#The Treasure Seeker

[theshatteredrose]

The Necromancer’s Cauldron (Chapter 13 *Last*) - Etrian Odyssey 5 Fanfiction

AN: AHH, I did it! The final chapter! Thanks so much to everyone who read this story from beginning to end. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. And that you look forward to the next project I have installed. It should be fun indeed. Appreciated you all and hope you’ll wait expectantly for my next update. Until then, enjoy this last chapter of The Necromancer’s Cauldron~

Ao3 | Wattpad | Inkitt | FFNet

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Chapter 13:

The labyrinth truly was a different place in the sunlight.

Drayce idly toyed with the bandages around his left arm as he looked around the clearing he had the unfortunate luck to be found captive in.

Now that he was able to better see his surroundings, the clearing was like any other he had previously encountered. It was open, lush with foliage and flora, with a cool pool of crystal-clear water. It would be an ideal location to sit and relax from exploration.

But the large black cauldron was an oddity.

It wasn���t alone either.

A brown blanket. Discarded dark robes. Broken podium. Shreds of coarse rope. A silver knife stained with blood. With his blood.

Everything Drayce endured last night was very real.

A hand resting on his shoulder pulled him from his thoughts. Drayce turned his head to the side, his gaze colliding with that of Blayke’s.

“You ok?” he asked him.

Drayce gave a small smile. “Yeah, I’m all right.”

Things were vastly different this time around. He wasn’t alone. Far from it. Blayke, Zohar, Caelem, Faelen, Kamali, and their guest Shashi. Mustn’t forget Nashoba and Theodore. He was surrounded by protective and concerned teammates.

Though, he had to admit that he was surprised that Ashton didn’t insist on joining them. Being the determine caretaker he was. Yet, Drayce was glad that he remained in town. For him to watch over the remaining members of his guild. They were still recovering, after all.

He had also hoped to see Kyrell again. To find him in the labyrinth. Sleeping, like how they first met. So that he could thank him for what he did for him last night. And to show Zohar that he wasn’t a threat. He couldn’t be a threat.

Drayce gave a small shake of his head. He would have to search for Kyrell sometime later. He had something important he needed to contend with first.

What should he do with the Blood Cauldron?

“The presence of this thing is truly vile,” Shashi murmured, his nose scrunched up in distain. His expression soon softened, however, as he turned to his brother. And with a raised hand, gently curled a strand of Kamali’s hair behind his ear. “You’re more sensitive than I, so stay back.”

Looking slightly pale, Kamali managed to give a small nod of his head. “Y-yes. Just try not to touch it.”

Shashi gave him a reassuring smile before his expression became stoic as he moved toward the cauldron to inspect it. As Shashi moved away, Faelen popped up by Kamali’s side and took a hold of his arm.

“I don’t like it either,” he said. “Maybe we should walk around and inspect the area.”

Kamali gave the sweet rover a small smile. “Yes, that would be preferable.”

“Don’t wander too far, ok?” Drayce couldn’t stop himself from being protective.

He received smiles from the two, Kamali’s polite and patient, while Faelen’s was innocent and cheerful. The pair, with Nashoba in tow, moved toward the natural walls of the clearing, perhaps choosing to stay close to the gentle greenery to take their minds off of the hideous relic located in the centre.

Blayke also watched the two wander off before he turned his attention back toward the cauldron. And a dark scowl immediately appeared on his face. “So, how are we getting this thing out of here?”

Good question.

“I could probably lift it,” Caelem mused aloud, but his ears soon folded atop of his head, an expression of unease gracing his features. “But…”

He didn’t want to touch it. Understandable. Drayce could still feel the cold, brutal metal under his hand from when he was thrown against it.

“It’s alright,” Drayce immediately soothed. “We’ll use an Ariadne Thread. That will take us, and the cauldron, back into town. We’ll have the guards do the dirty work. I think that would ease Egar’s apprehension, too.”

Truthfully, he couldn’t wait to get rid of the thing.

Yet, his strong treasure hunter blood wanted him to edge just a little bit closer. To get a proper look at the dreaded antique under the bright, comforting light of the sun.

With his cannon situated on his back and his shield left at home due to the injury to his arm, Drayce found himself edging closer. Close enough for him to give the menacing object an inspecting gaze.

It was still horrid to look at, yet nowhere near as frighting as it was under the cover of darkness. And in the hands of Nukpana.

He spent a moment watching as Shashi also investigated the cauldron. Moving closer than anyone else, but ensuring that he never physically touch it. And from the scowl on his slightly pale face, nothing he was seeing made him even remotely happy.

Drayce may have to call a quick end to their tentative investigation and get the cauldron back into the city. And somewhere it could be sealed and guarded.

As Shashi moved to inspect the other side of the cauldron, Drayce’s gaze fell toward the ground. Where a strange black substance tarnished the emerald, green grass.

Despite wincing, he ventured a few steps closer. To stare down at the strange site. It truly looked as though the grass has been seared from a violent flame. There was also a strange smell from the area. Not quite like that of burnt meat. It was an acidic smell.

He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Blayke moved to stand beside him, to also stare down at the ground. “This?”

Drayce eyes flickered over to the cauldron for a second before returning to that of the scorched grass. “That was the place Nukpana had stood. From the last time I saw him at least.”

“Nothing but a smear on the ground,” Blayke murmured. “That’s morbid as shit.”

Drayce had to agree. “Nukpana’s light blue skin was covered in markings. Proof of the laws he had broken.”

He sighed and ran a hand over his face. Those markings. He was literally covered with them. Each one a symbol of the laws he had broken. Hundreds of them, possibly. Sins that eventually cost him his immortal soul. His entire existence.

He still didn’t know what to think about that. Was that truly just?

A hand resting on his shoulder pulled Drayce from thoughts once more.

“Caelem and I will pick up the rest of the rubbish,” Blayke stated, leaving no room for argument. “You stay back.”

Drayce smiled. “Right, right. Let me know if you find an amulet, however.”

Everyone was feeling protective. It was no surprise. After everything that had happened, to him alone, the helplessness they felt during that time still affected them. They needed to do something. To somehow be a part of the situation once more.

Drayce could never take that away from them.

So, he stepped back, leaving his guildmates to take control of their mission. He spent a moment looking for his guildmates, noting that they were all within sight, easing his own worries. Yet Zohar stood alone, a contemplative look upon his face.

“Zohar?” Drayce said his name gently, with a slightly worried tone.

“I am fine,” he immediately replied, giving a small smile as he turned his head toward him. “I don’t wish to venture too close, however.”

“That’s fair.”

“Is your arm bothering you?”

Drayce looked down at his arm, realising that he had subconsciously pulled back the sleeve of his coat to idly toy with the bandages once more. “Sort of,” he admitted as he pulled down the sleeve. “It’s the memory of what happened that makes me wince. The knife is still here.”

That Book of Shadows, however, wasn’t.

He couldn’t help but wonder where it went. Did it hide itself somewhere in the labyrinth, like what the Radiant Moon of Compassion had done? Or had it fled to somewhere else? Rather, to someone else?

