arthenni-s-blog

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rxnnxlhylxne‌:

Once again, Rinnil felt his anxiety and paranoia flare up, trying to tell him to not give any more information away to Arthenni, but he ignored it. No reason to be cagey now. Too much had already been revealed.

Rinnil nodded. “Yes… She’s my sister.” Rinnil looked down. “It’s been… a really long time since I’ve seen her…” After a moment, Rinnil looked back up at Arthenni. “Do you… Have you talked to her recently? Do you know how she is? Is she okay?”

Sister. That made a lot of sense. So Thalra had been researching the Order because of her brother...now this was some excellent tea. Long lost siblings, one searching for the other, to be reunited at least. She couldn’t wait to hear all about it. Could be a good book idea.

“I have, actually. We’ve done some things together, ate brunch together a few times. She’s really a wonderful person, and she’s okay as far as I know.” As far as Thalra let on, anyway. “You sure you don’t want anything to eat...?”

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ark-coquelicot‌:

  having someone who knew about the risks ask to see the object itself was surprising, however, also expected from someone in the wizardry branch of society. arkanus hesitated for a moment but soon took the tome out of the bag he carried close to his body, after looking around to make sure no one was paying attention to them from outside of the alley.

  as he stared at the symbol in the cover of that artifact, a shy murmur started to hit his ears, he knew that soon those would call for the voices once again. he offered her the thing so that she could see it, but far enough so she wouldn’t touch it since only that could already make her hear the whispers of madness and power, and that would be dangerous.  “here it is…”

Arthenni wasted no time in sketching the design on the cover into her notes. Maybe it was just her, but she thought she could feel the magical energy radiating off of the book. And it certainly wasn’t a positive aura. Magic was often a blessing, but it could just as easily be used as a curse.

“Alright...interesting. I’ll see what I can figure out in the library, yeah? Maybe whatever this is has been recorded before.” Arthenni tucked her notes away before looking back to Arkanus. “Just...be careful. But I guess I don’t need to tell you that.”

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Sydney Park by Shelby Goldstein

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ark-coquelicot‌:

  the man nodded at her words for he knew that wasn’t an easy thing to do but it was the best move to make.  “teleportation magic is quite hard to use but, if we do everything right, i’m sure we can make it work…”  arkanus spoke, though it was more to himself.

  “i can do that. i don’t have anywhere to go at the moment since i think moving from place to place would only increase the odds of someone finding me. i’ll be going to a city i know quite well… somewhere i can make a living while gathering information from the wizards easily… and there i’ll be able to work on the circle from my side.”  the boy had already thought of such place, and what place would it be if not the center of bounty hunting on the kingdom? runswick. everyone would come and go to that place, information would not be scarce.

“Perfect. Then with a little time and work, I think we can get this to work out.” Arthenni hadn’t been sure if Arkanus was going to be up for such an extended timeline, but if he was willing to try, then she could work on it on her end as well.

“Is it...okay if I see it? Not the inside of it, of course, just the outside. Is there anything that might give a hint to what it is?” If they had at least a year until anything could be done regarding that tomb, then maybe something could be researched in the meantime. She had connections, she could figure out a lot of things.

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rxnnxlhylxne‌:

In a moment, Rinnil’s face lit up. “You… You know Thalra?”

Whoever this woman was, she knew Thalra, the other half of himself. Rinnil knew that she was in the city. It was the only reason he was here. But maybe Arthenni could provide insight as to how and why Thalra had allied herself with Efrain. Though, he still wasn’t sure if he could fully trust this woman. “Do you know where she is?”

“I do know her. I can’t say I know where she’s at, though...I can’t keep track of her.” She was always all over the place. But then again, Arthenni didn’t exactly stick in one town either. She really needed to get back to Arx at some point.

“Last I saw her, though, she was here in Khaggon. Who knows if she’s still here or not. If I wasn’t out of magic for the day, I could send a message and find out. I’m...guessing she’s someone important, then. Family?” It seemed like a very reasonable assumption.

