Quietus Clarion (IC)

[Doomed Hero]

"That one was innocent. It was questioned and found devout. It bore the taint of the creature which had possessed it and was purged. Before it was host to an adversary it was a hunter of witches."

[Johanas]

"Then I select that one. A Devout soul would be best I feel."  He casually gestured back at the brighter soul.

[Doomed Hero]

Meeting the ghosts eyes, he was surprised at a spark of recognition. A moment later it was gone.

The horned, skull-like face snaked it's long neck down. The tongue wound around it's neck causing an ever-so-slow expression of fear to dawn on it's face. It was lifted high and brought to the tiny arms, which held it tight in an embrace before the leech-mouth on it's bulbous body. The head then swung back to the shade of Roycillo, moving close, face to face. Though the head was massive, it's face was surprisingly small. no larger than his. The long tongue slithered before him, the tip coming up to caress his face.

"Kiss me Priest, and you shall have my child."

[Johanas]

Roycilo blinked.

I hadn't expected that...

"As you wish."

For Izrador, and for the honor of the clergy...

Roycilo took a deep breath, leaned in, and kissed the monstrosity.

[Doomed Hero]

It's single upper lip pressed against his, his lower lip pricked by it's sharp teeth. It seemed to sigh, and then suddenly it's long snake-like tongue pressed into his mouth to touch his.

Then it surged deeper, ripping it's way down his throat and tickling deep in the core of him. He jerked and spasmed, grabbing at the massive horns and trying to fight, but there was absolutely nothing he could do. He could feel it within him, writhing and tangling. He managed to move to look down at himself and immediately regretted it.

The tongue filled him with red light pouring through his crystal skin and lighting the room more brightly than before. It twisted and gripped around the pulsing darkness inside him like a snake attacking an octopus, and then it pulled.

He had never felt anything like it. It was a deep, terrible ache, like the way old sailors describe mangled bones reacting to the pull of the sea. He could feel it inside him, slowly moving upward, flicking on his transparent insides, painfully tickling beneath his invisible skin, pulling up his throat. It was like vomiting in terrible slow motion.

And then it was free. The darkness danced on the end of the tongue. The creature purred.

Moving the crawling darkness to where the ghost of the witch hunter was being held in slow terror, she pressed it forth. The darkness lunged, punching it's tendrils in through translucent skin and ripping it's way inside. The ghost screamed, long and silent.

She fed the struggling shade it into the round, tooth filled mouth slowly, using her tongue like a plunger as the darkness continued to squeeze it's way inside. With a satisfied hiss she shuddered as they vanished within her. Her bulbous body jerked and rested.

She rested. He waited. The ghosts continued to slowly move towards him. He backed away.

Then she suddenly swelled like a over-full bladder and birthed out a monster.

It looked like an octopus made of intestines tipped in sharp bone spurs, with a cavernous leech-maw at the center of a round body topped with spider-like eyes. It hung in the air without weight and glowed deep red like it's mother.

It looked up at her, and she to it, and they keened.

"Hello little one. Come meet your father."

[Doomed Hero]

Back in the ritual chamber, two acolytes waited with a very irritated Knight. The corpse had been disposed of and the relics cleaned. The pair had been ordered to attend, but he did not seem keen on being attended. He'd barely spoken or moved, leaving the two young women to their own devices. They did not receive much time without chores or duties, so they were enjoying themselves a great deal, sitting and chatting quietly.

[Coyote777]

The aged knight remained kneeling before the altar, his head bowed and eyes half-closed.  A woolen blanket had been thrown over his broad shoulders by one of the acolytes.  He had not noticed.  The charcoal black of the wool seemed to make his skin glow a dusty alabaster, lined with gray and silver hairs and shot through with the dozens of angry, red, swollen remembrances of a lifetime at war.  Water still ran in glinting rivulets down his body, pooling all around him on the dark stone floor.  Shimmering will-o-wisps, bits of reflected candlelight, danced in the pool. 

He had not said a word in near an hour. 

He was lost in blackness.  A full, pregnant darkness.  No barren void, but roiling, and exultant.  He wandered in this shadow, a place of presence and no form.  And he knew he was not alone.  Somewhere, neither close or far, a beast hunted him.  And he knew the beast would find him, rend him.  He would fight, he would bleed, and he would die.  Two certainties:  The beast, and death.

He had never felt so alive.

Suddenly intruding upon this shadowed hunting ground came the distant chitter of a young girl's laughter.  The darkness seemed to shrink from the sound, pulling away, presence giving way to crude form.  Riddar's eyes beheld mortal stone beneath his knees.

Molten rage erupted, only to be instantly thrust into the freezing waters of contempt.  When Riddar spoke, every word was ice and iron.

"You are in the presence of the Father.  Show your respect, or be fed to Him..."

[Jade17]

The laughter cut off abruptly as though severed with a razor-sharp blade. Silence echoed through the chamber as the dark-haired acolyte sitting nearest the knight exchanged a hasty, worried glance with her companion. She rose quickly and smoothly to her feet, and immediately formed her slight figure into a respectful curtsy. Her voice shook ever so slightly, as she tried to hide her embarrassment with years of training in formality and discipline.

