No Time for Arguing! Head for the Showdown! (2Gen, Invite)

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KingOfDoma
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Unread postby KingOfDoma » Mon Oct 01, 2007 11:28 am

This was... amazing. He'd never seen anything like it, and for it, there was only one response.

He promptly fell out of his seat.

"Zea," he said, after picking himself up off the ground, "no offense or anything, but the next time we have a funeral for someone, let's make sure they're dead, OK? Mike, where the hell were ya?"

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Kelne
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Unread postby Kelne » Mon Oct 01, 2007 8:53 pm

Cerene's sleep was uneasy. All around her stood people she knew. Friends, family, chance-met acquaintances. All chatting easily. Full of life. But as Cerene watched, they began to age. Hair greyed, wrinkles set in, stances grew stooped by the weight of years. Only Cerene herself remained young. Eternally young, while those about her crumbled into dust.

Something brought her to full wakefulness. Some sound intruding on her consciousness. But nothing could have prepared her for the sight of Michael rounding the tree. His appearance certainly dispelled the gloomy remnants of her dream. Indeed, the shock of his reappearance was enough to render her speechless, able only to stare at this apparition.

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Unread postby Nakibe » Tue Oct 02, 2007 1:06 am

Solis... snored. For a moment, anyway. It was hard enough for his mind to settle into peaceful sleep after its earlier dreams, but as he would at home, he would be slow to wakefulness. He yawned, looked up, and saw several people staring at... something. This didn't get too much attention from him for a moment. They weren't frozen or anything, after all. Just... looking. At something. He rubbed his eyes, brushed himself off, and decided to idly follow the gazes of his companions...

Wait.. is that... no, that can't be right....

"... am I... still dreaming?" he asked. "No no, I have to be." His mind started to catch up to the events and he blinked. No, the apparition wasn't going away. But that could be anything, right? It had to be fake. Some illusion, some trick, SOMETHING. He turned back to the others. Yes, they were seeing him... IT... WHATEVER it was... as well. Something HAD to be done about this. Unfortunately, this could EASILY be the opening moves of some plot, some scheme. He'd need most of his magical ability to deal with THAT. No no, something small... something like... ah. It WAS a simple spell, but effective enough. In classes at Gunnir he remembered jokingly naming it the "wake up call". He put his hand to the dirt and focused mildly, calling to the power in the earth... the electricity that was normally resting in its bones... perhaps it could surge forth towards the obvious illusion...

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Tue Oct 02, 2007 7:16 pm

Those gathered saw Michael's fur all stand perfectly on end for a split second, and then fall just slightly. Where he was not covered by clothing, he had a full body afro. The air stank of dog and burnt hair.

"... FUCK! OW! GODS DAMMIT, WHAT THE HELL?!"

The spell was well named. At the least, he was apparently very real. Although, to Solis's eyes alone, that blue line glowed yellow for just a moment, and then returned to normal.

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Kai
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Unread postby Kai » Tue Oct 02, 2007 8:18 pm

The resident expert on all things dead and dying had been of little use to her confused allies. Zea remained crouched on the ground with her tea in hand, astonished into perfect stillness by the sight before her.

Michael.

The realization built like thunder in the back of her mind until finally things snapped into relative clarity. She opened her eyes and then did what can only be described as opening them again, opening them further. The sight of a servant of death confirmed what her mind was piecing together.

"You're alive," she mouthed silently.

He wasn't merely alive in the manner of resurrected lifeforms, though that was no small miracle in itself. It had been his time. If he were going to be resurrected that would have been reflected in a lifespan that extended beyond his time of death. If this had been part of the plan, there would have been no surprise for Zea.

This left her with one conclusion that left her reason momentarily spiralling out of control.

The plan's been changed, she thought. Lord, what have you done?

Zea did not jolt out of her stunned paralysis until Solis started exploring the unknown using electricity. She set her teacup down on the ground and stood. "Michael!" she called sharply. "Look at me. Tell me what you remember."

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Unread postby Archmage » Wed Oct 03, 2007 10:17 am

The kid's alive, thought Zeke, not sure whether or not he needed to lower his weapon. This was highly suspect. Last he checked, not only was Michael dead, but Zea was sure Michael was dead, and no one in the group was likely to be a better judge of whose heart was beating and whose wasn't than Zea. Surely if he were going to be resurrected she would have some knowledge of it. He hardly imagined a god of death leaving his followers completely oblivious to the possibility of spells intended to raise the dead. The pains Zea had gone to to guarantee a proper funeral for Michael made it clear that she thought this was the end--but it apparently wasn't. Who, then, could have brought Michael back among the walking?

