Private Tales The Baleful Light of Stars

A private roleplay only for those invited by the first writer

Silent Isopel

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A young child sat, alone, in a forest clearing, staring at their ratty, ruined boots. They were falling apart. They had walked so far, and yet they had nothing to show for it. Where were they travelling? Isopel, or as they were known from the place they had come from, Silent Isopel, was looking for nothing in particular. A place to be that didn't feel wrong. Or perhaps they were trying to escape something? These thoughts flushed through their mind, as they glanced at the fact their clothing was frayed at the edges, and beginning to become rags.

Idly, Isopel began to unwrap their face. They had covered it a while back, like a leper, afraid of looking at it. Though mirrors and reflection were rare, just one glance was enough to hide it. They saw something, at the very edge of their eyesight, slowly reaching up towards it. Something attached to their face. They pinched at whatever it was, pulling it forwards, staring at the wriggling maggot. With a clench of a fist, and the flick of a wrist, the thing was gone, but Isopel knew deep, deep down, that more were working through their flesh.

A kindly soul had given them something, at the last town they drifted through. A vial of ointment. Though the two couldn't communicate, Isopel understood the point of it. The man showed Isopel a corpse, a rotten one, and then a preserved one, and then the ointment. It was...clear...what the message one. Slowly, Isopel took the vial uncorking it and going to extract the ointment, beginning to rub it across their face. As they did so, the maggots ejected themselves from their meal, retreating as fast as they could, writhing on the ground. Isopel stared down at them, tilting their head. It was a little amusing, but that's all it was. They returned to their task, vowing to get up and keep walking the moment they could. The cold and pale light of the stars was the best one to walk under, because their light caressed them, giving a tiny fraction of an ounce of a feeling across their rotten skin. So they hurried, hoping not to waste the whole night on the preservation of a dead thing.
 
Jaken had left his clothes and weapond behind, in a camp, not too far where he was right now. He was in his werewolf form, sprinting through the wild forest, running free and enjoying the night. He had already hunted some animals that were not fast enough to escape the wolf. But he wanted more, something that gave him a little entertainment for the night. He reached an odor that made him stop dead. He smelled harder, exposing his nose to the clouds, sniffing, trying to discover what it was.
After a few seconds of sniffing, he came to the conclusion that it was something dead, the odor told him that there was a corpse, maybe in stage three of decompsition, or at least, that is what all those years of killing and eating corpses had taught him, yet, the smell was not that rotten. Sure, it was of a corpse but also it gave the impression of still being alive. Maybe an undead was wondering through the woods.
"<<An undead in the woods?>>" he thought "<<That's unusual. I thought they all had their little base where they could hang out. Wonder what brings this zombie to this woods.>>" the wolf followed the trial of odor.
Some meters later, Jaken encountered someone sitting alone, in a forest clearing, with the moon beam bathing it. It seemed small, not an adult, but also not a dwarf. Jaken had encountered some dwarves in his life of bounty hunting, so he knew that this was no dwarf, could it be a child? Worst thing was, the dead scent came from that figure. The child smelled like death, could he be one of the undead? The werewolf stepped out of the bush he was stalking the child and spoke.
"What are you doin' here pal? This is no place for you." he said ina deep, yet calmed tone.
 
Isopel's eyes shot up to the creature, as it stepped forwards. They dropped their vial, it landing on the ground as they scrambled up to their feet, clenching their fists. Surrounding them, came a haze of pale violet miasma, as they stumbled away, keeping their eyes locked on the creature. Each step Isopel took caused the flora beneath their boots to wither and die, curling up into grey, desiccated waste. Isopel kept stumbling back, hands outsplayed, as if to protect themselves, continuing backwards until they stumbled to a tree. The corruption leaked into the flora, Isopel covering their face with their arm, the tree beginning to wilt, the leaves turning to an autumnal orange-red and beginning to fall, drifting to the ground harmlessly.
 
