A New Face in Town (Samheen 24th, TT)

[Grant]

The clerk to whom Andolin spoke smirked happily...that was precisely what he had told the messenger, and exactly what would have been appropriate, but Noooooo. The damned idiot refused to listen to reason and utterly insisted to see the Major Domos now, a state of affairs that was frankly embarrassing for the servant...Bevan would have to be informed...and was a very clear result of the staff growing lax in their approach to protocol since the passing of Marius de Winter. Bowing low to Andolin, the servant accepted the orders instantly... "it shall be done, milord, and my apologies for the interruption"...before he turned to gloat indecently at the servant and send him upon his tasks.

This left Andolin and Fauna free to discuss her approach of shadows in the privacy of his office once more.

[Fauna Winthrope]

Her eyes brightened when she saw the peaked curiosity of the Major Domus, never had she seen a non-wizard so very intrigued by the flow and ebb of magick. It was good to talk of sorcery again without looking at her back in fear. She had never talked of her theories and thoughts on magickal spells at the University, for she knew, her musings were bordering on the Art of shadows, blood and nether and those subjects were taboos inside the campus.

She felt she was incarcerated inside that campus, never really feeling very free to cast all the theories of magick that she really wanted. She was given a curriculum and the Faculty had insisted to follow that path, yet it wasn’t enough, she wanted real spells, real power and it had been a long time since she had weaved a real spell, a spell of her own devising. Yes, the spells she had casted before were minor tricks: Illusions and tricks of the light, flashy spells of fire and electricity, cantrip glamour spells for the mind, yet Fauna knew that she could do better, that her talent was more than that!

“The shadows, milord…” Fauna began, her flawless face animated with passion. “Nobody had thought to tap into the Shadows, Lord Azarin. All wizards and sorcerers prefer the flashy or mind spells, but the shadow energies is a force that is quite handy if one just try it. It lurks without you noticing, it is the principal illusion in magick that borders somewhere between the Aether and the Nether. It can fool even the Nether Creatures!” She hoped that her theory was sound and rational.

“You see,” The dark sorceress began again, her little red lips smiling enchantingly, “a sorceress can send one’s shadow and project it anywhere. It looks and sounds like the appearance of the sorceress, but it is tangible. One can see through its eyes and hear through its ears as if one is standing where it is. It is far beyond than scrying and divination, for your shadow is actually standing at the place while your physical body is at a safe place, protected by wards. No harm can come upon the shadow for it is not real. It drains from the energies of the light and shadow.” and drains a lot of your blood too! She added silently in the chambers of her mind.

It wasn’t divination, which Fauna was certain of. It was a simple explanation for a spell that was complex, but then, complex things cannot really be fully explained. “You see, Lord Azarin, one can fully witness a scene without actually being there.” This was something she could cast, for it did not affect netherical emotional and mind magick. The inhibition that was placed upon her was only for those castings, she intended to cast fully as a normal sorceress or a wizard does.

“Would you be willing to go, Lord Azarin? Would you like to see what is happening to Elaine? I am sure that her singing cannot rival the darkness, even if the Mother protects her. We should know what is happening down there in order to be prepared. I am afeared that the Daemon’s power in the dungeon is growing. It needs victims, and we are feeding it with more sacrifices. We should be prepared, knowledge is a weapon after all. If you agree, Lord Azarin, there is a question I must ask you…” She trailed off and ever so slowly and gracefully, Fauna unsheathed the small ceremonial dagger she carried.

“Do you trust me? The casting would require a lot of pain, all dark spells would require a lot of pain and sacrifice.” She glanced at him with an arched look. It doesn’t really matter if he agreed or not, Fauna knew that Elaine was a lost cause and so were the guards that Andolin had ordered to save her. The blind woman could either be dead or something had possessed her. But they must know in order to be prepared, the Nether creatures were tricky and malevolent.

But then, it was up to Andolin to decide, if he did not agree, it didn’t matter, she would still be behind the Major Domus, helping him and protecting him, for the sake of her goals and aspirations, for power.

[Andolin]

"Fascinating," Andolin muttered honestly. "So, you send a projection of yourself and it retains all of your senses? But what about your body? You say you must protect it with wards. Is your body helpless in this state?" He thought more about it. If servants entered and saw the two of them laying about in death-like trances, they might be mistaken for dead. That could be unfortunate.

"Only one of us should go, so the other can protect the other's body." That seemed sensible. "Demonstrate it for me," he urged. Show me what your shadow looks like. How do you know where to go to find Elaine? There is not time to teach me as we must see what is happening to her. Later, however, I wish to learn this spell." As he eyed the dagger she pulled forth, he assumed she meant to draw blood. "I find that I trust you more than is probably prudent, Fauna," he confessed.

[Fauna Winthrope]

It was her turn to look surprised.

Fauna assumed that Andolin would like to go himself. She thought it would be the other way around, she, protecting the Lord Azarin as he sent his shadows into the dungeon. Well, if that was the way he wanted it, so be it. She nodded, her face white as a ghost, this was a dangerous spell. Gracefully, the young, dark sorceress strode towards the window and closed the curtain, bathing the room in shadowy darkness then Fauna took a small candle and walked into the middle of the room.