It was telling that Zea was bothered. It meant that something was wrong.

"Tell us what you remember," Zeke repeated, "and offer some proof that this isn't some kinda bullshit. You're no illusion, but you're supposed to be dead, kid. Better have a good explanation for why you're not still dead."

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Wed Oct 03, 2007 4:27 pm

Michael, still twitching with electricity, struggles to keep calm. He'd been asked a question. ... One that didn't make a lot of sense to him at the moment. Confusion is very apparent on his face as he answers Zea.

"What I remember? ... From when? The last thing I knew, I was fighting some man in the woods. And then, just now, someone hit me with one of those gods damned wake up spells the kids at Gunnir use. ... And who the hell are you?"

He was looking at Zeke now, who with a gun in hand he was less than trusting of. After a moment's pause, he noticed something else odd.

"... why is everyone staring at me? And why am I covered in dirt...?"

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Unread postby Kai » Wed Oct 03, 2007 4:42 pm

The necromancer considered telling her father that it wasn't necessary to point a weapon at her friend, but Zea wasn't sure that was even true. If Michael didn't remember anything, the others would be looking to her for some sort of explanation. She didn't have it.

She needed to piece things together, and she needed to do it fast. This seemed legitimate, given the vision she'd received the night before. She hadn't known then what it meant, but judging by how long it would have taken Michael to catch up with them...

Zea closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and willed herself into priestess-counsel mode. "I apologize that we left you behind, Michael. However, there was a very good reason we left you where we did." She held up one hand, though whether it was meant to be comforting or to shut people up was debatable. "Michael, the men we were fighting. It was a bad fight. They killed you. We left you behind because you were dead."

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Wed Oct 03, 2007 5:34 pm

He blinks. That couldn't be right, could it? He would remember dying. Yes, definitely. He'd remember if someone had killed him. If he'd died fighting that archer. If he'd taken out a knife... and...

His eyes become unfocused. He stares vacantly for a moment, and then shakes out, making his already considerable fur-fro puff out just a bit more.

"I... I'm not... I don't... but I'm alive. How can any of that be true?"

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Unread postby Kai » Wed Oct 03, 2007 6:13 pm

She took a long, deep breath. "You're alive. There's no denying that, and even if I'm not sure why or how..." She shook her head, unable to hide her own confusion. "This is an incredible anomaly. This isn't how things are supposed to work but... you're here and there's no way this is a mistake."

Zea sighed, and began to recite aspects of the situation offhand as if repeating things she'd memorized by rote. "You were dead a moment ago, but if you were resurrected someone would either have needed your body--which wasn't available because it was buried fairly deeply under a slab of rock--or they could somehow bring you back without it. The latter would require divine endorsement on a level I've never even heard of except in stories, let alone encountered personally."

She took a breath. "Compound this with a few other factors, namely that I had a dream last night involving that symbol," she said, pointing to Michael's arm. "And it's clear that this isn't an ordinary death and resurrection scenario. Something big is going on here."

That was obvious. But what could it mean? On the one hand, it was a privilege to be here and witness something like this, since it was sky-splittingly uncommon for the plan--more precisely, The Plan--to be changed. An event of this magnitude had brought with it a strong enough effect that Zea had received some inkling of it while it was happening.

Frankly she'd have been pissed not to be notified.

Everything about this situation was right... if she could accept that the whole situation was wrong.

"I don't know any necromancers powerful enough to do this." She pinched the bridge of her nose, shrugged, and then threw her hands in the air. "I guess what we have here is a bona fide miracle."

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Wed Oct 03, 2007 6:50 pm

When Zea gestures to the 'symbol' on Michael's arm, he looks over at it for the first time, and literally gasps seeing it.

"But... I... What... When?!"

He scratches at it, lightly, a few times to no effect. Finally, he sighs and his ears flatten against his skull.

"None of this makes sense. Why don't I remember any of this?"

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Unread postby KingOfDoma » Wed Oct 03, 2007 11:02 pm

Goren said, coldly, "You wouldn't."




