The Abyssal Heart (shinyhappyfitsofrage)

[Reptillicus]

In the depths of the royal crypt all was silent and still, even the mice and spiders avoided this place. there was a darkness so dense that it could almost be felt. the small blue candles that would burn eternally only served to accent the darkness. There was smell of old dusty books and rusting metal that pervaded the area. The walls were covered in hundreds of intricate carving. Most of them were of great battles fought by those intombed within the ancient crypt. much of it was cracked and eroding away but it still gave the place a feeling of weight and importance, even in its current state. and it was here that a single soul had never passed on, trapped within the remains of its mortal body. instead of haunting the place the soul had lost its consciousness plunged into an eternal sleep much like the body it used in life.

The tomb was smaller than any of the royal family but no less important apparently, well at least at one point it was a hundred years ago. the faded words above the entrance would read, "Here lies Lady Maryabelle, last knight of the first order, and hero of the Hydra war."

Within its inner sanctum lied the final resting place of the Hero knight herself an ornate stone sarcophagus would lay closed the wings of an angel upon its lid a statue made to honor her likeness in life; A tall woman in full plate armor holding up the flag of a country long gone. she was fair of feature with stoic expression that just screamed "noble knight" to the extreme. the place was deserted long ago but it was still standing despite whatever time might throw at it as if the stone itself was in rebellion to the march of time. Within the coffin laid the skeleton the great lady knight taken too soon from this world.... everything had long withered away even the wonderful gown she was entombed with. But.... perhaps this did not matter to the visitor to this tomb... one seeking a companion... or perhaps even a chosen champion for her cause..... one that put the fate of this very world on its shoulders.

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Iblis was in a fugue. The world around her was a cacaphony of unfamiliar sensations... and her mind was damaged. It had tried to encompass the experiences of an ancient being, something far beyond mortal... and even in an elfen mind, made for immortality its self, it was hard to integrate her memories. Slow. But, she had her focus... she knew little of the world outside, for now, but she knew why she was here, even if she could barely remember her own name or her own purpose. Iblis' hips swayed, her gait light, as though she were floating... even though her balance was poor. She had to catch herself against the wall, groaning in her throat as she walked, two skeletons bare foot bones clacking on the stones behind her. They had no ligaments, no tendons... everything was held in place with shimmering, black necrotic energies. Their very bones were black... and green flames burned in their eye sockets, signs that they were the highest order of undead a necromancer could raise, Ebony Guard... even if they were just the first bones she'd found. She felt... unsafe. She was more vulnerable than she'd ever been, she knew, but she not to what, or why.

The skeletons sported rusted, dulled daggers, hardly fit for such strong servants... their pale yellow bones had turned black when she'd turned them, but she could do nothing about the rusty accessories they were buried with, and had to make due with for weapons. It took a while, and she stumbled along for some time, the skeletons never moving to help her right herself, before she appeared above the sarcophagus she'd been looking for. She could almost taste the spirit within... one which she'd never been allowed to touch. Few escaped her dominion, but this had been a special case... she wasn't held back in this world in such a way as to haunt it, and she was in a place properly consecrated, holy to the servants of death. It had been... an unusual circumstance. But now, now she already broken her oaths, abandoned her duties. Now, she would take this risk, for a strong ally. Iblis stood above the stone box, an ebony face of impossibly fair features, crafted by a many millennia old creature who'd seen the greatest beauty life had to offer, and trumped it in molding a flesh... wars had been fought and lives carelessly tossed aside for features such as hers. Pink hair and pink eyes shone from the black cowl she wore, and a hand caressed the sarcophagus... brushing dust from it. She moved aside, and willed her skeletons forward. They grabbed it, and heaved, their unearthly strength sliding the weighty lid, with a groan of heavy stone on stone, almost deafening in the dark and silence. The skeleton within was revealed... but it was no skeleton Iblis wanted. She reached to her hip for... something. Whatever it was, it wasn't there, and she looked down at her hip in momentary confusion. She shook her head. There was always another way, in the death arts... and even among the death nymphs, none had known the arts of death like she. She began a ritual, which took several minutes, and many candles from the alcoves, lit with small words of power. She spoke 'words' older than language, in sounds no ear among the living would recognize... and her champion's spirit would awaken.

