#[ verse 002 >> act 2 / like the roots of some old wretched tree ]

[necroruined]

starter for @luxmourn ( shadowheart )

Kat'uriin takes a low breath, hanging her head for a moment to just allow herself to breathe. The camp was quiet; everyone seemingly jarred by the realization of just how bad the shadow curse was. Kat'urrin, with the help of Gale, had placed a few charms on some of the items around the camp to make a make shift, temporary shield around the camp. It wasn't a lot, but it would keep them safe long enough to give them haven to recover and rest; to give them time to think so they could properly try and tackle the shadow curse and find their way to Moonrise Towers. Their road thus far felt like an unending story of he said she said ; find the next town, find the next person, maybe they'll have the answer you seek. But they never do, it just gets them closer and closer to another redirection. They had made progress, but Kat'uriin felt almost as if they were walking in circles. She was tired. Maybe with some shut eye, she'd have a better and more clear head on her shoulders. But, she didn't want to surrender to the caress of sleep just yet; maybe the events leading up to now just made her restless. She had found herself wandering to Shadowheart's camp, other camp members preoccupied with other things. "What do you make of this place?" she asked her, curious what the cleric's thoughts were -- especially since the shadow curse didn't seem to effect her.

[necroruined]

Not being the type to subscribe to any type of religion, her knowledge on most of it was fairly surface level was it was -- albeit, there was no way she could ignore details when they presented themselves to her. She had picked up bits and pieces about Shar and her followers -- from other sources, and from Shadowheart herself. Kat'uriin couldn't say that she was a fan. Her opinion on religion was if it brought you comfort -- what was the harm? If it gave someone piece of mind and the comfort of a higher meaning -- Kat'uriin could not fault them for that. But -- did it truly bring Shadowheart comfort? Did Shar truly make her feel at peace? Kat'uriin felt like she would be crossing a line to try and even broach the subject. Kat'uriin chews on the inside of her cheek for a moment to debate her response before she's finally echoing, "Guiding you?" looking to the cleric, "In this place? Guiding you where?" It wasn't meant to jest -- but where in this hellscape could a goddess who is supposed to love you be leading you; aside from a sanctuary. She tried to keep her tone more inquisitive than demeaning, though. Shadowheart was her friend, and she had no intentions of insulting her. "Perhaps not as strange as you think. A vampire spawn, a couple of tieflings, Mystra's favorite little ex lover -- just to name a few, I am sure that the collection of us are not quite in your Lady's favor."

It's no different than the answer Shadowheart anticipates, really. If she's honest with herself, she's glad for it, glad that while the others express disdain, recoil from the bracing dark, Kat'uriin can speak of it with neutrality. She knows better than to expect understanding, of course, but the lack of outright judgement is always a refreshing change of pace. She wonders, not for the first time, that they should be set on the same path. Is there purpose in it? Shadowheart suspects she'll find out soon enough. As will they all.

"Absence. You're not the first to describe Her shadows that way. Curious." Her head bows, thought or communion or both, but the gesture is not one she dwells within. She is soon watching Kat'uriin again. "I suppose I am. Blessed, really. All I feel is - an embrace, set to draw me further in. She's guiding me. I know it."

Every sense of trepidation and wonder, pain and exultation. She doesn't understand how such opposites can exist in one person, one shell, but standing on this blade's edge of opportunity, they do. "I still find it strange. I would have thought Lady Shar's protection would extend to all of you."

Even when Shadowheart attempts to shield the others under her own power, she finds the means empty, lacking. Maybe it isn't her place to question, but she finds herself unable to keep herself from it - until searing agony courses through her every vein, her wounded palm glowing, pulsing, drawing her whole form in on herself.

[necroruined]

redoing tags bc i can.

[necroruined]

Kat'uriin isn't sure her opinions on how Shadowheart is effected -- or lack there of -- by the curse. How easily the cleric could walk around on her own without the safety of a shining light in the desolate lands they had to trek through. Concern, perhaps. Although she couldn't place her finger on why. On why it was maybe concern at the awe -- if that was the right word -- Shadowheart seemed to portray at the protection that Shar offered her.

A question is asked of the tiefling when Shadowheart acknowledges her presence, and she has to stop think about it for a moment. Kat'uriin's views on religion were marred at best; as a child, she reached out to every one that she could find lore on, only to have nothing in return. It's not that she didn't believe in the gods, it's that they seemed to want nothing to do with her. Maybe it was why she had felt so drawn to necromancy; she had no faith in the divine, but she could have faith in the dead. The dead had no secrets worth keeping. Not usually.

She also had to stew on her answer; while religion -- especially not Lady Shar -- was no where in the cards for Kat'uriin, it was not her place to rip into Shadowheart for her own so solid belief. "I feel nothing," Kat'uriin finally admitted after a while. "Unsurprisingly, but Lady Shar does not seem to hold any interest in me. All I feel is the..." she paused as she struggled to describe the way the shadowcurse felt "....impossible cold of the darkness. The way the fear of it almost makes itself physically known. Count yourself lucky that you can't feel it." There was a sadness, in her chest, that was likely brought on by the curse -- because she could see it in the others' eyes as well. Everyone, except for Shadowheart. Even with the protection of the light, there was a hollow desperation and sorrow that lingered.

It seems there is another who finds stillness hard to channel here. Try as she might to settle in, Shadowheart is unable to let any semblance of relaxation take hold. Sleep seems a distant, fleeting prospect at best and an utter disappointment at worst. How can she even consider it? There is - something, waiting where the shadows twine and twist their deepest. Something for her. Something for them all. She knows it the moment they emerge, the land cast in endless darkness, and she stands untouched at the heart of a supposedly indiscriminate malady.

Her purpose is here, and it feels - strange. Not the overwhelming joy of communion with her Lady, or the sheer relief that the cloister's plan still thrives. It is the agony of anticipation, a breath held past the point of comfort. It is, Shadowheart thinks against her better judgement, doubt. And that. That can't be right.

She is almost reluctant to look away, to let slip the quiet shade teeming beyond the borders of their hideaway, as though she might find answers in them. Reluctant but necessary. There is so much left to do, and she knows it is best accomplished as they begin it: together.

"It's... indescribable. I can feel Lady Shar all around us, even now. We're meant to be here." Shadowheart's eyes flicker. Up, down, only the once, examining Kat'uriin before her. "But I do wonder. I've seen the way the others react to this place. What does Her presence feel like to you?"