Who knows what that tome was capable of. And how many laws was broken to create it.

“There are many unwritten and unspoken rules of necromancy, isn’t there?” Drayce murmured.

“Yes,” Zohar answered. “Yet, they can be simplified by respecting the deceased.”

Respect in general, probably.

Zohar uttered a sigh suddenly. “It cannot be denied that there are many cruel and evil necromancers in this world.”

“There are those who are, unfortunately, greedy and power-obsessed, regardless of who or what they are,” Drayce added.

After all, Nukpana had followers. And they appeared Earthlain in appearance. Not necromancers. Anyone willing to do his bidding weren’t benign, soulful people by any stretch of the imagination.

Drayce’s comments brought a small smile to Zohar’s lips, and he gave a slow nod of his head. “That is very true.” His smile faded away a moment later as his face became sombre, gaze staring out at nothing in particular. “Truth be told, I find it difficult to interact with other necromancers. I feel that it may stem from the possibility that I was murdered by one.”

Drayce was unable to prevent a wince upon hearing the word ‘murdered’, his heart skipping a beat. “I’m sorry. You really don’t remember?”

Zohar shook his head. “No. I believe that is by design.”

Evil. Pure evil.

“How could anyone do that to you…?”

He hoped to find those responsible, one day. To ensure they face justice for their heinous act. If…Ravenous didn’t get to them first.

Zohar suddenly placed his hand against the small of Drayce’s back, pulling him from his musings. He tilted his head back to look up at him in curiosity, earning a small smile from the other in return.

“Come,” he suddenly urged, motion toward a quiet corner of the clearing. “Someone wishes to speak with you.”

“Huh?” Drayce uttered in puzzlement, but allowed Zohar to guide him toward the foliage, to the shades of the tall trees.

As they reached the shady alcove, Zohar kept one gentle hand against his back as he raised the other toward the shadows. Where a strange sparkle of light suddenly started to gather, slowly glowing brighter. And shimmering into two distinct forms. One with flawless armour, the other of regal clothes and long flowing hair.

Wait…Chevell and Diandre?

Their forms remained translucently soft, subtle, but still somehow distinct. Blue coils of mist, clearly of an ethereal origin.

Did Zohar summon them, or…?

Zohar’s hand slipped from his back to rest against the small of his back, allowing him to pull him close to his side as he leaned his head down to speak with him quietly. “Don’t be afraid. I will translate for you. They wish to thank you.”

Thank him? “But I didn’t do anything.”

“Diandre believes otherwise. Your pure blood broke the seal and broke his curse. He is free now. As is Chevell. They can finally be together in the realm of spirits.”

“Ah!” Drayce perked up and turned his attention toward the two ethereal figures. “I’m so glad to hear that. It’s been a long time.”

“It has, Chevell agrees. He wishes for you to take his amulet. It will protect you should you be drawn into battle against a necromancer again.”

Drayce nodded his head in acceptance. “I promise to take good care of it.”

The two figures linger for a moment, possibly having a private conversation. In fact, that seemed to be the case as Zohar had nodded his head firmly a couple of times. He then raised his hand two the two, waving his hand over them. Where they soon faded into a soft sparkle of light, gently fading.

Then…they were gone.

It was a short meeting, but significant. Very much so. He was glad that the two were at peace now. And together after so much pain.

“What curse was Diandre talking about?” Drayce asked, tilting his head to look up at Zohar once more.

“Shashi had discovered more information,” Zohar began, his arm still firm and warm around his waist. “It seemed that Diandre knew that Matchitehew had wanted to use him in a ritual, wishing to use him to grant Despot greater armies. So, he had prepared himself to be sacrificed. When his blood was placed within the cauldron, he sealed away it’s true power.”

“True power?”

“The cauldron was tied to Matchitehew’s soul. If Matchitehew was defeated in battle, his many loyalists had the skills to…reanimate him. Yet, with Diandre sacrificing himself, he broke ties to the cauldron, preventing Matchitehew from returning to this plane through it.”

Drayce shivered, unconsciously leaning closer to Zohar. “I see. It’s a relief to know that one of Despot’s generals couldn’t actually be resurrected.”

Zohar didn’t immediately agree.

“What is it? Can he still…?”

“Possibly,” Zohar relented. “He may have infused some of himself into the Book of Shadows, too. If it’s sentient, like you said…”

It could be in search of another. To do the very thing Nukpana had tried.

They needed to find that book. But how?

Drayce sighed and rubbed his forehead wearily. “We’ll…deal with that later, I guess. I’m glad that Chevell and Diandre were finally reunited.”

“Yes.” Zohar gently pressed his hand against Drayce’s side. “That is also one of the roles of a necromancer. Reuniting star-crossed lovers who had been separated in both life and death.”

Drayce tilted his head back and smiled softly at him. “Ah, now that is something I’d like to learn more about.”

No one who deeply loved each other should be forced apart, after all.

… … … … …

In a city filled with eccentric locals and explorers alike, it was surprisingly easy to track down a necromancer with purple skin with a black blob of a wraith on his shoulder. As much as Ashton wanted to be in the labyrinth with the others, to keep a closer eye on Drayce, there was something else he needed to do.

Something he couldn’t let Drayce know about.

Not yet.

As he entered the central park of the city, a flash of purple from the corner of his eye immediately caught his attention. He turned his head in time to watch as a tall, somewhat muscular Celestian with deep purple hair and skin of a lighter shade move silently down a path. One that led toward a much more secluded area of the park.

“Hey, wait!” Ashton called out, breaking into a jog to follow him. “You…”

That had to be him. That had to be Kyrell.

The man stopped in his tracks after Ashton called out to him. For a moment he kept his back toward him, seemingly contemplating something before he finally turned to face him. “Can I help you with something?”

Ashton decided to get straight to the point. “Drayce. He told me what happened in the labyrinth. He also said that you reminded him of someone. Who?”

Kyrell stared at him for a few intense moments, his expression completely unreadable. Eventually, he spoke. “…Rhain.”

“Rhain?” Ashton’s eyes immediately widen, his heart thundering in his chest. “You know Rhain? Where is he?!”

Years. It’s been ten years since Rhain was taken, ripped away from his loving family. Ripped away from Drayce. From his brother. Could they…?

Kyrell shook his head slowly, regretfully. “Unfortunately, I do not know his current location. I am unable to venture too close, if I did know.”

Ashton felt his heart drop into his stomach. “What do you mean?”

“Sephtis sacrificed my life in a ritual,” Kyrell shockingly revealed. “It did not go as he had planned. If he learns that I am alive, and with the very entity he sacrificed me to obtain, he will burn this entire city to the ground to take back what he believes belong to him. And if he learns that Drayce is here…”

Ashton felt his hands clench at his sides. “I see.”

That…was not what he wanted to hear. Yet, that name, that Sephtis was something that Ashton and Drayce’s family could work on. One small step closer to finding Rhain.

“Rhain?” Ashton questioned softly. “He’s…still alive?”