 

[Reptillicus]

The "words" would swirl the dusty air around skeleton of the once great knight of the realm, the light, the dark and even the sound seemed to warp and fluctuate around the room. there was an eerie blue glow from the skull of the skeleton as the soul of Lady Maryabelle was coaxed out of it's long rest. The eternal glow of the blue candles would baze brightly as awareness flowed back into soul of the late lady knight. Her "vision" returning to her... first there was a hazy period of confusion with her not being sure if she existed or not... then panic as she found she couldn't move at all! Her soul was "alive" again but her soul was still bound to body long dead. She had no way to express her distress in this state but Ibis could probably "feel" her panic.

With the seal on her soul broken she could now be revived properly. However, she could not return to the world as a normal human, that which held her to this world had fundamentally changed the nature of her soul it no longer resembled the soul of a mortal being. If she brought her back one could no be sure what exactly would happen.

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Iblis didn't want to resurrect her, not just yet... first, there was... aught else to do. She could feel the soul, unsealed. Unsealed?! This... this was powerful magic. It wasn't hard to undo, perhaps, but she'd never noticed that it was a seal, to begin with. She'd never been allowed to investigate, either... she wondered if perhaps her God was guilty of far more treason and lies than she'd guessed. For now... she had to give the soul voice, that it might commune with her. She spoke more words of power, and would give the lady a chance to speak, for a short time... that she might ask her questions. Once she was sure she could hear, she'd start.

"I raise you, spirit, call you back to the land of the living. I have need of your strength, and would barter with you for your sword arm in these troubled times." Her voice was the fall of pink petals, cherry blossoms fluttering to the ground... gentle and elegant and free, drifting on the wind and showering the world in beauty and splendor. She was... magnificently crafted.

 

[Reptillicus]

The lady would finally appear in ghostly form but more radiant than any mere mortal shade. she would in her ghost form have her armor about her, powerful enough ghosts would often take the form that they "saw themselves" as and in the lady knight's case she appeared in her full armor set as if ready for battle. She would sit bolt upright panting even if she actually didn't need to breathe being only her true self, her soul. she could remember the pain of death like it had only just happened... and to her it might as well have been, her soul frozen in time after all these years..... she would glance around the room. She had no idea where she was and she couldn't quite remember her full life quite yet or the exact circumstances of her death... She would then hear those silken words and turn her transparent gaze to Ibis. Wait! land of the living?! spirit?! Was..... was she DEAD?!

Maryabelle would look down at her armored ghostly hands and see right through them! then below that she could see.... bones.... somehow without even asking, she knew who's they were..... She would cry out a pained and fearful cry. she would try to jump out of the stone coffin but she could not move far, strong ties of something powerful kept her to her remains and this world. she was very distraught. "Whats going on?! This cannot be right! I...... I shan't belive this! I can't have died! There was yet more work to be done!", she said hands holding her head her eyes wide in existential terror.

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Iblis had guided countless souls to the afterlife, and seen the many terrors of dawning realization a thousand thousand times. She was patient, and gentle... and practiced. "Calm, spirit. Calm." An aura of tranquility would radiate from her... a protective aura. It was her duty to shepherd and protect the lost souls of the dead, and she was the best. "Time has passed, since your death. Much time... the world is not as you left it, and what you left behind... is long, long in the past. What duties you tended to in life are no longer your responsibilities... you have no responsibilities, now. But, I would deny you the peace that is your due... and give you new duties. For this, I apologize... but I will not force anything upon you. I will only resurrect you if you accept my bargain, and accept these duties as yours. There is a malevolence, in this world. Something... dire. Something that threatens all life, all balance in this world. Something that has driven me to such desperation that I have sought you, not to ferry you to your next phase in the natural cycle of things, but back to the world of the living to fight against this rising tide of darkness." Her hands were clasped before her, white knuckled. She felt such fear... she hadn't felt fear as a Nymph, but with life, came instincts... and every instinct of self preservation knew, in its deepest, most primal level... that something terrible stirred, hungered, and extended its reach. Her fear was a palpable dread... something she could taste, hot and metallic on her tongue.

 

[Reptillicus]

Maryabelle would slowly move her shaking hands off her face. The aura would help calm her.... perhaps make her think a little more clearly. "No I only just died.... didn't...I ...I?" she looked around again. somehow she could feel the weight of hundreds of years around her... every hour... every day.... every year. Much time had indeed pasted. the lady knight would look to Ibis, her features full of regret even as she listened... all her kingdom.... her country.... her whole way of life... gone. Why would she want to come back now, what was there for her? but..... she could feel something when she mentioned the rising tide of darkness. she remembered something from life: The mad king of Hydra the man who nearly destroyed an entire kingdom by tapping into the power of "first world" a place between places, where darkness reigns and unknowable horrors from the beginning of existence call home.

