[Location: High Sprits] First Impressions are the Worst

by **Alcor** on January 21st, 2015, 8:37 am

2nd Day of Winter, 514 AV

Before Alcor stood a building in desperate need of repair, It looked as if it would crumple at any moment. The Ethaefal had walked by it several times in search of the real location he was looking for but all he could find was this sad old place. It was day time so Alcor was able to fly with his beautiful butterfly wings and get a better look at the building and maybe see if anyone was around. The outside of the building was a ghost town and the only sign was one that read “High Spirits”. The sign matched with the name of the place he sought after but he still doubted that this was it. He let out a sigh and twisted the rusted knob of the ragged front entrence and went inside.

“hello?..” Alcor sheepishly called out “Is there any one here?” The only reply he got was the subtle crash of waves from the outside. Alcor was about to leave when he was stopped by a faint cry. It was the ghost of a young akalak boy, biased on his build he was probably in his early teens but knowing the long lived race he could have been much older. The ghost was sitting in a corner of the room to the right of the Ethaefal with his head buried into his knees. The spectre didn’t seem to pay any attention to Alcor as he fluttered over to him.

“What’s the matter little one?” The spiritist inquired softly with a gentle touch to the boys incorporeal head. The boy didn’t raise his head or any other form of acknowledgement, he simply began muttering “I failed” over and over again in between dreary sobs.
“What did you fail?” The spiritist asked and regretted it shortly after as the boy shook in anger. “My TRIAL!!” the boy wailed reviling his distorted and terrifying face. The ghosts face went back to normal soon after and he went back his never ending sobbing. Alcor was a bit startled but he knew enough to expect the unexpected when interacting with ghosts.

The sound of creaky stairs followed by the loud screech of an old door could be heard in the main hallway. It seemed this place wasn’t just home to the dead after all. Alcor flew into the next room and almost ran right into a konti women with a displeased look on her face.
“who the Petch are you and why are you trying to bring me grief?” The women snarled at Alcor as her eyes narrowed in suspicion at the winged creature before her.
“uh..Are you Nessela?” Alcor blurted out in defence.
“Yes but I asked you first, so out with it or I’ll have to ask you to leave.” Nessela’s hostility only got worse with every passing moment.
“My Name is Alcor…I’m your new apprentice...If you’ll have me that is” The Ethaefal was most certainly having second thoughts but she was the only known Spiritst willing to accept apprentices so she would have to do for now.
“Oh..Well why didn’t you say so” The Konti’s face softened significantly but she still didn’t seem happy.

by **Alcor** on March 1st, 2015, 7:45 am

Alcor had only just discovered by looking at the shelves of strange objects and the cluttered reception desk in the first room that he was in fact in a retail establishment. With the sour attitude of the women who ran the store it was a wonder it saw any return business. The Ethaefal had to remind himself of the curse and that no one was how they normally are. This women was probably a very courteous and caring women without the influence of the magical infliction and Alcor wondered when or even if he would ever get to see her true nature. There was a small part of Alcor that didn’t want the curse to end. This horrible tragedy kept his melancholy away and while it wasn’t natural he felt much more like a functioning member of society. Of course the cost was that everyone else lived in misery, so it was hardly worth it.

“Well I might as well show you around the old dump” Nessela said crudely with an apathetic shrug of her scaly shoulders. “Follow me”
Alcor reluctantly hovered behind the prickly Konti to see more of the dreary abode that he would be spending most of his time in. Considering the exterior the inside wasn’t too dreadful, but far from welcoming.

“Back there was Dranor..It’s probably best you leave him be” The Konti whispered so the sensitive ghost wouldn’t hear “He hasn’t been the same since the curse…but I’m sure that could be said about anyone, Couldn't it?”
The konti glanced back at Alcor “I mean, you don’t seem nearly as depressing as you should be”

“I suppose I don’t” The ethaefal didn’t really know how to respond to that comment. She had said it so bluntly that a part of him felt as though he should be insulted but it was fact, as an Akvatari he really should be painfully depressing to be around.

