Closed Ghosts and Ghouls

[Alija]

24th Winter 516

Of course, she hadn't listened to what people had told her.
Of course, she hadn't had the common sense to stick to the path.
Of course, her dreaded curiosity had meant she had ended up in yet another place she shouldn't have been.

Alija sometimes wondered whether she was actively trying to hurt herself. Then again, with the whole curse business, she probably was, without even knowing it. Because why else would she have bothered to cross the iron fence between the safety of the path and the foggy graveyard, instead of just heading to find a forge like she had hoped. She even held a hammer, not that that was much use against the ghosts around her.

The woman trembled as she stumbled through the fog, glad she wasn't scared enough to be frozen in place too. The ghostly images flickered around her, but none approached. Yet. The atmosphere of death clung to her and the woman blinked, knuckles now white where she held the hammer.

Why hadn't she gone straight to the forge? Why? She could have sword she had seen something interesting in her a chime ago, that had drawn her in, made her cross that simply boundary. But now she was here, she was just scared. No, not scared. Terrified.

Something caught her shirt and dragged her back, the woman trying to spin and smash against it with the hammer. It flicked straight through the ghostly apparition as the grip loosened, and Alija stumbled back, moving through the fog quicker now. She almost broke into a run, but was stopped whenever she tried by a particularly large gravestone or scary looking mist of a ghost. She could feel them near her, trying to reach out and grab her, their dangerous, vengeful forms shimmering around her. Where was the path? Where on Mizahar was that path? But with the fog, she could see nothing, so kept stumbling blindly, hoping for sight.

[Aerius]

Aerius found himself in the area yet again, and without a doubt he knew that this particular location possessed an unnatural beauty about itself. Perhaps the beauty emanated from the idiosyncratic fog which seemed to lack purpose. Maybe it was the twisted, and mangled Trees in combination with the constant whisper of ghostly voices that filled the air. However the case may be nothing could be more beautiful than undeath itself. A life everlasting was the most amazing way to live; where centuries pass like days. To his left on a pathway opposite of his direction he could've sworn he spotted a pulser with lengthy hair. Simultaneously he knew that the fog had a habit of playing tricks on the eyes, and often creating false images; perhaps what he saw was a ghost, and if he did see a pulser he or she was in grave danger.

The Immortal directed his attention toward her immediately, and looked off in the direction yet again. There she was, and he began to question whether or not she knew how much danger she was in by simply being here. If she moved on her own and not involuntarily; by now she might have reached the center of the Forest where even he would not venture. He approached without warning, and attempted to steal her attention like a thief in the night. Aerius saw something materialize nearby her, and it appeared as if it tracked her down. He saw what appeared to be a boy with a body that was translucent, but visible enough to appear physical. A ghost obviously stalked her and waited on his chance to posses her.

“These mortals have a tendency to attempt killing themselves. Petchin' fools the lot of them are.” Aerius spoke in a soft tone, but due to the fogs tendency to warp and or block out sound all together she would not be able to hear him. The immortal quickly made his way to cut off her path before she traveled too far, and it would be too late to save her. However, nothing good comes without a cost, and if there was anything she knew that he did not; he would obtain it from her by force or with her compliance.

The Immortal quickly found himself several feet in front of her, and ran out from the brush only to stop in the middle of the path she took. He was clad in no more than an elaborately crafted robe, without any noticeable weapons or anything of the sort visible. His green-tinted hair fluttered as he stopped in the middle of his motions and turned his body toward her.

“Stop! If you go any further you will lose your life, Mortal!” He voiced aloud to the woman.

[Alija]

Someone jumped out from the bushes, and the woman couldn't help screaming, thrusting her hammer forward despite the gap between them. "Stay back!" she warned, although she knew it was a ghost, it wouldn't do anything against it. And if it wasn't, she couldn't fight with a blacksmithing hammer. She knew that much. If she was lucky, she'd get a few hits in, but that was about it. Her voice was cut off by his own, and she froze at his request, shuddering at the way he referred to her as mortal.

Now forced to be still, she actually took him in and realised he was human. Well, not ghost, anyway - he was a physical being, although she wasn't ready to call him alive quite yet. From the term mortal, she assumed he was nuit, because most this island was. With their rotting bodies and still hearts - she didn't understand why "pulser" and "mortal" were said as such insults. She'd prefer to be alive any day, even if it meant she wouldn't live as long and had to survive on food and rest. Better to have a beating heart than to be a monstrosity that went against the nature of things. His skin was pale like any other nuit, and under the fine cloak he appeared delicate, as if he could snap at any second. Also like any other nuit. Something about him felt odd, however, the djed inside her churning as she found herself testing the surface of his aura. There was magic, like any other nuit, and something worse. Magic, but not quite.

