Nobody's Fool

[Trident]

Another smile danced in the flickering flames. “That’s good,” Runi purred, “I was afraid you wouldn’t accept. And then I would have to have taken steps to make sure you didn’t reveal any of the secrets I just spilled to him.” An unexpected hardness gleamed in Runi’s blue eyes, accompanied by a darting tongue that moistened cracked lips. He stared into Liandra’s eyes as if trying to discern any sort of wrongdoing present there. A merry laugh broke the serious atmosphere. “But since you did accept, we can begin!” The human stood up. A familiar stride carried him across the living room, back into the bedchamber. He hastily shut the door behind him, closing off view of whatever he was doing; but, whatever it was, he certainly did make a lot of noise. After a moment, the cacophony of falling objects and clinking glass subsided and the door was thrown open once more. Runi walked back into the room, with something held within his arms. As he drew within range of the candles, Liandra could see it was a rusted shovel that looked like it belonged with the tools discarded outside. Runi proffered it to her. “I could teach you a number of magical arts,” he said, rather more solemnly than before. “But I choose to teach you the art of zapatl, otherwise known as the Legacy.” Yet another yellow grin cracked his face. “You’ll shortly find out why it is called that.” A mist of sorts clouded his blue eyes, wiping over present day with some archaic memory; and he chuckle darkly. Before long, he had refocused in on Liandra’s slim blue form. Authority snapped into his voice. “Now then, young legate,” he commanded, “Take this shovel outside. Go around the back of the house and look for a patch of freshly turned soil. And when you do...” “...start digging.”

[Liandra]

"And then I would have to have taken steps to make sure you didn’t reveal any of the secrets I just spilled to him." Just what steps did he mean? Would he have killed her if she had said no? She shook off the thought. She didn't, so he didn't, and there was no point worrying about it. She watched the man... what was his name? She was so bad with na-- RUNI! That was it! Anyways, she watched him stand up and stroll into a backroom and close the door. She heard a lot of noise coming from inside the room. It sounded like a bunch of glass was breaking, and piles of junk were falling over. It was like when the ocean floor would shake back in Charbosi. Just what in Laviku's name was he doing? Finally her new found master? No, that wasn't the right word. Her new found instructor came back in. What was he holding? It was rusted and looked really old. It looked like a bigger version of the spades her people used to relocate coral. Except they didn't use wood and metal. What was it they called it? A shovel? He wanted her to dig for something? What could he possibly want? “I could teach you a number of magical arts. But I choose to teach you the art of zapatl, otherwise known as the Legacy. You’ll shortly find out why it is called that.” Liandra had never heard of this, but her knowledge of magic was limited to the fact that it existed. She liked the sound of Zapatl though. She took the shovel from his outstretched hand. He told her to go outside and dig through some freshly turned soil. She smiled nervously at him and walked out the front door. She took in the air that smelled of salt and plant life. What was she about to do? She walked along the side of the home, stopping at the window, peering in, just out of curiosity. Maybe she could learn more about this mysterious instructor of hers. But shortly after, she continued on to the back of the home. The back of the home wasn't a whole lot different from the front. She began to search for the turned over soil. She studied the ground, being more familiar with the ocean, than the terrain here, she didn't have the common sense one might expect from a land dweller. So she stooped over, dragging the shovel through the grass, peering into the tufts of vegetation. She moved slowly through, her eyes studying everything. She saw a few bugs here and there, and the feathers from a bird. She continued forward slowly, cautiously. She nearly stepped on a small sand with a lot of red insects coming out. If she'd learned anything from the wilds, that unless it was a bird, bright colors meant stay away. She turned without looking, and her foot stepped into a soft batch of dirt. She blanched slightly, pulling her foot out, and shaking the dirt off. Upon closer inspection, she found that it was a large patch of just dirt. She looked around it and saw grass. It was very out of place. This must be it! She dragged the shovel around and looked at it. She'd never used one of these before. But how hard could it be? She gripped the shaft at one end, and one hand in the middle. She then pulled the shovel back and shoved it into the soil. It went in about an inch. Liandra huffed. This was not going to be easy. She lifted the shovel up, hauled it away from the dirt, and dumped it. She brought the shovel back to the earth and lifted it back. She then lurched forward, and it sank about an inch further this time. She tried pushing it in further, her hands sliding along the rough shaft. She managed to get about half a blade's worth of soil. She struggled to lift it up, the shovel becoming heavy in her hands. She dumped it once more. Once more she brought the rusty blade around and stuck it in the dirt. She was getting a full blade this time, Laviku help her. She thought about stomping on the end of the blade to make it go further in. But that would just hurt her foot. Maybe if she stood on it? She walked to the erect shovel. She put one foot on top of the blade, and pressed her body close, the shaft nestling slightly between her breasts. She then pulled her other foot up to place it on the other end of the blade. But she found herself falling forward. She collided with the soft soil, the end of the shovel catching her on the chin. She let loose a string of Char curses and pulled herself up, not bothering to clean herself off. That determined look was in her eye, and she would keep on digging until she found whatever he had planned for her.