“Anyway…this area is where I run my shop” She sighed as she threw out her hand in and apathetic flourish. She didn’t seem to show an ounce of pride in her home only displeasure. Her unpleasantness should have affected Alcor but he remained fairly neutral through out, almost like he was unable to feel his negative emotions.
The Konti continued to a door next to a shabby reception desk, The rusty hinges creaked loudly in pain as she opened it.
“Down here is my lab and living quarters…you can see my lab” She said dryly.
Alcor simply nodded in agreement and followed her down the crooked looking stairs. He was relieved to find that the hallway was wide enough to accommodate his wings and even more relieved that he didn’t have to walk on the suspicious looking stairs as they descended.

Alcor got the sudden feeling that there was another presence near by and his suspicious were confirmed as a middle aged women suddenly appeared in front of him.
“oh New blood!” The wrinkled old spectre cackled.

by **Alcor** on March 7th, 2015, 7:58 am

Alcor’s heart almost jumped out of his chest at the sudden appearance of the strange women before him. He quickly flew back in shock and hit his head hard on the old wood panelling. Alcor bucked over in pain and held his hands around where the source. The clearly sadistic ghost just cackled louder “You better watch yourself there.. yah little freak” Her words were malicious and intentionally hurtful. The Ethaefal didn’t know how he could possibly respond to the sudden verbal attack, mostly because it come out of nowhere but also because he wasn’t his more abrasive self. “Here let me help you” The ghost said with a mischievous grin as she proceeded to invade his body.

An intolerable chill enveloped Alcor’s entire form, far harsher than anything the winter could possibly produce. A disturbing whisper came from inside the Ethaefal’s head “How does it feel to have some one pull the strings, my little puppet?”
Alcor’s hand shot up and suddenly formed a fist, completely against his own volition. This wasn’t the first time the spiritist had a spectral visitor in his body, during his initial training he had enough unbearable encounters to build up some semblance of immunity. He was in no position to stop the ghosts complete control since he still needed to keep himself air born but he was able to interrupt whatever the ghost was planning to do with his clenched fist.
“booo you’re no fun” The ghost groaned as she pulled herself free from her host body.
The air in Alcor’s lungs seemed to go with her and he had to catch his breath for a moment be for rushing down the stairs to safety.

“Oh good she's done with you” Nessela said with surprising calmness when Alcor arrived “We can proceed then”
“Wait, you knew but didn’t intervene” Alcor replied in bewilderment
“yah but I figured you could deal with it” The konti shrugged her shoulders “plus If you can’t handle being possessed you really shouldn’t be a spiritist, its pretty much all about making terrible food for ungrateful mental patients and getting possessed by people who just want to use you.”
The Ethaefal was sure to have choice words to share with this women after her terribly negative out look on spiritism and neglectful behaviour but instead he found himself bursting into a sudden fit of laughter.
“I like your sense of humour” Alcor said despite himself. He wondered if he was still possessed or if he was just driven mad by the traumatic event that had just occurred.
“You'r a strange one” Nessela smirked “Anyway this is my lab and yes I know it looks more like a kitchen and thats because it is”

It was probably a little odd that she mixed her Soulmist in the same place she made her food but since most of the ingredients used in the magical craft were common stables of cuisine it shouldn’t have been. The lab was undeniably the cleanest part Alcor had seen of the dilapidated building but it still seemed unclean despite any evidence.

by **Alcor** on March 10th, 2015, 5:23 am

“How much do you know about spiritism?” Nessela’s eyes narrowed and her head leaned slightly to one side as she made her inquiry.
“ Well my previous teacher put me under routine possessions and I was taught how to make Soul mist, that’s really as far as I got.” Alcor really had made quite a great deal of progress considering he had only fallen a few season ago. He was told often by his previous teacher Mist that he was a natural, and it was little wonder since the Ethaefal often felt like a ghost himself.
“Oh you have more experience than I thought, what recipe do you use?”
“I mix eggs, flour, and cheese”
“how does that taste?”
“It tastes okay” Alcor replied sheepishly as he lowered his head to avoid eye contact.
The konti raised an eyebrow and glared at him for a minute.
“Tastes okay my ass!” She yelled back “I’ll teach you a better recipe that doesn’t taste like pig vomit”
Alcor internally cringed at the women's choice of words but outwardly he didn’t seem to mind at all.
“that sounds great!” Alcor replied joyfully.
“I still use Wheat but instead of Eggs I use honey and instead of cheese I use milk” She explained making gestures with her hands “You can still taste the blood but not too much.” she shrugged.

