This thread serves to hold anything deemed casual and not part of the main storylines
Bearing of a Cross
EzekielHarbinger: Kage had merged back within the shadows he came to enjoy, the fact he could blend perfectly within them, hiding every aspect of his being within to the point it would seem like nothing more than natural shadows made it all the more..... entertaining to him, not to mention it made watching the new prospect that much easier. He wanted to see her in a natural element, away from his influences and teachings for the time being, to make sure his own judgement hadn't fail him, the woman having taken the steps to cast aside her flesh as she was told, but still chose to speak through a bloody stone, even if telepathy was what she thought to be her only option for a voice, it was still rather insulting. He followed her to the unknown lands where she interacted with more fleshies, though he understood the necessary evil of having to 'play nice' with some useful monkeys, he truly did not agree with it personally. Slowly he would pull the shadows closer together, eventually casting them outwards towards the perspective recruit, surrounding her with the thickening shadows, "Tua obsession cum inanimatis est sed molestiae ..." (Your obsession with inanimate objects is rather annoying ...) his voice could be heard like a whisper within the shadows as he would then begin to pull her from that plane of existence.
DeviousMiskreent: Alexsis had stepped away from the people that she had been interacting with, her mind full of conflicting thoughts and other more important things to puzzle out. She had begun to wander through the stormy woods, carefully anchoring herself from place to place to pull herself through the winds. Her illusory form suffered for this though, wavering in the wind and rain and the lack of concentration she was putting forth at that moment. It was strange when the darkness around her thickened, and she remained still as she heard Kage's voice through the shadows. Her own voice would emanate from the voice stone, though it was secure with the rest of her equipment in her pack, thus it would sound muffled even as he began to pull her from the material realm. "Certe, apud mea conditione, vos potes considerans quod autem parte effeectus" ( Indeed, in my condition, you can consider it a side effect) she said with dark laughter. She waited then as she felt her form pulled into the shadows. He would find it quite amusing then, that the only thing that would seem to appear to him would be one of the Kinn's Petrian Crosses, and her pack. Though this one was quite large, about the length of the average person's forearm, and solid vantablack. Upon closer inspection, the smooth, luminous surface of the cross was actually exquisitely carved with hundreds if not thousands of writhing demonic and devilish forms that almost appeared as if the carving had been laid beneath a thin layer of glass or perfectly clear diamond. One female form was larger, and at the very center of the inverted cross, and represented Alexsis chosen physical form almost perfectly. This form seemed to emerge from the cross as a bust, the swells of breasts, shoulders, and head actually emerging from the rest of the cross itself. The tips of wings could be seen behind the shoulders, and small buds of horns peeked out from its temples. Short pointed ears and the shape of her face gave the figure a draconic appearance. Once her form had been pulled fully into the shadows it floated there with her pack for several seconds before the silvery, draconic eyes of the bust would open slowly. “Bonum Vesperam" (good evening) her voice echoed from the pack. --d--
EzekielHarbinger: It was rather amusing to him to watch as the woman's chosen form had vanished from sight, leaving only a pack she carried with her and the inverted cross the kinn were known for, the fact this one was delicately carved with a great many devilish and demonic looking beings under a rather polished crystal surface spoke loudly to it's origins alone, but than his void like gaze took in the sight of the woman's chosen form upon the surface of this large cross, the curves of the woman's body pulling for the cross itself was exactly as he thought, this was her. No illusions, no magic just her as a whole. Sure she was a construct, but even constructs had a form in a sense, whether it had been one they took a liking to or one they were given, it was still a pure form to them. "Tis de tempore, et videre vos, ut videatur esse videtur." (Tis about time we see you as you were meant to be seen) He pulled his form from within the shadow to take on a more solid appearance himself, though every aspect of his appearance was black in varying shades, the most noticeable were the bone like structures of the armor along his chest, hands, and jaw, his shoulders holding the mantle of the Shade Martial were not a great deal different of shade than the bones themselves, and even the runic spell work across his frame gleamed lightly against the black surface of his form. The only part of his appearance that wasn't black, were the silver chains around his wrists, neck and horns, and the silver rings along his fingers. "Et dixisti te non alia forma esse videtur, iacentem ad nos non est valde bonum satus vestri iter" (And you told us you had no other form to be seen, lying to us isn't a very good start to your path)
DeviousMiskreent: Alexsis did not immediately reply to his accusation of lying to them. First she was accused of stealing from them, now lying. She was getting rather annoyed with these unfounded accusations, but before she spoke again, she was reviewing her memories to make damn sure she hadn't actually said, any such thing. Again she would speak in Latin, as it seemed to be the language they preferred. "Ego non memini dicens: ego non corporis forma mea, ego autem, non esset veritas. Hoc MEUM non est corporis forma. Corpus meum erat furto perierat, a me, ut infans. Quid te videre coram te est, quod ego et multi alii, quæso, in per vos Etiam cura” (I do not recall saying I had no physical form of my own, had I however, it would be the truth. This is not MY physical form. My body was stolen from me as an infant. What you see before you is what I and many others were molded into by your Evencar) she explained. "Qui dedit nobis nova vita, nova causa” (He who gave us new life, new purpose) she said, her voice sounding almost reverent in tone. --d--
EzekielHarbinger: He listened to her words and dark grin crossed his blackened lips, "Est tamen forma data est, ut te tamen, id est, non?" (Tis still a form given to you nevertheless, is it not?) the shadows that clung closely to his frame would seeming shift about him like smoke rising from the fire after it had been extinguished, "Etiam si vera forma captus a te, data alia, formam, multo magis dignum est, quod vobis vere sunt construere." (Even if your true form was taken from you, you were given another, a form far more worthy of what you truly are construct.) his words spoke in many varying languages as they whispered and echoed from the shadows, speaking to the woman as his bare feet carried in around the woman, "Cum omnes illi animas sub tuo imperio, tamen non erit, ut eos tibi forma corporis, ita et vos pout et uti talis absurdus significat, ut caro, ulterius arriderent quae cum dixit, carere te tanta infirmitate, et adhuc vobis loqui, non est vera forma tua. Omnia dum sciens Venditor concessit te talem formam, tu vere servire nostra Omnia Pater vel vos iustus intentione conatur meiere off nos?" (With all those souls under your command, you still haven't the will to make them give you a physical form, so you pout and use such grotesque means as flesh, further pouting when told to rid yourself of such weakness, and still you speak of no true form of your own. All the while knowing the Evencar has granted you such a form, do you truly serve our All Father or are you just intentionally trying to piss us off?) He stopped back in front of her as he spoke, the blck brow lifting in curiosity to her response.
DeviousMiskreent: She listened to him silently, her form as still as it could possibly be, the only movement, that of her silvery eyes as he moved about her. She contemplated his words, Pouting? . . was she pouting? Did she truly care about having a form of her own.? She had to think about that for a moment. Her ultimate goal was to seek revenge upon her mother and sister, for opposing the darkness and for abandoning her to the bottom of that damnable lake. Did she need a mobile form for that? She could cast from the state she was in. Again in Latin she would speak once more "Non credo, ego infelix arriderent, magis illud de eo. An habeo a corpore, aut rebus non parum ad me, id est, tantum a necessitate, quando mutuo occurrant cum populo” (I do not believe I was pouting, more a statement of fact. Whether I have a body or not matters little to me, it is only a necessity when interacting with people) she said with disgust. "Curabitur aliquando shapeshifter, tolle in forma, an inanima obiectum et experiri ad penitus cum carnalibus hominibus. Ego conatus ad primum. Conatus ad sanctifica me, et conatus, ut caperent me, et conatus ad deconstruct me. Accipiens, in hominis figura, licet me ulterius persequi mea metas. Lupus amoung oves” (Try it sometime shapeshifter, take on the form of an inanimate object and try to interact with fleshly beings. I tried at first. They tried to sanctify me, they tried to capture me, they tried to deconstruct me. Taking on a human shape allowed me to further pursue my goals. A wolf among the sheep) she told him flatly. "Et quidem ego volo servire Omnia, Pater. Purus tenebris est quod volo redire ad” (And of course I wish to serve the All Father. The pure darkness is what I wish to return to) she added, longing could be heard in her voice now. She had had a taste of it once, the touch of darkness, pure and unadulterated, but she couldn't remember when, it was like the memory of a fleeting dream. --d--
EzekielHarbinger: "Vos nunquam fuerunt capta a tenebris, id est ubique, vos iustus habere videntur oblitus, quam esse, quod tenebrae, de quibus creata est, pestis, tot construit, ut te, cur tam pauci sunt, umquam" (You were never taken from the darkness, it is everywhere, you just seem to have forgotten how to be that darkness from which you were created, a plague to so many constructs such as yourself, it's why so few are ever found) all this beating around the bush and she still didn't clue into the fact she could appear however it is she wanted to appear through her entire existence, she had the souls to do it, just as the Kinn had a physical form constructed of their vey will upon the souls and shadows under their command, there was no reason she could not do the same, she had proven to be rather resourceful in the past. He crossed his arms across his chest and stared at the womanly figure before him, contemplating her words carefully, thinking as to how he could get her to see without handing her the answer yet again as to how she could have the form she desired, without the need of looking like a monkey. "Nos consumpta multa saecula inter foeda carnem, et accipiens eam, sicut et nos desiderabat, erat infecta carne, creavit nos in primis, ut scimus omnes, etiam bene, quid est te loqui, nisi nos nunquam conatus est aliquid, et tantum fecit." (We have spent many centuries among the disgusting flesh, taking of it as we desired, it was tainted flesh that created us in the first place, so we know all too well what it is you speak, only we were never tried anything, they only did.) The mantle along his shoulders seeped the hatred and anger of his own past as a fleshy, the only parts of it he truly enjoyed was the fact the experiments had given what he needed to be able to hear the darkness through his existence, gave him 'hope' in a sense.
DeviousMiskreent: She was confused again, her eyes narrowing a bit as she contemplated everything he had told her thus far. He wanted something from her, of that she was sure, but she didn't know what. They had been offended by her fleshy form in the Citadel, and he had insulted her ability to take a form of her own just a few minutes prior, so clearly he was not pleased with her natural form. And yet now the conversation had turned towards what? Their past experiences? "Vestrum est displicuit, cum ego carnem sumere, displicuit cum apparent coram te, sicut ego sum creatus, displicuit, cum ego occultare meis naturalis forma, cum illusionibus. Quae forma esset, quaeso, tuum genus maxime Rutrum?” (Your kind is displeased when I take flesh, displeased when I appear before you as I was created, displeased when I hide my natural form with illusions. What form would please your kind most Kage?) she asked him, her speech nearly slipping out of Latin and back to common with her frustration. "Indica mihi ut faciam, non experiri, quid facturus est? Quid est quod vis a me Rutrum?” (You tell me to do, don't try, do what? What is it that you want from me Kage?) she asked angrily. -d-
EzekielHarbinger: "Nos es trying ut ostenderet tibi, quod tu numquam reliquit tenebris, te solum oblivisci te, inquis, non vera forma, quae data est vobis, vestrum est, sed tamen, uti caro occultare puritatem in tenebris, quod est tibi. Animae tibi fuit capta a harenas congregati, ex quo remanserant, essent, non tua, sed tamen tibi dedit eos, adhuc tenere animas, quae data est tibi, sicut forma est, te haesit ad eos sicut a vita linea, quia erant omnia, quae habebat, ad existendum, et tamen vos scire, nihil quid vos potest facere cum eis aliud est, quam esse." (We are trying to show you, that you have never left the darkness, you only forget yourself, you say you have no true form, that which was given to you is yours, but yet you use flesh to hide the purity in the darkness that is you. The souls you had taken from the sands gathered from where you were left, they were not yours, but still you gave them back, you still hold souls that were given to you, just as your form was, you clung to them like a life line because they were all that you had to exist, and yet you know nothing of what you can do with them other than exist.) His form slipped from sight and yet his words carried as though he were still right in front of her, the weight of his hatred bearing down upon this physical form, the anger for all that was not of the darkness filling every ounce of her senses, echoes of whispers reverberated through her mind of the thousands of souls that were under his command, taunting and teasing her, calling her clueless and hopeless, for not seeing what was right in front of her. Darkness. "Dic nobis Alexis, te dicere vis servire Omnia, Pater, redire omnia in tenebris, unde factum est, quaestio est, non meminisse, quid in tenebris vere est, meministi, quid tenebras potest concedere, simpliciter vult illud?" (Tell us Alexis, you say you wish to serve the All Father, to return all to the darkness from whence it came, the question is, do you even remember what the darkness truly is, do you remember what the darkness can grant you, simply by willing it?) He pulled every ounce of his being back together, the whispers cleared as the weight lifted, standing before as he had before "Volumus probare tibi sunt pueri in tenebris, ut vos dicunt, construere vel non, si vos es a creatione Evencar, vos es a puero in Omnia Patris. Utor vestri animae, imperio eos, vis voluntatem tuam super eos, eos dare vis, cupis." (We want you to prove you are a child of the darkness as you claim, construct or not, if you are a creation of the Evencar, you are a child of the All Father. Use your souls, command them, force your will upon them, make them give you want you so desire.) his tone was now filled with the anger and hatred that wafted from his form.
DeviousMiskreent: Her silver eyes closed as she began to feel the anger, hate and pressure that he was subjecting her to. His voice echoed through her own mind in the cachaphony of many much as her own voice sounded to those she touched telepathically. She focused on his voice, his meaning, his words, trying to make sense of what it was he wanted. The taunting and teasing and name calling did nothing for her, she had long ago become immune to such trivial things. The souls that made up her form did not all agree with her taking over their manifestation and she had fought long and hard to dominate them. "Quam ego sum, ut aliquid scire, cum nihil disciplinam? Qui Kinn creavit me, et tunc reliquit. Quid scio ego didici ex furto harenas et animas in. Quod non multum in mentem tibi. Dicis, uti mihi animas dare, me forma . ." (how am I to know something with no instruction? The Kinn created me, and then they left. What I know I learned from the stolen sands and souls within. Which was not much mind you. You say, use my souls to give me form . . ) She stopped speaking as he reformed before her, her silver eyes opening and turning black as she observed him shift his forms in the magical spectrum. She could see his manipulation of his souls on a magical level in a way. It wasn't so much magic though as it was willful manipulation over something that literally belonged to him. She focused on her own souls, looking inward. The bindings were different, he was Kinn, she was an Kinn artifact. Her souls were supposed to be immobile and inanimate, unawares and dormant, and a good portion of them were, but for some reason, some of them were active, alert, like herself. It was these souls that she had had to fight and dominate to take full control as the 'dominant' soul. It was this smaller soul pool that she could manipulate. She focused her concentration on those souls, forcing an image of her desired form upon them, her desire to take such a form dominated their minds and as one they began to 'move' as it were. The will that flowed over the floating cross would increase rapidly as she tried to prove herself, tried to show Kage that she could do this one, simple task. "Volo enim a purus formam servire Omnia Pater" (I wish for a pure form to serve the All Father) Her voice was telepathic again, all her energy focused on what she was doing, "pura forma ad serviendum in Omnibus Pater" ( a pure form to serve the All Father) the whisper grew in numbers as each of the dominated souls took it up like a chant. The cross would vibrate in the air, pulsing with darkness and energy and would fall to the ground, clattering loudly upon the floor. The face from the center would seem to shiver and vibrate, growing larger. In fact, the whole of the cross was growing larger as the alert souls became more and more 'active' until the thing had grown to about half the size of a human person, approximately four feet in total length. The face seemed to pull from the center of the cross, the silvery eyes open but focused until her head and hair came free, her neck and shoulder, down to the top swells of her chest emerged from the cross. It took time, at least half an hour for her to emerge this far, but then it seemed as though the energy faded and almost vanished, the souls exhausted and nearly spent. Alexsis' mind and voice both quiet now, even as her new form shivered and trembled upon the ground. --d--
EzekielHarbinger: His voidless gaze fell upon her as she spoke in circles, and then it dawned on her, what it was he had been trying to get her to see from the very beginning. "Nos cognoverunt quid eramus, nisi audivit susurros profunda de tenebris, et non verum duce, te agendo discere, per imperandi, quod vestrum est, nisi forte illis animabus te petere, ut tua non tua sunt, post omnes." (We knew nothing of what we were, only heard whispers from the depths of the darkness, no true guidance, you learn by doing, by commanding that which is yours, unless of course those souls you claim as yours aren't yours after all.) He knew full well the topic of the souls she held was a touchy one, and so enjoyed the rile it created within her when brought into question, her anger and frustration that flowed so freely from the assumptions made the air sweet. He watched and listened as she willed the souls to do her bidding, she wasn't a full kinn, but she was still a creation of the All Father, as a construct she would need to fight that much harder to prove her stance within the darkness, or be swept away by the kinn that looked down upon her, just as he as a black blood had to prove himself within the eyes of the Evencar, she was no different. "Probare vos digni sunt Omnia Patris benedictionibus, probare te, digni sunt animae vos dicitis praeceptum, erit eis et facere sicut vobis praeceptum, probare te dignum esse KINN!" (Prove you are worthy of the All Father's blessings, prove you are worthy of the souls you say you command, will them to do as you command, prove you are worthy of being KINN!) he had began to circle her, his lips unmoving as his words echoed from the shadows around them, reminding her again and she had to prove who she claimed, what she claimed, prove her worth to those above her, to prove herself to him. As her form took shape he did take a small sense of pride in pushing her to reach this far, but as she slowed and the transformation stopped he couldn't help the look of disgust upon his features, he folded his hands behind his back as he continued to circle around her, even though it seemed as though his legs and feet didn't move, just the shadows around his limbs, "Nos sunt tenebrae, liberis operam, ut Pater noster, tenebrae sunt nostra flectere ad voluntatem nostram, animas indignum nostra sunt ad praeceptum, ut videbitur........ qui te Alexis Surrexit? Sunt tibi construere, an inanima obiectum, vel te digna bonis Omnibus Pater dedit super tuum esse?" (We are the darkness, children devote to our Father, the shadows are ours to bend to our will, souls unworthy are ours to command as we see fit........ who are you Alexis Rose? Are you a construct, an inanimate object, or are you worthy of the blessings the All Father has bestowed upon your existence?)
