Course of Ruin (Xanaphia & Absin)

[Absinthresher]

It was half past twelve around the time that an armored figured emerged from the pale darkness of this moonlit night, accompanied by naught but himself and his thoughts. Baleful yellow eyes flickered behind a shag of black hair that would have covered more of his face had he let it grow any long around the front. Most of his visage was obscured by the bulky armor that clanked with each step, his gait steady despite the tremendous wait that it must have added to him.

A call had gone out, reaching the ears of even the most reclusive of Sorcerers, Warriors, and even some Undead as evidenced by the pale man striding towards the busiest pub in the small town. The Lustrate had posted up a job to hunt a veritable legend of an Archfiend, said to have felled the Sanctum Draconis --The massive library that now laid on it's side for all to see in the deserts-- and was said to have escaped the Mistress of Halecroft herself, the most terrifying and respected Witch to exist in ages. It seems some explorers had discovered a trail that seemed to belong to the beast, and had immediately retreated to let those whose job this was to deal with it. It had garnered quite a bit of interest, certainly, but many knew that a legend like this couldn't be felled by someone who was only 'good'. To combat a creature like this, you needed other legends, or a small army of people who were veritably flawless.

The man with yellow eyes opened the door to the bar, the sound of excited chattering, clinking dishes and laughter washed over him as he stepped in and made his way towards a back booth where a small group of men and women had occupied a booth and filled it with bodies. He stole a chair from a nearby table and sat upon it, simply sitting silently as he watched them talk amongst themselves.

"I still say this thing cannot be real" a young man with maroon eyes was arguing with a young woman with firey red hair "Everyone knows that myth is just that, a myth! The tower was simply too tall, the wards built into it's construction were too weak to last and hold it up, it came tumbling down. It makes for a pretty bed time story about how the great tower was felled by a mighty beast, but in the end that is all that it is, a story!"
The woman beside him, cloaked and hooded as she was, still had curly red hair poking out from the darkness of the head covering as she spoke in a heavily accented voice, clearly from the Eastern Coasts "An' I'm tellin' ye, boy, that this thing is real. The Mistress o' Halecraft, y'know, that Witch who's been alive longer'n even thet necramanceh Jaaskin, corroborated it herself b'ahy!"
The young man rolled his eyes and retorted with "Oh please, like that old blow hard would not cover her own mistakes with some fakey fake legend about a monster knocking the tower down instead of admitting that she had messed up somehow..."

The yellow eyed man listened interestedly, only pausing to lay a hand on a nearby waitress for her attention.

"A pint of ale, and perhaps something to eat. Surprise me" He spoke and his voice was gravelly from the thirst he felt, but there was still some charm to it as he grinned up at her. She immediately toddled off to retrieve his order as his attention turned back to the bickering Sorcerer's, one of whom eyed him suspiciously.

 

[Xanaphia]

“The Sanctum Draconis stood for nearly three millennia. It withstood several earthquakes, including the devastation of Eramis three decades ago. But yes, let’s go with your theory that it just toppled over by itself a month ago.” Ava Orlais informed the group turning stern grey eyes towards Thomas. “But if you are so convinced there is nothing to this, why are you even here? Shouldn’t you have far better things to attend to? Or were you that eager to tell Mistress Halecraft that she is a liar and fraud to her face?” Even as she argued with Thomas, her eyes were drawn the man who had just joined them. A man who spoke no words to the group, merely listened in on their conversation.

An undead. She knew of them, read volumes and volumes about them. How most archfiends returned to their humanity when they were saved, but a small percentage came back…wrong. No, not wrong. That was a meaningless value judgement. Ava had little use for such things. But undead were certainly lacking, teetering on the brink of returning to their monstrous origins. Still, undead had their uses, especially to sorcerers who needed to unload the excess souls they were storing. And if this archfiend was as big as the rumors told, an undead would be highly valuable to the team.

