|
|
Post by Demetrius on Sept 5, 2020 6:17:49 GMT
Demetrius grabbed one of the recommended pipes, it was stout and looked like it might be made from a thumb or forefinger, before taking his seat. He looked uncomfortable, not afraid but definitely out of place.
“We are looking for someone who understands magic with the power to bind memories to objects.” Said Demetrius, unsure if it was smart to reveal the trinket outright.
|
|
|
|
Post by The Forgotten God on Sept 5, 2020 6:52:44 GMT
The necromancer yawned and nodded. “That’s not a common talent,” she said with a bit of a yawn. “You lose something of yourself when you play with memories. End up no better than those Mist demons that haunt what used to be our world.” She finally allowed her gaze to fully focus on them. “But you’ve chosen wisely. I’m Neera.” She looked at Herneiros a moment. “You all smell of Mist,” she said with a crinkled nose. “What do you need to bind a memory to?”
|
|
|
|
Post by Justine-Juliette de Vair on Sept 5, 2020 15:26:32 GMT
Justine sat down beside Demetri and took a few experimental puffs on the pipe. She hadnt really smoked much in her time and ended up coughing deeply. When the tears faded from her eyes, she looked at Neera curiously, weighing whether or not she could trust her. “We don’t wish to bind memories. We were hoping to figure out whose memories were bound.”
Well, if worse came to worst, Justine was confident the four of them would have More than a fighting chance. She went ahead and pulled out the box. “This memory box came into my possession. I was hoping to know what was inside.”
|
|
|
|
Post by The Forgotten God on Sept 5, 2020 16:21:39 GMT
Neera laughed pleasantly as she coughed, like a mother watching her toddler fall while trying to take its first steps. Her laughter died when she saw the box. "I imagine I'm missing a hell of a story," Neera said. "no one's seen a memory box in such good condition in..." her voice just trailed off as she assumed they got the point. "Close the front door and lock it please," she said, suddenly almost nervous.
She waved a hand and a cold wind blew the candles in the shop out and replaced the orange flames with sickly greenish ones. "Whoever told you this was merely a memory box was...perhaps not as well versed on magical antiquity as they thought. This is a Legacy Chamber. Archmages would make them to leave their magical knowledge on to their students or descendants. Only the absolute strongest casters who ever lived could even dream of making one. I can reach into the other realms to summon whoever made this, but it could be dangerous. These boxes supposedly let the creator keep part of his soul in our world."
|
|
|
|
Post by Justine-Juliette de Vair on Sept 5, 2020 16:58:48 GMT
Neera laughed pleasantly as she coughed, like a mother watching her toddler fall while trying to take its first steps. Her laughter died when she saw the box. "I imagine I'm missing a hell of a story," Neera said. "no one's seen a memory box in such good condition in..." her voice just trailed off as she assumed they got the point. "Close the front door and lock it please," she said, suddenly almost nervous. She waved a hand and a cold wind blew the candles in the shop out and replaced the orange flames with sickly greenish ones. "Whoever told you this was merely a memory box was...perhaps not as well versed on magical antiquity as they thought. This is a Legacy Chamber. Archmages would make them to leave their magical knowledge on to their students or descendants. Only the absolute strongest casters who ever lived could even dream of making one. I can reach into the other realms to summon whoever made this, but it could be dangerous. These boxes supposedly let the creator keep part of his soul in our world." Justine shivered. She let one of the men lock the door. She didn’t want to let the box out of her sight. It was certainly worth much more than 2000 gold now. It reminded her of Juliette...and the half-remembered woman who had “gifted” her sister to her. “How dangerous? I need to know what it is. Whatever...whoever is in it...it spoke into our minds.” The pipe smoked forgotten in her hand as she stared into Neera’s face. |
|
|
|
Post by The Forgotten God on Sept 5, 2020 17:20:32 GMT
Neera looked at it. "Then it's still active," she said. "I don't know if that's good or not. They aren't inherently good or bad. In the darkest days wizards kept their strongest magics remembered so that Bastion could be formed using these. But by the same token, some wizards could possess people through them." She shrugged. "It's up to you what we do with it. I can make a circle and you can try unlocking it if you'd like. It might get weird, I'll warn you." She looked at her companions. "Like really, really weird."