"Please don't kill me," she found herself mumbling, not sure exactly why. She had done what he had asked and he had no weapons to hurt her with. If anyone had the upper hand it was her, with her hammer, which wasn't much of an upper hand at all but she still gripped it tightly. Then again, maybe he'd use magic and she'd be utterly helpless. Looking straight up at the undead man, she waited for him to speak, remaining silent as she did.

His hair was odd, she decided as she watched him, noticing the green through the fog. It wasn't what made her skin prickle a little, though, but it was odd all the same. Very, very slowly, she inched forward, wanting to see more of this man better through the fog, but also seeking safety from him for whatever strange reason had fallen to her mind. He was threatening to kill her, but so were the ghosts, she thought. And they weren't going to be reasoned with. Her best option was this nuit, whatever he wanted.

As she thought about it, the beings materialised around them, barely visible through the fog but their presence marked with a sharp decline in temperature. Alija shivered, wishing for a cloak. Or that she could go back in time and not be stupid. Or something to get her out of this graveyard and away from the ghosts and the nuit. Wishes, however, weren't something ghosts were good at, it seemed.

Her eyes flickered back to the dead man. What was he doing past the safety of the path? Did she draw him, or did he have some other, stranger motive? If she got the chance, it would be the first thing she asked. She doubted she'd get the chance.

[Aerius]

She stopped in her tracks as he hoped that she would; The Sorcerer only had one task left to complete, and that was to get her the petch out of there. Therefore he decided to concentrate for a brief moment, and allow djed to gather in his mouth so that it may lace his words. “You do not want to be here.” He spoke to the woman softly, and approached slowly as to not frighten her. A commonplace technique that he made use of; suggestion which while low level in terms of hypnotists should have done the trick. However, he did not waste time and simply assumed that it would work for him; he had only expended a small portion of djed whereas if he used reimancy that portion would be far larger.

“You can trust me, Mortal” He spoke again with djed laced words, as he continued until he reached arms length with the woman. He hoped that she would not strike him with the object and simply run off further into the forest. If she did that he would either have to kill her himself, or her fate would be sealed with the many thousands of spirits that rested within The Glannoch. If she walked with him not only would he have saved her life, but in exchange she will of course owe him a favor in return. After all this was Sahova; island of exchange, experimentation and magic. Her presence in the area alone made him safely assume that in some fashion or another she too was a mage.

Could he make an apprentice of her? Was she truly of any use to him even if she had already been taken in by someone other than himself? There were multiple questions he could have asked at the time, but for now his focus was simply to direct her attention away from the area. Had she continued to walk a spirit might've possessed her along the way and taken her very soul. She should be thankful that he approached her in such a calm manner. “Walk with me, let me guide you away from here.” He spoke yet again with another suggestion with djed laced words in a beautiful tone. His voice that is typically deep, and has a habit of carrying lacked that opportunity here.

The Immortal locked eyes with the woman for a moment, and then he simply attempted to invoke a singular emotion. His final attempt at making it out of here without an injury was delivered in the form of a piercing emotion “Trust”. He did not bother to speak, and let his eyes do the talking for him in the final case. For now he awaited a response; although she might want to accelerate the process before she would be overtaken by one of the several ghosts in this particular area. Some of them were playful, and childlike while others remained malicious and murderous as they were in life.

Perhaps destiny brought them together in this moment, and he could only hope that his minor hypnotic attempts would work. The Immortal had never attempted to direct another person before until now; she was practically his test subject and she had not even realized it yet.

[Alija]

"You do not want to be here."
Well of course she didn't. Did she look like she was loving it? She would rather be anywhere else but here, and she didn't need anyone else to tell her that. Staring at him coldly, she twitched, waiting for him to tell her to go, or something. Just stating the obvious wouldn't get either of them anywhere.

“You can trust me, Mortal.”
Again with the term mortal. She was growing sick of it. They all were mortal in some shape or form. If she stuck a blade in him right now, he would fall, he would die. If he stumbled of a cliff, his bones would shatter all the same. Just because he never grew old...

