shylarah

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

Shiara Cazarin, bone mage

"If what you seek is an answer to whether he is cursed, then my way would provide it, would it not?" Shiara retorted, when the old man suggested she was stopping him from doing his job. "I've met none of your 'cursed', but I've encountered other things, things stirred up by the imbalance and the breakdown of usual countermeasures."

She'd made her point, and was going to return the man's shovel since his partner had already broken the ground, but the dusty bubbles soon turned into an outright cave in, and the crumbling dirt and mud sent all four of them tumbling.

She landed in a painful heap a level below, and even before Shiara regained her feet she could feel the presence of countless graves. She was covered now in grime, but there were other things to worry about. The wail of a child -- and how had a child made its way down there? From inside the church, perhaps, or was it merely a lingering spirit that did not realize it was dead?

The light in the catacombs was not enough for her to see by -- or it wouldn't be, once they left the hole to dreary daylight behind them. "Noa, if you please," Shiara said, lifting one hand as dull orangey light blossomed in one of her bracelets. She looked again at the man, now cursing and giving his underling orders. He'd still not bothered telling her what they were dealing with, and now they were in a right mess.

"I don't suppose you'd care to tell me more about what we're facing now?" she said, turning in a slow circle to help her pinpoint the direction of the cry.

How Not to be a Douchebag 101

*wiggles*

Villain reform story, 1x1 (possible 3 or 4 player?)

@Metronome Hmm. Usually her powers are more force-and-fireballs, but I suppose I could tweak things. ^.^

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

I'm good with either @Overlord Thraka

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

Shiara took the new opposition in stride, though inside she trembled. The woman looked dangerous, and the scent of violence clung to her. "I am more than just an herbalist," she said. "I am a bone woman, a mage that deals in spirits and the dead." She considered mentioning the vision she'd had, but the personal nature of a journeyman's quest made her decide to omit it. "Rumors of unquiet dead have reached even the southern shores, and I seek their source. It's more than a matter of corpses alone." She looked from the newcomer to the older man. "If his spirit is not at rest, I can speak with it. If you give me a few minutes, I can tell you the state of his bones, without needing to dig them up. I know ways to keep the dead at bay, and how to lay them to rest if they have been raised. In short, this is as much my business as yours."

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

@Overlord Thraka@Lordofthenight Debating sticking a quick reply in there with Shiara's response.

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

Shiara Cazarin, bone mage

"Not a mystic," Shiara corrected, thinking irritably of the sham fortunetellers that mazsde coin off of simple folk by pretending to be things they were not. Mention of another nearby made her look over her shoulder, and she ignored entirely the incorrect mention of a town she'd never been to. The older man's next words caught her attention. A corpse become something else? She went over the rumors in her mind, dead that didn't stay dead, rising to wreak havoc.

"A corpse buried on consecrated ground should be beyond medling," she said, though she didn't mean his this time. "But this place's power has weakened -- and by disturbing the dead you weaken it further. I have a duty to the dead, and to the living." As the man listened to his shovel, a strange act indeed, Shiara made her way towards him. The moment he was done she laid her own hand upon the handle and pulled it free, calling silently for Kem to support her. As Shiara stepped back, shovel in hand, her stance was no longer that of a simple traveller but the alert and ready pose of a fighter.

"There are many ways to catch a fish," she said. "Rather than disturb a properly-buried corpse, why don't you let me help? Or else explain exactly what you gain by troubling one that should be left lie."

Villain reform story, 1x1 (possible 3 or 4 player?)

I might be interested. Although the character I have for this circumvents a few of the issues...she's not human and has low-level telepathy. Then again, since her circumstances initially were similar to the mentioned villain's, I can see her wanting to help. (She turned up in a city and attacked a taxi...with a sword. Ended up getting tased, and it took some time to sort things out.)

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

Shiara Cazarin, bone mage

Shiara pulled her cloak a little tighter against a cold gust of wind, and sought out the nearest inn. She was a stranger, a foreigner, and thus not quite trusted in these trying times, but her coin was as good as anyone's, and since she let it be known that she was a journeyman herbwoman she received a somewhat warmer welcome.

With a stableboy looking after her donkey and the largest of her bags up in her small room -- a matter of only a few minutes, since she truly needed little in the way of comforts -- Shiara asked directions to the nearest churchyard. It was easier than asking for the nearest graveyard, after all. There would be other places she needed to visit, places where many died, where they were murdered, where spirits lingered, but it would be hard to search them out with the rain causing disturbances on the spiritual plane. There was something deeply wrong with the city, something she could feel even through the cold mist, which made it powerful indeed.

The graveyard was large enough to accommodate the sizable town of Kenfort, the church probably one of the first buildings that indicated the village was becoming a town of some size and then added onto with additional wings in later years. It was beautiful, in its way, a sturdy hulk of a building that had weathered many years and was a testament to the story of the city. Shiara let herself in by way of the cemetary gate, wrought iron that should serve as a spiritual barrier as well as a physical one. But she felt barely anything as she walked through, proof that things were not as they should be.

Not many stray souls would be out in the rain, and sure enough the graveyard was quiet. But there was a sense of restlessness. The imprint of those buried there seemed to be waiting for something, though Shiara had no idea what. "I don't like this," she murmured softly, looking first at Kem, then Sorsha. She lifted her hands to feel the thin traces of energy in the air and frowned at them, only to abruptly realize she was no longer alone.

It was the two fighters from the gates, carrying -- shovels? The sight made her blood boil. Did they mean to desecrate the graves, on ground whose power was already weakened? "You mustn't!" she called, starting towards them. "Disturbing the rest of the dead is ill luck." For all her youth, Shiara spoke boldly, confident in her knowledge of the ways of the dead. Did the priest know, she wondered. Could she fetch him -- and if she did, would he have the nerve to stand up to the imposing pair? Kem's touch on her back was a reassuring tingle. If they challenged her, he would support her. The knowledge made her lift her chin and square her shoulders.

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

@LordOfTheNight Welp, tried to give you an opening but I guess it didn't take. Let's try that again. *scurries off to write*