Alcor didn’t find this recipe to be very ground breaking, since he could have easily figured out to use these ingredients on his own.
“Oh wonderful, that does sound better than what I was doing” What came out of Alcor’s mouth sounded so fake to him, there was nothing the women said that deserved such a cheerful response. Although what she had just taught him did sound at least a little better than what he was doing, if only by a little.

“Although another favourite of mine is fish eggs, seaweed paste and honey” The konti went on “I figured you would like this one too since were both creatures of the sea.”
“You’d be right, Fish eggs and seaweed are my favourite snacks” Alcors mouth started to water as he imagined what seaweed paste would taste like. Although he wasn’t too sure how blood would affect the taste, hopefully not by much since blood wasn’t the most potent of flavours. Blood mostly just tasted like licking a copper pot but in liquid form. He was sure the saltiness of the seaweed and the fish eggs would over power the metallic taste of the most vital ingredient.

“It’s too bad that fish eggs are so hard to come by” Nissela said with a wistful sigh “Maybe you could substitue the wheat with the seaweed paste…but I don’t know how great it would go with the milk, you would probably need to use the cheese again…” Her brow narrowed in deep thought before loudly sapping out of it with a rapid shake of the head. “Anyway! what was I saying?”

“We were talking about Soulmist recipes.” Alcor chuckled. He found her endearing but wasn’t sure why.

by **Alcor** on March 12th, 2015, 8:22 am

“Well let’s get to preparing some soul mist since the only way to get better at something is to do it often..and do it well” The konti said as she turned to face her tarnished marble kitchen counter. She reached to open her highest cupboard and pulled out a small mixing bowl followed by another.
“Do you have your own blood letting knife?” she asked as she turned back to face Alcor.
“yes, I brought my own” The Ethaefal quickly rummaged through the bag hanging around his waist and pulled out a his sheathed blade.
“oh great, I’ll boil some water to sterilize them” The master Spiritst moved over to her chamber pot and lit the flame underneath. There was already water in the pot which was slowly brought to a boil. Nessella placed her dagger in the pot, retrieved Alcor’s dagger from his hand and did the same. The ethaefal was a little unsure that putting them in the water was safe, especially when he didn’t know it’s origin. It did seem like the konti knew what she was doing so he didn’t say anything but continued to fret on the inside. Once the water had finished boiling the knives were taken out and set to cool.

“So while were waiting for that to boil lets get the ingredients ready.” Nessela stated as she rummaged through her pantry.
“I don’t have any fish eggs but I have tons of seaweed we can grind up” She pulled out a mortar and pestle, a jar filled with water and seaweed and few eggs from a basket. She handed an egg to Alcor and cracked one open with one hand agains the rim of her porcailn bowl. Alcor tried to do the same but wasn’t quite nimble enough and let out a deep sigh as he picked a few stay eggshells from his bowl.
“Aww thats to bad, I’d say there’s some big secret but you really just need to do it a lot and you’ll eventually get the hang of it.” Nessela reassured her student “But I’m not giving you another egg you’ll have to ruin your own.” Her statement could have almost been playful if it didn’t sound so cold coming when if came out of her lips.
“fair enough”
The Konti handed Alcor mortar and sided the jar over to him. “You’re going to grind these up because I don’t feel like doing it today, you know how to work one of these right? She said bluntly
“yes I do” Alcor replied with a smile that seemed out of sync with how she addressed him. He pulled the slimy stark green seaweed out of the jar and put it in the mortar and began to grind the plant. It would have probably been easier to grind dry seaweed but maybe it didn’t taste as good if it had dried out, Alcor really didn’t know. It seemed so hard to grind this rubbery and wet plant but it eventually started to erode into the desired consistency. When he was done he pored even amounts of the gooey slop into both bowls and both spiritsts mixed their brew thoroughly. Nessela reached for a small ceramic container on her counter and pulled out a honey dipper covered in translucent golden liquid and let it flow into hers and then Alcor’s concoction. The daggers were still fairly hot but Nessela still grabbed hers and quickly pierced the tip into her finger and let the blood out like it was nothing. Alcor hesitantly followed suit and noticeably winched at the pain.
“You’ll get used to it” Was all Nessella said.

