There is a man who strolls through the woods of Widu who aside from his tall, looming, stature and disturbingly cruel face some would say the only odd thing about him are the clothes he wears. Ordinary leather boots are worn below light brown baggy trousers inscribed with strange alien symbols in dark red thread, a leather vest painted with green and blue spirals and swirls seem oddly discordant with his plain straw hat. However, there is a small patch of constantly boiling, moving wax on his left wrist and not everyone notices that the shadows seem fearful yet drawn to him, or that whenever they are around him they can hear the distant sounds of scurrying and the chitter of rats.
When he returns home from his strolls he heads through a part of the woods others have begun to avoid, where the trees have become gnarled and twisted and light no longer reaches the dead undergrowth. Smells of decay and fear permeate the air and the few animals that can be seen have an evil, furtive aspect to them. He will walk through this area without a second thought, heading straight for the centre of this corrupted place where a clearing dances and boils with shadows and the unseen forms of madness. But the only dim light comes from four torches attached at the corners of a small woodcutters hut that stands in the clearing, he will walk calmly to the door and smile in wry amusement at the sign next to it which proclaims in cheerfully painted letters "Visitors welcome!" Then he will lean his mighty razor-sharp-battleaxe of a smoky oily steel next to the door and enter, careful not to wake the decrepit old man that sleeps in a tiny soiled cot next to a pile of empty bottles and the roaring fire.
((OOC: This is the beginning of a planned RP, but it shall also act as my house thread for awhile so feel free to venture in. Now for some information! It should be common knowledge in Widu that Nahren is a woodsman/butcher who lives in the woods with an old drunkard, but for those of you with a magically inclined nature you might be able to sense that there has been a magical build up of pure 'terror' that seems to be coming from the hut and is affecting the forest around it in an slowly expanding circle. For those of you not magical, all you know is that part of the forest has become more and more terrifying for you lately.))
[RP] The woodsman
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Nahren
Re: [RP] The woodsman
Nahren looked at the filthy, cramped, hut dispassionately, wondering how that wizard Oxul managed to create such a mess in such a short period of time he decided he would clean later. Glancing at a table piled with half eaten meals he recognised the giant rat which sat twitching it's nose at him, reaching out with his mind he felt the slow, pulsing presence of the hive-mind he had cultivated in this and many other rats. Catching up on everything it had seen and heard since his last communication he discovered little of value, aside for some light raiding by bandits north of the woods. Moving to a corner he moved the magically guarded floor-slab aside and descended the gloomy steps underneath and replaced the slab above him, quickly reaching a small, shielded cellar lit by smokeless, flickering torches placed all along the four walls.
Glancing briefly at the bony, gibbering man chained to one wall he turned to the desk on the opposite wall without a second thought and addressed the whip thin man with the scraggly brown beard sat behind it in faded purple robes, scribbling furiously upon a piece of parchment;
"Oxul, I have returned" Oxul didn't look up, his hand still and a distant look in his eyes as his whispering, almost sibilant voice escaped his lips;
"Yes, it appears you have" Nahren chuckled, Oxul's mind clearly on other things he tried to bring his mind onto their little experiment on the wall;
"How is our friend on the wall, I trust the connection still remains strong?" Oxul's head snapped up a feverish gleam coming to his usually dead eyes;
"Oh the connection is completely intact, it has actually exceeded all my expectations and appears to be maintaining itself now" Oxul had scrambled from behind the desk by this point, his hands rubbing together as he shuffled over to the wall sweat beading on his brow;
"I am afraid he is quite insane though, as we suspected his spirit suffers the same torture yours used to, unfortunately for him he is not as...unique as you and his mind has collapsed"
Nahren nodded as he sensed the madness in the chained man and pulled a small bag from his belt, placing it on the desk;
"Here are the herbs you asked for, I trust that is everything needed to complete the ritual now?" Oxul's hand snaked out and the bag disappeared up a baggy sleeve, the thin skin of his face making his slight smile seem like the morbid eternal grin of a skull;
"Yes, everything should go according to plan now...my lord Egill"
Glancing briefly at the bony, gibbering man chained to one wall he turned to the desk on the opposite wall without a second thought and addressed the whip thin man with the scraggly brown beard sat behind it in faded purple robes, scribbling furiously upon a piece of parchment;
"Oxul, I have returned" Oxul didn't look up, his hand still and a distant look in his eyes as his whispering, almost sibilant voice escaped his lips;
"Yes, it appears you have" Nahren chuckled, Oxul's mind clearly on other things he tried to bring his mind onto their little experiment on the wall;
"How is our friend on the wall, I trust the connection still remains strong?" Oxul's head snapped up a feverish gleam coming to his usually dead eyes;
"Oh the connection is completely intact, it has actually exceeded all my expectations and appears to be maintaining itself now" Oxul had scrambled from behind the desk by this point, his hands rubbing together as he shuffled over to the wall sweat beading on his brow;
"I am afraid he is quite insane though, as we suspected his spirit suffers the same torture yours used to, unfortunately for him he is not as...unique as you and his mind has collapsed"
Nahren nodded as he sensed the madness in the chained man and pulled a small bag from his belt, placing it on the desk;
"Here are the herbs you asked for, I trust that is everything needed to complete the ritual now?" Oxul's hand snaked out and the bag disappeared up a baggy sleeve, the thin skin of his face making his slight smile seem like the morbid eternal grin of a skull;
"Yes, everything should go according to plan now...my lord Egill"
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Nahren
Re: [RP] The woodsman
Nahren stood in the basement, it's floor now covered in a complex whirl of coloured paint and powder, with various candles placed within the pattern it had an oddly menacing aspect to the eye. Nahren glanced at the chained wretch curiously, his wall was covered in it's own pattern, but it seemed...sadder to him. Nahren shook himself and frowned in annoyance, not sure why he was associating these patterns with emotions. He nodded at Oxul and began building terrifying amounts of magical energy, Oxul sensed this and spoke, his voice echoing oddly around the room as space began to stretch and bend almost unnoticed;
"Lord Egill please remember your spirit must be free of the body the very instance I use your power to break the binding, or all is for naught"
Nahren nodded grimly, he had been bound for 900 years and he was not going to screw up his first chance to get free.
