hopes the street urchin does what is expect of him i.e. running like a scared little boy while the men comes out to put an end to the craven. It was all in good planning but plans hardly go without a hitch. They would probably need to run away from the craven-ghost itself when they were done “disabling” its host’s body. Hopefully, Zenai could run faster than Darik so the boy is more likely to get possessed than Zenai or the others. Then Zenai would have a reason to beat Darik’s body into a pulp. Darik would feel the pain later on, of course but it was all for the best. It wasn’t personal but some terrible things must be done in the name of the greater good. Zenai was choosing the lesser evil i.e. not killing Darik so the boy should be grateful for Zenai’s mercy.

[Eridanus]

OOCNah Turtle said we could control the mooks on the way to the blood pits.

Eri replied, "That's exactly the plan," when Bob said to run from the actual ghosts but to beat down any possessed beings. He was thinking the exact same thing, for his blades could cut through flesh but not soulmist. Honestly, he'd rather run from the possessed being, for cutting the possessed being down would undoubtedly release the ghost who could do all sorts of ghostly things that flesh-and-blood mortals couldn't. Eri liked to keep things predictable, and at least he knew what the ghost would be capable of if it were stuck inside a mortal shell. Suddenly, Darik ran to a side and the group heard a large yelp as he stabbed at something inside the bin. Tensions had been running high and Eri fidgeted, ready to run towards the bin to help attack the being inside the bin or to run away should Bob decide that the best survival plan for the group was to escape and let Darik be the food for whatever monster hidden in the can. It seemed to be a false alarm, for Darik seemed disappointed and resumed his route. Bob, on the other hand, suddenly became agitated and he ran to the can, seemingly studying the contents. After a while, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and they continued on, the drama of the situation fading. As they advanced further forward in the mist, they heard a faint rustling but Darik seemed to be convinced that this would be another false alarm. A blur silhouette was beginning to form at the side of the pavement, and Eri quickly fed djed into his eyes, focusing his senses on the figure. There was something... unnatural about the figure's aura, for it emanated a normal aura like most humans, but there was an additional off-white aura that glowed. He continued to stare at it as they walked closer, the details of the strange aura becoming clearer to him as they decreased the distance. A memory flashed in his mind, and Eri quickly shut off the djed powering his magical sight, convinced that he already knew what he needed to know. He remembered the times in Avanthal when he was taught by a Spiritist, and he remembered the properties of the very first lump of soulmist he made. It was off-white in colour, smooth in texture and emanated a weak unearthly glow. The aura that the figure was giving out on top of its normal aura proved to be too similar to the properties of soulmist, and Eri was convinced that someone got possessed. As he came to this realization, Bob tapped him on his shoulder and told him to follow him and Zenai, who apparently had some sort of plan. As Eri followed them to the side, he took up his positions exactly as Bob instructed, and he whispered his findings to the two of them.

[Darik]

oocWhy Zenai, you and Darik are such good friends!

There is this stupid song that says everyone is ready to shake your hand and pat your back when you’re on top of a mountain, but when you fall back down you will find out who your true friends are. Darik didn’t fail off a mountain, but I am perfectly sure it meant mountain metaphorically. Darik had fallen off a metaphoric mountain because a craven had approached and all of his subordinates had left. If he looked around he would see no one around him. That meant he had no friends. You know what, I hate that song lyrics, it’s untrue! Darik has friends….they are just invisible. Ya…they are just invisible people that just talk to him constantly and aren’t visible to other people. The Craven let out another moan and Darik finally was fed up with it. He turned his head around and shouted to his group to get his point across. ”Whoever is moaning shut the petch up! It’s distracting me!” Only problem was, there was nothing behind him. ”Hahaha guys funny joke, now were are you?” Still they weren’t in sight. Darik became even less certain. ”guys?”” Still no answer came. Darik turned around and then saw were the moaning was coming from. A Craven less than five feet away was making those dastardly sounds. ”Nice Craven, good Craven. You don’t want to attack Darik he’s your friend.” The Craven obviously didn’t believe him. It lunged faster than Darik would have thought, it must be getting used to its new body. As it’s claws extended to slice Darik’s unprotected flesh, he took a quick sidestep. He really should have ducked, but he made the right move. The Craven sailed right pass him. The claws must make it hard to change motion in midmove. Or did they? The Craven could be tricking Darik into making a stupid mistake but he wouldn’t know that. As it lined up again, Darik reached down and picked up the seat of a chair. The legs or head wasn’t attacked so it could serve as a makeshift shield. ”Craven, Craven!” Darik held the shield to the side trying to bait the Craven to attack it. It ran straight towards it, and Darik couldn’t resist his glee. ”Oley!” He sidestepped again and stopped holding his shield to the side. Only problem was, the Craven could actually change direction. When it was close it turned and tried to stick those claws into Darik. Luckily, the position of the shield happened to be in the spot were the Craven attacked. Good thing ghosts weren’t smart, but then again anything is stupid compared to Darik. Darik stared in its bloodthirsty eyes as it tried to pull its claws out of the wood. ”You know, your kind of cute. I think you would make a wonderful pet.”He racked it with his knee, trying to disable it. Obviously the Craven wasn’t a man, because it didn’t crumble to the ground. It finally got its claws out and stumbled back a few steps. Darik advanced and was about to smash the shield over its head. Before he did it though, he flipped it in the air for extra coolness. His plan was then to catch it and smash it. Problem was, he threw it a bit too far back. It went about ten feet behind him and clattered against the wall. Maybe he shouldn’t try to be a master in a skill he had just tried…. The Craven knowing Darik had failed, smirked. Darik couldn’t really tell, because its face was a bit deformed but he did see its eyes twinkle with bloodlust. ”You didn’t like my pet comment did you? Darik took a few steps back and turned around and ran. His direction had changed randomly in the fight and now he was running towards Bob Eri, and Zenai. He didn’t know he was heading that way though, he was just trying to save himself.