“Since we don’t have any lodestones for the warding, Lord Azarin, I need a willing protection.” She said as she stood in the middle of the room like a pale ghost. “I cannot send my shadow and protect myself at the same time. I do hope you are willing, Lord Azarin…” She paused and breathed deeply. “I will be needing your blood.”

Blood was essential. Blood was life. It held vast power, power that can be manipulated and used to empower spells and enchantments. She hoped that the man was willing, for if not, she would go without any protections, like a soldier going into the field of battle without any shield or armour.

“It will require pain, it is necessary, Lord Azarin, for we are going to lace an emotion of suffering, agony and pain to both the warding AND the shadow. I shall lace my own shadow, Mi’lord, but YOU must lace and protect my physical body with your own blood with a circle of warding if I am to send my shadow. You must draw blood and draw a circle around me with your own blood. Try to imagine a shield or a barrier as you do it and try to feel the pain and agony and lace it around the Circle, it will fool the Nether Creatures for they are creatures of agony and pain themselves and will descry me as a shadow of Nether.” Fauna paused and turned her flawless face and looked at the door. “Nobody must disturb us.”

“I can only see and hear with my shadow. I cannot talk, but you will be able to hear me since you are here with my body. My shadow will be intangible (ooc: sorry, I meant with my last post as INtangible) and will be able to pass through any physical and mundane barrier. Now, let us begin…” She paused and looked at Andolin, “Or would you rather go with me, Your Excellency.” If he did not want to, Fauna would start the weaving.

Slowly and delicately, Fauna demurely sat on the cold floor –facing Andolin -- and fixed her gown. With a last heave of her bosom -- Fauna raised her dagger and gritted her teeth, expecting lots of pain-- the young dark sorceress cut her palm, drawing glistening, red blood immediately and placed the dagger beside her if Andolin would need it. Quickly, she took the small candle and let her blood dribbled upon it and quickly drawing upon the Aether, she tried to gather a very tiny amount of fire energy to lit the candle and would quickly place it behind her.

Fauna was breathing heavily now, feeling the tingling pain and agony washing over her. She needed to concentrate, focusing, reaching with her bloodied hand, she leaned and drew upon the floor before her: two slits for the eyes and another two slits for the ears. Carefully, She adjusted her angle and let the head of her shadow fall at the slits, creating the head with eyes and ears.

“Now I shall begin….” Fauna murmured amidst the pain, but paused, trying to see how the Lord Azarin will react or if he would like to go with her. She would need to properly delve into the Aether, the normal basic process of concentrating, grounding and weaving. Yes, she would not be tapping into the mental hatred, but will tap into the Aether of shadows and blood.

[Andolin]

"If I go with you, who would protect our bodies?" he queried. "The circle of protection may stop creatures of the nether, but not the mortal assassins who would be only too happy to add me to the list of the fallen," he observed. "I will protect you and perhaps your body can speak to me of what you see with your shadow." At least he hoped her body would still have the ability to speak.

"I would like to travel with you, but I would want a squad of guards and wards protecting me." He was more than a bit parannoid. "Perhaps when we are alone and can test it safely for a short time ... ." He had learned from Amchi that when one tried dinivation without much experience, one was apt to ge lost and not return to one's body. Until Fauna could prove herself capable, he would prefer to be a mere spectator.

"Go ahead, I will give you my blood." He was all too familiar with the need for blood in dark magic, though he preferred the animal blood he used to draw circles of protection from daemons. Prepared to follow her instructions, he watched carefully so that he could replicate her magic later.

[Fauna Winthrope]

If Fauna could only have the ultimate power, she would be more than happy to weave her own protection and send her shadow at the same time, but not at the present, she needed to harness her power more. There was no time to dally and the young dark sorceress prepared for the casting.

With the small guttering flame of the candlelight, the candle that was bathe with her own blood and casting flickering shadows around the room, Fauna closed her blue eyes and plunged and attuned herself into the shadowy flickering Aether around her. With her wounded and pain tinged hand, she touched her own shadow, smearing it with her own blood, focusing the energies around her into her hand and centering and linking the energies she had gathered through her blood into the shadow, making it seemingly alive and separate from herself. This was the crucial moment, she grounded herself into the shadowed Aether that she had gathered and bringing the pain and agony that she could feel, weaved the emotions and energies into her own shadow, giving her awareness into the shadow. Like scissors, she momentarily severed the connection she had with her shadow and physical body, her awareness of sight and hearing transferring into her own shade. And then, she weaved them all, combining tortured emotions, blood and the Aether into her casting, she would not shield herself, it was Andolin’s function to create a shield and a warding to protect her.

If it were successful, the Major Domus would be able to see Fauna’s flickering shadow moving by itself, the red blood slits for the eyes opening to reveal blue eyes. The dark sorceress would be able to see and hear through the eyes and ears of her own shade and she could send it to the dungeons and look for what had happened to Elaine. It would be an alarming sight, for the shadow would have a seeming aura of pain and agony, as if it were a creature of the Nether itself.

“Go to the dungeon and find Elaine!” Fauna imperiously whispered to her own shade, her own eyes still closed, her own pale face twisting with pain, the flame of the candle behind her guttering and casting flickering shadows around them. Mentally, she focused her mind and remembered Elaine’s feature, how she looked like, how she sounded like and transferred that thought to her own shadow.

“Find Elaine quickly!”

They had to be quick. The casting would only last as long as the bloodied candle burned.