Goren opened his eyes. That immediately felt wrong. The last thing he remembered... the last thing he remembered... he was in the castle kitchen, with Augusta... He slipped... then...

Black.

Looking around, he knew this was not the castle kitchen. Though, sadly, it also was not the castle infirmary, the castle courtyard, the castle barracks... the castle anything. He was... in a house. A small house. He was covered in a blanket, there was a warm fire in the room, and.. "AUGUSTA!"

It was her. She was cooking up something... ... that he couldn't smell. That was weird. Usually her cooking hit his nose like a rampaging elephant (good or bad), but today... nothing. And another thing... his body felt numb. Not tingly and sensitive like he'd slept on his arm, but like... his skin wasn't connected to his brain anymore. Not even the hardness of his armor on him could be detected. It was beyond odd.

It occured to him, when she responded with a gentle, loving, "Goren...? Oh, it's so good to see you up," that he had said her name audibly. "I know you weren't sleeping, but I hope you rested well."

Rested... He wasn't... "I guess you must feel different now. Detached. I know. But I'll help you feel again... I'll start by never letting you go..." Her voice was so lyrical, but she sounded ... there was something so off about her.

His mouth was dry. "What... what happened, Augusta? I... don't remember what happened... was I hurt?" At this, Augusta stopped stirring her pot of food, and sat down with Goren, patting his hand. Even if he couldn't feel it, when Augusta was near him, he could always relax. Focus on her...

"You were killed, Goren. You were... are... dead." Immediately, Goren withdrew his hand.

"What? No... that can't... I don't remember... I don't remember DYING..."

"It would have been hilarious, Goren," she reassured. "There was a bunch of things slipping, and I started to laugh... but then I saw... the fork in your chest..." She pressed his hand against him, and he looked down to see three reddened holes in his armor, ringed with his own blood. He shoved himself backwards, to the wall, in horror. It was true. He was... he was dead.

"Why? Why... why me, Augusta? Why... bring me back?" A thousand other questions were racing through his mind. How did she do this? How'd she get his body out of the castle? What would his mother, his brother say?

"You're the first, Goren... my cooking, it... was practice. I've always had trouble with proportions... and I still may have added too much paprika... but you're here. You're you. And... you can be my king." She smiled, but like everything he experienced since he... woke, there was something subtly, but deeply off about it.

And then it happened. His mouth was still dry. And as he stared into Augusta's eyes, he wondered... at their taste. In his mind, there was a brief vision of dashing the girl's skull against the wall, again and again, until... that beautiful bounty in her head was laid open, her dark mauve hair pulled apart for all to see...

Goren freaked out. He slid to the floor, and did a half-crabwalk away from the off-balance girl. "Goren?" Augusta said, confused. "What's wrong, darling? Don't... don't you want to live forever?"

That was all he needed to hear. Goren got to his feet as fast as he could, and scrambled for the door, into the inky black night.

It would be one of the first times he would run...




Goren's jaw set. "We'll get you through this, Michael. You're freaked out, I know, but you're around nice, sane people. You should do just fine."

You're sure gonna do better than I did, that's for sure...

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Unread postby Kelne » Thu Oct 04, 2007 6:13 pm

"Speaking of nice, sane people," Cerene said, having recovered her composure, "What say we all stop freaking out for a minute and have some breakfast?" Odds were they wouldn't really get any answers, and Cerene was surprisingly okay with that. But people seemed to need the reminder that, being alive, Michael was probably quite hungry. Seeing as he wouldn't have eaten anything since lunch yesterday and had faced a long walk to catch up with them.

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Thu Oct 04, 2007 6:17 pm

He... really didn't know how to respond to Goren here. The attempt at showing his ability to identify with Michael felt like a stretch, and it's tone was cold, almost condescending. It was rather like being a man who is somewhat hungry, approached by an angry beggar that had been starved for a week, and angrily lectured about how he knows that the fellow is going through. It was preposterous to even consider. He shook his head out liberally. Best not to think on it too much; Goren was bound to be all sorts of weird anyway.

Luckily, Cerene came to the rescue just when the horrible awkwardness hit a crescendo. Michael shook out a little, dust and dirt falling from him freely.

"That sounds nice, yeah... and I guess I could use a bath if we come by a river or something."

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Unread postby Nakibe » Fri Oct 05, 2007 4:34 pm

"Um... sure." This was turning out to be a most confusing morning. He was dead and yet... he was here... he should be an illusion but... isn't?