Maryabelle could see the white knuckle fear, the feeling of things moving in the darkness just beyond your vision. This gave her more to consider, could the whole world be in danger now? could she, the one who pledged her life in the service of the common people let such a thing come to pass?..... no! She may have served a kingdom once but it was the people who she really served. A true knight chivalrous and honorable to the core. "I.... I know not what happens beyond these walls.... but if what you say is true then i have a duty to uphold. Tell me of this..... pact."

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

"It is simple," she began. "I ask of thee that thee lend me thine blade, thine power, thine confidence. In return, I pledge to uphold something for you... a value, or a task, perhaps. So long as you are content with the terms of the arrangement, it matters not what price you exact... I will be obliged to fulfill it so long as it is within my power, and you will be bound to me, as a servant. I am... was a servant myself, for a very long time. It is odd to mine ears, to say such a thing. I am... willing to pay any price I can, in this most desperate hour. Whatever you desire... name it." She would wait, silent, watching Maryabelle, face partly cloaked in shadows

 

[Reptillicus]

"I..... see. A price you say? Goodness.... I cannot think what i could ask from thee....", said the shade of Maryabelle. "Give me but a moment?" she then folded her arms, this was all so terribly much in such a short amount of time. "Could we perhaps.... find out what happened to my kin.... my kingdom..... and all those I once held dear? there all dead... like me but i must know.... Also my death. I do not actually recall it. Who killed me? I must have the answer to that question if I am to ever rest.", she said somewhat bitterly. she was quite sad. all her friends, family, everyone she'd ever known. Gone. they had moved on without her. "That is my price, if you will have it."

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Iblis nodded her head. "Vague, but that is of no issue. We will find the fate of your kingdom, and yourself... and your descendants. With me, there will always be a way to find such things." She could intone the knowledge and wisdom of the dead, after all. "Once we know these things... you may wish for more. And we will discuss it further when that time arrives." She would not allow her to discover some friend or family member's treachery, then forbade her from doing somewhat about it, if somewhat may be done, for not being a part of the original pact. Most would... but Iblis cared for the dead. They were not tools... they were partners. "Then, our covenant is sealed, in word and deed. I will raise you, and give you flesh and form... try to remember yourself, as you were in life." This was the difficult part of the ritual... but their new connection, forged through a covenant, would simplify things, strengthen the magic. Iblis spent hours on the floor, on her knees... binding Maryabelle's spirit to her flesh, and giving the revenant form. Her bones were the base of that form... but this was a very high tier of necromantic magic, and what form she'd take would depend much on her. Perhaps she'd become a powerful vampire... a revenant, in fact. Or a zombie. There were many forms for her to take, since Iblis dealt her powerful necromantic magic, and did not force form upon it... magic beyond what any mortal had ever conjured in this world, and loose enough to allow Maryabelle to 'feel' out a form that suited her nature, her needs.

 

[Reptillicus]

Maryabelle did not really understand the specifics of what was going on all she knew was that she was bound back to her bones, and forced to lay back again and then her ghost disappearing. the eyesockes of her skeleton would glow blue as every bone fit itself back into place, even all her teeth and her tiny finger bones. it was a strange sensation to say the least as in life one does not actually "feel" their bones at least not directly. her soul was now centered in her currently empty ribcage. her bones would right themselves and sit up as the strange magic flowed around her. she would look down for the second time today to see herself as nothing but bone. again she might panic for a second it was bit of shock to find yourself as bear bones.... but she would then try to focus on herself.... what she looked like in life.

The dust would swirl about her and then pour into her and then begin to for her body over the bones. It wasn't a "clean" revival.... frist her organs would form inside her. her eyes and brain forming in her head and the rest forming in her gut and chest. then came the veins, arteries, and nerve endings. they would snake out across the bare bones. Marybelle couldn't watch this! It was terrifying! she was seeing parts of herself she was sure no one wanted to see.

She would yelp in surprise as her lungs began to breathe and she was given a voice box again. But even through all this she had to focus on herself! Manifest her body! She would scream not in pain but in surprise as her muscleicure would for back around her, covering her internals and showing off just how fit she was in a rather direct manner. but she still couldn't close her eyes she didn't have eyelids yet.... then came the.... fat deposits on the chest followed buy her skin. it would finally close her up as her teeth's enamel would grow back and so would her wonderful golden hair. She would not turn into a lych, nor vampire, nor zombie, she became some kind of ghoul. her skin was a pale blue and her eyes, blue in life, would now have black sclera with red irises. she was quite beautiful to behold.... tall.... strong... with big weighty breasts capped with dark blue nipples. her arms and legs lightly muscled, but yet incredibly strong, even more so in her undeath. her thick thighs would lead up to nice grabbable rear with luscious wide hips. A blue lippled gash between her legs. I appeared that she was quite a lot to look at without all that armor on.

she would look down at herself.... alive! she was alive! she could feel again! She could breathe again! She looked at her huge DD-cup breasts.... and she was naked! She would cover her breasts in her arms and cross her legs as blood filled her face for the first time in hundreds of years. "Eyah! Please f-forgive my indecency!"