"I offer our most sincere apologies for disturbing you, sir, we forgot ourselves. If there is any way in which my companion or I may assist you or see to any needs you may have, we would be honored to serve. Glory be to the Father."

Mara straightened, but kept her head bowed. She wanted very much to properly serve this knight who had been so honored by the Father, and was a little frustrated that she had gotten so carried away in talking with her friend in this circumstance.

[Coyote777]

"Fetch me my arms.  And see the horses are cared for.  We ride the instant the priest comes through the harrowing, alive or dead."

He swung one knee out and rose to his full, towering span.  For the first time in a decade, from his joints not a single complaint was heard.  He turned to stare at the two young acolytes, showing no mind to his nakedness.

"And who is the Sister who will grace us with her presence?  She must be ready to travel.  A journey into the Kaladrun Mountains will be a far more trying thing than this cloistered abbey life."

[Doomed Hero]

The Acolytes' reply was cut off by a sudden dimming of the lights. The ritual room was once again plunged into darkness as the Eye of Izrador clouded black.

A surprised yell sounded, followed by a splash, then the lights rose again. The Eye had again closed. In the pool floundered Father Illustrian.

[Coyote777]

Riddar looked upon the struggling priest, his face wearing an expression that almost might have been taken for pity.

Poor young fool.  You may come to regret the gift you have been given...  But so we each serve, according to our measure and His plan.

He strode to the edge of the pool and stretched his hand forth.

"Welcome back, Father."

[Johanas]

Roycilo accepted the offered hand. He let his companion pull him to his feet.

"Many thanks to you, Noble Riddar. I...am quite glad to be back. That was quite the ordeal."

Roycilo brushed himself off, as though he was dirty, not wet. It seemed to calm him, taking a little of the wildness out of his eyes.

"I made a friend! His name is hard to pronounce, but it is something close to Seer Seeker. But I think I will be renaming him something a little more dramatic in Trader's and Erenlander. I mean, come on, who seeks a seer? Who would be silly enough to run around after a prophet who can see them coming?"

Roycilo was standing now, and gave Riddar his best oblivious grin.

[Coyote777]

Riddar grunted as he lifted Royclio.  The young priest had taken on a strange new weight.  He eyed his companion with incredulousness.

Is this how you've survived the order, young fool?  Babbling yourself into harmlessness?  Well, then it is either luck or... skill that you have not been eaten alive.  I shall have to watch you more closely...

He turned to the two young acolytes.  "Father Illustrian has passed through our Lord's gates and returned to us!  Fetch him clean and dry clothes, and then see to the other tasks I minded you of.  The hunt now continues..."

[Doomed Hero]

The Eastern Plains, Arc of Obares, morning

Kael was pacing. He had been tired of waiting the moment the two legates had left. They'd been moving slowly so as to give them plenty of time to catch up. They had marked their destination on the horizon my lining up with a particularly bright stripe of white snow on the distant mountains. They would meet up as long as both groups headed for the same point, at least that's what Sir Riddar had said. Some kind of Dornish sailing trick.

Which was fine, since it was keeping Kael headed generally in the direction he was being pulled. He didn't like moving slowly, but he didn't relish the idea of meeting up with that group of outlaws again with only a man-puppy and an albino halfling for backup.

But then this morning his internal compass vanished. He could no longer sense his quarry. Instead all he had was the steady nagging need to find him, and without the directional pull to focus on, the need was building.

It was maddening.

[Homp]

"Where are you, dammit!"

Kael was pacing, and he was muttering. And he was angry. It was a different kind of anger though, he didn't enjoy moving at such a slow pace, but he understood it. This was different, the pull was gone. The pull that had led him for so long, that had practically defined his existence, had disappeared with no trace or warning and for the life of him he couldn't understand why.

This makes no sense! They said this would follow him no matter where he went..

It had been a long time since Kael had operated without his compass. He hated admitting it, but he'd become lazy in that regard. Tracking his target had become relatively simple with the constant pull and as a result, the skills he'd learned in his training had become rusty.

I can't wait for much longer. As soon as the priests return we're going to have to get creative. If the prophet is hiding somewhere that I can't find him then I'll have to make him come out.

[Luiniel Blades]

Xein carefully made his way to the small camp they had set up earlier that morning.  The first few days with Skindancer screaming inside his head had been more taxing than he'd wished for but at some point, the Astirax had stopped his screaming and held an eerie silence.  He saw the agent of the Bluff angrily pacing and realized he was as frustrated as Kael looked.  He realized he knew next to nothing of the agent save for his single minded determination he had for his hunt of the so called prophet.  There had been no sign of the outlaws for days,  even with Rash'gar's help they were as likely to find them waiting at their destination as they were on the planes.

Even if we did find them, then what?  They managed to repel us in greater numbers before.

Sighing, Xein stepped just inside of the clearing and announced himself.

"No sign of outlaws yet.  Once Rash'Gar returns we continue on."