[Bob Barton]

Bob gave a sigh hearing what Eridanus found out about the Craven. "Maybe it would be better to let the Craven kill Darik now instead of later along with the rest of us?" Bob asked Eridanus and Zenai before his friend made his way to his own spot because at the rate their "leader" was shouting out loud, the Craven will not even need to go through the trouble of looking for all of them because Darik will be telling them exactly where the team was in the Den. "Lets just leave him here and go to the Blood Pits on our own. Darik will get the Craven all chasing him while we make it to our destination without interruptions" Bob said with a smile letting Eridanus know that he really was serious about not caring with what would happen to Darik. Fortunately for Darik or unfortunately for the rest of the group depending on who looks at it, Bob thought of this too late already but if the Craven did not hurt the stupid boy Bob is going to. Actually there was nothing stopping him from doing it now. Bob dropped his sword and took out the whip he brought with him. He might not be that skilled at it but when he did not have to care about his targets, he did not have to be.

The best part of this impulsive idea was that the whip had a good range so Bob would not have to get close to the Craven to attack. That will be all on Zenai and "Eridanus, you got this" when they fought. Hopefully Zenai would know when to spring his attack because for Bob the idea was easy. Right after Eridanus who should get the proper timing because Bob will tell him when and that time is "now!" giving a push in case he did not hear the whisper right when Darik turned around and was about to run past them after he had failed fighting off the Craven as everyone expected. At least he made proper bait to lead the Craven where they wanted it eventhough he was not in on the plan. Bob planned this much at least. As a fellow coward he guessed what Darik might do once he got into trouble because it will be exactly the same. Back to where he came from because at least instinctively he would know he was safe because he was at least able to get that far.

"Fight, fight, fight!" Bob will say to get his team to act and remind Darik that he was not alone. Whether or not Darik heard this which will only make it sweeter when he got what he deserved, Bob will stretch his arm straight at Darik so that the whip will whip the boy into fighting shape like the rest of them once it beat into his skin. That was when Bob started getting a little bit greedy. He circled his arm around in circles to spread the whip around to pick up speed before it went wider to his Darik and the Craven both at the same time but Bob forgot to take into account that the street they were in is pretty crammed and narrow. It slapped on the wall taking in most of the force before it limped over to Darik and the Craven.

That was a pretty big fail but hopefully Zenai and Eridanus can do a better job. "Take him from the sides boys" and give Bob some room to attack without interference. Everytime Bob saw that he had a clear way straight to the Craven he would shoot the whip right at it. That is only if the fight went as well as Bob hoped that it would be. If not then he will just he be shooting the whip randomly in fear at whatever moves while trying to find his sword again.

[Zenai]

Zenai observed, from his hiding spot, Darik as he did his dance of death with the Craven. Eventually, the boy was outmatched and did what he was supposed to do; running. The street urchin ran pass where the rest were hiding in ambush. Bob gave the signal and all of them sprang and engaged the Craven. The Craven would have been surprised and had to stop dead in its tracks when two armed men and a nasty midget came jumping out. Of course, Bob had taken the important position of “leader” for this fight anyway and like any leader, he would basically tell Eridanus and Zenai to “fight harder” but he gave some other variations as well.

The Craven had recovered from its initial shock to hiss and growl at ambush party and lashed out with its claws, taking opportune moments to slash at its assailants. Zenai batted away at the Craven’s claws and arms but the creature was quick and threw a flurry of scratches to defend itself. Luckily, the Craven was dealing with two armed men each with two swords. The Craven managed to hit Zenai but the Tagger had his armor on that would have protected him from the Craven’s clawed attacks. He still needs to be aware of any other tricks the Craven had.

Zenai saw an opportunity and doubled his efforts; firing a salvo of slashes and thrusts against the Craven. It was difficult for the Craven to deal with four weapons at once and the window of opportunity opened up, Zenai went for the Craven’s legs and cut at it. The Craven roared in pain as Zenai’s talon swords made a deep gash across its left leg. The horrible creature would have been on its knees and this would allow them to gain an upper hand and finish the sickly creature off.

[Eridanus]

Bob offered to leave the boy behind, and Eri found the idea pretty attractive. It would actually be a great plan if what they sought lay nearby. However, they were nowhere near their objective and having their bait die so quickly would not be to their advantage as there was sure to be more craven on the way besides this one, and so he communicated this to Bob. Darik was a form of insurance for the group, and he did not want to waste this 'Get Out of Jail Free' card so quickly. They had to keep him alive a little longer than this.

The midget seemed to agree, for he began to prepare to attack. The shouts from the street urchin began to increase in volume, and Eri took that to mean that somehow the boy was running towards them. He truly had a great sense of direction if he was still able to tell front from back in this heavy mists. His heart pounded quickly in excitement as he prepared himself to ambush the Craven who would surely be approaching their hidden spot, and when Zenai leaped out, Bob gave him a push from behind. Eri took the hint and he quickly leaped out into the open streets, began chanting an incantation in a low harsh tone that would redirect the djed streams to his lower torso.

Eri wildly looked around, trying to find his target while he felt the strength slowly draining from his upper torso, his legs quickly gaining the stamina and stability that it did not had before. The Ethaefal began to feel both excitement and fear, the adrenaline from battle pumping into him, and before long his gaze quickly settled on a monstrous, vaguely humanoid figure with claws for hands. Darik was no where in sight, probably because he might have overdid the whole running for his life thing, but also because of the limited visibility the fog offered.