Egill sensed Oxul manipulate the energy he had built whilst screaming in a language few outside of this room could understand, tearing his spirit free of the body the moment he sensed the binding shatter he soared upwards and watched as the shack and much of the forest affected by him was obliterated in a blaze of boiling white energy. He glanced down at the shadowy form his spirit took when outside of his body and grinned, feeling the exultation of the hive mind as its rats came streaming towards the centre of the destruction, a small crater where the shack had once stood. Drifting towards the crater Egill frowned as he saw Oxul crouched over the body, confusion coming off him in waves, he entered the body once more and Nahren sat up, his voice was almost jolly as he spoke;
"Everything went according to plan did it not? What's got you so worried?"
Oxul looked about nervously at the horde of rats that had surrounded the crater before replying, his sibilant voice sounding strained;
"Nothing is wrong, the binding shattered, your body survived and the wretch was destroyed body and soul"
Nahren's hand snapped forward and gripped Oxul's throat, almost crushing it as Nahren stood up, his eye's cold and colourless;
"Do not lie to me Oxul, or I will tear your head off" Nahren looked about as the crater erupted with the chitters and snickers of the horde of rats, grinning he spoke again "Or perhaps I'll leave you here for my friends to deal with" Oxul's eyes widened at that and his legs thrashed as Nahren dropped him to the floor
"M'lord Egill, please no...For a moment there, just after the binding shattered and the release of energy was destroying everything, I thought I saw the body sit up" Oxul cowered but Nahren merely laughed, his blue beard swinging;
"Is that is? There is nothing that could make this body sit up, I'm sure your eyes were playing tricks on you, now I suggest you return home and continue your studies" Oxul nodded gratefully and muttered a few words, his body seemed to shimmer before disappearing completely.
"Lord Egill please remember your spirit must be free of the body the very instance I use your power to break the binding, or all is for naught"
Nahren nodded grimly, he had been bound for 900 years and he was not going to screw up his first chance to get free.
Egill sensed Oxul manipulate the energy he had built whilst screaming in a language few outside of this room could understand, tearing his spirit free of the body the moment he sensed the binding shatter he soared upwards and watched as the shack and much of the forest affected by him was obliterated in a blaze of boiling white energy. He glanced down at the shadowy form his spirit took when outside of his body and grinned, feeling the exultation of the hive mind as its rats came streaming towards the centre of the destruction, a small crater where the shack had once stood. Drifting towards the crater Egill frowned as he saw Oxul crouched over the body, confusion coming off him in waves, he entered the body once more and Nahren sat up, his voice was almost jolly as he spoke;
"Everything went according to plan did it not? What's got you so worried?"
Oxul looked about nervously at the horde of rats that had surrounded the crater before replying, his sibilant voice sounding strained;
"Nothing is wrong, the binding shattered, your body survived and the wretch was destroyed body and soul"
Nahren's hand snapped forward and gripped Oxul's throat, almost crushing it as Nahren stood up, his eye's cold and colourless;
"Do not lie to me Oxul, or I will tear your head off" Nahren looked about as the crater erupted with the chitters and snickers of the horde of rats, grinning he spoke again "Or perhaps I'll leave you here for my friends to deal with" Oxul's eyes widened at that and his legs thrashed as Nahren dropped him to the floor
"M'lord Egill, please no...For a moment there, just after the binding shattered and the release of energy was destroying everything, I thought I saw the body sit up" Oxul cowered but Nahren merely laughed, his blue beard swinging;
"Is that is? There is nothing that could make this body sit up, I'm sure your eyes were playing tricks on you, now I suggest you return home and continue your studies" Oxul nodded gratefully and muttered a few words, his body seemed to shimmer before disappearing completely.