Apprentice: Venessian (Closed)

[Mutant_Lorenor]

(Venessian you can feel free to assume that you've been training under Lorenor for a long time now)

Within the city of The Forsaken, there was an Arcane Tower. Constructed to suit the needs of The Magi within Lorenor's forces, The High Priest oft visited it's dark halls. Presently, he was overseeing vast projects having to deal with the sciences of Alchemy, Necromancy, and Umbramancy. Lorenor oversaw all the events that occurred in his dark city. With the blessings of The Dark Lady, The Forsaken gathered their might into one fell purpose; appeasing the will of The Dark Lady. Lorenor stood on a platform that overlooked the grand all where their research was occurring. His eyes saw everything within the confines of the grand hall. Dark symbols were placed around the chamber which functioned as wards to repel Makai Slayers.

As the followers of the light could repel Darkness, the followers of the dark could repel Holy. Lorenor's fists were clenched tightly as he read quietly from the pages of The Necronomicon. The dark incantations were necessary to serve as fuel for The Forsaken's projects. The Forsaken mocked the living and were a twisted mirror-reflection of them. Desire fueled The Forsaken, and it was that desire that was evident within the fell rituals that were taking place. Living humans were crying in agony as they were experimented upon, strapped to metal tables in the central most portion of the chamber.
Their cries was like music to Lorenor's senses. Lorenor wore a smile on his face as he read from the books. They were configured in a certain layout in front of The High Priest.

Symbols that were etched on the ground by The High Priest were glowing with tremendous energy. The chamber, as a whole, was lit with a green glow. Glow balls were placed on fixtures all around the chamber that emitted the light. It was not harmful to The Forsaken. Each of the glow balls had a symbol etched upon their surface that glowed brightly like a furnace and enhanced the light that flowed from the small spheres. Energy cascaded from throughout the chamber, across the walls and floors, through each table. Each of the metal slab-like tables were large enough to contain a tall Elf. Some did have Elves strapped to them. There were also cages in the chamber, and those victims who were not strapped to tables were located in their prisons.

The cages dangled from chains that were connected to the ceiling of the chamber. There were no windows as The Forsaken did not like being exposed to sunlight. Long ago, Lorenor had discovered a means that The Forsaken could travel in the daylight hours, but their powers would be greatly weakened. Lorenor had long ago mastered the capacity to become a Daywalker, but he did not like it. So he did it only when it was necessary. As he read from the ritualistic work, several Forsaken worked in front of him upon a fresh sacrifice. She was a virgin sacrifice crucial to the dark craft. The mutant studied her carefully as she was literally dissected open like some twisted science experiment gone awry. Her screams of agony enticed The High Priest, but the sacrifice was not for him. This sacrifice was for N'Jal herself.

Once Lorenor had finished reading the hour had come. All preparations were ready then. The girl's body would be salvaged for ritualistic components key to The Dark Lady's art. Yes, The Forsaken city had become a haven for those with evil hearts...

Including their latest acquisition.

[Venessian]

The actual age of necromancy is a topic often disputed by arcane scholars. Some say it is a relatively young art, with roots in voodoo ceremonies and superstition-fueled witch burnings. They go on to speak of more... primal majicks, directing elements as old as the world itself. But in dark towers and in the ruins of ancient, forgotten civilizations, a darkly-clad few know the truth.

The art of directing the flow of life and death; wielding negative energy which beckons souls to their final rest, or more nightmarish, prevents them from ever finding it. Such powers could never have been conceived of the uncreative human mind. An art so absolute suggests the involvement of creatures from other realms, where rivers of blood are commonplace and the screams of the fallen sap all hope for redemption. These places of supreme darkness have existed long before the lands that humans tread upon, and are the true birthing places of necromancy.

The Hellish realms were so far removed from human understanding, they were often represented with dated symbols. The pentagram, arbitrary numbers, and sacrificial animals, deified to frighten young children and teach then a basic human sense of right and wrong. Some such symbols, were still very fitting.

Amongst the chaos and revelry of the sacrifice to N'Jal, a white furred outsider weaved in and out between the frenzied slashing and cutting. The young woman had long ago ceased her agonized screaming. Her long, curly hair was now two shades of red, orangey around her forehead where her flawless white skin was still clean and unmarked by her own blood. Her spiralling locks spread out around her head like a halo, submerged in pools of her plasma, staining it an even deeper, more vibrant red in color.

Venessian looked into her eyes as the last bit of life fled them. The last thing the young woman would ever see, was the image of a massive goat head, with fur of the purest white, untouched by blood. Twisting, ebony horns that were almost as long as the creature was tall, made the monster even more imposing. His eyes were deep, inky black pools, that harbored no malice or enjoyment in the woman's demise. He was simply studying.

An intricate yellow loincloth, emblazoned with orange arcane sigils, preserved the beasts modesty, and similar strips of fabric hung loosely around his joints, billowing as he floated about amongst the younger acolytes. The education was not in the murder. Any brute with a club could cause a life to end. The real moment of study was in those fleeting few seconds between murder and death, where the victim began to loose consciousness, and their eyes saw not what went on around them, but straight through to the nether realm. None knew what the dying saw in those fleeting final moments, but their mystery had enthralled the bleak-hearted necromancer - enticed him to breed suffering and loss amongst his victims, to make that final stage of release all the more powerful.

That was the Thesis of Venessian, that through the sight of those on death's door, a gate was formed between the world and the next plane. If it were true, then a gateway need only be widened for one to step through - or, for one to cross onto the plane of existence where humans resided.

The same principal applied every time the necromancer breathed unlife into the bones of a fallen victim, causing them to rise once more after the mind had departed. The magician would funnel negative energy into the lifeless as a sort of power-source or battery. The goatman (or Ibixian, as the scholarly knew his race) scribbled notes into a red, leather-bound tome, not his own. The Tome of Oneiromancy had once belonged to an inferior wizard that Ven dealt with in the past. Now long dead, the tome had a new owner. The two-hundred page volume was an unfinished work detailing the relationships of the dream-world and the material one. It revealed dark secrets of inciting nightmares upon the awake, and gave form to subconscious desires in the form of vile charms. The final pages linked nightmares and waking nightmares to the edge of the realm of the dead, which is where The Ibixian's research picked up. His quill, dwarfed in the beast's monstrous white hands, scribbled down magical script and diagrams for future examination. While the acolytes researched the most base aspects of necromancy - sacrifice and killing - Venessian's studies were a completely different animal.

The important moment had past, and Ven soon grew uninterested with the greying body lying upon the metal slab. As the other acolytes began to carve the heart and other objects of import from the cadaver, Venessian stalked about the central hall, in search of the creature that had brought the necromancer to the City of the Forsaken. A necromancer of much greater experience than Ven himself.

His new master.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Sorry for the delay my friend!!!

The process took a bit of time but was carefully completed. Each aspect of the girl that was once a virgin was used up. The ritual required that. She was sacrificed to The Dark Lady, Lorenor saw that the offering was accepted, and then moved towards Venessian. His newest pupil. Sitting down next to the fellow, The High Priest took in the hybrid's mysterious appearance. He was a part of a goat-like species he had read about in The Necronomicon. Lorenor looked at the man for a long moment and then smiled suddenly.

"You have proven yourself worthy young one." Lorenor said carefully. "You have learned much in the time that you have spent here. Now, it is time for you to acquire further knowledge." Lorenor said. Then, he stood up nodded towards Venessian. "Come then, brother of the darkness. I have a small gift for you, and a task I would ask of you. A task suitable for one of your talent." Lorenor said calmly. He saw great promise in the young Necromancer.