Clearly this would take more thought than he was capable of this soon after waking. "Er... heh. Um... anyone bring some tea? I can see I'm going to NEED it this morning." Rubbing his head, he slowly got up, and started checking his pack, since his mind wasn't quite in-gear enough for him to remember if he prepared for this eventuality. Wait. How do you prepare for someone dying and then being not dead and not undead on you the next morning?

Yep, this was definitely bound to be an interesting morning.

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Unread postby Archmage » Sun Oct 07, 2007 1:38 pm

Zeke had cautiously lowered his weapon while Zea was talking. It was not in his nature to trust people who were supposed to be dead, but he knew that he should trust his daughter. The fact of the matter was that Michael meant them no apparent harm, and if this were some trick or illusion, it was elaborate enough to fool someone who he presumed had a greater understanding of the dead than any other mortal he knew. If Michael were a walking corpse, Zea would know instantly. Michael and Goren shared a similar past; they had both died. But now Michael was alive again, really alive, and Goren...was not. He had no idea what conclusions his daughter was drawing, but given her function as an emissary of death, he figured that if Michael shouldn't be here that she would've surely escorted him away, perhaps to some fitting afterlife. Or maybe she had a coworker who could handle that. Either way, the situation was no longer one in which Zeke felt a need to be on guard.

The idea that the dead could be returned to life was not foreign to Zeke, but he knew that it was difficult. There were rules, procedures, complications. There was a reason that not everyone and anyone who died found themselves among the living again at a later time. There was a reason dead lovers stayed dead, forever parted except in the songs of bards. There was a reason his job was valuable.

Michael was alive, but no one seemed to be in a hurry to celebrate. His renewed existence among the living was a sobering and bewildering event. Solis was searching his pack for something, perhaps the tea that he had requested.

"Haven't got any tea," remarked the mercenary. "I packed pretty light. Barely brought much in the way of food with me, for that matter. I think Zea's got some, though. And goddamn, I could use a cup myself."

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Unread postby Kai » Mon Oct 08, 2007 9:22 pm

"...right. Yeah, of course."

Due to odd limitations on Zea's summoning magic, she couldn't actually mark tea and then summon it later. Tea being a collection of tiny fragments of tiny leaves, summoning it would have required marking each individual leaf beforehand, and that quite frankly was not worth the effort.

zea pulled the teapot off the fire, and dropped more of the peppermint tea inside the little hinged teaball inside. She emptied more water from her supply into the teapot and sat back on her heels. What was she doing?! The plan had been changed, the great and ineffable plan upon which the ENTIRE UNIVERSE was founded and into which every event and potentiality fit in pre-ordained ways... it had changed.

And she was doing what. Sitting and dutifully making tea. "Okay, guys. Um. Yeah, there'll be more tea soon. Nothing weird in it or anything. So can we just sit down? Please?"

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Mon Oct 08, 2007 9:33 pm

Michael sits. Zea had asked them all to, so he might as well. Things were still awkward though, sadly. While there must be dozens of things that could be said now to relieve some of the tension in the situation, Michael couldn't think of a single one of them. So... He sits in silence. At least that man had put the gun away. Speaking of which...

"So... Guy with the blue hair. I didn't get your name."

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Unread postby Kelne » Mon Oct 08, 2007 9:54 pm

Cerene likewise made herself comfortable, schooling herself to patience where the tea was concerned. Her tendency to rush things when it came to meal preparation meant that none of her family let her near the kitchen (or the campfire, as the case might be), for fear of winding up with inedible crispy lumps. Somehow, she'd never quite managed to overcome that urge to turn up the heat just a smidgen in order to speed the cooking process.

Zeke, she was sure, could speak for himself; there was no point in her adding anything to the conversation just yet.

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Unread postby Archmage » Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:02 pm

"Well, guy-who's-supposed-to-be-dead, I'm Zeke. Zeke Mazuo. Zea's dad. Feels weird to introduce myself that way. I caught that she'd be travelling this way and figured I'd go check things out. Can't let my daughter go running off to the Netherworld by herself, even if she is functionally an adult. Bad parenting. Besides, I should hang out with 'that' side of the family, if only for a little while."

Zeke shrugged. It hadn't occurred to him previously to make a formal introduction.

