Ghouls and Dragons

Thu Sep 19, 2024 9:09 pm

Freya did not immediately answer, instead she considered the question while continuing to pet the aidolon on his scaled head. Her eyes wandered to some of the other spirits that surrounded them, and then her gaze lifted up to the stars high overhead.

"I did not train him." She said with a wry smile, "It is more appropriate to say he teaches me. He is my constant companion, a partner in the truest sense, and while I am still young by the scale of stars he is somewhat ancient."

At this the lizard opened one eye and glared in annoyance at the dragonborn, who simply laughed, "He doesn't like to be reminded of his age."

She picked him up and gently cradled him in one arm, now scratching the scales under his chin until the glaring eye closed once more.

"He knows a lot about cartomancy, but most of what he says comes from other insights. Live as long as he has and you begin to see certain patterns, and it is these patterns he shares when we do our readings together."

Looking up at Masagh Freya asked, "Now you... What are you doing out in this remote area?"

"When the Stars Align"

Mon Nov 04, 2024 11:17 am

Masagh smiled briefly, a tiny thing. He turned his gaze from the small spirit to the vague direction of the nearest village. His expression clouded with doubt and resignation after a moment. The grim looking knight readjusted himself on the ground.

“I suppose I must be on a wild goose chase, really.” He muttered. “Deluding myself into thinking my answers are out here when I could not find them closer to home.” He grimaced. His own self doubt had made his answer cryptic when she had been straightforward with him. He returned his gaze to the woman in blue.

“I’m looking for an enemy of my House.” He said. “I think there may be a traitor amongst my people, and it could cause a lot of harm.” He paused a moment, pushing a rock further towards the fire slowly with his heel. “I’m looking for a group of vampyres. I have reason to believe one of them might be over in that village right now… but in truth my lead is a flimsy one.”

Her gaze seemed to bore into him, bright and alive. She belonged to the dancing lights of the night and he the cold soil below. Masagh shifted. “I suppose you could say I’m out here out of desperation and it would feel just as true.”

The firelight danced across his face, the warmth coming with it. He imagined it was some lesser version of the warmth of the sun, though he would never know for certain. He shifted slightly closer.

“So, these cards.” He said to divert the conversation. Not that he feared this woman was a danger to that cause. He found he didn’t much want to think about his angry mother or vampyres tonight. For a bit longer perhaps he could be what she had named him, just another traveler. He schooled his brooding expression back into whatever passed for amiable in him and turned to her. “Can the making of such things be taught? I have some rudimentary skill with ink and parchment, even with glyphs. But I have never seen such a use as this.” He gestured with one of his worn gloves at the deck.

Around them the flickering spirit lights danced about on their mysterious business.

Thu Nov 21, 2024 9:17 pm

Freya continued to stroke the spirits scaled head as she listened to Masagh. She offered no thoughts or interruptions while he spoke, but from time to time would glance up to look at him. Her eyes traces his expression, the way he moved, and she wondered if it was right to read an undead in the same way one read the living. Were their destinies somehow different from the living? Or did they have one at all? After all most assumed that the end of life was the end of all fates, so where did that put the untethered in the grand cosmic design? Then again, she was able to cast a reading with her cards, so just maybe fortune was not lost for this one.

Vampyres were another creature which Freya had little experience. She had heared of them of course, but the people of the countryside considered them myth. The Church taught that they were misguided souls fully tainted by the runic marks they bore. They were not some dangerous creature, but rather the misguided mages who had taken their corruption too far. When a Vampyre was suspected to have appeared the Church would send out its Knights of the Imperial Divines, templars of the church and the guardians of the people. Kathar dressed in robes of metallic silver were also dispatched, and often the suspected undead was discovered to be just another corrupted mage, nothing more. Freya had always suspected that the truth was not so simple. The contradiction of both denying the existence of Vampyre's, and teaching of their corruption seemed too well designed to be simply coincidence. It was as if the Church wanted the people to call out what they suspected to be Vampyre's, and then subtly clean them up and wipe them from the record as if they had never existed at all.

Freya herself had never met one of the magical undead. The rumors that they could turn a person into a ghoul was wide spread enough that, should she ever meet one, Freya thought she might quickly flee. Not that she was particularly afraid of the idea of them, but it was often best not to tempt fate when there was no need.

Whether he sought advice or simply to vent, Freya was content to allow him to speak for as long as he wished. Thus when he not so subtly shifted the conversation, she responded in kind.

"The cards themselves are made of simple wood and paper, carved and painted with the designs you saw."

Freya gently set Asteri in her lap and picked up the deck of cards again, pulling out one of them and handing it to Masagh to inspect.

"There is nothing especially magical about them, save for the beauty of the artwork which I cannot claim as my own doing." She smiled, "They are simply a medium, a way by which a fortuneteller, such as myself, can read the patterns of the universe and use them to answer questions for others. There are many forms of fortunetelling... Palm reading, the bones, studying tea leaves. Many cultures have their own special means to convene with the universe."

She gently shuffled the deck in her hands, the cards spinning between her fingers in a show of dexterity as Freya watched Masagh's reaction.

"They do offer a bit of showmanship as well, which is quite useful when you make your living as a fortuneteller. Small villages and towns such as this have very little in the way of entertainment, so my services offer them a small distraction, as well as practical aid in both my readings and the other items I sell."

"You could craft your own deck, for certain. I can even explain to you the different cards and their meanings, but I suspect you are not suited for such methods." Freya studied the man for a moment before asking, "Where does your interest come from?"

"When the Stars Align"