The cchils seemed terrified when he saw the werewolf, and to be honest, he wasn't surprised, a lone child lost in the woods, with no one to take carof him, and suddenly a giant werewolf threatening werewolf appears. If he was a child that didn't know how to fight he would be afraid as well. The child stepped back, with each step making the flora die. What is this child? What kind of magic he possesed? Magic of decay? Everything his boots came in contact died, and the tree he leaned n afterwards too. A big tree started to die in a matter of seconds.
"Ey, ey, ey, ey. Calm down." the wolf said, raising his hands "Not gonna hurt you." he said, slowly approaching the boy, taking care not to touch him, if the plant died when he came in contact with them, he would most likely too. And he liked stayinng alive "I'm sorry I scared you." he crouched in front of him "What are you doing here in the woods all by yourself? Are you lost? Hungry? Thirsty?"
 
Isopel would have staggered back, were they not . They kept their hands splayed out, as if it would save them, the malevolent energy surrounding them growing.in power. The hideous mist went darker and darker, as Isopel did not respond. The hideous, bleak power that churned through them caused the tree they pressed themselves against to wither and die swiftly, curling up as the ground all around them continued to spread the blight. The mist seemed to seep into the ground, the grass becoming a desiccated and gray waste.
 
The child had some magic that made him dangerous. Was that the reason he was alone? Maybe his powers got the handles of a bad situation, people might have been scared, they might have tried to killed him, and that's why he is alone. Or maybe he did something horrible, and in a desperate action of protecting the others, he fleed and had to hide to keep everyone safe. He could relate to that, having to hide in the forest to protect others or because everyone would try to kill him for what he is. But still, a child by its own pulled a tiny heart string Jaken had. He would most likely walk away, leaving the person to die. However, the fact that it was a child made something else.

The child seemed still scared, he wouldn't receive a line back from him unless he calmed down. "Ey. Chist, chist, chist. Its ok." he stepped closer. For every step he took towards the child, the child would step back from him "Don't worry... I'm not going to hurt you. Just calm down. Can you speak?" he made signs with his hand of hand puppet opening and closing his mouth "Can you understand me?" he pointed at his ears "If you can understand me, nod. Promise I won't hurt you." he stepped back to give the child confidence to speak or mimic any action that made it clear he could understand the werewolf "There. Come on. You can trust me. Are you lost?"
 
Isopel paused, for but a moment, when the creature made a couple of symbols. All of a sudden, they pulled their hands forwards, making a series of increasingly complicated and nuanced gestures, the mist around them abating, if only briefly. After they were done, they pulled their hands back, watching expectantly with their pale, everburning eyes. They wanted something, expected something, now. They were still afraid, it seemed, still weary, but not necessarily going to attack.

Progress.
 
"There." he said in a calming tone "That's it. Calm down." he whispered "We may have started by the wrong foot. Let's start over." he crouched right where he was "I assume that you cannot speak, nor understand me, or simply don't want to comply. In any case, I'll do my best. I." he pointed at himself "Am Jaken." he pointed several times to his chest "Jaken. Jaken." he kept pronouncing his own name, in hope that the child could understand his vague sign languag. He noticed the vial of ointment the child had let go. Right before the child got scared, he saw the child with intention of rubbing it, maybe if he proved he was friendly, he could make more contact with him.

He slowly approached the vial, making sure not to make any abrupt movements. The last thing he would want, was to scare the child again. He picked it up. It was half full. He approached the child slowly with the vial on his hands. Few steps away from the infant, it became terrified again. "It's ok. Not gunna urt you." he whispered "I'm just giving you this back." he said as he slowly crouched to put the ointment on the ground. Then backing up slowly.
<<Who is this kid?>>" he asked himself.
 
Isopel stared, for a moment. It was quite clear that nothing had gotten through to them. They stumbled back, going to let out another series of complex symbols, staring expectantly. The look quickly faded into disappointment, something similar to an annoyed scowl forming on their face. Regardless, their power slowly faded, the disgusting miasma seeping into the ground and blighting the flora all around them. At least they were no longer summoning it.