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Iblis watched Maryabelle's involved reformation with the impassivity of one who was truly ancient. It was... different, though, watching it as a mortal, as compared to watching it as a nymph. Certain parts of her body twitched, recognizing what they were seeing, drugs shot through her system that she was unfamiliar with in response to the stimuli. Still, she did not move, or glance away. When Maryabelle was reformed and sat up, trying to cover herself, Iblis waved a hand. "We are both women, both adults, and both comrades against a terrible enemy. We will need to trust eachother implicitly... and I want your hands ready to fight, not holding your tits and your crotch. Cast aside these notions of modesty for now... I have seen more naked humans than currently live in this world, and you will not present me with anything new, I promise."

So her form was a ghoul... a lord, as far as ghouls went. There was no more powerful incarnation than what she was, evidenced by her eyes. Black sclera, red pupils... set in corpse pale flesh. Pretty, and her new flesh was without blemish or wrinkle, baby soft. She was prettier, if eerily so, than she'd ever been in life. "You were a warrior, in life. You mixed divine arts with martial prowess... I doubt the divines will answer your calls for power in this incarnation. We will... have to find you a new way." She tapped her chin, looking back at her bone guards, standing idly by, passive and patient. "This will have to do until we find somewhat better, I suppose." She waved an arm at them, and they deconstructed... the bones flying around in a vortex, and forming around Maryabelle. They'd form into a sturdy black bone armor, and a leave her with a strong, black femur for a cudgel. "It will suffice for the nonce. Now, let us not tarry here... we needs find some means to better gear you with haste."

 

[Reptillicus]

Maryabelle would stagger as she was covered in black bone, it was a tight fit especially for her large breasts and wide hips. but it wasn't too uncomfortable... but it was.... bone, and that did make Maryabelle feel uneasy. She hoped whoever they once were would forgive her for using them in such a manner.... she would look around the room not finding her old armor anywhere, did it rust away? Perhaps, but her shield should have remained! it was blessed by the arch priest of Zaiarch it was supposed to be unbreakable by mortal means.... she wondered if perhaps someone had stolen it! She would find it.... no matter where it had gone. She saw the statue of herself she felt the feeling those who come back after death often do, "Am I still me?"

She would take the femur up as a weapon, feeling it's heft. the man who it came from rathet a rather thick individual... "Uh... I thank thee.", she said uncertainty adjusting the armor here and there. "I.... I believe i know this place the royal crypt.... so I was entombed here? I am honored the Queen though me worthy enough for this place.... she was a good queen....", she would say bitterly. "I think.... I know the way out.... follow me perhaps?", she said trying to get used to her newly formed legs.

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

A royal crypt... indeed, Maryabelle must have been greatly loved to be entombed here. There was love, in this place... along with regret, as with all places of death. Mortals were so finite, their end so perilously close, so... inevitable. Iblis shivered. Those same cold hands would close around her own throat now, eventually. And she wasn't afraid of that, per say... but if she left her task unfinished, then...

She would follow Maryabelle through the tomb, having picked up the rusty daggers that the skeletons dropped, belting one and keeping the other at hand. She might need them, and soon, unfortunately. "Be wary. I do not know if my presence was noticed. I am... new to this world, in this form. My transformation was recent, and I am... vulnerable. My senses, dull." Something shifted in the distance, perhaps just a pebble falling, and Iblis peered about, warily.

 

[Reptillicus]

Maryabelle turned her head slightly to the side to say, "I see.... well we are perhaps no too different. The world as I knew it is gone... apparently. so i may be as ignorant as you in some respects. But, fret not, nary a thing shall lay a hand on you here. This is a holy place, the horrible creatures of First World cannot find purchase here.", she said as more memory would come back to her... slowly she would recall her life. a true hero of the people nigh incorruptible, she was technically once under the service of the god Zaiarch, this worlds god of light and purity, but really the boons she was were all just means to an end to her, people mattered more than gods or whatever religion they had. Now.... the god would not accept her now most likely.... what powers she had now would be different the those she had in life. But, most importantly she still had her marshal training, it was the one thing she could always count on: her sword arm... or in her case her mace arm.

the door of the royal crypt lay closed open ahead of them but the sounds of rustling could be heard nearby. Maryabelle would stop and put an arm in front of Ibis to stop her from going forwards. "....There are intruders here.... they may not be those of First world...", she said quietly. "Could they be grave robbers?!", she growled.

