• Closed • A Marriage of Fire and Death

[Alora]

11th of Ashan 719


The Pyre was set for lighting, the sacrifices ready for fighting. It’d be a ceremony to make Augiery glow with envy. Although they had few guests to bring to the wedding, it didn’t matter much to Alora. Their witnesses would be the elements, the spirits, and the dead. Should any in Yaralon or beyond deny their bond, their combined power would see them added to the list of witnesses, as ghosts or ashes.

A Naer ‘wedding’ was as much an arcane ritual as a cultural ceremony, especially when the Naer and the wedded happened to be magi.

A couple of unmarked peasants from Withersfield were trussed up, their mouths bound and gagged. They wore the rags that covered them from the early Ashan rains. Alora approached the men and women she’d abducted, and caught their faces by the chin, shaking them all slightly in turn as she passed them by. They would do well for their purposes.

These poor wretches stood tied to each of the pyres. Having struggled against their bonds the previous night, most of them were spent. Alora took a few paces back, and smiled at them. Then she turned on her heel and began skipping off toward the table nearby, where a meal of Ganadua had been prepared from a previous blood harvest that Alora prepared. It smelled of blood and spices, well seasoned and preserved. She would cook it on the pyre once things got underway.

For now, she wrung her hands, waiting for Cervantez to arrive. She had to admit at some nervousness. What would he think of this little ritual? None of the victims were Yari, so she thought he wouldn’t be bothered by their sacrifice. But sensibilities were such a bother!

Alora for her part had no shame.

[Cervantez]

☠ 11th of Ashan 719 ☠
☠ Mood: Nervous
☠ Company: Alora, Njama, Kidnapped Witnesses
☠ Current Thought: I cant believe im getting married
☠ Current Theme: Bury Me Low
☠ Attire: Masterwork Armor

"Common Speech"

"Xantheon Speech"

☠ Cervantez approached the site in which he was to meet Alora, guiding Njama beside him. He could feel his body shaking slightly, the nerves starting to take hold of him. This marriage was one of necessity. She was a mage of great potential, and part of him could see the Yari in the woman which appealed to him in a good way.

Once within view of the site, he saw the two figures on the pyre's, raising a brow as he was unsure what kind of ceremony this was. His flaming orbs fell to the naer, and he eyed her over, finding her to still be appealing to him, mutations and all, only hoping his mutations didnt somehow discomfort her.

Though given they were about to be married he doubted it would be an issue. He wasn't sure what all he should bring to this event, but he did find something he thought she would like in the remains of the family home. It was a necklace his mother use to wear all the time. Just like his soon to be wife, it was beautiful to behold.

"Hope I'm not running too late. I was a tiny bit nervous on the way over, and had to flush my nerves with a drink or two."

he admitted with a chuckle. ☠

[Alora]

Whether it was a marriage of necessity was a matter of perspective. To Alora, the only necessity was that she follow her own fiery path to a calamitous end. Her one goal, if she even had one, was for her death to consume the world in the calamitous power she would one day achieve. There were no means to that end. It would come one way or another, or she would be blown to the wind as ashes. Either way, she was satisfied with her life of shameless passion and indulgence.

She smiled when out of the corner of her eye, she saw the tall silhouette of Cervantes approaching her makeshift ceremonial site. She cared little for his mutations or slight imperfections. It wasn’t his appearance that had attracted her all those cycles ago in the smoking room. It was his mind, his fascination, and curiosity for all things arcane. He had other assets to be sure, but those were mere spice to add to what was of true substance.

Alora gave little thought to what was needed on this occasion, other than the ritual sacrifices, and of course herself and Cervantez.

”Late?” she smirked at him, ”Were you hoping to make me worry? I expected you here like a puppy, early before the very break of dawn.”

She was, of course, teasing him. However, she felt no need to let him in on that fib. Let him think of his supposed lateness what he may. ”Where is your charming little dog, by the way? I’ve missed darling Njama.”

Another small lie. Alora was no friend to animals in general, although she did find its tendency to fetch bones for its necromantic master absolutely adorable.

She looked over his shoulder, and then back at his face. ”Are you ready? This won’t be a long drawn out affair, with Darstrions and mortal witnesses. Our only witnesses will be the ghosts of the sacrficed, their ashes, and whatever spirits see fit to guard our ceremony.”

”Forget witnesses and Darstrions, whatever you know of Yari marriage. Should anyone challenge our bond in this muddy city, let them do so. They will acknowledge our bond as a heap of bones, ghosts, and ashes, and our vows will be the cries of the fallen to their feckless immortals as the spirits eat their souls.”

