004 // the house of sin

[serpentis]

Who: Dorian and assorted guests
Broadcast: Fleet-wide, 3/10
Action: In a villa practically in the forest (THE HOUSE OF SIN)
When: Broadcast- 3/10 // Action- 3/9-3/31? Until we leave.

Broadcast:

[The broadcast goes out on 3/10, and Dorian smirks a bit into the feed.]

I believe I've secured lodging for myself, with room enough for several others. If you need a place to stay, do let me know. It's a quaint little villa a bit outside of town. ...please don't mind the suspicious glances, I assure you, I've done nothing entirely against the guidelines that were set.

---------

Action:

[Dorian has secured a villa, but the residents of Mor don't seem too keen on having an evil mage for a neighbor. As the month goes on, more and more villagers will show up to stand at the gates of the villa and threaten to come in after the "evil wizard".

Maybe he shouldn't have gone so overboard with the whole "contacting the spirits of the dead" thing.]

((OOC: Mingle post for the House of Sin. We'll pretend there are enough rooms in here for everyone! Even if you character only drops by to rest their feet a bit, everyone is welcome to visit and stay the night if they want.))

Comments

[save_the_souls]

Do you not know?

[He watches her pull out the necklace. Now that it's out from under her shirt, it's clear as day to what that fragment of soul is attached to. Like some sort of magic enchantment from hell. Chains barbed it wickedly- as if made to incite terror. ]

[But...only he would be able to see that, he reminds himself. Maybe she wasn't a necromancer. Maybe it was a gift, or something she unwittingly picked up somewhere. Possibly. He takes in a breath, trying to steel himself- he's still clearly unhappy but he doesn't look like he's going to lunge at her. He'll give her a chance]

...That necklace. I don't know how but it's been enchanted with what I can only guess is dark magic. [At least, dark for his world. The most forbidden of all arts] The magic has trapped a soul, or rather- a fragment of a soul- and is tormenting it to fuel its power.

I could hear its screams from the city.

[dawnwillcome]

[Mythal help her, she can hear it. Dorian proudly telling Solas about how spirits are summoned and bound in Tevinter, used to serve them. The conversation had gone on behind her and she'd nearly cheered when Solas called him on it, pointed out how it was no better than slavery.

He sounded like he had learned. Like it made an impact. Like it mattered. She feels sick as she pulls the necklace over her head, hands shaking as she unties the knot keeping it together. There's a ring settled next to the tooth and she wants that, can't lose it, but if this boy is telling the truth she wants nothing to do with the wolf tooth.]

Can you prove this? I- it was a gift. I trust the person who gave it to me.

[save_the_souls]

[Her reactions and words are enough to prove in his mind that she wasn't the one who made this necklace. That what he saw...it really wasn't something you could act. He's not sure if that makes him feel better, or feel worse. Instead of confronting a foe, he's facing an innocent person who possibly just...didn't realize what the people she knew was capable of. Who could realize something like that about their friends? It took him awhile to see the truth about the Order, after all]

[At the question, he hesitates a little. On the severity of his expression, concern flickers across.]

I...can. I can show you what I see.

But I should warn you...it's not a pleasant sight. [The last person who saw lost their appetite for over a day.]

[dawnwillcome]

[The cord is wound around and around the base of the tooth, so it's easier to slip the ring free, pocket that, and look down at what's left. It looks so harmless there, but the voices from the Well whisper to her to doubt and that's certainly enough to have her swallowing around the lump in her throat and looking at Allen once more. She's pale, but her features are set. Determined.]

I have to know. There can't be any doubt.

[She's been in the realm of Nightmare, battled her greatest fears in the Fade, so she isn't worried about seeing unpleasant things. What's scaring her is the fact that her faith in Dorian has just taken a blow and she has no idea what to do about that.

I could hear its screams from the city. She shudders, but tries to keep the feeling of disgust from touching her love for Dorian. He was trying to help. He was trying to help.

She still might be sick.]

More importantly, can you... undo it, reverse it?

[save_the_souls]

[He sees that determination. It doesn't seem to come from foolhardiness, so it's almost admirable to see.]

Very well. And yes, I have the ability to destroy what traps it without harming the soul.

[But since she said that she had to know, he'll step closer to her and the Tooth. Once he's standing next to her, he'll fully activate his eye again, causing a strange lens to appear over his left eye. Though, what's much more noticeable is coming from the wolf's tooth, bound in terrifying looking chains, is a much smaller, much more fragmented version of the other thing in the image. And she might even hear echos of the screaming in her mind. There's no words to it, and the voice sounds more like a spirit than a human- but it's still unmistakeably screams of utter and constant terror.]