He could still see enough to see Bob lash a whip towards the Craven, and Zenai who unleashed the fury of his double talon swords on the abomination. He finally felt his djed streams stabilize momentarily, which signified that his flux spell had finished casting, and he bounded forward quickly, unleashing a powerful kick on the creature with his augmented strength. The Craven had been batting away Zenai's attacks and so did not have time to react to the Ethaefal, and the supernaturally powered kick slammed the abomination to the side, the figure trying to pick itself up in surprise.

Eri nodded to Zenai, and the two of them encircled the Craven, intending to catch in in a pincer attack. As he bounded into position, he drew both his blades, the metal shrieking in the night with a satisfying screech as the blades were released from their sheaths, and he waited for Zenai's attacks, lunging forward with his own strikes. He followed his friend's timing, forcing the Craven to defend against four blades from opposite directions at the same time, and the two of them soon inched towards to the Craven as it began to give up its zone of defence.

Eri's sword thrusts were weaker due to his redirected djed streams, and the Craven seemed to guess that, causing it to dedicate more of its attacks towards the Ethaefal in the hope of overwhelming him and pushing him back. Eri parried a powerful claw attack, and he felt his arms straining as he tried to block off the strong monster. The Ethaefal quickly responded, utilizing his flexibility by releasing a quick snap kick at the claw, and the augmented strength was enough to counter the monster's grip. By then Zenai was beginning to increase his speed of attacks, and the Craven had to change the focus of its attention.

It was clear that the monster was beginning to tire from the unending onslaught, with Zenai attacking while Eri rested, and Eri pushing the offensive while the ex knight played defence. Soon, the half-Inarta landed a slash on the Craven's legs, causing it to kneel down temporarily, not because of the pain for it was a possessed creature, but because of the sudden impact. Eri leaped forward quickly, his enhanced speed allowing him to react as quickly as he thought, and he seized the opportunity to rend a large gash into the creature's torso with one sword, using the other to stab through its guts. He finished with another powerful kick that also acted as a stomp, and the creature was involuntarily pushed to the ground, allowing Eri to push his sword in deeper until its steel tip lodged in the ground, essentially pinning the monster to the floor. He would then quickly drive his other sword into another part of the monster's body, turning it into a sort of pincushion giving Zenai time to approach.

He knew that the human would take longer due to him wearing armour that weighed him down, as well as lacking the augmented speed that the use of flux granted Eri, and his assault should allow Zenai time to reach the Craven and decapitate it. If Zenai did not do so Eri would give another kick while pulling a sword out to do the job himself.

Possessed or not, there was no time and every second they spent out here was a second where the other Craven could find them. There was more at stake to them dying if they failed, it meant that the rest of the town would share a similar fate as them. He would not really mourn for the majority of the scum in the city, but he knew that somewhere there existed innocents who did not deserve such a fate, and this strengthened his resolve. Sacrifices had to be made for the greater good, and by virtue of statistics it was highly likely that the poor guy possessed was probably of the scum anyway. That thought made him feel slightly better.

[Eridanus]

After their short fiasco with the Craven, the group proceeded onwards to the Blood Pits. They were soon reaching the place, and Eri realized that the mist actually made places seem much further than they were, as well as making the journey felt longer than it should be. They had lost their bait - the lad that Bob had advised Zenai against making friends with - and it seemed that he was nowhere to be found after running away from that Craven. They had dispatched it finally, and maybe spent a couple of short chimes wandering around - within sight of each other of course - trying to find Darik but to no avail. They could have shouted, but it would bring Darik along with possibly a whole bunch of other blood-thirsty beings and so it was sound not to do it.

Bob had first told the group to stop 'wasting their time on a coward' and to just go straight for the prize, and Eri was bound to agree. With the fog clouding up their vision searching for Darik was like searching for a needle in a haystack, except with one's eyes closed. They were nearing the place anyway, and if they were destined for confrontation they would have to battle their way to whatever it was they needed to take from this place. A bait would only be useful on their way there, and so now that they had arrived at their destination there was no real need for a bait.

The group approached the Blood Pits, an unnatural crater in the middle of poorly built buildings and Eri suddenly felt a chilling cold. He quickly halted the group, and he looked around, wondering if he should tap into Auristics again. He had not felt this... shiver for quite a while since he arrived at Sunberth, and it brought back memories of his duties in Avanthal with Jared. He had felt the same chill when he saw the ghost earlier that gave them this suicidal quest, but he had attributed it to the wet vapours of the mist around them. He had been distracted then as well.

Eri paid more attention now as the difference was greater and he was not distracted. One moment he was just walking, and next moment it was as if he plunged into an icy pool. There might be something waiting for them further in, and it would be foolish to just stride in without knowing what was happening. They had no power against beings of pure soulmist expression and cannot afford to engage in an open confrontation with one.

Bob and Zenai might have begun to grumble, but Eri placed a finger on his lips hoping that they would trust him on this, and he scanned the corners of the blood pits again, remembering his lessons from Jared and trying to rely on his old instincts to bring his gaze to the correct spot.

After another few more seconds of scanning, he finally found his gaze drawn to a single spot. It was like the mist was more concentrated there, and as the ethaefal continued to eyeball the spot, he could vaguely make out a shape. He felt a strain in his body as his curiosity unwittingly tapped his djed to further clarify his vision, and with the combination of his spiritism and auristics experience he could barely make out the shape of an old-looking being sitting quite regally with a shimmering spear at his side. Eri observed that the spear seemed to be made out of a similar material to that of the previous ghost's hammer, and it was quite confusing to look at the ghost, for his auristics and spiritism knowledge was telling him different, conflicting things about them.