[Grant]

She couldn't consider herself skilled at the task before her, but Fauna moved with the confidence of what she knew was possible. With Andolin watching, she attuned to the Aether, set her anchor, and then set herself free, an act of severing her ground to such a degree that she became little more than a ghost or a spirit...or a shadow. Instantly, Andolin recognized it as projection, though Fauna's methods were rather unique and different from what he had seen. Despite their different approaches, the result was the same, and soon enough Fauna's body was limp and almost too relaxed as her spirit floated free, a very real and present entity in the aether that reflected upon the tether in so much as it could be almost seen my mundane eyes...and possibly it might be able to see back into the tether as well.<hr>(OOC: Thread impassable for Fauna while she's out-of-body and flitting around the Aether like a ghost!)

In the Aether...

Floating over her own body, the world according to Fauna was now a bland place of grays, whites, and blacks. Color was still there, but it had less meaning, less value. Instead, she was filled with not only the vision of the Tether, but also the Aether through which she moved...a world of wards, shields, and foci, one of old magics...old magics, spells that predated the city's very construction that protected it's walls, it's corridors, and it's chambers, though many of them were faded and useless and no longer functional. She could see Andolin nearby, a scattering of wards and trinkets upon him that protected him from at least casual spells. Strangely, the office itself lacked any great protections and defenses, a curious result of the office's last occupant, a man that gave little concern to archaic sorcery in favor of the power within his mind.

...and then she went down. First, into the Antechamber...a very vast hall that gave her a sense of vertigo at first, it's cavernous height stretching out below her tall enough to insure that any fall would be perilous. But she could not fall....she was a spirit only...and so she drifted down...down...until she slipped through the floor and into....

....the kitchens. They were not busy, but work continued, chopping, boiling, baking, and preparing. No one noticed her...she was not so easy to see even had they known what to look for...but as she gazed upon the Tether, it was likely that she could be seen from the Tether as well. But the kitchens were not her goal, and so she descended again...

....into carnage. She was in the dungeons now, and all around her were the broken bodies of men...of Purple Guardsmen...crushed under stone and torn horribly, many of whom still moved and struggled to get away, though only a few of their torches remained lit, and they were fading quickly. Blood washed over the floor in a great pool, and those who still survived struggled to clamber up from among the mangled forms of their comrades, something horrible having just visited upon these men, an entire squad...perhaps two...of Purples. Soon enough, the hallway would be blanketed in complete darkness. But light was only necessary for viewing the Tether: in the aether, Fauna could still see readily...and what she saw was perhaps more disturbing...

Wrong. The infested power here was new to Fauna, power that was not of light or darkness, mindmagic or sorcery. The threads of power here were from something else, alien and exotic and clearly not of the Aether itself. This was the power of the Nether, spreading out like a system of thick, ropey roots that choked out even the Aether itself, Fauna's movements growing sluggish and difficult and her vision of the aether cloudy and indistinct.

[Andolin]

Oblivious to the dangers below, Andolin watched and admired Fauna in the moment her shadow was created. Noting that it was not unlike an aetheric projection that was similar to his own ability to scry. He had not used his scrying stone in the Citadel for fear of triggering ancient wards. The fact that Fauna succeeded caused him to determine to try scrying within the confines of the keep. As badly as he wanted to rush and grab his scrying stone, he did not. He needed to protect Fauna. Instead, he went to get the flaming sword of Anochrim. With this magical blade, he might be able to injure a spirit that was attracted to Fauna's body.

Upon retrieving the nearby blade, he returned to her body and created and extended shields over her body as well. Hurry back Fauna. He had no idea of the horror that awaited her shadowy eyes, thinking instead that some isolated murderous creature had invaded the dungeon. It made him think of the footprint he noted at the bottom of the dungeon. It also made him scheme to rid himself of Ulder and Valsert. He could send them after Elaine and they would either perish, and accomodate him thereby, or slay the creature, and perform a service for him. Either way he would benefit. Those were his favorite kind of schemes.

Already he was becoming impatient. As much as he liked control, playing nursemaid to Fauna's body was hardly satisfactory.

[Fauna Winthrope]

ooc: Yikes! I was afraid of that. *is scared now*
[hr][/hr]
It actually worked! It was all theories and experimentations yet it worked and Fauna was elated with the possibilities of her spell.

At the dungeon, Fauna’s shade flittered down towards the dungeon. Indifferently, she looked at the dead Purple Guards. She was correct, the Daemon had already dealt with Andolin’s guards and she knew that the Nether Creature was powerful, and it sent gleeful thoughts to her mind. If they could only harness the power of the creature, they would be unassailable! But something stopped her, this exotic energies surrounding her. Although the shade did not need air, it started to suffocate, its essence seemed to dimmer. But Fauna remembered this energies, she had tapped into it before and she found it exhilarating, almost titillating… This vast power of Nether energy.

At the Major Domus’ room. “They are dead.” Fauna’s pain whispery voice reported back to the Major Domus, her eyes still closed and her face seemed dead and so very far away. It was strange, Andolin could see everywhere around him were flickering shadows and only the young, dark sorceress had no shadows to cast. She was still bleeding, blood was still oozing from her hand which was still placed upon the floor before her. “The guards you sent are dead.” She continued matter of factly. And then her buxom chest started to heave, as if breathing was very hard, she started to sweat, the candle behind her wavering, flickering the shadows that surround them.