[Cervantez]

☠ 11th of Ashan 719 ☠
☠ Mood: Nervous
☠ Company: Alora, Njama, Kidnapped Witnesses
☠ Current Thought: I cant believe im getting married
☠ Current Theme: Bury Me Low
☠ Attire: Masterwork Armor

"Common Speech"

"Xantheon Speech"

☠ He chuckled at how fervent she was about what would happen to those that defied their union. It was that passion that drew him to her in the first place, along with that allure she held. In truth he found her enthralling since meeting her in the smoke den, always having thought about her in the back of his mind.

Njama happened to make his way over to where the two "witnesses" were being held and sniffed them. Meanwhile, Cervantez had taken Alora up in his arms, giving his wife to be a kiss. In his wildest dreams, he never thought he'd be getting married, let alone without his mother here to see it. No matter the ceremony she would have been happy to be in attendance.

Now his focus fell on the two frightened people tied to the stakes, his curiosity itching for answers.

"Care to tell me what part these poor sops play in our matrimony my dear?"

he asked, rubbing his chin as he too approached, patting the large hound on the nose. In his honesty, he hoped they were criminal, had committed some crime in order to be on the chopping block. ☠

[Alora]

Time of Day/Night: Dusk
Weapons: Torch
Armor: Cobalt Scale armor

Injuries: None
Illness: Pyromania
Ether Reserves: Minimal exhaustion

Alora had nothing to hide from Cervantez, she returned his kiss with all the pent up passion of the past few seasons of being without him. For a bit she was satisfied with the moment, until it came to his question of the sacrifices she had chosen. She spared him an impish grin before pulling away, and waving her arms at the innocent farmers from Withersfield.

"They're farmers from Withersfield. As for what crime they've committed, they are entirely innocent. The turmoil of being burned for no reason at all, it will please the Lord of Flames as he blesses our union." She grinned, and without waiting another moment, took up one of her torches and willed it to light. The black flame burst into life. The flame of the torch, as she manipulated it, gave no light, as if it were some energy spawned from a demonic realm of Emea. She reveled in the change her Spark had wrought on the flames.

"Isn't it pretty! So dark, and doesn't give off light as long as I'm commanding it."

She walked over toward the trussed up pyre victims, and removed their gags. She wanted the heavens to accept their screams for mercy, for they would find none with Faldrun.

At first the Naer teased her victims with the torch, capering about their pyres, and making as if to light them when she wasn't. She reveled in their panic as she danced over to their rear, where they couldn't very well see her. Their pleas and cries might as well have fallen on deaf ears but for the enjoyment Alora got out of it.

At the last moment, she dipped her torch beneath each lump of fuel, and let it cinder, coaxing the flames to stay low, and burn slow. She wanted their suffering to last all through the ceremony.

"Cervantez, it's about time you knew my name, don't you think? If we're to be wed that is."

She strutted up toward him, and reached over to take his face in her hands, "My name is Alora, just Alora. I left my family name behind in the city of my birth." There were some secrets that couldn't be shared, even among the most cherished of confidantes. Alora wouldn't betray the name or location of Augiery for the world, even though she was more or less an exile.

"I vow to make your life interesting. I will never cowtow to your demands. I would raise children beside you. I will tolerate your allies and trysts so long as you do mine. And if you should ever break your vows, I will turn you to ash and cinders."

She kissed him once on the lips after saying all of that.

Then she waited to see if he would give his vows. Suppoosing he was still willing to go through with this. She hoped he would not object to the burning of the screaming innocents, whose feet were being slowly consumed by blackened flames.

That would be very disappointing.

[Cervantez]

☠ 11th of Ashan 719 ☠
☠ Mood: Nervous
☠ Company: Alora, Njama, Kidnapped Witnesses
☠ Current Thought: I cant believe im getting married
☠ Current Theme: Bury Me Low
☠ Attire: Masterwork Armor

"Common Speech"

"Xantheon Speech"

☠ Looking down at his wife as she spoke, the necromancer raised a brow as the woman he came to admire, explained who the two figures where. He felt a knot form in his gut as she was delighted to burn them alive, reveling in the teasing of their feet with her ebon flames.

Finally, she had introduced herself. He had to admit to himself that going as long as he did without knowing her name was embarrassing, but she was interesting, so much so that knowing her name didnt really matter. He held the hands that cupped his face as she spoke more.

Eyes locked onto her, he drank her vows in, finding her vows....well more like demands amiable. Alora was truly a flame of excitement he never thought he would find in this world and despite her vows he nodded.

For a moment it was silent, the sounds of the pyres that lit the area crackling in the background. With a sigh, he took Alora up in his arms and kissed her.

"I vow to protect you, keep you guarded whenever you get ahead of yourself. I would raise children beside you. I will tolerate your allies and trysts so long as you do mine. And if you should ever break your vows me....."

he said as he approached the two victims of their matrimony.

"I will kill you, turning you into the greatest of my thralls."

he finished looking back at his beautiful wife. Taking up a torch with his right hand, he offered his left to Alora.