The ethaefal realized that he had been unknowingly consuming his djed, and he quickly shook his head, disabling his magical sight to avoid tiring him unnecessarily and he looked at the spot again. It was clearer, perhaps to him more than the others now that he had an idea of what to look out for, and it was evident that it was a ghost. With a shock Eri realized that the mist screwed up their perception of distance and that they were really closer to the blood pits than they thought they were.

What was even worse was that this meant that the ghost was even closer to them than Eri thought, and he cursed silently under his breath, for it would be easy for the ghost to identify them now that the mist was beginning to clear up at this area to reveal him and his party. It would be pretty bad for them if it turned out to be one of the Craven.

[Bob Barton]

Stupid Darik. He just ran too fast. Before Bob's whip could reach his target Darik was already down the street and lost in the mist. It seems that Bob could not whip Darik into fighting shape like he initially planned after all and as for the rest of the group when he did his second swing? It missed the fast moving Eridanus, smacked into the Craven's face which did nothing but annoy it but at least it hit Zenai in the rear. Bob who wanted to take his rightful place as leader now that their bait is gone acted like it was according to plan telling Zenai that "that pain pales in comparison to a possessed man!" but being caught up in the fight and the armour catching whatever remained of the hit from earlier would allow Zenai to ignore the whip entirely as it did not exist. Zenai and Eridanus were doing a good job against the Craven but it left Bob with nothing much to do and he still had some frustration to vent out especially since Darik is gone. In case they did not hear earlier, Bob called over to them again to "get to the sides and give me some room!" but it looked like they are still too busy to listen to him. "Nevermind, I will just wait..."

It was not much for Bob to do or to affect the Craven but it should be good enough to help a little bit. Bob watched the way Zenai and Eridanus were fighting with the two always attacking together so that the Craven would not be able to defend from them all. Once Bob got the pattern that the united attacks is normally led by Zenai first, he kept his eye on his friend and his weapon lifting up his whip in preparation as Zenai started to use his sword. Then when Zenai and Eridanus stopped to prepare for their next strikes, Bob took the chance with his own whip sending it straight forward at the Craven through the gap of timing and his fellows. Bob was neither strong nor skilled enough to make sure that the whip would actually cause damage but it was good enough to keep the Craven from launching any proper attack of his own especially when Bob made it a point to aim for the head so that it would be less likely to his his allies. Even missing a few times it was still able to keep the threat of getting hit always on the Craven's mind.

Then finally, Eridanus got the Craven down and paused to wait for Zenai? "What are you doing? Take him out!" because possessed or not they had no time or means to exorcise the ghost. Not willing to wait for them to act, Bob decided to force them to act and turned his waist to get his whip as much to the side as possible. Then he spun causing the whip to fully expand and head towards the only targets still standing up which is Eridanus and Zenai hopefully whipping them at the bottom. Once Bob felt the two hits he would shout again for at least one of them to "go!" It ended with the Craven getting decapitated but they might have taken an equal loss with Darik. "at least he did his part" he mentioned when it was suggested that they look for him because "we owe him that much..." But after a while of wasting time and not knowing when the next Craven would come for another one of them Bob called the pair back and said "Darik is just a pussy which is lucky to be on the other side of the cage in the kennels because he will not worth the money." Eridanus was just too nice a person to describe what Bob said in a better way but the message "let's go!" was clear.

It would seem that Eridanus did not receive the message that Darik was nothing but bait and whoever was in the front would take his place but Bob decided to not correct Eridanus seeing that the ethaefal is a better candidate in the risk part than he was. Just in case Zenai thought to grumble and make Eridanus change his mind, Bob elbowed his friend's side again to show his smiling face with his finger to his lips just like Eridanus. As always since Zenai had been following him, the halfblood would know exactly what Bob had wanted but Bob himself was unsure if Zenai would follow through. Unlike Darik who he knew no one owed any loyalty to, Bob recalled that Zenai arrived with Eridanus hinting some prior meeting. As to what their relationship was Bob could only hope that his with Zenai was better and after Eridanus continued on he would quietly tell Zenai that "just listen to me buddy and we might get through this just like every other day we had in Syliras. You trust me don't you unless you are the only one left with me then I wouldn't hold it against you."

Then Eridanus stopped. "At least he is smarter than Darik..." Bob mumbled taking out his sword this time since with less people than they had before he would be more confident relying on something he had been using for a long time. Then he moved towards Eridanus. The man he still could not tell as an asset to preserve or another Darik to be used and thrown away asking "what did you find there? It better not be another one of those shaggy dogs." It might be deemed as an insult but Bob liked to use his insults to determine if someone was competent or not. Whatever Eridanus did now would most probably be what Bob will use as a justification for the manner of future dealings with the ethaefal.