“The Nether is so thick here!” She whispered in an awe filled voice yet laced with struggled effort, as if breathing was very hard for her. “It feels like the Tether and Aether were rift opened and the Nether essence leaking out from that tear… It is very hard to penetrate… Elaine is nowhere in sight… I would have to delve deeper…”

She was confused, she had used Blood Magick to empower her spell but at the onset, flittering through into the Netheric filled dungeon seemed an impossible task. She needed more blood; she needed more essence of Nether Energies. “I need more blood, Andolin…” Her breath was ragged, almost painful. “Slash my hand more.” She wouldn’t be able to move; it was impossible to cut herself and empower her spell and she needed Andolin’s assistance.

And then, the young dark, sorceress got an epiphany, she was swimming through the tunnel of the Aether, and the Aether at the dungeon was thin. Well, there was a solution to that, she needed to tap the Nether Power itself and swim into the Nether straw. Her spell was Nether based also, as it used the essence of blood magick. She hoped that Andolin’s warding was stable and powerful enough to counter any thing that could attack her on this vulnerable state. She was hoping that the seeming illusionary emotion of torment and pain she had laced around her shade would fool any deamon on thinking she was a Nether Creature. And if they did, they could only attack this shade, and will be blocked by the Blood Warding which Andolin had erected around her physical body.

At the dungeon, the shade hesitated a few flickers as it encountered the Nether essence around it. And then, its blue eyes slanted in resolve and then plunged and swam deeper through the air, trying to flitter ahead through the Nether essence like a liquid oozing into a straw, its eyes and ears opened, looking for the ever elusive blind woman named Elaine.

[Grant]

In the Office of the Major Domos...

The blonde woman simply fell silent, clearly away from her form. And predictably, her body went limp and motionless, a stage puppet with it's strings cut. Even the most casual of inspections demonstrated to Andolin that, while she was still very much alive, her spirit had gone, her aura evaporated. She might have been a corpse for all he might have sensed from her magic now.<hr>In the dungeons...

Try as she might, Fauna knew her words were not returning to her body. Her body seemed...almost like a vague memory to her now, an indistinct thing that she might manage to manipulate from the Aether with some practice and experimentation, but for now the process eluded her, forcing her to report her findings only after she had returned.

But that was not her only unpleasant surprise. The threads of power around her were not similar to anything she had handled in the past. She recognized them for what they were, but they were...different. Gone was the flavor of darkness or dark magic, light or passion...gone was the sense of identity to the threads of power around her, leaving them sterile, lifeless, and very, very alien, things that should not exist, either in her world or the Aether beyond.

...and then there was darkness. Complete darkness, the last of the torches failing in the hallway. All sight within the Tether was gone to her now, blinding Fauna's ghost and leaving her with only her imperfect, clouded view of the Aether as her guide. And it was an imperfect guide, a view not unlike being caught within some great network of thick, twisting roots that blocked her sight in every direction. There was a small flicker of light, however...a tiny source or spark of something different in the distance, below her and to the left, the source vague and hidden by the tangled mass of roots though it's light could clearly be seen.

[Fauna Winthrope]

In the Aether of the Dungeons.

Damnation! If the shade could speak out loud, it would have started cursing its way through the dungeon. Indeed, Fauna was worried now, her spell had worked but it was still imperfect, she would have to polish the weaving if she had the time, but at the present, the young, blond sorceress would have to focus upon the task at hand.

The shadow hesitated once more as darkness surround it. The air around her was indeed different, and the shade was at a lost if she could continue. Around her were the twisting roots of pure Nether Power, choking her and draining the Aether, which she needed as air. She would have to work fast, this was something beyond her capabilities, and she would just investigate if Elaine was dead or alive and then proceed back to the safety of Andolin’s chamber. Yes, she had a lot of things to report back, and hoped that the Major Domus was not getting impatient, he seemed like the patient man, or so she hoped.

But what was that? Within that grayish darkness, a small spark caught the shade’s attention, its blue eyes -- the only color that could be seen upon its grayish and black shadowy appearance -- widened in curiosity. Maybe it was the blind woman, the shade thought, and with an amused, terrified thought, she felt like Elaine herself, blind and helpless around her. As if taking a deep breath, the shade breathe and tap every Aetheric Energies it could carry, and holding it around her, she plunged and swam through the black and blinding Netheric power, the little spark of light as her guiding beacon of hope.

[Andolin]

Not hearing any report from Fauna's lips, Andolin had no choice but to sit and wait, his senses alert for anything unusual.

[Grant]

Indifference.

That was the sense of the tendrils of energy that Fauna passed as she swarm through the Aether, slipping through the thick roots of power that were clearly not native to the Aether. She had already witnessed their strange apathy, and now she detected their alien, other-world presence was not unlike the very roots they appeared to be. Lifeless...indifferent...inhuman...not formed of any passion or power, as she had noted before. They were an absence of the magical aether she had come to know, an inverted perversion that was little more than a backward reflection of what power she had seen used in the past, and unlike the subtle mindmagics with their thin, weak, but very human currents, this was not unlike tidal waves she might see from a machine, cold, careless, and utterly useless to her.