Ahead came a small nasally voice, "Oi looks like someon' finally opened teh place..... quick let's grab all we can there gotta be some gold 'ere." it chuckled. the small squat rat like figures could be seen stepping inside. the like half man, half rat.

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Iblis found herself fidgeting. Chewing her lip, mulling over what it was that her mind hadn't yet integrated... and how long that would take. She didn't even know the face of this great adversary that brought her such great dread! It comforted to know this sacred place was beyond infiltration... until that was no longer the case. Grave robbers? What stepped into view was... she grit her teeth. Men, like rodents. She knew of these!!! There were important things to remember about them... but she couldn't put her finger on what. "I'll support from behind. Have a care... there may be more." It was unlikely she needed to remind the warrior woman of tactics. Still, she was off kilter, and saying such things helped her keep her focus.

She weaved her fingers in arcane gestures, and muttered words... perhaps they weren't a danger to the pair, but she wasn't taking chances. Her magic would work, and Maryabelle would find herself buffered, her senses and reflexes sharpened, her weapon given a magical quality, and her skin armored by a small, magical layer. She'd let Maryabelle approach this situation as she would... but prepared. "Your thoughts? How should we handle this?" Iblis was missing important knowledge... she'd rather rely on Maryabelle's hopefully more extensive knowledge for the moment.

 

[Reptillicus]

the creatures that they now saw the late Lady Maryabelle remembered as the Skree, rat like people from the southern lands. they very often turned to lives of crime and thievery and sometimes worse. it seemed like the blessed seal on the door finally gave out after all these years when Ibis had appeared inside. her innate magical field may have disrupted the blessing that kept the seal on the door. still no creatures from First world could spawn here only mortal threats could assail them which could be a problem right excatally now.

"Skree.... yes the rat people of the southern lands... many once helped the mad king of Hydra in bid for riches.... let us listen to them....", Maryabelle said in a husted voice. But just then she would feel herself buffed! everything coming into sharp focus, her body invigorated, her bone club now aglow with purple energy. Maryabelle might have asked what she had done but thought better of it. "Ay mate! Ain't this the royal crypt of the old kingdom?", said one. "I reckon yeah.... ", said another. "That means the last Queen would be buried here! think the coin we could make if we give's the remains to the right person!", "Yeah let's dig 'er up!" Maryabelles eyes flashed. they intended the rob her queens final resting place!? No! she would not allow it! Perhaps this day she would do one final service for her beloved queen.... she would kill these vermin! "Begone! Foul vermin! This is holy place! one built on a foundation of love and honor! I shall not allow such craven creatures like you desecrate this place!" cried the lady knight in fury. Her blood would boil again pumping hard through her newly revived veins and she charged the rat men! "Oi what the-" was all one could say before he was wacked right in the side of the face! buy the energised club! he cried out and spiraled away thunking against the wall and sliding down stone dead. "Ack! Looks like we aint the first here boys! kill her!...... And then sees if Jeck had anything worthwhile on 'im!" cried a what must have been their boss a larger and bulker ratman with lots of silver piercings on his face. Five Skree would leap at Maryabelle at once all with jagged steel daggers. She would in one swing knock three away at once flinging them to the dirt painfully and definitely breaking some bones. but the other two would try to stab into her back but found their short blades sticking into her bone armor but not breaching her skin. "Oi what the bloody 'ell?!", they said a bit confused. She would swiftly backhand with her fist and send them into flying away.

None of the Skree had seen Ibis yet. it seemed a whole gang had come to raid the place. it was possible that the could feel that seal broke Skree had a better magical sense the many other races. still that had none sniffed her out yet they were busy fighting Maryabelle.

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Skree... rat people. An anthromorphic species, natural... and natural plunderer's. They aroused Maryabelle's ire... and it was a thing to beheld. In Maryabelle's time, a knight was as often a powerful soldier as a showpiece. Many knights never made use of their martial talents, if they actually had any... it was a way to make nobility of second and third sons and beyond, often as not. But, it was not so in Maryabelle's case... with that bone club, she thoroughly showed her martial prowess. Iblis stayed back, watching the carnage. Watched a head smash like a melon on the stone wall, watched the failed rally of a near half dozen more falling before her might in gory fashion. The sound of splintering bones and bodies crumpling to the floor, and bruised meat filled the air. Death...