"Aside from that, I'm a mercenary for hire, though you could argue that I'm getting a bit too old for the job. You might've heard of my cousin Kamos, but I assure you I'm a more competent soldier than he'll ever be." The blue-haired man smirked a bit, as though laughing at some private joke. "I'll be taggin' along with you guys assuming nobody cares. Hopefully I can help you guys watch your back."
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Unread postby Besyanteo » Tue Oct 09, 2007 5:36 pm

He nods slowly. Well, that explained some of what he was about earlier. ... Kind of. ... Moving right along, though... So this was Zea's father. Neither Zea nor Quinn had really mentioned him before. It had never come up, and in Quinn's case there also certainly would be too much flirting going on for anyone to get an answer out of her... which was creepy, for a wide variety of reasons.

"Nice to meet you, ah, sir... You can call me Michael. I've been friends with Zea for about half a year now. She got me interested in Magic and Necromancy and stuff. Now she's going to the Underworld, so here I am."

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Unread postby Archmage » Sun Oct 14, 2007 7:20 pm

"That so, Michael? Good to see my daughter is...inspirational." Zeke wasn't entirely sure what to make of Zea's apparent ability to get her friends enthusiastic about playing with dead bodies. He had to remind himself that this was the kind of thing that, if he had any intent to be a supportive father, he would have to become adjusted to. Necromancy wasn't really bad. He never thought there was anything inherently wrong with it. It was just the "ick" factor that left a bad taste in his mouth. Undead were messy.

"Well, glad to see you aren't dead, in any event. I'm ready to make the next leg of the journey whenever, y'know? Like I said, packed light. Don't really have a whole lot to throw together. So unless y'guys were planning on sitting around some more and having a leisurely breakfast..."
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Unread postby Nakibe » Mon Oct 15, 2007 8:49 pm

"Well, Um... yes." Solis says between tea guzzles. Nope, the tea wasn't working to dispel the weirdness this morning brought to him. It did, however, make him feel a little more able to face it. For what little that was worth about now. "I suppose we could get going soon, assuming everyone is ready...?" Perhaps Michael's resurrection could be put down as a modern-day miracle. For now Solis would have to trust that that was the truth. At the very least, it wasn't like he had much of a choice in the matter. And there was something else that he felt like he was forgetting...

All in all, this trip had ALREADY gone weirder than he'd thought it could. And it was liable to only get worse from here. Maybe I SHOULD'VE stayed at home. he thought wryly.

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Unread postby Kelne » Mon Oct 15, 2007 11:03 pm

"Absolutely," Cerene said cheerfully, around a mouthful of breakfast which she proceeded to wash down with more tea. It wasn't much, really. Just trail rations. But it would keep her going, and she was used to subsisting on bland stuff while out in the wild. The tea was definitely welcome, though. No matter how much you were roughing it, there should always be something nice on the menu.

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Unread postby Kai » Tue Oct 16, 2007 6:37 pm

Zea sat in silence, handing out tea to her friends as they got acquainted with her father. Cerene and Solis had some idea who Zeke was, and the fact that Zea didn't mention him much to them wasn't something she felt like discussing. Even James, who could have given her information about her father--what sort of man he might be and where he might be found--hadn't been privy to that information. Zea was fairly sure he hadn't even heard from her, but rather found out somewhere in the course of--

Stop.

In the course of saving her life.

She didn't want to think about that. The lengths that he would go to for her, in order to protect her, and never knowing what she was capable of. Even she hadn't known. But she did now, didn't she?

You did the right thing. John had been quiet so long Zea had actually managed to forget he was around. What was with him? Alternately taunting her, testing her resolve, and encouraging her in her choice. What did he really want?

Even hours later, when they were on the road and Zea was walking beside her horse, her familiar was still on her mind. He'd been acting oddly, and she wasn't sure she appreciated it.

Zea had to settle for counting her blessings that John wasn't pestering her father yet. She knew that Solis didn't like her familiar, and the last thing Zea needed was a flock of concerned friends and family questioning her judgment. I'm hurt that you think I can't behave well around your friends. Really, you ought to have more faith in me than that. John, they don't like you. At the very least Solis doesn't. What if he hurts you? Well, I have you to protect me, don't I? John, no. She felt him pulling away from her. John, knock it off.