[Trident]

At long last Liandra's shovel began to pierce the ground. It was hard going at first, the soil dry and tough and seemingly unaffected by the tropical rains that regularly plagued this region of the Suvan Sea. The patch of naked soil was surprisingly deep, but at long last Liandra found something. Clunk. The metal shovel met something equally metal, and examining the hole would reveal that it was a box. Plain and unadorned, the metallic sheen had been tarnished by dirt and grass, but it was still quite intact. If the Charoda pulled it out of the soil bed, the box would be heavy but not unduly hard to pick up. It was small and shaped like a cube, each side no longer than the other. The lid was affixed with a simple bronze clasp, one which Liandra would have no trouble in opening it. And, in opening it, she would find- “Rather gruesome, isn't it?” Runi's voice spoke in Liandra's ear suddenly. He was leaning over her shoulder, watching her open the box; an almost hungry expression dominated his face. “They belonged to my master,” he continued on, rather conversationally. “A rather wise and talented woman, who died a rather painful death at the hands of a trusted one. At first I was predisposed not to use them, out of sentimental reasons, but then I realized the potential in them, so I thought - why not?” And why not, indeed. That which the sorcerer was talking about was none other than a pile of human bones, which lay stacked inside the metal box. A skull rested daintily on top. Its eyeless sockets store into Liandra, macabre in their bright ebony depths. At first glance, the pile seemed random, bones stacked on top of each other neatly but in no specific order. But than, one might perceive the faint aroma of preservatives and the careful way in which each bone was placed, and it became apparent someone had put a lot of care into maintaining the bones. “Yes, they shall serve our purpose well enough.” Runi nodded, leaning back. “You see, Liandra, this is the first step in the Legacy. Acquisition of the necessary materials. Luckily, for this initiation, I had the appropriate tools on hand, but in the future you'll need to acquire them yourselves. The main raw material is that which you hold in your hands – that which you shall be enchanting. In our art, that can only be something that belonged to something living. The other tools you may need await us inside.” “Bring the box with you, my dear.” Runi would usher Liandra again, this time back into his house. In the time she had spent outdoors, the elder mage had cleaned off the table and put several very specific items on it – paintbrushes, knives, chisels, glue, and leather. “The next step is to incorporate the raw material, these bones, into a item of some sort. A bracelet, necklace, even a sword – all will do. This second step is not as crucial, but makes wielding the artifact much easier.” Runi took the box from Liandra's hands and set it down on the table. “But first, we must select which bone we will use.” he said, as he pulled bone by bone out of the box and set them down on the table. When he had finished, the full skeleton of a human woman had been laid out. “We must be careful here. You see, Liandra, our art's weakness lays in that we, the enchanters, cannot choose the enchantment we lay on the tool. Instead, that is randomly influenced by the function of the bone and the history of the living creature we choose. I already told you these bones were of my former master, who was killed by magic. Perhaps we should make her arm into a dagger, which then might ward off magic, or perhaps will be effective against magic users? But my master was a follower of Eyris; perhaps making her teeth into a necklace will double one's rate of learning, or perhaps it will increase wisdom outright. We can never be certain, we can only skew the odds as to what the enchantment is.” Runi waved a hand. “You may choose what bone we shall use, Liandra. Be careful in what you select. The feet may increase endurance, but they will not serve well if we want to help increase one's powers of observation, for example.”

