#metaphysick

Ruran and Alley make their way through La Noscea, down through a ravine, and into an open area that seems fairly departed from the rest of the world.

"Mm," Ruran nods in agreement. "This should suit our needs nicely. Ah--"

He finally takes the wrapped item from under his arm and offers it to her.

"They should fit--I did not modify much save for the exterior."

Alley finds the old pair of gloves that she had offered--but enhanced for aetheric purposes. Each glove contains a crystal, and there are a few accents with runes etched beneath them, discreet.

"I had to get Ellere's help with them.” He rubs the side of his neck. "S-so we shall see if they are effective. A work in progress, yes?"

~

"All you need now is practice. Speed and instinct will come in time--and then there is the matter of sending the aether back, and its form. There is room for putting your own spin on it; this is just the foundation." He looks at his hand, then at hers. "I'm--very impressed, and quite proud of you."

In which the weeping knight Ruran Vas assists an alley rat in her ventures to become brave and strong. Having discovered a tome of an art lost to time, Alley sets about casting aside her fear of her natural talents for thievery and become something to be proud of under the masked man’s tutelage and guidance - an aether thief.

Metaphysick PVE Night: The Cinder Drift (Extreme)

Lies of the Seven: Into the Spider’s Nest (Arc Finale)

When a distressed Ruran Vas called over the company’s pearl that Saville had finally been located, it was the lead Metaphysick needed. However, the masked-knight’s voice was cut off and there were sounds of struggle. Racing to the Shroud, members of the company sought not only to put an end to the woman, but now to save their friend, as well.

The group soon needed to split, the tunnels forking into two directions. Ellere Valahan and Renaud Dailemont led Alley Rat, Walking Oak, Chloe Lombardi, Vieaux Valintaire, and Tobias Eren down one way guided by the distant feeling of their lost masked companion. While Fejika Menajika, Atlas Leigh, Rufus Wightman, Aslan Ilya, Ravil Raindance, Xau Saialdhe, and Y’mhiha Vhezh pressed on to clear the path to Saville.

The battle was hard-fought. Saville nearly completed the ritual to become the Spider Queen, but Metaphysick refused to give up, staying on their feet and fighting fiercely. Ravil dealt the killing blow, his twin daggers sinking into her heart, but it could not have been done without the collaborative effort of everyone involved. Fending off spiders, severing the tethers that kept our companions constrained, not to mention the rescue of Ruran. The group worked together, and saw it through to the end. 

Saville uttered two notable words during the encounter with her. The first was 'Chosen', which seemed familiar to a couple members (Ruran and Renaud, namely). The final word Saville spoke before her defeat was a name: Zalaius. A name not known to Metaphysick. Who could it be?

After Saville's death, an aetherial ghost of her appeared, still bound to the necklace on the ground. Her appearance was different, no longer a twisted sorceress but a kind Elezen woman silently motioning to destroy the necklace. Metaphysick did, and thus put her soul to rest. As she disappeared, she managed to speak one thing: "Tell her...I'm sorry." This can only be meant for her mother, Nonna.

With Saville gone, any cocoon made by her would begin to dissolve. Survivors of all kinds would make their way out of the tunnels, up into the morning light of the Black Shroud.

In order to give the Metaphysick some well-needed downtime and a change of pace, and mostly to bolster the dwindling inventory of ingredients in the Bastion infirmary. Chloe Lombardi gathered some of the willing and available members for a little wander around the Shroud. In the end, Otte Dreamwalker and Vieaux Valintaire volunteered their assistance, the smaller group perhaps a boon when it came to finding the elusive herbs and mushrooms.

Besides a surprise spider, an unnervingly sticky fungus and a wade through the waters, the group managed to find what they needed, and finished the trip with a nice picnic before heading back home!

My best work to date.

BONUS (from the scene of the pun):

There are no gods to tell me how to live

But the wind howls my fate

Where the rain falls I will dance

Because I prefer sandalwood to perfume

I am the eclectic witch I have no coven

Only the flora and fauna

And the tip of a blade

Where grass grows I will prance

Because I prefer metaphysics to religion

( I )

II - The Ultimatum

After a tense week of failed searches for the escaped Skatene, it was finally sighted again on the isle of Vylbrand, heading towards the abandoned Castrum Occidens. Following in hot pursuit, Metaphysick descended deep into the caverns beneath the. Another surprising development awaited; the owl-like familiar, identifying itself only as a “Storyteller”, had its imp minions excavating a peculiar black crystal.

A fierce clash followed, with the Storyteller summoning fearsome monsters and narrating the grisly scene like a twisted playwright. What threatened to turn into a lethal battle of attrition was cut short, however, by the appearance of an even greater evil: the creature’s mistress.

Clad in armor black as night and seething with an aura of malevolence, the fighting came to a grinding halt as Lady Vesiall scolded her servant for wasting time -- and the power granted to him -- on such meaningless entertainment, then turned to us. With a voice that compelled all to bow down in reverence, she delivered an ultimatum:

Interfere again, and die.

Metaphysick:  Defence Against the Darkest Arts and Voidsent