Brom 2013/01/21(Mon)23:37 No. 486829 ID: f707c7
File 135884023026.png - (202.83KB , 800x600 , 2.png )

“I am out of time.”

The hazy rags of unbeing fade from you as you are birthed into existence. Your father and creator is speaking to you.

“I thank God that I marshaled my strength to create you. I have forged swords from the obsidian flake of a devil's horn and my staff, before it was lost to me, I fashioned from the living oak of a dryad, willfully given and tempered with Troll Flame. Know, phylactery mine, that among that autumnal lineage you are the most important and weighty thing that ever I have pulled together from firm and firmament.

“It pains me, then, to tell you that if all goes well, I will never speak with you again. I go to fight...” His composure breaks for a moment. He looks away. He turns back. “I go to fight a wickedness that I have fought before; when last we met it took from me everything. I fear it has come for what is left.

“I am placing you now somewhere I will never again disturb, unless I have failed utterly.

“If that happens I will be truly and damnably lost. If I see you again I will be diminished. Think kindly of me, then, and I charge you: help me to return to the light. Help me to defeat Ansirous.

“If that proves impossible, help me to die well.

“God forgive me.”

Brom 2013/01/21(Mon)23:37 No. 486830 ID: f707c7
File 135884025167.png - (1.44KB , 800x600 , 3.png )

Then Darkness, for a very long time.

Brom 2013/01/21(Mon)23:38 No. 486831 ID: f707c7
File 135884028542.png - (207.48KB , 800x600 , 4.png )

Then with a silky tearing noise the darkness is ripped apart and replaced by a Hunger.

An aching, soulgnawing Hunger that tugs at the gut and sits low and voluminous inside you.

The Revenant 2013/01/21(Mon)23:38 No. 486833 ID: f707c7
File 135884033785.png - (151.92KB , 800x600 , 5.png )

Bony fingers close around you and thoughts intrude into your swirling, amorphous own.

They say:

Feed. Feed. Feed. Feed. Feed. Feed. Feed. Feed. Feed. Feed. Feed. Feed. Feed. Feed.

Feed?

Lets find some food.

What is that behind you?

>>486833
I am so fucking hungry.

Creator, is that you? What can we eat? Is Ansirous dead?

>>486835
this

>>486835

The Revenant 2013/01/22(Tue)00:01 No. 486839 ID: f707c7
File 135884167556.png - (7.59KB , 800x600 , 7.png )

>>486835
Feed Feed Feeh Fweh Wfd Who what where say what who was just talking to me

yes Food Feed Feed Feed

>>486834
what who whaugh uh hmm behind me
Uhh.
A pick. Tur. Picture. Painting picture image of her red hair. Hairs; a woman's red hairs.
When I see it there I something hurts. A chest hurt; my chest gets tight. I she I love her. Loved. Love?

I love the woman in that painting with a passion so ingrained into my mind that it flares my thoughts into a semblance of working order. Semmmmblance. That is a word I know.
How do I know words?
The woman. I don't know who she is, whether she is my daughter or sister or wife. I love her.

The Revenant 2013/01/22(Tue)00:02 No. 486840 ID: f707c7
File 135884173859.png - (299.21KB , 800x600 , 6.png )

More importantly:

Why do I have no skin?

Who is Ansirous?

What are you?

Why do I have no skin

>>486840
You may have been dead for a long time...

Welcome back to the waking world. I do believe you are is what known as an undead. More accurately a revenant. Now that you have your own mind I think you can forgo the usual seeking out the flesh of the living.

The Revenant 2013/01/22(Tue)00:11 No. 486843 ID: f707c7
File 135884226389.png - (377.09KB , 800x600 , 8.png )

>>486841
>>486842
I gaze at my arm. Gristle and tendon stretch limply across my uncovered bones. My skin is in tatters.

Oh, God.

God.

If not flesh what will I eat?

>>486840
Creator, we are your phylactery. You were a powerful mage, once. You made incredible things. We are your masterpiece.

You never told us your name, Creator. All we know is that you went to fight Ansirous, who you fought before, and who took everything from you. I will guess that 'everything' was that lady you loved, if not more. You appear to have lost your battle, and Ansirous turned you into an undead monster. It is only due to your foresight that you have regained your mind.

You must find more traces of your identity and recover more memories, Creator, if you wish to fight Ansirous again and win. Shall we start in this room?

The Revenant 2013/01/22(Tue)00:12 No. 486845 ID: f707c7
File 135884236513.png - (338.13KB , 800x600 , 9.png )

A new voice, different from the ones in my head. A man in black stands at the door with a bloodsoaked leather apron tied around his waist.

"Good my lord: I heard you shift."

ask him for food

>>486845
Oh, it seems you still have allies. Aside from the obvious questions of who you are and who Ansirous is, might I suggest you ask him whose blood that is, and what you have been turned into?

The Revenant 2013/01/22(Tue)00:32 No. 486848 ID: f707c7
File 135884355978.png - (312.69KB , 800x600 , 10.png )

>>486847
"Bll," I say. "Whrrr shkkk bll aughhhhhhh b n"

My jaw flaps and cracks uselessly; my vocal cords saw against my shriveled throat.

>>486846
"ffffughhd"
"My lord!"
"fffoood"
"My lord, you speak! You have not made a single vocalization in two years! You have not been understandable in five! And here I spent all this time learning how to interpret all your twitchings and screamings, time now wasted by this sudden wave of lucidity! Drat! But also hooray! Because if I heard you correctly, you want food, don't you?"

I lunge at him desperately and end up splayed on the floor, clawing at his apron.

"Ha-ha! Such vigor my lord now evinces! But I must warn you, sir, that if you attempt to eat me I will cut off your arms again, and we are running out of thread to resew them.

"Besides, my lord, you don't want flesh! You want souls!"

>>486848
SOULS THEN GIVE ME SOULS SOULS

>>486848
then give me souls

>>486848
I KNEW IT.

"how" should be easy enough to say.

Also, "who" while pointing at the painting.

>>486845
I would gather that you've been denied eternal rest because your mission isn't complete.
Since you warned us about this happening, it's probably by intent.

You have revenge to take.

>>486848
"How about some water first so my voice isn't sandpaper on granite?"

The Revenant 2013/01/22(Tue)01:01 No. 486857 ID: f707c7
File 135884530551.png - (331.33KB , 800x600 , 11.png )

>>486851
"hhhow"
"Well, milord, the villagers have long ceased venturing anywhere near the mastaba, as have the adventurers, the armies, the lords seeking glory or vengeance... I suppose if we want to get you souls we'll have to venture outside, won't we?"

"who" I point to the ruined painting.
"Oh, dear, the portrait has been ripped! I know not what it showed, my lord, for you had a dark curtain covering it at all times. One of your servants once peeked under it, I am told, and you burned him to death! Ha!

"I imagine you used some of these books lying around as fuel. You certainly burned a great deal of your books due to your intense paranoia of their knowledge falling into the hands of other magi! Magi like me! Also I sort of burned a couple to survive the winter! Ha! Sorry!"

"Now if you want to get outside to the village you'll need a disguise! And the first step to that may well be finding your voice again! You used to use spellcraft to communicate, back when you knew how! I believe it was using a Vomus prefix of some kind coupled with a bibliophilic effect trigger! So. Just do that again!"

I have no idea what he is talking about.

>>486857
Then read, Creator. I'm sure revisiting an old tome will refresh your memory...

Ask for the disguise of a sailor. Make sure the shorts are extra small. That's how all the seafarers go around these days.

Also ask him for what he means about the spell. Well, or write it down on a note. Use your mouth to hold the quill if your hands are fucked.

>>486858
this,
if there are aany left

The Revenant 2013/01/22(Tue)01:20 No. 486862 ID: f707c7
File 135884643221.png - (369.93KB , 800x600 , 12.png )

>>486859
"Whhggg" I say. "slrrr"
Before he can respond I lurch into a clumsy half-run half-stumble, trying desperately to find a quill and ink somewhere in the chamber.

When that fails I snatch a book from the floor and tip it heavily onto an overturned shelf. Perhaps this will jog my memory.

The Revenant 2013/01/22(Tue)01:20 No. 486863 ID: f707c7
File 135884645837.png - (336.38KB , 800x600 , 13.png )

Okay, well, or maybe it won't.

>>486863

Point to the book, grunt loudly. Maybe he will get the idea and try to teach you.

>>486863
Ask him to 'read' it to you?

>>486867
this

Well, isn't this awkward. Try bashing yourself in the head with the book, perhaps the blunt force will drive the knowledge directly into your dried husk of a brain.

The Revenant 2013/01/22(Tue)12:11 No. 486912 ID: f707c7
File 135888548829.png - (294.16KB , 800x600 , 14.png )

>>486866
"nggg" I jab a finger at the book. "ggnhhjrr"

"That? One of Tratton's Obfuscated Treatises, I believe," the man in black says. "It appears to be weather-worn to the point of incomprehensibility! I'm sure Tratton would approve. He loved obfuscation, I am given to understand!"

"tchhh" I rasp.

"My lord, have you forgotten your magics?" The man's eyes widen. "You are weak as a babe! I could destroy you with a thought!"

New Words Of Power Learned The Revenant 2013/01/22(Tue)12:11 No. 486914 ID: f707c7
File 135888551058.png - (416.90KB , 800x600 , 15.png )

"But I won't! Because I am fanatically loyal to you!

"Now let's get you casting, my lord! There's a reign of terror to get back to!

"Magic is in many ways an art, rather than a science (although tell that to a magician-scholar and he'll talk and/or blast your ear off)! As a mage you have the potential for casting ingrained within your body, pulsing through you from your head to your toes. Which is good, because you don't have very many toes left!

"To unlock this font of power and use it, you needs must simply focus on the proper Words of Power! Magi jealously guard their Words of Power, which they use to form their spells! Simply thinking the words can prime your spell, but a gesture or a vocalization will empower it further! Allow me to provide an example:

"Orbus Fuge."

With a hiss and a spark, a sputtering ball of flame erupts in the man's outstretched hand.
"Easy as that! I believe the Words of Power for your magevoice were Vomus Verbam.

"Wait, no, maybe it was Vomus Biblus? Verbam Biblus?

"Hmm."

BIBLUS VERBAM sounds like you could write to speak

Well now, speaking incantations aloud HELPS but is not NECESSARY.