DeviousMiskreent: Those silvery eyes fluttered open. Yes, she was stil . . alive, ish, or what passed as living for her anyways. The form that had emerged from the cross matched it in the total and complete brilliant and gleaming vantablack, all except for her eyes and a few strands of hair, which were silver. Small horns budded from her temples and the tips of demonic or draconic wings could even be seen within the frame of the cross behind her shoulders. Her mouth moved as she attempted to speak, and facial expressions played across her face for the first time as she grew frustrated with the continued inability to speak. She touched his mind with her telepathy again "Non sum dignus, tamen, sed ego ero" (I am not worthy, yet, but I will be) she said with determination, though with the mental touch, and the weakness of the projection of her now singular voice, it should be simple for him to realize that she was spent and exhausted. "Discam, et crescere, et ego ero dignus" ( I will learn, and I will grow, and I will be worthy) she told him as he questioned her further. Her form had finally stopped vibrating and trembling and lay still and quiet upon the ground, the female form's head dipping low as she seemed to fall into a state of stasis to recharge and rest.
EzekielHarbinger: He watched and listened as his frame came to a halt, the voidless gaze upon her half formed frame seemed ...disappointed, "Si tu dicas sunt indignum, quam dicemus, non adgrediar alio tempore cum costruct noluisse urna est boundaries, dicemus permisit manere in eo quod est dimidium formari forma usque in tali tempore potest esse, sic nostra." ( If you say you are unworthy, then we shall not waste any further time with a construct unwilling to push its boundaries, we shall permit to remain in it's half shaped form until such time it can be presentable.) the words that filtered through the surrounding shadows were cold, unmoved and disgusted with the sight before him. Then he turned and walked away from her, allowing his frame to dissolve back into the darkness from whence it came, leaving her as she was.
OrderOfGashes: Wherever there was pain, wherever there was judgment, wherever there was knowledge he found himself present. The question of morality was one that governed the mortal and spiritual realms of being neigh since the dawn of time. It was only during their watch that these actions were deemed desirable. K watched as the sins of the world were committed each and every transgression was less than the last. The spiraling source of his smoke reached out into the ever-present umbral surrounding the night air. The bitter taste of sin were bound upon him as he bore true the most severe of transgressions. One in which there was no means for repentance. The smoke collected itself in mass just like that of a failed sacrifice. A smell heavily laden with almonds followed his incorporeal form as its manifestation waxed and waned through the penumbral. The star-filled skies twinkled as his form past through its aether searching through the penumbra for something. Evidently, he comes across something minor, something almost so insignificant he would disregard it, but he could feel some manner of kinship with whatever it was. And there was something else. Something that seemed devoid of willpower, yet still existed upon its own accord. He could feel his SMoke-like Umbra pull at them almost as if they were trying to forcibly drag them into himself. Made curious by these sensations he chose to follow the link between himself and them. It breaks as if carried off by the wind leaving not but a smell of burning incenses. It collected the majority of its presence into a solid form much like the manifestation of a specter or a demon upon the physical plane. The smell of almonds and of incense intensified while in his presence. Its manifestation also has an aura that may exert considerable pressure on any who cross it. This pressure is formed by the consciousness drawing itself into a material form, the sheer ridiculous number of souls commanded are so numerous that even while in immaterial form they exert a tangible and very real pressure or weight, much like water pressure; at minimum without conscious effort the force exerted is equivalent to thirteen pounds per square inch. The very Aura of his, however, would inspire within a thirteen-foot radius of him the inflection to commit transgressions, or rather admit them before his presence. IT all seemed innocent in nature but the true effect of This aura was to break the barrier within their minds opening them spiritually into a level of humility and acceptance. The second stage of his Aura would inspire the sin to consume them, cause them to bring it forth before his presence. He collected his manifested body just before The two beings similar to itself. "Erit tibi dic mihi grata, aut erit vos coinquinat mea praesentia cum ignorantia?" ("Will you tell me welcome, or will you defile my presence with ignorance?") The Visser would stand watching them judging them. The construct offended him, but he chose to bid his offense and wait before he would smite. The other being seemed greater to some extent, but not visually by much, K could easily tell that in the moment that it was the one held responsible for the constructed abomination before him.
EzekielHarbinger: It had been a few days since he had pulled the construct from the material realm into the shadows, getting her to understand the full extent of being kinn was proving to be more ....interesting than he originally thought, but even with the small amount of progress that she had made, it was still stride from her previous appearance before any of his brethren. Though he had been within the surrounding darkness he had never truly abandoned the construct that called herself Alexis, he stayed close by, watching to see if she would wait for his return or try on her to continue the process of taking her desired form. He had just pulled his frame from the darkness that surrounded her when felt the weight of another, the sense of one he had yet to meet drifting closer, the aura of a visser looming in the darkness as the being drew near, "Videtur nostra praesentia hic deprehenditur..." (It would appear our presence here draws attention...) his words whispering in echoes through the surrounding shadows as they typically did, though he would reign in the aura of the mantel along his frame, hatred and anger being bottled back within his own form just as the Visser manifested before them, "Naturaliter nos salutant a fratribus de tenebris, si curiosus, ut, ad quem est nobis saluto." (Naturally we greet a brethren of the darkness, though curious as to whom it is we greet.) Yes, he could feel the effects of the Vissers aura weighing on his mind, but he was not about to give in to the influences of it without one hell of a fight.
DeviousMiskreent: A few days had passed indeed. With each passing moment of strength she would try again to pull her form farther from the cross that was her true form. She had managed to pull her torso further in those days, and she had managed to free her arms. Now the four foot long and three foot wide cross sported nearly a half a form of a woman, her chest covered in some sort of corset. She was free to just above her navel, was solid vantablack like a kinn, but sported her draconic silver eyes and inky hair streaked with silver strands. She sported demonic or draconic wings, but they appeared still fused to the leg of the cross and seemed to be helping support and keep her frame upright. The cross itself had not morphed or changed since it had grown, and still sported the intricate carving like faces of thousands of demons, devils and other dark creatures from her home kingdom. Progress had been made. It had taken several sessions, Alexsis working until she exhausted herself, and then going right back at the task as soon as she was able. She was aware of being watched from the shadows, had assumed it was Kage. She was actually in the middle of another of these sessions when the Visser's aura first appeared and Kage reappeared himself. Her telepathic voice would speak "non mireris?" (does it surprise you?) she asked him, beginning to sound fatigued again. She paused in her exertions though, the aura of the Visser bringing back memories of her past deeds, a dark grin forming on her features as she relished in the remembrance. The floating form of the cross and woman would dip low, making sure that her head was below the height of the Visser and Kage both, some foreign protocol that she seemed to remember, probably from one of the many souls within her form. She remained silent however, noticing Kage's own diplomacy and figuring it best to remain silent. The Evencar had warned her not to show herself again until she had a fitting form, and here she was in the presence of another Kinn and unsure of what to do. --d--
OrderOfGashes: "Quid modo essendi est, ut, qui iacebat ante me; Est, quod incarnatio merus; Qui est dehibui?" (What manner of being is that, which lay before me; Is that incarnation true; Who is indebted from this?) The Visser stared at the thing bound to the cross His Six eyes gazed at them; the construct and the Martial. The Visser opens his arms, as he does so the brief clinking of the pearl colored orbs upon his rosary are heard with a dull giggle of children's laughter or was it screams? "Venit ad amplexabitur me, et cognoscetis quod ego sum. Sit Veritas ostendam tibi, et dimitte me, ut ducam te ut tua opilio." (Come to embrace me and you shall know that which I am. Let Veritas show you, and let me lead you as your shepherd.) As he opened his arms the smoke from his umbra thickened into a more deepening shade of darkness. The Visser cared not for the mantle that the being before him bore. Such things were trivial to he. As he manifested the range of his umbra more so too would the effects of his aura upon those around him. "Ego sum primus, mundi peccatum. Et Maximum delicti ferre." ( I am the world's first sin. The greatest transgression of all.) It watches the Shade in front of it and the thing in which it was playing with "Dic mihi, quid est ante nos." (tell me what is in front of us,)
EzekielHarbinger: Kage's gaze shifted about the being before him, taking in the sight, scent and right down to the very scent of the being, every the weight of it's aura upon his own being as he opened his arms, a curious move for a kinn which brought Kage's brow to raise in curiosity, "Si non vis loqui in nomine tuo, quam tibi non sunt sheppard pro nobis." (If you do not wish to speak your own name, than you are no sheppard for us.) He truly did not care if it was the first of the sin, it refused to speak its own name as Kage was unworthy of hearing it be spoken by it's lips, Kage had already proven to the Evencar itself he was more than worthy, clearly by the mantle and the name given to him Fides agreed. Kage turned his gaze back towards the woman before him, noticing the fact she kept herself at a level just below himself and the Visser, a point for her at least within his mind, the fact she had made quite a bit of progress on her own was another point for her. "Illa est construere, creavit Etiam currus se. Illa probatur se ad multa in potentia, et Fides concessit nobis privilegium in honing, quod est in potentia." (She is a construct, created by the Evencar himself. She's proven herself to have a great deal of potential, and Fides has granted us the privilege in honing that potential.) He explained briefly, keeping any major details from the explanation, it took a great deal of his being to resist the influences of the Visser, keeping his arms at his sides as his fingers roamed the beads of his own rosary in silent prayer as it were, the shadows around his frame clung to him like a thick armor in response to the umbra around the Visser, a great many of the runes across the blackened body seemingly shimmered with dark energy.
DeviousMiskreent: Her eyes fluttered for a moment as she continued to indulge herself in the aura of the new kinn. As a construct, she was actually immune to the mind affecting aura, but capable of sensing it and in this case, enjoying the remembrances it brought. She however, felt absolutely no compulsion to go closer to the kinn, and after she had had her fill of her past deeds, she would close down even that small pleasure. Her form seemed to shiver for a moment as she listened to Kage explain her presence, taking the compliment without a single word, though a small sense of pride did warm her momentarily. At least now she knew she was on the right track, it only served to redouble her determination to complete the process. She remained silent however, as the creature had not spoken directly to her, and had actually seemed to take pains to ignore her. She was insulted, but not stupid enough to act on the small anger that that brought with it. Insulted, not suicidal. She was spent from her exertions, and while she was confident she could defend herself, she didn't have any intention of giving the being any reason to want to hurt her. Instead she only forced her form closer to Kage, though still out of reach of his arms and aura. --d--
OrderOfGashes: "Ego Sum Kæynx, Primus ut Caedis, Caedis Acervus" (I was Kæynx first to murder) He listened closely to the words of the Martial though he likely could have easily leached the knowledge from them he chose a less perverse manner, "Si mea genitor, nostra Evencar Sic ergo dicendum purus. Spero vestri iudicii, sicut et ego mea, Veni, ostende mihi quid tu dicitur." (If my sire, our Evencar says so then it must be pure. I trust your judgement as I would my own, Come show me what you are called.) K glances again t the construct before him. In truth its form currently offended him, but presently he looked passed that as he addressed the thing before him, "Ex quo venisti?" (from where do you come?) The behavior of the being before it brought forth from the ownership of a mantle brought humor to the Vissers mind. Such a pretentious thing to draw pride from. The Visser extends its hand before them and pulls from the fabric of the umbra a single soul As it stares through it at the Shade, The soul shatters and from its fragmenting soul The Visser wove them into thirteen new forms. Their bodies resemble cloaked birds, their necks enclosed in something akin to a high neck gorget and their heads were elongated and angular, taking a shape very similar to that of a spade. The Visser whispers into their ears , "Vade Diabolus Avis, et expandit haec nova cognitio ad patrem meum, et in aliis, et videant quid modo de bestia hic esse."("Go Devil Birds, and spread this new knowledge to me/the father, and the others, and let them see what manner of beast be here.”) The umbral beings would dart too and fro before Three flew straight at Kage, Three darted back at the Visser, and Seven darted straight toward The construct. Just before piercing or rather touching any of them they would vanish into the Kinn's respective umbra carrying the message they were tasked with to whomever the "others" were. The Visser turns its head back toward the Martial and commands, "Veni mecum et libera laus nostri creatoris. Est enim tempus, ad ostendendum Veritas ante." (Come with me and deliver praise to our creator. For it is time to show before Veritas.)
EzekielHarbinger: The voidless gaze shifted back towards the Visser as he spoke his name finally, the thought of 'the first murderer' in a sense didn't make of a difference to him, Kage himself not from the same plane of existence as Kaeynx, nor Alexis for that matter. "Nos sunt notus ut Rutrum anima venator, et Umbra Militaris. Et hactenus Fides confidit nostri iudicii, nos tamen, ut dissapoint et erit, quantum possumus, ut semper manere in eius gratiam" (We are known as Kage the soul hunter, and Shade Martial. And thus far Fides trusts our judgement, we have yet to disappoint it and shall do what we can to continue to remain in its favor) Sure it sounded like a lot of ass kissing, but it was true, he had zero intentions whatsoever in disappointing Fides in any way or form, after all it was the Evencar that gave him the opportunity to prove himself to the All Father, after centuries of hearing his influences through the shadows. Kage had noticed Alexis withdraw back from the influence of the Visser, the fact she was immune to such effects must have been handy, a skill he wished he had himself, but had learned other means to adapt to such things, focusing on the rosary wrapped loosely around his blackened hand. He watched as K manipulated a single soul into that of thirteen others, than cast them off to deliver a message to the 'others', though he wasn't certain who the others were, he could make an educated guess, unmoved as the devil birds flew towards him, even if the bird had touched him, it would only succumb to the shadowy layer hugging tightly to his frame. "Diximus multa opus perficere in honing in construit potentia, offerimus laudem, ad Omnia Pater per donum habet concessa nobis a principio." (We've a great deal of work to accomplish in honing the constructs potential, we offer our praise to the All Father through the gift he has granted us from the beginning.) he'd hold up the rosary as indication as to what he meant. Brethren or not, Kage was not about to go anywhere with K, he truly had no desire to nor was there anything to gain from it aside from a little extra credit from the personal praises, instead he would remain with his charge, the task granted to him by request was not one he took lightly, which was clear by the very sight of Alexis.
