Fate - First Reply Silence broken

[Diyah]

"If I can discover how to transport a live body into a crystal... The utility would be remarkable..."

"Would it not be better to try sending a dead body in first then trying to bring it back before you try to send in a living thing?" She asked as she was being unstrapped. She half expected to be left there on the table, or chained to the wall in some manner.

She moved very slowly, careful not to strain her incisions. "So what now?"

 

[Klor Bishop]

"Would it not be better to try sending a dead body in first then trying to bring it back before you try to send in a living thing?"

He looked back at her, unconcerned with her lack of restraints.
"Pardon me, when I said "live body" I meant physical, material, animate. Naturally if physical undead can be so stored it would be supremely useful as I'm sure you can imagine."
He turned back to his writing.

"So what now?"

He tapped his piece of writing coal against his desk.
"Now you heal. Recover your strength for our next experiment. Use the bed, sleep."
He glanced over his shoulder and looked pointedly at her stitches, "I trust there's no reason for me to have you restrained tonight."

 

[Diyah]

He tapped his piece of writing coal against his desk.
"Now you heal. Recover your strength for our next experiment. Use the bed, sleep."
He glanced over his shoulder and looked pointedly at her stitches, "I trust there's no reason for me to have you restrained tonight."

She looked at her stitched together body. Then replied. "No, I suppose not."

She walked to the bed without another word, and laid down cautiously so that she might heal as she slept. She would sleep, though lightly, an assassin couldn't afford to allow someone to catch them off guard, especially when sleeping.

 

[Klor Bishop]

Klor worked all through the rest of the night by the light of a candle. Every now and then the undead would shuffle past the door or the wails of the prisoners would drift up from the depths, but otherwise it was utterly silent in the keep.
When the sun rose most of the undead took shelter inside the keep. Klor stood up, his hand was restored and he flexed the newly healed flesh before putting a black glove over it.

He walked to the bedside, not caring if she still slept or bolted awake, he drew the covers aside and began examining her stitches to make sure they were healing properly.

 

[Diyah]

He walked to the bedside, not caring if she still slept or bolted awake, he drew the covers aside and began examining her stitches to make sure they were healing properly.

His light touch sent her hand flying like a whip to his throat on instinct. She’d hold it with an iron grip for a moment, before releasing him. She’d sigh, “sorry. You startled me.”

Her stitches were healing up well, already scabbing over and healing. Her sudden movement had opened a couple of injuries again, but nothing serious.

 

[Klor Bishop]

Her sudden action was somewhat expected, if not a little disappointing. However, she probably could have killed him immediately had she not registered what was happening and decided against it. This was strong reason to trust her in the future.

“sorry. You startled me.”

Thanks to his mask his expression remained impassive, but he frowned behind the ceramic facade.
"And here I thought assassins were aware of their surroundings."
He checked the reopened stitches to make sure they weren't infected and shook his head.
"For all of your amazing physical traits your sense of self preservation seems to have atrophied."

He checked her vitals taking her wrist and feeling her pulse and in general making sure that all of her organs were operating as they should.
"Are all of your people so impulsive? What sort of culture do you come from?"

 

[Diyah]

Thanks to his mask his expression remained impassive, but he frowned behind the ceramic facade.
"And here I thought assassins were aware of their surroundings."

“We are. We’re just usually, if not always, surrounded by enemies, so we tend to be jumpy.”

He checked the reopened stitches to make sure they weren't infected and shook his head.
"For all of your amazing physical traits your sense of self preservation seems to have atrophied."

“Why do you say that?”

He checked her vitals taking her wrist and feeling her pulse and in general making sure that all of her organs were operating as they should.
"Are all of your people so impulsive? What sort of culture do you come from?"

“A very aggressive one.” Was her answer.

 

[Klor Bishop]

“We are. We’re just usually, if not always, surrounded by enemies, so we tend to be jumpy.”

"I see. Your tribe is not well known by others but you seem to have developed keen instincts from your homeland, perhaps many rival tribes or other tribal races, even monsters and wild animals. Good instinct, survival and killing."