But it was too late. Her familiar manifested in his usual form as a man slightly older than Solis in a dark vest and slacks with dark brown hair. He turned on his heel to glance at the others and rolled the sleeves of his white dress shirt up to his elbows, an effete and unnecessary gesture for a creature that was manifesting its clothing as much as its eyes or hands.

"Mister Mazuo," he said. "We haven't formally met, but it's an honor to do so now. I'm your daughter's familiar. She calls me John." He spared a polite nod for Solis. "And Mister Darylshield. A pleasure to see you... as always."

"Cerene, Michael, Goren, this is John. I don't know if you've met," Zea added.

John gave a brief nod to them as they walked. A handshake might have been more appropriate, but a complicated proposition for an incorporeal creature. "Yes. Miss Cerene, Mister Felson and Master Michael, it's good to be travelling with Zea in such fine company."

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Unread postby KingOfDoma » Tue Oct 16, 2007 9:19 pm

Goren's head tilted to the left, like a dog hearing a high-frequency sound. He'd only had limited exposure to ghosts, or even other forms of undead, so this one was a curiousity. He remembered that they were supposed to be translucent, but this one looked like a regular person, but with a twist. While his Feratus stone fed and staved off his hunger for living matter, it didn't erase it completely from his body. Any living creature, be it apple, dragonfly, or full size cerberic hound aroused his hunger, which only manifested as a gentle buzzing in the back of his brain. But with this creature, there was nothing. Not even a squeak. It was kind of refreshing. A change of pace.

He figured he wouldn't get another chance at this, so he approached John, circling him, his head at the same angle. He certainly LOOKED real, at any rate, though it was off, slightly, like they'd made him look right, but they didn't have exactly the right material, so they got the closest stuff they had. He'd have poked his finger in, but he figured examining him like a prospective meal was rude enough. He straightened up finally, satisfied, and bowed. "Sorry about that, I was curious. Nice to meet you, John."

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Unread postby Nakibe » Wed Oct 17, 2007 2:47 am

Solis barely held back and uncharacteristic growl as the ghost materialized before him. "John. I'd say its a pleasure, but..." Solis shrugged, attempting to regain a calm he no longer felt. Yeah, he thought, we both know that I'd rather bring you to life so I could choke you with my bare hands. The ghost looked just as smug and arrogant as the last time they'd "met". One would think that it'd take more than possessing Solis' arm for a small bit of fun to piss him off, too. But it was more than just the minor impoliteness that had Solis feeling less-than-pleasant towards the "man".

"I'm more surprised that you didn't turn up a tad earlier, but I guess now is as good a time as any." Smile, Solis. Be polite. Try not to brandish any magics that would maul this abomination... yet. Manners and patience were two things that Solis' years had taught him well, if nothing else, and he certainly intended to use both of them. Indeed, Solis felt that they may be necessary to give this oily snake of an incorporeal manifestation the proper watching he deserved.

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Unread postby Kelne » Wed Oct 17, 2007 3:49 am

Cerene really didn't like ghosts. One in particular had given her nothing but grief. Nor was she known for her iron self-control. Thus, her response to John's sudden manifestation came in the form of a startled yelp and the abrupt conjury of a ball of flame.

Cerene was now taking several deep, calming breaths, though lowering the fireball was not on her list of priorities just yet. Intellectually, she knew Zea talked to ghosts. However, there was a world of difference between those ghosts and ones capable of popping into existence to talk to her. The fact that she'd made a good aerial survey this morning and found nothing dangerous made the abrupt materialisation of a threat right within their midst even worse.

Okay, Cerene. Calm down. It needed to be introduced. That means it probably hasn't been watching your every move. And if it was malevolent, Zea would have annihilated it by now. Besides, that kid was alright. A bit creepy, but basically alright.

Somehow, logic didn't seem to be helping.

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Wed Oct 17, 2007 8:51 am

Michael had actually been to Zea's house before, and while he hadn't met John there this wasn't his first experience with a ghost. So, while the others were all atleast puzzled(one frightened and the other angered), Michael simply replied with a nod:

"Nice to meet you, John."