“Yes,” was Kyrell’s firm response, granting Ashton a tiny sliver of relief. “He is far too useful to Sephtis. Physically, he has not been harmed. Spiritually, however…”

“This Sephtis is-?”

“The cult leader. Sephtis is his latest incarnation.”

“Bastard,” Ashton spat out unwillingly.

Kyrell gave a humourless chuckle. “Indeed.”

Ashton took a moment to compose himself. This was valuable information. “What must be done?”

“I must build Raven’s strength,” Kyrell said, just as a strange little black blob of something appeared on his shoulder. “To do that, I must hunt down other vile souls to feed to him.”

Ashton eyed off the strange little creature warily. Drayce told him about that Raven wraith. About how funny it looked, with its squishy body, yellow beak and beady white eyes. And how it was actually the once thought to be mythical god known as Ravenous.

“This…Raven will defeat Sephtis?” he asked carefully.

Kyrell closed his eyes as he nodded. “That’s my only hope.” He opened his eyes a moment later and focused his attention toward Ashton, his expression curious. “Drayce doesn’t remember anything, does he?”

“No. A curse prevents it. Since he was eleven years old.”

“As I suspected.” Kyrell suddenly tilted his head back, to gaze up at the sight of Yggdrasil. “Drayce is like Rhain in many ways. Kind-hearted, compassionate, far too considerate of others. Far too willing to put his life at risk for the safety of others.”

Rhain…

“I…could not protect Rhain,” Kyrell continued. He abruptly levelled his gaze toward Ashton, to stare intently at him. As that black blob of his hop along his shoulders, momentarily disappearing behind his head.

Only to come out the other side in the form of a sleek black raven. With feathers a shimmering back, and eyes a piercing, fiery red.

“But I will ensure that Drayce remains safe. And that the brothers are reunited. Even if it costs me my eternal soul…”

With that Kyrell turned. And walked away, leaving a smoky, otherworldly trail of mist behind him.

Leaving Ashton to wonder what the future could hold for Drayce. And his entrapped, missing brother.

[vigilskeep]

between even the wealthy not being able to rely on magic, and the hygiene + quarantine measures it would take to keep the city alive with the darkspawn always pressuring it, and the innovation that losing generation after generation to the darkspawn would inspire, orzammar probably has the best medicine as we know it in thedas

[captainkurosolaire]

Chart yer desire's my worldly hearties, Never know, what or who... Will be your eternal treasure NeXt.

[e-adlirez]

Thea Stilton Treasure Seekers Review/Ramble

Behold, an impulsive ramble about a possibly-obscure trilogy that's been translated to English during quarantine-ish, adding to the obscurity.

So the Treasure Seekers, huh? :3

Coming out a little prior but more or less over the course of quarantine and thus a lot of people not having ready access to it, the Treasure Seekers is what turned out to be a trilogy of what it says on the tin: the girls hunting down cool treasures as a result of going down the world's biggest and highest-stakes scavenger hunt written a hundred-ish years prior to the present time.

Gonna be giving MAJOR spoilers for the first book in the trilogy, and there'll (probably) be one post per book in the trilogy. If you haven't read the book, here's a copy on the Internet Archive you can read before skipping ahead to the review, enjoy, it's pretty good. If you've already read the book or don't care about spoilers, please proceed below the cut :3

The story begins with the girls on summer vacation in Scotland. Shenanigans get started when they meet this old hermit woman who has in her house a mysterious heirloom tapestry with a mysterious poem on it.

The tapestry has this poem that talks about a place with sweet winds, petals that will lead you to something beneath them, something about midnight and birds, and an alabaster garden created for the "jewel of the palace" (like me to you), that is guarded by a friend with deep feet. Sounds like a whole lotta cryptic shnit the theory heads would enjoy :D

Anyway so the girls go visit Beitris (the hermit woman) the next day to return something they borrowed from her only to walk into a holdup :D

Said holdup-ers are these two grunts led by this mysterious lady hiding her identity under a black fedora and thick-framed Ray Bans. The girls deal with that situation real quick and get the guys to scarper (if you're wondering how they did that, "the police are coming"), and once it all blows over, they find that the thugs only stole the tapestry despite ransacking the entire place like raccoons. Such a realization leads to a revelation on Beitris's end, so she entrusts the girls with the tapestry's backstory in a segment I will describe as LAAANNNEEEE LOOOORRRREEEEEE (said in a MatPat voice, we'll miss you king :'])

-

The tapestry was a family heirloom passed down to Beitris by her grandmother Petra, who got it from her older sister Aurora Beatrix Lane, who is basically British Amelia Earhart. Wasn't into girly shnit, liked being outside and also archaeology, studied in the University of Cambridge as an Archaeology major and learned how to fly a plane, all while punting early 1900s gender norms into oblivion with her pants and motorcycle. Motorcycle queen, plane queen, archaeology queen, but then everything changed when this British Amelia Earhart did a British Amelia Earhart.

The context behind Aurora Beatrix Lane's disappearance is something relating to her work with her mentor Jan Von Klawitz, who was doing archaeology things with her and probably got up to some wild shnit, but we would never know because Aurora is very secretive about her plans and her destinations, and she only came home to the UK once, after her first trip, and that was when she gave smol child Petra the tapestry to guard because it led to "a very precious treasure", but she can't show it yet for the time being. The vibe was Aurora was planning on using the tapestry to show the treasure it hides once she's done with her archaeology shenanigans.

But then she did an Amelia Earhart but completely untraceable since she never revealed her destinations, so uh there's that :D

-

Back to the present, this little storytime from Beitris has gotten the girls sucked into a rabbit hole. They are now hyperfixated like nobody's business and this Aurora Beatrix Lane is JUST LIKE THEM FR, and as a result they decide that y'know what they still have a few days before classes in Mouseford starts, and while they're at it, they're gonna find Beitris's tapestry and maaayyyybeeee find the alabaster garden. First destination: Girton College at the University of Cambridge, Aurora Beatrix Lane's alma mater.

The girls take a quick jaunt to Girton by train and then by bus to have a lil' chat with the dean, who reveals to them that they're looking for the central archive if they're gonna be looking for the deets on a student from a hundred years ago, but uh the archive is closed for the day, please come tomorrow. (Wonder why, maybe it's because they rode from Scotland to Girton by train which takes a shnitload of time. /nsrs but fr tho I wonder if the original Italian had them drive over there by car-- they did rent an SUV, and going by car would be way faster, like it'll only take a seven-hour drive faster) They come back the next day, are let into the archives, and oop, they find a well-preserved diary with Aurora's initials hidden in the Stanley Library.

Y'know what that means, LANE LOOORRRREEEEE

-

So two months into her accompanying Jan on his excavations, she notes that Jan's been acting a bit sus lately-- being very nervous, being extremely protective over his luggage, being weird about hiding some of the relics he's found, and also a weird-ass incident where while exploring a small village's old castle, Aurora found a hidden chamber with a tome inside that Jan immediately snatched and was like "I'll take care of it don't worry, don't worry about the protocol stuff I'll be fine I'll take care of it". And then he went back to "normal" after that. Hmmmm.