“Why do you say that?”

He indicated her stitches, "You reopened the stitches simply to strike at an enemy. You handle pain well but ultimately had you succeeded in killing me you would be in a lethal predicament staving off infection until you could receive proper treatment. Thus, even if you were unaware of your situation in the heat of the moment, is why I say your sense of self preservation has atrophied."

“A very aggressive one.” Was her answer.

He nodded, that went without saying.
"I imagine your tribe is predominantly hunters. Your biology would support such a lifestyle quite efficiently. The venomed barbs make you deadly in a grapple but I imagine you have advanced to using tools for hunting instead of wrestling with every creature you intend to eat. Perhaps maintaining a traditional hunt in which only spurs are used to catch a specific challenging beast..."
These he mused while he finished tending to her. Her body was in a fragile state and she was a prime test subject, he couldn't let her go to waste.

 

[Diyah]

"I see. Your tribe is not well known by others but you seem to have developed keen instincts from your homeland, perhaps many rival tribes or other tribal races, even monsters and wild animals. Good instinct, survival and killing."

"Very much so. We tend to stay hidden so that we might keep the element of surprise." She says affirmatively. "And they are base instincts, to survive and kill, many creatures have them."

He indicated her stitches, "You reopened the stitches simply to strike at an enemy. You handle pain well but ultimately had you succeeded in killing me you would be in a lethal predicament staving off infection until you could receive proper treatment. Thus, even if you were unaware of your situation in the heat of the moment, is why I say your sense of self preservation has atrophied."

"I suppose it's to show that even if something does succeed in killing us it will die too. That way were left alone by the few who actually know about us. A psychological warfare of sorts."

He nodded, that went without saying.
"I imagine your tribe is predominantly hunters. Your biology would support such a lifestyle quite efficiently. The venomed barbs make you deadly in a grapple but I imagine you have advanced to using tools for hunting instead of wrestling with every creature you intend to eat. Perhaps maintaining a traditional hunt in which only spurs are used to catch a specific challenging beast..."
These he mused while he finished tending to her. Her body was in a fragile state and she was a prime test subject, he couldn't let her go to waste.

She shook her head. "Some of that was wrong. Yes we are primarily carnivores, therefore hunt everything we eat. And they are quite useful in grappling. But as a way to maintain as great a strength as an individual can muster, we always wrestle with our prey, usually swamp trolls or the huge Cave Gorillas. We only use tools for domestic work like harvesting herbs or cooking, and weapons are only used for war or attacking another sentient being with a higher chance of success."

She stayed still as he patched her up. "What about you? What are you exactly?"

 

[Klor Bishop]

"I suppose it's to show that even if something does succeed in killing us it will die too. That way were left alone by the few who actually know about us. A psychological warfare of sorts."

"An interesting philosophy. A reputation can certainly give one an edge in combat... But I prefer to keep you alive for as long as possible."

"Some of that was wrong. Yes we are primarily carnivores, therefore hunt everything we eat. And they are quite useful in grappling. But as a way to maintain as great a strength as an individual can muster, we always wrestle with our prey, usually swamp trolls or the huge Cave Gorillas. We only use tools for domestic work like harvesting herbs or cooking, and weapons are only used for war or attacking another sentient being with a higher chance of success."

"An interesting culture to be sure."

"What about you? What are you exactly?"

He stood up and moved to his desk to sort through some papers.
"You need more rest and time to heal. No experiments today."

 

[Diyah]

"An interesting philosophy. A reputation can certainly give one an edge in combat... But I prefer to keep you alive for as long as possible."

“I’m flattered.” She said with an eye roll. “So you intend to kill me slowly. Fun.”

It was mostly an attempt at dry humor but it was mostly for her own sake than his.

"An interesting culture to be sure."

“If you want more information I can give it to you. As far as our culture I see concerned I’m under no obligation to keep silent, Nor would I be.”

He stood up and moved to his desk to sort through some papers.
"You need more rest and time to heal. No experiments today."