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Unread postby Archmage » Wed Oct 17, 2007 8:50 pm

Zeke blinked at the introduction. This was a curious situation. He was familiar with, well, familiars. But from his understanding, a familiar was usually a small animal of some sort that had been endowed with increased intelligence due to a psychic bond with a spellcasting master. This was a person. An incorporeal person, he noted. It took a lot of effort for Zeke to see anything on the astral, but incorporeals stuck out, and his familiarity with the shadow element meant that anything so aligned required a great deal less effort to see. Zeke wasn't quite sure, exactly, what John was. He'd encountered ghosts before, but not frequently. No one hired him to kill ghosts; that would be rather pointless, and he had never billed himself as an exorcist. He had encountered shadow elementals before, however, and John "felt" more like one of those creatures than anything else. He found that magic was associated with a certain synaesthesia; the rare times that Zeke picked up on residual spell energy or the casting of a nearby mage he tended to taste it rather than "see" it.

John tasted cold and insubstantial, like flour kept in an icebox. Zeke tried to suppress the involuntary urge to cringe.

"Yeah, you too. I'd give ya my card, but y'hardly need it, and I dunno where you'd keep it if I did."

He wondered briefly what compelled Zea to travel with a creature like this at her side. Her fascination with death was well-known to him, but this was an entirely different manner. Zombies and other animated corpses were mindless physical laborers, unlikely to rebel against their masters in any premeditated fashion. John, on the other hand, was clearly intelligent, and no matter how polite he seemed on the surface, he was a creature formed from the purest energies of unlife itself. He was anti-life given pseudo-flesh to manifest in a state of quasi-existence. The shadow elementals he had encountered in the past were considerably less well-mannered entities whose primary motivating force seemed to be instinct and hunger, an attraction to the sweet essence of the nearby living.

Zeke shrugged, not sure what else to say to the spectre. It was probably too late to convince Zea to trade him in for an undead cat.
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Unread postby Kai » Thu Oct 18, 2007 8:03 pm

John watched in mild amusement as Goren inspected him so attentively. "No need to apologize," he answered Goren. "You're quite the curious man yourself. My Zea has told me a great deal about you, and she seems quite eager to learn more about you."

It was Zea who answered Solis. "He's been keeping a low profile, since he's got this bizarre tendency to piss people off."

John frowned with a profoundly wounded air, his facial expressions much more detailed and precise than when Solis had first met him. "I do take offense to that, dearest. I certainly hope I'm not going to be expected to prove myself to Mister Darylshield again."

Zea's jaw tightened momentarily as she tilted her head in a half-hearted shrug. "Listen. Now you've introduced yourself. Can we not have that argument please?"

"As you wish," he said deferentially. "I know that I don't have to convince you, yet sometimes I do have to wonder whether your friend is going to blow a glowing hole through me," he flicked his gaze toward Solis. "...and the thought disturbs."

The young necromancer took a deep breath. "Fine. You two, no using magic on each other. There. We happy now?"

"Hm," John replied disdainfully, rapidly discorporating. Zea slapped herself in the forehead in exasperation.

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Thu Oct 18, 2007 9:29 pm

Well, that was "fun". Still, anything that could haul the air of awkwardness away from Michael was welcome at the moment. He cleared his throat.

"Well... On our way again, then?"

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Unread postby KingOfDoma » Thu Oct 18, 2007 11:06 pm

"Good idea," piped in Goren, pleasantly. "The netherworld's not gonna raid and pillage itself, is it?" He began to chuckle, but then he would decided that it wasn't that funny. Damn non-criminal senses of humor.

"But yeah, Zea, lead the way. I'm older than most of you, and I still haven't developed a good sense of direction..."

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Unread postby Kelne » Fri Oct 19, 2007 12:39 am

Cerene finally dismissed the fireball. She wasn't sure whether knowing John was lurking about was better than living in ignorance. It probably was, she decided. Better she found out now, while everything was quiet than in some stressful situation, when she might have incinerated him out of hand.

"Right," she said, composure mostly regained. She didn't wait for anybody else, but took the lead herself, resuming their previous line of travel. She could probably tolerate John, even if he gave her the creeps simply by dint of what he was.

Somehow, this trip just kept getting worse. She couldn't help but wonder what horrors lay in store for them next.

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Unread postby Nakibe » Sat Oct 20, 2007 8:19 am

"I'm all for getting going myself." Solis quipped. He gathered up his few unpacked things and leaned against a nearby tree. "If we're lucky, the rest of the day won't be so weird." He doubted that that's how things would go, but it was better to hold out SOME hope that the remaining hours of the day wouldn't be able to top the current weirdness.

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Unread postby Kai » Wed Oct 24, 2007 11:22 am

"It won't be," Zea answered Solis. "At least, not because of John."