"Shall we?"

he asked, a smile on his face.

Though in the pit of his soul he knew this was not a traditional marriage, he knew he, let alone Alora, were not traditional people in some respect. ☠

[Alora]

The Naer smiled with almost too much intensity as Cervantez concluded his vows, promising that should she fail to uphold her own, he would turn her into his thrall. The idea did occur to her once or twice in their knowing each other, that the necromancer might just have a bad day and turn her into a monstrosity. The thought intrigued her more than it terrified. She found herself wanting to know more about necromancy just then, but there would be time for that later.

Her smile lingered as he took up the torch. As he did so, she let the feeling of the fledgling spark that had been residing in her bubble up to the surface. She'd first felt it's lingering presence in the moments when she'd consigned Ausian to the flames of his own patron. All through the season, as she reflected on her trials, she'd felt the child spark growing inside of her own. Now, it seemed, was the opportune moment to bring it to the surface, and give it a vessel.

But first, the baby spark would need some feeding of its own.

Alora coddled the man on his pyre, stroking the side of his face and settling a spirit of terrified anticipation into him. The man recoiled from her touch, but she would not let him. Her other hand drifted toward the sharpened bronze athame at her belt, which she took up and drove into his shoulder. The man cried out in pain, as one might expect, which continued as she made other superficial wounds all about his body, intentionally missing any major arteries. Yet, he bled out and weakened. And when he was at his weakest, that's when she brought her lips to his. Just as she did this, the fire lit on his feet, and he began screaming agony.

As he was assailed, put through new agonies one after another, Alora clutched the back of his neck, and kissed him. There, she drew out the soul from where it dwelt. A screaming and squelching sound issued from his pyre as his soul was torn from his body.

Instead of absorbing the essence of the soul into herself, she let it channel itself into the child spark that had been growing and dwelling within her own. The spark grew to full in almost a few instants. Alora had to fight to keep on her feet, struggling against the euphoria of having once again fed on the divine substance of mortals.

She walked along to the back of Cerv, and caressed him about the shoulders. The spark was nearly her mouth, and at the last moment, just as the parasitic magical entity was birthed, she bit into the back of his neck, letting her sharp teeth sink into his flesh. The spark took to the wound, and entered into Cervantez.

With that done, she committed to the final act, of pushing Cervantez into the pyre that he'd lit.

There to be burned or be born anew.

[Cervantez]

☠ A Marriage of Fire and Death ☠

☠ He watched as she smiled, sauntering to where the victim, their sacrifice was. He winced a bit as the man screamed from her assaults. She seemed to take joy in causing pain and tormenting those that were unfortunate enough to fall into her grasp. He wasn't sure if it was purely her, or her spark compelling such behavior.

That alone made it more than worth the wild to pursue her, to figure her out. She was her true self this night, and he could finally see her for who she truly was. Most would have backed out and turned tail after seeing the things she did, but not Cervantez.

He watched as she flayed the first sacrifice, remembering the first time he witnessed her flay someone. It looked rather natural to her stealing someone's soul from the body. Part of him was a bit worried though, remembering the warnings Mariatte would tell him about the horrors that could come from flaying.

When she was done playing with her food, she sauntered over to him. He loved the way she moved, the confidence of it all. What she did next however was not what he expected at all. A smile painted his face as she caressed his shoulders, then his eyes shot wide and a roar left his lips as she bit into him.

It wasn't the pain of the bite that surprised him, even though it did nothing but anger and annoy him, it was this sensation he was feeling. It felt like something was trying to invade his soul. What the hell did she do, what the hell was she doing to him?

Unfortunately for the necromancer, he had no time to question his wife as she pushed him into the pyre. Flames enveloped Cervantez as he to joined the throes of agony in the pyre. In his mind, he could feel the agonizing pain of his skin melting from his body, the smell of meat burning and cooking. He was burning alive and he didnt want to die, not like this.

Somehow though, he didnt pass out immediately form the temperature, and the sensation was even more so prevalent now. Was this what he thought it was? He could feel his own spark, and it felt like it was wrestling with whatever was trying to invade his soul. He decided the best thing he could do was allow for whatever it was latch to him.

In that moment the flames that engulfed him didnt hurt him anymore. The heat was still there, but it was manageable, and he could feel the melding of his soul and whatever this invader was. It felt akin to when he first got his necromancy spark, and he realized what she had done. She had initiated him into a magic, her magic.

The flames that burned red, hot with intensity, rose and billowed with greater ferocity than when it was lit. It then in the midst of the red, amethyst flames exploded from within the pyre, and from it, Cervantez emerged, his armor smoldering from the being within the fire. The teal eerie blue of the flames of his eyes and hands shifted into the amethyst color of the flames of the pyre.