[Liandra]

Liandra was about to curse every land walker in existence, and vow to never leave the sea again. She was up to her waist in the dirty earth, her body aching, the damnable shovel heavy in her arms. She was beginning to wonder if she was digging her own grave, and this was a cruel joke on the part of Runi. This thought was rudely interrupted by a loud Clunk. She tapped at the source of the metallic sound once more, receiving an equal tone, which elicited a smile upon the cerulean sea dweller’s face. She threw her shovel up and out of the hole, and began digging with her webbed hands. Her hands were sore and covered in dark blue marks that she feared would turn into toughened skin. But the cool earth soothed these forming callouses, and she quickly pulled up a box of sorts. It was no longer shiny, and was not a chest of a great renown like in stories of old. It was a plain, old, metal box. She set it on the edge of the hole in front of her, and quickly fumbled with the clasp. As she began to lift the lid, she thought she heard a noise in the grass behind her. A voice whispered in her ear, nearly making her jump out of her skin. By Laviku, Runi was sneaky as all out. She looked down in the box to see what he was referring to, only to be met with skull upon a pile of bones. Much surprisingly to herself, the bones did not creep her out, but rather relieved her. At least it wasn’t some sort of monster or map to a dangerous locale. Runi went on to tell her the origin of the bones, having belonged to his master. She died at the hand of a trusted one? Liandra’s first thought was that Runi killed her, but surely he couldn’t have right? He did seem a bit off a tad, and certainly a fair share of unsocial, but he didn’t seem the type to have killed his master. Another entertaining thought entered the Charoda woman’s mind. Would she one day carry around Runi’s bones in a chest much like this one? Wait; did he say potential in the bones? What in Laviku’s name did that mean? Liandra continued to study the contents, most in particular, the skull. Even without eyes, it seemed to be staring back to match her own. It felt like it still had some life left in it, whatever that meant. A peculiar smell invaded her nostrils, one she did not recognize. Charodae didn’t have as many bones as other races, and while she hadn’t come across any dead bodies, she certainly suspected this wasn’t the smell of decay. These bones hadn’t decayed at all, and were neatly stacked, maintained, cleaned, loved even. Runi had gone through a lot of care to preserve these bones. Runi began once more on the topic of Legacy. Step one was to acquire the proper materials. And if she were assuming correctly, these bones were the proper materials. She worried that he might be teaching her to bring back the dead, something she found quite abominable in thought. He told her that she would need more materials if she wanted to do this herself in the future. She found it slightly pleasing that one could still be useful after Dira took them from this world. When he told her that she would be enchanting the bones, she was slightly relieved. No abominations on this trip! He instructed her to head back inside, where she would find more tools for the craft. She climbed out of the hole, shut the box, and hefted it up, carrying it against her stomach. Arriving back in the house, her eyes would widen at the surprising amount of organization that had appeared in her absence. Runi had been busy. Upon a table she found many tools, all of which she knew by name, none of which she was familiar in the use of. He told her that she would use these to make the artifact more easily managed and carried. Runi took the box and continued to instruct her. She watched intently as he put the bones together in what she assumed was the proper formation for a living human. She paid extra attention to this. She may need to know the anatomy of others, and this was the first time she’d seen all of the bones of any creature. She was able to discern things like the skull, arms, hands, legs. She had no idea that the hands contained so many knuckles, that the back was not one single bone. This was fascinating, and had the blue woman enraptured. He told her that the biggest weakness was that she could not control the enchantment of the bones. It works at random? The thought did not make her uneasy. It felt a bit like gambling, something she had only an extremely limited experience with, but had enjoyed. As he explained that each bone influenced what would be made, as well as what the original owner was like. She wondered if the bones of herself would allow others to breathe underwater. She chuckled, imagining a Myrian pretending to be like a fish. But what bone would she use? She pondered at what she knew of the woman, which wasn’t much at all. She had been Runi’s instructor. She’d been betrayed by a close friend, and killed by magic. Liandra assumed that the woman was also quite adept at magic since Runi was as well. Liandra also knew she was a follower of Eyris, a god that she knew of from school, but had never studied. Perhaps after this she would. Liandra had wanted to ask questions of her master. But she decided against it, for often times the bold received rewards over the meek. What did humans have that she did not? The ability to breathe on land? But that wasn’t in the bones, as far as her studies in Charbosi had taught. Besides, she didn’t want to get too attached to land over Laviku’s domain. Wait. She remembered that Eyris was god of wisdom and thought. If teeth could increase knowledge, perhaps the skull would do so even more. And those eyes had caught her interest earlier. Perhaps Eyris was giving her a helpful hand. “I choose the skull. Your master must have been quite wise, especially as a follower of Eyris. And though I may not have known her, what better way to supplement her teachings, than to pass on her teachings both in word, and in substance.” Liandra moved around toward the woman’s skull and lifted it slightly off the table, further examining it. What could she do to it to make it magical? She’d never done anything remotely magical in her life. “What else can you tell me about her? If it helps to know more about a subject, then I should probably know more.”