“Oh Ava, you’ve read every book in the Alexandrite Library, but you still know nothing,” Thomas scowled, words tinged with the humiliation the younger sorcerer hit him it. “By now I’ll come along solely to see the look on your face when I am proven right, and you are proven wrong.” Ava frowned, but she didn’t not respond. He hadn’t even bothering attacking her argument, because he had no legs to stand upon there. Instead he attacked her lack of experience, a fact she could do nothing about. She could not apologized for her age, nor would she. She brushed back her silvery locks, and turned her gaze back to the new comer.

“What say you? Do you think there is any truth to the words on the wind? Is there indeed a great archfiend that demolished the tower? Or did thousand year old stones break due to a forceful gale?” She settled into her wine as she asked the question, surprised at the audacity she found in herself to pose the question to the man, a stranger and an undead. But if he was going insert himself into the the group, he could join into the conversation.

 

[Absinthresher]

The man had stayed silent until he was addressed, his eyes going wide as he suddenly realized he was being talked to. His gaze slid to her face, studying her for long moment before he finally spoke.

"Considering my dear Aunt Trishatla was, and perhaps still is, one of the most powerful of the weaving witches, I sincerely doubt that a mere tornado or hurricane could have so much as scratched the Sanctum Draconis, let alone fell the building" He stated, his lips quirking in a wry grin as he continued on "The story she told me was that, shortly after the completion of the library, she had errands to run in the Eastern Lands, and returned only after the creature had destroyed her hard work and escaped the Sorcerers meant to safe guard the tower from such threats. I believe that is why she has not left the Castle-pit in Halecroft in some time. It's been quite a while since I actually spoke with her, so I would not know her motivations any better than anyone else currently".

The young woman with firey hair spoke up, saying "Wait, who in the world are yeh? Did you say 'Aunt'?"
"Mmhmn. Daniel Horatio Carver, the Eighth if you want to be technical. Great great whatever grandson of Jaaskin the Necromancer and descendant of Trishatla. Sadly, I didn't gain any of her magical prowess when I was born so being related to that horrifying woman is about as useful as, say, a woman without breasts" He explained, then chuckled at his joke, terrible as it was.
"Carmina Avali" The woman offered her hand for Daniel to shake, which he did "Most of m' teammates usually jus' call me Avalon".

Daniel's attention turned back to Ava as he asked "So you are the one who set out that job to slay the beast? I was not aware that anyone in this day and age even believe it existed, let alone wanted to hun-"
"Hold on a moment. You want us to believe that not only does this thing exist, but you just HAPPEN to be related to Trishatla Berikre Carver?" Thomas interjected loudly
"It's not a matter of me wanting anything. I'm just saying that this thing does exist and that my aunt has no reason to lie... about this"
"So she lies about other things then?"
"Sure, who doesn't?"

At this point the waitress came back and set a pint of ale and a plate before him, said plate being heaped up with salt beef, roast beef, potatoes, cabbage and other greens. Daniel found his coin purse and dumped a few coins into his hand before dumping those coins into hers. "Thank you darlin'. I'll holler if I need anything else" He told her before he began to dig into his food, saying between bites "If this thing has been alive as long as the story suggests, and that's only assuming it hasn't been killed by another Archfiend or something, then there's a fair chance it is very, very strong"

 

[Xanaphia]

Ava was just as surprised as her companions to the admission of Daniel’s lineage, including his relation to the Mistress Halecroft. Even the answers seemed to spark more questions about who he was, and why he was what he was.

Ava had read hundreds of books on undead, each with their own theories about the hows and the whys some people turned into those when the archfiend was banished from them. Myriad of theories, but nothing concrete, nothing that could be reliably duplicated. But how many of those books had been written by old bearded men within their towers, robes so white to have never been in contact with anything like dust before. Had anyone who had actually spent any time around an undead ever formulated their own theories?

She knew then what she needed to do. This man, Daniel, was her key to understanding the undead phenomena. She would study him, spend time with him, and learn his life and his ways. Her postulation would be backed by real experience.

“So, will you be joining us on the hunt? It goes without saying that you would be highly valuable in this case,” Ava asked, watching him over her glass of wine. Watching him eat, the normalcy of the act at odds with the abnormal reality of his situation. Undead feasted upon souls. Hungered for them, almost ravenously at times. And yet, Daniel ate food. Was it for taste? Did it sate the voracious hunger that threaten to send him back into the Archfiend form? Was it just an attempt to pass as human once more? These were questions for another time, however.