So focus real hard on
Vomus Biblus
if that doesn't work try
Verbam Biblus
if that doesn't work try
Vomus Verbam.

>You used to use spellcraft to communicate, back when you knew how!
>My lord, have you forgotten your magics?
This is suspiciously inconsistent. Is he aware of our state, or isn't he? Not to mention that gleeful expression.

>You certainly burned a great deal of your books due to your intense paranoia of their knowledge falling into the hands of other magi! Magi like me!
This is a strange thing for a supposed servant of yours to say.

>Also I sort of burned a couple to survive the winter!
This suggests he might not be used to living around here, as he doesn't know where to find proper fuel, unless there's some reason he's trapped in the building. Almost definitely not a servant of any kind.

Magic can wait a few more minutes. Demand to know who he is. Pointing at him and rasping out "who" will probably do for now. Whatever he answers, whether or not he's even lying, you'll probably have to work with him to restore yourself--but don't trust him without very good reason.

The Revenant 2013/01/22(Tue)16:34 No. 486988 ID: f707c7
File 135890125828.png - (217.83KB , 800x600 , 16.png )

"whhhoo," I hiss, pointing at the man in black.

"Who am I? Why, I should be offended that I am asked such a question! I should be, but I am not, because I am thoroughly brainwashed and love you unconditionally! My name, lord, is Spidrift, a name given to me by your own illustrious self after I was kidnapped from my family at the age of three. I am one of your custodian guards, lord, the very last in a long line of your most loyal servants. We were the only magi you suffered to live in your presence! Due to a combination of a bevy of enchantments placed upon me over the years and brutal conditioning and training designed to instill in me a healthy sadism and lack of ambition I live only to serve you unquestioningly in any way possible! I earned my position by killing the man who trained me. It is only through my skill that I have survived this long; everyone else was murdered or abandoned your side, and were shortly after murdered! By me! I am now your only living servant. But really, milord, we should converse when you can take part in the conversation!"

>>486917
I think: Vomus Biblus.

The Revenant 2013/01/22(Tue)16:35 No. 486989 ID: f707c7
File 135890135541.png - (256.51KB , 800x600 , 17.png )

A corona of blue light surrounds my head, but I barely notice because I am vomiting uncontrollably.

"Uh oh!" Spidrift says. "That is really not going to help clear up your suspicions about me, is it!"

The Revenant 2013/01/22(Tue)16:36 No. 486990 ID: f707c7
File 135890138606.png - (375.47KB , 800x600 , 18.png )

I appear to have puked up a piece of paper.

>>486990
...is there anything on the other side of it?

Try Verbam Biblus. I'm sure Vomus has only to do with vomiting, and Biblus is probably... text? Paper? Words? Verbam is probably like, speak. So to speak words, you would use Verbam Biblus.

It seems you were an evil man in your undeath, Creator. I will not hold it against you. It would be up to you to change, but... in what brief moments we saw of your life, you seemed to be a good man.

Well, I suppose that that's a way to produce words. A regular magic voice sounds boring, let's throw something fancy into it! Try Verbam Fuge or Biblus Fuge or something. Let's make words out of fire!

The Revenant 2013/01/22(Tue)19:01 No. 487024 ID: f707c7
File 135891011294.png - (446.35KB , 800x600 , 19.png )

I'll try Verbam Biblus.

"I'll try Verbam Biblus. Aha!"

The Revenant 2013/01/22(Tue)19:05 No. 487026 ID: f707c7
File 135891033309.png - (359.94KB , 800x600 , 20.png )

My voice is rippling and sounds for all the world like a man speaking through a thick pillow, but it is mine.

"Ha! Let's try this... Biblus Fuge!"

My words leave me like a bellows and scorch my tongue. They appear before me, floating in a nimbus of flame.

"Oh, master!" Spidrift claps delightedly. "I knew you had it in you!"
I turn to him. He looks back, unblinking, smiling that blank smile. Now that I can communicate fully there are some questions I should be asking.

Your identity, what manner of creature you are, how long you've been like this... and possibly, who Ansirous is and if you succeeded in defeating it, though I assume you did not.

I wonder what Orbus Biblus would do.

I say we never trust this asshole and barely give him any important information. But we also have to ask him important shit too so he doesn't know that we don't know jack shit about him and trust him as far as we can stretch our fingers.

First, some test questions. To see how much he's lying or trying to fool us. How did we first die? What did we die trying to accomplish?
Then we ask how does he know our own words of power if we are to protect them so much? And exactly what are we? And how best do we get everything back into presentable condition, including this corpse of a body?

>>487040
Trust? Well I wouldn't doubt his loyalty, he'll do nearly anything we want. Problem is that he's a goddamn addle brained idiot, so we can't trust anything he claims to know and telling him anything new is probably pointless. Still, it's what we have. Let's find better help soon though.

>>487026
wait would Orbus Vomus create an orb of vomit

what use is Vomus anyways?

The Revenant 2013/01/22(Tue)21:40 No. 487056 ID: f707c7
File 135891960844.png - (286.40KB , 800x600 , 21.png )

>Who am I? What am I?
"You are my lord, milord! Long ago you were a powerful archmage. I know not how you fell, but now they call you The Revenant Mage."
>How did I first die?
"I don't know, sir! Your death was one hundred and fifteen years before my time. I know only that I serve."
>What did I die trying to accomplish?
"I don't know, sir! Your death was one hundred and fifteen years before my-"
>Thank you, that is enough.
"Sorry, sir!"
>How do you know my words of power if I protected them?
"You taught a few to me, sir! The ones required to defend you from those who would do you harm. It paid off, too! I am second in notoriety in these lands only to yourself. I am The Butcher Mage, and my life is yours to use as you will.
>What use is Vomus?
"Well, lord, it's one of the first powers some masters teach their apprentices to give them a healthy fear of magical side effects and backfiring. But I promise that's not what happened here! Ha! I personally often use it in conjunction with Fuge to breathe fire."
>Did I defeat Ansirous?
"Who?"
>How do I best return to presentable condition?
"A glamour would make you look appropriately human, but in your weakened form it would be taxing to keep active. When you left the mastaba in the past few years it was usually in the concealing garb of a Distian Pilgrim, all masked and heavy-hatted to hide your form from passerby and evade questioning."

>>487049
Vomus Fuge - to breathe fire, perhaps.

>>487056
If this type of magic is unique to you, what other types of magic are there?

Shall we peruse your wardrobe, Creator?

The Revenant 2013/01/22(Tue)22:17 No. 487068 ID: f707c7
File 135892187957.png - (223.50KB , 800x600 , 22.png )

"Is this school of magic unique to myself?" I ask him, playing a little with the vowels of the thing. Speaking is intriguing.

"Oh, no, Lord!" Spidrift laughs. "There are thousands of mages, each with their own sequestered library of Words of Power. For one never makes a word of power; one simply discovers it. It was always there, waiting to be seized and drawn into the arcane light. Magi frequently specialize, of course, and the more you use a word of power the stronger its use becomes. I prefer flames and spells of movement, that will get me close enough to kill a man with a knife. I like to kill with knives."

"I see." I am suddenly made uncomfortable by this line of question. "Will you find me clothes, Spidrift?"

"Naturally, my lord! I shall lay out your wardrobe."

He leads me to a hardwood armoire and rapidly pulls out a swarm of stale-smelling outfits, tossing them left-to-right into my arms or onto the ground as he speaks.
"As far as hats are concerned:
There is the hood we confiscated from the priest who came to destroy you,
A wide-brimmed hat that once belonged to a Distian before he was killed,
And a farmhand's old working lid, with an eye charm upon it that traditionally wards away evil undead spirits. Ironic!

"You'll need a mask.
I have here a driftwood visor from a shaman who came to challenge your power and left without any bones,
A Distian facemask,
And a thug hood belonging to a thief who got a little more than would fit in his loot bags.

"Now, outfits: we have a black tunic-very fashionable! I admit to casting my eye upon it from time to time, but never would I steal from you, Lord!
There is also this travel cloak, used by Distian pilgrims to ward off the terrible diseases they believe all pale-skinned peoples bear.
And here's a Mage duelist's jerkin and doublet, a memorial to a man so blinded by reputation he never even saw the summoned demontiger sneaking up behind him."

>My lord, you speak! You have not made a single vocalization in two years! You have not been understandable in five!
>When you left the mastaba in the past few years it was usually in the concealing garb of a Distian Pilgrim

Further inconsistencies. Surely you didn't leave the place when you were incapable of speaking coherently, and likely without any memory or intact mind. Demand an explanation.

Also, if you have been up and about as The Revenant Mage, ask what you were doing prior to becoming incapable of communication and losing all your memories, and see if he knows what might have happened to you to cause this.

Wear the distian's hat, distian's mask and the duelists jerkin.

Working lid, driftwood mask, duelist's jerkin.

Also ORBUS VERBAM

>>487068
I am not sure I see any good combinations aside from just using the full Distian outfit.

Speaking of outfits, this could be a good time to ask about the blood on the Butcher Mage's apron.

Also, it could be good to know how long it has been since you last fed on souls, and what happens when you go too long without eating.

Wear the Distian's hat, Driftwood Mask, and Duelist's Jerkin. Pack the other outfits into a travel pack, never hurts to have a few extra clothes on an adventure.

Artyom 2013/01/22(Tue)23:27 No. 487081 ID: 0b214d
File 135892603541.png - (37.50KB , 316x353 , Chosen Outfit.png )

I chose the Working Lid because of the irony and because out all the three hats it is the most coolest. The hood belongs to a priest and looks shitty, and the wide-brimmed hat's cylinder looks too tall and boring.

Out of all the masks, the Driftwood Visor is the best. The facemask is derpy and the hood is generic.

And finally, the Travel Cloak! In all honesty, the tunic is too wuxia for me and our servant wants it anyway. As for the duelist jerkin, I don't want us to wear anything of a man blinded by his own arrogance that he got killed. Besides, the cloak can help us hide our body better than other two outfits.

The Revenant 2013/01/23(Wed)00:39 No. 487088 ID: f707c7
File 135893036689.png - (334.24KB , 800x600 , 23.png )

I choose the jerkin, visor, and wide-brimmed hat. Spidrift turns away and inclines his head respectfully as I change, although to my chagrin any piece of me I would consider taboo has long since rotted away.
I suppose lacking a schlong is the least of my problems, but its passing certainly throws them into keener relief.