A month later, while Jan was talking with one of his collaborators on their train to England, Aurora stumbled into the tome again, suspiciously in Jan's personal luggage instead of being properly archived and catalogued like it should've been. She read it, saw a thing about the Seven Treasures of the World, and that caused her protagonist genes to kick in since now she's now very tempted to look into finding them and showing them to the world.

After that, she went to some libraries to investigate and eventually decided to confront Jan about the whole treasures thing and his first reaction was he was pissed, calling Aurora a snoop and everything poking into his things. Then after calming down he said "just pretend to not see", but oh no, dear reader, Aurora was not gonna pretend to not see. She ain't gonna pretend to not see the fact that her mentor was actually a treasure hunter and collector who'd been using his occupation as an excuse to snatch some nifty treasures and keep them to himself like every European country who's stolen artifacts from Asian countries ever, ohohohooooo noooo, she's gonna do something about it.

-

The girls scuttle on over back to Scotland and Beitris, to find that uh oh dear, the thugs came back again and this time they were asking about the girls specifically. Beitris pulled the same trick the girls pulled to get them to leave. So NOW the thugs are looking for the girls for whatever reason and wanna know their deal. Anyway, the girls show Beitris Aurora's diary, tell her about the summary, and also that unfortunately some of the pages are missing, and the diary doesn't say shnit about the tapestry so far. Beitris helps by giving them a letter that Aurora sent to Petra about the tapestry and its treasure, but interestingly mentions that she should "only trust Robert".

Since I haven't mentioned him before, Robert Neville was Aurora's flight tutor, a flying medic, and was toootttallllyyyyy just friends with Aurora you guys they were totally just frie--

He is dead in the present time, but his nephew John Neville is a (former) lighthouse keeper for the Ar-Men lighthouse in the IÎe de Sein, Brittany, France. So the girls head on over there, land in France, insert a thing where Vi feels like she's being watched but is like "maybe it's just a me thing, I dunno".

They head over to the Île de Sein, find an old man who turns out to be John, are invited to his house, tell him about their situation, and John mentions that he himself has been researching like crazy too about Aurora ever since hers and Jan's simultaneous disappearance over the same place at the same time in the same terrible storm. And also the fact that Robert was totally devastated when he got the news and spent years looking for her. He gives them his notes that he's accumulated over decades of researching in his pastime (which amounts to just Aurora's trip to Mexico), and tells them that since Aurora was looking for seven treasures, they'll need to find out where her seven trips took place, which will not be easy because Aurora was extremely secretive, and she only made her first trip even remotely public.

First place is Mexico so might as well head on over-- oh god the holdup-ers are back to holdup.

The thugs snatch Aurora's diary and book it before the girls can do much besides get an impromptu ocean bath, and oh dear, the thugs' boss has them now, and it's not the mafia cosplayer lookin' woman. But that's something I'll address later :3

Nonetheless, they carry on since the thugs never stole John's notebook, and they use it to go to the Puuc Route in Mérida, Yucatán (sounds very specific until you realize that Mérida is the capital of the Yucatán, and one thing everyone and their mother knows about the Mayan ruins there like Chichen Itza) to find more clues.

They do some more research on the Puuc Route, find some clues about "an invisible place, guarded by the chattiest of creatures", discover that it means they have to go to Uxmal, get a dub against the unfortunately acrophobic thugs, and realize that yes, Aurora did in fact sneak another one of her diaries in there.

This one doesn't have as much Lane Lore to contribute besides a clue that the girls find leads to Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh, India, a city known for its perfumes :3 sounds like "sweet winds", doesn't it? Oh and there's also something about a place with two lakes, which turns out to be Lakh Bahosi, a bird sanctuary about an hour's drive away from Kannauj. The girls head on over and try to do some investigating, but it doesn't take them that long to find a pair of grunts struggling under the weight of a very familiar tapestry while their boss was struggling to supervise them with her heels constantly digging into bird sanctuary dirt.

Anyway so the girls concoct a little scheme to steal the tapestry and the thugs fall for it like fish for a fishing lure, and they managed to scatter with the tapestry. After getting to a private space in the sanctuary, they find a clue that leads them to a set of coordinates that they find is a beeg tree. Oh and the treasure seems to be a present that was made for someone close to Mumtaz Mahal, as in "the jewel of the palace", the woman the Taj Mahal was made for; and the tapestry has a set of coordinates that is leading them to a beeg tree, with deep roots/feet. Oh hell yeah it's all comin' together.

They get to the tree, deal with the mafia lady for a little bit, find the treasure, and it turns out it's a very exquisite perfume bottle made of alabaster called "The Perfume of the Earth". They find a little note from Aurora explaining the treasure and its value and the significance of finding it, and now the girls have found the treasure Aurora had been searching for, and now's the time for a villain reveal?

So I haven't talked about him yet and have glossed over this guy for the entire ramble. See the mafia lady, Cassidy? Yeah she's not the big boss here. It's this guy who has a whole secret base in Denali National Park, Alaska, and has been overseeing everything behind the scenes. And by everything, I mean everything: He was alerted to the whole thing with Cassidy's first raid of Beitris's house, found out about the girls' involvement, and for a good half of the book, was trying to figure out what the girls' motives are for interfering with his line of work and what they might know about this whole thing he's looking for, which is the alabaster garden.

This guy has been keeping tabs on the girls through Cassidy and her thugs, who've been stalking the girls ever since France. He and Cassidy figured out in Paris that the girls are Mouseford students on vacation, and he was the one who gave the orders to snatch the journal from there. He was the one who told the goons to tail them to Mexico, and he was the one who managed to look up the girls' names, backgrounds, reasons for being in Scotland, all from the comfort of his base in Alaska. And only then, only then did he go to India himself to supervise and put a cap to his goons' buffoonery.

Who is this guy? Well, he is a treasure hunter who just wants to enjoy the treasures Aurora Beatrix Lane has hidden from his great-grandfather a hundred years ago. That's right, meet Luke Von Klawitz, the current heir to the Klawitz legacy and the treasure trove Jan Von Klawitz left behind in spite of his disappearance. Unfortunately Jan was better (and old enough) to secure a family legacy of greedy artifact hoarding.

So while the girls were in Lakh Bahosi, Luke was too with the goons and Cassidy (who is not his right-hand man and more just... a subordinate trying too hard to impress him), being the babysitter with these guys on leashes, as he tries to keep their stupidity under control. He intercepts the girls as they're about to leave Lakh Bahosi, blocking their path, and asks about the alabaster garden. The girls obviously don't spill and prolly would've gotten themselves blackbagged and interrogated had a friend they made prior to Lakh Bahosi not shown up in her dad's truck and came in clutch. (It sounds cliche and like it came out of nowhere but trust me it makes sense in-universe-- after the girls left the friend's family restaurant that they were hanging at, Luke's goons came over to interrogate them about the girls and where they went. Subtlety, who is she?)