DeviousMiskreent: Alexsis waited until both were finished speaking before she would answer K's questions, taking her place at the bottom of their ranks. But she would take precautions, Kage she knew she could communicate with telepathically, but the K she was unsure of. The thing's presence alone told her that it was far more powerful than she and Kage, and she had already felt its aura, touching it's mind did not seem like a wise decision. Yet she also knew her voice stone had offended the Kinn at the Citadel. She took a moment as they spoke with one another to puzzle out a solution. A small wave of mana washed over herself as she worked the clairaudience spell that allowed her to project her voice on the very tongue of her new manifestation. She had yet to form voice cords so this was a close as she could get, it was her mental voice, but at least now it came from her own mouth and not the stone. "Ego sum Alexis Surrexit, et venit ab Imperio Derelicta Surrexit, ubi quondam mater mea, et eam co princeps, Kali et Corvus, pugnaverunt kinn et unde ego creatus." (I am Alexsis Rose, and I come from the Empire of the Forsaken Rose, where once my mother and her coruler, Kali and Raven, battled the kinn and whence I was created.) As the devil birds flew at her, she would drop from her position in the air, to hover only a few inches from the ground, essentially dropping below the path of the large birds. Her arms had been thrown up in an X in front of her to protect her face from the attack if she didn't move fast enough, only to sense the birds shifting into a shadow instead. She remained low to the ground now, a frown on her face. "Ego have been iussit per Etiam currus non ostendam me, donec fiat sic nostra. Et nunc non sum. Ego non resistere eius ordines" (I have been ordered by the Evencar not to show myself until I become presentable. And currently I am not. I will not defy his orders.) she said softly, yet firmly, her speech all in Latin. --d--
Bearing of a Cross 2
OrderOfGashes: The Visser stared at Kage for a moment waiting, it was not used to having a command ignored by something as lowly as a shade. In just the most brief of moments, K's umbra would expand devouring all sense of restraint it had formerly showed them. Respect was something that very much was expected of all members of the Kinn to those above them in the chain of command. The arrogance flowing forth from Kage opened the flood gates within K. It seemed clear to him that a display was in order, perhaps KAge would learn something from the etiquette he had so delicately instilled within the construct of which he was charged. The aggression and disdain within Kage were like the sweet-smelling taste of nectar to him. He would wave a hand beckoning Kage. In actuality, he was subjugating the very umbra emanating off the martial. Only to engage his own Aura to flow directly in and through the martial claiming the umbra and seizing it. A strange umbra it was, very distinct from the amphibolic caliginous ambiance that most other kinn manifested. His umbra was smoky not quite ethereal and not quite physical there was something very much suffocating about it. It was behaving similar to how smoke would in a room full of oxygen expand and consuming it, displace it and eventually pursue it. With a snap of his fingers K would announce, "Eritis iudicavit pro delictis. Nunc flexis et pronus te." (You shall be judged for your transgressions. Now kneel and prostrate yourself.) as K would snap his fingers the Umbra surrounding the form of Kage excluding that which covered his armor but rather what lay between him and his armor would thicken even more, this would continue until it ignites into black flames which would then begin to lick and cook not only the Martial but the armor for which it wore as well. The construct would likely fall victim to the density of K's umbra's essence, but at the moment K did not feast the black flames upon it. "Scies, locum tuum in tempore." ( you will learn your place in due time.) K would then begin to approach the two. K turned his head to the side and spat and from his spit, a dark twisted root began to grow from the floor in which he sat and waited.
EzekielHarbinger: Kage knew full well the bounderies in which he played with, that fine line of disrespectful brat and obedient dog was danced in delicate steps, and as evidence proved, the Visser K was having none of it. What ever restraint the Visser had shown moment before with his aura was no longer in place as the full wieght of it came crashing down upon Kage's being, pulling a deep throated groan from Kage's blackened lips as they curled into a near snarl, turning the voidless pools of his gaze to the Visser just as it appeared like he were beckoning him over. It was by far the oddest feeling to date to have his own umbra subjugated with such ease made it seem as though he were that weak fleshy black blood all those centuries ago at the mercy of the mad master and his experiements, flashes of the ancient memories ran through his mind before he felt the intrusion of K's aura flow through him, the scent and sight of smoke thickening around his frame it was clear to him that the Visser felt it nessessary to prove a point, the fact he was above the Shade. He grasped the rosary in his hand, he could begin the calling as it were, collect more shadows, hell he could use his blackened blood, reach a little further and use the skills of Scourge even, but what good would it truly do in his current situation, the Visser was out for a show of ranks, "Tu quis es, ut iudicem me Visser, cum ego judicatus est a, Etiam currus se?" (Who are you to judge me Visser, when I have been judged by the Evencar itself?) Kage's anger now building further as he spoke, the black flames that ignite over his frame pulling from him a growl that would echo with that anger, "Nos flexis ad unum, et non sunt sed........ ut sit supra nos in dignitate, sed tu non es dignus nostri adoraverunt ....." (We kneel to one, and you are not it........ you may be above us in rank, but you are not worthy of our prostration ..... ) It took a great deal of effort to keep himself upright, the alchemic markings that flowed over his frame with the runic rituals pulsed with energy, reading and learning of the influences of the Visser's aura.
DeviousMiskreent: Alexsis watched with all due curiosity as the one Kage called a Visser tried to subjugate him. She was quite happy to sit back and watch and stay as far out of the reach of that damnable aura as possible, however, the interfearance was screwing with her possible training. No Kage, no becoming more of what she wanted to be. Which means, she had two options, one, sit back, relax, and return to the Evencar half formed and a dissapointment and face probable and most likely death. That was not a viable option, that left her with intervening in some way. Kage wouldn't like it, that was for damn sure, and this Visser was likely to turn its attention on her personally, which could possibly also lead to her permanent death . . if he could figure out how to kill her. If he was willing to interfear with the Evencar's direct orders. A lot of if's . . if's she could hopefully deal with. Her form floated forward and in front of Kage, directly between him and the Visser that was . . doing whatever it was he was doing, nothing good, and she expanded her own aura of fear to include Kage. The hope was that with the expansion of her aura, would come the expansion of her immunity to mind affecting umbra that the Visser seemed to be using. It was another 'if' but eh. Now that she was directly in the line of sight of the Visser, she had to pick her words very carefully, hoping he would turn his attention on her, but not maliciously. She reached out to touch her throat, enacting the magic that would allow her to speak a bit more naturally than before, yet still a clairaudiance spell. "Dominus Mariscalli, et ego sub directo ordines Etiam currus, et te Sir sunt interfearing cum illis ordines. Rogo te, blande cessare et desistere et patitur secum, cum nos directivae." (The Lord Marshal and I are under direct orders of the Evencar, and you Sir are interfearing with those orders. I ask you politely to cease and desist and allow us to carry on with our directive.) --d--
OrderOfGashes: As Kage would begin to speak Kæynx would stand and his back upon him Seeming to pay more attention to the gnarled roots it had spat into the ground. It stares with emotionless intent watching it. He raises a hand over the roots dangling his rosary and smiles. The Visser turns his head back toward the martial and Grips the beads of the rosary tightly in the arch of his index and thumb before it slowly in front of him from first right to left followed by from down to up. It opens its mouth and speaks "Magnus Dominus de Tenebris concede nobis virtutem ut sit fortis in spiritu. Da nobis posse videre, quod Veritas est pro nobis. Da nobis sapientia intelligere viis tuis. Dona nobis cognitionem ad talem nobis.(The great Lord of Darkness grant us the power to be strong in the spirit. Give us the ability to see that Truth is for us. Give us the wisdom to understand your ways. Grant us the knowledge to empower us.) As this would occur the Construct would place itself in front of K, without skipping a beat K continues, "Pulchra et magnifica, vos manant, tam stupenda fortitudo. Oculi nos fixa sunt super vos in admiratione. Tenebrae ambit, a pallio decet enim meus Rex. Scio te, qui vere sunt, Primordiales Unum. Amplector tua summa essentia. (Beautiful and majestic, you emanate such amazing strength. Our eyes are fixed upon you in admiration. Darkness surrounds you, a cloak befit for my King. I know who you truly are, The Primordial One. I embrace your total essence.) As he would speak this next verse of his praise he would mock the crusifix again this time intentionly backhanding Alexsis into Kage's upon contact the black flames too would begin licking them both. K speaks one final verse of his praise before he would decide their fate. "Mea forma est tuum facere Voluntatem tuam manifestare. Mea mens dedit tibi. facere quod vis nos scire. Spiritus meus declarat tua gloria ubique iter. Anima mea, mea est ultimum sacrificium, ut te, Dominum meum."(My form is yours to make your Will manifest. My mind given to you. to create what you desire us to know. My spirit declares your glory everywhere I travel. My soul is my ultimate sacrifice to you, my Master.) "Sic Narro Nos totus"Inspire K would spit again upon the ground and snap his fingers once more. The gnarled roots behind him would have been steadily growing as he was giving praise upon the final snape they jump out of the ground and consume the Martial and Alexsis. growing as a great tree around them. "Forte tenentur, simul vos et discite vestras loco." (perhaps bound together you both will learn your place," ) He would leave them as such it did not befit him to fowl his presence by consuming something so lowly, He would leave the sinners to that.
EzekielHarbinger: The voidless gaze narrowed at the construct in her attempts to spare him anything, truly insulted by her actions, any credit he had given her now gone in that instant, to think she would win any favors with such an act of begging, pleading, what ever it was she wanted to call it, Kage only seen it as disgusting. The anger and hatred that remained bottled within his frame only boiled with the black flames licking at his form, and he did nothing to hold any ounce of it back at this point, no lid to put on the pot as it were, but at this point Kage would show no signs of rage in any way or form. He watched, listened and learned, just as the various markings across his frame, taking in any and all information that could possibly be had from the effects that held his frame captive, even the bone armor hugging his chest, jaw and hands seemingly glowed with energy all the while remaining a flat black againt his physical form. K's prayers, chants what ever it was, only gave him the time he needed to be prepared for what would come next, even as Alexis would stumble back into him, he remained unmoved, if he could have, he would have simply stepped aside and allowed her to fall passed him back to the ground beneathe his feet, but again he would give no ground. It was then a pool of thick dark tar like substance began to form at his barefeet, bubbling from the black flames that hugged his frame, Kage's eyes never leaving the Visser, and grinned at the being as he spat once more and the gnarled roots twisted around his frame, an entire tree envoloping him almost instantly. But as the Visser would turn, a dark roll of miniacal laughter would echoe through out the surrounding darkness, than the scent of purtrid rot and decay would fill the air, "Talis ira ad actiones, tales frustrationibus et odium, tam suavis musica, et suaves agitur tibi dona nobis Visser." (Such anger towards our actions, such frustrations and hatred, such sweet music, and tasteful treats you grant us Visser.) the words were filled with amusement as they seemed to come from everywhere around him. The tree the Visser had just sprouted around him began to rapidly decay away, practically liquifying before his eyes as it peeled down away from Kage and the construct K had attempted to bind him with within the tree, the runes, rituals and alchemic workings across his frame and the bone armor now pulsing with energy as the rotting pool now sat at his feet, the workings across his frame having more than enough time to be able to learn the energy signature from the Visser, and react accordingly to be able to protect Kage from further attempts such as these, "Nos sunt magis quam nostrae conscii loco, concessa nobis a Evencar et Omnia Patrem, simus tantum Umbra, sed adhuc tantum Visser in comparatione aut de eis." (We are more than aware of our place, granted to us by the Evencar and the All Father, we may be only Shade, but you are still only Visser in comparison to either of them.) He would take a few steps past Alexis, not paying her no mind at this point, thick shadows swirling around his frame as he moved forward.
DeviousMiskreent: Alexsis frowned as she watched the plants growing at the creatures feet. So intent was she in trying to decifer the magical workings of the things that she had let herself become distracted enough to be struck. It did indeed send her sprawling back, but it wasn't a 'stumble' she was floating in the air and it was more like a rock being thrown than anything. A really, rather large rock, one that Kage was quite capable of dodging, yet decided not to. She bumped into him and his unmoving form actually set her own form to spin a bit, the dizzying motion causing her to cry out, silently. It took her a moment to correct her motion and to adjust herself, and apparantly that amount of time was all it took for the branches of the tree thing to grow up and around them. Her form now bound somehow to both the tree and Kage set her mind sprialling through her knowledge, what could she do to free herself? Spells were thought of and discarded rapidly as she searched for something that could free her but not potentially harm whatever it was that Kage was. By the time she had settled on one though, the branches already seemed to be dying, roting and turning to a nasty goo that dripped down her frame and body. ~disgusting Kage~ she told him in that strange voice of hers as she came free of him, glad that she couldn't feel the nastiness dripping off of her now. She would move out of Kage's way as he stepped away and past her now, deciding it was best to let these two figure out whatever it was they needed to figure out for their little . . measureing contest. She on the other hand moved off away from them to contemplate her situation. The black flames were gone, the branches were gone, and she was free and covered in rot. She needed water . . . so, while they were engaged in their little pissing contest, she opened a portal of her own and floated through it back to her home world. Here she knew where to find running water and soap.
Verital Visser (K)07/02/2019
K watched emotionless as the tree did, in fact, collapse upon itself as were his expectations from such a speedily summoned manifest of Umbra. Had he placed much effort in its creation it would likely prove much more difficult for the lowly shade to have dispersed it as such. The efforts of the shade, however, were a mild annoyance to the Visser. It had allowed its form up until now to react as it pleased. though the words spoke by the Shade echoed through his own umbra back at the lowly shade "Diximus multa opus perficere ut cotis in construit potentia," ( paraphrase : we've gotta strengthen/grind/hone the constructs potential) It was odd to the Visser that the Martial tasked with something of direct order from the Evincar rather than to continue its charge humbily it chose to let its own ego take charge and off-rail its tasks for its own desires. And it was at such the Visser took offense. "Vos loqui crimen posuit super vestri vigilate, tamen continue ludere puerile ludos?" (You talk about a charge placed on your watch, yet continue to play childish games?) The Visser was bothered by this Shade who bore the mantel of a Martial. It was no more than a fly upon a trap to him. Kage attempted to manipulate his umbra around K but to no success. Kage was a cup of water compared to the sea that was the Visser. as it was such K desired to shut kage down. The only thing that would arise from this further confrontation would be a delay upon the Evincar's will. As Kage would see it fit to try an assert dominion over K through the shadows created by his own umbra.
K would collect from the shade all manner of umbral souls brought forth to challenge such a dominium of Umbra rending them straight from the Martial as they were very clearly given through his interaction with K's umbra. Try as his runes would to harness, or absorb K's umbra they would find their cause lacking. The Visser would not just stand there an allow its umbra to be harvested, however, it was very likely that Kage would rapidly become immunized to the pains asserted from the black flames. "Finem hoc aut I shall call forth in Evincar ad agam cum contumaciam proteli cum mea propria. Vos opprobrium in Veritas, in quibus erant ficti. vos iudicabuntur." (End this or I shall call forth the Evincar to deal with your insubordination in tandem with my own. You disgrace the Veritas from which you were crafted. and you will be judged.) K would permit the Martial at this point to back down and return to his post. Should he not. At every further transgression enacted K would rend more and more souls. K's umbra was hungry for the transgressions and so he concluded with "Ne obliviscaris verborum, quam viles sunt nobis. Te minus, quam umbra super lunam. Nos sunt apostoli, Omnes-et Pater ipse. Et vos, Vos sunt spurius puer a kinn. Tantum capax disgracing omnia, quae data est vobis." (Don't forget how insignificant you are to us. You less, than the shadow cast by the moon. We are the apostles of the All-Father himself. And you, You are the bastard child of a kinn. Only capable of disgracing all which was given to you.)
Kage Anima Venator07/02/2019
Leave it to the Visser to see his actions as threatening or dominearing in one way or another rather than self defense over the actions taken by the Visser himself, pompus arrogance at it's best. He was doing just fine with the charge given to him until this one showed up and decided to interfere with things, hell even the construct made her way from the goo of the tree to clean herself, an improvement in his mind really in comparison to the sorry excuse of a form she currently had. Kage could feel the intrusion of the Visser, the ull of his souls through the umbra, he had no intentions of even attempting to bend the will of the Visser in any way or form, it was more or less the opportunity to learn of the vissers themselves, though this one seemed to be on a higher horse than even one that would hold the Lord Martial nobility. The runes and alchemic marking all across his frame nearly burned with the desire for the knowledge that was the Visser's umbra, but try as they might they would get nothing more than defensive measures against the black flames that had held his frame captive for a short time.
"Haec puerile ludos erant profectus per tuam facere, paenitet te et non sicut idea una stans ad vos, id est ordinis aut dignitatis. Vos may exsisto Visser, tenuit superior quam maxime in oculis pater noster, sed adhuc loqui ad nobilitatem, quae est plus quam dici potest, quia te. Nos arcu ut unum, et secundum, qui adduxit nos ad tenebras, tu es nec sic es, nihil ad nos, sicut et nos nihil ad te. Esse in via, et expandit Veritas, ut te faciam, superest, recede a nobis et nostris crimen facere, sicut erant reliqui facere." (These childish games were started by your own doing, sorry you do not like the idea of one standing up to you regardless of it's rank or standing. You may be Visser, held higher than most in the eyes of our father, but you still speak to nobility, which is more than can be said for you. We bow to one, and respect the one who brought us back to the darkness, you are neither, thus you are nothing to us just as we are nothing to you. Be on your way and spread the Veritas as you left to do, leave us and our charge to do as we were left to do.)