She sighed, and she didn’t have much other choice than to obey. Her eyelids were heavy already, and she was feeling weak. So rest was probably the best thing for her. So she rolled onto her side and closed her eyes, falling into a sleep just as light and quiet as the one before.”

 

[Klor Bishop]

“I’m flattered.” She said with an eye roll. “So you intend to kill me slowly. Fun.”

He chuckled for the first time, a flat dead sound. "Not unless you want me to... At this point I won't kill you even if you beg me to do it."
He wrote down some notes in an old leather bound grimoire as sunlight began filtering through the cracks in the boarded up window.

“If you want more information I can give it to you. As far as our culture I see concerned I’m under no obligation to keep silent, Nor would I be.”

He nodded as he scribbled in his book that must contain his spells and research, "That is reassuring, I'm glad we have come to an understanding."

As she turned over to go back to sleep he kept working. But after a while the sun made the room pleasantly warm and he leaned back in his chair, his chin resting on his chest.
From time to time the sounds of the dead could be heard outside the door, but otherwise all was quiet.

 

[Diyah]

He chuckled for the first time, a flat dead sound. "Not unless you want me to... At this point I won't kill you even if you beg me to do it."

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Those two statements are contradictory. Which do you mean?"

The chuckle was a bit of a surprise. She had expected stone cold, stoic undeadness. Not something that was a characteristic of someone still living.

He nodded as he scribbled in his book that must contain his spells and research, "That is reassuring, I'm glad we have come to an understanding."

These were the last words she heard before falling asleep. She would wake up only as the sun approached the horizon.

 

[Klor Bishop]

"Those two statements are contradictory. Which do you mean?"

He shook his head, "A slip of the tongue. The dead make for poor conversationalists."
His rare encounters with humanity were hardly for conversation, so his social skills have atrophied over his years as a hermit.

They both slept for a few hours, but she would awaken before him with her surgical wounds mostly recovered. He still sat in his chair, slumped and breathing rhythmically with one hand hanging by his side and the other folded in his lap. The sun was lowering in the sky and the sounds of the undead were beginning to increase in activity.
There was even a brief time of shouting and the sounds of combat as the undead captured a band of monster hunters and brought them down into the dungeons as well.

Klor slept soundly still, almost peacefully even with a dangerous assassin that was most likely hired to kill him specifically in the same room as him without any bindings but caution for her own wellbeing.

 

[Diyah]

She leapt to her feet at the sound of combat. Nothing tore open this time. She was sore, but intact. Her weapons having been confiscated left her to use her spurs, her arms bent and ready to parry and grapple.

She let her arms down a moment later. And stood calmly.

 

[Klor Bishop]

Her sudden movement awoke him... A bit at a time...
First his mind awoke, registering the sudden motion in the room.
Then he opened his eyes, taking a brief glance around without moving his head.
Then he raised his head, slowly as if moving one vertebra at a time.
His fingers twitched and closed.
Finally he stood up and turned to face her.

She was up, and unharmed, and he was alive.
"Trust" wasn't a word in his vocabulary, but he was by now very confident that she wouldn't kill him... yet...
"I see you're ready for another experiment."
He motioned to the table.

 

[Diyah]

She was up, and unharmed, and he was alive.
"Trust" wasn't a word in his vocabulary, but he was by now very confident that she wouldn't kill him... yet...
"I see you're ready for another experiment."
He motioned to the table.

She looked at him with a cocked eyebrow. “Already? No questions?”

She didn’t disobey, she laid down as he gestured. And was again strapped down as a precaution. She asked. “So what exactly is this experiment going to be? Another dissection or something else?”

 

[Klor Bishop]

“So what exactly is this experiment going to be? Another dissection or something else?”

He moved to the table to help her strap in. She was obedient too, willingly binding herself at his command. For some reason that was far more satisfying than commanding an undead... Her having the capacity to disobey, the freewill to rebel, and then her choosing not to use it was infinitely more fulfilling than verbally manipulating a thoughtless doll.
"No more dissections, I've learned all I want from your biology. The information in your mind is what I find useful now. Not only the information you have right now, but the information you will learn very soon."

