Recent content by Archanae

She paid special note to his mention of previous incarnation. So, he too had once felt shackled by the frailty of his flesh and eschewed it for something superior. He too had tasted exile from his people and relished in it. One could almost take pity on such a tale. But having lived it herself...

Solipsism. The affirmation of one's existence, by virtue of one's own mind, to the sacrifice of all other notions. According to some, the only true currency of the world, which was otherwise drowning in a sea of illusion. This kernel of philosophy churned within her, while she carefully watched...

Torment . . . He spoke of it as if it fuelled magical essence, helped to warp and rupture the reality that limited them. Was that truly the source of necromantic power? Or was it merely one wellspring to draw from? She supposed her own magic might be characterised by a fair amount of suffering...

The door slammed shut. Darkness enveloped them, no longer receiving the succour of torches from the other room, Archanae- and Torin's faces thrown into an ominous chiaroscuro by the singular light of his torch. It took only moments for a blue light to billow out from Archanae's sapphire, adding...

The weight of the whole earth seemed to press down on her here. An imperceptible burden, but there all the same. It was not merely the sense of thick layers of soil and stone above them, but the very air itself feeling heavy to draw from, stifled and cloyed with unmentionable smells, all coated...

The faint arch of his broad back had resumed its normality and exposed itself to her, teasing feigned vulnerability. But he could have lain prostrate before her, and she would still find him too dangerous to engage in anything but commerce. This flesh, she knew now, to be a lie, an illusion...

Archanae watched, too entranced by the horror to turn away from it. As the nixie's wailing screams and disentigrating form faded into nothing but raw sustenance, memories tugged at her mind. Memories of a childhood nearly forgotten, but for a few momentous fragments. Once, she had watched a...

"Best to check it with caution, then." Archanae glided after Torin, approaching the humble door. Indeed, gold glinted tantalisingly from within, teased forth by the glow of torches. The chamber was small. A dead end. However, a gilded statue dominated its wall. A dwarf in ceremonial robes...

With his bidding, Archanae pulled the cork on her potion. Immediately, it seemed the glowing essence sought to taste the air, reaching out from the glass neck. But a swift and graceful motion of her hand tilted it down to the sprawled and lifeless body, pouring what seemed part liquid, part air...

Archanae was human. And she was terrifyingly reminded of that fact, when the black, wet coil of his tongue emerged from elongated jaws. She knelt and looked away, forcing her nerves to be still. Focusing on the task. Cradling the flask and allowing her eyes to feast on its intricate...

Under the baleful eye of the moon, Archanae walked as if in a procession, holding a scintillating flask aloft. The cold argent rays caught its shifting, turquiose glow, mixing its light into a pale and aberrant alchemy. Motes of light darted to and fro below the glass, as if seeking escape. From...

Her fingers seared brilliant runes into stone, uttering cryptic curses below her breath. The stone writhed and bent like a creature in agony, quaking with terrestial screams, sealing the doorway, bending from the walls to cover its lintel, cill and architrave. With this incantation finished...

An exit. This Radu granted her one, though he remained stingy with his secrets. No matter. It was to be expected of beings such as him. They rarely gave anything for free. She could ignore his pompous and lecturing tone for the sake of new knowledge. Midnight. A short timeframe, indeed. Whether...

Archanae smirked up at him, despite his unholy proximity. In this question, she regathered her wits and the precision of her speech. She knew her answer well before he had finished his query. "Ah, but I cast these dice already by finding your . . . distinct company. And I shall cast them...

A faint gasp escaped her at the touch on her shoulders. Clearly, her spell of antipathy did not work against this creature, which would lend some credence to his claim of being beyond life. Unnaturally cold hands travelled down her obsidian skin, claws a hair's breadth away from rupturing her...