shylarah

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

Shiara Cazarin, bone mage

Shiara went to clean up first, though she'd avoided the worst of the muck. Still, the scent clung to her until she'd had a proper scrub. Then it was back to the church, to warn them of the hole in their crypts, and about the lapse in sanctified ground. They laughed at her for the second part -- not aloud, but she could see it in their eyes. It still stung her, not being taken seriously, but such was life.

Nor could she do much for reconsecration, alone, unsupported, and now under suspicion. She and Kem set up weak protections, more like wards than the safety of cleansed land, but between the Cursed and the sewers she could do little more.

The remainder of her afternoon was spent with a meal and the fingerbones she'd taken. There was still power to them, even completely separated from the rest. They resisted every cleansing ritual and ward she knew. Even her shield barrier hadn't worked fully against the Cursed -- a troubling matter, but she'd need more than just a couple fingerbones to fix that. Nor could she divine the source of their unholy energy. Until she had more Shiara would be little better than the dogs Sir Lucian had proposed, able to tell the presence of Cursed but little more.

She sighed and looked out her window. Speaking of, if she meaned to be any use at all she'd best be making her way to the bridges. Night was coming, and with it, danger.

---

She found Lucian calling to raise the bridges, and anger burned in her gut. There were still so many people on the far side -- and nothing she could do for them. Perhaps if she'd determined a method to pinpoint Cursed in a crowd....

No, she'd get there. Not that it would help those they condemned that night, but it would help others in the future...or so she hoped.

A book landed with a flop and a skid before them, and then the apprentice knight pulled herself over the top of the raised bridge. Shiara looked from her to Lucian and back, watching their silent exchange before speaking up herself.

"So what's the plan from here?"

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

@LordOfTheNight I don't see a need for another character unless you want to bring one in.

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

@LordOfTheNight Shiara is probably not going to be able to fight the Cursed the way the others do, not without a lot of training. I would never make something that unbalances things -- if she does devise a ritual, you can bet it'll take long enough that everyone will need to do plenty of fighting to let her cast it. And that's more a thing for down the road. It just seems pointless to have her entire set of knowledge entirely useless. If you have other ideas for her, I'd love to hear them.

𝓣ℎ𝑒 𝓕𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝒻 𝓐𝑙𝑦𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑎 & 𝓕𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑛, 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡.

"I don't care if he enjoyed Miss Ashton," Alyssana retorted, before making a visible effort to calm herself. It wasn't Walter to blame, nor was he the one she was angry with. "Mistake or not, it still happened, Walter." She sighed, brushing a loose strand of hair back from her face. It had escaped its pins on her flight over. "Look, I'll make you a deal. If I can destroy whichever scent it was that he used, I won't confront Finnegan over this." It was a generous offer, to her mind, letting Finnegan go without a single word. Then again, she was sure Walter would report to his brother about her irritation, and her demand. Slightly underhanded, perhaps, but the offer was still a good one. Alyssana avoided breaking her word once she'd given it. "The offer's good until he joins us. If I don't have it by then, Finnegan gets the sharp side of my tongue. I need to be sure this won't happen again."

When Royalty Collides (#YIKES)

@ayzrules looks alright.

𝓣ℎ𝑒 𝓕𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝒻 𝓐𝑙𝑦𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑎 & 𝓕𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑛, 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡.

"You must." Alyssana's tone did not encourage debate. "It's one thing for him to toy with ladies' feelings, and quite another to reduce someone to little more than a vacant-eyed fool. He's lucky the effect wasn't permanent, or I would be having a few very pointed words with him." She took a breath, reining in her anger. Walter was hardly at fault for this, and while she did mean to have a word with Finnegan she didn't think he'd respond well if she pushed him too hard. Better to simply remove the temptation -- and that's why she was speaking to Walter.

Already he'd confirmed her suspicions, that Finnegan was at fault. If that wasn't the case, Walter wouldn't be trying to protect his brother. Perhaps she was taking advantage, just a little, but she was used to Christopher's wavery moral compass and the need for a firm stance. "I need to be sure he won't do something like this again. It's a terrible violation of a lady's free will."

𝓣ℎ𝑒 𝓕𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝒻 𝓐𝑙𝑦𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑎 & 𝓕𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑛, 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡.

"Tea would be lovely. Why don't you go make some, while Walter tells me about his week," Alyssana suggested, neatly splitting the two brothers apart. While Finnegan headed to make tea, she had Walter take her back into the lab. She'd been there before, and knew to be careful of the various vials and tools.

However, her demeanor changed into something less amicable and far more serious once in the lab proper. With Finnegan off making tea, she'd earned herself several minutes without him butting in. "Walter, while I do want to hear about your week, I must confess that is not my only purpose in coming. I want to know what exactly your brother did to poor Miss Ashton. By all accounts she's an intelligent woman, yet she could barely string a proper sentence together when he introduced her to me." It had been painful to witness, painful to think of, and the matter had been bothering her for some time. If it was Finnegan at fault, she'd need to find a way to make sure he understood the gravity of the sin he'd committed.

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

We're totally here in the forum too if there's someone not on the discord that wants to plot things. <3

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

@LordOfTheNight poking again for idea exchange.

When Royalty Collides (#YIKES)

Valentine/Edelessa of Luxième

The morning started poorly for Valentine, and while Prince Akio's unfortunate gift was some time prior, she still felt jittery and on-edge. It was to the point where she didn't trust her composure around other people, even after skipping breakfast to deal with the sheets and unpack the essentials. The sun through the window made her hands itch for the comfortable weight of her camera. She'd promised to find Prince Akio at some point, but surely he could wait until afternoon. A quick change of clothing into worn jeans and a tshirt with an ivy design and she was out the door, pausing just long enough to shove a few important things into her camera bag.

However, instead of heading outside, Valentine went for a wander through the Aciran castle. She wasn't looking for anything in particular, just looking. Some of the rooms were done in older styles, and there was artwork scattered through the halls. There were servants, but Valentine did what she could to avoid them. Down one of the corridors she heard piano music, and out of curiosity, she followed the sound.

She didn't recognize the man in the shorts and tank top, at least not well enough to put a name to him. Val suspected he was one of the visiting royalty, or at least someone related to them. That made her nervous, but it didn't stop her from admiring the clean lines of his movement. The morning sun came through the south-facing windows just enough that he was backlit beautifully. Before she'd even thought about it, she had her camera to her eye and snapped a few pictures, standing there in the doorway. She couldn't post them anywhere, not without asking -- and she didn't dare enter the room to talk to the dancer. She didn't want to interrupt him, on top of being shy.