The Dark (Deborah/Tiffania)

[Guan Yu]

Re: The Dark (Deborah/Tiffania)

The combination attack that the two ladies had used a few times so far was working fairly good, another undead soldier falling to it only serving to further the idea of it's effectiveness as the once-human assailant fell to Ran's blades. The knight was certainly not wasting the opportunity that the pair offered to him, his sickle blades coming down on another one of the undead as they were distracted, simultaneous downward strikes separating it and it's arms from each other before it too was kicked down to the ground. That one would not bother them anymore as it had no real means to get up without any arms, but it was still alive.

The single remaining undead was now in a rather bad position, but it knew no fear nor had the sense to surrender, so it kept on fighting in a brief effort to put any opponents down. The clumsy swings it gave were of no use though as Ran stepped back to take herself clear off the weapon's hit radius. The knight they had been helping advanced to help them clear the final one, clearing the distance with an impressive combat roll that he somehow pulled off in full armor before bringing the curved steel in his hands down on the unfortunate enemy, swinging both blades in a scissor-like attack to decapitate the final undead in a brutal display of strength.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: The Dark (Deborah/Tiffania)

Both of the blows the two women launched at the undead soldier hit it, dropping it to the ground, while the knight managed to cut the arms off another with his sickle-like swords. There was only one left, and though it mindlessly continued to attack Ran she easily got out of the way, allowing the knight to roll towards them and slice the creature's head off. Deborah took a little step back, a little shocked by the brutal action and still quite perturbed at the bloodless nature of the injuries the undead suffered. The encounter was finished, though, without a scratch to any of the three of them. That left the confronted by this strange knight... "Hello" the mage said tentatively, "we thought you might need some help. I suppose we may have been wrong, given how you handled yourself..." She held her left arm with her right hand, looking a little bit nervous... He could still be hostile, after all.

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: The Dark (Deborah/Tiffania)

The knight did not appear to be hostile as he did put his weapons away after the final undead perished, though he did appear to have some reservations towards the two ladies as it took a tense little moment for him to actually speak up. "Don't think of it as wrong, miss. You did help me avoid potential injuries, even those things can be dangerous and cause trouble in groups." he spoke in a rough-sounding voice that his helmet only further distorted into a somewhat creepy one. "I'll pay this debt back... just not now. It will have to wait..." he stated his mind, almost immediately looking like he was about to leave. Even as she had not said anything, Ran had been looking at the man, maybe actually having some idea about him if the look on her face was of indication.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: The Dark (Deborah/Tiffania)

The strange knight put away his weapons, so at the very least he didn't seem like he intended to attack the two of them. He didn't seem too happy to be talking to them either, though, taking his time to size the women up before speaking. When he did his voice was almost as bizarre as his appearance, the helm making it sound metallic and echoing, though what he said was reassuring, at least to Deborah. She noticed that Ran seemed to have some inkling of who he was, or at least what he was given the look on her face. "Is there any chance of our working together?" the mage asked hopefully, "this place is full of danger, and we'll all have a much better chance of surviving if we don't split up." She didn't expect to convince him if his mission didn't align with Ran's, but it was certainly worth a shot.

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: The Dark (Deborah/Tiffania)

The question stopped the knight for a moment, who had a question of his own to offer. "Are you sure you have it in you to trust a total stranger like me? I'd not get so friendly with someone you just met that easily if I were you." he asked, not really making it easy to deal with himself as he did not appear to be particularly friendly, and he did not really offer any human side to interact with as he kept his helmet firmly on his head instead of removing it or opening up his visor.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: The Dark (Deborah/Tiffania)

The knight's counter-question made Deborah pause, gazing at the fully armored man with an uneasy look on her face. She thought for a few seconds before replying "it's true, it would be better not to rely on a total stranger for help... But in a situation like this my own strength probably won't be enough. Even if we have differences, or if you were... difficult, still I think it would be worth it to try and work together." Those were her thoughts on the subject, though she had her doubts and couldn't help but question herself a little. She could almost feel him judging her under that visor that hid his face, and she wondered what Ran thought of all this. Of course, Ran too was just a stranger that she had met mere minutes before... What a situation she had been thrust into.

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: The Dark (Deborah/Tiffania)

The knight let Deborah say what she wanted to about the situation, the whole armor thing making it somewhat difficult to say what he thought about her words. "Well, if you insist on my company, I suppose I could indulge you. For a while, at least." he appeared to accept the offer after a brief period of hesitation. It appeared that the party had grown to a trio, for a while.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: The Dark (Deborah/Tiffania)

There was a somewhat nervous pause in the talk, Deborah wondering just what that knight was thinking. It was possible to tell with the way he betrayed no expression whatsoever. Finally, though, he agreed to join with the two of them. "Thank you, sir knight" she said, smiling at him a little bit. She looked to Ran, hoping the three of them would get along reasonably well. "My name is Deborah" she continued, though she didn't ask for his in return. For some reason she felt like he wasn't the type to volunteer such information. Next... they kept heading to the castle, right? Maybe the knight had some other idea, though.