It took a great deal of restraint on Kage's part not to allow the words of the visser to get 'under his skin', if he had skin that was, but every word cut through him with a great deal of radiant heat, searing through every bit of his core, 'disgrace?', 'bastard child of a kinn?' the phases stuck to his mind as he casted his dark gaze over the Visser, the thick shadows pulled back around his frame tightening and thickening still as he stood his ground, he was not about to give into his anger, nor the frustrations and anger that grew within the Visser, his threats of calling the Evencar were tempting to push to see if the being would carry through, how would the Evencar see this situation, punishment or not for the disrespect towards the Visser was undoubtable, but what sort of actions would be dealt, would he loose the eyes upon him as the failed Scourge had, would he fall that far from 'grace' within the eyes of the All Father and even the Evencar, and was he truly willing to take that chance. The next few moments would proven to answer the unspoken questions.
July 9, 2019
Verital Visser (K)07/09/2019
The Visser grew weary of the continued back-talk from Kage. Though it was true that K knew Kage to be a Martial. In all aspects of truth Kage continued to allow the status of his nobility to interfere with the role as a leader in which he was charged.
"Tu es nobilis, et tamen adhuc agere inferior quam quod est crimen est. In Saeva praecepta per iram et dux regit per temperantia. Fortasse non sic dignus ducere, ut tu es, ut potius,sed, ut quidam brutavis Peccator?" (You are a noble and yet you still act lower than what is your charge is. The Savage rules through rage and the leader rules through temperance. Perhaps you are not so worthy to lead as you are but rather as some brutish Sinner?)
To K it was very obvious that Kage desired to fight, to test whatever skill he had against whoever approached him, to challenge the system of authority solely based upon his own arrogance and pride. And though the Sweet sins that Flowed forth from Kage delighted K. He knew that should he act upon this the potential and prospect of Kage's ability would be lost. K knew at this point that the Martial knew better than to strike him lest the Visser shift into a combative response. And so it was that the Visser would watch and wait for how the Martial chose to respond.
"Erit tibi tollat arma et pugnam, aut erit vos submittere, et ducere? nobilis aut non tua superbia intercedere et ira dominatur. Tantum date mihi desiderium vestrum et nos mos suggero vos nova vis, ita et vos potest gerunt in bella cupis,"
(Will you take up arms and fight, or will you submit and lead? noble or not your pride interferes and your anger dominates. Just give to us your desires and we will provide you a new force so you may wage the wars you so desire,)(edited)
Kage Anima Venator07/09/2019
Kage listened to the words of the Visser, the constant prodding was growing its patience rather thin, but the words lingered within its mind, growing within the darkness to climb the ranks had always played into his mind, as it undoubtly did within the minds of all Kinn, even the lessers seen as nothing more than the construct herself. It was not a matter of worth at this point either, Kage had proven it was worth the time and effort from both Cela and Fides, but was Kage, the Shade Martial truly ready for such a step, it had only just begun its path within the true darkness rather than simply listening to the guidance of the whispers. Everything about Kage spoke of a fighter, the souls it had collected to prove itself, the constant suply of anger, everything about its being spoke of the Sinners, but of its charge, Kage was reseponsible for ensuring all new Kinn were ready for the path, that they were truly worthy of such a gift, to guide them down the path most darkest for that being.
Kage's gaze never left the form of the Visser, regardless of what the being truly thought of the Martial, Kage could honestly care less but his words had not gone unheard, a dark grin danced over it's blackened lips, "Numquam prohibere pugnans in nomine nostrum Omnium Patrem, neque erit nobis submittere, ut alia praeter eam. Nos sunt data gratis disciplina digna, et dicemus, usque ad id, quod erat eramus reliquit in crimen, vide ut te, sed erit nostri patris." (We will never stop fighting in the name of our All Father, nor shall we submit to any other aside from it. We were given a charge of training the worthy, and we shall continue to do what it was we were left in charge of, see it as you will, but it is the will of our father.) The Martials frame relaxed, the shadows that swirled around its frame settled into place as there was no longer a threat from the Visser, it's anger was a constant flow through out its being, it was part of what made it the being it was so there was never a point in time where that was never seen, or felt by any creature through out the realms.
"Sed non iniuriam, nos non vis esse umbra diu, solum sufficit ad probandum nos multo magis dignum, quam tam humilis ordinis, sed vere sentire est nec tempus, nec locus tam disputationibus nec iudicia fieri, cum nos probatur nostra dignitas, nos quaerere ex te ipso." (However you are not wrong, we do not wish to be shade for long, just long enough to prove we are far more worthy than such a lowly rank, but we truly feel it is neither the time nor the place for such discussions nor decisions to be made, when we have proven our worth, we shall seek you out personally." With those words Kage bowed its frame only slightly towards the Visser, a sign of respect and appreciation really, it knew full well where it was it stood in comparison to the Visser, but that would never stop it from finding and pushing those oh so entertaining buttons, regardless of the being they were being pushed on.
July 19, 2019
Verital Visser (K)07/19/2019
The Visser smiled at the rambunctious behavior of The Martial. The facade of anger and annoyance that was present prior almost vanished entirely. All that remained was a minuscule amount of respect. The martial had responded in a matter most proper. Recognized the point the Visser was bringing forth to him. It was at the point that the martial realized the err of its ways so to speak. K gave the Martial an option few others have been granted in such a manner. It was poised as a reward, one in which would give the martial a promotion in the ranking.
"Vos didicistis voluntatem nostram. Et relinquetur in velit. Ad causa tua consilia florebit in fruitionem. In tempus, invenietis nos, et ulterius te in gratiarum nostra Perficitur Unum."
(You have learned of our will. And you shall be left to choose. To cause your own plans to blossom into fruition. In time you shall find us, and we will further you into the graces of our Completed One.
It would be time for the Visser to move onto its other obligations. They accepted the bow from the Martial with a nod before it collected back into itself the umbra and displaces whatever manner of black flame that had engulfed the Martial. And just as quickly as it began Kænyx would bring forth his rosary yet again to declare the sanctity of the Veritas in which was continued to be upheld. As he spoke the words a new strange twisting of umbra would present itself to the Martial this display was freely given from the Visser just as the words in which Kænyx spoke. For within this umbra held one-thousands souls the Martial was free to consume.
~
"Locuti sumus contra te in ab his speciebus. Dum furor perversa mente tua adhuc fecit contra nos non. Et sic damus vobis recognitionem. Si retractare offer obtulit quaero de me et vestra virtute erit fecunda." (We have spoken against you in pretenses. While rage perverted your mind you still acted against us not. And for thus we give you recognition. Should you reconsider the offer presented search me out and your prowess shall be elevated.)
As the Visser spoke his last phrase he would punctuate his statement with a roaring "Sic Narro Nos Totus"(edited)
July 23, 2019
Kage Anima Venator07/23/2019
Kage's dark umbral gaze watched the Visser carefully, though he was certain the being wouldn't act towards him in any form of aggression now, the nod of the beings head spoke volumes towards this, he was still weary and cautious of the being and it's prowess. The offer in words was tempting to the young shade martial, to grow within the darkness was all that he desired, to be recognized by the higher brethren, and to be held in agreater grace of their All Father, what Kinn would truly turn that down, but Kage was still learning his place as it were, he was Martial and had to be sure of his position before taking another step, to be the only one that could truly hold such a title, to yeild the mantel that adorned his shoulders that it would truly never accept any other, that was his current goal, for one of his beginnings, that was a mountainous road as it was.
His gaze shifted to the twisting umbral that was offered to him from the Visser, the scense of the thousand souls within screaming for retreival calling out to him, though he was aphrehensive, the voidless orbs looking back to K as he spoke. He reached a hand out towards the gift and grasp his hand around them, taking them under his own will and dominance, the fact the Visser had given such a gift as nothing but a sign of respect was one to be remembered, no kinn gave souls so freely, his frame shuddered from the near overwhelming surge the souls would offer him, the energy they gave him was more or less like a high, and a rather addicting one at that. Bringing his hand back to his frame as the effects faded from his being, he bowed his head as he preformed the bodily cross in reverse, pressing his lips to the inverted rosary around his wrist as he repeated their prayer, "Sic Narro Nos Totus." raising his head just as the Visser had vanished entirely from sight, sound and senses.
Bearing of a Cross 3
After Alexsis had left Kage and the Visser to their pissing match, she had made her way back to her home world to clean up. She had been covered in the rotting muck of the tree branches and the one thing she hated above all else was the smell of rotting anything. It was the main reason why when she built her constructs, she no longer gave them working senses. She had long ago found them mostly useless and somewhat detrimental. Once clean and free of all the debris and smelling rather .. soapy again, she made her way back to the realm of the Kinn. One of her many talents was the ability to return to any place she had already visited by tracing her own unique magical signature through the ether. She was curious to explore more of the Kinn lands and knew that at some point Kage would come looking for her, or she would have to go find him, and here was a much better place to start. She was careful to avoid the area of the Citadel though, she had been warned not to show herself until she was 'proper' and had no intention of pissing off the Evencar, hell, she wanted to make him proud of her, he was her creator after all. So she roamed about along the edge of the dark woods, observing the creatures and studying their magical signatures and make up. Keeping mostly to herself as she learned the layout of the area and observed the flora and fauna.
Whisper had seen this one before, in front of “father”, she was the construct, the “profaned altar”. Whisper was interested in this one, he had not seen her like before. Surely he had seen various constructs, even a few homunculi but this, there was nothing quite like her in his experiences. The Evencar had more of less tossed her out, her form defamed the Citadel, it was something Whisper understood, how could he not, it was a truth. There were of course extenuating circumstances he was perhaps more inclined to consider than most, after all she had been brought there with no prior knowledge...and her situation he supposed did warrant it. Ignorance was a thing that was double sided to him, it was in truth an affront of sorts, but as a Visser he saw it as more of something that invoked duty. His kind were shepherds, and Alexis, as far as he was concerned was a lost lamb of a sort. He had taken note prior of the woman’s exceptional skills, even if the others had frowned upon them. He initially had been watching her from a distance, bereft of manifestation, meaning he would have been incredibly difficult, if not impossible to sense. His wonder got the better of him though, he did manifest after a few moments of watching her mander, she took in the flora and fauna of the place, and for now the natives were not so restless as they would accost her, at least not as of yet. Whisper took on his most meager of manifestations, a rather “unique” looking devil bird. The shape of this creatures head is much like a spade, the top of the head resembling a crown of sorts with thirteen points, from there it tapers down to resemble a spade like beak. Around the neck is a large mantle like collar which is silver, the center of which has a larger plate which descends down to cover the upper portion of the chest and bears the crest of the Kinn in what seems to be an obsidian inlay. The body itself is in the shape of a bird which is leaned forward though it seems like it is covered by a large black free flowing umbra that much resembles a long tattered cape. In this form he came before her, silent still, wondering her reaction to the form as it looked down on her from a tree branch.
Her shape had changed dramatically since she had first appeared before the Kinn in the citadel. They had seen her shed her constructed body after the Evencar had told her to leave, and she had taken up an illusory form then, though one that resembled the human construct. Now however, after her few days of work with Kage, she was in a more 'natural' form. No illusions of artificial bits as she roamed about the edge of the forest and lands, now she was only what she was. The rosary cross had expanded from its normal trinket size to become and inverted cross of four feet in height and three feet in breadth. The cross itself was obsidian black and seemed to have hundreds if not thousands of miniature demonic, devilish, draconic and human like forms carved into its very surface. These forms were in different states of being, some seemed content with their plight while others seemed to be in torment or trying to escape their captivity. This was the result of Kali's 'tinkering' while trying to free the souls from the cross. The reason why Alexsis and a good portion of the others were awake and sentient in the first place. A fine film of some sort of perfectly clear material overlay the cross itself, giving the obsidian a crystaline gleam in any sort of light. The film was fine and as hard as diamond itself. Alexsis herself was of average 'human' size, and seemed to be emerging from the cross at her waist. Her form was completely black, seemingly made of the same material of the cross itself. Her head and torso were free of the cross and even as she observed the flora and fauna of the area, she was working within herself to free her hands, which were bound above her head to the long leg of the cross, from their captivity. They would come away from the post as Whisper observed her, and she would gasp softly and begin to flex her hands. Her draconic wings could be seen above the arms of the cross, flexing lightly as if she were in a state of hovering and four large horns had emerged from her head. "Finally'' she thought to herself as she looked down at her hands for a moment. It was then that she caught the manifestation of the bird on the tree branch. It was different from the ones she remembered from the Citadel and quickly drew her attention. Her normally silver eyes were already in their blackened state as she observed the bird with her magical sight. "well . . hello there" her voice echoed from where her throat was, but her mouth never moved. She had stopped using the voice stone, and instead, now that she HAD a throat, had used the same spells to simply enchant the gorget around her neck to project her mental thoughts. It was the same trick, but until she could figure out how to speak or create vocal cords, it was the best she could do aside from her telepathy
Whisper took note that her form was “bound” still more or less, though something far more natural and fitting now. He would almost chuckle at her manifestation. It was something though, after all she had to his knowledge never been educated in the finer points of such things. She had managed this feat by sheer determination and will alone. It was something that was impressive. Once Alexis peered more intently at the bird it was all the more apparent that this was not one of the common birds here, its size and grandeur alone hinted at this. Her ability to see the more ethereal side of things though made it apparent that this manifestation, simple as it was, was actually quite difficult to maintain, as fitting that much energy into such a small area was akin to putting gallons of water into a simple drinking glass, the energy it contained leaked out at a startling rate, one that with her sight of the ether seemed to be under constant threat of tearing the simple bird asunder. It was apparent that this bird was far, far more than it seemed to the naked eye, the truth of it though was not completely apparent. As she addressed the bird it cocked its head to the side in a jerky sort of fashion a quick and precise movement, indicating a curiosity, and that she had been heard. Whisper wondered just how much she was able to gleam from looking at it, it knew she had powers, but the extent of them was something he was not sure of. He was going to “play a game” of a sort with her, at least until she indicated a fair knowledge that he was in fact one of the Vissers. For now he chose to address her in a simple fashion, mimicking the relative skills of a devil bird, he had seen her free her arms and as such his choice of response was a simple one, again sticking to the vague sharade of the bird he flapped the wings and spoke only a single word in the tongue she herself has used to address him “stuuck”. The word had a hint of curiosity to it, indicating the bird was asking her if she was stuck as its head cocked now in the same quick jerk to the opposite side.
She could see quite well that the bird itself was far more complicated and complex than the others of its type that she had witnessed. Her magical sight allowed her to see how things were constructed and held together, their magical ties or bindings as it were. The sight allowed her to learn new magic's quickly, to trace energy signatures, and to basically 'see' almost any sort of magic, and so, upon seeing the bird, she knew immediately that it was a rather powerful Kinn, its energy tracings and bindings bent and stuffed into the form of the bird. She did not however, expect it to be able to speak, and had thus not switched over to Latin. She was still struggling a bit with flipping her own consciousness to think and speak primarily in what she had considered a magical language before meeting the Kinn and learning their preference for the language. She did however, turn and tilt herself up a bit to better see the creature before her, her eyes narrowing a bit as it did speak. "Et ita, quod sic" (in a way, yes) she said lightly, wondering if the bird form would comprehend the more complex language. She didn't see why it wouldn't, and this would be the only indication that she knew the bird was anything other than a bigger, prettier version of its brethren. "Et ita in, nulla" (and in a way, no) she told it. She paused to see if the bird truly understood, there was no point in offering further explanation if the thing couldn't comprehend, and it took a good deal of effort for her to 'speak' in the first place. Being a mage, she valued the conservation of energy, and working to create her own form she valued it even more, as the exercises exhausted her. She wasn't lazy, just being wise about how and when she spent her energy.
----
She did take the effort to see the form more clearly, leaning so that the bird was the focus of her attention. As she did so Whisper went about a few motions of preening itself, a half as play at showing off, indulging in vanity as she switched to what he considered a more fitting tounge. Whisper did notice that her talking seemed a strenuous action for her, one that required more effort then it should. As it was preening itself it conveniently “dropped” what seemed to be a small red stone, it had a faint glow to it with a swirling black mass inside of it. Here it would engage her in just a touch more play, allowing its aura, that of a Visser, to slip through, and actually give off greed, a sort of very primitive way of telling her to take the stone. If she touched it that would activate the stone, which might be startling at first. It was not completely cruel here though. IF she were to pick up the “stone” it would immediately bind to her and make its use known, a very simple thing that would be of great help to her perhaps. It was a lowly soul forge, simple in function. It had only a singular purpose, speech. This stone would take on the burden, it would be a feminine voice, one that picked up on the thoughts of who/what it was attached to, putting words to thoughts, inflicting no cost to the owner. This time the bird spoke again still though only a single word “Tolle” this time the word having a rather jovial undertone. This would serve to further the implication she should take the stone and insinuate the bird fully understood the more sacred tongue.