The girls bring the perfume to a nearby university so it can be brought to a museum, send the tapestry back to Beitris, and return home to Whale Island, to read the last bits of Aurora's second journal and presumably to

So that's the book :D I put in a LOT of spoilers, but I'd say that reading the book is still worth it because you'll be able to get the connecting tissues that tie the organs of this story together. H-hopefully this all made sense . .'''

First things first, if you're not used to how Scholastic kids' novels are written, then uh, you might wanna get used to it, because the English translation of Thea Stilton is very... that. It's not beating the kids' book allegations in English, unfortunately. On the brighter side, though, it's pretty good for Scholastic standards! The pacing's very fast, but it feels about right-- gives me the same energy as diving deeper and deeper into a rabbit hole and going to all sorts of places because of the hyperfixation responsible for consuming their sanity for all of a week or so. The dialogue isn't nearly as atrocious as the worst it's capable of being (oh trust me we'll get to that). The tapestry puzzle and how the girls work towards solving it is very coherent and logical for the situation they are in at the beginning, and it's very satisfying to see everything come together and for things to slowly make more and more sense in the poem despite it being as vague and puzzle box-y as it was.

The Lane family lore is very well-thought-out, and Aurora Beatrix Lane is the perfect spiritual predecessor to the girls, what with her love for adventure, love for travel, strong moral compass, and the strong compulsion to elbow drop every single feminine social rule under the sun. I can totally buy her being someone the girls would totally hyperfixate on researching, because she feels like that kind of compelling character-- a passionate young archaeologist who decided to put her own safety on the line for the sake of what she believed in and to dunk on Klawitz and his selfish (and very illegal) goals of hoarding the treasures of the world to himself.

As for the villain, I'll be real gamers, Luke Von Klawitz is probably the most intimidating if not terrifying villain in the entire franchise. He has drones spying on every corner of the world for him, he has goons he can contact at any time and have them do his bidding (to mixed results it seems), he has cutting-edge technology that he uses for terrifying means, all in the safety and comfort of his secret underground base in Alaska where he has his little basement filled to the brim with historical artifacts he's kept all to himself to enjoy. Lemme run this through you again:

He was able to learn the girls names, the university they're studying in, and why they were in Scotland in the first place, all without ever meeting them face-to-face or having his goons interrogate them directly. All he needed to learn all of this was the (not very helpful) research by Cassidy, and a few commands put into his world-connected supercomputer.

Are you intimidated yet? I sure hope you are :D this guy's got a lotta potential is what I'm saying. He's a bit of a brat who wants what he wants and wants it immediately, but he's also a bit of a chess master who looks over things in the background while his minions do all the work for him. Really the only thing holding him back is the incompetency of his goons, and technically it's not even that they're very stupid-- Cassidy and her grunts Stan and Max are very good at swooping in out of nowhere to wreak havoc, dip in and get out before anyone can do anything about it. They're decent if not good at the job they're usually assigned: low-level grunt work. Unfortunately they're not good at much else, which drove Luke insane this entire book, haha.

The girls' dynamic with Cassidy, Stan and Max was refreshing in the sense that the girls aren't always getting punted by them, and the goons aren't always taking Ls just from physical contact with the girls. Cassidy and the goons always had the element of surprise on their side, being able to show up out of nowhere and do their thing before the girls have time to even blink; but once the girls figured out their whole shtick, it was easy to learn that they are easily outclass-able by five mouse Oxford students in braincell count and thus act accordingly. They force the girls to think fast and come up with some snappy plans on the spot, and the girls force Luke to realize he hired Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, and Tweedle Dummy as goons :D

Now uh, I have been complimenting this thing the entire time, but there is one little thing I have an issue within this book, and that is the whole... Power of Friendship thing they've got going on throughout the book.

Yes, unfortunately, the Friendship Curse has claimed this hardcover series too, and while it's not the worst here, it's still... it's still a bit atrocious :D

For instance, the conclusion Cassidy and Luke come to for the girls' reasons for interference is "friendship". Literally, Cassidy literally says to Luke, "It seems they did it out of friendship, Sir", and then Luke responds with an evil cackle and is like "FRIENDSHIP? THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP DOESN'T EXIST IN THIS WORLD! AIN'T NO WAAAAYYYYY THEY'RE NOT FIVE SCHEMERS WHO WANNA GET THE TREASURES THEMSELVES", which is like... I don't get that vibe from Luke anywhere else in the book? Luke values efficiency and getting what he wants-- he's not hired Cassidy to be all buddy-buddy with her, he hired her for a job and she has to work to fulfill said job. He just wants competent employees, and y'know what, that's valid. Not a single part in that have I seen "ew power of friendship". It's very villain for the sake of villainy kind of energy, which I don't think fits Luke with the other bits of information we get of him? He's following his great-granddad's footsteps-- not a single minute of that did that mean "the spirit of friendship doesn't exist get yo head outa the cotton candy"

Then there's... how this applies to the girls.

inhales

WHY DID THEY MAKE VIOLET THE GROUP'S FRIENDSHIP PROPHET GRAAAAHHHH

I probably would make a full-blown rant about this at some point, but one thing I never liked about any of the hardcovers was how Violet of all people is the group's assigned friendship prophet. She'd occasionally make a comment about how uh something something the power of love is the strongest of all, and every single time I don't like it :D

Sure fine you can chalk it up to character development since her early months in Mouseford, but in the earlier books it's heavily established that she's the pragmatic one, the braincell keeper, the one who keeps the girls' group ADHD on track or the one who reminds them that "hey we've been at this for a really long time and it's now 2AM, we should really turn in now". Being a friendship prophet is a Colette thing, not a Violet thing, and I'm not trying to insult Colette or anything like that. I would be far more okay with it if Colette was the one to go on about the "power of love" because she's literally the HOPELESS ROMANTIC! She's the one with her head in the clouds, the one most likely to fangirl about ships in movies, the one who chooses to ship Romeo and Juliet and pretend to not see the entire second act of said play for the sake of believing in love.

If Colette had a line where she gushed about the power of friendship, I would've just chalked it up to "that cheesy-ass statement is something she'd totally say ngl", as opposed to the jarring whiplash I get from seeing Violet of all people call upon the Power of Friendship.

Again, probably will rant about this at some point (lemme know if you're into that idea), but yeah -m-

Literally just chuck the power of friendship bits and replace them with something more practical/realistic/grounded/whateveryouwannacallit, and it's basically perfect! Even the bits where the girls make friends on their journey is believable! Those don't have to be altered at all! Geuh it drives me insane, almost to the point of wanting to do something about it....

Well, that's enough rambling for today. I can't use up all my steam on this first book-- I plan on making ramblings for the second and third books, after all.

See ya Stilton fans, and for the newcomers from Twitter, welcome :D I hope you enjoy your stay :D

[art--harridan]

[Image description: A digital drawing based on the film Treasure of the Four Crowns. J.T. Striker is the central element of the piece, wearing his expedition suit and with a harness attached. He crosses his arms with a glowing gemstone in each hand, green and bright yellow respectively. Bright flames shoot out of each stone in long pillars. He looks upwards, mouth set and half of his face melting downwards. That section of his face is losing colour and there's blood running down it. His eye on that side is bloodshot. Behind him there's a stone goat head, which has two crowns placed on top. Red ropes, like the ones on his harness, hang down from the ceiling. The background is a warm, olive green. The colour palette is warm and red-toned.]