They both put the slimy green goop into their mouths and concentrated on making it into soul mist. The konti was done in almost instantly and her product shone like the moon at Night. Alcor took much longer to finish and his final product was remarkably dim in comparison to hers.
A few of the ghosts almost swarmed around Nessela practically begging for her soul mist while they scoffed at the pitiful product that Alcor had made.

“Well that was my lesson for today, now go away”

by **Alcor** on March 12th, 2015, 8:23 am

“Well let’s get to preparing some soul mist since the only way to get better at something is to do it often..and do it well” The konti said as she turned to face her tarnished marble kitchen counter. She reached to open her highest cupboard and pulled out a small mixing bowl followed by another.
“Do you have your own blood letting knife?” she asked as she turned back to face Alcor.
“yes, I brought my own” The Ethaefal quickly rummaged through the bag hanging around his waist and pulled out a his sheathed blade.
“oh great, I’ll boil some water to sterilize them” The master Spiritst moved over to her chamber pot and lit the flame underneath. There was already water in the pot which was slowly brought to a boil. Nessella placed her dagger in the pot, retrieved Alcor’s dagger from his hand and did the same. The ethaefal was a little unsure that putting them in the water was safe, especially when he didn’t know it’s origin. It did seem like the konti knew what she was doing so he didn’t say anything but continued to fret on the inside. Once the water had finished boiling the knives were taken out and set to cool.

“So while were waiting for that to boil lets get the ingredients ready.” Nessela stated as she rummaged through her pantry.
“I don’t have any fish eggs but I have tons of seaweed we can grind up” She pulled out a mortar and pestle, a jar filled with water and seaweed and few eggs from a basket. She handed an egg to Alcor and cracked one open with one hand agains the rim of her porcailn bowl. Alcor tried to do the same but wasn’t quite nimble enough and let out a deep sigh as he picked a few stay eggshells from his bowl.
“Aww thats to bad, I’d say there’s some big secret but you really just need to do it a lot and you’ll eventually get the hang of it.” Nessela reassured her student “But I’m not giving you another egg you’ll have to ruin your own.” Her statement could have almost been playful if it didn’t sound so cold coming out of her lips.
“fair enough”
The Konti handed Alcor mortar and sided the jar over to him. “You’re going to grind these up because I don’t feel like doing it today, you know how to work one of these right? She said bluntly
“yes I do” Alcor replied with a smile that seemed out of sync with how she addressed him. He pulled the slimy stark green seaweed out of the jar and put it in the mortar and began to grind the plant. It would have probably been easier to grind dry seaweed but maybe it didn’t taste as good if it had dried out, Alcor really didn’t know. It seemed so hard to grind this rubbery and wet plant but it eventually started to erode into the desired consistency. When he was done he pored even amounts of the gooey slop into both bowls and both spiritsts mixed their brew thoroughly. Nessela reached for a small ceramic container on her counter and pulled out a honey dipper covered in translucent golden liquid and let it flow into hers and then Alcor’s concoction. The daggers were still fairly hot but Nessela still grabbed hers and quickly pierced the tip into her finger and let the blood out like it was nothing. Alcor hesitantly followed suit and noticeably winched at the pain.
“You’ll get used to it” Was all Nessella said.

They both put the slimy green goop into their mouths and concentrated on making it into soul mist. The konti was done in almost instantly and her product shone like the moon at Night. Alcor took much longer to finish and his final product was remarkably dim in comparison to hers.
A few of the ghosts almost swarmed around Nessela practically begging for her soul mist while they scoffed at the pitiful product that Alcor had made.

“Well that was your lesson for today, now go away”