[Archelon]

@Eridanus, Bob, and Zenai

From the haze of the mists a ghost of white appeared, a spear of soulmist in his hand, and seeming weary of the fight. The bearded spirit looked at the small dwarf pondering for a second... "You You have the latent power that is needed here. So does the horned one. Please... please help me get the key to the temple. I beg you." "I am already getting the key for the lady who is getting me some, and you are no lady" shouted the dwarven midget, "Latent...latent?!? I'll have you know that this little guy packs more than six!" "Lucerne... did you see lucerne?" The old ghost looked in the distance, "No, you are latent, I can tell someone has messed with your power. Someone has altered your memories. I can... I can if you let me help... Did Lucerne send you? Do you truly have no idea of what Magic is?" The dwarf stamped his foot irritably. "Magic is illogical… It doesn’t exist, I blame the bratty god known as Clyde who has Sullin me, though if the lass you speak of name is Lucerne I know where I am going to lay when I am dead. Do you know her?" The two would look down at their feet to see the ghosts words were true, a small tendril of it's soulmist had pierced through their armor and their clothing into their bodies legs. The ghost could have possessed them off the bat, but perhaps there was a sense of fear that if it did, it would not be able to help gain back the key. The Ethfael was naturally wary of allowing possession, for unlike Jared he had not exhibited the ideal traits that spiritists should have that would allow them to master graceful possession. It was possible that it could be a craven trying to trick him into gaining control of his body to take down his allies, but the ghost was speaking the truth it could be a great boon to them all if Bob's 'latent power' was activated. The ghost and Bob seemed to be talking about something they both know about, and Eri had to make a calculated risk based on the idea that the ghost was most likely not a craven. His experience in Avanthal granted him the tiny, but at least still present, confidence he needed to at least resist the ghost, but not forcefully eject it, in his body should the ghost prove to be lying, and so he agreed to the plan. A risky one, but beneficial to the party if it succeeded. But what was this creature to them? The ethfael, being a lethborn could realize that they were facing a more powerful spirit that he imagined, and one who could easily control them against their will should he proved hostile. The ghost's gesture garnered good-will, and by this reasoning Eri was persuaded to go through with the plan. It was him which spoke up first amongst the two. "Do as you will, old one. Let my offering be our sign of trust in you, and we hope in turn that you do not betray us." The Dwarfish midget was also be frozen in fear to prevent any further damage he thinks is done to him. But his response was something far different then a glance he spared in his companions direction. His lips muttering to himself small whispers that he was already dead. As long as the dwarf would espy the soulmist tendril within his chest there would be no antagonizing the spirit. His body, he would be as unmoving as the mountains. In Eridanus' head a voice echoed as the tendril seeped farther inside, "No fear for your Eridanus... for I know that is your name now. You shall be a partner this night, not a tool." Eridanus shivered as the ghost entered inside his body, feeling the invasive form of the undead spirit welling and twisting inside of him as a shiver ran down his spine. If he were to stare at his form with Auristics, the ethfael would have noticed bits of his djed being tapped into as the spirit made itself at home. For once, he saw with double vision, the disorienting view of someone or something looking behind him as it settled behind his eyes like a dark passenger.Whatever nobility of spirit, and resolve Eri might feel from the ghost, it was eclipsed by the burning razor of the spirits attentiveness to his task as his vision realigned itself towards one straight view. After the disorientation passed the ghost spoke in his thoughts, as a part of its' soulmist reached out from Eridanus' body towards Bob's waiting form. "Stand in front of your friend. I must have your eyes seeing his for this to work. Hold his head still in your hands. Do not let him move. When you are ready, I shall take over a bit of control." The ethfael would motion towards the dwarf,and opening his lips, his voice would utter as if from far away. "This is Eri, I'm still here. I know we've just met but with our lives at stake, I hope that you will trust me enough." Bob's form seemed to shiver, the soulmist tendril keeping him still as Eridanus came face to face with him. From his lips an ancient voice tumbled to his ears with his eyes shut. Muttering prayers to Kelwyn, Ovek, Sagallius, and eve priskil. The ethfael would bend down to make his head level with Bob's own. Bob, listen to me. You have to open your eyes. Look at me, Bob, focus!" The eldridtch voice spoke in command... its words laced with its host's djed, "LOOK AT HIM." The dwarf's eyes would snap open as his body complied. In between each utterance a specter of common was spoken in the dialect, it's very presence demanding answers. "What is the full name you were given at your birth, fleshling?" Eridanus mind was now like a traveler in his own body as the ghost began to take control, grasping his arms around Bob's shoulders as small tendrils of soul mist stretched from Eridanus'sbody to prop Barton's eyes open, keeping them riveted on its host’s as the Leywellin ghost required a response. The dwarf, in fear, was unable to give his witty and charming introduction opting instead to just be direct telling the ghost "B-B-Bob B-B-Barton" In Eridanus altered vision he saw in Bob's aura a telltale ring of gold cascading its way through the color filled field around his body... For a moment the voice inside was silent but then the single word fell from its lips. "TRUTH. To continue... What is the basic principle of life? What is djed?" Paraphrasing from his book on magic and Clyde’s useless teachings, Bob blurted out. "The basic principle in life is winning and when I use djed for it becomes Res." The words tumbled again, "TRUTH and also incorrect. Djed is the basic energy inherent in living beings. It has many ways of being manipulated by many different paths of Magic. Not just Reimancy. To err like this is almost criminal, but it makes me ask. Is djed real?" As the basic principle was uttered the words began to become imprinted deep within Bob's psyche, overwriting the damaging interference in the human’s brain. The hypnotic touch was enhanced by the soulmist tendril still stuck within Barton allowing the voice to resonate inside his and Eridanus' minds at the same time. In a brief flare up of his aura sense, the ethfael would notice at the question about djed being real, a glyph looking as if it was diseased would throb with a painful hum that could only be heard by an auristics user’s ears alone. The ethfael host would hiss in pain as he waited for Bob's answer. The fleshing wanted to say something about him being a criminal in Sunberth but he did not want the ghost to get pissed off especially with the way he did when he was considered incorrect and with his beliefs that the knowledge gathered by generations of Barton's worked for them and for him and helped them to victory, the only possible answer would be "yes." "Correct. Is magic real?" It is only real if it does things for me." the dwarf replied, in accordance with his limited knowledge of the subject he hated magic, it wasn't real. Not to him, anyways. Not since that petching Clyde made him believe wrongly. "Then that is a no?" "Yes that's a big fat no!" The pressure got to bob and he cracked a little giving a nervous laugh to deliver a quick sharp snort. "Petching boy gods and their games"." Reaching up with one of Eridanus's fingers a sharp slice would appear over the fingertip allowing it a drop of the eth's blood to flow to the surface. With an iron grip on Barton's shoulder a strange glyph was drawn on on barton's forehead with Eridanus' blood and the words of nader canoch fell again in a hypnotic trance. Stretching and attacking the damaged mind from all directions, sending the dwarf to utter a cry of pain similar to the one the Eth host hissed out before. Barton's screams would be only surpassed by the pounding inside his head, as if parts of his mind and memories were being held back by hundreds of tons of sand he would have to sift through."Quickly... What is the personal magic you once possessed. This host is close to the edge of overgiving. You must hurry." The dwarf’s mind hurt so much to even think and just to make the ghost stop Bob pulled out the word from the book which got him started "...reimancy" [b]"What others did you possess?" The glyph responded to this as the hypnosis began to take further effects, cracking the inequities of Bob's mental prison. Soon the word was uttered, ”Correct” "I could have gotten shielding but that petching godboy Clyde was stingy with his knowledge" "Correct but incorrect, you never learned shielding. Now I must spurn this faster." the voice from Eridanus body took on a lower note. "Voiding!" "No. What's that?" "Inconsequential. But voiding is the ability to open small tears in the fabric of the world to create a bridge to the void. It's uses are myriad in their ability for defense against magic, yet dangerous in the threat it poses if the mage loses control. They can literally disappear forever. Now: Auristics" ”Who is autistic?” The host relayed the words, "Autism is a mental defect, Auristics is the field of magic." As if his memory was jogged the dwarf would stutter and relay, the words. “Oh right, but if clyde was right about it, I want it.” "Correct, you have never learned about the functions of Using auristics but you have the the knowledge of its existence. Beware, while it may enable one to help garner a Sight of the emotions of others in their auras, or be used to help detect wounds and temperature, the dangers of overgiving with it are many, and involve mental damage or decay. Even more then you currently possess through another's meddling. Now Familiary. "I am not familiar with that one" "Familiary is the tenuos bonding of one's own djed to a planar creature brought from another world, fusing their life forces together as one. It