You need to be careful here, Fauna, came a voice nearby. She knew without looking that it was Tarrant. You might wish to get away. There are some things...some powers...for which you aren't yet prepared, he offered, his spiritual voice filtering over her from the darkness beyond, echoing through the Aetheric forest.

She had descended down to the Catacombs, a series of halls made of dark stone set into the ground with a floor of chipped and discarded rock gravel. There was light here...thin, vaporish, weak light...and she could see a glimmer of illumination in the Tether up ahead, a very long distance ahead down the long corridor. The glimmer of light was ahead as well, but to her right and beyond the thick, sturdy walls, blocked from sight in the Tether but very clear to see in the Aether. It was...changing, the light shifting in color and power and affect, but it remained where it was, further ahead than the mundane light she saw and somewhat to the right.<hr>Back within the safety of the Office of the Major Domos, Andolin could only watch as Fauna remained motionless and beyond control of her body, though her eyes moved and shifted rapidly and her pulse seemed to rise and race at a disturbing speed. She did not seem unhealthy, but it was clear her spell was taking it's toll upon her.

[Fauna Winthrope]

If Fauna was calmly taking it all in before, she now was not. It was Tarrant’s voice that shocked her to the very core of her shadowy being. Her shade floundered inside that Netheric, lifeless surrounding, as if drowning and loosing its Aetheric breath. She had to get out. She had to get out now. This was way too dangerous for her.

With all the force she could muster, Fauna’s shade struggled upward, like a swimmer drowning and trying to get a hang of a lifeline from the surface. It turned its back from the beckoning light and swam upward once again, the Aetheric Realm now its beacon of survival from the Netheric ropes that surrounded it and choked it, suffocating it to the very last core of its shady being.

Damnation! It cried silently as it struggled upward back to its physical body, back to the warm safety of Andolin’s room. She cared not for Elaine anymore. If she was dead, so be it. If she was not, she will be, soon. The Nether was too thick here, the power of the Nether Creatures and the Nether itself manifesting physically that not even the Aether or the God’s power can penetrate. The shade kicked and clawed its way up. Pulling on the strands of thin Aetheric energies back to her physical body. She had gathered enough information for the Major Domus and it was enough. She wouldn’t be able to protect him further if she was dead.

ooc: I was going to post that Fauna safely got back from the dungeon but I don't want to assume.

[Grant]

(OOC: Just in time, too This thread is now passable for Fauna once more)

Recoiling instantly from the hideous system around her, Fauna fled upward, clawing through the roots and slipping between them though they tried to close around her spirit...or perhaps they merely shifted and moved, making her path so very arduous indeed, almost as thick as any perfect ward or circle. In moments she had returned to her body, her breath coming back in a loud gasp and her mind fuzzy and drained from the effort...not unbearably drained, though, her magics well within her strength.

Andolin noticed the moment she had recovered...and he noticed something else, too, a tendril of something different, a power that was clearly demonic but motivated by nothing, a very real taint of the alien realm that was very much a part of his world now. It followed and tangled upon Fauna's shade, only to impact their ward with a shuddering challenge that gave the ward to quiver and shudder under the impact, the thread bearing considerable strength but not quite enough to break their protections. In the next moment, Fauna was awake and the tendril had disappeared, fleeing as if it had never been.

[Andolin]

Fauna returned just as he was considering taking certain liberties with her prson. Regretting that he had not considered it before, having a beautiful woman laying comatose at his feet all but invited a peek here and there beneath her clothing ... just a search for weapons mind you.

Glad that he was not caught in the act, his back stiffened as she returned to her body and he noted something foreign chasing after her. He was ready to take a swing with Anochrim's blade when he noted that the warding worked. Andolin could not help but assume that Fauna had narrowly escaped some unfortunate fate.

Shaking her awake gently, he uttered, "Fauna, wake up. Tell me what you saw." He was anxious for a report. Maybe she had seen the beast in the catacombs.

[Fauna Winthrope]

ooc: Sorry, had a very busy week with work.
[hr][/hr]
With a flutter of her well arched, upswept, incredible fringes of eyelashes, Fauna opened her eyes just as Andolin had shaken her. She gasped and wheezed her breath, as if she had held it for quite some time, her bosom heaved heavily as she tried to catch oxygen and her deep, blue eyes trying to focus around her and settled wildly upon the worried face the Major Domus.

“They…” She gasped. “Are… all… dead…” Her breathing started to normalize. “The guards you’ve… sent are all dead…” And then she felt the biting pain in her hand, still oozing with her own blood. With a grunting pain, her flawless face filled with discomfort, she nursed her bloodied hand. She whimpered slightly and tried to ignore the pain, focusing herself before the Major Domus. She hissed with slight pain and gritted her teeth and from her pouch she took a small handkerchief and crudlley bandaged her wounded hand. Within the flickering darkness, Fauna noted the Blood Warding around her and the blood smear upon floor, her blood dripping upon her gown.

“The Nether is thick there.” She continued after a painful pause. She knew she looked untidy but Fauna ignored it, knowing that the Major Domus would like to hear her report. She would compose and fixed herself and the mess she had done upon the Major’s room later.

Haltingly, still nursing her wounded hand, still sitting upon the floor looking up at Andolin within the shadowy, flickering darkness, Fauna told everything she had witnessed and felt (her point of view) in the dungeon to the Major Domus. After that, with all the composure she could muster, she stood. The casting did not taxed her greatly and Fauna still had enough will to fix herself awkwardly with the crude bandage in her hand, although she was growing a very mild headache.