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: The Dark (Deborah/Tiffania)

"Lautrec, a knight of Carim, some call me." the knight did give his name away, probably not seeing much reason to hide it in the current situation the trio found themselves in. The two different Carim people exchanged a similar greeting, which was somewhat cold and professional, and it looked as if Ran was on guard constantly in the man's presence. Whatever that meant was still up in the air, but having a third member in the group was a common sense benefit, no matter how one looked at it.

Since the castle was still their main target, the trio returned to the main street, taking the cobblestone path towards the center of the city. There was little to be found there during the advance, aside from the corpses and wrecks that were starting to be all too common a sight.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: The Dark (Deborah/Tiffania)

Contrary to Deborah's expectations the knight did choose to introduce himself by the name of Lautrec, from Carim just like Ran was. That planted a tiny seed of doubt in the mage; why were the people she was meeting all skilled fighters from that place? Was it just a coincidence? The place did have a reputation... The two didn't seem to be getting along the best, though, their demeanor towards one another guarded and professional. The poor mage felt totally inadequate to navigate all this, but she would have to figure things out sooner or later or else she would likely perish. Their new companion didn't object to going to the castle, that seemed in fact to be where he was heading anyway, so they carried on as before, for a time encountering nothing but smoldering rubble and dead bodies. That was better than enemies, but it still wasn't getting any easier to be in such an environment...

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: The Dark (Deborah/Tiffania)

The trio moved up the street a bit further, until something caught Ran's attention. A small chapel amids the many other buildings appeared to be intact, and something in there was drawing her inside. She opened up the door and slipped inside, revealing that there was little inside the place, most of the seats lining the sides and forming a perimeter around a strange bonfire in the middle of the chapel. It was not the usual kind of fire, being made from clearly magical flames that seemed to originate a few inches off from the ground. A heavily worn sword appeared to be the source of the fire, instead of the few charred bits of firewood that were stacked around it. And oddly enough, the fire had not spread out from it's current position despite the wood looking like it had burned for a fair while already.

"Oh, a bonfire. That is a welcome sight... Debbie could hear the knight speak up as he too realized what they had found, not wasting time in moving himself to the chapel and taking a seat near the fire, a gesture that Ran too did. The woman gestured Debbie to join them as both of the two got a dull grewn flask out that they held out to the fire, which began to fill up with glowing yellow liquid as they held the flasks in.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: The Dark (Deborah/Tiffania)

The three of them walked further down the street, Deborah slightly behind her two companions, until Ran seemed drawn to a little chapel that was curiously intact in the midst of all the chaos. She opened the door to a very curious sight, one that confused the mage more than a little; the pews and seats had all been pulled out of their proper places, arranged in a circle around a bonfire that almost certainly could not have been. The flames were obviously magical in origin, for they weren't coming from the ground or from the blackened logs around it. Instead they were coming from a sword in the middle which looked to Deborah at least like just a normal, if badly beaten up, sword. The other two seemed to be relieved to find such a thing for reasons that were beyond her, and they quickly took seats around the fire, motioning for her to do the same. As she sat between the two of them they brought out a pair of flasks, which suddenly began to fill up with some kind of glowing liquid. Was this something that originated in Carim? Debby certainly didn't have a clue. "What is this bonfire?" she asked, "and that liquid...?"

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: The Dark (Deborah/Tiffania)

The two Carim people were slow to give any answer, Ran only speaking up once she had completely finished refilling her strange flask to maximum capacity. This type of bonfire... is a safe haven and a place of rest for all the undead. The fire heals and calms one's spirit, and it keeps the hollowed ones away. I think we will see these in other places as well if one is here. she partially answered the question while the knight Lautrec remained silent, probably not having much to add. "As for this flask, it is a container that holds estus, the lifeblood for the undead. I guess you could call it a healing potion." she finished the brief explanation about the different things while slipping the flask back into her sleeve.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: The Dark (Deborah/Tiffania)

Deborah's question was met with a long, unsettling silence as the other two sat still, their flasks slowly filling. The answer, of course, was even worse than the quiet, and a chill ran up the mage's spine as she thought about what had been said. She was silent herself for some time after the explanation, turning it over in her mind, before finally turning to Ran. "If it heals the undead then what use is this... estus to you?" she asked, though she had a nagging feeling that she should have left it at that. Whatever the case, her spirit was certainly not calmed in the presence of the bonfire...