[Trident]

“Good, that's what I wanted to hear,” Runi said approvingly. “You have learned the first lesson of using the Legacy – learn as much as you can about the object you are enchanting beforehand. You don't want any unknown factors to unexpectedly pop up and spoil the pot, so to speak.” “Let's see...my master. She was human, a Zeltivan by birth though she traveled around much. Much of her early childhood is unknown even to me, as she was a very private individual. She was a master of many different magics, not the least of it was the Legacy, of course. A very wise woman, indeed. A devout follower of Eyris, though she did also pay respects to Laviku and Nysel. She lived most of her life in relative comfort, up until her death, of course. One of her very own enchantments was used to kill her, in fact. An enchanted bone dagger, it was.” “Would you still like to use the skull, or do you have another choice in mind?” Runi asked, looking relatively patient.

[Liandra]

Liandra had already made up her mind, and was mildly annoyed that he wanted her to consider again. Had she made the wrong choice, and this was his way of telling her so? She shook that off, no, that was the right answer. After all, what all did she know? His master was a human, a master in many magics, Zeltivan, was private, appeared to respect Eyris above all others, and was murdered by a close friend. What was it that she didn't know? She didn't know her name, and didn't know who had killed her, though her mind kept jokingly thinking it was Runi. But the way he danced around it, wouldn't say it, and that he had her bones... he honestly could have been her killer! This led her back to the thought that maybe she'd have to kill him too. Was that how Legacy worked? "Yes, I still want to use the skull, especially after what you've told me. There must still be a lot of knowledge in there, and why let it go to waste?" Liandra picked up the skull and rolled it between her hands. Could there really be that much power within something so simple as a bone? Does that mean there's power in everything? Magic in every little thing? Was there power in things intangible? Like knowledge? "What was her name? And who killed her?"

[Gossamer]

. Character: Liandra Experience: Observation +5, Land Navigation (Jungle) +1, Navigation (Ocean) +1, Interrogation +3, Maladiction +2 Lore: Being Self Discipline, Knowing When Not To Talk, Following Directions, Following One’s Gut Instinct, Some things should be left buried, Maladiction can be called zapatl or the Legacy. Different body parts impart different qualities. Goodies: Use of Runi for future solo malediction training. Additional Notes: Its too bad the thread wasn’t finished. I would have preferred to continue the thread but I know nothing about Maladiction. You might want to continue it solo wise in the current TS. So instead I’ll let you use Runi if you’d like to continue tyour tr .