Alexsis watched as the bird preened itself and allowed more of its aura to leak out, however, she had already surmised that this was one of the more powerful Kinn through the use of her magical vision. She even smirked a bit as the bird showed off and 'dropped' the little red stone, tracking it as it fell to the ground. Her head tilted to the side, much like his did as she studied the stone with her sight, already figuring out much of its purpose before it hit the ground. Its bindings were different from the ones she used to speak, but similar at the same time. Her head would snap up and she would glare angrily at the bird as it pushed its aura of greed at her, she could feel the urges, but was immune to the effects. So rather than be compelled to complete any such act, it was more like a magical warning signal went off in her head. That she was immune to mind affecting effects was a closely guarded secret though and to keep it that way she reached out and lifted up the little red and black stone with her telekinesis. "Non opus ad ventilabis" (no need to push) she told the bird, leery about actually touching the stone. Her fingers flexed as the little thing floated above her open palm for a moment. This was the moment of truth, was this thing as vindictive as the one that had attacked Kage? As angry and dismissive as the Evencar? Would the stone do what its bindings showed or were there hidden aspects she couldn't see with her magical sight? Would she let her fears of being destroyed keep her from discovering all that she could while she was alive . . .?? No. Her hand closed around the stone and her eyes went wide as she felt the thing bind itself to her magically, taking away the burden of energy consumption for speaking. She could feel the difference as the stone bound itself to her and looked back up at the bird as she reached up and attached the stone to the gorget around her throat with a touch of her own magic. Taking a moment to think of a way to thank the bird without offending it, many ancient beings hated being 'thanked'. "Mei gratiam pro gratia" (my gratitude for the gift) She said, the voice of the stone sounding feminine yet very different from her own. She touched the stone gently, her mind wondering why this stone would be appropriate while her own was not.
As she watched the stone the bird watched her, eager to see her reaction to the stone itself as well as the subtle influence it had loosed. Amused she told it there was no need to push, at its core that's what it was, though it was the tools it had on hand given its sharrade at the moment. It did take note she was somewhat hesitant initially, a good quality. She had bad experiences thus far mostly, his brethren did tend to be more asinine and forceful in their ways, and it knew this full well. It was deviant in that aspect, favoring the honey approach as to the vinegar one. Sure Whisper was just as capable if not more so of being forceful, but it left a foul aftertaste to him. It was far more pleasing to endear a person rather then subjugate. The stone was a small thing, but it was a gift of sorts, a reward for her having caught on to some of the small truth of this bird, and her deducing that Latin would be a more proper tongue. It stood tall and proud as she thanked him, still having the appearance of the bird there was only just so much it could do with body language, but to him the game was fun, and had merit. It was an interesting way for whisper to gauge Alexis’s intellect, so far she had done quite well. The dropping and invocation of Soul forging had attracted the attentions of a native sin angel which was now hovering watching...wondering. It had not yet interacted, the lesser kinn was perfectly aware of the truth of Whisper, it knew him immediately and as such chose to abstain from interjection. It was content to watch for now, though in time other lesser Kinn might also gather, time would tell. Whispers form straightened its posture, “grata” (welcome) it spoke again before gracefully descending to the ground before her. Now it looked up and asked “auxilium” its head one more tilting to the side as it asked her, this would perhaps insinuate again with a more obvious nature the bird was more then it seemed, after all, how could a simple, or perhaps not so simple devil bird assist her.
Alexsis was quite aware that more and more eyes were turning towards them, the sinn angel appearing after the bird had dropped the stone had not escaped her notice. What she did find puzzling, after having observed the fauna for a while before the bird showed up, was that none of the others had come near. A telltale sign in and of itself that the large devilbird was not what it seemed, not that she didn't already know that. She watched curiously at the bird descended from its branch to land on the ground before her. Now . .that posed a problem for her. So far, she had been very careful to keep her own head below the level of any of the kinn, a sign of respect, but with the visser-bird on the ground, that had just become next to impossible without her prostrating herself on the ground, and revealing she knew what it was. And to complicate things further, had it just asked for her help? Surely it hadn't offered its own help, but then again it had gifted her the stone. She glanced down at the bird, lowering herself so that the bottom post of her cross was just barely above the ground, and moved back, more to make it easier for the bird to see her than anything else. "Dubito vos postulo ut auxilium, et certus sum tua forma naturalis esset, multo magis consolatoria quam quod unus." (I doubt you need my help, and I am sure your natural form would be much more comfortable than that one.) she told it, finally revealing she knew it was not a devil bird at all. "Quod ego non intellego cur tibi obtulerint, ut me adiuvet. Quid autem tibi ex ea?" (What I do not understand is why you would offer to help me. What do you get out of it? ) Oh yes, she was suspicious and very cautious after her experience with Q and the Evenicar.
----
Here would happen the shattering of the charade, she had taken proper precaution in displaying what Whisper found to be proper respects and was pleased. Here came the true formation, it would not say that this was how it was offering its help further, but she could see “magic”, and whisper knew this. That being what it was its response was to actually laugh and clap, as it did so it would assume it's more natural form before her, allowing her to see the transformation, allowing her to see the magic in motion. This in Whispers mind would cue her in on how to “free herself”. Whispers “True manifestation” is a thing to behold. The thirteen foot tall beast conveys a sense of dark madgesty in its form, a dark and regal shadow draped in varying shades of black, with the occasional silver adornments. The first feature to catch the eyes of most is its own evil looking eyes, of which there are six in two rows, three to either side. The center pair of eyes where one would expect to find them in the center of the face with a pair above and below them, the other two pair are slightly smaller in size. All of the eyes are unblinking and a menacing imperial purple color that faintly glow. Its head is adorned with a tangle of black horns, serving as a sort of bestial crown, the horns emerging from the brow to form three main pairs. The top set is formed of many horns similar to those of antelopes and impalas which reach back from the brow covering the top of its head before the bulk of them ascend into the air. There is another a pair which much resemble the horns or a ram, their arch and curvature nicely complimenting the contour of the creatures head gracefully. The final set also resemble those of a ram though this pair reaches out around and in front of the Vissers face. Over its head hovers a profane crown of thorns, which always slowly rotates to the left. Whisper has long hair which is brushed back over its shoulders and descends down its back past its waist which is jet black in color and seems incredibly well taken care of. Whispers most notable feature though would be its “flesh” which is vantablack, so dark that it robs the silhouette of most features and emits an aura of darkness around it. The silhouette of its upper torso conveys is a seemingly fit build, the “skin” over its rib cage seems pulled back to reveal what appears to be a ribcage and spine which seem to be made of jet. Draped over its shoulders is a dark grey stole adorned with long forgotten profane glyphs hinting at its priestly nature. Whispers left shoulder is covered with a large pauldron that is black with a raised silver gothic sort of vine work to decorate it, the bottom of the pauldron is decorated with what looks like black gryphon feathers. Its left arm is covered by a large belled sleeve of black chainmail. Draped over both of whispers forearms is a dark black tattered shawl of sorts which seems to be constantly evaporating, though it does not change in shape nor size. Another striking feature of the creature is that from the waist down it is a downpour of darkness, shadows spilling out onto the ground and pooling beneath it for roughly three feet in any given direction. Whisper was now looking down at her having ceased its clapping he held out his left hand now and said “Et nunc te” (and now you).
Alexsis watched with her magical sight as the creature before her slowly shifted its form, she knew it was allowing her to observe and knew it was moving slower than it could have because she had witnessed Kage shift from an incorporeal to a corporeal form faster than this. Granted the Visser was much more elaborate in its visage, she was still pretty sure of its intentions. She watched as the 'bindings' switched and reformed, creating new patterns for her to follow and learn. Without even realizing she was doing it, she seemed to be tracing something in the air with her hand, trying to 'touch' and follow the magic physically. It was new for her to have mobile arms and her magical sight at the same time, so she wasn't quite aware that she was doing it, sort of like a person that speaks with their hands, the movements are almost automatic. She frowned as his manifestation completed and he told her that it was her turn. She understood what he wanted. He wanted the same thing Kage wanted. They wanted her to shift her form into something more 'whole', but what they both seemed to fail to realize is that she didn't have a form that was 'whole'. They could use their souls and the umbra and move them around to create more forms, condense them, fold the umbra in on itself to make them solid. She had souls and umbra, but she also had a great deal of souls that were in stasis, these souls were what held her captive to her rosary. "Intelligo, quid velis, sed non sum sicut et tu. Non possum mutare, omnia mea animis modo potest." ( I understand what you want, but I am not like you. I can not manipulate all of my souls the way you can.) she explained to him, a little afraid she was going to piss him off now.
“ahhh, tunc subiectum ad credentem filii. hoc...fieri potest, miramur,...quod est a te factum est, ut eos sub regula, omnes vos estis fortasse simpliciter "adhæsit"? quod si ita est, nos sunt capaces...."restauranda vos", sed hoc volumus exigere pretium, unum forte non esset, velle reddere, vel detrimentum, ut erant. Nos autem, sicut fratres nostri non vis nosmet ipsos super vos. Nos sunt, non eos...non sunt nobis. Nos sunt familiae licet, et nos finge tibi ut iam scire, quod nihil est, semper libero. Hoc esse quod est, si contingit esse solatium est aliquid possit, forte cum ira licet. Tu suscipe hoc offerre?(ahhh, so then you are subject to disobedient children. this...can be difficult, we wonder...what is it you have done to put them under your domain, are you all perhaps simply "stuck"? if that is the case we are capable of...."fixing you", but for this we would exact a price, one perhaps you would not be willing to pay, or forfeit as it were. We, unlike our brothers will not force ourself upon you. We are not them...they are not us. We are family though, and we imagine you may already be aware, that nothing is ever free. This being what it is, if it happens to be of comfort it is something you can afford, perhaps begrudgingly albeit. Do you accept this offer?)
Alexsis listened carefully to what he was saying, the latin flowing through her brain smoother than ever, but the explanation and the offer both bothered her. She shook her head slowly. "Vereor te non intelligere, aut, quod non dictum est bene." (I am afraid you do not understand, or that I have not explained it very well. ) She said, trying to keep her words sounding like this was her fault and not his, because it was all on her. "Animas vestras omnes sunt activae. Omnes obedire tibi. Tantum aliquid de mea sunt activae, qui non sunt in genere habitus, non audiemus, et simpliciter potest non parere." (Your souls are all active. They all obey you. Only some of mine are active, those that are not are in a type of stasis, they do not disobey, they simply can not obey. ) She added, pausing to think through her next explanation. "Ut enim ad me testificati hac forma, ego traho static animas ad actionem, et tunc dominantur eis, et tunc uti eos manifestare. Possum hoc facere, modo accipit multum tempus et industria ad dissolvendum vincula misit in loco per Evencar, qui creavit me." In order for me to have manifested this form, I had to pull the static souls to activity and then dominate them, and then use them to manifest. I can do this, it just takes a lot of time and energy to break down the bonds sent in place by the Evencar who created me. ) she explained, hoping that it would be satisfactory to help him understand. "Agnosco offerre, sed volo facere in meis, ad probandum quod non sum dignus." (I appreciate your offer, but I want to do this on my own, to prove that I am worthy. ) She finished, her head bowed and hoping she hadn't offended him.
Whisper leaned back looking down his face at her initially, though after a brief moment she could her him murr and bgin to nod his head.”est et intelligibilis, et admirabile, ut volunt ambulare viam vestram tuae voluntatis, est quidem maximus, quaeso, pater, et consummato, hoc officium per tuam erit aliquid imaginamur esset agnoscere, quamvis unum non potest vere dicere, cum Evencar” (it is both understandable and admirable to wish to walk your own path of your own volition, it is indeed important to please the father, and having accomplished this task by your own will be something we imagine it would acknowledge, though one can never truly say with the Evencar.) here it stepped closer to her for a moment before continuing “licet nos adhuc posset tibi auxilium, licet bene sit magis oneris quam auxilium. Te dicunt quiescit, dormit, iners. Hoc est a simplex res ad tollendam pro illis, ut nosmet ipsos. Nos monere, licet ita, ut non sit inclinatum ad te. Volumus excitare eos, pro te, dominandi eis esset, cadat in vos” (though we might still offer you help, though it may well be more burden than a help. You say they are dormant, sleeping, inactive. This is a simple thing to fix for those such as ourself. We do warn you though in doing so, they may not be inclined to do as you will. We would wake them for you, dominating them would fall to you)
----
She listened intently to the words of the creature that stood before her, and it took a lot of her willpower not to back up as he stepped into her own personal space. She gazed up at him with her strange draconic eyes, the silver color having returned after she had seen him shift his form. "et quid sumptus vis exigere?" (and what cost would you exact?) she asked him curiously. Though a thrill of fear spiked through her mind, if he did this, would he have control of the souls he awoke? would he simply take them from her as the kinn had taken the souls of the empire in the first place? Could she afford to even take that chance? She wasn't worried about dominating them, or even those that rebelled, she had already done that with those that were currently active. She had had to fight long and hard to subjugate some of them already, and now they were hers. they obeyed or they suffered. Something didn't feel right about this offer. None of the Kinn so far had shown so much interest, nor so much kindness towards her. She was not inclined to trust this offer. She could after all do this on her own, she had already proven she could. "Ego non vis cu, sed credo ego declinare tua offerre auxilium. Hoc in mea facta est missio mea." (I do not wish to offend, but I believe I will decline your offer of help. Doing this on my own has become a mission of mine.
Whisper noted she was uncomfortable with his proximity, as such he took a singular step back. “Nostra pretium enim opus esset recipis, a exiguis unum propter officium, volumus esse velle ad auxilium vobis pro...sit nobis dicere, tertia? Nimirum vos sunt liberum negare offerre, est multo meritum in se effectum, et sic usque tibi videntur esse, bene facit.”(Our price for the task would be a percentage, a meager one for the task, we would be willing to assist you for...let us say one third? Of course you are free to refuse the offer, there is much merit in self accomplishment, and thus far you seem to be doing well.) did lean forward rolling over his right hand as he continued. “sane non est quaestio, cur nos esset, non pro te, non est nisi naturalis. Est, magis ex hoc ergo modo lucrum animarum. Quod esset esse tantum officium esse constat, sed venit cum hoc magis abstracto cogitandi. In iuvare te, nos facimus, in eo auxilium nosmet ipsos multipliciter, scilicet per oblationem vobis in auxilium, et misericordiam vos amo in futurum memores talia, cum quaeritur, quae de te, quod est in communi modo quae. Nulla est obligatio, et etiam nostri mentionem de hoc alterans bibendum. Ut nunc sunt conscii, vos sunt verisimile omnes magis nolle, sed nostra offerre stat, si vis accipere, si non ibi sunt alia, quae vellemus intendere, et dimittam te, ut crescere sub tua potestate.(of course there is the question of why we would do this for you, it is only natural. There is more from this then just the gain of souls. That would be your only obligation to be clear, but there comes with this a more abstract factor. In helping you, we do in fact help ourself a number of ways, namely by offering you assistance and kindness you will likely in the future remember such things when we ask things of you, that is the common way of things. There is no obligation, and even our mentioning of this alters the dynamic. As now you are aware, you are likely all the more likely to refuse, but our offer stands if you would take it, if not then there are other things which we would attend to and leave you to grow under your own powers unaccosted.
Alexsis was careful to listen to his words very carefully, Latin was not her first language, and while she could speak and understand it, she also knew that it was easy for her to misinterpret things to miss things completely. The inflections of Latin were as important as the words and the multiple meanings often times left her debating two meanings to one singular statement. So as the creature explained his offer and price she took the time to wonder if he was saying what he really meant and to formulate and alternate offer that could possibly benefit them both. “Si licet facere contra offerre?” (If I may make a counter offer?) She asked, her tones thoughtful and curious. “Non me parum bona, quae ad factum pro me. Ego discere nihil et consequatur nihil detegere. Si liceret mihi, ad testimonium processus uti excitare animae, quod ego, ut discere modus differt a mea, vellet dare vobis, cum animabus. Non tertium quid est me, sed pars.” (It does me little good to have things done for me. I learn nothing and achieve nothing in the long run. If you would allow me to witness the process you use to awaken the souls that I might learn a method different from my own, I would be willing to pay you with souls. Not a third of what is me, but a portion.) She paused here, she knew how ‘many’ she was, but was a little worried of offering an offensive amount, but a third of her total was more than half of what was left for her to awaken herself, close to 1.6 million souls. “Dicemus . . qui te excitare, et decimam ...” (We will say . . those that you awaken, and … a tenth.) That was still one hell of a lot of souls for her to give up, close to 500k. It would hurt, but not nearly as much as a third. “Cum conditione, quod ego non scire modum et am potest dici quod eam ad me. Alioquin, animas tibi excitetur et quinque percent quae tua sunt, ut dicunt, ad disciplinam. “ (With the condition that I do learn the method and am able to apply it to myself. Otherwise, the souls you have awakened and five percent are yours to claim for the instruction.) She looked back up at the Visser “et a nomine, ego postulo scio quid dicam “ (and a name, I need to know what to call you) she said, hoping the lighter tone of her voice would help lighten the tension she felt building.
