A Dance of Smoke & Magic {Lyra}

[Læbirius]

Company: Himself & whisp woman| Thoughts: Why are we here| Mood: Curious

☠ The winds blew the fog of the desolate and sobering landscape as he walked it. Læbirius strolled the twisted forest for what felt like an eternity. His form was completely engulfed in smoke, inky black with hues of electric green dancing within them like lightning dancing in thunderclouds. Floating above the crown of his head like an aetheric halo was his rune of Mesmer.

He could hear her whispers again, feminine and soothing as she giggled and enticed him to follow a path. It led to a large tombstone, this one taller and more ornate than the others. It was straining his neck to look up at its dwarfing height, barely making out the many intricacies of its craftsmanship. From behind it, she appeared, a woman's whispy, smoky figure, her hair glowing white like snow, contrasting against the onyx black of her smoky form, only accented by her piercing golden eyes.

"You found me!" she giggled, coming to wrap her form around his, his golden eyes watching her intently as she caressed his form. "Surely you didn't bring me here just to play a game?" he inquired to the whispy entity the feminine figure simply giggling as she floated in front of him, tapping his nose with a smoky tendril. "We await someone, someone we think you may come to like very much." her tone was reminiscent, like remembering a fond memory of someone.

Soon her head turns and her demeanor brightens like a child seeing their mother or father after months away. "She is coming! She is coming!" she squealed coming to grip Læbirius by the hand and pulling him into the billowing fog that rolled through the area. ☠

---

"Common Speech"
"Vastian Speech"
"Vallenor Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Lyra]

► Show Spoiler

A call in the slumbering realms drew her. Softly, sweetly it evicted memories of the past. Bitterness and despair, love lost, and dreams broken. Soft as moonlight on still waters. Pain. Suffering. Longing. Desire. Vast was Thiovan's realm, yet no distance could hide the music from the lady of Whispers.

She was a storm that flowed across the dreamscapes, dark billowing clouds that blanketed the skies and covered the ground with translucent mist. The music grew louder, faster, thrumming in her blood as she came upon the great tombstone and engulfed it and the two small figures below in her form. Two large golden eyes rimmed in crimson opened in the darkness, staring down at the two, lingering on the girl before focusing on the man in turn. Slowly she came forward, the smoke collecting and forming elven features with long silver hair. Closer she came until she rested a long-nailed hand on either side of the two, leaning in until she filled their view.

Her pale skin writhed with hidden figures beneath, hands that reached out desperate for escape. She held herself back, suppressing her aura so as not to send either figure into madness at the mere sight of her figure. She did not speak, but waited patiently, looking between the two, expectant, curious.

[Læbirius]

Company: Himself & whisp woman| Thoughts: Why are we here| Mood: Curious

☠ When the storm came, Læbirius felt something twitch within his soul, and his wispy companion only seemed to become more excited. "She's here! She's here! She's here!" her tone was frantic but excited as she zoomed around him. Then he felt a hand resting on him and he could see the smoke and clouds pooling before him and into a form. A woman, one that held some similarities to his wispy companion.

She was giggling uncontrollably as the woman simply just stared at them both. "Can you feel it, something so close, yet so far away? She is both magnificent and terrifying all at once. She is you and you are here." the mage didn't quite understand her words, but when he looked at the woman he could sense there was something.....familiarity about her. She was powerful, he could see that, but she was looking at him as if she was trying to understand him and his companion.

Læbirius steeled himself as whoever she was, he wasn't about to anger her. "I take it you are the one my friend is excited about." he murmured, noticing the many hands fighting for freedom from the woman's form. "I am Phozenzia Len’Nagarath Læbirius. I have traversed these desolate lands with my friend here, looking for secrets and knowledge. What brings you to these lands of the dead and damned?"

He looked at the woman before turning his attention back to the massive tombstone. He wondered what could be buried there. He was compelled to disregard her, but she was just as intriguing as this place. ☠

---

"Common Speech"
"Vastian Speech"
"Vallenor Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Lyra]

Lyrielle tilted her head at the man's words before her eyes too moved to the tombstone. Her form unraveled, the smoke around them being drawn in and condensed as Lyrielle's body took shape beside Læbirius and the girl. While her elven features remained, the pressure of her aura was fully gone and her skin did not move from beneath as it had before.

The outsider extended a finger and motioned to the other smoky woman to come closer, and when she did Lyrielle would gently trace a hand over the girls' cheek while looking into her eyes.

"Phozenzia Len’Nagarath Læbirius." The name was said with familiarity, easily flowing across Lyrielle's tongue as it was reminiscent of the names of her people. Her accent was light and musical, and the smile that came to outsiders lips was a genuine one.

"These are not the lands of the dead, though the damned to walk these realms." Her words were spoken in ancient Vallaeren, but in this place of dreams language was merely a vessel for ideas and the intent of the words would translate. With a hand still touching the girl Lyrielle looked up at Læbirius, "You called us. Rather arrogant of you, a babe barely old enough to walk, to sing so loudly here when we have only recently returned to the realm of dreams."