But that wasn't the important part, and she knew she was avoiding it. Could she trust him? He had come out of nowhere, threatening her, but he hadn't done anything. Yet. Somehow, she found herself trusting him all the same. If he meant her harm, he had more than enough opportunity to hurt her. And if he didn't - even if he wanted something more - she trusted him enough to get her out alive.

He shifted closer, and she lowered her hammer, very, very slowly. Maybe she did trust him. More than she trusted herself, anyway, because he hadn't got her in this mess in the first place.

“Walk with me, let me guide you away from here.”
His voice was welcoming, beautiful and hazel eyes met each other. As she watched them, she could only find herself seeing a trustworthy man behind the cold, dead exterior. Maybe she should just trust him. She stepped forward, half in a daze, half desperate to get out.

Then she felt it, a cold and warm tingling sensation across her skin. Magic. Nothing else could be so strong and weak, so warm and cool, so opposite yet still there. Most likely residual from his activities from before, but it reminded her all the same. Even now, he could be using it. She had to be careful because unlike weapons, magic was almost perfectly hidden.

Freezing again, she pulled a strand of her hair away from her face, staring at him steadily. Slowly, she felt the tug of his aura, and she let herself be drawn by it, not just on the surface, but deeper. Despite it being just like the fog, she could make it all out. A mist, at first an icy blue snowstorm, suspended with the lack of heartbeat. Then it began to swirl around him, and she held it in her view tight, watching for magic, watching for the intent that she could only spot with a lot of focus.

"I'll come," she said, softly, her voice refusing to be any louder, "And I will trust you to get me out. Because I need to get out." There it was. It has hard to spot under the snow, but a golden fleck of dust shifted, flickering when it caught some imaginary light. It was focused on her. "Please don't try anything," she added, voice even softer but with her approach, it would sound the same volume, "I'll know."

The dust in his aura remained on her. She let herself steady her eyes on it for a second, before letting herself feel it instead. With all her focus on his intent, the aura said little else to her. She didn't need to know much else, however. With a step, she was moving, but not moving from his side.

[Aerius]

It worked, and she fell for it despite the fact that he was nowhere near perfect in his craft of hypnotism. Among hypnotists he would be considered a joke even on his best day, and from that point forward he began to ask questions as he lead the way out of the forest. He had so many things to ask about her, where she came from, what her name was, and of course why she was here to begin with. Sahova was not nicknamed the island of the dead for no reason; it was unfriendly and unforgiving to the living. She was crazy if she purposefully chose this as her place of residence.

“Well, what is your name? I hate having to refer to people as mortals if I can avoid it.” He beckoned her despite her threats; she posed no threat to him at all. What she didn't know was that if he wanted to he could freeze her solid and leave her here. After a few centuries one begins to believe emotions, and fear itself were all simply mute, and things of the mind. If she could detect magic then she was obviously one of the few individuals that possessed the ability. He wanted to learn her secrets, and perhaps form a bond with her. In the future she may become something of high value to him; especially being that she too was a mage.

He did not bother to ask the bigger questions first, after all he had just saved her life. Despite the fact that he manipulated her into walking away. Humans were such frail creatures, and he never could understand why they were the best test subjects. Perhaps it was because of their will to survive, and maintain themselves wherever they went. Several centuries ago he was just like her, and could very easily feel emotional attachment to things like people, places or other things. Perhaps he could make a deal with her for now.

“Anyway, my newfound friend I will make you a deal. On this island I am one of select few wielders of a magic called Mage-craft. I can forge things that are stronger, faster and have better physical properties or even cast magic on command for a pretty miza. However, nothing magical comes cheap and I can offer you a very well discounted price in exchange for your ability. If you are willing to teach me how it is you can detect magic I will cut the price In half for you.” He said yet again with a djed laced tongue. The suggestion was so minor that even if she could detect his usage of magic; she may reason it off as nothing more than a well spoken proposal.

Aerius could do no more than smile and nod at the surprisingly beautiful young woman. He did not want to make any physical contact with her quite yet as to avoid being attacked. Simply because a human trusted an individual did not mean that without a doubt they wouldn't harm them. Although if she did harm him he saw no benefit in her favor; he was of course incredibly durable. Despite the fact that he radiated discomfort as a result of his returning.


“What do you say?” He asked her

[Alija]

"Alija," she replied simply to his question, refusing to look at him. At least he had decided to stop using mortal. That was an improvement. Deciding it was fitting for her to learn his, she sent the question back at him, speaking softly as she walked, following him. "What do they call you?" Her voice was a mishmash of accents, Zeltivan, with Nykan hints from her time there. Would she sound more Sahovian, she wondered, or would she only spend a season here, like she had in Ravok?