[dawnwillcome]

[That's a relief, and it's something she's grateful for with all of her heart. What would Solas say? How could Dorian do this?

And then she can see it, hear the screaming, and bile begins to rise in the back of her throat. How could he do this? How could someone who was filled with so much love, who wanted to protect her, let her wear a broken, enslaved soul? The tooth falls from fingers that have gone numb and she presses her hand over her mouth.]

I didn't know. [It comes out muffled, a whisper, and she hasn't felt this powerless and stupid in longer than she can even remember.] It was for protection, I thought- it was supposed to be charmed.

[save_the_souls]

[He feels sympathy for her. Maybe there was a chance this person she trusted didn't realize what they were doing. Maybe they had been deceiving her- it was too hard for Allen to say. He hardly knew about this woman's life.]

I believe you. I'm...sorry.

[That something supposed to protect her turned out to be this. That she had to see this. He pulls off his left glove and pockets it as he bends down and picks up the necklace with his right hand. As he stands up straight again, he activates his left arm so his fingers become long, impossibly sharp talons that are clearly meant for cutting things much bigger than necklaces. In fact, there's even the briefest of moments where he frowns- as if trying to figure out just how he's supposed to cut something so small. Precision was never his forte, it never had to be. Akuma weren't exactly easy to miss.]

[But the moment passes, and he seems to settle for holding the necklace out in front of him. He lifts up his claw hand, index claw pointed out towards the tooth and draws a cross in the air. Green energy crackles around his claw before a cross of that same energy appears on the necklace. It lingers for just a moment before the necklace explodes into light- leaving only tiny fragments that fall to the ground.]

[When this happens, the spirit fragment stops screaming. Instead it gives a cry of relief and gratitude- now free of the pain. It glows a warmer color as it floats to the sky, slowly fading from view and its voice fading from her mind.]

...It's done. The soul has been saved and will move on safely.

[dawnwillcome]

[When it's done all that's left is her sylvanwood ring, but she doesn't feel any better. She stares down at it, the link to her past, to her clan, that had been sitting right up against a fragment of a spirit that had been screaming for... for what? Mercy?

The green of his hand could match hers, she thinks distantly. The claws, his magic, they don't seem to have much of an impact on her. These are things she's seen before, and they hardly matter most now. She crouches, reaches for the ring before her hand stops there.]

The magic used to bind the spirit to the tooth, did it- it wouldn't have bled into this, would it? There's no trace of it left?

[save_the_souls]

[As he deactivates his weapon and listens to her question, he seems to look for a moment- gazing through his eye to try to tell. He then gives a nod]

It's safe. Your ring wasn't infected.

[Which honestly...is a bit unusual considering the nature of the item. He hesitates, before speaking again.]

Your friend...what they did was wrong, but if it's any comfort- they did a careful job in keeping the magic itself contained. Most dark magic artifacts I've seen are much sloppier, they bleed into and infect everything and everyone they touch.

I can't say I know how they did it, but I'd at least wager that this person of yours made sure to take precautions to ensure that wouldn't happen.

[dawnwillcome]

[It's only after the ring is cleared that she picks it up, rubbing her thumb against the carvings on the surface. After the conclave, when she had been a prisoner, she'd worried at the ring just like this for comfort, silently asking her gods for help so she could go home one day, do her duty as Keeper and protect her clan from Fen'Harel. In chains she had clung to the ring and the idea of losing it now is-

Not important. She clenches her hand around it and stands, face clearing as much as she can make it but still quite pale. The face of the Inquisitor fighting through horror like it was nothing.]

He might be one of the most powerful mages I know. It's why I asked for his help. I just expected... Well. Not this.

[She lifts her head, finally takes a moment to look him over properly.]

How were you able to sense it?

[save_the_souls]

[He watches her. She does seem pale, which concerns him a little...though he can't entirely blame her for feeling ill after all this. But if she's trying to clear her face and seem composed, he won't call her on it]

[......Though. He's not really sure how to answer that first part properly. It's not like he knows this guy. For all he knows he's secretly effing evil, or just really, really misguided. So he'll just.....not respond and go to that question]

It's a curse. When I was a child, I tried to resurrect my father using the same sorts of magic. So he cursed me to always see trapped souls.