The Depths of Death (closed to Qadira)

[Cards of Fate]

The scholar turned over her tale in his mind with as much scrutiny as he’d given every word she’d spoken since they’d met. The scar, the lack of a pulse, her being buried, all these pieces led the scholar to the simple conclusion that she was undead. Yet, she was not the normal type of undead that usually was found in the plaguelands. Normal undead didn’t talk, or have panic attacks for that matter. The scholar furrowed a brow as he rocked back and forth slightly.

“Well…given my limited knowledge on the situation…” he paused. “I’d say it’s pretty safe to say that you had died, probably to that gash on your throat if I was a betting man.” The scholar paused to let his words sink in. This was going to be a lot for her to handle, so he needed to broach everything with care.

“The good news is, however, that you are now very much less dead.” The scholar stumbled over his words a bit, pausing to figure out how to continue. “I do not think you are truly alive however…” he trailed off. “You kinda don’t have a pulse…” he continued. “I just checked, so while you’re not dead I wouldn’t call you living either. I guess I’d call you undead…” he ran a hand through his hair nervously.

“But hey! You’re not like the guys out there!” He gestured to the doorway. “As far as I can tell you still have your sentience, and you’re not hungry for brains either. So that’s the closest thing we have to plus so far.” He mused further on the details, cracking his neck as he turned over the facts in his head. “As for the rest though…that’s something I can’t really seem to get my head around. I’ve only seen undead creating more undead in very limited circumstances, and as far as I can tell, you don’t fit any of those cases…”

[Qadira]

Qadira sat and tried to process the information her new acquaintance has given her. She put her fingers to her temples and gently rubbed her head, as though this new information was hurting her, although it wasn't. She felt the urge to slip back into hysteria but fought it. Everything the young man had told her made sense. All the pieces fit together and were a very sound explanation as to what kind of state she was in, regardless of how she felt about it. She stopped suddenly and looked to him, a confused and intrigued expression painted across her face.

"What do you mean by you've seen undead creating more undead before?" she inquired, wanting to know as much as he did "You've met others like me? Can I meet them? And for that matter, how did you meet these people. What do you even do?" She had been so focused on herself she didn't even think to inquire about her strange companion.

"What sort of magic was that earlier when you pulled me into this building. And why are you wearing such strange equipment?" The tables had been turned now, her curiosity had taken a hold of her and she felt the craving to learn as much about the handsome young man as she could manage.

[Cards of Fate]

Vince waited as the woman shotgunned her questions at him rapidly. He sat patiently as she spoke and waited until silence had filled the air once more before turning over her questions in his head. Instinctively his left hand went to his chin and began to rub it, his brow furrowing. “That’s a lot to ask.” He replied cracking his neck.

“Where to start…” He mused. He tutted slightly and began. “I’m wearing this gear because if I don’t the taint of this plague will try to turn me into a zombie.” He gestured to all his heavy gear. “The magic from earlier was a form of…kinetic manipulation. I take raw energy and fling it, causing a punching force.” He shrugged. “It’s complicated, I could sit and talk specifics until the sun rose, but you have more pressing questions that you’d like answered.” He paused and ran the rest of her questions over and over again. This was where he was getting into more sensitive territory.

“As for my job…I answer questions…” He mused rubbing his chin. “There’s more to it than that, but for the most part I look to answer questions, and when I run out of questions to answer I look for more. That’s what I do, I figure things out that no one else can or cares to.” He waited for a moment and went on.

“As for the other Undead doing what you do well…” He paused. “It’s a long story, but to make it short we want to pray we don’t meet any of them because they’re not friendly.” He paused. “In fact they might try to kill you again, and make it permanent.”

[Qadira]

Qadira furrowed her brow. She was not even remotely satisfied with the answers he had given her. Yes he had answered them in some way or another, but he intentionally left out a lot of details and she felt as though somewhere in those details was where the true answers she wanted lay. She pondered to herself and decided to settle for just one question. "Alright I can understand you're not wanting to elaborate on everything to someone you've just met" she cleared her throat, which felt horribly scratchy, as though she hadn't drank anything in months. Perhaps she hadn't. "Can you at least elaborate on these people like me, and/or why they would want to kill me again and make sure I stay down?" She asked raising an eyebrow to him.

The necromancer wanted desperately to know anything about subjects that may have any sort of relation to her. She usually prided herself on the knowledge she knew, but now that she was lacking in knowledge due to her amnesia, she felt vulnerable and weak. Knowledge was usually her weapon and without it she felt defenseless. Thinking of this she quickly pat herself down and realized she had no sort of weapon to protect herself. The young woman could, she imagined, reanimate another corpse if need be, but she decided her magic should probably be kept to a minimal use.

"And by the way" she mentioned to him. "If you could spare a weapon, or help me find some other sort of defense for myself I would highly appreciate it" She considered her options "perhaps just a simple dagger?"

[Cards of Fate]

The scholar furrowed his brow and reached into thin air pulling out a steel sword, sheathed in a simple leather hilt and tossed it to Qadira haphazardly, lost in thought to how to explain to her that undead necromancers were incredibly bad. He opted for the bluntest truth, figuring the sheer shock would probably put a hard stop to any inquiries she had further into the subject.