"My lord, how imposing you look! How dashing! Were it not for the horrific stench you could pass for a journeyman mage in a heartbeat. We are nearly ready to ascend to the village, I think."
"Before we do, Butcher Mage, two questions."
"I'm all ears!"
"One: If I lost the ability to speak how could I have gone into the village at all?"
"You needed soul feeding, lord. So I posed as a poor beggar, milord, with you as my distressingly ill grandfather. Sometimes I took one of your arms off, just to complete the effect!"
"I suppose that was quite, erh, noble of you. Two: What is that blood from?"
"Oh, this?" he asks. "This is from my lunch." He laughs; a barking, sudden laugh that makes me jump.

My desperate hunger has been keened even more by the spells I have cast so far, but if necessary I may try out two additional spells out of the pool of Words of Power I know before setting forth.

>>487088
He mentioned he had words of power of his own, specifically relating to movement- is he willing to share them? I can see that being handy.

Creator, is the spell you use to speak not particularly taxing?

What were you up to in the hundred-some years between dying and losing your mind?

What effect does feeding on souls have on the victim?

New Word Of Power Learned The Revenant 2013/01/23(Wed)01:18 No. 487092 ID: f707c7
File 135893269666.png - (354.31KB , 800x600 , 25.png )

>>487089
Now that I have cast the spell, I feel a faint tugging at my guts and my tongue tingles, as if oil were being drizzled upon it, but it is nothing particularly unpleasant.

"You mentioned spells to move quickly," I say. "I charge you to tell me the word of power used in those spells."

"Of course, milord! You taught it to me many years ago. To return the favor? It is an honor!

"Trasus."

And he vanishes in a purple flash.

"A short-range blink, milord!" He says, from behind me. "Useful for getting the drop on your foes."
"AUGHGthank you, Spidrift."
"Milord."
"Now never do that again."
"Milord."
"Jove above, just when I think you can no longer disconcert me."
"I am most disconcerting, milord!" He bows. "Shall we away?"

"I still have questions: What happened to me in the years since I lost my mind?"
"You became a great and terrible tyrant, milord! Legend says that with a single spell you destroyed the city of Giorazia, leaving no trace! People whispered Revenant Mage in hushed tones, knowing they might bring your wrath! But all the time, milord, you were degenerating. Your followers began to die or flee. You lost grip on your own mind and gave into ever-thickening madness. Well!" He shrugs. "So they say. You seem sane to me!"

"What if I were to go without souls for an extended period of time?"
"You would crumble away into an intangible consciousness, unfettered from body and driven insane by an inability to feed for all eternity until someone put you out of your misery, milord!

Yikes!"

Shall I try some spells out or ascend to the land above?

...Wait a minute, if we're going to be out and about our deer butler is either going to have to stay behind or also wear a disguise. I doubt the butcher butler would not be recognized.

Hold off on the unneeded spells for now, and head out when the butler is finished changing.

>>487092
Well, if using a spell once means you can cast it further with little ill effect, let's try out Vomus Fuge (in a place where we're not likely to burn anything important) and Trasus. Or we could double up on fire with Orbus Fuge?

Creator, perhaps this would be a good time to ask exactly how you could be killed. Your body is rotting away on its own- would physical damage do anything at this point?

Trasus Fuge sounds interesting;
I'm pretty sure that our dear butler will be wearing the Tunic, and maybe the Priest Hood;
they look like they'd go together, and he doesn't need to cover his not-undead-ness.

>>487092
Ask him if there's possibly anyone left that can tell you of your living life? Or if there are means of retrieving the memories from behind the veil of madness, perhaps a magi that totes words of power relevant to that area.
Let us go feed. Ask if the souls of animals can sate your hunger for now. His dinner's soul may be close by, waiting for the pickings. How long until after death will a soul remain near a body? And where does it go after? Does it merely dissipate or does it fly away somewhere? There might be a well of souls to eat from as well, somewhere.
Is it possible to devour other revenants?

Lets cut out a bunch of steps and try Trasus Orbus Fuge and then head to soul eating land.

The Revenant 2013/01/25(Fri)00:57 No. 487482 ID: 5a4bc5
File 135910425946.png - (394.38KB , 800x600 , 26.png )

"Orbus Fuge," I say, then will my words into reality. My arm shakes and I feel a great vacuous whoosh starting in my shoulder and ending out my fingertips. I think perhaps the spell takes a scrap of skin away with it. It also, however, creates a searing ball of flame that rockets from my palm and sputters across the room.
Interesting.
Experimentation with Orbus Fuge reveals that it can either fire off immediately from the palm or be held briefly and lobbed away or extinguished.

The Revenant 2013/01/25(Fri)01:00 No. 487483 ID: 5a4bc5
File 135910442520.png - (527.43KB , 800x600 , 27.png )

"Trasus Fuge."

A spasm shoots down my legs and I buckle forward, recovering into a slide. It's slower than pure Trasus, and I don't vanish and reappear, but perhaps the blazing trail of flame I leave in my wake makes up for that.

Any more spells and I fear I may fatigue myself; I should save some juice for when trouble inevitably occurs.

LETS GO

I assume you cannot string more than two words together? Or use one by itself?

The Revenant 2013/01/25(Fri)01:50 No. 487489 ID: 5a4bc5
File 135910745809.png - (73.70KB , 800x600 , 29.png )

"How, exactly, could I be killed?" I ask the Butcher Mage as he leads me to the surface.
"Oh, that would be impossible, milord," says Spidrift. "You can't kill what is already dead! You can, however, destroy it completely, and banish the spirit either to eternal haunting on this Earth or to Hell. Neither of which are preferable."
"Hell? Think you so dimly on my soul?"
"Milord, I am surprised at you! Do you not know that all undead, especially those who feed upon the souls of the living, are doomed to roil forever in the gouting fields of the Adversarial flame?
"Have none achieved redemption?"
"Nnnot that I know of! Perhaps such a thing is possible; I would sooner simply avoid destruction, milord. You are heartier than most but flame can still burn you and blades can still cut you. If your brain is destroyed, if your body is obliterated, or if your phylactery is smashed, you will depart this Earthly realm for the Abyss."

The Revenant 2013/01/25(Fri)01:58 No. 487490 ID: 5a4bc5
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"Could anyone tell me of my life before, Spidrift?"
"None living, I should guess! You destroyed your home city long ago, and presumably all those who knew what you once were along with it."
"I see."
"I am sorry, my lord! We have arrived at the cistern gate. Allow me." He opens the door and blinding natural light floods the passage.

"This gate is less conspicuous than the main entrance," Spidrift explains, "and is within walking distance of the Village."
"I see. This is the outside world, then?"
"Milord!"
"The skies are overcast, Spidrift."
"A dim day, milord! Many are, these days. A clear sky is a rare sight!"

"What will feeding on a villager's soul do to them?" I ask.
"Chill them, milord, but if you practice restraint, not kill them," says Spidrift. "Ha! My little rhyme. And it must be a human soul, milord. We could hunt in the forest for woodsmen or ruffians, but the Village is certainly more of a buffet, as it were!"

>>487490
Let's find some jerk everyone hates. There have to be like a minimum of three of those in every village it is a rule. Unless you already ate them, I guess.

I think we should practice restraint Creator, you were facing a monster when you created us. Now with a mind perhaps you can redeem the monster you became afterwords.

>>487490
Let's practice restraint. I am beginning to suspect that during the last 150 years you were not yourself. Possessed, possibly! Those actions of yours that we know of do not match what we saw of you, Creator... and they do not quite match your present personage either, if I may be so bold.

The forest may not be the safest place for a fire-using mage. Shall we skulk around the village instead? Say, do we have any money?

>>487489
Does Hell truly exist or do we just assume it does? And by that, I mean has it actually been proven that it is a physical realm somewhere? And if you can die without the phylactery being smashed by through simple brain damage or body destruction, then I hardly see the point of making a phylactery, beyond needing it in your possession to function with lucid free will once again, of course.
Perhaps we can become a true lich in time and not a revenant? We'd be able to grow a body back from destruction I think, if what I know about other fictional undead creatures is even partially correct. And this Ansirous seems like a Lich since we fought him twice and lived the first time. I just don't want any lucky headshots from some puck ass bitch undoing all our work now, do we?

You can pass through on the streets, taking little niblits of souls of passersbys, everyone will simply assume it was a chilly wind rather than immediately blame you, especially if it is merely a subtle chill. I do hope those bits heal after time.

Ask if the brainwashed go to hell? Their actions do not sound of their own making and generates a new personality, but they're not undead. Do they truly bear their sins like the rest of us? I weep for the child we have unmade and ruined, it would be great to save him if possible. Not that we don't appreciate your generous and useful loyal sociopathy, Spidrift. Just that it would be great if he didn't have to go to hell for our own sake.

>It won't kill them
Take some children hostage, keep them fed, and feed on them until you're doing swell again.

>>487552
Seconded. Except you keep them forever.

Train them to be your servants and stuff like Spidrift but maybe without bothering to teach them magic or whatever. They will be your portable food sources and general servants!

Let's not do that (seconding Dirtbag). This is all about sustainability.

For the record, I suggest longterm research into alternate food sources. Can you feed on the sleeping? Can you feed on the braindead? Can you feed on the only-technically-alive?

The Revenant 2013/01/25(Fri)14:55 No. 487561 ID: 5a4bc5
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"Don't you mean postern gate, Spidrift? A cistern's a, uh, toilet tank."
"Regrettably, milord, I mean what I say! You may wish to wipe your feet."

"Would it be possible to, say, capture a child and raise it as chattel?" I ask as we approach the village.
"Oh, yes, lord! I stand as proof."
"Is Hell real, Butcher Mage?"
"Yes, milord!"
"Is there proof, however?"
"Yes, milord!"
"Concrete proof?"
"Yes, milord!"
"Do the brainwashed go to hell? Will you?"
"I don't know, milord! Let's hope not!" He laughs.

We enter the village and walk the muddy streets. People cast us baleful glances as we pass. Doors close. "Shouldn't you be disguised, Spidrift?" I whisper.
"Oh no, milord! I went hooded and masked when I went on one of your little errands. My open face is my disguise. These villagers simply avoid anyone who is not these villagers."
"I see." I look around at the unkempt, straw-topped buildings and the unkempt, straw-topped people. "How am I to, uh, feed, Spidrift?"
"Simply look around you, sir; there is spirit-stuff every which way!"
"I'm looking."
"Look beyond your eyes, milord!"

