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blacknoise
I don't have kik.
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Post by blacknoise on Sept 11, 2015 17:42:53 GMT
((Note this thread is death enabled. Be careful if you join.))
Aleksandria looked into the mirror and could not recognize the face that stared back at her. Black tattoos resembling swirling markings encompassed her body with the only break being in the three alchemical symbols of salt, sulfur and mercury on her shoulders and forehead. The powerful and long ritual to disguise herself had been cast off, there was no need to keep up her public persona, not down here. It was simple, in practice, but in concealing herself she also concealed her abilities, limiting her power. She hated both of those things.
Walking down the catacombs alone was a comforting thing, the breeze from the surface still reached her down here. Were she wearing full plate, she'd not feel it. Strolling along in a black, fighter's tunic gave her freedom she envied in her day to day life. Hearing a bat rustle nearby, she instinctively reached for her blade. Almost surprised to not feel it, she chastised herself for her jitters and was reminded that she left her weapon back at the estate. Without needing to conceal her markings, she knew she had no need for her blade.
Stopping periodically, Aleksandria would mark the walls gently with blood. The symbol she drew was simple, a circle with jagged markings leading towards the center. Everytime one was drawn, Alek would mutter an incantation and mark the center of the circle with a single drop of Mercury. She made sure not to touch the substance with her hand, rather placing it there with the assistance of a brush crafted from a small bundle of cat tail hair.
Each marking would be completely worthless were it not for Alek's training and the markings on her own body working in tandem to activate the marking on the wall. What the wall marking did was serve as small gateways, power limiters that prevented a necromatic gate from opening but drew power from the souls of the afterlife nonetheless. With enough of them marked in a certain pattern, Alek could use them to fuel something much, much bigger.
Finally, she stopped upon coming to a large room with a domed ceiling and three exit tunnels. Talking to herself, she spoke, "Here we are." and placed her large, heavy bag to the ground.
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Post by Mach2 on Sept 13, 2015 5:50:17 GMT
As a general rule, the catacombs were abandoned. It made the days extraordinarily long for Anima, and unbearably lonely. But as much as she hated the stone walls, these tunnels were also her home. With no need to eat, and incapable of sleeping, she had instead spent years wandering the catacombs. She had memorized these walls, better than the most skilled spelunker could memorize a cave network.
And she knew when something was out of place.
Anima had been drifting through the caverns, but stopped in her tracks when she saw it. The subtle glisten of blood against stone was unmistakable. Leaning in closer, Anima examined it closely. Someone was in her home. Someone was drawing on her walls.
A mouth formed on her featureless face, twisting into a defined scowl. There were more of them. A trail of the bloody symbols, placed periodically throughout the caverns. Anima followed, her wispy figure growing more and more solid in appearance as she moved. Like a trail of breadcrumbs, the scarlet glyphs led her to the culprit. A woman. Standing in an open cavern, her back to Anima. She had with her a heavy bag, which she had just set down on the floor. Watching her intently, Anima faded from sight, and proceeded to move closer.
She dematerialized. Instantly, and directly in front of Alek. One moment, the woman was alone in the catacombs. The next, a translucent spirit stood before her. Anima had taken an androgynous form. Her face was smooth, featureless save for her eyes. Angry eyes stared at Alek.
"What are you doing?" Anima's voice sounded. In the empty cavern, it seemed to echo off of the walls. Her tone was clear, she was not impressed with the actions of this visitor. Guests were welcome. Desecration of her home was not.
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Jan 17, 2019 22:10:26 GMT
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blacknoise
I don't have kik.
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Aug 14, 2015 15:19:56 GMT
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Post by blacknoise on Sept 13, 2015 6:30:20 GMT
Alek stepped back to admire her handiwork, a perfect, inverted, squared circle exactly one meter in diameter. She always admired the precision required with necromancy, not like other base magics. Like, for example, water based magic could be used by anyone with fair ease, the only drawback to learning being soaked skin if they messed up royally. Necromancy, on the other hand, required precision and care. If you messed up even the slightest with necromancy, down to even a slight mispronunciation in the incantation, you ended up dead.
It was exhilerating, or would be if Alek could feel exhilaration in her current state. A tingling numbness seemed to take over her body when she was unconcealed, unable to feel anything emotionally and, on occasion, not even anything physically. It scared her at times when she reconcealed herself, but at the moment, she did not care.