 

[Absinthresher]

Daniel paused in his eating long enough to take a long drink, draining half his glass before he actually answered her question. "I do believe I will be. I've heard some rumors that this creature has some kind of artifact that my dear aunt treasured greatly, and she wants it back. Again, assuming it has survived this long without being taken out by something bigger and meaner. Personally, I'm a little surprised we haven't heard any reports of this thing since it destroy the Sanctum. Most Archfiends aren't usually that smart and just break things until someone puts them down or they get far enough away from civilized society that no more reports come in about them".

He was an anomaly within an anomaly in that he remained parts of his 'life' as an Archfiend. After the destruction of his team and the death of his lover, he'd essentially lost his damn mind and went on a rampage towards the north until his twin sister had ambushed him and beaten him back so hard that he'd lost stabilization in his form. There was no real goal in mind when he was a monster, in fact he'd only been violent when something was in his way or he saw anything that moved. He had felt his mind calming a little while before he was knocked out, and when he came to he was in his current state. At present, Danielle was busy in Outer Halecroft helping train some new Sorcerers.

"I assume you have an idea on where this thing is, otherwise you wouldn't be putting together an expedition so early on. I also assume Sir Skeptilot over here is good in a fight and I've heard tell about Carmina Avali, the so called "Undying Sorceress". I heard you are prodigious in healing spells as well as anything to do with the Great Dark"
"Indeedy. Ah find that mah friends las' longer if they got someone to heal ther wounds"
"Invaluable I'm certain. Danielle tends to use me as a bit of an offensive meat shield, and bait, so keep that in mind. As an undead, I can take unreasonable amounts of punishment and my armor makes that even more so"

His attention turned back to Ava as Carmina and Thomas chatted amongst themselves.

"You look like you want to ask a quesiton, so you might as well ask it while we have some relative peace and quiet" He stated, his focus going to his food as he continued to eat, though his ears were all for her.

 

[Xanaphia]

“Question?” Ava repeated, swallowing down some nervousness. She continued to watch him eat, watching the way he cut into the food and brought it up to his mouth. It was so strange , in how normal it was. Almost enough to make one forget what he was. Forget that he didn’t need to eat. “Well, for one thing, Why do you eat food? Does it help with the hunger for souls? Is it to keep up appearances? Do you just like the taste? Does it taste the same as when you were…” She stopped herself, embarrassed by the torrent of inquiries that spilled from her lips. She took a long drink to finish her wine, to push down the bubbling up anxiety, as well as to give him a chance to address the multitude of queries she directed at him.

“I’m sorry, I know I have so many questions. I’ve read so much about your kind, but I’ve never actually met one. Story of my life, overall. Like Thomas said, I’ve read every book in the Alexandrite Library, but I’ve no actual experience in the real world.” She sighed, signaling for a refill on her glass. “The real world is too large to fit on the pages of a tome. So I am just wise enough to know that I know nothing, in reality. A bunch of memorized facts that lead themselves to…I don’t even know.”

The admission made her feel rather vulnerable, turning her fair skin a rather bright shade of scarlet. “I think the wine is getting to my head, and affecting my ability to shut my mouth for once. I should be turning in before too long. If this Archfiend is real, and as large as the rumors say, we are going to need whatever advantages we can all upon.”

 

[Absinthresher]

The man busied himself with eating, only tacticly noticing that Carmina and Thomas had gone silent to listen to her ask him questions. He took a swig of his drink.