[Doomed Hero]

Rash'gar had been enjoying experiencing the world outside of the Master's estate. There were many smells to investigate. Plants and animals he had never known. He hunted even when he was not hungry just for the practice and thrill, and found it quite easy. His internal senses gave him a clear image of what was around him so even when rabbits and other small game were hiding from him he was still aware of them. He wondered why they bothered.

Unfortunately most things were simply faster than he was and escaped down small tunnels where he could not follow. After losing a race with a snake of some kind, Rash'gar's ears perked up. He went still and hid, slinking toward the source of the sound.

The Legates were returning, and behind them rode a pair of young human women.

[Doomed Hero]

The pair of Sisters rode behind the legates they were charged to serve and advise. They had been in the abbey so long that the idea of walking into the world was a bit frightening. It was what they had been trained for, but it still seemed new and daunting.

"It is time." Mother superior had said. "Legate Illustrian is your charge. Both of you. Work together and do your duty. He has survived the Binding, but that does not mean his faith and judgement will not falter in the future. This Knight bares watching as well. He is devout, but he possesses a strong hatred for the Sisterhood." With that she had presented them with the robes and leathers of a full-fledged Sister. They were Acolytes no longer.

The knight said little. The legate said much, but had a knack for saying nothing inside many words. They had been in the saddle long enough to cause the young Sarcosans to realize that it had been far too long since they had done any serious riding. It was in their blood, and to have become so out of practice made them both frustrated.

"Serve them and advise them, but never forget that a Sister's true mission is to guard against heresy within. The best way of doing that is to help the pious remain pious. It is better to reward than to punish. That being said, punish when necessary." She had handed them each a white leather whip, masterfully made. "I braided and cured and blessed these myself. Do them proud."

And so they found themselves on the road with a knight and a priest, tasked with aiding them and watching them for spiritual weakness as they undertook their own tasks.

Whatever those were.

[Jester]

Rash'Gar watched the two men and the strange females with them.

Deeply inhaling he noticed the scent of the two men had changed the one called Father had a new smell to him it reminded Rash'Gar of Skin Dancer. The big one,Riddar, looked like he had lost the blood color from his skin. He was also harder for Rash'Gar to smell.

The females smelled like the inside of Lord Skinners lair. As if their scent was washed clean.

After being satisfied he could recognize any of these men and woman by their scent in the future . He stepped out from cover.

The big one scowled at him as the horses shied back for a moment.

Without a word Rash'Gar turned and headed back to the camp. Alertly watching for any easy prey along the way.

[Jade17]

Mara gave an involuntary start at the appearance of the strange man, then quickly composed her features. The strange sensation of being back on a horse after so long in the abbey, combined with the unfamiliar new robes and the new title that went with them, had her a bit on edge. She had finally been raised to the level she had worked so diligently to reach, only to immediately be sent out into strange territory to begin her mission. She would have to watch everyone around her, and her surroundings in general, much more closely, she decided. She had no desire to fail in her mission because she had missed a key detail. She was a Sister now, no longer a mere acolyte. She touched the whip at her side, to further remind herself of her new responsibilities. And she smiled.

[Johanas]

Rash'Gar is as talkative as ever...

Roycilo wasn't really surprised. The quieter the near-human beasts were, the easier it was for him to work around them. It wasn't like there was a language barrier; it was more of a social stigma. He just didn't relate that well to creatures with snouts or tusks. Not for a lack of trying.

"Greetings friends! We've returned from our little detour, and are ready to move on. How fairs you all?" Smiling as big as usual, Roycilo waved a rather large wave around the camp in general.

[Jester]

Taking a seat nearby Rash'Gar watched as these men and woman went through their greeting ritual.  Much different than he was use to. No snarling or snapping of sharp teeth.

Taking out his freshly killed prey he started skinning the hares and other creatures. Occasionally licking his sharp blade clean and chewing on the few small pieces of flesh. The fresh blood and juices running down his snout.

 The men preferred their meat cooked. Rash'Gar preferred it raw and warm.

[Luiniel Blades]

Noting the return of their charges Ser Riddar and Father Illustrian and the arrival of two sisters, Xein was anxious to keep moving.  "Father Illustrian, if you and the others are not too exhausted, I suggest we keep moving to the Kaladruns. There is no sign of the outlaws here."                                                                                                                        

[Johanas]

Roycilo looked towards Xein.

"I cannot speak for our companions, however I am most anxious to continue. It would be prudent to catch up after we have resumed travel. Obviously we picked up a pair of companions, and have a lot to tell. For example, why Riddar looks like he saw a ghost. He may have."

Roycilo didn't bother dismounting. He turned to his companions.

"Now that we're all together, shall we head out?"

[callie]

Amiril watched her companions closely, as a feeling of anxiety stirred in her gut. All of this was very alien to her, especially the appearance of the strange dog-man. Despite these emotions however, she remained composed; having Sister Mara by her side helped put her at ease. Mustering the confidence, she addressed her companions. "I don't mean to speak out of turn or delay us further, but would anyone mind telling us the purpose of our journey before we depart?"