Inktober - Day 24 (Expedition)

Film - Treasure of the Four Crowns (Ferdinando Baldi, 1983)

[disabled-battlekukku]

In a chameleon mood today :P

[n3rd-qu33n-ffxiv]

Cyber Scion: Sage

So, a slip of the tongue by my ADHD-riddled brain turned "Aetherochemical Research Facility" into "Aetherochemical Romance Facility." My friends in Discord all thought this was hilarious. So hilarious in fact, the FC leader decided that tonight's treasure map glam theme would be "My Aetherochemical Romance."

Now, when I sat down to consider what I was going to do for tonight's glam, I realized - as seen in my previous post - that the current glam I'm crazy about is VERY "My Aetherochemical Romance."

Then, while out scoping for a place for some emo /goses, I found some friends!

If that couldn't be any luckier... we got two final rooms which is now our first two albums' art.

[oscarwetnwilde]

James Wilby in The Treasure Seekers (1996) as Henry Carlisle.

The Scotsman - Tuesday 24 December 1996:

"Henry is a man lost in his own world," says Wilby who plays the character. "He loves to engage the children with his tall stories, but he treats them with respect and doesn't patronise them. He's one of the few adults in the film who treats them as an equal. There's something clever about the way Nesbit creates an interesting story about the adventures of children, that adults enjoy."

-

[doctorbeans]

epic has so many incredible lines and musical themes but theres something so special to me about the horse and the infant. there’s so much story and development and emotion packed into 4 minutes.

plus the writing is such a good snapshot into odysseus’ mind where he moves from seasoned tactician to respected captain and king to desperate father to pawn of the gods to just a man…

athena’s clock ticking motif behind the intro, the danger motif throught the battle sequence, the music box in astyanax’s room, the eagle calls during zeus’s speech, the entirety of the battle plan.

[black-rose-irl]

Sometimes a game series starts with a little girl having some kind of weird psychic link to her dead grandmother who was a powerful pirate captain and ends with said little girl, now like 100 years old, reading to her own grandchild about how she and her brother travelled through time to save the world and with a heavy implication that she ended up marrying a megalomaniacal evil immortal time-travelling wizard/mad scientist who is the main antagonist of the game series.

[weirdlookindog]

The Mutineers; or, The Devil and the Dice & The Death-Light; or, The Treasure Seeker. A Romance of Intense Interest. Illustrations for two supernatural stories in the Dramatic Tales series. (J. Duncomb, n.d. c. 1817).

[theshatteredrose]

The Necromancer’s Cauldron (Chapter 12) - Etrian Odyssey 5 Fanfiction

AN: Whew, better get this uploaded before the migraine sets in. Just one more chapter to go! This fic has been fun and interesting to write, so I hope it has been the same to read. Let me know what you think!

Ao3 | Wattpad | Inkitt | FFNet

-

Chapter 12:

Despite the aches and pains, despite the heaviness in his limbs, Drayce felt comfortable. And warm. A place where he was safe. It would be so easy for him to go back to sleep. Yet, a nagging feeling was pulling him to wake up.

“Drayce?”

Not to mention a familiar voice calling to him.

It took all of Drayce’s strength to force his eyes to open. He allowed his head to roll to the side, where a blurry figure appeared. Though his vision was impaired, he recognised the one next to him immediately. “Ash?’

“You’re awake.” Ashton sounded relieved. “How do you feel?”

With his eyesight clearing, Drayce furrowed his brow as he turned his attention to his surroundings. “Where-?”

“You’re home now,” Ashton interjected, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

His bed. In his room at the Crescentia. The room was dark, lit by a couple of candles and the moon through the windows.

Drayce lolled his head toward Ashton once more. “What happened? Did I make everyone worry again?”

“Shashi told us everything.”

Shashi?

The memories of what occurred at the museum, the two smug men forcing Drayce to hand himself over to them under the threat of another wendigo attack. How he had to leave Shashi behind, unknowing if he could be used and threatened in another way. How he was shoved into a carriage and promptly knocked out to ensure his ‘compliance’.

“Shashi?” Drayce sat up straight in bed. “Is he alright?”

“I’m right here. I’m fine.”

Drayce looked over to the door of his room, where the very Sigil expert stood. He breathed a visible sigh of relief as Shashi walked into his room and moved toward the other side of his bed. “Ah, I’m glad. And the curator?”

Shashi sat down onto the edge of the bed, just like Ashton. “Egar is taking care of the museum.”

Uttering a tired sigh, Drayce nodded his head before he took a moment to make himself comfortable being in a seated position. But as he placed some of his weight on his left arm, a streak of pain caused him to wince. And to immediately pull his hand back, to look down at it. Thick, white bandages wrapped tightly around his forearm greeted him, held in place with a small bobby pin.

Oh, right. He remembered now. Nukpana had stabbed him. Right through the arm. To get his blood, adding it to the cauldron.

Why he needed Drayce’s blood specifically for the ritual to summon the dreaded Matchitehew’s wraith, he had no idea. Terence had said it was because of Drayce’s royal blood, which made him wonder if he had initially had his eye on young Ramus, only to realise that his security was too much of a hassle.

He was glad that Ramus wasn’t dragged into the mess with him.

Still, Drayce’s royal blood couldn’t be the true reason. Though, he couldn’t rule out the notion that they chose him to spite the Legendary Dragoon in some way.

“No permanent damage was done to your arm, thankfully,” Ashton revealed, pulling Drayce from his jumbled musings. “Fiorello will want to keep an eye on it, however. He also wants you to take some medicine to ensure that it doesn’t become infected.”

Fair enough. Who knows what was on that knife. Kyrell must have done a good job cleaning the injury.

“Wait, Kyrell?” Drayce snapped his head up and looked straight at Ashton. “Where did he-?

“We don’t know,” Ashton said, shaking his head. “From what Blayke tells us, he literally handed you over to Zohar, told them where the cauldron could be found. And then left.” He paused as a peculiar look of curiosity appeared on his face. “He was the one who protected you?”

Drayce nodded. “He was.”

He…didn’t want to think about what could have happened if Kyrell hadn’t been there. Nukpana’s fury upon realising that he had mistakenly summoned the spirit of Diandre instead of the dreaded Matchitehew was frightening. Furious was an understatement.

If…if Kyrell hadn’t been there, he would have been left to deal with Nukpana’s rage alone.

And if Raven wasn’t…

Drayce abruptly shook his head and turned his gaze to the sigil specialist that sat on the edge of his bed. “Shashi?”

Shashi tilted his head to the side. “Yes, what is it?”

“Ravenous. It’s real. I saw it.”

Shashi reeled his head back in surprise, his eyes widening in disbelief. “What? Are you sure?”

