Deadly Attraction(Wrenmae)

[Ignotus Everto]

Ignotus couldn't let him go fast enough. His muscles sagged, and if it weren't for his lack of breathing, he'd likely have exhaled. A yelp of pain escaped him when the blade came out, a small bit of ichor dribbling out of the hole. "You're in luck, however, that I am in need of men with secrets." the guard said.

the undead would have responded, if it weren't for the wracking pain in his chest. He pushed himself off the floor with a great deal of effort, his face still contorted in agony. The wound might not be fatal to a Nuit, but being stabbed in the heart still felt like being stabbed in the heart. He listened passively to Wrenmae's monologue, until he extended a hand to him. "Fail to destroy me and I will undoubtedly destroy you...but perhaps our better communication is rooted in the spirit of collaboration. You are of use to me, and I can be of use to you...especially if you're in the market for a new body."

Ignotus laughed nervously and went to shake it, his other hand clutching the hole in his chest. He finally managed to choke through the pain and still-lingering fright, "M-my dear, if you wanted my help with what I think you're planning, all you had to do was ask. It would have meant a lot less pain for both of us."

He hated Wrenmae. He was furious at him for wrecking his body, was terrified of him for wielding hypnotic powers that made his own look like petty parlor tricks, and wanted nothing more than to see him burn for making him look like a fool. He also thought he just might like him. Ignotus smiled at the wizard, though it looked a lot more like the sort of expression one might have when biting into something sour than a sign of affection. "You'll have to tell me more tomorrow. For now, I'm afraid I have a date with this Drykas, and you have to be going. This body's ruined," he said, gesturing languidly to the hole, "and I won't be of any use to you with it."

[Wrenmae]

“I decline,” the Waveguard answered Ignotus shortly, raising an eyebrow, “If you insist on taking a body, I’ll insist on watching. I don’t have much experience in the habits of your kind and it’s something I’ve always regretted.” Holding out his arms, as if presenting the morgue, he smirked, “Besides…the reason these bodies are here, on slab, prepared and ready to be buried, is because someone paid for the service. The Grave digger is no charitable fool. Easier still to throw a few corpses in a shall grave if there’s no coin in it. Who paid the coin then, you may wonder. Well, immortal, there is a citizen beyond these doors that expect your body to be dead and buried. What then when the dead walk the earth? Grave robbery can be a great offense, especially if you cannot return the body.”

Leaning back against one of the slabs, Shroud tragically picked up a hand and let it fall across its owner’s chest. “Imagine,” he remarked quietly, looking up at Ignotus, “Once this was a woman. She thought. She dreamed, She petched, She worked. The nature of death is to discard, to cast aside those trappings of skin and bone we cling to most in life. Your kind, scavengers, too weak to exist beyond your own…you feed on the waste we leave behind.” Another chuckled bubbled from his chest, darker, almost bitter. “Is it worth it then, this immortality? You’ve lost who you were…now who are you but a rotting doppelganger, changing faces through the century. But never are you yourself, you simply borrow the identity of the fallen, existing on the edge of a dream and a nightmare…cowards too weak to die, too scared to be who they were.”

He closed his eyes for a brief moment, brushed his fingers across the burn on his face. It was reddening now, and it stung. “Was it worth it, nuit? The ritual, the journey? Do you elate in your existence as rotting carrion, or does it bother you?”

“What are you…” Shroud asked, bringing his hands together and then letting them fall, “But a dream in transition? An echo of a soul with no face, waiting until the day you have no more faces left to take?”

“Well?” he challenged, “What makes your immortality so enviable?”

[Ignotus Everto]

"I decline."
The Nuit swallowed uncomfortably. With most people, he would have gone on a tirade. Wrenmae was not most people. He was somebody who was very capable of killing him on the spot. Of course, that also meant that it was probably, possibly, hopefully safe to switch around him. After all, he would have killed him already if he wanted him dead, right? "Right?"

Apparently, it wasn't enough to rob him of his comfort. He had to get philosophical too. “Is it worth it then, this immortality? You’ve lost who you were…now who are you but a rotting doppelganger, changing faces through the century. But never are you yourself, you simply borrow the identity of the fallen, existing on the edge of a dream and a nightmare…cowards too weak to die, too scared to be who they were.”

In spite of himself, Ignotus smirked, "I would disagree on that. It is true that we wear different faces as the centuries pass," he conceded with a slight tilt of his head, "but we still remain as we were. These vessels do nothing to change us. Only hold us. You would call us cowards, but I do not feel afraid."

“What are you…” Shroud asked, bringing his hands together and then letting them fall, “But a dream in transition? An echo of a soul with no face, waiting until the day you have no more faces left to take?”

“Well? What makes your immortality so enviable?”

A low chuckle came from the undead, and he splayed his arms out to either side of him, glistening white ichor dribbling from the hole in his chest, "Well, for one, were I not Nuit, we would not be having this conversation." A spasm passed over his face as another wave of pain washed over him. After squeezing his eyes shut for a few ticks, he continued, "In addition to that, I ought to be lying in my death bed right now. Instead, I enjoy a bright new future, and perpetual good health."

The wizard smiled, an almost mocking gesture dampened slightly by his wariness of the man, "I will endure forever. You on the other hand, my dear Hypnotist, you're already enjoying the peak of your life. In a few short years, will come the decline." a small "tsk" sound sputtered from between his teeth, and he looked down at the floor. He looked like he was surveying something beautiful now broken. "In ten years, you will begin to lose your youthful vigor. In another ten, your health will start to fail. A decade later, and you'll be shriveling as the undead you see seem to be."