The Revenant 2013/01/25(Fri)14:59 No. 487564 ID: 5a4bc5
File 135915475392.png - (71.96KB , 800x600 , 31.png )

I begin to point out I no longer have eyes when suddenly I catch a glimpse of a wispy blue something in the periphery of my eyes. I focus on it and all else grows dim.

Every mortal I see has a bright blue, pulsating nimbus in the middle of their chests.

They look delicious.

of course, but you need a way to prevent warriors of justice or some shit from coming after you for eating them first before you start eating.

>>487564
I wonder why the Butcher's is not so wispy. Maybe by practicing restraint, you wind up eating the wisps, and his is evidence of that.

Can we find a beggar or someone out of view to feed off of? Probably best not to do so in public, unless the act is undetectable except to the one being fed upon.

Can we feed on the wispy bits without consuming the whole thing?

Nibble on a wisp coming off of the soul, not on the bright blue surrounding the core teal bit. Don't stop walking or anything, try not to draw attention to yourself as you just walk down the street and take tiny nibbles on the wispy bits

My guess is part of becoming a mage is harnessing the wisps for power.

I wonder if word order affects spells.

The Revenant 2013/01/26(Sat)00:50 No. 487664 ID: 5a4bc5
File 135919022435.png - (90.45KB , 800x600 , 32.png )

>>487574
I Take from the villagers I pass, nibbling mote after mote as I walk haltingly behind Spidrift.

They are delicious.
I am incensed.
I want more.
I want all.
But restraint, I tell myself. Aching, desperate restraint.

"Why does your soul not look like the others?" I whisper to Spidrift as I catch up to him.
"You have long since devoured all but the Core of my soul, milord, the part that keeps me alive," he says, a little too loud for me to be comfortable about it.
"Are you my sworn servant or the town crier, Spidrift? Hush."
"Sorry, milord. The Residue grows back, given time, but you prune mine with great frequency."

"Can I feed on the sleeping? The braindead?"
"Oh, yes, milord, anything with a soul is your fodder. How do you feel?"
"Hungry," I answer truthfully. "Ravenous."
"We'll go around town a while longer, then, until you have had your full."
"How much money do we have, Spidrift?"
"On me? Thirty lira, milord. Shall we buy something, somewhere? This village has a blacksmith, an alchemist, an enchantress, even, although I wouldn't trust the quality of anything a country bumpkin spellweaved for you!"
"Inside voices, Spidrift."
"Sorry, milord!"

>>487664
Good, Creator. You are handling this very well. This is not an easy path, but it will harden you against your hunger.

I think you should get a weapon. A sharp piece of metal can work when spells fail. It can even be used alongside spellwork, or be enhanced by it... To the blacksmith?

>>487665
To the Blacksmith!

I agree, a sharp piece of metal is a good fallback point considering how you don't naturally regenerate magic now.

What are the effects on a mortal who had their wisps pruned?
How fast do they regrew?

Keep eating wisps, avoid eating cores (waste of cattle since wisps regrow).

>>487665
Blacksmith it is

Isn't it just possible that somewhere in that fortress we live in there is a sword of at least equal quality to what could be purchased from the blacksmith with pocket money?

The Revenant 2013/01/26(Sat)15:55 No. 487755 ID: 5a4bc5
File 135924455749.png - (14.30KB , 800x600 , 33.png )

We go to the blacksmith's, one of the few buildings in town able to afford a roof. The blacksmith himself is a wiry little man with a beard like a dead kitten and an expression as cheerful as its funeral.

His wares include a heavy scythe for five lira,
a crude-looking cleaver for three lira,
a hunting knife for eight lira,
and interestingly, a finely crafted and tempered rapier hung in the middle of the store.
I ask about the blade and the blacksmith bluntly tells me twenty lira.

Are you proficient at haggling, Creator? I think we should try to get the price down.

Points of note: it's a weapon you wouldn't expect to find out here in a simple village; ask how he got it. If somebody sold it to him, you could say that you are worried about the previous owner's unknown reputation being attached to such a sword. If he claims to have made it, ask why his other wares are not so finely crafted.

Do you even have money?

>>487795
30 lira, mentioned in the last update.

>>487755
Do you actually know how to use that sword? If not, you're better off just getting that knife.

The fact that we recognized its quality is fairly promising. But without memories we have no real way of knowing our skill. Still I agree, try and haggle it down to 15 at the very most. Use the fact that this is an out of the way village, adventurers are unlikely to come by and even if they do they'll already have weapons. Why I bet that thing has been hanging on his wall for years.

Haggle for the sword

The Revenant 2013/01/26(Sat)23:02 No. 487892 ID: 5a4bc5
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"How long has that piece been hanging on your wall, Blacksmith?" I gesture to the rapier.
He shrugs. "Eh. Long time."
"You have more use for ploughshares than swords, I imagine."
"Eh."
"Well: It's doing nobody hanging up there for years and getting rusty. I'll take it off your hands for ten lira."
"Twenty lira." He scratches his beard. "No haggling."
"Did you make that sword?"
"Neh. Bought it from a journeyman."
"Then I have no idea what the reputation of this blade is. A man who would pawn such a poker in a place as... idyllic as this may have been trying to get rid of it."
"Is a good blade."
"What if some hot-blooded squire recognizes it as the blade that ran his liege through and strikes me down on the street? No. Twelve lira at most."
"Fifteen." He scowls as he pulls it down from the wall. I don't know how well I can use such blades but the twinge I feel at its mishandling suggests a familiarity. "Final offer."

>>487892
Fifteen sounds pretty good. The hunting knife was eight.

>>487892
That sounds right to me, Creator.

The Revenant 2013/01/26(Sat)23:28 No. 487897 ID: 5a4bc5
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"I'll take that offer with thanks, sir," I tell the Blacksmith.
"Scabbard's in back." He leans forward and I take the opportunity to siphon off a shaving or two of his soul. "One thing, pilgrim. We don't take kind to folk we don't know go dicing around in masks. You watch yourself, eh."

"Corfulo, you weatherbeaten windbag." A dark-robed woman enters the blacksmith. She's prettier and more foreign-looking than the other villagers, her skin tanner. "Don't scare the guests."
The blacksmith grunts. She smiles at me. "My apologies for Corfulo. He's a good man, and principled, but we don't get many visitors here. I am Astrea, the Advocate Mage. I'm the enchantress in town, and I sort of keep the peace. What's your name? And what brings a masked fellow like yourself to our little hamlet?"

This might be the sorceress we were told of Creator. Careful around her, though your siphoning has done no harm so far such things can be seen as evil. And if any can detect such it would be a magic user.

>>487897
A bit of business. Maybe go about collecting information. We've come across a few names recently, see we're a historian, and we're trying to make to gain knowledge on someone called Ansirous. And...

It just came to me we don't know our own name. Either our undead title or the name of the creator. Well, maybe ask Spidrift again? In whispers of course. Or just ask him out loud for the name owned that castle/manor nearby again?
This might be suspicious asking about these things, but we're going to have to take risks to know what's going on sometime, might as well be now.

I don't know what our name while in disguise should be, but maybe we could learn something useful from this mage. Words of Power, maybe?

>>487897
Oh dear. We will need to lie here, Creator. Where is Spidrift...? It would be best to establish a cover story while he is within earshot.

Let's make up a name! How about Jeruv, the Scarred Mage. And you're just passing through, on your way to none of her concern.

Our name is Tom. No last name. We lost our right to it when we lost our family. We are here investigating old history about a war between two great mages and this village is the closest to the site where one of them lived.

Our mage name is Tom the Devourer

>>487900
DO NOT whisper to ask what our REAL name is, suspicious as hell, can be overheard, and is the name of the most feared and hated mage around... ask him back home.
For now make up a name. Like, "John Brilliant".

The mask is due to a wicket mage burning your face horribly as a youth. This also took your voice forcing you to speak with magic.

And what you are doing is traveling the countryside and looking to vanquish evil mages who abuse their powers. (kinda the truth because if you slay an evil mage you get to plunder their magic secrets!)

The Revenant 2013/01/27(Sun)00:12 No. 487911 ID: 5a4bc5
File 135927432611.png - (10.13KB , 800x600 , 36.png )

"Jerruv is my name." I think quickly. "Jerruv, the Scarred Mage. An errant fireball in my reckless youth burned my face and ruined my vocal chords, and now I cover one with driftwood and supplant the other with spellcraft."
"That's tragic!" Astrea seems genuinely sorry. "Would no magic reconstruct you?"
"None my master could give before the scarring set in and it was too late," I say. "I left off my training in the ways of battlemagery and now travel the land as a magician-historian with my assistant, ah, T-"
"Tom! Thomas Brilliant," says Spidrift. "At your service, milady!" His disconcerting smile grows larger and increasingly disconcerting.

"We are in this area researching a rumored clash of old between powerful mages. One was called Ansirous, if I recall correctly, and the other's name I have lost. I am given to understand that once he made his home nearby."

"Ansirous," Astrea repeats softly, clicking her tongue. "Sorry, Jerruv. I've never heard of a mage by the name of Ansirous. But the other mage, ah, now him I am most familiar with. You speak of the Revenant Mage, a conjuror most terrible, and I know much about him! I am needed in my shop soon, but if you would accompany me along the way back I can perhaps fill in some gaps in your patchwork history."

I have no objections.

The more time you spend here, the more wisps you can nibble, I feel.

I would love to hear more of this Revenant Mage.

>>487911
Hear what she has to say. Maybe she'll have something useful to sell us at her shop, too.

Nibble on a little bit of her soul. Then wait and see if she reacts. The fact that she hasn't remarked on the condition of your own soul is promising though.

Lets go with her...
I would not consume wisps in her presence though, definitely not nibble on her soul (she would most likely feel that!) unless we have no further use of her.

>>487918
I agree. Making a good impression on this woman may prove critical; she could be our advocate in the village, and mage or no, we don't want the village to turn against us.

Plus, delicious information.

The Revenant 2013/01/27(Sun)01:17 No. 487931 ID: 5a4bc5
File 135927825377.png - (26.96KB , 800x600 , 37.png )

"I would love to hear more of this Revenant Mage," I say. "Come, Sp-Tom."