It was then, as she admired her handiwork, that Anima appeared. Alek had not seen her come in, not that she could not see ghosts, but that she simply hadn't noticed the phantom arriving in the room. Surprised at herself, she stepped back a bit and blinked when it spoke. It was not only possessive, but it seemed to be either very brave or very ignorant of what Alek was. Taking advantage of this, the red haired woman stepped back and shrugged.
"I'm drawing this circle so that I may examine whether or not someone I know has passed on or not." Not explaining to whom she was referring, Alek told the whole truth; though she almosr cringed at referring to her own masterpiece as a 'circle.' It mattered little to lie down here, especially to a ghost. No one, not even Williem the captain of the guard himself, would recognize Aleksandria in the dark and underneath the tattoos, brands and markings.
Her right hand twitching instinctively in the presence of a ghost, Alek continued speaking, her voice uncharacteristically emotionless. "Now, since I answered your question, answer mine. What are you doing?"
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Post by Mach2 on Sept 20, 2015 14:37:58 GMT
People didn't often venture into the catacombs. When they did, Anima often tried to speak with them. And when she did, they often reacted with fear. But evidently, today was an exception. The woman who stood before Anima reacted with a hint of surprise, but no fear. Odd. Especially considering that this time, Anima had actually tried to be intimidating. But this woman's reply came calmly. She was completely composed when she spoke. "I'm drawing this circle so that I may examine whether or not someone I know has passed on or not." The ghost tilted her head, perplexed, as Alek continued to speak. "Now, since I answered your question, answer mine. What are you doing?"
Anima leaned in, closing the distance between herself and the intruder once more. Silence hung heavy in the air, dragging on for several moments longer than the average person would have been comfortable with. With no concept of personal space, Anima began to look closer at Alek. Her eyes, still angry, still the only feature on her face, were inches from Alek's body. They moved up and down her arms, and the ghost circled around Alek to examine her shoulders and back. Or, more specifically, the tattoos and markings that peaked out from beneath the fabric of her tunic. Anima had seen enough bodies - dead and alive - to know that the marking were abnormal.
Finally, she spoke again. "I live here," Anima answered simply, drifting around to hover in front of Alek once more. With no mouth visible on the ghost's face, the words seemed to originate from nowhere.
She took up a sitting position, cross-legged, roughly four feet above the ground. Anima sat in the middle of the air as though she were sitting on the ground, and regarded Alek calmly. "I could tell you if they're here. I spend entirely too much time in the tunnels. I know every skeleton. What is their name? And what are the drawings on your body for?"
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Jan 17, 2019 22:10:26 GMT
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blacknoise
I don't have kik.
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Aug 14, 2015 15:19:56 GMT
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Post by blacknoise on Sept 22, 2015 16:39:20 GMT
Alek made no movement as the ghost examined her, emotionless, dead-like eyes following the Phantom until they could no longer without turning the head. The ghost was unique, Alek felt, as though there was great power held within it. A powerful person in life, perhaps? Or perhaps a powerful curse held her spirit here?
Either way, Alek smiled gently when the ghost said 'I live here.' Resisting the urge to correct them, seeing as technically they were dead and could 'live' nowhere, Alek listened as it continued. It offered help, curious. Why would the ghost want to help her? Being in no rush, Alek entertained herself by speaking to the phantom, "Oh I doubt they're buried here. The man was known as Mortimer Horacio the Ninth of Sodden Down during his lifetime, he was my teacher. He was certainly a fish out of water in that cold land, whereas I was born there and more than fit for the cold. And that leads to your second question, these markings. Most are for the summoning, binding, and controlling of the dead and of spirits. Things like you. I am Amaymon, by the way, what is your name?" Alek felt so relaxed around this ghost, it was comforting in a weird way to speak to an unbound spirit.
Alek was also vaguely aware that she was rambling. She did not care, after watching her speech so closely to be correct every waking moment, she felt there was a right she now possessed to ramble and be rambled to.
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Post by Mach2 on Sept 29, 2015 14:01:50 GMT
Midway through Alek's speech, Anima's attention waned. It was obvious - the moment that she grew bored with the woman's introduction. Somewhere between the words 'sodden' and 'down', Anima rolled her eyes and looked away. This individual's words were quickly turning into a ramble, and Anima could feel her interest slipping. Visibly, her form started to fade. The edges of her being turned hazy, as though the gaze of whoever was observing her was shifting out of focus.
And then, just as easily as her interest had been lost, it was grabbed once more. "-binding, and controlling of the dead and of spirits. Things like you."