“Yes. He’s Kyrell’s partner,” Drayce began. “He was the one that…defeated Nukpana and his followers. I don’t know what happened exactly. His followers were scared off, I think. And Nukpana…he no longer exists, I assume.”

If the legends about Ravenous were true.

“Drayce.” Ashton rested a hand on Drayce’s shoulder, leaning forward slightly to look straight into his eyes. “What happened?”

Good question. Nothing he had to say was sure to ease Ashton’s protective instincts, so best to just launch into it. “I’ll start from when I woke up in the labyrinth.”

He closed his eyes as he allowed the words to simply fall from his lips. He spoke of how Nukpana first appeared to him. How happy he was to see him. How his followers, dressed in their robes, did his bidding willingly, not a single threat of violence. How the Book of Shadows awoke and stared at him.

He explained the moment when the spirit of Chevell appeared, utterly furious at having his skull and amulet used in such a vile ritual. How Nukpana had dragged him toward the cauldron. And how he stabbed him through the arm.

He spoke of how Kyrell had appeared, boldly walking into the scene. How the black smoke turned a brilliant blue. How Kyrell had laughed and mocked Nukpana for the mistake of freeing the trapped soul of Diandre instead. He winced through the explanation of how Nukpana had screeched about someone called Sephtis, and how he was going to…possess Drayce in some manner.

He carefully retold how little Raven, the black blob that had willingly played fetch with Faelen and Nashoba had turned into Ravenous, causing the world to tremble at his mere presence.

And he spoke of how Kyrell had done whatever was necessary to ensure that he didn’t witness the scene of Ravenous in battle.

He also told Ashton and Shashi what Kyrell had said to him. How he would never do anything to harm him.

After he finished explaining everything he knew and understood, Ashton’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Sephtis…?”

“Book of Shadows.” Shashi sighed and pressed his hand against his forehead in dismay. “Just as I had feared.”

Drayce nodded, not surprised that Shashi knew of the tome. “Yeah, Nukpana had it. But where did he get it?”

“From what I understand, Terence was the one who discovered it. In the museum of all places.” He uttered another sigh in pure exasperation. “Some blathering fool left the Book of Shadows at the museum. In the same building as the Blood Cauldron. Those two should have been sealed in separate locations.”

That was a great oversight.

However, it had been about a thousand years. Memories fade, families who may have known about the Blood Cauldron, about the Book of Shadows, were replaced by descendants who didn’t truly understand the horrors the two relics contained. Perhaps passed around, from family to family. Becoming lost and forgotten.

It was understandable.

Still, he needed to ensure that such a mistake didn’t happen again.

“The tome is sentient. It likely fled when Ravenous appeared.”

Shashi quickly turned to look at him, slightly alarmed. “Sentient?”

Drayce nodded his head grimly. “Yeah. There was an eye on the front cover. It…opened when Nukpana started the ritual.”

He would never forget how chilling and cold that shiver that raced up his spine was when that bloodshot eye looked directly at him.

“What happened with everyone else?” Drayce asked, desperate to forget that dreaded tome. “Are they ok?”

“They’re fine. They’ve returned to their rooms, under much protest, though I do imagine they’re not getting much sleep,” Shashi explained.

And Ashton added on to that. “After you were returned to us, Blayke led a team into the labyrinth to inspect the clearing Kyrell spoke off. They found the cauldron, and a wooden podium. But that was all. So they alerted Egar, who in turn sent guards to secure the area. Egar wishes for you to return to the area and be the one to issue orders on what should be done with the cauldron.”

Drayce blinked. “Me?” He uttered a sigh shortly after. “Makes sense, I guess.”

What should he do with the cauldron? Returning it to the museum wasn’t the best idea. But he felt that it was too dangerous to be held in the vaults of the Council Hall. Too close to Ramus. He couldn’t, wouldn’t risk having Ramus so close to such an abhorrent relic.

They may need to find a Shaman willing to help seal the cauldron away. Maybe Syrik could introduce him to one, as he seemed to have quite a few items that were blessed by shamans in his stock. As much as he was against damaging ancient artifacts, perhaps it would be best to destroy the cauldron or tome. Finding the latter won’t be easy, though.

“The site. What did it look like?”

Shashi tilted his head to the side questioningly. “What do you mean?”

Drayce idly trailed his fingertips over the bandage on his arm, struggling to find the words. “When Ravenous appeared, Kyrell wouldn’t allow me to…see, or hear what happened. Nukpana. Was he…still there?”

Shashi didn’t immediately answer. He shared a brief glance with Ashton, the two sharing a silent conversation. Eventually, he turned his attention back to Drayce. And frowned. “…From what I understand, only the cauldron was discovered in the clearing. And a strange mark on the ground. As if something had been…scorched.”

Scorched…

“I see.” Drayce dropped his gaze down to the blankets folded over his lap. “Nukpana really is gone. For good.”

Gone. Not just dead. Removed from existence. He couldn’t fathom it. Completely incomprehensible. What kind of crimes had Nukpana committed? How many laws had he broken to earn such punishment? Was he truly irredeemable?

He sighed. Too late for him to muse about it now, he supposed.

Shashi pulled him out of his musings by gently patting his leg. “We’ll work out what to do with the cauldron tomorrow. For now, there is someone who needs to speak with you.”

Drayce blinked as both Shashi and Ashton took to their feet and moved toward the bed. He had assumed that Ashton would be lingering nearby to keep a very protective eye on him. He was the staunch caretaker of the guild, after all. And especially over him.

But as the two moved toward the door, and another figure stepped through a moment later, he immediately understood why.

“Zohar?” Drayce asked as the necromancer closed the door to his room. “Are you ok?”

Zohar turned away from the door, a lightly amused expression on his face. “That is a question that I should be asking you.”

Ok, fair. But if there was anyone who was the most affected by recent events next to Drayce himself, it would be Zohar.

Drayce pulled back the blankets and slipped his legs out of bed. “My ailments are physical, mostly. But you seem to be struggling with something internally.”

Zohar’s expression stoic as he stared at him, and after a moment of silence, he uttered a sigh. “I feel as though I could have prevented this.” He turned toward him, his eyes apologetic. “If…If I had been honest with you from the beginning…”

Drayce shook his head. “It’s ok. I’m sorry. For being nosy. I just…”

They fell into an awkward silence after that, the two of them lost to their own thoughts. And feelings of guilt and self-reflection.

“Curiosity,” Zohar said suddenly. “It is the trait of a treasure hunter.”

Drayce had to smile. “There’s no denying that.”

Zohar walked over to him, to stand before him. And to gently take him by the chin so that he could look into his eyes. “What happened to you?”

For the second time that night, Drayce uttered a sigh before he quickly relayed what he had endured in the labyrinth. From start to finish, from the best of his recollection. He…left the part out about Ravenous, however. That was something that needed to be touched upon carefully.

After he was done, Zohar stood silently before him. Taking a few moments to fully understand and process everything he had revealed. And though his expression was stoic, Drayce would all but sense the guilt he felt.