"Years ago the Revenant Mage controlled this village, and many of the lands around it," Astrea explains as we walk. "He controlled all of Giorazia Valley, the span of which he formed himself when he destroyed Giorazia, City of Crowns, with a single spell. Or so the stories say."

"I have never met her," whispers Spidrift as we walk. "She is certainly not what I expected!"
"Young," I say. "And comely, in a vaguely exotic way."
"Indeed!" says Spidrift. "If you had not outlawed your followers from all desires of the flesh I would certainly find her attractive.

"After the city's destruction the Revenant Mage retreated into his mastaba for some years, and when he reemerged he brought with him great power and great wrath," says Astrea. "This village here (I call it Giorazia village, but I don't believe it has a real name) he used as material for his war machine, stealing away young boys to transform into merciless killers in his name and feeding on everyone's soul power. He did the same for many villages, weakening their people and bending them to his will with sorcery or his black legions. It was a fearful time. Our crops went mostly to his cultists. Sometimes his appetite or his cruelty would get the best of him and he would take so much of a soul that his victim would not survive the experience." Her steps slow and her voice grows quiet. "One of that number was my mother. I was four years old."

>>487931
So...what happened to him?

>>487931
Express condolences. Even if you don't care- best to keep up appearances after all. I do, though; it was a needless death.

I doubt these stories of the grand scheme of warfare are hard to find; with your cover story you should know at least most of what she just told you already. You could try asking her if she has any personal details on the Revenant Mage, or specifics on what he did with his army.

"Your MOTHER you say? So this one was still active quite recently. Odd, my research had suggested that he was the loser of that battle long ago. And yet now you speak in the past tense. What happened to him?"

The Revenant 2013/01/27(Sun)01:56 No. 487941 ID: 5a4bc5
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"My condolences, Astrea," I say, and I do mean it. Truthfully. I don't yet know the extent of my villainy before now, and every time I hear of it my stomach, what is left of it, grows increasingly leaden.
"This was two decades ago," she says, back to her cheerful self. "The scars have faded by now. I will not forget her, but those days are behind us."
"She would be proud of you for taking these people into protection, I'm sure," I say. "What became of the Revenant Mage? Where is he now?"
"In all probability he remains in his cursed mastaba," Astrea says. "His black warbands no longer emerge from there; no one has seen him in nearly ten years. Perhaps he simply died."
"Perhaps he had a change of heart," I say.
"Ha!" Astrea laughs. "The Revenant Mage's heart has long since crumbled to dust in the vault of his ribs. But enough of such macabre talk; we're near my shop. Please, if you decide you need anything stop inside and see me again." She extends her hand. "It was a pleasure speaking to another mage with an interest in our humble little home's history."

Shake her hand of course and thank her for her time. TO do otherwise would be suspicious. But be prepared to move away. Then we should wander the village some more to fill ourselves up.

Following your cover, ask for directions to the mastaba.
Then bid her a good afternoon and continue on stealthily, safely feeding. You may also want to purchase some regular food supplies for Spidrift.

>>487943
Do a small bow instead. Arm is all zombified.
>>487946
+1

>>487941
>raelly cares
You do care? How odd, this doesn't match your evil...
So, I am trying to construct a timeline here but it seems to me:
1. You created us as "insurance".
2. You fought Ansirous and as a result you became a reveneant (an undead spellcaster that feeds on souls... perhaps he fed on yours and transformed you?)
3. You got progressively less sane, more evil and cruel, and less intelligent. Eventually even lost most mental capacity and memory as your undead body degraded.
4. You instinctively reached for us in that degraded state (something the "evil" you would avoid on purpose?) and regained your mind, gained us, and apparently regained compassion and mercy.

I posit that the reveant transformation was not your desired state, and that having become such has altered your personality (a common result of infectious undead transformations). Said mental alterations have been undone by being reunited with your phylactery.

This is further supported by:
>>486829
Where we are charged to "help me to return to the light." "Help me to defeat Ansirous." "If that proves impossible, help me to die well."

The Revenant 2013/01/27(Sun)02:42 No. 487953 ID: 5a4bc5
File 135928336807.png - (8.02KB , 800x600 , 39.png )

I move to shake her hand, reconsider, then draw my arm away to bow instead.

It is too late.

Her hand whips out and tears the glove from mine. My necrotic flesh is pallid in the sunlight.

The Revenant 2013/01/27(Sun)02:44 No. 487954 ID: 5a4bc5
File 135928344103.png - (9.30KB , 800x600 , 40.png )

"I have been training in anticipation of this moment since my first spell," whispers Astara. "Revenant Mage."

>>487954
Well.

That's not good. We don't really know how powerful this person is, but I also don't really even want to fight her. Should we run?

I think we should run. There is no point in fighting after all. Liberal use of Trasus to dodge her strikes and any villagers should help.

.... Also we might as well feed on her wisps as we leave.

Running away seems like the best option. We should probably yell out "Run!" to our... eager friend as well, so he doesn't kill her. I would like to utter some form of apology on our way away, but it would be foolish.

Maybe we can head to the woods to hunt bandits in the meantime? If Spidrift doesn't have a better/safer idea.

Before we run lets try reasoning with her. Tell her that we yield, if she immediately starts casting then we run. Hopefully she will at the least hear us out.

But whatever happens be ready to stop Spidrift since i have a feeling he will jump on Astrea.

What good would staying do? We ruined this woman's childhood. We enslaved this village and terrified them for years and years. All we have is empty words and hollow promises. We have no idea what the future will bring.

We flee, we feed off of bandits so our hunger does not overwhelm us and then we seek out answers about Ansirous inside the Manse once more.

Running won't help squat, I think. She is a mage, after all... just get in close with Trasus maybe, and knock her out. But let's see if she can hear reason, though I doubt it.

"Don't think of this as a threat, but what of collateral damage to the village and it's inhabitants, that may result in our confrontation, Miss Astara?"

Just running is a bad bad idea. She will blast you. Now, casting a _spell_ to escape is viable.

I am more concerned Spidrift will slay her, he is a master at slaying mages. So first you should order him to not kill her.

Maybe followed by Something like "I am not the revenent mage actually! I lived long ago. I was slain by a great evil called Ansirous and my corpse made into the monster known as the revenent mage. It decayed eventually losing its very intellect and becoming a feral undead. Only then was a bit of insurance I created before my death able to draw it and allow me to reclaim the body. It was made from my corpse but it wasn't me, there is no more revenent mage to bring justice to... but there might still be the evil mage who made him".

>>487964
Maybe Trasus Orbus? To create a bubble around you two?

And we definitely should remind her of collateral damage.

Are we outside of town? We should probably ask her that we should leave the vicinty of the village to minimize collateral damage. And that the Revenant Mage is dead, a new soul took over his husk. That sounds impossible, but listen lady, a reality where there can be walking dead husks that feeds on souls is a crazy enough reality that it's not unreasonable to believe another soul can move from one body to another.

Maybe we can continue our conversation before we get into a big fight first? We don't know what this undead person did, which is why we're asking around. Learning is important!

>>487961
Do this.

So much for gullibility.

>>487966
The first part is good, the second part is not so good. We WERE the Revenant Mage, and, being a revenant and a mage, we still are!

Instead, tell Spidrift [who has almost certainly gotten close enough to knife Astar] to stop, don't kill her, etc. Thank her for the information and say you will be leaving now.

She's seen Spidrift's face... We may have to let him kill her, sad as it is. However, you guys don't seem like you'll vote that way, so let's go with:

>>487964
If we knock her out, let's take her to the castle, put magical wards on her to keep her contained, and we can explain our situation to her. Perhaps she'll be amenable to helping us, or at least not hindering us, once we've had a chance to lay it all out for her calmly and rationally.

>>488041
Oh, I like this.
And if she won't be calm and rational we can probably figure out a way to bind her as our servant or something.

>>487954
"Hold, Spidrift!"

"My lady, you seem to be a kind soul, so please allow me to tell you a story about dedicating a life to revenge. Once, in this very region, there lived a good man, who did many great things. However, there existed another being of great power whom the good man would risk everything to defeat. When the good man proved unequal to his task, his legacy was quickly forgotten, replaced with the horror of what he had done in its pursuit. The evil wrought by his desperate need for vengeance far outlived the memory of the good he once did. Please my lady, do not follow in my footsteps. I truly am sorry for the evil wrought by my folly, but I swear to you that the Revenant Mage you once feared is gone."

The Revenant 2013/01/27(Sun)13:12 No. 488074 ID: 5a4bc5
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"Spidrift! Hold!"

The Butcher Mage freezes in place with his knife inches from Astrea's throat.

"Milord?"

The Revenant 2013/01/27(Sun)13:13 No. 488075 ID: 5a4bc5
File 135932118366.png - (169.62KB , 800x600 , 42.png )

"Milady-" I say.

"Orbus Zephra!" Astrea howls, and a tremendous wall of wind pushes out from her, blasting both of us back into the street.

>>488075
So far so good. Call out "I yield!" and if she pauses, explain that your mind has been warped if not entirely gone for the past hundred years, and that you have only now recovered yourself--you are not the revenant she knows.

If she doesn't pause, flee without engaging. Work out a way to communicate from a safe distance once in safety.

>>488075
Order Spidrift not to kill her. Be ready with a Trasus Fuge to evade any troublesome attack she may send your way.

If you have any time, telling her you aren't the same man that took her mother's life might help. It would be true as well, I think.

If we can't talk her down we should simply escape.

Make a gamble and hope that she listens. Send Spidrift back home so Astrea will feel less threatened, then fall down on your knees and bow your head while yelling that you yield.

Though be ready to Trasus your ass away if she starts casting fire magic or something as nasty.

Tell Spidrift that we are leaving. Then leave. She's not in a mood to listen right now, I don't think--we'll only make things worse by trying to explain ourselves.

If we leave now, she'll have time to mull over some things like the conversation she had with us up 'til then, the fact that we didn't kill her when we had the chance, etc. Let her come to her own conclusions, rather than trying to force our view onto an enemy in the first encounter.

The Revenant 2013/01/27(Sun)13:45 No. 488097 ID: 5a4bc5
File 135932314609.png - (282.96KB , 800x600 , 43.png )

"Spidrift! Stay back! Advocate Mage, please-"
"Fulga Zephra!" A cracking bolt of lightning snaps from her outstretched, jittering fingers.
"Trasus Fuge!" I lurch into flaming motion, skating to the side and leaving a trail of flame in my wake.
"I challenge you, Revenant Mage! Face me in Duellum Potestatis!"
"I yield!"
"Then hold still while I kill you!"