is dangerous because when one dies, so will the other. Flux and Morphing." "Nope, but you are going to tell me right?" "Correct, on all counts fleshling. Though it is another magic you have not learned. A little knowledge might guard your steps tonight regardless of what you face ahead. Flux is the ability to reroute the djed streams of the body to enhance one's physical stamina and strength. It is perilous to use because of the body's inherent inability to respond to the great stress this magic places on it. Morphing, morphing is the ability to mold the body with one's own djed, shaping extraneous produced skin by djed and bone into new constructs based upon the mage's studies of other creatures. Included in it at greater masteries is the inherent possibility to make one's body grow and use gills succesfully, or to change into an animal. The process is rife with peril as you can literally destroy your body from the inside. However, such creatures can be spotted by seeing their aura overlaid with the shape of their original form. It is unwise to use flux and morphing together... in fact it is almost like mixing oil and water. I suggest you do not try. Unfortunately, the craeven have no care if their hosts survive so you may wish to be ready. Now Leeching." "Oh I know that one, my uncle uses it sometimes on his patients." “Do you mean with leeches , like the animal or leeching like the magic fleshling fool!" The ghost’s brand of patience was wearing thin and its thoughts were becoming centered on the hosts physical state. The headaches were increasing and Eridanus would feel a bit of naseua in his stomach. “The animal ones?" Bob asked a little bit ashamed "Correct, your medical knowledge; what scant there is has not been tampered with. You have never known of leeching. Leeching is the ability to absorb the djed of another, whether it be of the mage's construction or of the mage's body itself. It is impossible to learn leeching unless you have been attacked and almost killed by a leecher yourself, they tend to drain you dry to the death. I would not learn it if you can. Just kill any leecher you find, and do it quickly to save your own hide. Now... Hypnosis." That's magic?" Bob asked with a puzzled look "Correct... but also incorrect. Hypnosis is the use of one's personal djed to influence and imbue the thoughts and feelings of another through one's eyes or voice or other implement. You have gained knowledge of hypnosis but ... you have not realized each time you make of its use: you are throwing a portion of your personal djed away. Part of what is the substance of your life. Care must be taken in its use. Quicker now: What is reimancy?" Bob thought a little about what the ghost had said but as he learned how to do these things for gambling, he figured it was something like mizas. To win some he had to risk some and so he gave his answer on reimancy that "it is to control the elements" like his water and clyde's fire. "Correct and incorrect. Your basic knowledge of this art appears flawed. Reimancy is the use of using one's djed to create Res which is then transmuted into the form of an element. Res can only be invested in a novice practioner by another more experienced practioner. It's hazards are many, it's benefits as varied at the uses one may come up with, but the main thing to note- once a bit of res is fully transmuted to an element. Then it changes beyond the control of the practioner." At the words, another sigil of blood became drawn on Bob's face, this time a focus circle of glyph's around one eye as the words were imprinted into bob’s brain stressing the wounded measures of the conditioning forced upon a fragile boy’s mind. "It is time." the voice said as the ghost began to separate from Eridanus' body after quelling the rampant streams of djed within the ethfael, letting him sag to the ground wearily. The ghost launch itself into Barton's body and took over for the final process it knew required... to show the man beyond a shadow of a doubt that reimancy was dangerous and its effects were real to him. From Bob's lips words tumbled in that strange echoing voice. "Healing and Learning are much alike: They come with Pain."Inside Barton's body,creeping like an ooze as the man's conditioning fought the ghosts presence, the leywellin forced control immediately, brooking no argument from the struggling mind as Barton's djed began to boil like lightning and fire in his stomach. Slowly, painfully it traversed its way up the man's spine to his shouldersbefore turning to make its way to his upward palms. His skin of his palms felt burned, like a thousand needles were scratching him as the Res began to drip from his pores to form two balls above his hand. For a moment, the balls began to shift and become hazy as they tried to take on water... and air... but soon they lost cohesion as on his left hand a fire ignited inside the inner core, and on his right hand a shell of earth crystallized the ball of Res' surface. The process was beyond painful, as the last bit of conditioning on Barton's memories transmuted from mere denial to the ache of pain from broken (yet still potent) shards of a mage's inflictions upon his mind. He couldn't summon the Res without an ache of pain now, his conditioning tried to say the magic wasn't real... tried to deny all happenings of what his eyes was seeing. That was... until the fire touched his skin and burned his hand, leaving a swathe of reddish skin that made him howl in torment, much like a banshee's cry(if Miz ever had a banshee) as the pathways of his djed recrystallized into producing two new elements the hard way. The scarring on his hand would cause a memento of his suffering to last for years, and would end up forming a thick skein of waxen colored skin. But... when he blinked his pasts would become twofold as the ghost held his hand to the fire in order to let the pain shatter the block upon his memories. It was odd, as if there were two sets of memories now, a jumbled kaleidoscope he could not figure out as he fell to the ground shivering. It would take time to sort them out... time to learn which was real and which was fake. For a second the human's mind flashed to clyde's face, bearing the mixed feelings of ill temper , pity, and remorse. Then the fire vanished, dissipating as in its course upwards through the air and the ball of earth fell heavy to the ground. Followed only by Bob’s eyes widening as a bit of his vision began to blur, taking a view of his body he could see his aura appear. His aura was veined and bulbous with the signs of prior damage, now only barely beginning to heal. Like raw meat left out in the sun, the wear of his careless usage of djed, both in glyphing and his reimancy shown through like a cancer. Perhaps one day it might heal and scar over. But such things would take time. The ghost's voice would echo in Barton's head. This is auristics, what you wished to have. You may find with concentration this sight might come to you again. Do not let it until you find someone to teach you, or it is the most dire of emergencies. Without proper training... and your pathways so damaged by another's touch. It may kill you! No…without preparation it WILL kill you. Train your mind with meditation first, then and only then you may grasp what is upon you. With a quick glance in Eridanus and Zenai's direction Bob would see a brief glow surrounding each of them, a sign of their auras before they faded out of his Sight as the djed in his body was marshalled back by the ghost. A last word was spoken. I will rest now within you for a moment, fixing a few things that must be fixed. I will tell you when it is safe to use your magic. If you use it too soon, you may undo what was wrought here now and return to the fool you were. But for the future: You will swear now that this will not be used foolishly in the future for your life is the very peril that you risk. Now, in order for this process to be completed, you must not resist my presence. Control of the body is now returning to you. Take a short rest only if you need to! Then: Brave the mines; ... find the key... Fulfill your part of the bargain, fleshling! I will be watching you from within![/b] As the voice faded from Bob's mind an errant thought could not help but cross his mind: What were Zenai's place in the ghost's plans? Perhaps since he was the only one without magic he might be possessed in order to kill any of his fellows which went out of control? Bob Barton : These lores are to be immediately added to your character sheet. Turtle will be expecting they take extreme importance in how you play this character in this thread, these are character changers. Tenants of Reprogramming: Undoing a hypnotist’s work the hard way via a ghost bashing your brain. Tenants of Reprogramming: The basis of djed, what it is and that magic is how it is manipulated. Tenants of Reprogramming: Conservation of personal djed in all uses is a must: I’m throwing out parts of my soul goddamnit! How could I be so stupid Tenants of Reprogramming: Difference of the source of djed use in Personal Magic compared to World Magic Tenants of Reprogramming: Poor introduction to the fields of personal magic, and the inherent dangers. Tenants of Reprogramming: REIMANCY SHIFT: FIRE AND EARTH. Tenants of Reprogramming: Reimancy usage- while Bob’s reimancy and djed/Res strength remains the same as before, the shifting of his elements will require further tempering to fully use them without risk to himself. He must seek out others to gain better knowledge of these elements uses or risk greater ‘wild’ effects. Tenants or Reprogramming: Reimancy use brings slight pain to bob’s temples. Tenants of Reprogramming: Random slips of thought(basic) : At times Bob will be lost in a cyclical loop in his thoughts for when he is trying to concentrate on magic use. Meditation scores may improve this. Once at 30 this effect will be wiped out. The pain will vanish as well. At Meditation 51 he will be able to completely suppress and destroy the false memories inflicted upon his mind through meditation. Tenants or Reprogramming: Without self discipline I may truly be a fool. Wound: Burn over left hand, cannot grip a sword with the left until it heals-20 days natural healing , can be used in a pinch if necessary but extremely painful (ie- the remainder of the SQ’ threads.) Scarring will occur leaving a round white blotch as a testament to the breaking of Barton’s mental wards inflicted by another hypnotist.