"My my, looks like someone is hungering for some crisp, luscious knowledge" He said in a somewhat teasing tone, though it wasn't so much mocking as it was just highly amused by her barrage of queries. His attention turned to his food, idly cutting it into smaller pieces as he answered each question in turn "While we undead do not need to eat in and of itself, it does afford some benefits. For one, while the soul is gone and the body is empty, certain aspects of it requires fuel. If I do not eat, my blood becomes thick and sludge like, drying up entirely after a point. My skin becomes sallow, and the flesh becomes weak. While not dangerous, or even necessary, it does allow me to blend in. I can choose to walk around like a mummified corpse in armor, or I can have people not recoil in horror at the mere sight of me. I do know some undead that find it amusing to scare people with their appearance, however"

"It does not, however, help with the hunger directly. More so, it gives me something to focus on aside from the emptiness within. Much of my being, now, is different than it was before. I feel pain, and other things, less clearly but taste and smell, are more potent and my sight is much better. In a way, I have gained from the beast that I became, but lost much else to it. I suspect many sorcerers who came back will say very similar things, that their time as an Archfiend gave them some sort of monstrous power"

The man looked up from his food, casting a sweeping gaze across his companions at the table before his eyes settled on her "Interestingly enough, in my mind, you are the very first to actually stay aware that I am no longer human while I eat. Most people seem to forget that I am undead until I mention it, or they see me fight. At least you are wise enough to understand that, while intelligent, you are not particularly smart. Some of the greatest Sorcerers in the world never figure out that being intelligent does not equate to being smart, not always. There is a whole wide world beyond books, and some things nobody writes down"

He paused in his musings, then finally stated "Perhaps it is about time for you all to turn in? I do not need to sleep, so I think I will go on a hunt for any minor archfiends in the forests nearby. You can fill me in more clearly on the details tomorrow"

 

[Xanaphia]

“That is probably a good idea, yes,” Ava agreed, as Daniel advised sleep. She stood up and straightened out her robe, a little too fresh and clean perhaps. A clear sign that she had not been in the field before. That, combined with Daniel’s knowledge of her allies had her feeling self-conscious. They were known for things, but she was known for nothing. Wasn’t known for anything, that was.

“I am sure I will have questions for you in the morning,” Ava said playfully, fingers just grazing his shoulder as she moved past. She moved towards her room without stopping or slow, eyes facing forward, not even sure what was coming over her. It must be the wine, the nervousness over her first mission. All she could focus on was how her heart was beating a hundred times a minute and how warm her face felt as a flush came over it.

Once she was finally behind closed doors she stopped to catch her breath and calm herself. She was being ridiculous. No two ways about it. She needed a distraction, something to calm herself. So she dress in bedclothes, and pulled a book from her things. One of her few fiction books, the one she had read a dozen times. The tale of a warrior and the wizard, how they defeated an evil presence that corrupted the land. How they found love and forgiveness in one another, amidst the blood and the death. She settled into bed and lost herself in a chapter, wondering if she would ever discover a whirlwind romance filled with adventure and excitement. Wasn’t that why she left the observatory? To escape the ho-hum life of a researcher?

Slipping off into the nether, dreams of passion and exploration consumed her mind. She wasn’t quite ready to leave them as the sun came up, but there were things to do and archfiends to hunt, so she forced herself to get up and dressed for the day. She choose armor, tight fitting leather. Fixing her hair into a braid, she was ready to face the day, and whatever it held for her. Making her way to the arranged meeting point.

“Catch any archfiends last night?” Ava teased Daniel, hoping to disperse the tension this morning.

 

[Absinthresher]

Through the armor, he felt a spark of... something. It was warm, and sudden enough to make him look back at her as she retreated, watching her long after she'd disappeared down the hall. His attention turned back to the remaining two companions, the male of the two also watching the young woman retreat while Carmina had a grin on her face.

"Did ah mention I know ya sister?" She asked, eyes saying she saw that look and wanted very much to comment on it
"You did not. I can only assume this was in the year I was an archfiend, as I would remember a silver eyed red head with that accent otherwise" He stated.

They spent another hour merely chit-chatting until Daniel forced her off to bed, Thomas having already gone to pass out half an hour in. Carmina went with some protests, and a few inappropriate remarks on his similarity to his sister, but eventually went, leaving him to walk out into the night alone.

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Near the village was a clearing, and that is where Daniel found her. He had been told of a young woman who had fallen madly in love with a wandering knight whom she had not seen for years. She had gone missing months before, silently without a trace, and when this Archfiend attacked, they had almost immediately known it to be her. None would take the fight to her, as she preyed only on forest animals and only harmed people who entered the forest.