He spoke again and she could feel the magic flow as he talked. Was he trying to use magic on her? She listened anyway, considering what he said. She knew what magecrafting was, Elias could do it too. He was clearly trying to make himself seem impressive, seem one of a kind, make his deal seem worth something. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. She had no idea how to gauge his skill - even watching him work was nothing. If he had something to offer, however... "What can you make me?" she asked, making it clear that she was only considering it because he suggested. That she wasn't going to pay him a lot, because she didn't think she needed anything. It would be up to him to convince her.

What interested her more was his interest in her magic. Did he not realise it was auristics? In her mind, the magic went well with magecrafting, not that she had ever tried. Clearly, he couldn't be too good. Still, she wanted to give him a chance. Magecrafting cost a lot, and if she was there to fund him, maybe future projects would be cheaper for her to buy too. And if she taught him a magic, he had to indebted to her, at least enough to repay for him getting her out of the graveyard.

"I'll teach you," she finally decided, speaking sharply before she changed her mind, "I'll show you how to see auras. But I'll be expecting a good discount, and a good offer." Offers, discount, money - this was her territory. There were things you could only learn by owning a business. Parts of negotiation stemmed from it so directly, she felt comfortable there now. As long as the conversation was only where she liked it, she would talk.

[Aerius]

The moment she replied with her name he thought to himself for a moment. “Alija” that was an interesting name albeit simple, and easy to pronounce. In return she asked him what he was called, and he gave her a simple explanation; he did not quite yet trust her with his name in exchange. For now he wished for her to call him what he is often called by his peers. “I am simply called, Immortal for I am not one of the dead that you see on this island. I may break but I will stand again, I may be cut but I will not bleed, nor will I leak ichor, and that is if one manages to slice through my flesh. If you prefer not to call me Immortal, call me Sorcerer. “ He spoke in response to her statement, and then she responded yet again to his subtle suggestions; perhaps hypnotism was a discipline far better than he imagined it to be.

However, she made a dead giveaway the moment that she asked what he could make her. Alija was an individual that obviously had experience with negotiation and business. That much became clear, and he looked at the slender yet muscular woman in one sweep. He noticed a beautiful golden jewel, and raised a brow the moment he saw it only to point toward it. “Perhaps I will make you something that can match your other jewelry. However, I can make the ring intelligent, and fire magic so that in situations like these you will not require a helping hand. If you are assaulted I will make sure that it can penetrate both armor and flesh.” His offer was made, and that eerily emotionless expression remained on The Immortals visage. He did not bother to change expressions very often; unless it was to convince a pulser of his genuine feeling toward a situation.

“It will be a Mage-craft coefficient level 2 item, and therefore it will not cost much. As compared to the others on the island I charge half the price. Where the item would typically be 10,200 Gold miza, I will sell it to you at 5100. Since of course you are willing to teach me your magic, and if you accept that then the pact is made.” He spoke to her, and extended his hand toward her own as they stopped in the middle of their journey back to the citadel.

“My offer stands as is, and is not subject to change. I believe that charging half the price is wonderful being that I practically saved your life, and perhaps your soul from eternal torment today. Shake my hand if the deal stands, dear.” He spoke again with a slight hint of djed beneath his words with yet another suggestion.

The deal he offered her was far more than any other mage-crafter would charge her. If she funded him the total amount that could be used for a number of things. The full amount would primarily be used to purchase the proper equipment he needed to perform such activities; followed by which he would make a ring for her. The formula he required would be one that was very simple, a singular intellectual step, and a single magical step so that he could store a single spell within the ring. However, being that the ring would only at the time be a low level reimancer it could only cast a few times within a day. Hopefully she would accept, and within him she would find a loyal business partner that would do anything to protect his partners.

“By the way, if you accept my offer the deal will last all of eternity.” The wizard spoke yet again, and a small smile crept across his visage.

[Alija]

Immortal? That was no name. He was avoiding her question, and she wasn't sure why. A name meant little. Sorcerer wasn't one either, and she didn't like it. She felt suddenly vulnerable, with him knowing her name but not the other way around. He had to have a reason for not giving it.

What interested her more, and distracted her from the problem of not having his name was what he said about himself when he gave the first "name". Not like the others? How was that possible? She had never heard of anything dead but not Nuit, unless it was a ghost, which didn't count. She had to ask him about that too, with the million other questions that were developing inside her.