@ Darik Darik's steps were running and a grey shadowy figure of a craeven ghost was howling as it followed after the boy as he got turned into a side street of the Wolf's Den. He knew this area well, but in the mists he was running on instinct. A corresponding alley might take him back to the rest of the party but the boy had to deal with the horrible thing following him first. The run took him in many twists and turns around crates and boxes the local gangs of the Wolf's Den stacked up to cordon off their turf and on one box he tripped and fell, skidding on newly bloody knees through his past to land hard on the cold cobblestones as he turned around to try to push himself to his feet. It was too late. His eyes met with the ghostly figure's sliently staring skull as it hovered in front of him, its soul mist stretching in tendrils about his boyish form before it ravenously began to meld with his skin. The boy's mind was subjected to the worst horror imaginable for a thief trained to run. He lost the use of his limbs first, unable to move as the Craeven ghost began to possess him as the head of it's misty form lay close in the sight beyond his nostrils. The ghost began to laugh, a small chuckling thing filled with malice and spite that echoed inside of the poor sot's head as his arm reached up of its own accord to slap him hard across the face. The ghost was laughing as small tendrils of its form not inside the boy's body reached around Darik's neck... choking him slowly until spots came before his eyes. Against the cobbles his cheeks turned to look at the side alley, looking down at his hope of escape vanishing as his sight grew dark. It was only a place of boxes... wasn'- wait? His eyes could see the form a male child staring at him, a ghostly apparition of white. No more then the size of a small boy, like the rest of his siblings he had left in syliras. Pitiful wretch... was going to get himself too! From the boy tendril of bright hazed light speared deep into his chest as another presence made itself known within his body... The boy's form waivered as he began to doubly possess Darik's form, fighting the Craeven for control as small whisp of soulmist batted aside the craeve spirit as Darik's legs pumped on their own. Propelling him upwards towards the alley he had considered escaping down as the tendrils twisted back inside his body. Inside the thief's mind, a voice echoed. I am L'shan... who are you?