I guess I have to fix this. She glanced around the floor with her and Andolin’s blood marked upon it. We wouldn’t want the servants seeing these.

“I’m not sure if my findings helped you at all, Lord Azarin.” She noted as she glanced back at the man, her flawless face white under that dim, flickering light of the candle. “What are you going to do? It is certain that a Lord Deamon lurks beneath the Dungeon and its power is growing by the flicker.” She stooped and with her breath, she blew the candle out and then crossing the room, she drew the curtains open, blanketing the room with sunlight, their blood ritual clearly seen upon the floor.

[Andolin]

Helping her bandage Fauna's hand, Andolin took to his feet and assisted her in doing likewise. Her news was most troubling. Moving to take two bottles of wine, Andolin moved calmly to pour the scarlet contents upon the floor where the blood marks were, diluting the nature and content of the circle. He then dropped the other bottle of red wine atop it, causing the bottle to break and spill its contents over the same area. Thus was the blood obscured.

"You clumsy fool!" he shouted towards the doorway for theatrical reasons. They now each had an excuse for why their hands were wounded ... broken glass. "I shall have to have the servants clean up this mess," he announced with a knowing smile. Really, Andolin was a natural at such things.

He would have smiled more broadly had the news not been so grim. It appeared that he was sitting atop a demonlord that had taken possession of the entire catacombs and now was moving upwards. Where are the cursed Lectors from the University when one needs them?

Pulling a chord to summon servants, Andolin expressed his set of orders. The letter with regrets was to be delivered to the Western Ambassador, servants were to clean up the mess on the floor, and he and Fauna would go in search of the mysterious Lady Rioja. Failing that, they would seek out the Imperial Magus, who at last report, had turned himself into a crane.

"We go to find Rioja," he mentioned to Fauna, indicating for her to follow. He kept Anochrim's sword with him for protection. He was also tempted to summon a minor daemon to learn what he could, but he dared not do so in front of Fauna. So, off they went to Rioja's quarters, allowing for no delay. He could only hope that the tatooed lady was in. She might know what to do to combat the thing.

[Fauna Winthrope]

Fauna hid a smile, she knew a theatric when she saw one, she was good at it and she was surprised that THE Major Domus could pull out a natural stunt like that. He was… interesting. She would have tittered silvery peals of laughter but couldn’t, the stinging pain in her hand had bereft her of that. With an appreciative smile, Fauna nodded and set her face grim and theatrically apologetic for the sake of the servants who would enter.

Quickly, before any servants could enter, Fauna took the blood-smeared candle and her dagger and placed it inside her satchel. It would be evidences that the Major Domus was playing with something dark and she wouldn’t want any rumors filtering around the castle that the Lord Azarin was cavorting with something that the citizens of the Citadel should shun.

She arched an eyebrow, puzzled who this Lady Rioja was, nevertheless, the young, blond sorceress followed the Major Domus, the pain in her hand decreasing. She noticed the sword Andolin was carrying but didn’t comment on it yet she felt the Aethic Magick surrounding the said item. Demurely and with all the imperiousness she could pull out, she stately followed behind Major Domus, curious of what would happen and how the Major Domus would battle the Deamon Lord that was growing beneath their feet.

[Grant]

It was over in only a matter of flickers, the servants quick to rush in and examine the mess. Andolin's carpet...scarlet, close to what he had requested...had replaced the drab brown that had been here the day before, but it would certainly not survive such a pollution of red wine, the slightly wrong color making the carpet perhaps more tainted to look upon than it if had been a black stain. Surveying the damage critically, the servants exchanged a depressed look...how many carpets will we go through in this chamber?...before they scurried to carry out his orders, collecting the message and attending to the floor at once.

The Black Lady had not been a common sight in the Citadel since the Caesar's death. She hadn't taken his passing well, largely due to the interest and responsibility she took for his care while he was bedridden. That had only been two days ago, and as Andolin and Fauna moved through the austere, largely abandoned hallways towards her chambers once more...she had been an Imperial Guest, and as such she was housed on the third floor...they found her door open and her sitting room largely empty of any decorations or personal items at all. Two large trunks dominated the center of her sitting room, and another open doorway off of this one led to her bed chamber, a room from which she emerged to notice the pair.

"Lord Azarin, please, come in..." she invited, her demeanor calm, composed, and almost icy, which was how Andolin remembered her to be initially though he had seen reports of a considerable amount of damage done to her furniture on the day Anochrim was announced dead. "How can I help you today? Oh, and congratulations, Major Domos."

[Andolin]

Looking around the room, Andolin could not help but ask, "are you planning on leaving milady? I certainly hope not. Never has there been a greater need for your knowledge than now."

Suddenly remembering his manners, Andolin introduced Fauna. "This is Fauna Winthrope, one of my new assistants. She has training from the University of Magick," he was quick to add in hopes of dispelling the obvious thought that, with Fauna's buxom beauty, she was assisting him in lovemaking only. "This is Lady Rioja, Fauna, one of the most respected minds in all things arcane and secret."