“Does it bother you?” Drayce asked softly, unconsciously cradling his injured arm against his chest. “That Kyrell was the one who…?”

“A little,” Zohar admitted. “I am quite abysmal at protection, it seems.”

Again, Drayce shook his head, yet more vehemently this time. “It’s not your fault. No one could have predicted something like this.”

Zohar wasn’t entirely convinced. “Perhaps,” he said, dismissively, before he placed his hand upon Drayce’s shoulder, once again looking into his eyes. “Is there something else?”

Drayce looked down at the floor for a moment. There was. Quite a few things, actually. Truthfully, he was reluctant to say anything more. What he had seen, what he had learnt would be utterly shocking to him. It didn’t feel right just blurting it out.

But, if he wanted Zohar to be more open with him, it was his duty to be honest with him in return. It was only right.

“You know of Ravenous, don’t you?”

Zohar appeared surprised, which was understandable. He didn’t answer immediately either, likely musing silently about how much Drayce had learnt of the world of necromancy. Through interacting with other people.

“Of course,” he finally answered, cautiously.

“So, Kyrell…” he hesitated again, truly at a loss for words. “Raven is Ravenous. And he is his companion wraith.”

Zohar abruptly pulled back his hand and took a half step back, shock blatant on his face. “…What?”

His reaction wasn’t surprising at all.

“I saw it. Saw him.” Drayce quickly took a step forward so he was the one who stood directly in front of Zohar. And he was the one who looked straight into his eyes. “But don’t worry, he’s not a threat to you or anything. He has no reason to. You haven’t done anything wrong, right?”

Zohar shook his head, almost in disbelief. “How can you be so certain?”

“There are no markings on you,” Drayce firmly pointed out. “When a necromancer commits a crime, breaks the rules of necromancy, the sin is written upon their skin, right? Even if you had committed a sin, it can be worked off through acts of redemption. So, you don’t need to be worried.”

Kyrell said that he would never do anything to harm him. And Drayce believed him. The sincerity, the determination in his voice and the gentleness of his touch as he carried him; he wasn’t lying. There was no way anyone could be that deceptive.

And he knew that Drayce would never sit back and allow anyone to harm Zohar, or any of his guild, for any reason.

“I won’t let anything happen,” he added, pleadingly.

Zohar was understandably torn, conflicted between being fearful at the thought, the knowledge that Ravenous actually existed, to believing him in his assessment that he wasn’t in any danger. It felt to Drayce that he truly wanted to believe him. He truly did.

But a seed of doubt wouldn’t allow him to be comforted.

It wasn’t a surprise, honestly. Zohar would know all the stories regarding Ravenous. He would have a much better idea what that being was capable of. It was understandable that he was hesitant and reluctant. It would take more than a few words from Drayce to reassure him.

Drayce dropped his gaze to the floor once more, unconsciously toying with the bandages around his arm. Tonight probably wasn’t the best time to ask Zohar a question that had been troubling him. Even more than the knowledge that the ancient god of Ravenous existed.

But…he was feeling needy.

“Zohar, Kyrell also told me that…” he hesitated again, his gaze still turned toward the floor. “That necromancers are usually born by the interference of others. Like…murder or sacrifice. You-?”

“Yes,” Zohar interjected suddenly, surprisingly. “I was murdered some years ago.”

Drayce snapped his head up, staring wide-eyed at Zohar as his breath suddenly hitched in his throat. He felt as though he had been punched in the chest. He must have looked as faint as he felt as Zohar suddenly reached out to wrap his arms around him, cradling him against his chest as he helped him to sit down on the edge of his bed.

Drayce grabbed at the collar of Zohar’s jacket. “What? Who-?”

Zohar shook his head slowly. “I do not know.”

“What?”

“Yes, I did not see my murderer’s face,” Zohar revealed as he pulled back, gently dislodging Drayce’s grip on his clothing. Parting from him only so he could sit down next to him. “Hm. And here I am, aiding in murder investigations when I cannot solve my own.”

Drayce pivoted from where his sat to look directly at Zohar once more. “That’s…the reason why you endure these investigations, isn’t it?”

“One of the reasons, yes.”

Murdered. He was murdered. Someone…someone had…

“But, you-?”

“I’m alive,” Zohar affirmed vehemently. “I died for several minutes, yes. But I returned. I made a soul pact with a wraith. With Theodore, who is an ancient ancestor of my lineage. I walk the thin line between life and death, but I am what you call alive.”

Theodore was his ancestor? A family member…

Suddenly, Zohar took his hand in his, and gently guided him to rest his palm against the left side of his bare chest.

“See? My heart still beats and the blood still flows through my veins.”

Drayce stared at his hand pressed against Zohar’s chest. He felt his warmth, the gentle pulse of his heartbeat against the palm of his hand. A heartbeat. The sound and the gentle pulse of life.

He pushed forward suddenly, to press himself against Zohar’s chest, his head nuzzled under his chin. Zohar immediately wrapped his arms around him in return; one arm across his shoulders, the other around his waist. All encompassing. Warm and comforting.

“…Thank goodness,” Drayce whispered, turning his head slightly to press his ear against his chest.

“Necromancers are…frightening beings, I suppose,” Zohar said as he kept his arms around him. “It may have been best if you didn’t know.”

“No.”

“Hm?” Zohar uttered in surprise.

Drayce pulled back from Zohar’s chest, only enough to rest his hands against his chest and look straight at him. “No, I want to know. I want to know more. About you. I want to know you. As a person. Not a necromancer.”

Once more, Zohar gazed at him silently, his expression unreadable. He sighed in defeated as he pulled him close again, resting his cheek atop of Drayce’s head. “…I truly have no defence against you. It’s frightening, how strong this is. This pull you have on me. For now, though, let’s leave it be. You’ve seen and endured enough. I will be more forthcoming in the future.”

“Ok,” Drayce returned as he settled against Zohar’s chest once more, feeling tired but content all of a sudden. “And I’ll try to be a little more patient. Thank you.”

[lotro-tooltips-daily]

[captainkurosolaire]

~ Finder's Rebirth ~

Who What We ...B'

[theplagueraven]

My new D&D character, Viago the aasimar warlock! He's a first generation aasimar because his elven mother is very persuasive. In fact, he has a slew of half-siblings that are all halfsies of some form or another. Everything from typical half-elves and half-orcs, to a first generation tiefling (who is another player character).

Additionally, his celestial father has ended up his warlock patron, because even more family dynamics is always a hoot.

Despite being the ultimate edgy vibes kind of guy, Viago is actually the most boring person you'll ever meet. He's an archivist that works at a library. His hobbies include books, fancy pens, research, and tea. He absolutely will tell you to shush like the most stereotypical librarian ever. He has a good relationship with his family and takes care of his younger siblings.

He looks like a Biblically Accurate Angel™️and super powerful and edgy, but he's actually just really, really average and kinda super lame. I like him a lot.

[affyboss6]

(via "This Is What An Awesome Metal Detectorist Looks Like" Classic T-Shirt for Sale by Affyboss6)