[color=silver][h3][center][b]Ahanu The Ravenous One[/b][/center][/h3][/color]
[hr]

[color=aquamarine]~[i]You hear that? Handpicked. By the headmaster himself.[/i]~[/color]
[color=gray][right]Slave.[/right] [/color]

As if in response a brutal chill swept around the group, dead leaves scraping against the concrete like the giggling of the damned. Ahanu did his best to steal the skepticism broiling beneath his consciousness, though he felt his eyes narrow.

[color=aquamarine]~[i]How long, do you suppose your leash is on this one, Ahanu? They have hellspawn holding your chains, the very energies we have been sent to inspect. Seems an obvious conflict of interest, no?[/i]~[/color]
[color=gray][right]Such pointless games. Give in to me.[/right] [/color]

The arrival of the young wizard assigned to them caused a flurry of activity, rendering the others oblivious to the tremor which rode down Ahanu’s left arm, rattling the enchanted heavy stone bracer against his tanned skin. The lingering magics of this place felt like a great weight strapped to his chest, dragging his will to the pits of his stomach, an endless abyss from which he would never return.

[color=aquamarine]~[i]There is no trust to be found here, Ahanu, look upon how they see you. They let demons run free, but treat you as a monster.[/i]~[/color]
[color=gray][right]Consume.[/right] [/color]


Ahanu remained statuesque, though a nagging sense of foreboding tugged at the base of his skull. The combination of the mission statement, the dark aura of this place and the strange assembly which stood before him spoke of desperation. A desperation to avoid the end. Not of the end of his story, which would be some kind of welcome relief, but the end of all that was known. This journey they were about to embark on sought to undo them all, cruel tendrils of fate reaching across the cosmos, across realms, to entangle them for their interference.

[color=aquamarine]~[i]We have nothing to fear.[/i]~[/color]
[color=gray][right]But they do.[/right] [/color]

The eager chants of the bobblings rallying towards the derelict home snapped Ahanu from the insidious voice known only to him. Taking a moment to focus his breathing, shaking the scent of cigarette from his nostrils, Ahanu followed to two women into the house.

No.

A home. Or it had once been. Though there were odd shapes burnt into counters and carpet, terrible things spilling from the refrigerator, though heavy dust-riddled webs cluttered every nook and corner, there were still signs. Forgotten family photos lined the walls, a diploma lay smashed, crookedly dropped on the mantle where it fell. A teddy bear and a blanket sat upended on the ugly stained couch in the living room.

Ahanu was immediately struck by the sadness which seemed trapped within the very air they all breathed. This person, whoever they had been, was no evil mastermind. They were forlorn, and lonesome, likely misguided in their notions of savior. A false prophet who would be their undoing.

A tale told a thousand times.

[color=aquamarine]~[i]Your story.[/i]~[/color]
[color=gray][right]Or is it mine?[/right] [/color]

“Can you hear that which was not left behind?” Ahanu wondered in reply to Fei’s observation. “Sometimes…” Ahanu’s voice lowered, as if the words themselves bore the burden. “Sometimes a vessel loses their voice. As if they were not there at all.”

He reached a hand toward the nearest photo, stroking the frame of one which displayed a young woman with child. “A milk carton filled with orange juice no longer retains its identity, despite the form it wears…” He turned, his expression thoughtful. 

“We’d likely benefit by investigating the woman who lived here. The ties she formed in life might clue us in to what we’re dealing with. It doesn’t appear she was began dabbling in the arcane until very recently… And where there is one novice, there are usually others, and a leader guiding them.” He nodded towards the bookshelf, lined with occult books and artifacts, pointing out a photo, newer than the others, of the same woman with stony eyed, skeletal man. “Those who seek to peer behind the veil rarely work alone.”

His eyes darted to the other members of the group, clearing his throat awkwardly. “...As I suppose we all know….”