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ark-coquelicot‌:

  “that is true…”  he agreed, looking down at his feet as he thought of the odds of his illusions getting dispelled. arkanus knew for a fact that he was above average when it came to illusion magic, a prodigy, if he would say so, but to avoid detection by those wizards he’d need a lot more training.  “maybe…-”  the blue-eyed man stopped mid-sentence, looking up at the other wizard with bright eyes.

  “maybe you could open a  temporary teleportation circle  that would connect to one i’d make at my house. if everything goes right, no one will ever know i was there!”  he finally said, the chances of them having spells to detect magic once inside that place were very low since the tomb itself was filled with magic in the first place.

Arthenni paused a moment to think about the offered idea, before speaking again. “...you know what. That’s not a bad idea at all. That’s really quite good.” She sorted around in her bag a moment, digging out some paper and something to write with so she could scribble down some thoughts and ideas.

“It’ll...take some work. And some time. I don’t know that spell yet...it’s pretty high-level. And...if we’re doing a teleportation circle, we’ll need a permanent one on your side...which means you’ll need to know the spell too, and you’ll need to cast it in the same place every day for a year. Which is...a commitment.” She sighed, looking over the notes she had scribbled. It was truly a decent idea, but complicated and time-consuming.

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rxnnxlhylxne‌:

As Rinnil sat there, in this woman’s room, it occurred to him that something was off about what she had just said. He believer her when she said she hadn’t met him before, but the way she tried to brush it off like it didn’t mean anything… It didn’t feel right.

He leaned in closer, examining her. Rinnil didn’t believe that she meant any harm, at least not to him so far. Maybe she was just trying to protect someone. But who? Maybe just herself. That was definitely possible. But it didn’t exactly clear anything up. And at that moment, it was all getting a bit too much. “Just… stop. Please. I… I’m not going to hurt you, or anyone else. I don’t… I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore.” He heard tiredness in his own voice. Rinnil had been fighting for so long to keep it back, but it was starting to catch up to him.

Arthenni could practically feel the exhaustion that overtook the other as he spoke. He looked like someone at the end of his rope. That’s when it clicked for her, that he really wasn’t going to hurt her. He meant what he said, he wasn’t here to hurt anyone.

“...alright. You do remind me of someone I know. Her name’s Thalra. Maybe you know her too, then?” The world felt like an incredibly small place for this to be happening, but apparently it was. Out of all the people for her to run into. In the capital city, an incredibly populated area, no less. Arthenni wasn’t sure how much faith she put in gods, but if anything could be their doing, this could be.

[arthenni-s-blog]

Sydney Park for Pulse Spikes Spring 2019

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rxnnxlhylxne‌:

As Arthenni examined him once the spell was gone, and the tattoo he presented to her, Rinnil assessed her reaction. He realized that, upon seeing his true form, his real face, there seemed to be a spark of… recognition? That confused him. He was very sure that he had never met this gnome before today. And he was sure that the recognition came from seeing what he really looked like, and not from seeing the tattoo.

Rinnil nodded. “Yes, they’re real. They’re real, they’re dangerous… and they’re everywhere… and I ran. I…” He looked down at his arm, still showing the tattoo. Slowly, his hand slightly shaking, he pulled his sleeve back down, and placed his arm over where the tattoo was under the fabric. “I was one of them. Not anymore.”

Rinnil looked back up at her, assessing the entire situation so far. Arthenni had done nothing to cause him any harm so far. Though whether that would continue still remained to be seen. What also remained to be seen was whether or not she could truly be trusted. And even though he was very sure they had never met before, he couldn’t be entirely sure she hadn’t seen him before today. It was a slim possibility, but still a possibility. He was willing to believe in slim possibilities nowadays. Running from the Order once seemed to be impossible to him. And yet, he’d done it.

“Do… do you know me? Have you seen me before?”

What a stroke of coincidence this was. To be asked about the Order not that long ago, something so obscure and hidden, and then run into someone who was a part of it with little effort on her part. If only everything could be this easy.