She wasn't angry, or even annoyed, but the curiosity from before was still present in her expression as she looked back down at the girl. One finger trailed down and touched something inside the girl's form, and with a small tug Lyrielle pulled it free and held it up before her eyes. A small orb, silver and gold with lines of green, not a stone but more solid than air, and a line still linked back to the girl and to Læbirius as well.

Surprise, followed by consideration crossed her features before she looked back at the girl and smile, "Blood calls to blood, little one. We heard you, and came as you asked. What is it you ask of us?"

[Læbirius]

Company: Himself & whisp woman| Thoughts: Why are we here| Mood: Curious

☠ Her words perplexed him he could have sworn these were lands bequeathed to the souls of the dead, as that's how they always appeared to him. She went on to say he had called her, but he never once made such an utterance, especially to an unknown woman of such magnitude so he found himself somewhat confused by that accusation. If he knew anything, being arrogant was not one of them. However, when she pulled the orb-like object from the wispy woman who had always accompanied him in his dreams, his eyes lit up with overwhelming curiosity even more so at the mention of blood calling blood.

He wasn't sure what she was expecting him to say. He had never seen or heard of this woman, but she seemed to know quite a deal of him or at least seemed familiar with him. He was more intrigued by that which she held in her hand, a curious object that he had never seen before, but the fact she so easily pulled it from the wispy woman, made him curious. "Tell me what you know about the dead. Ever since losing my mother, I have had a strong fascination with the boundaries of life and death, and the rumors of great necromancers becoming liches."

He began, moving forward to caress the humanoid shaped trees as he approached the large tombstone anchored upon stone he couldn't even begin to identify. "Seeing the souls writhe within your form tells me you are a being of great power and knowledge unless I assume far too much of your experience. I would do anything to learn the secrets of life and death and how to bend them to my will." there was afire in his eyes as he spoke, the wispy woman traveling between him and the other, gleeful and childish in her demeanor, like a little one eager for their parent's approval. ☠

---

"Common Speech"
"Vastian Speech"
"Vallenor Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Lyra]

"Life and Death?" Lyrielle asked, perplexed at the request. She again examined the orb in her hand, giving it a final turn over before releasing it. The object dispersed into smoke that flowed back into the girl, and Lyrielle turned her eyes on Læbirius.

"Life is a temporary state, as is death. Both are domains which belong to other powers, and neither care overly much for my existence." She gave the question some thought, turning the musing over in her mind while she drew her legs up into a sitting position in the air. Mortals were always obsessed with the concepts of death, that much she had seen clearly over the centuries. Death, and methods to prolong their life were common topics of wizards and warlocks in every age, but Lyrielle herself had given it little thought.

"Do you wish to bring your loved one back?" Lyrielle asked, absently creating symbols in the air with smoke that railed from her fingers, "Or do you desire to become one of the undead?" her lip curled derisively, "Those who walked the crooked path rarely obtain what they originally sought. Such is the price for forbidden knowledge."

[Læbirius]

Company: Himself & whisp woman| Thoughts: Why are we here| Mood: Curious

☠ "To bring a loved one back?" he repeated, weighing those words greatly as he could only think of his mother. He wished he could bring her back, but even he knew that is a fool's errand. "No, I wouldn't dream of that, death is a blissful reward for surviving this harsh life. I did at one point want to bring my mother back, it was the main reason I took up necromancy, but then when I killed my first person, I become fascinated with the final moments of one's life. It's why I scour these desolate lands to find something, some semblance of knowledge, but to no avail."

The second part of her answer piqued his interest. Was she hinting at knowing how to become a lich? His head turned with curious and anxious eyes as he approached her. "So there is a way to become a lich? I always knew that it was a possibility but could never find any true written accounts of the process!" he looked at her with almost unbridled admiration as he contemplated just how one could become one. "I have to admit becoming a lich was always a dream of mine when I took up necromancy, why I can't really explain, but I could feel it in my soul, I could feel that it is something I have to do."

It was something he couldn't quite explain, but he felt that ever since he began his necromantic journey. Looking away from her he ventured closer to the large tombstone. It was like a throne for some god of a bygone era. He could feel the pull of the throne calling him closer, his hand reach out, only to stop hesitantly short of the massive chair. Then something occurred to him that she had mentioned earlier. "Earlier you said blood calls to blood, what did you mean by that?" he turned to face her, a look of curiosity on his face. ☠

---

"Common Speech"
"Vastian Speech"
"Vallenor Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Lyra]

Liches. Lyrielle resisted the urge to sneer. She had known of them, heard of them, perhaps met a few if she could recall, but memories of that age were oddly sparse even after collecting the majority of her memories. For some odd reason her mind turned to the man in white, and the mask he wore. His dignified persona, and elegant way of speaking no matter now vulgar the topic. Hadn't he been interested in such things in the past?

"Life and death are cyclical." Lyrielle said with a shrug, "Some souls return to this world, while others choose to stay in the other realms. It is best to leave those souls who have passed on in the cycle to their own devices, or you will risk the attention of powers beyond your limits."