"I have not time to tell you how I know such things, but, there is a creature loose in the dungeons beneath the Citadel. It is a daemon lord that seems to have found a rift into the tether right here, right beneath us. It appears to have murdered everyone in the dungeons and has just slaughtered 20 Purple Guardsmen that I sent to investigate. Elaine, the blind bard, is down there trapped by the creature, and it seems to be gaining strength by the flicker."

"I have some modest charms against the nether, but this is a full fledge invasion of the Citadel by creatures of the nether. I do not know how to combat it. I have summoned the Lectors from the University most urgently. The Imperial Magus appears to have transformed himself into a talking bird and is otherwise engaged. Sending more guardsmen is not the answer, and I refuse to evacuate the Citadel without a fight." He was not about to yield his so newly won power so easily.

"I think that you, and perhaps the various high priests of the Light may be our only and best hope. Have you any advice to offer?" he asked urgently and hopefully?

[Fauna Winthrope]

“Lady Rioja.” Fauna murmured and nodded her head respectfully before the woman, carrying her gown and sweepingly giving the woman a graceful curtsy. The young blond sorceress found Lady Rioja very intriguing, here was a woman who carried power and secrets of the Arcane arts and the blond sorceress would have wanted to discuss with her the theories and knowledge of the arts. But now was not the time, there was a Deamon loose in the dungeon and they were here for answers not for social engagement. "I am honored by this meeting."

So, she remained silent, nursing her blood stained, wounded hand, the pain diminishing to a mere stinging ache. She would need a professional healer to have it healed. Perhaps a priestess or a bottle of that healing potion she had seen that day in the Entrance Hall of the University of Magick. It felt like ages ago, as she remembered that time she was applying as a student of the Campus, her hopes were still high and her expectation for the University glimmering, but she was blind then, and now, her eyes were opened. Well, she was an alchemist as well, she could research how it could be done, if she had enough time for study and experimentation, or perhaps a laboratory of her own.

But at the present, the blond sorceress stepped back a pace, giving the two more space yet Fauna’s face remained composed and imperious as well, her deep blue eyes looking straight and evenly at the Lady Sorceress, anticipatingly waiting for her to speak out an advise she could give.

[Grant]

"It is a pleasure to meet you, magus Winthrope," curtseyed Lady Rioja with a quick bob. She gave Fauna a very close and critical examination. An assistant? No doubt a great comfort to you, Lord Azarin, she almost smiled, though she knew she was being unfair. Indeed, she had found herself to be strangely unfair with everything in the Citadel since she had arrived. "I hope you're prepared for a great many challenges, Fauna," she continued, using Fauna's familiar name almost instantly, a custom of her homeland that was considered rather inappropriate in the Empire between those just introduced. "It is...the only thing that can be considered certain here."

Turning at Andolin's comment, she waved negligently at the boxes. "Of course I'm leaving, Lord Azarin. My loyalty was never to the Empire, but to Anochrim himself. And unless my mind fails me..." again "...then I have every reason to return to my homeland and insure we're prepared for what will surely be a very....difficult future. I have faith that you and the Council will survive and overcome, and when you do, you might look to the East for help. My place is there, so that will be where you can find me."

Rioja paused and considered the situation of the demon. A great demon beneath the Citadel would be a problem. A great problem, no less, but a problem that could be contained and eliminated with....

Did he say Elaine?

"Attend to me carefully, Andolin. I have no easy solutions to offer you, but I do have knowledge...things I will have you understand. First, a demon becomes vulnerable because it does not belong anywhere but in the Nether. It is...an invader here, an alien, disconnected and isolated. But if there is indeed a rift to the Nether below the Citadel, the demon will be unbeatable so long as it remains near the rift. Banishing it, slaying it, even trapping it will not work now because it can simply...return at will, and bring whatever it needs from the Nether into our world. In a sense, the creature now belongs below the Citadel, and so it can no longer be banished. The only way to be rid of it is to close the rift first. So long as the bridge to the Nether remains open, no amount of power or craft will eliminate the demon permanently."

"But you have a greater problem, Andolin. It is not the demon that will destroy the Citadel, but Elaine. Do you recall her divine...Song she used to heal Ano....the Caesar? Elaine is very unique, Major Domos. She can hear and...by virtue of her own talents...affect the nature of life itself, either in a person or in a place. It's a very potent gift, and it can literally alter the very fabric of our world in ways that might seem insignificant at first, but would have powerful impact for the future. If Elaine is tricked or contrived to use her voice for a demon, then we're lost. Imagine what would have happened of she chose to sing a different song for the Caesar...one that would change him into a monster or alter the very fabric that makes him who he is? She can do this not just to a single person, but to the entire Citadel, a situation that will result in the Netherworld's triumph on this island. Imagine Nipponar, Andolin...but there will be no rebuilding if Elaine's voice changes the Citadel into a fortress for the Nether."

[Andolin]

Contain and mend the rift, rescue Elaine? Anthing else? How about conquering the world armed only with a spoon and no help? he muttered in his mind. He noted that Rioja was loyal to Anochrim and the beginnings of an idea ignited in his mind.

"I fear, Lady Rioja, that the situation is bleak. I have not the power or the knowledge to either rescue Elaine from the daemon, or to close the rift. I can command more soldiers to their death. I can continue to summon the Lectors of the University to my aid, and hope that a talking crane can devise some solution, or I can leave the Citadel along with you, knowing the Citadel, if not the world, is doomed. If Elaine is overcome, as she surely must be in time, I doubt there will be even time to get your boxes safely delivered to the harbor," he mused aloud.