“Oh, uhm...you do seem familiar, but it’s probably just me. I don’t think I’ve met you before.” Arthenni shrugged, brushing off the topic like it was irrelevant. She wasn’t entirely sure what side of the game she was playing at here. On one hand, she didn’t want to unnecessarily lead him to Thalra, what if he was after her to hurt her? On the other hand, he was already here in Khaggon so he was close, and she really really wanted to know what was going on. So, she’d just let the conversation take her where it will.

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ark-coquelicot‌:

  “i can’t… it’s a place found by the university, which means there are wizards roaming around the area that are probably much stronger than me and that could level to my master even, and he was amazing…”  he sighed as he’d thought about that before but the chances of him getting inside the tomb without being seen were slim.

  suddenly, a thought came across his mind.  “maybe… if i use a spell to disguise myself… you can help me get in there?”  he asked, hopes up for her answer. it would be a lot to ask her, and also he couldn’t be sure that she really would be on his side, however, it really was a great idea to search the place where they’d found the tome for clues.

Arthenni sighed, tapping her fingers against her thigh as she thought. It was quite the request. “I mean...maybe. It would take some time, and some planning. I could probably request my own approval for access...I’m not sure how we could get you in. If it’s protected by high-ranking wizards, they may have some Dispel Magic wards up to prevent things like that from happening... And if we get caught...” Well, it would most likely turn out poorly for the both of them. Him for what society wanted him for, and her for helping him try to sneak into a restricted area.

“Well, at the very least, I could go in myself and have a look around. Take notes, report back. If we can’t figure out anything else.” She hadn’t expected to become involved in a tomb-raider-cursed-book mystery today, but here she was.

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rxnnxlhylxne‌:

Rinnil shook his head. He knew that what he truly needed, he wouldn’t get from this woman. And how could he even begin to explain his own knowledge of the Order? How could explain the past 100 years of his life? He had no desire to even try to explain what it had been like.

Rinnil looked down at his hands. Then, slowly, he pulled back the sleeve of his right arm. Turning it to show the underside of his arm, all that was visible was just bare brown skin due to the disguise spell Rinnil was still maintaining. He looked back up at Arthenni. Right then, from what he could see, it didn’t matter what he told her. Even if she was as innocent as she claimed to be, she already knew that the Order existed. Telling her how he was involved wouldn’t put her in any more danger than she already is with the knowledge she already had. And if she was lying to him and she really was with the Order… Well, then he was dead anyway.

He looked back down at his arm for a moment. Rinnil closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His entire life, he’d made stupid decisions and mistakes, his worst one having ruined his life. No decision he made now could be as bad as that one. Even if it led to his own death. A part of him was already dead anyway.

Without a word, he dropped his disguise spell, showing Arthenni his true, drow form. Rinnil opened his eyes, looking at Arthenni. He extended his arm, making it more obvious his reasoning for dropping the spell hiding what he really looked like. Now visible on his arm was a small tattoo. The same symbol they had been discussing, the symbol that sent him reeling and panicking on the street.

She knew that feeling, the familiar feeling of magic starting to shift in the air around them. Arthenni’s hand drifted instinctively towards the wand on her side, just in case. If this involved the Order, they could be really dangerous. Rinnil wasn’t the only one considering their safety here. But, she had invited the danger into her room, if that was the case. She might as well accept it.

The magic curtain dropped, and it took Arthenni a moment to adjust to the different person sitting in front of her. A magical disguise, of course...she should’ve known to check, just in case. Maybe this really was an assassin out to get her. But he didn’t seem hostile. In fact, oddly enough, he seemed...familiar. Like she had seen him before, or someone that looked like him. Thalra. The memory of the other’s thoughts resurfaced in her mind. That’s exactly who he reminded her of.

And so the plot thickens.

She looked down at the extended arm, at whatever it was he was offering towards her. The familiar symbol, marked onto someone who reminded her of Thalra. It was quickly starting to make sense to her why Thalra had been so interested in this Order now.

“...so they’re not just a story. They exist.” Arthenni said softly in realization. “And you’re...one of them? Why would you show me so easily?” Unless he was about to kill her. That seemed possible.