[Darik]

Sometimes being lightning fast is a bad thing. Darik had gotten away in such record time he didn’t hear his allies walloping on the Craven. Actually, he couldn’t hear anything over the ruckus. Blood curdling moaning was coming from somewhere, and Darik tried to resist the temptation to look back. His curiosity got the better of him and he swiveled his head as he ran. He really shouldn’t have. A ghostly apprehension was floating behind him intent on stealing his flesh. The worst part, it was almost matching Darik for speed. Knowing what was behind him wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was that he wasn’t looking forward. When Darik isn’t completely focused bad things usually happen. He didn’t run into a room with a pregnant woman giving birth, or push a Syrlian knight into a pool, he just tripped on a stack of boxes. But unlike those times this one could cause much more than mental scarring or scars from the lash of a whip. The boxes scattered everywhere as Darik fell. His knees collided with the unforgiving cobblestones because he was unable to catch himself. He couldn’t tell what was wrong with them but he knew something was amiss. He just didn’t have the time to do so, he still needed to get away. As he lifted himself up, he realized it was too late. The ghost had caught up to him. Its ghastly arm touched him and it started to disappear. As it slowly started to vanish a new voice appeared in his head. Its voice was strong and powerful easily filling Darik’s head. “This is my body now.” To prove his point Darik’s arms and legs felt distant and unattached. He lost all of the progress he had gained and slammed back onto the cobblestone. The only good thing about not having control is that he felt no pain. Actually he barely felt anything, his bodies senses were slowly being taken over by another. He mustered all the power he could and spoke. “Ya right.” The ghost being an ultimate jerk couldn’t resist proving his point. Darik’s hand lifted up and hit him hard across the face. He ust to do that to his younger cousins, and it seems that everything that goes around comes around. Next something came around his throat. He didn’t know what but he fond it much harder to breathe. Coupled with his already tired lungs, it was complete agony. He didn’t own his hands anymore so he couldn’t do the universal choking sign. “Nighty Night, little boy” The ghost had thought he had won, and so did Darik. His head rolled to the side and slowly everything became dark. He could see another ghost coming up to talk with the Craven. Except…he looked different. He almost had a boyish shape about him. Suddenly, his chest didn’t feel like an anvil was pressing down on it. In fact, his vision was starting to return. But he felt inner turmoil for some reason. He didn’t know that there were three souls in one body. He slowly got to his feet even though he hadn’t commanded them to do so. He just figured he was experiencing a new breed of adrenaline that allowed you to remain detached. When he ran he felt great. His lungs didn’t hurt and he couldn’t even feel the impact of his feet against the ground. His arms swung automatically not at all caring to match with his footsteps. It was odd, but Darik didn’t even think about it. Then all the senses came back. The pain, the hurt, the agony. Darik slowed down and came to a complete stop. He laid his back to the wall and stared at his bloody knees with disgust. He had made a rookie mistake by turning his head around. Now he wouldn’t be able to run his full speed till it scabbed in a few days. And if the mist continued that long he would definitely need that extra boost of speed. Then a voice encroached inside his head. This one was different, almost holy sounding. Or that could just be Darik’s exhaustion. It asked who he was. Darik let out a little mix between a cough and a laugh. When he spoke he said it aloud, not caring if he looked weird. ”I-I, am awesome.” He knew what the ghost wanted but he needed to get his confidence up. ”I can’t fail, I can’t die, and I can’t be beaten.” He paused for a second letting that comment sink in. ”Oh do you mean my name? It’s none of your business.” He realized that it may not be the best idea to talk to someone like that who had just saved you. ”Well then again you are in my body so I guess you have a right to know. It’s Darik. Now who are you, what are you, and why are you inside my head?”