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: The Dark (Deborah/Tiffania)

Hearing the question posed to her, Ran cast a long, somewhat eerie look at Deborah that appeared to last for half an eternity. "Well... it heals me of course. Why else would I have one?" she pretty much confirmed what the mage was probably thinking about her traveling companions. "Are you afraid?" she continued to pose a question of her own as they remained at the chapel for the time being. Sir Lautrec had gotten away from the two during their talk and was keeping watch at the door, the outside still probably being clear of any hostile creatures as he had not made any moves to alert the two ladies in any way.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: The Dark (Deborah/Tiffania)

The look that Ran gave to Deborah chilled her to the bone, a long and icy glare before finally answering her question. With some distress the mage noted that Lautrec had stood from his seat at her side and moved to the door, ostensibly to keep watch for enemies, but now that she knew what she did she felt rather trapped between the two of them. "That isn't possible" she mumbled numbly after a few moments of shock, "there's no way. You can't be undead. How could you be undead? You're just sitting here having a conversation with me... It just isn't possible!" The look on her face would tell Ran that of course she was afraid, and more than a little distressed. This crazy situation in the capital had just gotten even more strange and awful to her. And now who knew what the motivations of the other two in her little party were. For all she knew they or those like them could be responsible for this nightmare! Even so, did she have any choice but to stick with them?

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: The Dark (Deborah/Tiffania)

"But I can be here, talking with you like it was no big problem. I am an undead that has not hollowed out yet, which is the reason for this being the case. Our kind don't really perish like normal, we just came back to life near one of these bonfires each time we "die", but instead we lose our humanity until we find a recovery source to gain it back. The longer one spends in this lost humanity state, the closer we get to hollowing, which is the event of losing your mind, your very person, permanently. Once that point has been passed, you are truly gone, a walking corpse that just wants to end all life around it. And once you are completely hollow, you don't come back from being killed anymore." Ran spoke up for a good bit, laying a basic explanation on Deborah about the state that she and Sir Lautrec were in. "I've also heard some rumors that an undead that has no purpose in their existence goes towards complete hollowing faster than one with goals and determination..."

Getting up, Ran turned her back to the wizardess, shrugging down the robe from her right shoulder to reveal a black circle mark hidden underneath it. The mark shed light that looked like fire was rising from it, but it obviously did not have real flame since Ran still had her robes intact. "This... is the Darksign, the brand of the undead. All undead have one somewhere on their bodies. It looks like that when you are still in your senses, but it turns into a larger dark vortex once you are hollow." she gave a further explanation, the sign not really being bigger than a wedding ring but still quite visible once revealed.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: The Dark (Deborah/Tiffania)

Deborah listened to Ran's explanation, obviously still distraught. How much simpler the world had been just a day ago! How much less terrifying... What did it even mean to lose one's humanity? How could one regain it once lost? Was that what the estus flask was for? When the woman stood and lowered her robe, revealing her glowing brand, the older mage stared at it. She hadn't seen anything like it before, that much was sure. Perhaps the whole story was true. "If this is all the case then... what are we doing? What do you hope to find in the castle? Are you trying to... to truly ressurect? What's your goal?" This little talk had produced so many more questions already, and it would probably only get worse the longer it went on, really. Still, Deborah was starting to calm down little by little. If Ran or Sir Lautrec had wanted to harm her they could easily have done so by now, so she could probably trust them. At least, for now. Not fully, not yet.

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: The Dark (Deborah/Tiffania)

Ran slipped her robe back on, the questions causing a raised eyebrow. "I don't think one can truly resurrect once the curse is on you. But I am not here for that, I just have a duty to find out what happened here, in this broken city. The rumors in the noble circles suggest that King Aldran has been meddling with powers beyond his comprehension, and the people of this land might now be paying for it. I have no obligation to mention who I am working for, but it might come to light sooner or later, we'll see." she replied to Debbie's brief barrage as she tightened her belt back to where it had been before she had shrugged her robe down.

Sir Lautrec had been at the door all this time, and now had a warning to give to the girls. "We have a squad outside, and they have dogs. Might want to wait it out as they are moving, or look for a backdoor to the side streets. Unless you two would rather fight them, which I am not personally suggesting." he announced his sightings.

 

[Tiffanian]

Re: The Dark (Deborah/Tiffania)

Ran's answer made Deborah feel a fair bit bad for her. So she was just... cursed? Forever? Doomed to eventually become just another mindless killer like any of the ones they'd fought today? It was so hopeless and sad. The idea that the king himself had been involved in something so foul as the sort of magic that would cause something like this was also almost beyond believing. "Why would someone like him dabble in something so... unseemly" she asked, though she wasn't really looking for an answer. Just a musing out loud. Sir Lautrec came over to them again in any case, informing them that there were enemies outside, apparently accompanied by dogs. "I don't know if undead dogs can scent as well as living ones, but we should probably try to get out before they get close" the mage offered, not wanting to stick around and be sniffed out by a dangerous foe. There had to be more than one entrance and exit, right? There was probably an alley behind this chapel, so there should be a way out into it if they looked.