Without hesitation, the necromancer took Alora by her throat, lifting her off the ground slowly. A growl escaped his lips as the orbs of flames glared into her. There was a lot of anger in those orbs.

"That was cute...................but don't you ever do something like that again."

he growled, his grip on her throat tightening for emphasis.

Though his expression softened immediately as he took her in his arms and kissed her. That was quite a way to establish their bond, initiating him like that. And he would have rather liked a warning, but it was that unpredictable spontaneity that he like about her.

"Guess this makes me a defier like yourself?"

☠

☠ Date: 11th of Ashan, 719
☠ Company: Alora
☠ Current Thought: Cute...but dont do that ever again
☠ Current Theme: Serial Killer
☠ Attire: Masterwork Armor
☠ Health: 35%
☠ Ether Reserves: Full

"Common Speech"

"Xantheon Speech"

"Anansye Speech"

[Alora]

Alora's eyes shone in the firelight as she watched her lover begin to burn.

The licks of flame enveloped him completely, the roar of the fire drowning out his shouting. Curtains of flame rose out of the pyre, and something peculiar began happening to them. The fires began changing color. Alora quirked a brow. That wasn't expected, yet it excited her all the same. She knew then that his soul was taking to the spark. Their little baby spark, Alora thought of it as their one child together, as it was well known that Naer and Lothar weren't compatible for purposes of breeding. While the thought of adoption was a possibility, or maybe a donor of some kind, this felt more special to her. As the spark of defiance would grow in her love, so too would their bond.

She was worried about Njama, that the dog might attack her, or try and rescue Cervantez before he was ready to absorb the spark into his soul. But oddly enough, the dog stood by, as if it understood perfectly well what was going on. Odd.

Finally, the flames dripped off of Cervantes like drops of water, as he emerged from the pyre, very much alive. She smiled, and went to embrace him, but then his hand shot out to grip her by the throat, lifting her right up into the air. She didn't object to rough love per se, but an act of such abuse could lead to another worse act down the line. Better to put him in his place right now.

She knee kicked him in the groin.

Then he dropped her, and for a moment they just knelt on the ground, she trying to regain her breath, and he trying to ignore the pain of his recent burning and the groin kick. She hadn't kicked him that hard, anyway. Which was confirmed when they both stood, and he gave her another kiss.

As they broke the kiss, Alora grinned at him, giving him a concerned look, "I know you still have business in Yaralon, but this place has nothing left for me but you." She looked off toward the mountains in the distance, beyond Bastard's Grove and even Volanta. "I've been chasing something... personal... A lead on the identity of my father. Or something else? I'm not sure. But I have to follow it."

"You'll send word to me when I get settled, yes?"

So saying, she patted him on the cheek, and smiled, planting a kiss on his cheek. "We'll meet again."

[Nursia]

An interesting wedding.

The only thing that I could have to comment on would be Cervantez: Ellipses are typically only three periods long. Any more tends to make the work it's attached to appear unseemly.

Excellent prose and composition, all of you. Looking forward to this groin-kneeing, pyre-tossing, chokeholding duo get into some trouble.


Alora

Rewards

Knowledges:
Defiance: Feeding a small spark birthed from your own with the soul of a mortal.
Defiance: Initiation: Imparting the spark through a bite in the skin.
Defiance: Initiation: Pushing your initiate into the flames.
Defiance: Your initiate must survive the elements in order to become one with them.
Defiance: The elements act strangely upon first initiation.
Endurance: Suffering a chokehold.
Meditation: Considering the future of a relationship.
Seduction: Abusing their trust, once it's given.
Seduction: Twisting their revulsion around by offering something they want.
Seduction: Convincing someone that a terrible thing is necessary.
Wealth:
Renown:
+10, private, but no effort to conceal literally burning a group of people
EXP:
+15, may be used for defiance

Feedback

Understand that all criticisms are done in good faith. It would be a greater disrespect to not say anything in the face of problems. Please contact me through this account's inbox if you wish to further communicate on the matter of improvement, or if you feel as though anything is unduly harsh.

Cervantez

Rewards

Knowledges:
Seduction: Being a mage is sexy
Seduction: Confidence can be a turn on
Endurance: Surviving being pushed into a pyre
Endurance: Taking a hit to the groin
Defiance: The initiation
Defiance: Flames seem to love me
Discipline: Not running from the alter
Etiquette: Unusual Naerikk Wedding Customs
Etiquette: Wedding Vows are important
Wealth:
Renown:
+10, private, but no effort to conceal literally burning a group of people
EXP:
+15, may be used for defiance

Feedback

Understand that all criticisms are done in good faith. It would be a greater disrespect to not say anything in the face of problems. Please contact me through this account's inbox if you wish to further communicate on the matter of improvement, or if you feel as though anything is unduly harsh.