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rxnnxlhylxne‌:

Rinnil let out a cold and humorless laugh. Oh, he knew more than enough about the Order. He wished he could’ve claimed ignorance like this woman and meant it, as she seemed to. Suddenly, Rinnil felt it all like a giant weight on his shoulders. It took everything in him to stop the weight from overwhelming him. He couldn’t let himself fall apart now.

After a long moment, Rinnil sat in the spot she cleared for him, too tired to even try and hide his own emotional, mental, and even physical exhaustion. He ran his hands over his face, giving himself another moment to try and pull together any sort of coherent thought. “Yeah,” he managed to finally say, his voice quiet and tired. Gods, he was so tired. “Yeah, you could definitely say that…”

The tone of the conversation changed quite rapidly as the stranger sat, and the other’s exhaustion was palpable. He’d been through something, that was for sure. “I’m sorry...” She wasn’t sure what she was offering condolences for specifically, but it felt like it was needed. “Uhm...do you need anything? I can order some food up to the room if you’d like. Least I can do.” Arthenni was being the host, after all.

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Arthenni knew that this evening would be a busy one from the moment she received the invitation. Her first thought was how daring it was to host a ball like this in the middle of their current situation. If the recent moon festival was any sign of the current situation, then gathering everyone together in the same room would no doubt end poorly. It was presented with a facade of merrymaking, of peaceful interaction, but Arthenni knew the layers underneath. It would be a ball of spies, of information, of daggers and politics. No doubt the rulers knew that as well.

It was something Arthenni wouldn’t miss for the world.

As the day of the ball drew near, she found herself becoming popular. She already had a meeting set up with two people regarding a certain noble family, and yet another request had come in. She would have to hold off on any dancing for now.

She picked up a drink as she made her way out onto the balcony. The figure standing on the balcony stood out from the rest, as she looked like she was waiting for someone.

Arthenni sipped her drink and walked over. She took a moment to appreciate the view that she could see from her shorter vantage point off of the balcony, then looked to the other. “Waiting for someone? Or is that a secret?” Hopefully that would be enough of a knowing statement to tip her off on who she was.

Time: Evening Date: July 20th Location: Itresia, the Masyarakat Ball Persona: None Status: Closed, @arthenni-s

Through her travels, Zanni had often landed herself in a series of unsavoury jobs. The nature of these jobs never mattered, all that mattered was the thrill of being used. Through the grapevine a name was repeated time and time again: The Secret Keeper. 

Stood out on the balcony, Zanni can feel the vibrations of the music playing within the ballroom. There’s a scattering of people outside, keeping to their own private conversations, the odd person needing air from an excess of alcohol. Hopefully this meeting wouldn’t look too suspicious. Hell, she didn’t even know if this meeting was happening, all she could hope for was that her message had reached this all knowing stranger. 

Maybe this would be a waste of time. Coming to this damned ball was already dredging up memories; of serving for such an occasion, reciting a chorus of ‘yes sir’’s and ‘will that be all?’’s. Unseen unless necessary. But now the remnants of that life loomed over her, threatening to ensnare her at any moment. 

Which is why she chanced this meeting in the first place.

Every now and then, a door leading out would open, drawing Zanni’s attention. Nothing so far. A breeze dances through her hair, the cold nipping at her. An idle hand reaches to her back, only to retreat in disappointment as her blades are absent. Defenceless, Zanni remains on the balcony, watching and waiting.

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ark-coquelicot‌:

  “yes.”  he sighed, his fingers could feel the odd touch of that tome through the fabric. arkanus had never thought of destroying that object since the knowledge stored on the pages of such item could be important to their society, however, now that she’d suggested it, it really seemed like the right thing to do as he also didn’t want anybody else to have the fate of his master.

  “i agree with you that the curse cast upon this tome really makes it a dangerous artifact… but… doesn’t it also pique your curiosity, as a wizard, as for what this book contains that they had to seal it with such powerful bane? you can call me crazy… and maybe i am… but maybe there’s something useful inside this… do you still want to destroy it?”

As much as Arthenni hated to admit it...he made a valid point. There could be something crucially important on those pages. And Arthenni was known to be an avid follower of her curiosity.