It took Daniel several hours to find her, confronting her in a clearing with his blade summoned and held loosely in one hand, dragging on the ground as he approached. The creature stopped in it's feasting on the carcass of an animal and turned to him, hissing. It was massive, three times his size with the body of a snake, the torso of a horridly scaled woman and stringy black hair. He could see quicksilver teeth, sharp and perfectly snake-like. Clearly, her feelings for the wandering knight had been... poisonous.

"Close your eyes, precious one, and you will see your life has only just begun" Daniel started as he strode across the clearing, picking up speed as he approached "Nevermore be afraid. I embrace you, and I'll take you all the way through endless time to your new life".

He hefted the blade into both hands and pointed it towards the creature, his eyes glowing an unearthly yellow.

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The next morning they'd find him sat out in front of the tavern, idly chatting with a young woman who had green eyes that glowed with a similar light to his. She was giggling at some off hand comment he'd made, but there was something... very off about her. Maybe it was that her skin seemed to glisten in the light, or how she'd sometimes hiss on the S's.

"Well, it could be worse. You could have stumbled upon that maniac, Donovan Black" Daniel stated, leaning back against the wall, closing his eyes "I've heard some rumors that he actually eats the heart of an Archfiend when he fights them"
"Good Lords and Ladies above, I ssssuppose it could have been worse. I guess I'm just grateful for the mercy" the young woman stated, shaking her head "I'm sure my brother will be happy to see me come home"

 

[Xanaphia]

Her question was answered by the presence of a woman with him. A presence that was lacking, a lack she could feel as distinctly as she felt from Daniel.

“You…you created an undead?” Ava asked, looking over the woman. “How? How did you do it?” If he tried to protest, or argue for the random nature of these things, she dismissed him, shaking her head and waving a hand.

“These things aren’t random. There is rhyme and reason through the world, a pattern we just haven’t picked up on. How did you do it? This may be the key to understanding it. All of it. Everything.” She was possibly a bit too excited by the event, her curiosity overtaking her better sense. “Start from the beginning.”

But before Daniel could get into his story, Thomas and Carmina were joining them. “I’d be careful, Ava. Your obsession with knowledge and theorizing might overtake you.” Thomas joked. Only, it didn’t feel like a joke. It felt like an omen, a prophesy, a warning. Immediately she shrank into herself, embarrassed, mortified even. There was a tension at the table, two people who had succumbed to their obsessions, And ti was difficult to tell if it stemmed from Thomas’ joke or Ava’s reaction. Or perhaps it was all in Ava’s head, as the conversation turned towards mission at hand.

They would begin traveling towards the Sanctum Draconis, looking for clues as to where the Archfiend might have fled. If they couldn’t find anything today, they would have to find a place to camp overnight. Ava was quiet as plans were discuss, sulking into her breakfast until it was time to go.

 

[Absinthresher]

The green eyed woman shied away from them as Ava started in, looking fairly scared as Daniel got to his feet and stepped forwards, about to speak when Thomas and Carmina showed up. Both he and Marissa, the woman, stared at him with something between abject disdain and utter disgust.

The conversation quickly derailed at the breakfast table, the green eyed woman having fled to her former home to try and seek out her family as Daniel slammed his fist on the table.

"You go and say that shit in front of someone who was not hours ago a fucking Archfiend?! Really?! Are you out of your fucking mind?" The taller man snarled at him, looking for all intent and purpose like a wild animal as he bared his teeth at his supposed comrade "You're a complete moron, you know that? Do you, wait, no, you DON'T know what it's like to be in the grip of that madness, do you? You fucking sheltered milksop pansy. I bet you've never so much as gotten a scratch from backfired spell, let alone been even remotely close to turning from a perfectly rational human being into a monster bent on pursuing a goal with such feverish intensity that everyone, even the people you love, BECOME YOUR ENEMY".

Carmina was actually silent, idly eating her food as Thomas just stared at him. It was hard to tell if he was trying to come up with a come back, or just so stunned that he couldn't respond. It seemed that Daniel was less concerned with her fairly well intentioned curiosity than he was with Thomas saying basically the most abjectly stupid thing one could say in front of a new undead. This was pretty much the literal definition of "Way too soon".