As she stated her wish to make a counter offer Whisper nodded, and listened. His eyes squinted slightly as she made her counter offer, it was not completely apparent whether this was an incredulous look or a smile. She had been careful in her choice of words, and his initial offer was perhaps a bit overzealous. Whisper had indeed expected some form of counter offer, had she simply accepted the offer it would have been somewhat disappointing. Whisper was in his own way taking her measure, testing both her skill with magic as well as her intellect. The others had a very low view of Alexis it seemed, as he continued to interact with her he was not entirely sure why. At this point he was inclined to think it was simply their preconceptions.true she was not “one of them” but she was as far as he was concerned “of them”. He did not know a great deal of her origins, he had heard the story of the rose kingdom, as had many others, but there was no mention of this woman. The artifact Fides had left was mentioned though, it was just a bit surprising to think this woman, this child, would have surpassed the odds. Addressing her offer he responded “hoc est bene dictum, et invenitur secundum esse conveniens. Nos ostendimus ad vos, quamvis non habemus, sopitam animae, ita et nos esset, adhuc opus est copia. Sunt tibi ...capax fractione off a piece de te?”(this is well said and we find the terms to be agreeable. We do point out to you though that we have no dormant souls, so then we would still need a supply. Are you ...capable of breaking off a piece of yourself?) as he asked if she could break a part of herself off his head tilted to the side as he opened his palm, a receptacle for the piece was she able to break a part of herself off.
It did not escape her attention that the creature before her did not offer her a name to call it by, nor did she miss the squinting of its eyes as it considered her counteroffer. “Adhuc nescio quid dicam” (I still do not know what to call you) she said softly as she contemplated ‘breaking off’ a piece of herself. Her own head tilted to the left as she considered the complications of such an act, and flinched slightly as the other souls in her ‘body’ devolved into a bit of a riot within her mind. Normally she functioned by taking their advice and knowledge, as well as opinions into consideration and ‘deciding’ what was best for the majority. She was however, unawares that this was not the way the kinn functioned, it was simply how she did. She had dominated and sequestered those that were fully against her being their dominant . .soul . .personality . .consciousness. These she kept under tight control and dominance so that they could not rise against her, but the rest of ‘her’ functioned basically as a type of democracy, almost. And none of them liked the idea of her sacrificing a portion of their populace to one of the creatures that were responsible for their predicament in the first place. Alexsis growled softly, a sound that actually came from herself and not the voice stone. It was rough and darkly menacing, and she took a few steps back from the Visser so that he wouldn’t think it had anything to do with him. The voice stone that he had gifted her with seemed to erupt into a cacophony of voices protesting the sacrifice and Alexsis’s form seemed to shiver and tremble as she fought off being sucked back into the cross for several moments. Many of the souls had decided that if she was going to do this, they would put a stop to her. Alexsis’s eyes closed and a wave of malevolence fell over her. Her aura of fear was sucked in so that it barely escaped the reach of her shadow and her form lowered to hover just an inch or so above the ground. She was completely and utterly focused as she enforced her will and dominance over the riotous souls. Her frame would tremble or . . vibrate for a few moments as she allowed her will to move throughout her ‘self’. Those souls that were causing troubles within her would cry out in agony as she rained her will down upon them, causing those souls to fear for their very existence. It was quite clear that she had had enough of whatever was going on within her. Her mind flowed through these souls and their minds were effectively ‘wiped’ of will power of their own and they became simple minded and obedient to her own will. There was the ‘taste’ of displeasure from the other souls, but as she turned her attention to them, they would quiet and cower before her dominance. Whether or not Whisper could see or comprehend what had just happened, Alexsis had no idea. As she ‘came to’ in a sense, and her silvery eyes opened once more, she dipped her head to him. “Ego deprecarentur, quod, a . . . lectio opus esse docuit” (I apologize foselfr that, A . . lesson needed to be taught) she explained vaguely, her voice stone now reflecting on her own, now much stronger, voice. Without skipping a beat, she attempted to change the topic back to their previous discussion. “Numquam fracti partem ipse ante. In eo, ego tuli magna dolores, ut tale non potuit fieri, ut mea core. Ego postulo ut aufero plures magicis praesidia ante me potest etiam facere conantur ita.” (I have never broken off a piece of myself before. In fact, I have taken great pains to ensure that such a thing could not happen to my core. I will need to remove several magical protections before I can even attempt to do so.) She would explain, and even as she did, several waves of magical energy would work themselves over herself. Each wave dispelling some spell which protected her core, things like enhanced hardness, deflection of magic, deflection of physical attacks and other. It took her about two minutes to dig through her own layers of magics before she began to work on freeing a piece of her actual self. She needed to work at the shadows or umbra that held her together without damaging the souls within. It was like excavating gemstones from the deep earth, chipping away at the less valuable to retrieve the diamonds. It was slow and difficult, she couldn’t use light, fire, or holy magics and those were typically the only things that could chip away the umbra. Instead of destroying it though, she had taken to manipulating it, or morphing the shadows into another shape. Slowly a small ‘crack’ would seem to appear at the very corner of the right arm of the cross and after many minutes of work a small piece with about 500 souls would fall off the arm of her cross and float up into her palm. Quite pleased with herself she then handed this piece to the Visser who had his hand held out for it.
Whisper had indeed neglected to give her his name, it was intentional, and she had caught it but the reason behind its neglecting to do so were something it still left a mystery for now. GIven that whisper was a Visser it was able to see the turmoil erupt within her as she contemplated its offer, something that invoked an almost inaudible chuckle of a sort. It was a small riot, something that did not happen to any true kinn, it was however startlingly common within the Turpe, the reason he had chuckled was the correlation he drew from it. Her methods of controlling her pool looked to him like some strange amalgam of democracy and dictatorship. They were obviously quite against begin split, he wondered how she would handle the rebellion. When she growled he knew it was in her frustration at her own soul pool and not at him, he highly doubted she would dare to be so defiant or openly hostile. The noise was intimidating in its own way, it had a marvelous ferrality about it he though, had it been heard by some other creature it may well have been intimidating. As her voice stone reacted to the cacophony of protest within her they furthered their defiance by attempting to retrain her to the cross once more, he lowered his head in a disapproving fashion, had she been Kinn he would have struck her for such a thing, but, she was still learning. The Martial had some work to do with this one still, and it did show. Whisper was not entirely sure if Alexis was aware the extent of its power, he wondered if she was aware he could “see” what was going on within her. He was entertained the way she pulled into herself to exert her will over the unruly masses, rudimentary...but effective. Her malice and ire was what brought them to heel, which in a way was quite similar to the Kinn, and they did cry out making a glorious racket. Whisper was fascinated by how similar, and how very different she managed to be from Kinn. when she “came back and bowed her head to apologize Whisper nodded, the apology was accepted. She was learning incredibly fast in some areas, at least she knew enough to know such a thing was indeed offencive to Kinn. he was most pleased as well to hear a voice that more reflected her nature this time, *ahh but did she do so on purpose* he pondered. She explained now, in her own voice, which again made Whisper smile for some reason, that she had never before fragmented herself. That he supposed was understandable, most Kinn were loath to do such a thing. Her “condition” was different though, her soul pool was more like a pool then that of a Kinn bound within a physical barrier, he did wonder what would happen if he were to break it. Only in passing, it would be an affront to the Evencar, and it would likely not go over so well with Alexis either. He watched her work her magcs taking down a few barriers which bolstered her most impressively. It made him realize that even if had wanted to shatter it, it would have taken considerable effort, so much so in fact it would have been no simple task as he had imagined. He watched her facianted as she carefully chipped away at herself, she had more or less figured out an effective way at the end of ushering a dormant amount into a smaller corner and breaking that fragment off. Whisper could tell she was pleased and by way of encouragement gave a few slow nods as she offered up the small fragment. He extended his head and bowed ever so slightly as he accepted the gift He held it up examining it for a moment, he was looking for draconic, or demonic souls initially, souls of worth or note. He murred softly to himself as he would in his own way show her again, Umbral manipulation, so that she might have a better time of it when next the Martial came calling. Holding the stone at about her eye level he passed his hand over the fragment, the Umbra turning into something resembling a fog which was peeled away, swirling like smoke tangling in an intentionally breathtaking way, the Umbra “evaporating” rapidly as it pulled away from the souls it held. Furthering the showmen ship of it he tore the mass in half, as if it were bread. He lifted the mass of dormant souls in his left hand near to his face and whispered a singular word “Excitare”(awaken). The word itself did nothing, aside from add to the show, but Whisper being a vainglorious thing had chosen to employ its mastery of souls in such a fashion that the magics she would see came forth to rouse the souls from their dormancy would have appeared as if they were Whispers breath. It happily took the opportunity to “blaspheme” and mock the christ god by “breathing” life into these souls once more. They were slow at first, imbued with only the most miniscule energy so as in to make them sluggish, something he had done on purpose, as it handed them back he did so with an ever so slight bow. They would still be “groggy” making them all the more easy to quell and place with those she had already dominated. Having handed the souls in its left hand back to her Whisper waited a moment for her to incorporate them once more, watching intently to take note of how she would do so. Once she had taken them into herself he would lift his right hand bouncing them ever so softly, offering the other half of the souls to her “Nunc vos”.
----
Alexsis was not unawares that he had failed to give her a name yet again, and if she wasn’t so focused on the task at hand, she might have even been willing to make a game out of it. As it was though, she was far more intrigued by what was going on with the souls that she had just handed over to the Visser, for at this point, she was pretty sure that’s what this one was.
She was also acutely aware of his chuckle and the displeased look that seemed to cross his face as the souls erupted into a riot within her. She dealt with it as quickly as she possibly could, but she was not unaware that he had found the display distasteful. Hell, SHE found it distasteful that her own ‘body’ as it were, seemed to rebel against her. She would deal with it more harshly later, perhaps with this new technique that she was about to learn from the Visser.
Her silvery draconic eyes had already darkened to their onyx equivalent as she prepared to view the magical spectrum and bindings that seemed to permeate the world around her. The skill cost her nothing, as it seemed to be an innate ability of her own, much like the infrared vision of werewolves or vampires. How it had transferred into her manifestation, she had no idea, nor was she overly concerned with something she could simply ‘do’. The trait had seemed to transfer to each of her constructs as well, so her best guess was that it was intricately tied to her own innate magic.
Her head tilted slightly and her dark eyes narrowed as she watched him ‘examine’ the souls that she had offered to him. He was looking for something, of that she was sure, but she wasn’t quite sure what it was he was looking for specifically.
Curiosity aroused her mind as she witnessed him begin to manipulate the darkness or umbra that seemed to be the binding agent between the dormant souls. His will flowed from him in waves and to her appeared to be like floating ribbons of Celtic knots and ancient runeworks. The willpower was formed differently than magic, and seeing it now for the second time she was able to recognize it for what it was. This was the animating or commanding force behind magic. It wasn’t magic itself that he was using, it was the actual force of his willpower. This was an epiphany of sorts for Alexsis. While she knew that magic came in two parts, the energy and the will, she had never thought to use JUST the force of her will.
Then a second epiphany as she further examined some of the ribbons . . they were not identical duplicates . . .instead they were the will of many entwined soo tightly together that they only appeared to be a singular will. These wills were not simply ‘owned’ by the Visser . .they WERE the Visser. Together, like a being with multiple personalities, but . . healed and . .one again. The personalities were still there, but they were all bits of the one true being.
Her head tilted back and forth as she reached out towards the Visser, not to touch him persey, but to ‘touch’ one of the ribbons that she could see. He MIGHT feel a slight tug on . .something. .his will maybe? . . she wasn’t doing anything to him. It would be like a harmless touch if he felt it at all. She would take this strand of will-ribbon between her hands and expand it. Again he MIGHT feel a little tickle, nothing that would hurt, harm, or literally do anything at all to him. She was just expanding the ribbon . . zooming in on it in a way as it flowed around her fingers. To him it might look like she was the conductor of some sort of silent symphony, her hands and fingers weaving through the air, manipulating something likely only she could see. It would seem a strange and almost ghostly dance.
His physical showmanship though was lost on her. She had no care in the world for what pretty things he could do with the dissipating umbra. Yes she COULD see it, in fact she was watching as the Will-Ribbons interacted with the Umbra that held the souls together. Rather than manipulating it, he was simply evaporating it, turning a solid into a gas. This was something she was familiar with, but had never thought to try on the material that held her together. It rather frightened her if she was being honest. What would happen if she dissipated all of the umbra?
That question was answered rather quickly, and if she had not been made of ventablack umbra herself, she might have turned green as he tore the soft gelatinous like mass in half . . as if it were soft bread right from the oven. She felt a bit nauseous, a new feeling for her completely as she thought about what he could possibly do to her if he so desired. . . hell what any of the Kinn could do to her. She made a mental note to reorganize the protections she had laid over herself, making plans to add to them once she had the chance. She shivered slightly as she watched him work his will one more time, working the dormancy of the souls into a semi awakened state.
The process was similar to what he had done to separate the souls from the umbra, but the ‘flavor’ of the will-ribbons had changed. They even took on a different color in her magical sight as the will was changed to breathe life into the dormant souls. This . . this was where doubt came into play for Alexsis. He hadn’t exactly ‘given’ the souls life, not really, but it was an aspect of power, will, or magic, or a combination of these, that she had never seen before.
Her eyes narrowed and she pulled on the Will-ribbon a bit more, making a reverse pinching motion with her fingers as she expanded the ribbon itself, examining the very make up of the different soul strands. This . . might cause Whisper to actually feel like she was messing with his will power. She wasn’t changing anything, but if she wasn’t careful, it was likely she could damage that particular strand. It would result in nothing more than a small portion of his own souls, from that single strand to awaken, much like hers. But she was very careful, and quickly put the strand back the way that it was supposed to be.
She actually shivered as he tried to hand them to her, the thought of what could be done to her after witnessing such an event …. Terrified her. Her mind was almost distracted as plans for new protections were going into place, a portion of the alert souls within her already working on plans for it. She took that split second of fear and shoved it deep down inside of her, knowing that the Visser was likely to have sensed it. There was no time, and this was not the place, for her to be afraid of anything.
“Illis animabus iure pertinent ad vos, ut per nostrum consensum. Si tibi dic mihi quid spectans nam ante hoc non potest esse certus, nec aliqua quidquid erat in parte debitum, si hoc processu operator”(Those souls rightfully belong to you, as per our agreement. If you tell me what you were looking for before I can be sure to include some of whatever it was in the portion due you if this process works.”) She said softly as she composed herself. For this to work, she would need to really focus.
She could already feel the riot of angry voices speaking up against what she was planning to do, but she no longer cared. Whisper’s demonstration had clearly proven that she had been weak thus far in allowing the awakened souls within her to have any sort of dominion. Her eyes narrowed, turning back to their silver state. The first step was to incorporate the alert souls into herself fully. She started with the most ‘alert’ souls, those that were beginning to speak up and protest.
She summoned her own will and drove it through each of the souls, the process was a quick one as she swept through ‘herself’. Once each soul was connected by the ribbon of her own will, the ribbon would splinter and infect each soul like a blackened web, dominating each soul until they were much like a kinns. Still separate, but no longer individuals, these souls now thought her thoughts and willed her will. She would move on quickly to the dominated souls from earlier, and incorporate them and the rest of the alert souls in the same manner. It wasn’t the same as the Kinn, but it was much closer now. The process for her was quick, and took less than a few minutes to complete.
The next part was harder. She had to first work to dissipate the Umbra binding the cross together, for the cross WAS the mass of umbra bound dormant souls. The process was slow, but she wasn’t working just that step, she was also awakening the dormant souls, and manipulating the umbra along her own back to pull those newly awakened souls into her own body. Whisper likely wouldn’t “see’’ this, but he might be able to sense it happening as the cross began to shrink and melt. As it did, Alexsis was able to form legs, and a skirt to cover them, her form stumbling a bit as she was unfamiliar to the use of legs, as a matter of fact, she actually fell to her knees on the ground as the last of the umbra from the cross evaporated and she pulled the last of the awakening souls into herself, save for what appeared to be an entire arm of the cross, the one with the small chip taken out of it from before. The souls were all dominated in her way as they were pulled into herself as well, making the process ‘complete’ in her own way.