>>488095
Again, leave.

"The thing you hate is ALREADY DEAD"

>>488100
"And that's not a pun on the phrase undead. The person you seek revenge against is GONE. Someone else pilots this husk of a body! I was just trying to learn more about what it was! I'm the human that was the body before it got turned into a revenant by Ansidiwhathisname. It's HIM you want to destroy, HE STARTED ALL OF THIS! He created the creature you despised!"

>>488097
Tell her you will have to decline. Let's get out of here. We have nothing to gain from killing her. The village will take up arms against us if we do, so we wouldn't have time to retrieve her spellbooks, unless we killed villagers too.

We need to knock her out and then leave her a written message.
She simply does not to think this is a trick (we already lied) and she is probably all emotional right now, waking up ALIVE after a defeat would go a long way towards that along with presenting her a different focus for her hate (the mage who made us into a revenent).

So, time magic plus blow to head. Also ordering spidrift to assist in knocking her unconscious

"I would rather abdicate and return when you are in a more reasonable mood." Leave. LEAVE.

Also tell your sidekick you ain't conquering the world or anything.

>>488105
Don't knock her out, just leave. She won't listen, but leaving without attacking her will leave a message, both to her and any watching villagers. If we knocked her out, it would look bad to villagers, and be less clear a message, whatever we wrote--and if we tried and failed it would be bad indeed, and we have not yet recovered sufficient magical ability to do this with any confidence.

Again, gtfo with all due haste (successive short-range teleport until you're behind cover and can just sprint, perhaps) and attempt to reestablish lines of communication later.

Experimentation mid-battle is a bit sketchy, but I bet Trasus Zephra is pretty great.

The Revenant 2013/01/27(Sun)14:12 No. 488113 ID: 5a4bc5
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"The thing you hate is dead, Astrea!"

"The thing I hate is before me," she yells. "And I am no longer a helpless child! Duellum Potestatis!"

I begin to back away but I feel the grip of Spidrift's tapered fingers on my arm. "Milord, we cannot go."
"Let go, Spidrift. She needs time to think."
His face is deathly serious. His smile is gone. "Duellum Potestatis has been declared, milord. Old, old magic. The Clash of Equals. If you do not meet her challenge, now, you will lose a measure of power, permanently. If you wish to spare her then exercise caution but milord: your power is already at a wane. Who knows what will happen if it is further subdued? I cannot bear to have you back so soon and to lose you to madness once more. Either you or I must fight."

>>488113
Well. Sucks.

We don't want to kill her, but most of the offensive uses we know for our current words of power are uh...fire. We know how to throw fire. But she just used two other words. Let's try Orbus Zephra?

>>488113
Spidrift can fight for us? That would probably be safer, as he knows much more magic than we presently recall, and is probably a better battlemage than her besides. He's a psychopath, but an obedient one. This seems risky, but we'd probably be best off having him fight--but ordering him not to kill her, or hurt her any more than necessary to end the duel without our loss. Knockout ideal.

We absolutely cannot risk your losing your mind again.

>>488113
Did the lightning hurt at all? You did get hit by part of it... You may be immune to that element, in which case you can deal with this without undue difficulty.

Alternatively you could see if Spidrift is confident that he would be able to beat her without killing her or losing... but that seems like a cop-out and might even piss her off further.

I believe our best option is to man up and face the challenge head-on. We just bought a sword. Use that with Trasus Fuge to pen her in with fire and slice her up. The intent would be to injure but not kill. Make her bleed, make it obvious you could kill her but you aren't going to. If you manage to get her weak, slamming her head into the ground or a wall could work to knock her out. I am not sure what your strength is as you are, or how durable your limbs are.

Alternatively we could use any spare moment we have to toss orbs of fire around at the houses, to force her to yield so she can put out the fires, letting us escape.

>>488117
Setting fire to bystander's houses is exactly the opposite of the image we want to present.

What if she flees or backs down from the challenge?

>>488116
Agreed.

Fulga Fuge might work. Fulga looked like it had a higher concentration, and likely better control than Orbus.
Also, Trasus Zephra sounds like it might be an air teleport, it might hurt less than the fire one.

I'm going out to eat with some people now but when I come back in a few it's time to d-d-d-d-d-d-dddduel. Check the questdis http://tgchan.org/kusaba/questdis/res/66593.html here for how the magic system works.

If any of you were with me for Eivr it's a lot like that.

>>488103
>>487966
Okay, I don't know if you guys are intentionally telling lies or you just don't understand, but it keeps coming up in dialog, so I want to make sure. Ansirous is almost certainly not responsible for the creator becoming a revenant, that is something he chose for himself. Upon successful creation of a phylactery, generally the only step left before transforming into a sentient undead is to die. This path was his desperate hope for a second chance, should he fall. I only hope that he was not so foolish as to win and die at a later date with the phylactery still in place.

As to the matter at hand, I would recommend the battle plan of "dodge around like a motherfucker until our attunement is sufficient to attempt a knockout with something like Orbus Zephra knockback." I hope that being familiar with the spell effect is sufficiently like having cast the spell before that it would not draw a huge penalty.

>>488131
so...lots of Trasus, then?

I will go with plan lots of Trasus.

Trasus fuge looks like a spell that would keep our attunemenet more or less balanced, so lead with that and hope she doesn't get used to it too quickly.

Alternatives are just Trasusing behind her and stabbing with your new rapier.

Oh, an idea. We can Trasus Fuge our fist into someone's face. Or sword-hilt.

Punch her in the face. no, really, trasus fuge, punch her in the face. those who are capable off concentrating with a broken nose are few and far between, those who can properly pronounce words are even fewer.

Its frightening how similiar we are. Like you I lost a loved one to a mage. Like you I devoted my life to his end. And then I devoted my death. I stand before you now because of my thirst for vengeance. I wonder how far you will go for yours?

Have Spidrift fight. We're likely too weak, at the moment, to take her on.

>>488169
I think WE have to fight her, because of the magic duel thing.

>>488177
Naw, he said he could fight.

You guys do remember the state our hand is in right? We're more likely to break it then her nose.

If we're going for a knockout, we trashes fuge our sword hilt to her face. Kill, we use the tip, instead. You guys decide.

>>488229
Great strategy. Pommel her.

The Revenant Mage 2013/01/27(Sun)22:41 No. 488268 ID: 5a4bc5
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"I accept," I say. "Duellum Potestatis."

A loud, low boom sounds, echoing in the hollow cavity of my chest. I draw my rapier.

The Advocate Mage and I face one another.

The Revenant Mage 2013/01/27(Sun)22:43 No. 488269 ID: 5a4bc5
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"Trasus Fuge!"
"Scutum!"
My fiery charge slams into a shimmering wall of force Astrea spins into being at the last second.

"Trasus!" she cries, and with a shimmering flash and a loud whooping bang of misplaced air is now standing atop her shop.

>>488269
Aw, no fair, there's a one-word shield spell. An effective one, at that. Maybe she practiced it extensively to make it that strong.

I say keep her on the defensive. Start lobbing Orbus Fuge at her. We're ahead of her offensively so her defenses should weaken before our offenses, surely?

Hey, are you casting your speech spell before casting spells? Your magic words shouldn't be audible otherwise, surely.

It seems like, since trasus fuge increases, and trasus decreases atunement, we can just spam mobility with no negative affect, repeatedly using the same one multiple times and then switching, with other spells thrown in to prevent terrible predictability. melee seems they best method of attack.

Dang, wish we had more energy with which to try new spells. If we could figure out how to apply Vomus to someone else, say with Fulga Vomus or something, we take her down non-lethally.

Anyway, she's behind and above you and has used two defensive spells so her nuke is at a fairly high power. I'd go with using Fuge Scutom to block whatever she's about to do and lower your attunement levels.

>>488275

Actually, switching to this. A couple of Trasus just all over the place is amazing with (muscle?) memory and a familiar sword.
Non-lethal might be hard to do with that thing if you want to retain any kind of effectiveness, but if you just keep hammering her until she runs out of attunement a pommel to the face could work, or the teleports lower our attunement until we can, I don't know, give her heat stroke with an Orbus Fuge?

She seems like she's planning to hit us with ranged spells. Trasus to dodge her attack, then Trasus to get up behind her, then attempted pommel strike to disable her.

The Revenant Mage 2013/01/27(Sun)23:27 No. 488282 ID: 5a4bc5
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"Torrentus Zephra!" the Advocate Mage cries from the rooftop, and a great stormy gust spirals toward me, lightning forking through its roiling mass.

"Trasus Fuge!" I skid only about six or seven feet, this time. It is a crucial distance, and it saves me, but my attunement is lowering.

A crowd is beginning to gather, slackjawed to see such a display of magic. I note Astrea's growing consternation at their prescence in a duel of fire and wind.

In a village of thatched roofs.

Hold on: She's still alive, we don't have but a fraction of our strength, and we're burning through it for these extravagant gestures?

No. Play cleverly; illusions, dispersal, invisibility. Try to force her to waste herself.

Light the roof she's on on fire.

>>488282
Fulga Zephra at her.

Let's stop using fire. Your attunement is low enough so that it will probably compensate for having to cast a new spell.

We get a move action each round AS WELL as the two words and attack. Maybe we move away from the inside edges of the village with our flaming teleports and regular walking?

Presumably the power words are always audible, or the fact that his speech spell is still active is why his words can be heard. Anyway, you may only be able to speak two power words per turn, but are you capable of speech? you may want to start talking her down. also, we have some excellent attack power right now, so we should other just fireball her pushy as and let her deal with the consequences, or try one of the attack spells she has used, because even with or unfamiliarity weakening it, the bonus should make it a viable attack.

The Revenant Mage 2013/01/28(Mon)00:06 No. 488302 ID: 5a4bc5
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The Advocate Mage is distracted; instead of attacking me she focuses on the fire I left behind me. "Zephra!"

A gust of wind pushes the fire from my Tasus Fuge away from the villagers. "Run!" she cries. They shrink back, but they don't yet break away from us.

I see my opening. "Orbus Fuge!"

She throws up a panicky Scutum but my fireball is empowered, and her defenses shatter before it. I scorch her left side and she gasps in pain.