Death had a very macabre beauty to it. Iblis felt the air in her lungs, heard dove's wings beat in her ears. She remembered. Remembered a time before death, when life sought to be, and nature answered the vacuum it created with death, an integral flaw of life that made it sustainable, that made it possible. Before death, there was somewhat darker, somewhat far more terrible... death was a beautiful thing to put in its place. This revelation was a stunning thing, and she stood, paralyzed, watching. They would not sense Iblis' magic... she was a thing not wreathed in arcane energies like a mortal spellcaster, but one to whom the magic of death was an intrinsic force, a part of her being... as mundane for her as her limbs and hair. Iblis squeezed in her hand a few small bones, and they changed. They changed their form and shape, and became darts of bone. She held her hand out, palm up, and they floated... and shot past Maryabelle, burying themselves in her foes. However many of the ratmen there were, she and Maryabelle could hold a line, and keep from allowing them any real advantage in this combat, she decided. Something about the macabre nature of real combat sobered her, centered her... some part of her was horrified at witnessing the harsh consequences of mortality, but she told herself it was natural, and necessary. And... that she needed to focus, and remain aware of the danger around her.

 

[Reptillicus]

when several more Skree tried to attack they suddenly found themselves priced by bone spikes! They would gurgle in surprise and then fall to the ground. Meanwhile Maryabelle would continue to bat and crush any Skree not fast enough to escape her club. She could swing the thing far faster the one might think not only that but the power that flowed through it would multiply the force of her swings nearly splattering any rat she hit!

It was around this time the the big boss rat saw that things were not going his way... it was perhaps time to hit the old dusty trail. He took a few steps back then began to run for it! "OI fuck this! I'm outta here!", panted as he began to scurry away. Maryabelle would catch this in the corner of her eye as she threw a Skree off from around her neck and promptly kicked him to the perbival curve. "Oh no you don't you worthless cur!", cried maryabelle as she hefted the femur and cocked her arm back as if to throw the bone like a javelin. and then... she did just that hurling it with force she never had in life. The air around her arm would CRACK from the force and the magically infused bone would fly faster and straighter than any crossbow.

The rat boss would turn around just in time to see the bone hurling into him just before it impacted into back. Even though it was blunt she had thrown the damn thing so hard it impaled him to the ground and the ground and there was small explosion. It appeared that Ibis had chosen right... this woman was exceedingly powerful. the other rats would either bleed out and die or scurry away.... "My good lady... it appears that I have.... cleared the way.", she said just now realizing how hard she had thrown that bone...

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

The bone should have shattered from the impact it was subjected to, and would, were it not for the magical enhancement Iblis had foisted upon it. Maryabelle single handedly routed the looters, and Iblis followed along behind. Her darts might have helped, but they hadn't been necessary... which was good. She suspected such strength would be strongly needed, and sooner than later. For now... enough of her knowledge had come back to her for her to assume something more conducive to her arts. She unclasped her cloak, and drew it back, letting it hang over her shoulders... and revealed her nudity. Bone sprouted from her spine, arms, articulated and reaching. They drew their ivory, boney fingers over her bared ebony flesh, and crept upwards to cup her breasts, drawing them into a comfortable grip and hanging there. A small hand reached from between her legs, and the digits covered her sex... and the armor started following. A rib cage formed over her own, and something black and tough appeared between the bones, cementing them and giving the armor its strength, and flexibility. Soon, she was armored from top to bottom in form fitting bone armor, black as night, breasts and sex groped by special hands that had... other important functions as well. Bone rose up around her neck, subtle, thin, and flexibly connected... her head would be protected by a mystical force exuded from rib like protrusions along her back armor. In her hand, a bone staff formed, and from its end came a long, ebon blade... a thick, heavy blade, turning it into a powerful scythe... and one she could twirl with the same effortlessness one would move a light quarterstaff. Her armor was complete.

Iblis stepped forward as the Skree scurried along, and looked down at the Skree with an expression that was hard to place. Something had hurt her, when she changed from Nymph to mortal. Something had changed in her. Her eyes had the half lidded, low cast appearance of the powerful, looking down upon the weak. It was a gaze filled with pity, for all she laid eyes upon, and filled with pride and self confidence. Fear... was beneath her. Those pale pink eyes would inspire terror in her foes.