As Isopel observed Jaken, they were...tentatively receptive, at best, or playing along with a plan to kill him at worst. Still, they slowly moved to snatch up the ointment after Jaken backed away, watching the creature with a fiendish look. They shoved the ointment into a pocket, eyes narrowing at Jaken.
 
"See? No need to be scared. I just wanted to give you something back. I'm not you ene-" he stopped dead. Looking swiftly at his left. He had heard something. A crack. A crack from a twig nearby. He sniffed the air, but there was no sign of a sweet, appetizing smell like the ones deers gave out. It was different, unusual... "What the-?"

He received a small impact on his chest that made him startled back. He looked at his chest. Jaken saw a needle and a pink stabiliser poking out of the needle. "A god damn tranquilizer." he whispered. Then looked back at the child "GET DOWN!!!" he roared, pointing aggresively to the ground. He growled and getting into combat position. He started to feel dizzy, the tranquilizer was too strong for him. He couldn't help but to surrender. His legs were to weak to support his whole body. Jaken adapted a crawling position when from the shadows of the forest appeared two men in black fedoras. A man crouched in front of the werewolf, then looked at the child.
"So this is the kind of friends you are getting Isopel?" the man said "Unusual. i gotta say."
"Leave him alone." Jaken panted "What do you want form him?"
"Shut it dog." he said, sticking his gun to Jaken's neck and firing again. Another tranquilizer was taking effect. The werewolf fought the effect, but he couldn't do anything. The tranquilizer was way too strong. Jaken laid on the ground almost falling asleep. More men came from the shadows, surrounding the child "You know what to do." he said to the men.
"What about the dog sir?" asked a henchmen.
"We'll take him with us. Maybe he has something to tell us."
"Fuck.... y-you..." the wolf said.
"Now, now, doggo. Don't be rude. Just sleep for a bit." he fired another tranquilizer at Jaken's spine.
That was it for the werewolf. He succumbed to the tranquilizers.
The wolf fell asleep...
 
Isopel twisted, as they were surrounded, scowling and dropping the vial. They pulled their hands up, the hideous miasma beginning to grow and solidify. The blight lashed out from them - leeching at their vitality. But it wasn't enough. There was no way it would've been enough. Those that surrounded Isopel incanted a weak charm, nothing great, nothing powerful, but enough to disperse the mist, and then to weaken Isopel. They were not weak to poisons, or anything that effected biology, really, and so they were grabbed, kicking and letting out a hideous sound that was less like a scream and more like a coughing-rasp.

"Keep the enchantment going, or the child will slaughter us all..." The leader uttered, as Isopel's fruitless strikes did nothing, far too weak to ever truly make them so much as flinch.
 
"Put him that thingy you use to neutralize magic."
"The Armor of Nirk." one man clarified.
"I don't care what is the name. Just put it on and let's move. Bring the cart. We have a heavy package." he said, gently kicking Jaken on the torso
The men had placed the child sozed, yet heavy armor on Isopel. Preventing him of using any type of magic. With that on, Isopel would be as vulnerable as a lost child in the woods. The crew had stuck Isopel and Jaken in the same cart. Though they were on the same cart, Isopel and Jaken were on oppsite sides: Isopel was in the superior left corner, while Jaken was sleeping on the inferior right corner. The men had also placed a black bag on Isopel's head, keeping their destination a secret. And the journey went on, and on, and on. It felt like an eternity.

(Many hours later, at the destination)

The trip was so long that it was dawn, Jaken had transformed back to his human state.

"Welcome home. Isopel." the man said, retreiving the bag from the child's head "We'll make sure you won't get away that easily. After all, HE demads it that way. We can't let HIM be disappointed. That is our purpose after all. Serve HIM. Take these two inside, and leave us alone. I might have some question for the dog."
 