“Well...you’re right. But it does no one any good if it can’t be read without something bad happening. Then...there has to be a way to dispel the curse on it. Or resist it. Maybe there are clues where you found it originally. Are you planning to go back there...?”

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thalrahylune‌:

Thalra suddenly wished for the protection of her mask again as she was surprised by the stabs of hurt and disappointment that rushed through her and that she was sure were clear on her face as her Raven took a step back from her, defensive. But, after all, it had been foolish of her to think any thing or person in her life could be separated from the politics of the game they were all playing constantly. Even people like The Jade Raven, who at first appeared so far removed from anything in Thalra’s life, was still drawn up and caught by the web of drama and secrets. Still, even though she had known this would be the result, to see the way her Raven’s gaze turned cold when she caught a glimpse of who Thalra really was– it hurt like a slap. “I see,” she said, quiet. Then she let the spell casting the lights around the room dissipate and they were all plunged into shadow. 

As soon as the spell was gone, Thalra spun away from The Jade Raven and glided towards the center of the room where there were a few comfortable armchairs placed around an empty fireplace. Thalra recast the cantrip, and this time the globules of light appeared together in the hearth of the fireplace, lighting the room as an artificial fire. She gestured for the two other women to come close and take a seat–  and they would have to now if they didn’t want to spend the whole conversation bathed in darkness. “I’m only recently acquainted with Efrain Crayhorn,” Thalra began, taking her seat in the middle chair so that Arthenni and The Jade Raven might do the same. “But since meeting him I’ve come to owe him a very substantial debt. One I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to repay. Therefore, he’s under my protection, and whatever your intentions are–” she looked at her Raven now, all emotion stripped away, “I will not see him come to harm.”

Thalra paused here and looked towards Arthenni. She had no personal stake in this beyond curiosity, and therefore was impartial, but they would need her magic. “Eobald Crayhorn is another matter entirely though.” This was where everything was going to change, so Thalra braced herself. Once she gave them this information, there would be no going back. “There is a door on the second floor of the Crayhorn estate that is warded magically. From what the servants of the estate have told me, it leads to Eobald’s study.” Her gaze fell to The Jade Raven again, watchful and calculating. “If you truly have questions about him, then I think that’s where you’ll find your answers.”

Arthenni wasn’t sure what sort of history had transpired between the other two, so the meaning of the comments and the changes in atmosphere weren’t clear to her, but she supposed that was their business to sort out. She was just here for the fun part - the information. Upon the gesture from Thalra, Arthenni claimed a seat near the fireplace.

Interest sparked in Arthenni’s expression as Thalra mentioned a warded door. Okay, there we go, now that was worth knowing. What could exist behind a door that required magical protection?

“That sounds like an excellent lead. I shouldn’t have too much of a problem sorting out a way to get through it. I’ll need a bit of time to do some studying.” It sounded like Dispel Magic might do the trick, depending on the nature of the ward. It’d be worth tracking down a copy of the spell and learning it. “We would also need to reach this door...is it too much to hope Efrain would give us access to it if we ask nicely?”

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ark-coquelicot‌:

  arkanus was relieved the woman actually believed his words, maybe there still was hope for him after all. he was only guilty of not calling for help right away when his master went mad, but that was it, deep down he knew nothing of that was his fault, but also, at the same time, a ‘wasn’t it, really?’ always appeared after thinking further.  “of course!”  he replied almost immediately to arthenni’s question.  “the book, it’s that tome’s fault.”  ark knew he might sound crazy at first, but it’d be up to her to decide whether to believe him or not.  “the insanity to master’s eyes… it must be because of the texts written on these pages. it must be…”  he shook his head, holding his bag against his side as it was where the tome was hidden. always next to him so no one would ever have to deal with that anymore.

“A book? There’s a book involved?” Arthenni glanced down to the bag he had begun to clutch tighter. Pieces were clicking together in her head. Insanity and a book. She’d heard tales of all sorts of cursed items in this world, but she couldn’t say she was an expert on the subject. With magic came curses, it was part of the arcane. It would explain a lot.

“Then it’s...something that could be destroyed, right? Surely. If it led to something like that happening, then it shouldn’t exist.”