She was still Alexsis, she was still and umbral construct. But now, now she felt almost whole, and one hell of a lot stronger. She still couldn’t speak without the voice stone, which she now pressed to the base of her throat, and manipulated her own umbral ‘flesh’ around it, leaving it to look as though it had been fused to her throat. In a way, it had been.
.
She sat there on her knees for several moments longer, her head bowed and eyes closed as she contemplated her new existence, and made sure that she had competed each task fully and accurately, securing a few stray souls that had slipped past her notice. Satisfied that she was as ‘complete’ as this exercise would allow her to become, she raised her hands up to the Visser, the piece of her cross held between them in offering. These were the 500 thousand souls she had offered him in payment, one tenth of that which she was.
“Offerimus, gratias una cum solutione prospere contractus. Quinque millia animarum unam decimam, quae nos sunt, et quinque centum sopitam animarum, dicitur enim demonstratio. Ut nostrum negotium agam esse completum” ((We offer our thanks along with the payment of a successful contract. Five hundred thousand souls, one tenth of that which we are, and the five hundred dormant souls used for demonstration. May our business deal be complete)) she said as she raised her eyes up to the Visser a smile playing on her dark features.
Whisper took notice that as she “saw the magic” her eyes would turn from silver to black. He wondered if that was some requirement, or just for effect. Either way he made a mental note of the characteristic, in the future it could cue him in when she was doing such a thing. It was in a way amusing to watch her head tilt back and forth as she considered what it was that she was seeing, whisper still was not entirely sure how it appeared to her, only that she could in fact see what it was that he was doing. He was actually alarmed as she reached out, surely it was not to touch him, but more to touch the force of his will. The ability to do such a thing was beyond astounding to him, and there was a sort of “art” to it her hand moving around through the air, focused on the singular strand and acting as if she were a conductor as she took in the various facets of its workings.
Her reactions to a number of the things he did was odd, he was not able to pick up on her thoughts, that was not a skill he possessed. He was however incredibly astute and skilled in deducing things, but these were still as best only educated guesses, and as Whisper did not know Alexis all that well, his guess were highly subject to a large margin of error and he knew it. The most he could get from her body language thus far was apprehension, faciantion, and just a touch of fear.
He was barely able to notice as she further scrutinized the stand she had hold of. It was akin to a change in the direction of a very faint breeze, maybe like if you had put a mall rudder into a flowing river. Her actions did nothing to sway his action but they had altered them all the same albeit on a relatively infinitesimally small way. IF she had enough wherewithal to be paying attention to the greater whole as she examined the one strand she may well have noted a number of the others, which would have jumped from the main stream of the will and began to circle around her individually. As she was him Whisper, he was watching her. This hinted at some of the more finite points of Kinn being able to do things such as splitting their concentration and focus in what many would consider incredible ways.
She did shudder when Whisper attempted to hand her the other half of the souls she had surrendered to him. This did much to confirm his displays had instilled in Alexis some modicum of fear. He could not say exactly as to what she was fearing, only that she was. She denied the return of them, and asked what it was that he had been looking for before, he was slightly hesitant to answer her, but it presented him with an opportunity to learn more about her, more particularly her abilities. “Nos sunt vultus pro animabus peculiari nota, certe...tibi conscius es, quod quidam animae tene magis valet ad similia nobis quam aliis. Puta te magis mirabile massa, ut te, quae continet magnus numerus. Praecipue vos have similia dracones in te, volumus considerare satis benignus te sunt, non esse talia, ut in theloneo te da nobis. Res, quae esset valde bene.”(We were looking for souls of particular note, surely...you are aware that some souls hold more worth to the likes of us than others. For instance you have a rather marvelous mass to you, one which contains an impressive number. Notably you have the likes of dragons within you, we would consider it quite gracious of you were there to be such things in toll you give to us. A thing which we would greatly appreciate.)
She then took a moment to compose herself he could see the riotous clamour within her once more, but he took comfort now in seeing such a thing no longer concerned her. There was an odd sort of pride that flowed through him as she set about bringing the unruly to heel. She washed through her pool like a ripple each dominated soul in turn bending to her will, growing her will and its exertion in an exponential way…the “proper” way. He considered her action in this as an odd sort of way of honoring him, true it was not quite Kinn like, but one would need an astute eye and senses to tell the truth of that, surely it would elude most.
Whisper noticed as the cross which she was bound too began to fade her manifestation grew, likely she was incorporating those dormant souls into herself more directly as she awakened them, again this further honored Whisper, he was quite pleased that she had learned as quickly as she had and was able to institute the lessons quite quickly and with skill, almost immediately after having been “shown” the finer mechanics of it. She did stumble slightly after having taken them into herself, with the exception of what she had agreed to give to Whisper. There was perhaps a bit of irony in that she was now on her knees, it seemed almost more proper how fait had put her into this subservient position. Her first action now with a more complete body and her further understanding of Umbra she motioned to her throat to more aptly secure the stone he had given her when they first met. She took a few moments to assess herself, looking within and “tidying up” as it were before she lifted the bit of her cross to Whisper, her offering as agreed upon.
Whisper took the sum gracefully, leaning forward and bowing his head in thanks as he took up the mass. When he grasped it he simply added the extra 500 to the mass of the 500,000, souls. He then began to break pieces of the cross off,, and incorporated them in fragments piece by piece with a few seconds between incorporating each fragment. Whisper said nothing of his reasoning for this, but there was a damn good one. Alexis, perhaps unknowingly had in fact well past doubled the size of Whisper, endearing him to her in a way and inadvertently gained a valuable ally.
By way of showing his thanks once he had consumed the sum of the souls he took a step back and gave her what some might consider a rare gift, a full and proper bow. “Rosarii Regina, nos, Qui Susurrat Veritatem, da, ut te...multis gratias.”(Rosary Queen, we, He who whispers truth, give to you...many thanks.)
She may not have understood the significance of his showing her such favor, the significance of such a display was three fold, and not obvious to many. He had in a single moment given her, a full and proper bow, his full and proper name, and bestowed upon her a name.
Bearing of a Cross 4
Alexsis took notice of how Whisper observed her, even while performing her own actions with the threads of willpower. She had also noticed the stray souls that seemed to float around her, her magical vision shifting a bit as she observed them. He as correct to deduce that she was both kinn like and not at the same time. The darkening of her eyes was a direct affect of the magic she used to ‘see’ into the magical spectrum, but what he had not yet witnessed was that with certain spells and abilities, her eyes shifted to other colors, though none so unusual as the black orbs they became when she used her magical sight. This was more of a total affect of a combination of different spells to be able to ‘see’ different things all at once, and was set similarly to her voice stone, with permanency and activation spells to reduce the magical toll it took her to use such a thing to near nil. She also had quite the natural ability to see magic, and her spells simply enhanced and expanded upon the natural ability.
Her head would tilt to the side once more as she considered his request for a draconic soul. There were quite a number of them within her pool, and not just dragons, but dragon-kin of many different sorts. There had been a rather large community of the draconic that had followed her father to her mother’s lands. Her head tilted back to where it was supposed to be as Whisper requested a draconic soul and squinted her eyes at him in contemplation.
“Haec petitio non possum concedere prorsus. Dracones sensu intra me sunt . . . propinquis a modi. Sunt sanguis meus pater est populus, et non vis ad mansionem usquam sed cum unum eorum Proximis. Ut ego novissimus, reliquae semine patris mei linea, velint manere mecum. Haec petitio concedo eis erant primum excitare, cum me fuisse et esse custodes et magistri quia tum. Ego autem, fortasse participes eorum scientia, si vis ad sectorem alterius consensu.”
(This request I cannot grant outright. The dragons you sense within me are . . . relatives of a sort. They are my blood father’s people and do not wish to reside anywhere but with one of their Kin. As I am the last remaining descendant of my father’s line, they wish to stay with me. This request I grant to them for they were the first to awaken with me and have been guardians and teachers since then. I can however, perhaps share their knowledge if you wish to broker another agreement.)
She did not mention however, that there were a small handful of the dragon-kin that were not relatives, that had simply found the Empire and had chosen to remain there. These four were each deep abyssal dragons, and it was from them that Alexsis had learned of the Kinn and what they were. These four had taught her the pleasure of evil, the absolute that was the All Father. It was these four that guided her upon the path she currently walked. There were also a few that were neither related nor guardians, a few that she might be willing to trade one of for her own purposes.
She sat upon her knees after offering up the sum owed to him and watched with a tiny smirk as he broke of the pieces slowly and incorporated them into himself. She knew why he did it the way he had, her magical sight allowing her to see what he was doing, and understanding dawning on her of how much more ‘massive’ he had become with her offering. Had he taken the entirety of the payment into himself all at once, she supposed it was possible it could have overwhelmed him, or she could have come to control him in some way. She chuckled softly, the sound odd, even to her own ears, control him, yea ok . . she wasn’t that stupid, though the thought remained amusing to her.
“Satis ambitiosa . . petens a tertia, quae erant ut pretium.”
(Quite ambitious . . asking for a third of what we were as payment) she said as he finished processing the last piece, her voice full of amusement. Watching him absorb the souls and incorporate them into himself had taught her much more. She understood that she had done things differently, and that she would not have been able to do it the way he just had. She was not Kinn, not yet at least. She also learned how to better manipulate the umbra that held her together, though as she ran her magical touch along this material, she found she could move and shift it, but the will that held it together was still that of the Evencar’s and her power was far beneath his. She could not dissipate the umbral material into a mist like form in any great amount.
She stayed seated upon her knees as Whisper took a step back and bowed to her. Surprise lingered in her gaze, if one could distinguish it in her coal black eyes, and she bowed her head back in a sign of respect to her better. Pride flowed through her as he granted her a name, understanding the meaning and significance of such a thing even as he gave his thanks. Even more shock registered as he named himself to her, gratitude and more pride flowing through her at such an honor. She understood much with the help of the abyssal dragons, the training from the Marshall, and the few other souls that had ‘heard’ of the Kinn within her own pool.
“Te præstas hoc indignum vas multo honore. Gratum habeo servierunt et didici a te. Nos ulterius desiderium fieri sicut vos, ut vos, vestrum unum genus. Est in hac parte, ut, si offerat ultra acturum, si tibi esse curae.”
(You bestow upon this unworthy vessel much honor. We are pleased to have served and learned from you. We further desire to become like you, as you, one of your kind. It is in this endeavor that we would offer further dealings if you be interested.) She said as formally as she could.
Now to the task of hunting down the charge he was left with, the damned construct having taken her leave to clean the improvement of the rotting filth of the tree from her frame, the thought of returning to her 'home' seemingly absurd at this point, her own curiosities would have pulled her else where. The darkness that surrounded appeared to have devoured his frame, taking him into the shadows he loved so much, and flowed through them with ease, he could feel the pull of one being or another, the brethrens pressence scattered from one realm to the other to spread their Father's word, than he found it, that signature energy of the construct, but something was different, changed some how. Pulling his frame from the shadows he stood along a tree branch high above the dark forest floor, the lesser kinn above seemingly understanding not to give away his position remained in their circle of curiosity, he himself pulling his energy and the aura of the mantel to keep from disturbing the two a short distance away. A dark grin gracing the blackened lips as he took in the sight of the construct having finally taken a propper form, the presence of yet another Visser wiping that grin from his lips as quickly as it had form, in his mind he had failed his task in teaching the woman to take her own form, it took the teachings of a Visser for her to be able to succeed, but at least she had a propper appearance now. For now, he would simply watch, listen and possibly learn of both the beings before him, all the while K's words echoed in his mind, the insults, the offer, everything playing through his thoughts as he carefully and intently considered every option.
When Whisper asked for a draconic soul her response initially was to squint in contemplation, to be fair it was a fairly substantial request. The reasoning she gave was a sentimental one, were it purely sentiment the nature of his counter would have been different, but, there was in a way an understanding of “family ties”. There was also a consideration given to the fact that these souls had been the ones to assist her first, and most of her soul pool. If he had given her the common treatment he would have been aware of the abyssal dragon kin and the few others that had no legitimate claim of familial ties, but given his self imposed debt to her he chose to respect her privacy, all he knew for now was there was an omittance of a sort. She mentioned the ambition he had in asking for a third of her, it was nothing short of ambitious, an opportunity he had taken which preyed upon her initial ignorance. As she looked upon him now though it was more apparent just how much she had done for him. It was the pride which emanate from her form that clued in Whisper that she had a firm grasp of the significance of how he had shown and given thanks to her.
Here she had spoken about continued dealings, bartering of a sort. Whisper would not settle for knowledge from the dragon kin acquired third hand though, but again, he saw himself indebted to Alexis in a way. This being what it was he would not press the issue too harshly, he had many options at his disposal to acquire the souls he wanted, in truth he could have simply commanded her to relinquish them, a display of authority. He found such things to be poor form and in bad taste though. Aside from the foul taste of such tactics there were other considerations Whisper had, certain behaviours he displayed which were in most cases counter indicative of his brethren. In whispers mind it was a more potent display of dominion to have someone surrender something of their own volition, as opposed to ordering it.
Someone new had arrived, Whisper had barely noticed, and was not entirely sure just who it was. They were rather skilled at concealing themselves, had they not used the umbra to arrive here Whisper may well have remained ignorant of their arrival. Given the stealth they employed and the fact of how they arrived whisper elected not to indicate he was aware of them. It was his way of paying a modicum of respect to the skill displayed by the new arrival. If he had been aware that it was the Martial he would have paid due respects, a Martial was still below a Visser, but the title afforded it a degree of respect. As he was unaware of just who had arrived, and their power he continued with his dealings with Alexis.
There was a slight pause as whisper gave a few slight nods considering Alexis’s words and offer for further dealings. The construct had a degree of cunning to it, which was respectable, had she been as gullible as he initially thought it would have been somewhat disappointing. She offered him knowledge from the dragons, which was not without worth. He did wonder briefly if perhaps the information they would give would be something of which he was unaware. As a Visser though he had access to a plethora of tomes within The Citadel. Knowledge was power in its own way, though not completely intangible, and that was what he was after. To have a dragon or dragon kin soul would grant him a degree of notoriety, and likely new powers to call upon. He contemplated how to address this in a polite fashion, to simply turn down her offer may have been conceived as rude, and therefore poor form. He raised his left hand raising a singular digit, indicating he had an objection of sorts. “Tuus offero scientia, dum liberalis est unum nos declinare pro tempore.Verum est, quod scientia est potentia...a modi. Autem, non est in potentia, quod quaerimus nunc. Habere draco in nostro numero, dabit nobis virtutem et honorem. Nos imaginari potest videre, quam quod est potior in scientia? Nunc, quod tibi conscius es, nostrae rationes proponere tibi declaramus, quod vos vires volo de nobis, ut nos, ut permutatione in magis gradu campos.” (Your offer of knowledge, while generous is one we will decline for the moment. It is true that knowledge is power...of a sort. However, it is not the power that we seek currently. We seek something more virile, something greater...something more. To have a dragon among our numbers it will bring us power and honor. We imagine you can see how that is preferable to knowledge? Now that you are aware of our reasons we propose you declare something you might wish of us, so that we might barter on more level grounds.)
Alexsis listened carefully to all that was being said, he wanted knowledge clearly, but he wanted it first hand, and he wanted the power that a dragon soul would bring him. That made sense now, his reasoning for wanting the soul and not just the knowledge at least. And then . .the smell hit her. The smell of burnt rotten tree mush. She knew that smell oh so well. She turned her head for a brief moment, following the smell to Kage’s location, a smirk playing on her darkened lips. She had the urge to preen and pose but resisted the vanity of her new form as she was engaged in conversation with Whisper. She nodded to his final request to state what it was she wanted.
“Ego cupiditas servire Omnia, Pater, fieri unum ex vobis, a Kinn. Ego have been set super viam a Cardinali, instituendi, cum unum notus ut Rutrum. Preterea ego desiderium magicam scientiam, satis, ut spero, ut una die invenire mater mea et disperdam eam prorsus”
((I desire to serve the All Father, to become one of you, a Kinn. I have been set upon the path by the Cardinal, to train with the one known as Kage. Beyond that I desire magical knowledge, enough that hopefully I may one day find my mother and destroy her utterly)) she said, her tone full of a rage and hatred she had never been able to fully express on her own before, making it that much more powerful.