Isopel was dragged off, rasping, kicking, fighting. The antimagic field leeched into their body, and it - it hurt! They could not scream, could not yell, could not tell them to take it off, but it hurt. They themselves were an edifice of dark power, their soul so malignant that it spilled out. And while the power that animated their corpse was dulled, the very font of it was so deeply ingrained in them that to snuff it out would be to place a candle in the pouring rain. While Isopel wanted to fight, wanted to shake, their limbs did not obey them. They could not move. They could not move, and it hurt. It hurt. They could not move, and it hurt. It hurt. It hurt.

---

Isopel did not respond, when the bag was taken from their head. They said nothing, did nothing. The armour dulled them, only made their eyes drift over the other people, wordlessly watching. They tried to will their powers back, to will the deaths of everything there. But nothing happened, of course.
 
Jaken had been tied up to a chair in front of Isopel, he slowly regained consciousness by moving his head and softly grunting. He looked up and saw Isopel in the exact same situation, tied up, with a small armor that seemed heavy.
"What the...?" he grunted, his muscles were still weak due to the 3 tranquilizers he had to take on, however, the effect would pass eventually "Kid. Kid! Where are we?"
"I'm afraid he won't answer soon." the Man said, stepping inside the room. Jaken growled at the sight of the person "Is that suppose to be a threat? 'Cause I don't think you are in the best position to make any of those. You can barely move."
"Screw you."
"Now, now. Please watch that mouth. It is not polite to swear in front of a child." he looked at Isopel "No matter of he or she is deaf."
Jaken gave a murderous look at Isopel "Damn it." he whispered "Why didn't you tell me you were deaf?" he said to himself "What do you want from him? What do you want from the kid?"
The Man chuckled and stood in front of Isopel, crouching before him and made hand gestures to speak that language their parents used all those years ago, back when he was still alive:
We've been looking for you for sol long. the Man gestured at Isopel Everyone here missed you. We thought you were dead for good. But now that we have you, we won't let you go. HE needs you. HE needs your internal power... don't worry about your dog over here. He will be treated with decency.
"What are you gesturing?" he asked "TELL ME!!" a roar came out fromm his mouth.
"Silence!!" the Man screamed, slapping the werewolf with a cane "Remember those times? Where people like you were our slaves? Werewolves had broken free, but you won't be as lucky as the rest of you."
"Piss off." he said "I will find a way to break free. You. Just. Wait."
"You bark a lot." he looked back at Isopel How could you handle with this one? It's annoying!
 
Isopel stared forwards, narrowing their eyes. They did not respond to Jaken's curse that they hadn't informed them that they were deaf. There was a reason that they were called Silent Isopel. After a long pause, they mustered a respond, signing to the man. Let me go! This isn't right! If you don't let me go, I'll kill you all myself! Bold words for a child. They watched, their eternal quiet less benign, and more malevolent. Though their eyes couldn't be seen beneath the baleful light of stars that burnt in their sockets, they were filled with a deep malevolence that could not be quenched by idle hands.

I just met the dog! I don't know them! They signed. And how's it annoying? They asked, genuinely confused. It was not like Isopel could hear the thing, and get annoyed. They were genuinely curious, staring forwards at the man, as they began to muster the wickedness deep within their soul. They had summoned enough force of will to move, to speak, perhaps they could even summon their power through their bindings.
 
Sorry Isopel, but that won't happen. the Man signed We need you here. We need to extract your powers out, for HE needs them. If we do this, you can go with your family... you can be reunited once more.
"The HELL are you saying?!" Jaken roared from behind, still tied up to the chair "LET ME GO!! OR I'LL KILL YOU!!"
You know. I am jealous about you not being able to hear. You see, this dog is annoying becuase he doesn't stop barking. Talking, and talking, and talking. He won't shut up. the Man looked back and walked towards Jaken "SHUT UP!!" He kicked Jaken on the chest, making the chair fall down, crushing Jakens fingers, but not breaking them. This made Jaken grunt in pain.
"I will kill you!"