|
|
|
|
Post by Demetrius on Sept 5, 2020 17:27:30 GMT
Returning to his seat after locking the door, Demetrius rubbed his hands together anxiously, looking around to the companions. “I say we try and open it.”
|
|
|
|
Post by Justine-Juliette de Vair on Sept 5, 2020 17:42:41 GMT
Justine had subtly glanced at Demetrius to see what he thought, and then nodded. Dread grew in the pit of her stomach alongside...what was that? Excitement. “Yes. I’m ready.”
|
|
|
|
Post by Geoffrey Ravenhurst on Sept 5, 2020 17:43:55 GMT
Herneiros shrugged as he finally selected a pipe. "I am used to weird."
Indeed, he might as well be called the Weird Huntsman, but it would not be as impressive as the Wild Huntsman.
|
|
|
|
Post by The Forgotten God on Sept 5, 2020 17:54:15 GMT
"That'll be fifty gold," she said, "there's a decent chance I'm going to need a new shop in a few hours." She takes the gold and then lines the entire perimeter of the hut with salt and some other substance that they finally recognize is iron ore. She chants in some language the entire time, Herneiros had heard natives use the same speech before on random adventures. The salt/iron mix glows a dull white as the square is completed. Neera double checks it to ensure there's not even the tiniest gap in coverage, then she holds out a needle to the trio to prick their fingers. She used the drops of blood to make a salty paste that she writes runes on the floor with as she sets the box in the center of the room. Her eyes now glow a bright violet and the candle's color has changed in the same way.
"Wind it," she told Justine, then she turned to the other two. "Keep hold of her while she does so if you want to experience the magic. Whatever happens don't leave the room." The furniture is rattling before they ever touch the box and the white object is flashing like a firefly.
|
|
|
|
Post by Geoffrey Ravenhurst on Sept 5, 2020 18:06:11 GMT
Herneiros set a beefy hand on her shoulder. "Fear not, Juliette... this is not my first exorcism."
Admittedly, he was used to inhuman creatures and not the ghosts of human archmages. This was still a new experience for Herneiros...
|
|
|
|
Post by Justine-Juliette de Vair on Sept 5, 2020 18:10:43 GMT
The dread deepened as she waited for her companions to take hold of her shoulders. She didn’t even glance twice at Herneiros as he mentioned exorcism. She barely even recalled his offer to separate her from her sister. It seemed like a year ago now.
All she could see was the bright violet glow surrounding them, emanating from the necromancer’s eyes and all her candles. Only then did she begin to wind the box, steeling herself for what came next.
|
|
|
|
Post by The Forgotten God on Sept 5, 2020 18:32:58 GMT
The music from the box sounds nothing like it had earlier. Every little tab struck by the box makes a sound like a tower clock ticking. Time seems to slow as it plays, every resounding clang lasting a quarter second longer until it holds steady. Neera watched with the others as a dark violet blob emerged from the box and slowly formed into a human form. It looks like a man perhaps fifty, solidly built with a missing right ear and a nasty scar that's carved its way through his hairline like a lightning bolt. He looked at the quartet wordlessly then began inspecting the salt barrier. The smell of sulfur filled the room.
|
|
|
|
Post by Justine-Juliette de Vair on Sept 5, 2020 18:38:56 GMT
The smell triggered half-remembered rituals in the corners of Justine’s mind. She stared at the apparition as it coalesced into a human shape. The way it (he?) eyed the barriers. “Should we speak to it?” Her voice was barely above a whisper and cracked as she spoke, as though she hadn’t spoken in weeks.
|
|
|
|
Post by Demetrius on Sept 5, 2020 18:43:28 GMT
Demetrius could feel the invisible tendrils of mist radiate from his skin, leaving behind droplets of cold moisture that cling the the hairs of his arms. To anyone looking, he just appeared like a sweaty nervous wreck, but inside he was coiled and ready to strike.
“We didn’t pay just to get a look at the guy, did we?” Demetrius asked Justine. “Ask him what you need, and then we should get a move on. This kind of magic makes me uneasy.”
|
|