He didn't fool himself in believing he would go completely unnoticed, he just didn't want to disrupt the conversation, nor miss out on an opportunity to learn of the two beings below on the forest floor, though the conversation seemingly more wheeling and dealing than an actual conversation. The talk of knowledge and power was one that was forever up for debate among all races, not just the kinn, long believed that it was true power, though they were not entirely wrong in his mind, Kage seen it a bit differently mind you, knowledge wasn't power in on itself, in fact knowledge could bring about more power, to hold the knowledge of an opponent gave you the upper hand, though the same could be said for the opponent. Knowledge was a means to more power, not so much power itself, and right now he was gathering more knowledge in reference to the two than he honestly thought he would have.
The constructs true desires were not much different than his own, vengeance in one form or another, he sought Scourge for vengeance for his mother and what became of his life, though he almost held a respect for the creature for allowing him the chance to become what he had. Alexis however sought for her own ends of the lack of her mother, the abandonment she was left with, to deal with her life on her own, he would have thought the woman would have taken a great strength and pride in the idea of coming as far as she had on her own, and yet it didn't quite seem like she did. He had the whispers of the darkness in his ear, guiding him down the path, she had herself, so why did she feel the need to seek out her mother to kill her? What more did she truly need to prove to the woman that she did quite well for herself with the mother figure in the picture. Though he could not deny the delicious flavor of her rage and hatred that flowed from her form as she spoke of her desires, it was sweeter than most he had come across to date, true hatred, he couldn't resist now.
"Vestri odio solus enim mulier est magis virtute, quam etiam tibi videtur intelligere. Vos tenere in scientia opus est vincere eius in te iam, quod est simpliciter honing ingenii ad explendam tua intensions." (Your hatred alone for the woman is more power than even you seem to understand. You hold the knowledge you need to defeat her within you already, it is simply honing your abilities to be able to carry out your intentions.) He dropped those lanky arms from across his chest to his side as he stepped off the branch high above within the tree tops, his frame shifting into the shadow as soon as his feet left the branch and fell to the forest floor before it would appear as though he simply stepped out of the shadows from the trees base, and made his way towards the two, bowing his head respectfully towards the Visser to ensure it understood he meant no disrespect by interrupting, "Hoc potuit finally accipere, multo magis conveniens species loquitur volumina ad quid est, et potest facere, nos iustus postulo ut reperio ius fons .....educationem pro vobis discere videtur." (The fact you were able to finally take on a far more appropriate appearance speaks volumes to what it is you can accomplish, we just need to find the right source of .....education for you to learn it would seem.)
He watched as Alexis too picked up on the presence of another Kinn in their vicinity, she had turned to look only for a brief moment. It was understandable so Whisper overlooked her looking away from him as he was speaking, she may have perceived it as a threat so the breach of etiquette was one that was not a serious one. On top of the fact that he had no outwardly visible knowledge of the new arrival made it perhaps expected that she would turn and choose to examine what it was herself, though Kage had not yet made himself visible so to speak. Alexis had apparently determined that the presence was not a threat, and she nodded as her attention returned to whisper and spoke her response. It was a bit odd, her voice portrayed a touch of emotion and a rage flowed through her now. WHisper was interested, she said the Cardinal itself had set her on this path, he wondered if that was a direct reference, had she met the cardinal? No, that was not likely, it was more probable she spoke of him in a more indirect fashion. Whispers attentions were snapped back into the present as Kage spoke, he was somewhat plain and to the point, addressing Alexis’s rage in much the same whisper would have. As he approached he gave a nod to Whisper and now that Whisper saw him he was more acutely aware of whom it was. He was not entirely familiar with Kage, though he had heard of him, and was aware that he was the Martial. As Kage offered Whisper a nod whisper gave a full bow and took a step back from Alexis, she was his as far as Whisper was concerned.
“Grata Militaris, nos fuisset conversatus cum crimen, an interesting creatura. Nos sunt omnino deperiret hoc unum, quod habet, quantum potentia putamus, licet eius margines tamen aspera si te veniam verba. Certe, nos finge tibi accipere non offensa nostri conversatus cum eo, possemus, sicut et in vobis animadverti ..."figere" eos...quantum ad aliquid. Fecimus quidem imponere, sumptus ad hoc, unus, qui erat etiam countered cum diversis offerre, innuens quod hic est intelligens. Vult videri in gradus, proprium si te. Quod possumus videre fecisti, bene hactenus si non est deinceps de nobis dicere tale. In tempus nos finge tibi figura hoc bene, et erit multo uti pater noster fortasse. Nunc nos es trying ut in permutatione cum pro acquisitione anima, hoc unum habet, in ea a numero dracones, nos utique interesse. Si licitum est nos esset, multo sicut ad finem, hoc agitur. Sed nos agnoscere te, locum tuum et tuum crimen super eam, et ut tales nos facere, quaeso, vestra licentia, et voluntate permaneant, per electionem tuam”
(Welcome Martial, we have been conversing with your charge, an interesting creature. We are quite fond of this one, it holds much potential we think, though its edges are still rough if you will pardon the phrase. Surely, we imagine you take no offence at our conversing with it, we were able to, as you have noticed ...”fix” them...to some extent. We did of course impose a cost for this, one which was even countered with a different offer, hinting that this one is intelligent. He wishes seem in step, proper if you will. From what we can see you have done well thus far if it is not forward of us to say such a thing. In time we imagine you will shape this one well, and it will be of much use to our father perhaps. Currently we are trying to barter with it for the acquisition of a soul, this one has within it a number of dragons, we of course are interested. If it is permissible we would much like to finish this dealing. However we acknowledge you, your position and your charge over it, and as such we do ask your permission, and will abide by your choice.)
Alexsis attention was split between the two beings now, especially as Kage dropped to the ground and moved towards them. She shifted to one side, moving so that both beings would be in her line of sight without her having to actually turn her back on one or the other. The voices of some of the stronger souls within her pool could still be heard, and warned her of such dangers, making it easier for her to respond to things now that she had a physical body that needed legitimate protection.
She bowed towards Kage at his compliment of finally being able to take on a better physical form. “Ego sum maxime gratum et pro auxilio, et disciplinam, sine qua non potui, fieri quid ego nunc.”
(I am most grateful to the both of you for the help and instruction, without which I could not have become what I am now.) She said, expressing her gratitude towards their training and instruction after Whisper had finished speaking. It was curious to her that he would step back, and her head tipped to one side as she contemplated the meanings of such things, running Whisper’s words through her own mind. She was mildly offended by some of what he said, though incredibly pleased with herself at his compliments as well and so chose to stay silent after offering her gratitude. Whisper had asked Kage for permission to continue their dealings and so she figured it was best to allow Kage to answer before speaking more. She was quickly picking up on pecking order and etiquette through both observation and the voices that continued to whisper knowledge and instructions through her form.
The voidless gaze of his eyes watched both the Visser and the Construct through the shadows as he always did, he could hear the whispers and echoes of the souls between the three of them, "Per omnia, non me prohibere ea quae de Visser, quæ non debeo mercedem, post omnes." (By all means, don't let me stop the dealings of a Visser, she does owe you payment after all.) His shadowy frame flowed back, holding his hands out and open as he bowed lightly as he stepped back, it wasn't about being proper, nor respect really, it was honestly just about the fact she did still owe the Visser. A dark thick grin crossed his blackened lips as he watched the two, taking a position with crossed arms against a nearby tree.
Whisper gave a nod to the propriety displayed by the Martial Kage before returning his attention to Alexis. He gave to her a nod and offering of an open hand before continuing to address her counter offer, or rather what it was she wished. “ certe, quod vos es vultus pro, est in potestate nostra. Potentia, qua fovetur in tuo more. Nunc servire Cardinalis...et ad ulterius viam tuam kinnship magis esset ad vestigio in officio Militari, vos ponuntur sub eorum crimen, et nos iam meddled in officio, forte nimis”
(surely, that which you ask is within our power. Power which you yourself have fostered in your own fashion. You already serve the Cardinal...and to further your path of kinnship more would be to tread on the duty of the Martial, you were placed under their charge, and we have already meddled in that duty, perhaps too much.)
Here whisper paused to offer another bow, by way of polite apology to Kage before he continued, speak with Alexis.
“Uultis, magia autem, hoc forte est acceptabile. Ostendimus iam melius quam vindicatum vestri forma, aut unum quod est magis proprium. Tantum te et nostra deos scire veritatem tuam sicut forma tamen. Hoc esse quod est, voluntatem et scientiam assumere conveniens forma, fortasse esset contentus, ut discere, quomodo melius ad formam talia tela et arma, quae sunt de umbral natura? Manifestum est nos non doceat vos anima fora, saltem non in eadem figura, qua nos uti est, ut faciam talia periculo ira Evincar, et dum nos quidem endeared ad vos, et non erit periculum eorum ira. Hoc est forte accepta ad vos, aut si mavis alia offerens, quid dicitis Rosarii Regina?"
(Your wish of magic however, this perhaps is acceptable. We have shown you already how to better assume your form, or one that is more proper. Only you and our gods know the truth of your form as of yet. This being what it is, the will and knowledge to assume a fitting form, perhaps you would be contented to learn how better to form things such as weapons and armour that are of an umbral nature? To be clear we will not teach you to soul forge, at least not in the same fashion which we employ it, to do such would risk the wrath of the Evincar, and while we are indeed endeared to you, will will not risk their ire. Is this perhaps acceptable to you, or would you prefer some other offering, what say you Rosary Queen?”)
He had made a point to address her with the name which he had gifted her with. Such was his privilege as a Visser, and he wished to be certain the Martial was aware she did now have a name. She had the potential to live up to it, but her time with the Martial could cement, or shatter the name.
Alexsis stood quietly as the two Kinn exchanged their words and pleasantries, it still bothered her that she was being treated like an object, belonging to one kinn or another. She frowned at the thought, but kept it to herself, she WAS an object after all. A bit of irritation ran through her and caused her to shift a bit uncomfortably. She was still getting used to having a body that she could feel, it was . . .odd. She flexed her fingers on both hands, even wiggled her toes a bit. She had manifested in clothing, but was lacking shoes, a fact she was just realizing as Whisper began to speak to her again. Her head snapped up as she focused her attention on him once more. She frowned as she listened to him once more. Though his words were true, she felt as though she were lacking . . something. It bothered her, but it was a thing for her to puzzle out later when not in the presence of the others. She nodded to Whisper’s offer of magic and the forming of weapons and armor. Though she could enchant these things already, she did not know how to forge them herself, let alone of herself, which she assumed he was getting at.
“Tibi offerre docere me in melius mutare, quod ego factum est, ut creare tela et arma, fortior est illis invenitur in mortali planis, sed non ut anima fora, quia sumptus unum draconic anima?”
((You offer to teach me to better manipulate that which I am made of, to create weapons and armor stronger than those found on the mortal planes, but not to soul forge, for the cost of one draconic soul?)) she asked to be sure she understood the offer. She narrowed her eyes at him, she was aware of the fact that she was made of souls and darkness, was aware now how to manipulate her parts into a cohesive whole, and how better to keep control of said souls.
“Ego non intellego differentia, aut quomodo hoc fore beneficium in me. Non est creando tela et arma eadem dissimulatione et processus, ut partum brachia et crura pro me? Et ego factus sum animarum et tenebris, te alia via tibi offerre docere me de anima, cudendum. Ego non vis cu, sed oportet me declinet et hoc offerre usque ad tale tempus, sicut ego melius intelligere quid omnino est quod offertur”
((I do not understand the difference, or how this would benefit myself. Is not creating weapons and armor the same pretense and process as creating arms and legs for myself? And though I am made of souls and darkness, you differentiate the process you offer to teach me from soul forging. I do not wish to offend, but I must decline this offer until such time as I have a better understanding of what exactly is being offered)) she explained, hoping she had not offended him in the process of declining.
Alexis reiterated his question for clarification, to which Whisper offered a nod, her interpretation was correct. She elaborated on her being able to differentiate what he was offering from what he had just more or less shown her how to do. It was understandable, as the difference was a subtle one, arguably it was indeed the same process. She calified she meant no offence in her refusal, Whisper had taken none. Though she was Kinn in her own way the Vissers view of her was still much as an adult would view a child, endeared to her as he was. Its view of her was one that was, quite complicated with a great deal of nuance. She was a child in a way, and yet she was also an object. A “thing” rather than a “person”. It was a view that many would and or could be considered offensive, and in a way it was, but the slight, the offence of it, was unintentional, simply the way it viewed the truth of the matter. It pondered a moment, her refusal was plain, and even if he were to elaborate on the subtle difference it was entirely likely she would continue to decline the offer. Be that as it may Whisper chose to elaborate on it.
“Intellegi quod non percipere differentia. Est afterall subtilis est, nos fuerit elaboratum. Te, te facta sunt, "alia" partes etiam? Hoc est de natura rei sit construere putamus, esse constructa diversas partes. Quod quid sit, te rogamus, sunt vestri omnes partes idem calibur, eadem qualitas? Nos imaginari, quod non est verum, licet nos non sunt, quaedam infallibilis sit et posset satis est malum in quod assumptio. Periculum principia, est ut asini se...aut ita audiam, heu nos digredior. Te didici, quam ad formam se, non probatur in gente vestra corporis manifestatio, sed volumus hazzard in solidarietatis, non est aliquid simile, ut telum, aut ornatus. Neque enim verisimile esse directd ita ut peculiare munus. Certe poterat, figura haec, quae de tuae voluntatis in tempore, offerimus acceleratio hoc doctrina. Tu quidem libero negare hoc offerre, quod electio est tuum, et res nos, non vi. Sed si nolunt et non offerre contra offerunt hoc concludam nostra current negotium, et nos revertetur ad nostrum officia et relinquam vos ad curam rei Militaris semel.”
(It is understandable that you would not perceive the difference. It is afterall a subtle thing, we shall elaborate. You, you are made of “different” parts yes? This is the nature of a thing being a construct we think, to be constructed of different components. That being what it is we ask you, are all of your components the same calibur, the same quality? We imagine that is not the case, though we are not some infallible being and could be quite wrong in that assumption. The danger of assumptions is to make an ass of oneself...or so we hear, alas we digress. You have learned how to form oneself, we have not tested the caliber of your bodily manifestation, but we would hazzard the solidarity of it is not a thing comparable to a weapon, or armour. Nor would it likely be directd so so particular a function. Certainly you could figure these things out of your own volition in time, we offer an acceleration of this learning. You are of course free to refuse this offer, that choice is your own and a thing we will not force. However should you refuse and not offer a counter offer this will conclude our current business and we would return to our duties and leave you to the care of the Martial once more.)
Alexsis listened carefully to what Whisper had to say, looking between both he and Kage. There were many questions she wanted to ask, much she needed to learn and she could feel the bit of pressure and expectation from the Visser standing before her. "You have done much for me this night wise Whisper" she replied in Latin. "But I wish to break off our dealings for the time being. THere is much I must learn and discover before I should accept an offer I do not fully comprehend" she added "I hope that you can understand. I do not wish to offend you, but I wish to know what I can accomplish on my own with such a task before asking for the aid of another. Such was the case with trying to find my own form, and thus should be the case with forming weapons and arms appropriate to myself. In the future I am sure we will have more cause for further dealing, but for now I should return to my own studies" she said politely in their preferred language. She took a step back from him and bowed with thanks and appreciation, hoping she had not offended the Kinn in her denial. --d--
Kage Anima Venator09/19/2019
Kage was inpressed by the dealings taking place, Whisper was far from that of any other Visser he had heard of through the darkness, let alone from any of their kind, most would simply take what they wanted regardless the consequences of their actions, but here the being seemed to fully accept the choices made from the construct. He was even further impressed by the construct itself, the desire for power and knowledge was one that even Kage succumb to on several occassions, to excel within the darkness and bask in the sight of their All Father, but this one's own deaires to grow on her own, to learn what it was the Visser offered in her own way was a bit of an inspiration to the Martial, he grinned at the fact she even refered to the lesson of finding her own form on her own, a set task he placed before her. "Multa enim hoc uno disce tamen, quamvis illa incipit eius viam in dextro pede. Nos imaginari illa erit excel omnia praeterita spe cum talis passio discere." (There is much for this one to learn yet, though she begins her path on the right foot. We imagine she will excel past all expectations with such passion to learn.) Though he spoke he still kept his distance to allow the proceedings to conclude, "Fortasse nos omnes potest accipere aliquid ab inspiratione talis construere, et maculæ deliciis affluentes, in maiorem progreditur in conquirendorum nostri conatus." (Perhaps we all can take a bit of inspiration from such a construct, and revel in greater advances in seeking out our endeavours.)
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