Ignotus looked up, shrugging cheerfully. "One more decade, two if you're lucky, and you'll be dead. If you're lucky, a receptacle for another of my kind. If you're not, a receptacle for maggots and carrion birds. I will still be here though, undaunted, unbowed by Tanroa's barrage upon our bodies, and still very much alive."

Another shrug before he turned around, dipping two fingers into his chest with a wince. "That, my dear lawman, is what is so enviable about our immortality."
and with that, he began painting the necessary glyphs onto the corpse. Once that was done, he'd clamber onto it and get to "moving."

[Wrenmae]

Shroud watched him, quietly, taking in his words with stoic indifference. Sure, the nuit would stand the test of time if left to his own devices. So thus would buildings stand and stories remain unchanged. But a nuit could bleed, a nuit could be destroyed. His immortality merely extended a lifespan based on a parasitic dependence on the dead. What would happen to a nuit deprived a body in time? What fate awaited them then?

Rather than warn his ghoulish companion of the thoughts he held, Shroud watched the creature paint glyphs onto a corpse and shamble on top of it. He took time to memorize these glyphs, their placement, their shapes. Pausing to slip a book from his bag and quickly ink in the designs. Ignorus was not paying attention, more likely preparing the shift.

"Let's hope your body had no companions," Shroud murmured, "Else you find this suit far less desirable than the last."

So...you're gonna let him take the body.

Why not? He’ll show me his own weaknesses.

Do you even remember promising to protect Zeltiva?

I would if I did. I promised an old man that I would do my best. I did not define what that best was, or who it would benefit.

Almost better if you drowned, right?

For a creature so set on a new life on Mizahar, you have the most fatalistic attitude.

It’s a gift.

Or a curse.

Now who’s being negative?

Shroud scoffed the familiar away, watching the process the nuit was going through. He knew little of how their kind stole other forms. Today…yes, today would be a rare opportunity.

[Ignotus Everto]

It felt good to be able to vent out his anger without repercussion. Even if he was still a fly in comparison to Wrenmae, the Nuit didn't feel quite so small any more. That being said, he still felt rather tiny. Better then, to get his business over and done with.

Ignotus hinged the corpse's jaw open, set his mouth against its with a slight grimace as if kissing it, and then... Nothing. Nothing happened for bells. The glyphs pulsed gently, and a sound slightly akin to the squelching of a stomach could be heard if one elected to listen very closely, but other than that, there was nothing visible to speak of. After what must have been at least six bells, the Drykas' eyes fluttered open, and languidly pushed Ignotus' old form off of him. He touched his fingers to his thumb with a little difficulty, then pushed himself onto wobbling feet, steadying himself on the table. A few chimes later, he bent down and began clumsily dressing himself in whatever clothing would fit.

Ignotus fastened the cloak around himself again, wiped the glyphs off of his body, and turned to face Wrenmae with a nod. "There." he said unsteadily. "You've got your learning... Now then, if you don't mind, I need a few days to..." he shook his head like a horse bothered by flies, "To recuperate. I'll listen to your scheme then. You can try telling me about it now, but I can't promise you I'll be able to remember it at this moment."

[Wrenmae]

Water? I hear water.

Yes, Zan, I think I know what might be going on.

He's barfing water into a corpse?

No...I...no. We've cut a nuit before, seen their blood. It is white and pale and viscous. Perhaps their essence is contained in that, transferred from body to body.

So...if we bottle up a nuit's gunk, we have a portable nuit?

Perhaps. I don't think I'll try it now though.

But he's vulnerable!

And useful. Do not forget that he's useful.

Feh. I never know your plans.

Because you cannot comprehend them.

That's awfully rude.

Do you remember why I revealed myself to Tock?

Gnawing loneliness?

And that's why I don't tell you my plans


Allowing the nuit to discard his other body, the Drykas stood and wobbled with new fell purpose. The voice was different, now, but certainly holding the same raspy bite that he was accustomed to in their kind.

"Go, then," Murdock bade him, waving the nuit away, "I'll clean up here and you will expect me before season's end."

There was little else to say between them, only a suspicious nod as the nuit stumbled away on new legs.

In the darkness that he left, Murdock turned over the corpse that had once been Ignotus and drew his blade. The long dagger made quick work of the decayed corpse, excising bone and skull while discarding the rest unceremoniously in a corner. Let the grave digger work out the details, if he could.

Taking the skull, two leg bones, fingers, and hair, Murdock stowed them away with a grim smile.

So...we're collecting dead stuff now.

Yes. All to a common end.

...to have a smelly backpack?

Malediction, my dear familiar, Malediction. When my skill has progressed father, I think I will make something of these...some insurance, of course.

You and your magic.

It's gotten me this far.

And that, the familiar sighed, is what I'm afraid of.

[Paragon]

Ignotus Everto

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Investigation	1
Observation	1
Rhetoric	3
Hypnotism	1
Reimancy	2
Negotiation	2

Lores

•	Lore Earned
•	Hoping An Opponent Will Overgive
•	Brinkmanship: Fire & Blade
•	Nuit Pride
•	A New Body: Drykas, Human

Wrenmae

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Philosophy	1
Familiary	2
Intimidation	2
Investigation	2
Long Dagger	2
Negotiation	1
Interrogating	1
Intelligence	1
Rhetoric	2
Hypnotism	2
Auristics	1

Lores

•	Lore Earned
•	Patrolling Zeltiva
•	Stabbing a Nuit
•	Questioning a Nuit
•	Brinkmanship: Fire & Blade
•	Witnessing a Nuit Body Transfer

Legend Becomes Reality

Thanks for your patience with this one guys. Really fun thread, I loved the stalemate situation with the blade and fire reimancy, it was very tense! If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can work from there.