“A long ass time ago there was a man named Xem’Zund. He was a powerful necromancer, the strongest to ever exist. He flooded this country with an infinite horde of undead, and spread the same plague that I wear this suit to protect myself from.” He paused to let that sink in. “When he rose to power he created several Death Lords, his generals in battle. Powerful undead, each had an army of their own to command and wield with brutal efficiency. When he was finally felled, his unholy servants were left behind to rule over the blighted wasteland he once controlled.” He paused once more, this time for cliché dramatic effect, before continuing.

“So if we meet any of them, we turn one hundred and eighty degrees and run in the opposite direction.”

[Qadira]

The woman pondered the information that Vincent had given her. None of it seemed to trigger any memories, nor did she really know exactly what he was talking about. She wanted to ask so many more questions; pulling a sword out of thin air, the generals controlling the land, more about his job... There was too much for her to ask for the moment. She gave a hearty sigh and looked at him with a little more hope and less helplessness than before.

"You'll need to tell me more about..." She trailed off for only a moment "Well, everything, but for the moment we should focus on the problems at hand." She thought to herself and gestured around the room. "As much as I looove this scenery, I think we should find a safer place to be. I'd rather not have to worry about whether I'll wake up in the morning" The thought crossed her mind that maybe she couldn't even sleep but she pushed that aside for now. "Do you have a home or some other place we can go to safety nearby?" She paused realizing how considerably rude she was being "Oh, but i'm sure there's something else you need to do first. There has to be some reason you're out in the middle of poisonous undead land" she offered something of a smile trying to stay cheerful now

[Cards of Fate]

The scholar raised an eyebrow at the woman before glancing to the door. “If you feel like wandering around the darkness with the other not so friendly undead you can be my guest.” He paused for a moment to let the reality of everything sink in. “Because I have to get something from deeper in town, and there’s no way in hell I’m doing it without the light of the sun to help guide me.” His blue eyes shimmered in the firelight as he chewed his lips for a moment.

“Therefore, here is probably the best place to be for all intents and purposes. Four walls, once entrance, two of us to keep guard…” He counted off each reason on a gloved finger, “…not to mention how much work it would be to find a safer spot now that it’s dark, or how unsafe it is now that the hordes are moving about…”

[Qadira]

The necromancer took his words into consideration. She had been a bit too eager to want to move again. He was correct about their situation; this room was definitely the most safe without having to put themselves in more risk to explore and find another place. She decided to accept his truth and relaxed more where she sat.

"If you'd like I'll stay up and keep watch while you sleep. I'm not exactly tired after having been asleep for..." she thought for a moment about how long she may have actually been asleep. Considering everything the young adventurer had told her, it could have been a very long time seeing as how she had no idea of any of the events he had been describing. She continued her train of thought "Well, for who knows how long. The point being, I'm not really eager to sleep right now so I'll keep watch" She added on "And i'll be sure to wake you immediately if something were to appear.

She looked to her new companion to gauge his response. She wasn't entirely sure about the idea of watching over someone she had only just met, but he had made an effort to protect her. He seemed nice enough, and she felt it only right to at least try to repay the favor in some way or another.

[Cards of Fate]

The scholar glanced over the woman who he had just armed. He had no doubt about her sincerity in the offer, but he was pretty sure she was barely capable of fighting her way out of a wet paper bag. Instead he snapped his finger and pulled out a piece of chalk and rose to his feet.

“There shouldn’t be need to keep watch…” he mused as he knelt by the rickety door. With a few quick and practiced movements he scrawled several runes with pinpoint precision, muttering under his breath. His eyes began to glow softly as he did so, and soon the door began to shimmer. When his words stopped, so did the shimmer and silence filled the air.

“That should do the trick!” He exclaimed rubbing his hands together. He paused and then added a few more runes before turning back to Qadira. “Having studied this shit for three years, I am incredibly proficient in enchanting. I just laid down a barrier on the door, and a few alert wards to wake me up encase anything tries to break it.” Feeling smug, the scholar sank back down into a sitting position and poked the fire a bit.

[Qadira]

The woman's eyes lit up upon watching the process of this man setting up the runes. She felt a great urge to ask so many question and to inquire if he could teach her, but resisted, deciding to let the man relax as he had probably had a rough day. She bit her lip in concern, not entirely sure if she should trust this magic, but she knew as well as anyone that magic can be quite powerful. She looked to the young man and decided to trust it.

"That's quite a nifty trick you have there. I hope I can learn something as useful as that someday" She offered a genuine smile "But for now I suppose we should get some rest. In the morning we can go ahead and look around for whatever it is you're seeking, that is as long as i'm allowed to join you for the time being." Without waiting for a response she moved a decent distance away from the fire, lying on her side and simply watching the young man. A range of emotions welled up inside of her. Sadness, fear, anxiety, relief, happiness, and a bit of content. She wasn't sure which was the most appropriate and decided perhaps a mix of all of them. She let out a sigh to relax and held the sword close as she lay beside the warmth of the flame