Immediately, the ghost's form solidified once more. One second she was hazy. The next, she had taken on a proper humanoid form. A woman of indeterminate age, with dark blonde hair hanging straight to the bottom of her shoulderblades. She still sat cross-legged in mid-air, but now wore a dress. A simple slip made of a silken fabric, that cascaded nearly to the cavern floor, held up by thin shoulder straps. Her collarbone was exposed, revealing a deep and jagged wound that stretched from left shoulder, across her throat, all the way to right shoulder. "Binding of things like me," she repeated, the disapproval clear in her voice. "Controlling of things like me."
She had never yet encountered a human like Amaymon. Someone who claimed control over spirits. But if what she said was true...perhaps there were others like her. Perhaps someone like Amaymon was the reason that Anima couldn't leave these caverns. "I'm called Anima." The ghost propped her elbow up on her knee, and rested her chin in her hand. "Tell me...how does a thing like me break the control of a thing like you?"
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Jan 17, 2019 22:10:26 GMT
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blacknoise
I don't have kik.
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Aug 14, 2015 15:19:56 GMT
August 2015
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Post by blacknoise on Oct 1, 2015 20:38:42 GMT
It was almost comical how the spirit went from zero to one hundred in barely a second. Alek listened absent-mindedly as the spirit spoke, asking about breaking control. The redhead couldn't help but wonder who or what bound this ghost to the land of the living, or even why. Scratching her chin, she shrugged and answered honestly. "How does a thing like you break the control of a thing like me? You don't. See, if it were me, I'd bind you in a manner that would be impossible for you to even think the thoughts you're thinking. You'd never think about freedom or how you might break my control, I wouldn't allow it.
However, I didn't bind you. Whatever or whoever bound you gave you free will, either because they think you'll never figure out how to break free or because they don't care if you do."
Looking at the small circle, Alek cast out her brimstone marked hand and ignited the circle, burning it away in black fire. Whipping out a small piece of chalk, she began drawing another symbol with meticulous care and speaking, "Now, there are two ways you could go about freeing yourself. There's the, er, more 'traditional' way in which you just 'pass on' and leave this plane of existence. Then, there's the less traditional ritual that involves you simply breaking free from whatever or wherever you are bound. Both take time to take effect, but honestly it depends on what you want to do."
Flawlessly, Aleksandria stretched the truth ever so slightly. Indeed, the less traditional way would take time and great effort. But she would be a free phantom, or even a wraith, the possibilities highly interested Alek. However, the simpler way was instantaneous, Anima would cease to exist. Either way, these were only theories, as Alek had no way of proving that Anima would cease to exist despite doing the ritual multiple times. On the other hand, she also had never before attempted simply freeing the spirit from it's bonds. If Anima agreed, this would be a first.
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Post by Mach2 on Oct 6, 2015 8:35:22 GMT
Anima listened intently to each word that her new acquaintance spoke. Her chin rested on her hand, in a posture that looked almost bored. But her expression held no hint of boredom. The eyes that she had formed on her face were intense, staring directly at Alek, and her mouth was a thin line. At first, it seemed as though her question was going to receive a disappointing answer. "You don't" was the woman's initial response, with an explanation of just how powerful this magic could be. The ghost frowned. However, I didn't bind you. Whatever or whoever bound you gave you free will, either because they think you'll never figure out how to break free or because they don't care if you do."
If possible, Anima's gaze grew even more intense. Her hands dropped, resting in her lap, and she leaned forward. She didn't say a word, allowing Alek to continue her explanation. The circle she had previously been drawing burned away, vanishing in a fire that provided no illumination to the empty cavern. Anima watched her set to work on a new design, and listened as she explained the two different options available.
"The second."
She answered without hesitation. There was nothing to hesitate over. Yes, she knew that she was a ghost. And she knew that ghosts were not meant to exist in this world. It was unnatural. People feared ghosts. Trapped souls. Troubled spirits. She'd heard all kinds of terms for things like her. But she wasn't ready to pass on. She wasn't ready to leave a world she couldn't even remember living in. She was tired of skulking around in the dark of night, and hiding in the tunnels during the day. Anima wanted to see the sunlight.
"You can do that. Yes?" she asked Alek. Despite her hope and eagerness, her voice remained flat and unreadable.
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Jan 17, 2019 22:10:26 GMT
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blacknoise
I don't have kik.