He synched the throat strap last and then turned her face to meet his eyes, "Who hired you to kill me is still an interesting topic. Finding out who knew about my existence, let alone where to find me and how they came by both bits of information are very interesting to me. But until you've broken down enough to share those secrets I will content myself with researching other dimensional planes."
He withdrew a simple rock from his satchel and placed it in her hand.
"When in your spectral form you cannot bring anything with you, you are spirit and you clothes and weapons are not... Unless they are fueled or possessed by souls, or so my theory goes. We shall test this."
He withdrew another crystal and began an incantation, transferring the soul trapped in the crystal to be bound to the tiny pebble.
"If everything goes according to my projections, do not lose this stone no matter what. I'm sending you back into the same crystal you were in before, since it is familiar territory and you've not told me of any dangers or other entities present there. It will serve as a perfect staging ground for our experiments...
In the meantime I will find some use for your soulless body."

He produced the pink crystal.
"Anything to add before you go back?"

 

[Diyah]

He synched the throat strap last and then turned her face to meet his eyes, "Who hired you to kill me is still an interesting topic. Finding out who knew about my existence, let alone where to find me and how they came by both bits of information are very interesting to me. But until you've broken down enough to share those secrets I will content myself with researching other dimensional planes."

“Get used to disappointment there. I do now as I do because you have proven senior in skill. However, I was paid for my loyalty, so I owe my loyalty, and that means that I will not divulge the name of my client under any circumstances.”

"When in your spectral form you cannot bring anything with you, you are spirit and you clothes and weapons are not... Unless they are fueled or possessed by souls, or so my theory goes. We shall test this."
He withdrew another crystal and began an incantation, transferring the soul trapped in the crystal to be bound to the tiny pebble.
"If everything goes according to my projections, do not lose this stone no matter what. I'm sending you back into the same crystal you were in before, since it is familiar territory and you've not told me of any dangers or other entities present there. It will serve as a perfect staging ground for our experiments...
In the meantime I will find some use for your soulless body."

“That is true.” She said remembering that she had been skyclad while in the crystal. She gripped the pebble as bidden.

He produced the pink crystal.
"Anything to add before you go back?"

“None.”

 

[Klor Bishop]

“Get used to disappointment there. I do now as I do because you have proven senior in skill. However, I was paid for my loyalty, so I owe my loyalty, and that means that I will not divulge the name of my client under any circumstances.”

He nodded, "I see... And how much does your loyalty cost?"
Without waiting for a response he pulled her out of her body and she was once again pulled into the crystal with the bright colored landscape.
Everything was just the way she left it, only the black crystal platform kept up a regular heartbeat rhythm now that he wasn't dismembering and reassembling her.

The stone remained with her and it pulsated with its own life similar to her in her spectral form.
As soon as she appeared inside the crystal the stone began screaming.
"OH GODS PLEASE LET ME OUT! PLEASE GET ME OUT OF THIS PLACE! HAVE MERCY! WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS!?"

 

[Diyah]

"OH GODS PLEASE LET ME OUT! PLEASE GET ME OUT OF THIS PLACE! HAVE MERCY! WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS!?"

Her surprise almost lead her to drop the stone. But she didn’t, and instead she brought the pebble up to her eye level to peer curiously at it. She waited for a moment before talking to it. “Wait. What’s the matter with being here? I don’t like it here all that much either, but your reaction seems a bit... extreme.”

 

[Klor Bishop]

“Wait. What’s the matter with being here? I don’t like it here all that much either, but your reaction seems a bit... extreme.”

"What?! Who are you?! Where is your voice coming from!? THERE'S NOTHING HERE! I swear I'll never drink again just get me out of here! It's so dark and I swear the ground is alive!"
The voice seemed to have no awareness of anything outside of the rock, and it was also apparent that he had been screaming for a very long time.

It was the man Klor had faced in the village center, who attacked him with a sword. Klor had trapped his soul as well, except now his physical body had joined the undead.
"Listen... I don't know who you are or where you are, but you've got to get me out of here! I saw my body fall to the ground, I've got to get back to it!... Is it still even there? It's been days, I hope it hasn't rotted!"