"I said SHUT UP!!" the Man stomped on Jaken's abdomen, taking the air out of him "Slaves are suppose to be quiet until told otherwise. Now, if you excuse me I need to get something."
Before stepping out of the room he stopped to look at Isopel. Just wait here ok? You will be reunited with your parents in a few hours.
 
Isopel narrowed their eyes, as they 'spoke'. They decided to say nothing, letting the man simply speak to them, not with them. Eventually, though, Isopel was left alone with Jaken.

Isopel glanced at Jaken, a cold and distant look about them. They turned back to the entryway, as they continued to force the blight to resurface. Their power could surely exceed the armour. Surely? Surely. Isopel felt the rot crawling beneath their skin, laughing a little. Their 'voice', for want of a better term, was unnervingly smooth and vicious, and tiny wisps of blight leaked out. They focused their eyes on the hideous miasma, a look of surprise crossing their face. The miasma slowly drifted towards them, at their will, but it was so slow as to be agonising to watch.
 
From the ground Jaken could hear the child laughing. Not looking at the child (due to his upface position) he growled "What's so funny?" he whispered to himself. He then heard something, some kind of enhantment in a weird language Jaken had never heard, however, he knew that it was coming form the child "Fine. So you can't hear, but you can speak whatever BULLSHIT you're saying eh? Fucking fine."

Then he smelled that odor the child had when they first saw each other, the smell of rot. He swinged his body from one side to another, making the chair turn completety on Jaken's left side, now he could see the child. He saw the child apparently overcome the armor that he had on him. Somehow, he knew that his magic was coming out once more.
"Great, now I'm tied down, and I have to stand this horrible smell." he said to himself as he shook around to break free.
 
Isopel may have been very bothered by Jaken's words, so perhaps it was better that they could not hear them. The miasma began to coalesce, mingle, twisting together into something not-quite-solid, not-quite-liquid, not-quite-gas. It was somewhere between them, a mist that had streaks of pale and baleful light cracking through it. The stuff seemed to wrap around the armour, going to seep deeper and deeper into it. One of two things would happen, then. Either Isopel would find the mechanism to open it, and manage to swing it open, allowing them to be freed, or the enchantment that guarded it would collapse, perhaps blighted from the inside out, perhaps corrupted and made into a new spell, or perhaps simply failing under the weight of it all.

Isopel went dead silent, their wretched chuckle fading. They were focused, now. It was all that they had become. Consuming their every essence was the task at hand. If they were just quick enough, just strong-willed enough, they could overcome it. Perhaps. Perhaps. They just needed more time.
 
Whatever the kid was doing, it was overcoming the magic limits of the armor. Apparently, either the armor was cheap and the kid's magic was way stronger, or the men who captured them were underestimating what Isopel could do. In any case, he saw what the child was doing, he saw the putrified-gas-like hands coming out from the child. Hands...

Maybe that could help him out. Maybe those hands could untie Jaken or make the ropes wither, thus, making Jaken brake free with ease. "<<I need to attract his attention.>>" he thought "<<But how? The only thing I could think of without alerting anyone from the outside would be vibrations. But how can I make vibrations?>>"
 
Slowly, carefully, the armour broke. It rusted, it seemed, the withering effect of Isopel's magic not limited to living beings. It was entropy, weaponized. Isopel pushed their way up, scowling as they moved beyond it. Their face was contorted, a hideous visage of wrath. Sheer, unshakable anger. They turned, looking across the room, before they looked to Jaken, slowly approaching. The blight followed after them, the miasma curling up and and lazily following after the child. It was like they had two shadows.

Isopel reached up towards Jaken, going to grab at their ropes. Their eyes were fixed on Jaken's face, as they began to untie the bindings. They struggled, for a moment, before snapping their gaze to it, unbinding the creature as quickly as they could. They watched Jaken, eyes narrowed, careful, primed to act if he decided to turn traitor.
 