True to her word, Zea kept John away from the others. It would be another day or two before they reached the border Doma shared with Riva, and while John was seldom seen... now that her friends knew he was around, the tiny signs of interaction between Zea and her often-invisible familiar became more obvious.

Zea still hung back away from the others, occasionally glancing up at Michael or her father and giving some brief nonverbal response to John. A brief shake of her head or the ghost of a smile.

So he really doesn't remember. Oh, you know this for sure? Well, it doesn't seem to me that he's lying. Me neither. But he mentioned a strange dream, and I have to wonder if that was just the events leading up to his death or the actual aftermath. Only one way to find out, isn't there? An almost imperceptible nod was her response to John as she unfolded herself from her self-imposed remote position around the evening fire and sat down next to Michael.

"Hey," she said. "I thought I'd give you a day or two to sort some of these things out for yourself, but if you're okay with it, I do have some questions about what happened before. You didn't seem to remember much, but you mentioned a strange dream. If you tell me what you remember, I might be able to help you."

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Wed Oct 24, 2007 9:24 pm

Michael sits, leaning back against a fairly sizable boulder sticking halfway out of the ground. He was still covered in dirt, but less than before. A long day of walking had given a lot of it a chance to fall off. He rubs his neck, and looks up at the sky as he tries to remember.

"It's a little fuzzy now... I'll tell you what I can remember, though."

He leveled his gaze on her again, and began.

"We were fighting... someone. Or maybe a lot of someones. I'm not sure. You guys were outclassing them pretty well, but I was having trouble. I started to forget everything I'd practiced, and most of the spells I learned for self defense. It seemed really unreal... I just kept getting frustrated. I wasn't really afraid, just mad that I wasn't doing better, you know?"

He coughs nervously.

"Anyway. Some guy stabbed me, and the dream changed. I was naked in a chair somewhere, listening to myself talk. It was kind of a dark room, hard to see in. I don't remember what I was saying, and after a while I stopped. Then there was a human boy there. Small, dark kid with blue hair. He drew something on my arm with an ink quill filled with light, and it ran across my shoulder and filled in the hole in my chest. And then I woke up covered in dirt in the middle of the woods. ... That felt like part of a dream too, really. Nothing's very clear until I got zapped this morning."

He shrugs, and rubs his arms.

"It's weird to think of any of that as being real..."

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Unread postby Kai » Fri Oct 26, 2007 2:40 pm

Zea nodded as he spoke. He remembered more useful information than he thought he did, though even Zea wasn't certain what it all meant beyond a few obvious notes.

She responded to him, still thinking even as she spoke. "Well, that's not a form that Reshtaha's ever taken to my knowledge. Matches better with someone else..." She drummed her fingers on the dirt for a moment before continuing. "You said that you were speaking to them, and I'm... I'm not sure of specifics now, so don't take this as gospel. I'm just talking as Zea for now. No official priestess stuff."

The necromancer and devotee of death bit down on her thumbnail and sighed thoughtfully. "If I had to guess, I'd say that you made some kind of deal. I can tell you with relative certainty that it wasn't in the cards for you to be resurrected when you were. Something changed, and I can't help but think this is bigger than you just getting a favor from Reshtaha. My only reservation about the whole deal hypothesis is that if you were going to be held to some agreement or other... well, you'd need to know about it, wouldn't you?"

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Unread postby Besyanteo » Sat Oct 27, 2007 6:43 pm

He nods slowly.

"Yeah... Generally deals work better when you know what they were about... Most of the time."

He rubs his shoulders, suddenly feeling cold.

"... So, now what? Am I here on borrowed time? Does this affect my final rest? How would we learn more about all this?"

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Unread postby Kai » Sat Oct 27, 2007 7:39 pm

Zea turned for a moment to gaze at Michael, and shook her head. "If you were on borrowed time, you know I couldn't tell you. But I don't think you are. It doesn't look like you are. You just... got more. And I don't know how."

It was troubling, that was certain. This should not theoretically be possible, but constantly reasserting that would not assist Zea in understanding why it had plainly occurred anyway.

"I wouldn't expect that your final rest would be somehow... I don't know. Things happen as they're supposed to, and I can't imagine you have anything to worry about. And anyway," she added with a smile. "If anything happened and I didn't like it, I'd bitch until someone fixed it."

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