_____________________________________________________________​

Klor began a different series of experimentation. Even though her body was still alive could he still bend it to his will? If he could animate a corpse with magic programmed for the rudimentary ability to follow fairly complex instructions he wondered if he could do the same with her body.

But he wondered what the effect would be, what the toll would take on her body by being exposed to raw magic of the void... He needed to do some light experimentation to prove his theories before he proceeded.
He had one of the prisoners brought up and he began his study.

 

[Diyah]

"What?! Who are you?! Where is your voice coming from!? THERE'S NOTHING HERE! I swear I'll never drink again just get me out of here! It's so dark and I swear the ground is alive!"
The voice seemed to have no awareness of anything outside of the rock, and it was also apparent that he had been screaming for a very long time.

It was the man Klor had faced in the village center, who attacked him with a sword. Klor had trapped his soul as well, except now his physical body had joined the undead.
"Listen... I don't know who you are or where you are, but you've got to get me out of here! I saw my body fall to the ground, I've got to get back to it!... Is it still even there? It's been days, I hope it hasn't rotted!"

“I’m sorry, I don’t know how.” She said to the voice. “As for your body, I don’t think that it’s anywhere near here. The fighting at the city ended yesterday, or the day before I think. But we’ve already moved several miles away to a small fortress.”

Meanwhile her body was being toyed with by an only slightly sane necromancer.

 

[Klor Bishop]

“I’m sorry, I don’t know how.” She said to the voice. “As for your body, I don’t think that it’s anywhere near here. The fighting at the city ended yesterday, or the day before I think. But we’ve already moved several miles away to a small fortress.”

The voice sounded shocked, "Yesterday? No... No that can't be... I've been in here for nearly a week at least!"
Now the voice sounded angry, "don't try to confuse me, devil! I don't know what games you're playing but it ends now. Show yourself and face me you coward!"
Colorful insults followed.

______________________________​

He practiced the process several times on a woman in her fifties, trapping her soul in a crystal while he experimented on puppeteering her living body with his magic. Even though she had a sturdy constitution the effects of the void on her body were apparent, black veins appeared on her flesh and her skin turned grey until she eventually rotted away into undeath.

The void was a volatile substance and deadly to the human body, including those who wield it. Over many years he'd developed a tolerance, but it would still eventually kill him if he were so exposed.
He needed an intermediary, something infused with the void that could introduce his magic to the body in such a way that would give him control without consuming the life in the body.

He went to the uninhabited body of the assassin and placed a cold hand on her bare stomach. He knew her muscles beneath the fair skin were strong like corded rope, but even she couldn't withstand the void for long. If he could find a way to transport magical constructs and other such things into these dimensional spaces he could translate the void into something less caustic to the human life force...

Programming magic on objects was the basics of enchantments and charms. But it was often limited since common practices of enchantments were simply spells placed on the object itself and finely tuned so as not to destroy the object with its power.
But if enchanted objects could be transported into the crystal in addition to enchantments on the surface... The potential was vast if such a theory bore out to be true.

Well, after checking her hand and finding the rock missing he knew it was possible to some degree. Once Diyah returned with her report he could move the project further.
After an hour he returned her soul to her imprisoned body.

 

[Diyah]

The voice sounded shocked, "Yesterday? No... No that can't be... I've been in here for nearly a week at least!"
Now the voice sounded angry, "don't try to confuse me, devil! I don't know what games you're playing but it ends now. Show yourself and face me you coward!"
Colorful insults followed.

“You’re in a rock. A pebble really. Even if you could see me it’s not like either of us could actually harm the other. But if you want I can always just leave you to go insane in the bottom of a river for the rest of eternity.” She said unfazed.

After an hour he returned her soul to her imprisoned body.

Her body woke up and she took a few breaths. “The rock started talking.”

She couldn’t sit up, and she almost tried before remembering that she was strapped down by her throat to keep her under control. So she just looked at him before continuing. “He had claimed to see his body drop at the village, but had apparently been there for weeks, at least that’s what he thought.”