Jaken saw how the kid's power seeme to know something about knots. As he was on the ground struggling to escape, h saw the hands untie the rope that kept him restrained. Jaken stood still as hard as he could letting the hands do their job and knowingif the the miasma touched him, he'd most likely be dead. When he was untied, Jaken moved slowly, not to alert the child, who was probably scared and wouuld do anything to live(?) one more day. Jaken stood up, eyes on the child's. In return, he gave a nod as a way of thanking him. Now that was out of the way. It was time to find an escape route.

Jaken slowly searched for the room, looking for something to use as a weapon, something sharp or robust. Anything at all. The only thing that could be used as a weapon was the remaining parts of the armor Isopel was trapped in. It was better than nothing, after all, it was an armor, so it shuld slightly protect them from any danger, though it was rusy. Jaken grabbed a piece of the armor that couls be used as a type of knife: a big one. TO make the handling of it more comfortable, he used a piece of clothes the kidnappers had dressed him on (given he was naked when they arrived) to wrap it on the piece he would use as a handle.

The werewolf stood besides the door, waiting for someone to enter, in that moment, he would kill whoever enter and that should be their ticket out of here. He signaled Isopel to join him, to stay behind him.
 
Isopel watched Jaken, eyes narrowed. They slowly drifted across the room, footsteps falling on the ground as quiet as could be. They watched us Jaken hunted for a weapon, going to form one of their own volition. The blight was not a simple thing. It was not alive, but it was not dead. A force given will by Isopel, but with a malevolent intent all of its own. The mist began to coalesce, shifting, twirling into something else. It loomed up just behind Isopel, hanging over their shoulder like shadow. It was solidifying itself, making itself more and more like a physical thing.

Lazily, Isopel drifted a hand to the right. The blight swung itself out. Isopel shifted their hand to the left, and it moved past their face, brushing past and stabbing into the wall they were adjacent to. The wall wilted, withering, entropy enforcing itself on the object, before it was yanked from the wall with a wave of Isopel's hand. A grin crossed the child's face, slowly moving behind Jaken as the signal was made. The weapon loomed up above their head, their fists clenched, waiting and watching, intent on supporting Jaken.

Mere moments later, something gripped the handle, turning it. A boot stepped down upon the ground, as someone, or perhaps even something, began to enter the room.
 
From Isopel's movements and actions, he knew that the 'wither ability' was back in use. It could be usefull to break through a hard lock. The child had joined his side waiting to be escorted out of wherever they were. He glanced at the child, he seemed happy that his powers were back. Jaken rolled his eyes at him. Great, his powers were back, cool, now focus on ACTUALLY getting out of here. Jaken held the rusty handmade knife and waited for a signal to move.

And that signal came moments after. The door opened and a boot stepped in. That was his signal. Without thinking about it, he dragged the person inside and stabbed it in the throat, spilling blood all over the body. He made sure to cover the mouth before letting the person scream for help. Once the masked person was dead, he dropped it. Jaken closed the door slowly, making sure not to attract anyone's attention. Now, into stealthy mode. He looted the corpse's clothes and dressed on them. Even the mask. It turned out to be a woman. Though, her clothes suited perfectly to the werewolf. "<<Don't know what to think about this...>>" he thought.

He signal Isopel to stay close.
 
The blight that Isopel summoned silently loomed above them. They did not swing the weapon at the man as Jaken dispatched him, uncomfortably aware that they could hurt their newfound ally by a mere accident. As the corpse was dragged in, Isopel stared at it, eyes wide. Even still, they were horrified, they were afraid. Isopel did not know if they would ever get used to death. Slowly, carefully, they backed away, watching as Jaken changed into the clothing.

As the makeshift disguise was placed on, Isopel nodded knowingly. It was sneakiness! That was the plan. They moved over to Jaken, waving their hands as they dispelled their power. Slowly, they looked up, a hint of trust in their eyes, perhaps? It was the only thing that they could do, now. Trust Jaken would save them.