The village is innocent, of course, but their presence is invaluable.
Dare I forsake it and move the fight to the outskirts? Will fleeing there violate some right of Duellum Potestatis I don't know?

Fleeing sounds like it would violate the duel.
Trasus at her and then pommel her (no fuge, just trasus).
Then trasus again if need be.

>>488304
If you can do it as a free action, so to speak, call for her to yield. You don't want the villagers hurt in the crossfire, and you don't want her hurt further, either. Say it loud enough that the villagers will hear it.
Keep pressing and trying to knock her out, though.

>>488302

Ask Spidrift on the rules, if you are unsure. Also, I' am glad that despite her hotheadedness Astara has some reason and morality left, despite having magical powers. Maybe we can use that... like asking her to forfeit the fight, so she can deal with our semi-careless use of fire and such.

"Will you yield? Or do you not care if the village burns from a duel YOU started?"

>>488302
We already have a leg up in the fight. That might be enough. Also, you don't plan to attack them. They are distracting her, but they aren't really in danger, are they? It's not like you're pushing your fire at them. She assumes you mean them harm, when you do not. That is her mistake.

Throw another Orbus Fuge at her.

>>488316
>Throw another Orbus Fuge at her.
No. We don't want to maim or kill her. Now is the time for blunt melee.

The Revenant Mage 2013/01/28(Mon)00:40 No. 488321 ID: 5a4bc5
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"Yield, Advocate!" I yell.
"No!"
"Yield or the village will be destroyed by this petty war! Trasus!"

The Revenant Mage 2013/01/28(Mon)00:41 No. 488322 ID: 5a4bc5
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"Orbus Zephyr!" she howls, the rage of her mother's murder tearing through her voice.

I am blasted backward to the opposite edge of the roof.

>>488322
Trasus Fuge again to attempt another face-smack. She must have low attunement by now, so you'll probably get through.

Not Trasus Fuge, this should still be the same round so we only have one word to work with.

Just Trasus over to her and get with the blunt trauma.

>>488334
Do that!
She used up her 2 words this round and we only used one. (in fact, we used only one because we hoped that would happen)

More Trasus. Always more Trasus.

>>488322
You are a selfish fool! Run, you say to their own homes! You could have thought this better through, at least.
Any one of those sentences work, one at a time, or whatever.

Our atunement is low enough that the trasus may not work properly. but yeah, hit her with the pixel of your sword.

Our atunement is low enough that the trasus may not work properly. but yeah, trasus, hit her with the pommel of your sword.

Fuck you, internet.

>>488337
Indeed, we have a word, a movement, AND and attack left. Pommel to the face is the best idea now.

The Revenant 2013/01/28(Mon)12:24 No. 488376 ID: 5a4bc5
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"Trasus!"
I rocket across the roof back toward her and slam the pommel of the rapier into her face. The force of the blow judders up my arm.

She stumbles backward, teetering on the edge of the roof.

catch her

>>488376
Is it a lethal fall? If you think she will survive, kick her off. If not, yank her away from the edge.

Hug her. She cannot cast her magicks on you if you are inside her effective range. You will also prevent her from falling.

Grab her if you think the fall will kill her. Tell her once again to yield.

If we want mega style points we could kick her off then Trasus down to catch her.

Also if you do save her from falling to her death you should let her know you've saved her live twice now; once by preventing your aide from slitting her throat and twice from preventing her from falling.

Catch her, I doubt we have enough time to see if her fall is going to be lethal.

"Please Yield, Astara."

The Revenant 2013/01/28(Mon)13:36 No. 488403 ID: 5a4bc5
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As I move toward her she leaps off the building, casting Orbus Zephra on her way down. The blast slows her fall and she lands with both feet on the ground as I am pushed back once again.

All this buffeting is beginning to take its toll on me. My head is spinning and my ribs ache.

>>488403
At least you have the high ground now. Start tossing Orbus Fuge at her from up there, and use the roof for cover.

Let's attack from afar, then. ORBUS FUGE

>>488403

This woman is starting to annoy me. That's it, enough Mr. Nice Guy. Give her one last chance to yield before you fireball her again.

If we fireball her, she will die, she just used her spell words. trasus twice, once directly in front of her, pommel ready to strike, and once directly above her. tackle her ass.

Question your adjutant about the nature of the heart floating above his head.

>>488415
That's a hat, knocked off his head by her last attack.

Make your way down and beat her ass with the flat and hilt of your sword.

>>488407
Given our current attunement, a fireball would probably kill her. More Trasus.

She wont surrender because surrendering is a fate worse then death, as far as she knows. Who knows what monstrous things you would do with her once captured... So you have to defeat her.

I say hit her with an orbus zephra, shouldn't kill her but hopefully will knock her down for a quick port and some hitting.

>>488443

And given some more time to mess around, she'll harm us more and may kill us. Creator is already having a spinning head and aching ribs. I'd like to beat hear without killing, but I don't want to risk our lives too much...

>>488443
I gotta go with this; if we burn her to a crisp we'll be no better than we were when we were brainwashed.

As a counterpoint, I'd like to note that if we don't use an offensive spell, Trasus will get quite weak.

We could try out a wind element spell? That's non-lethal.

>>488458
If we max out our negative energy first a new attacking spell will be more effective. We could go for Torrentus Zephra once we get to full negative.

>>488458
It doesn't really matter if Trasus gets weak; it's not like we're teleporting very far. Also, if I am reading the discussion thread about the rules correctly, if we use Trasus Fuge it will have all the power of a charged offensive spell, but will also continue to drain our attunement.

So that's my vote. More movement and dodging until we max out power.

The Revenant Mage 2013/01/28(Mon)20:43 No. 488502 ID: 5a4bc5
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I Trasus off the roof, but only make it about halfway down to the ground. As I pop into existence eight feet off the ground I experience the feeling of assuming a phantom step in a dark stairwell, writ large.

"Trasus! I squawk again, and blink the rest of the way to the ground. I land ungracefully on my hands and knees.

Before me Astrea charges another of her glowing, fulminating spells.

Headbutt her hand.

Ground your blade in front of you. It's still lightning.

Orbus Zephyr.

>>488508
Yup.

>>488508
Thirding this.

The Revenant Mage 2013/01/28(Mon)22:42 No. 488516 ID: 5a4bc5
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"Fulga Zephra!"
I slam my sword into the ground and take Astrea's lightning bolt full in the arm.
My side snaps into numbness. The electricity arcs down my spine. My leg kicks violently. My ruined tongue lashes and twitches. My fingers tighten on the pommel of my blade as flaring light dances down its surface. The pain is sharp and clear. I feel every pore down my forearm searing.

It is here doing battle with the daughter of an innocent woman I drained dry as bone that I feel gloriously, screamingly alive for the first time.

The Revenant Mage 2013/01/28(Mon)22:46 No. 488517 ID: 5a4bc5
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I push myself off the ground and spread my arms out wide.

The power is below my skin and bubbling up from my throat in bilious coils ready for release.

"Orbus Zephyr," I say.

My ears pop and my lungs empty as the air around me violently expands outward, picking the Advocate Mage up like a ragdoll and dashing her against a wall some twenty feet away.

She crumples, immediately unconscious.

make sure she lives but also make sure she can't cast when she wakes up.

>>488517
Looks like we won, Creator. Ask if there's a doctor around, to check on her wounds and help her recover. Perhaps ask Spidrift how you maintain your body in its current condition?

>>488518
That seems quite unnecessary! We could check with Spidrift as to exactly how a duel like this is decided, and what happens to the winner and loser. We should also get the glove back so nobody catches a good look at your hand... I don't believe the villagers are aware of your identity quite yet.

Ask Spidrift if it's done and this won't give us any adverse effects if we leave now.
We can leave a note on her person if we still want to mend our reputation.
If Spidrift asks about how weird we're acting with all the mercy, say it's reputation control. It's just all part of the game plan. We're playing an all new game here, one with focus and an end. It is a time for more restraint.

HE said he would rather avoid destruction earlier. Well, he should know that everything heads that way. Even yourself. What did he think your withering away even meant if it's not your time to perish? We got shit to do, son. Before the inevitability catches up to us.

Best run over to her to make sure she isn't faking it and that she gets the medical care she needs. I don't think any of the other villagers know anything other than that we're a mage who fought their mage. It should be safe to hang around for a little while at least, the only threat is unconscious.

If we stick around until she regains consciousness we should behind her hands and gag her first. Should prevent most magic that could threaten us.

The Revenant Mage 2013/01/28(Mon)23:20 No. 488527 ID: 5a4bc5
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"Spidrift, go to her," I say. "We need to find out if she's feigning this and if she isn't we need a doctor."
"Milord-"
"What happens now? Have the conditions of Duellum Potestatis been fulfilled?"
"Milord. Look."

I turn from him and see that the crowd has grown into perhaps the entire population of the village.

They stand agape at the scarecrow-man standing over the unconscious form of their most powerful protector.

One speaks. "I know you." His leathery face is plastered with the quiet terror of recollection. "Revenant Mage."

The Revenant Mage 2013/01/28(Mon)23:21 No. 488528 ID: 5a4bc5
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If the crowd were to whip into a frenzy, I would be prepared. I could trasus away from their tearing, vengeful hands and flee to my mastaba. If they were to run I would not begrudge their flight. I would be prepared.

I am not prepared for what happens, and it is terrible.

With the creaking of age and the mechanical constancy of a lifetime of practice, the old man sinks slowly to one knee.

The Revenant Mage 2013/01/28(Mon)23:22 No. 488529 ID: 5a4bc5
File 135944416236.png - (15.93KB , 800x600 , 58.png )

The dull fear thrums through the crowd.
Another kneels, and another. The muscled blacksmith takes a knee.

I am the only one left standing.

"CEASE. The woman needs care! Find a doctor, see if she can be saved! Spread the word: The Revenant Mage is no more!"

"I am [INSERT DECIDED-UPON NEW NAME HERE]! And I will conguer no one, I will kill no one, I will rule no one."

>>488529
Be careful, Creator. This could be a useful resource, even if it is temporary due to you not reinforcing their fear. Let's not be dramatic. We can use this.

I think we should simply direct them to tend to the Advocate Mage, and to speak with someone familiar with the local area. I would like to see a map, and perhaps some news of the outside world. Let them think you are someone to be feared, for now. It will get things done that need doing, and get questions answered that need answering. It might even allow you to stay in town for a while, and feed off more wisps.