Looking at his sword, he uttered, "here is Anochrim's sword, given to me by his sister, in the hope that it could continue his fight. But, I am no warrior. It is more symbolic perhaps. It would be a pity if his legacy was that his death brought about the fall of the Empire," he lamented quietly. "I too was devoted to him, for he raised me from obscurity. Now, it seems, that I will fail him, unless I can be given the knowledge or the tools to have some hope of success." His voice seemed embattled, but it was designed to encourage Rioja to stay and fight.

His mind strayed to his Pan Amulet. It would give him luck when he called upon it, but would it rescue Elaine? He doubted it. He could summon the Ice Queen. He knew how, but she would be angry and unlikely to want to help. He needed to reach the Mother, to protect Elaine, but would the High Priestess respond to a note if he sent one? Not enough time. The priests of Illuminatus would help, but he should use Sosa for that.

"I suppose I could summon the high priests of the Light to a conclave here in the Citadel, but I suspect it will be too late for Elaine," he noted. "Steel and determination are not enough to save her."

[Fauna Winthrope]

“Yes, I am, Lady Rioja, I am very well prepared.” Fauna gave her a cool, challenging look. She had dealt with Tarrant, Deamons and the University Campus and the young, blond sorceress was proud that she was still standing. And then she remained silent, acutely listening to what the great lady’s counsel. She was awed by her, she knew she held great power and it would be a great loss to the Citadel if she should flee.

Of course! Fauna should have thought about that. What Lady Rioja said was too true and she berated herself for not thinking about it. The Nether were an alien creature, they could primarily exist here in the Tether plane. Banishing it wouldn’t solve the problem, it would simply come back again through the rift in the Tether. It was not a summoned creature, but a creature that willed itself here in the Tether. And what would a Nether Creature do to gain more power? What else, to spread the Nether here in the Tether and that’s where Elaine comes in. She could alter the Tether into Nether; her sorcerous voice could do that. She was not the voice of the Gods anymore, but the pure voice of negative energy, of the Nether, and Fauna shivered as she remembered the feeling of the Dungeon, the lifeless feeling of pure… pure… pure something she could not name.

It is too much! Fauna’s mind reeled with all the implications it could bring. They need to stop Elaine from coming out of the Dungeon and stop her from spreading the Nether Voice. They need more time, and time was something they did not have.

But… The young blond sorceress mind was rapidly thinking. If the portal from the Nether was to be closed, someone would have to go the Dungeon and bypass all the Nether Creatures and the Lord Deamon itself and Fauna was pretty sure that it would not let someone do that. Problems on top of problems and she feared that the Lord Domus, nay, the Citadel, actually, the whole of Tazlure would be doomed if Elaine would be left free to spread the Voice of the Nether. If she was the Voice of Life, she was now the Voice of Regicide, the voice of the Nether itself. Ooooh! She purred in awe, the Nether Creature was really cunning.

“Permission to speak, Great Lady? Lord Domus?” Fauna asked respectfully, waiting patiently for their attention.

“Elaine must not see the light of day…” She paused. Elaine was actually blind, so she wouldn’t be able to see. Oh dear! “What I meant was, it is folly to fight loosing battle and saving Elaine right now is suicidal. We are not sure, but it is logical to assume that the Deamon Lord has her now.” Her voice was growing with confidence by the flicker. “She must remain in the Dungeon until we have enough resources to stop her and close the rift.”

“She must not be saved.”

“For the meantime, we need to contain and quarantine the Dungeon and by doing so, containing the Nether Energies from spreading. We must close the Dungeon, by sorcery or any means possible. Possibly erecting magickal barriers or mundane barriers for all possible way out of the dungeon, leaving only one exit that we can watch. It could buy us time…” She shrugged, it was the only thing she could think of.

“The Campus could help you with that, containing the Nether Energies from spreading by erecting a barrier. But I am not sure how to seal off the Dungeon, save for a major earthquake.” And then she trailed of, knowing that she had spoken a lot of things and hoping that there was still time and hope for the Citadel.

It would either be Elaine who would die or the rest of Tazlure and Fauna knew that there was no other choice. What she was planning was Elaine’s death and she knew that the idea was flittering in the air.

"We must hurry," Fauna insisted, still nursing her wounded hand. "By the flicker, Elaine is on her way out of the dungeon and the Nether spreading out with her."

"There is no Anochrim now, Lady Rioja." Her blue eyes softened, reaching out with her heart to the Great Lady. "If the Ceasar was alive, he would have tried to help his people. It wuold be his wish to do so. Right now, by the virtue of his title, Lord Andolin Azarin is trying to save Ceasar's people. He IS the Ceasar right now. He is Anochrim right now, by helping Ceasar's people, Lord Azarin had taken the Ceasar's role. Would you desecrate all of the Ceasar's undertaking because you are still lamenting? There is no time for that, Lady Rioja!" She said imperiously, equally, woman to woman, mage to mage. "Cesar loved his people, and by fleeing, by rejecting Lord Azarin's cry for help, you are rejecting the people whom the Ceasar loved to his deathbed!"

She gulped and cringed, waiting for a sorcerous thunderbolt to strike her.