She said all of this in a mild tone like she were commenting on the weather, but her eyes trailed over the man and the girl as she considered her next words.

"If you are adamant to pursue this..." Her lips turned down in a frown, but she continued, "I know little of the Scholars of Apocrypha, but in the age after the fall of the arrogant Hytori there was a city of glass that was said to hold such knowledge. Its sovereign walked the crooked path, and many who sought to follow lost their minds or became twisted creatures that spawned more of their kind."

Though the memories were fragmented, she remembered when the undead first began to spread across Ransera. Odd things, distorted souls, and the winds whispered of secrets that made even Lyrielle's fragmented mind shudder. She could give no more information than this, but perhaps it would be enough to satisfy this young one's curiosity for now.

"Blood calls blood." Lyrielle repeated, once more eyeing the girl with a smile as she rose into the air and circled the large tombstone, "We are kin, far removed and your blood is diluted, but I would never mistake one of mine. It is faint, untrained, unawakened, but I hear the song of my daughter in you."

Lyrielle's face became solemn, and then curious, "That my capricious daughter would sire young of her own is... unexpected. She never cared for such trifles as children, yet here you are. The second I have found in this age, which gives me hope that others may yet be found."

[Læbirius]

Company: Himself & whisp woman| Thoughts: Why are we here| Mood: Curious

☠ He listened to her words carefully, her warning of the folly of those who set out or even acquired the knowledge going mad from it. He knew he was too smart to fall to such, but he knew arrogance could be his undoing. He too did not wish to be one to fall into the depravity of madness. He would heed her words, but ultimately he still wished to pursue this goal, if only carefully.

What came next from her he didn't expect, watching her as she floated within the air near the tombstone. He couldn't believe that the woman in front of him was of related blood to him, but he was excited to know that someone as powerful as she was related to him. He wondered what that would mean for him, would he become as powerful as he believed her to be? He couldn't help but think of the possibilities, of what he could no doubt achieve if he was as strong as her.

He wondered what he would have to sacrifice to see it to fruition. It seemed there were more of them, as the woman spoke of the child that connected them to one another. He looked her over and wondered what exactly she could show him in terms of power and knowledge. "All those souls within you, how did you become like that? Is that the fate that awaits those with your blood?" in inquired, watching his wispy companion float beneath the woman like a bee hovering over a flower. ☠

---

"Common Speech"
"Vastian Speech"
"Vallenor Speech"
"Self-Thoughts"

[Lyra]

"While we may share in our ambition, or perhaps our madness, your path is yours and yours alone." Lyrielle smiled broadly, "What I am I became following a path that only I could walk. So too must you find your way."

She looked considering at Læbirius before floating closer. Lyrielle when she stood on the ground was nearly a head shorter than the man, but she hovered so that they were at eye level with one another. One hand rested gently on his cheek, but trailed down to his neck and then to his shoulder where her grip tightened.

"Yours is cursed blood, for it comes from Lyrielle tu Kovash Elmari, the broken doll." The words were spoken harshly, a flicker of anger lighting up her golden eyes for a brief moment before she turned her gaze on the girl that still floated a short distance away. The apparition had not spoken a single time since Lyrielle's appearance, but now she found herself being drawn forward toward Lyrielle's outstretched palm.

"My inheritance is not something to be envied or desired, but you will inherit it none the less." The grip on Læbirius' shoulder tightened further until pain began to flare down his spine, a sensation like needles being jabbed into every inch of his skin.

Her other hand clamped around the smaller girl's neck, jerking her forward and forcing her chin up as dark smoke blew down into her throat and her eyes glazed over. Inside of Læbirius he would feel the burning centering at the core of his being, in his very soul as something was forcefully pushed into it, and then ripped away. A flood of aether then spilled into his veins as unseen pressure was released from within him and Lyrielle released them both and flowed backward, resuming her larger form as the souls began to writhe beneath her skin once more.

"We grant you the name Læbirius tu Anai, so that those who look upon your soul will know your origins." Her smile returned, but it neither kind nor comforting, "May the harsh realities of this world shape you as they did me."

► Show Spoiler

Lyrielle tu Kovash Elamari, The Broken Doll, King Breaker and Lady of Whispers has granted Læbirius the name Anai which means both to inherit and to suffer in Ancient Valleran. The suffix 'tu' was given to those Hytori in the Age of Dreams who had lost their previous names due to grievous crimes against the Hytori Theology, and the name which comes after it is meant to lean toward the negative meaning of any dual meaning word.

Læbirius' soul has been marked by Lyrielle so that his relation to her is known to any who can see through the veil and peer into the soul. This is an indication of her recognition of Læbirius, as well as a thin link between them.

Læbirius' bloodline has been awakened by his Progenitor. As his blood comes from the line of Cal'anai Læbirius has gained the ability to produce aetheric smoke from his body. The smoke can be freely manipulated by Læbirius, and can be used as a medium for any of his magics.