"That is very kind of you, but I really would like SOMEONE to look after this woman. We can discuss your relative levels of subservience later"

Don't threaten to kill anyone, and don't promise not to. we need to ease everyone into the new status quo, even our fanatically loyal servant.

At the very least we should tell them to stop kneeling. A useless gesture that helps nobody.

We can decide what we do with this situation after we make sure whatsherface is alright. Though it is mildly tempting to make heroic declarations of good intent and then vanish, just for the look on her face when she wakes up and the villagers tell her what happened. Not worth it though; we wouldn't be there to see it.

>>488534
This.

>>488534
Seconding this

"If you would serve me, then care for the Advocate Mage. I do not need your submission, but I am no healer, and she may need help."

"Fear me no more."

Leave.

>>488541
Dramatic gesture for emphasis: Before the last part, remove your mask. They recognize you--hiding your face, and your nature, no longer serves any purpose. As you seem to have come her disguised in the past, perhaps it can be a symbol of your change.

Don't forget to finish eating wisps.

"Tend to the Advocate mage."

Finish eating as you leave.

no longer demand fear but you still demand respect.

You can't just say "don't fear me anymore" (after kicking some major ass) and expect them to do so. And the advocate mage will just hunt you down and fight you again (as can be expected). At the very least you need to explain (and honestly they deserve an explanation; non mages are still people).

Might I suggest:
"There are things that can warp and twist the mind, becoming an undead monstrosity is one of them. (although we arne't sure this was the cause specifically)
For generations I existed as insane undead monstrosity comitting horrible atrocities, and for this I apologize.
You see, long ago when I was still alive I fought against great evil, I had crafted magic that would restore my soul and mind to sanity should the worst come to pass.
It is regrettable that the magic was only able to restore me yesterday and not sooner.
I will _not_ allow myself to be destroyed, as there are a great many evils in the world to fight and wrongs I must atone for. But I promise you I will not be a blight on the living again. From now on, please refer to me as The Atoning Mage".

Ps. ask spidrift if he knows any magic to restore your form and/or to heal the worst of the advocate mage's injuries (don't want her to die or be horribly scared... but some bed rest would be good for her to cool down)

How's our juice doing? I kinda want to try out Trasus Zephra and Trasus Zephyr. Also try out Scutum.

>>488552
ugh the whole "call me [new name]" feels so hypocritical. We're still a Revenant and a Mage, so we're the Revenant Mage.
We don't need to go giving pompous speeches revealing the reasons behind why we do what we do to villagers who grew up during our reign of terror, while we can't remember a damn thing about it or the circumstances of our death and our words of power and probably lots of other things. We're not in a position to explain ourselves, and this kind of weak apology would just be insulting, and probably not even believed.

Oh perfect. Ask the old guy to fill you in on what's happened and what you were like.

>>488558
>"call me [new name]" feels so hypocritical
It is trite, it might be silly, it might be bad speechifying... but it isn't hypocracy (check a dictionary).
Ok, remove that part about "call me X"
>No pompous speeches
It isn't pompous, and we want the advocate mage to hear us out (even if secondhand), and they too deserve an explanation (non mages are people too)
>we can't remember
>lost words of power
Never even implied any of that in the speech.
>not in a position to explain ourselves
Best position we have been in yet, we shouldn't put it off forever.
>this kind of weak apology would just be insulting, and probably not even believed.
We would obviously have to prove it via actions. If you think its insulting then suggest an improved wording.

Actually, ask why they are bowing to you first.

Then ask the old man to give you a history lesson about what's been going on since before today.

>>488552
We kicked ass nonlethally, in self defense, under loudly declared duress. Nothing we say will make these people forgive or forget the past century, but what we have just done, and advising them not to fear, just might provide food for thought. These things take time.

Mentioning that what precipitated this was our at long last recovery of our mind isn't a bad idea, though. Conveys that this might be more than a (perhaps temporary change) of plans.

Look, can we hold off on making any Big Damn Hero speeches? We are largely ignorant to the current circumstances of the world and the needs of these people. We barely know anything about ourself. I for one do not feel like a hero. Not a villain either, just... empty. Let's take things slow.

The Revenant Mage 2013/01/29(Tue)23:07 No. 488742 ID: c0c515
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"Up," I say. "If you would serve me tend to the Advocate Mage. You: Old man. Who are you?"
"The village elder, Lord."
"Do you remember me?"
"Yes, Lord."
"Come with me. The rest of you: I am not as I once was. Come, Spidrift."

"Now then," I murmur, as I stalk away from the crowd already beginning to flock around Astrea, the old man and Spidrift in tow, "tell me what exactly I was, old one."
"Milord has a foggy recollection and a surprisingly merciful temperament today!" Spidrift explains. "I suggest taking advantage of both."
"You're the butcher mage, then, aren't you." The old man walks with the aid of a splintering cane.
"I am."
"You killed my boy in the forest, six years back."
"I suppose I am sorry for that!"

"You were our lord, Lord," says the old man. "When I was twelve this became so, and I was unwanted for your legion on account of my jake leg. Then you began to diminish, and then fifty years later, you disappeared. And now you return. And that is all I know."

Everyone here tells essentially the same story, Creator. Nobody seems to know anything about before you became a revenant. I think we'd need to find a history book or someone more educated. First thing's first. Ask the old man about the lay of the land. There's gotta be a city somewhere with scholars in it.

Ask him if he at least knew your name. Did you only go by Revenant Mage?

Oh, hang on, Spidrift might know the surroundings too. I dunno how traveled he is.

Speaking of him, perhaps it might be a good idea to find out if he's a cannibal?

>>488742
"It appears that one of my extremely long plans for preserving my morality has just come to pass. I sincerely apologize for any evil I caused while my mind sunk into madness."

Let's at least try to get on the good side of these villagers. You never know when the support of the populous will come in handy.

Nothing of our living life then? Or our goals as an undead creature? I suppose he doesn't know a way to figure out that either, does he? We don't have any direction to go, we need something. Any direction that's even slightly relevant, we'll take what we can get at this point.

Shall we reveal to Spidrift and the Eldar that we're what's left of their Lord's soul chunks from the time he was alive inside the phylactery, which is what created the lucidity and sudden change of heart? We've been left in the dark for centeries, and given orders from our old living self to destroy Ansirous. We have no idea if the living self is what truly was the revenant Mage or our entire identity was warped by the process (or Ansirous) and we fell into this whole evil overlord schtick. Our secondary order was that if we were unable to destroy Ansirous was to die well. Which means we need to set up our redemption in the meantime. Those were the last orders of what was once the Revenant Mage at his peak, who may have been a magic blacksmith or craftsmen from the sound of it.

Wait, that gives me an idea, we need to search historical texts from around the time the Revenant Mage came to be for exceptional craftsmen of the age. One of talent that can create a phylactery, forge swords from Obsiden Flakes of a Devil's horn, staffs from the oak of a living Dryad tempered with Troll Flame.
Hopefully in our evil phase we didn't go around destroying important documents around the world or in the town. It might be our only lead.

The Revenant Mage 2013/01/29(Tue)23:51 No. 488748 ID: c0c515
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"Elder, I must tell you that I am no longer the creature I was," I say. "The man I was before I became a Revenant had a plan for my redemption that has only now begun. I know not the extent of evil I did when I was gripped with madness, but now I seek redemption.

"Well. That and someone named Ansirous."

"I know not that name." The old man is either unconvinced or has a face as transparent as anthracite.
We have arrived at his cottage. It is unremarkable.

"Then can you point me to somewhere that does?" I ask, and he bows me inside.

He sits me down and pulls a small, tattered map from the only drawer in the building. "Here," he says, and places it in my lap.

"Spidrift, do you know these places?"
"Dorow Town, milord, I have been to! It is larger than this village, but no less odorous! Perhaps you will find answers there. If not in Dorow then most certainly in Parvyle Port! It is the largest settlement for weeks around! I have never been; it sounds exciting!"
"Are you a cannibal, Spidrift?"
"Not to my knowledge!"

Alright, I'm tempted to simply head to the Port... but it looks like a long journey. So Dorow is the obvious choice

First though we must talk to Advocate Mage. When she wakes we tell her about the price of vengeance and warn her against it consuming her. I have no desire to repeat the battle we just had and perhaps we can ward her away from our own path.

>>488748
Must really like his meat raw, then.

Oh. Ask the Elder if there are any bad men nearby that need killing. Bandits, that sort of thing. Oh! And a question for Spidrift- what happens to a person's soul when you kill someone by eating too much of their soul? Does its most inner core still pass on to the next existence? In that case, isn't that basically just a normal death?

Ask how likely either of those places are to kill you upon discovery rather than react like how this settlement has.

>>488750
No questions like that while the villagers are in earshot, I think. I expect that the Advocate Mage provides the magical services they need as well, though it wouldn't hurt to ask if there's anything we can do to help them.

Going to a revenant-hostile city, which I speculate they all are, is a risky proposition. However, having Spidrift go in our stead may not work well; obvious reasons aside, he won't ask the right questions or pursue the same followups, and we probably shouldn't be left alone just yet.

Now that we've fed, let's return home and get Spidrift to tell us all the Words of Power he knows, and peruse what is left of our books. Hopefully we'll come upon some magic for sustained illusion to hide our nature, or at least long-distance transport.

>>488749
Let's not talk to the Advocate Mage again until she's had more time to calm down. A few days at minimum. And even then, better done from a distance.

>>488748
I have a question for Spidrift, actually. How exactly are Words of Power discovered? Do some mages just sort of stumble across them in the process of casting? Obviously they can be learned by acquiring them from books, or other mages, but the way he spoke about them before implies that isn't the only way they are discovered.

The Revenant Mage 2013/01/30(Wed)16:22 No. 488929 ID: c0c515
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"I suppose Dorow Town is the next step, then," I say. "Old man, how safe are the roads in this country? Are there perhaps bandits that need crushing?"
"Aye, right enough," says the old man. "There always are. You keep to the roads and travel in groups, they'll leave you alone. The rootax too."

"Rootax?"

"Big thing. Lots of teeth. Lives in the crag south of here.

"I see. We're returning to the mastaba now, Spidrift. Take the map. When the Advocate Mage awakens let me know, old man. I may be interested in speaking with her, when she's, ah, simmered."