With the question she had already asked, he pointed at the gold bracelet, Alija covering it with her other hand with the mention. His face remained emotionless as he spoke, spoke of a weapon that could cut through armour and flesh. She needed something to protect her, she knew that. But the idea of using it horrified her. Still, she was interested. Sometimes, she would need a weapon.

He extended his hand but she didn't shake it quite yet. He had more to say and she listened, taking it all in. Considering the possibilities. It was a good deal. He was reducing the price by two thousands mizas, which was an impressive amount. It wasn't too much lower than what her entire business had cost, when she had first bought it. At the same time, it cost that much. Was she willing to give up so much for a weapon she might not even use?

Then she froze, trying to rewind the conversation. How did he know she had that much to spend? It was a reasonable amount that couldn't be found on anyone. Not many had that much, spare, to spend on something like that. What had she done to make him think that? She hadn't mentioned it. Was it her clothing, the bracelet? The former were old and covered in soot, and the latter couldn't be worth that much. Maybe it wasn't the same on this island. After all, people on here had probably gathered fortunes over centuries. But she wasn't dead. Maybe he hadn't thought about that.

Trying to assure herself that it was an assumption he had made, not knowledge he actually had, she tried to move on. He spoke again, and this time, she matched his smile. "Eternity means nothing to me," she said softly, holding onto her true lifespan. No one was meant to live forever. But she took his hand anyway, flinching at the feeling. It was so disgusting, holding a dead man's hand. And there was a putrid aura clinging to it, worse than any other nuit she had been near. "But I accept." She had no idea why. She hadn't considered it enough, she hadn't even tried to make the terms better. She had just become so paranoid of his knowledge she went ahead and confirmed it for him.

She really was on a pathway of self-destruction. Even if this time, it all went well, next time, it might not. She had to be more careful, but at the same time, less paranoid. That would be difficult to balance. "Is there somewhere I can find you?" she asked again, hoping to gain some sort of upper hand , mainly because of his refusal to say his name, "So I can give you the money? So I can teach you my magic?" She refused to be the one sharing her own living space. That meant he could find her, a lot more easily, and she didn't trust him enough. It was his aura, she decided. It was too strange.

[Aerius]

She had just made a deal with the very person that she should not have, and had not even realized it. Without her notice he was in control of the entire conversation from start to finish, and somehow managed to make a deal with her for a large amount of Miza. She took his hand, she accepted and he immediately thought that she might have noticed his aura. He tended to make people uncomfortable the moment he stepped into a room, and cause even the strong willed to become paranoid of him. Her eyes told a tale of fear, but her following questions were simple requests. She wanted to know where to find him, and he did not mind directing her so that he could receive his payment. He hoped that she would listen to his final choice of words closely; as he would not repeat them.

He gathered a bit more djed in his mouth as he spoke to the woman, and released a small amount yet again. The Nuit could no longer continue the usage of hypnotism after the final attempt here, and he this time he issued a command. “ You will meet me in the center of the court yard, in the dead of night. Tomorrow.“ He spoke to her in a soothing, and incredibly calm voice; a voice that would still make the average humans skin crawl. He had already explained to her that he was no nuit, and he did not need to do much more to prove that point. The Sorcerer wondered if she still used her magic against him, and the very thought made him smile that she could not detect his usage of hypnotism.

“In order to leave this place, you need to continue forward until you can no longer see the thickened mist that surrounds you. I will expect to see you soon, Alija.” He spoke again in a hushed tone and began to exude res from the very pores of his flesh. The Azure coloration of the translucent res exited in a gaseous form, and he wondered if another element existed beyond ice in combination with the two elements he commonly used. Water and Air could perhaps combine in theory to create a mist much like that which surrounded him now. He attempted to transmute the element from his combination of two only to discover how light it felt compared to ice. The mist that now surrounded him grew thicker, and thicker. Until he became nearly invisible among the other mist in the environment but obviously his was not natural like the other mist was.

A final word was spoken to her again “ Be there”, and his voice echoed multiple times as he simply began to walk away with the cover of mist making him hidden from her sight. The last thing she likely saw of him were probably the hazel coloration of his eyes. He had vanished into what seemed to be thin air, but all along simply disappeared into the thick of the brush again. He hoped that she would follow his instructions, and actually follow through with the deal that she had made with him. However, tomorrow would tell him whether or not she had truly made the decision to partner with him.