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Aug 14, 2015 15:19:56 GMT
August 2015
blacknoise
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Post by blacknoise on Oct 6, 2015 15:11:00 GMT
Alek paused as the spirit posed her question, thoughts running through her head a mile a minute. Slowly, the redheaded woman turned and looked up at Anima. A grin spread about her features, a mixture of cruelty and giddy excitement. Her voice trembling in, something(Alek was not quite sure what she felt, but she felt something), she responded, "I can do anything."
It took a few minutes, but Aleksandria finished the new marking on the ground with ease. It ended up being a typical alchemical circle, however, the four elements were replaced with the three elements of Salt, Sulfer, and Mercury. Stepping back, Alek admired her handiwork and turned to the spirit, describing what was most likely to happen. "Ok, so, let me make something clear before we begin. This ritual will only free you from whatever bonds you. I will need to know what, specifically, you are bound to. While knowing who bound you would also be helpful, I don't need that information to get this done. Secondly, this ritual depends entirely on the strength of your will. Once you're free from your bonds, you'll slowly increase in strength until you're able to manifest yourself wherever you like and however you like. However, how fast the process occurs is dependent upon how strong your desire for freedom is. It could be between a few days or a few weeks, but if you aren't strong of will then it'll be a few years."
Alek waited for Anima's response on what she was bound to, as well as any reaction as to the strength of her will. If Alek was to break the bonds that held Anima down, then she'd need to know exactly where these bonds exist. Without that knowledge, she'd never be able to target the bonds that restricted the phantom and snap them. All that aside, Alek would be lying if she wasn't slightly unsure of what would happen, exactly. Alek's knowledge of the ethereal and the world beyond exceeded that of any flesh and bone being that walked the earth, however, just because she knew how something was supposed to react did not mean it always reacted as expected. The powers of the ethereal were not exactly 'predictable' to a mathematical percentage.
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Post by Mach2 on Oct 6, 2015 15:44:14 GMT
Both spirit and human were silent as Alek etched her new design onto the stone floor of the cavern. As Alek spoke again, Anima drifted downwards to examine the circle. She lay face-down in mid-air, hovering less than a foot above the ground. The silken dress she had manifested over her form flared out, inches above the rock, but not touching it. Her gaze traced the entirety of the circle that had been drawn, taking in all of it, and understanding none of it.
She rolled over as Alek finished speaking, staring up at the red-haired woman. "Bound to?" she questioned.
She shifted again, re-adopting her previous position of sitting cross-legged in the air. Except this time, she remained just above the floor of the cavern, staring up at Alek. She had no worries about her will being strong enough to leave. How many times had she tried to fight the rising sun? How many times had she tried to leave the tunnels in the middle of the day, only to be stopped by some unseen force? But still, Alek was asking a question that Anima was unsure of the answer to. She knew not what she was bound to, or who was responsible for it. "The catacombs," she answered, her words more of a guess than an actual fact. "I'm bound to this place. Every day. I leave at night, and when the sky changes colour again, I'm here in the catacombs once more."
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Jan 17, 2019 22:10:26 GMT
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blacknoise
I don't have kik.
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Aug 14, 2015 15:19:56 GMT
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Post by blacknoise on Oct 21, 2015 19:10:35 GMT
Amaymon listened closely as Anima described her situation. She was bound to this place, she said, weird. Usually bound locations were much smaller and much, much more confined. Humans and elves only had so much reach when it came to binding, but this was an old phantom, perhaps it had been bound in the golden age of magic. Likely, as well, was that it's roaming grounds were much smaller than it thought they were. Regardless, Alek nodded and knelt at the circle. Stretching out her right hand towards Anima as she simultaneously stretched her left hand out and placed it on the edge of circle, Alek reached out her mind's eye.
"Unholy hell..."
Alek's mutter would be barely heard, her eyes lost in the millions upon millions of binding strings that completely obliterated her vision. Whatever bound this phantom to the Catacombs, it was not human. This was the work of a god, and it would be nearly impossible to even put a scratch in it...
A grin spread across Alek's face. She relished this challenge. Without a second thought, she'd flood all of her magic into the circle, seeking to severe in one fell swoop every link that bound the Phantom to the catacombs. If Alek succeeded, it would not be a beautiful explosive release of power, if anything, it could wipe the Phantom from existence if it's will was not strong enough.
But if it was, the strings would break, and it would be free to regain its strength once more. As the circle glowed and Alek attacked, the fate of success or failure rested upon Anima. Did she really want to be free?
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