 

[Reptillicus]

For some Skree those pink eyes were the last thing they ever saw as they vision faded and their souls would be freed for their mortal strife. Others would soon all be gone one way or another. Maryabelle would look to see ibis get naked! She was about to turn away face red with blush as the bones began to grow out around her to cover her. But yet even after all that... her privates were still only barely covered by small hand and finger bones. after a second of guacking she would turn away quickly, biting her lip and feeling a bit uneasy. Was she really going to go around like... like that! it went against her knightly sensibilities when it came to clothing. At the same time.... she my have found the brief look at ibis' naked body a bit arousing..... at the same time, her new weapon was quite impressive and it did give her something else to think about.

"U-Uh ahem....", she said clearing her throat. "By the way my good lady.... it appears that i did not catch your name this whole time.", she said as she would look out through the door, finally getting a breath of fresh air. The land outside was that of small woodland area with the faint light of a city laying before them. A small dirt road would lead through the grassy earth.

"You may know my name but i should still perhaps introduce myself.", she said facing ibis and drawing herself to her full height. "I am Lady Maryabelle Montgomery. last knight of the Zaiarch order.... well, at least I was.... A general to the Queen's army in the last war on Hydra. I battled the mad king himself and saved my kingdom from the creeping darkness of what he called "First world".", she explained doing her best not to let her gaze move down to Ibis' breasts.

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Iblis had much to try... she'd never used much of her powers, truly. She was a servant as a nymph, and battle wasn't something she engaged in often in her long years of service. It wasn't her calling... no matter her natural power. She watched Maryabelle as she introduced herself properly, and then reciprocated. "I am... Iblis. Just Iblis. It is best if I refer to you as Knight from now on." A strange response, and Iblis wasn't even looking at her as she spoke, a distant expression on her features as she surveyed the woodlands, and the road leading to a distant city. Iblis waved a hand behind her, and there were... sounds. Grotesque sounds, of skeletons ripping free of bodies... then marching, bloody and foul with viscera, to follow behind Iblis. Then, they collapsed into eachother, and with some work, turned into a large, conglomerate bone golem. Iblis snapped her scythe in half, and it turned into a single hand sickle, and a shield... the haft of the scythe turning into vertebrae, sprouting three skulls, and forming up a rugged framework. She hitched the shield to her armored back, somehow, and belted the sickle at her hip, as the Golem reached down a hand to scoop her up, and place her upon its shoulder. She waved a hand, and there was a whinny... followed by the arrival of a pale horse. A creature that had seen death, but come back looking... almost alive. A large mount, built for war, it would bear Maryabelle without complaint.

"We will find you proper armaments for one of your talents and skills. Unfortunately..." Maryabelle's armor crumbled, and the glow from the bone club faded, if she still had it, the black leeching from the bones and leaving them ivory again. "My conjured bones are not permanent, save for those I make for myself, sadly. I can only armor you temporarily. We will have to find you proper steel, runed and potent. Perhaps in town, we will have some luck." She seemed prepared to make her way among the living... with her current entourage. Such might be ill advised...

 

[Reptillicus]

Ibis.... that was a rather interesting name. Maryabelle could have sworn she had heard it before somewhere. Her answer was quite vague compared to her own and she wasn't sure how she felt about being called simply "knight". while looking behind herself trying to see just what Ibis was looking at..... that's when she head the horrible nose! a sound she'd dare not try to describe. she would look back to see the bloody disgusting skeletons form up then into a large boney creature! She would gasp her mouth agape with horror, well not exactly horror, but it was frightening to behold, even if she had lived through seeing what the powers of darkness could do to person. then came the steed..... sturdy, but not quite alive, in a way she could not perceive.

But, to make matters worse her armor would crumble off of her, leaving her glorious ghoul body naked! She would break her usual "knightly" attitude and cover her exposed lady parts, arm across her nipples and hand over her crotch. her face would flush hottly once more. "T-Temporarily?! Oh heavens above!", she squeaked in embarrassment. It seemed she intended to go into town on the shoulder of bloody bone golem, with bone armor and weapons, in an outfit that was skimpy in the places they (in her opinion) shouldn't, and on top of all that she would let Maryabelle ride into town butt naked with her blue undead body on display!

"M-My lady w-wait! there are several things wrong with this! We cannot go into a town like this! they would see us as monsters! perhaps even attack! A-And on top of that I am n-naked my lady!" she exclaimed.

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Iblis listened to Maryabelle's words. "Knight... your eyes are black and red, your skin pale as death, riding upon a pale horse. I am dark elfin, wearing armor of bone. Tell me, how would you and I go about hiding our nature from the people of the world? Perhaps I can hide my connections to necromancy. Shall we both pull up our cowls, cross to the middle of populated environs, and hope we don't catch ourselves in a death trap should someone peek up under the hoods?" She watched her knight closely, eyes lidded, gauging her reaction. Perhaps her knight had a better answer than she did.

Iblis blinked, looking away. Another new expression came over her features. And another. And another... her ancient 'lifetime' had been full of revelations, of evolutions of character. As memories flooded in, it was hard to pin down her personality, in its... most recent iteration.

 

[Reptillicus]

Maryabelle looked down at herself again... could she hide her undeath from everyone? but surely the people would never accept the undead and necromancy.... back in her day it was something that most saw as pure evil! Mary herself always reserved judgement on that issue there were always more important things going on. back then maybe she might have seen it as something dark and unsavory but now, she couldn't be sure it brought her back to life again and it was for a worthy cause... do the ends justify the means? It had been over a hundred years since she died, perhaps the world grew more accepting of all kinds of magic these days but she couldn't be sure.

"ALSO I'M STILL STARK NAKED!" screamed her own thoughts. "Er, Perhaps not.... my lady.... b-but I think the uh, bone golem is a bit too much? that would really scare the citizenry I'm sure. Also I m-must bring up the fact that I am u-unclothed! Surely I cannot galavant around in the nude without breaking the law!", she said feeling as though Ibis kept ignoring the last bit. "I-I do not wish to cause trouble.... ", she said hand more firmly pressed to her body.

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Iblis listened, and shook her head when Maryabelle was done. "I'm sorry, knight, but the world has... changed. People have left much of their ways behind for a renaissance of pragmatism. I won't promise good treatment, but we will be tolerated within the city. The golem will be shrunk when we arrive, and there's precious little we can do about your nudity before arriving, unless you wish to turn to banditry to cloth yourself. Fret not, you're strong enough to get by until you have clothing... and I will not allow any molestation to your person besides." They'd walk on, the golem making the earth shudder beneath its mighty footsteps, and the pale mare silent and unearthly in its calm. "The real problem is... finding the arms and armament you need. I am certainly not wealthy by any measure, and doubt we will simply be able to steal such things." Banditry might not be beneath Iblis, but she would prefer not to have to turn to such things... and didn't know whether it was truly a viable solution besides.

 

[Reptillicus]

Maryabelle would ride atop the pale steed, bareback riding perhaps the most literal sense.... The lady knight would frown and turn her away feeling so exposed, vulnerable, and perhaps just a teeny-tiny bit aroused. Also she considered undead being accepted in a city full of living people.... how could this be? back in her day undead were hunted down and destroyed.... even if they did have their wits about them. Was she also telling her that being nude in public was not a real problem!? I was a real problem! "I..... I could never stoop to such uncouth and unrighteous behavior! E-Even if I am desperate for clothes....", she said looking down looking a bit defeated. She could never betray her code of honor, so ingrained as it was into her very soul. righteous to a fault, the very definition of knightly honor. But still the thought of so many people seeing her naked filled her with dread and perhaps a little something else....?

"S-Surely some kind soul will see my plight.... there are alway such people in the world....", she muttered more to herself. it did not take long as they rode through woods under the twinkling starlight, the somewhat chill air blowing against Maryabelle bare skin. She might be undead but she could still feel cold even if it wouldn't really affect her. one could not "catch their death" if they are already dead.... her breasts would sway in the most delightful manner as she rode along if ibis cared for such things. Perhaps her new body would react even if she didn't quite understand it.

Soon they would come up to the gate to the city, it was large and made of iron bars with ornate if a bit rusted pointed tops. "Welcome to Juant, the city that never sleeps.", read a wooden sign. there were two guards who were supposed to be standing guard but they were very nearly dozing off leaning against the walls.

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Iblis hoped she was right... she did always appreciate such acts of kindness, but did not think this day and age particularly... suited to such expectations. "Always such, but perhaps, too few in this age." In this age, and this place, at least. She'd be set down by her golem, who would shrink, as they arrived... compacting and splitting until it was four smaller variations of its self, looking less... gruesome and vicious, and more like blank eyed butlers, ready to carry things and stay tame. She needed her sources of bone, just in case things went... poorly. She'd approach the gates, to find the sleeping guards. "Juant, mhmm? Knight, look fearsome with the golems, rather than attractively modest and nude. Attitude is everything." She'd approach, and give a sharp whistle, robe drawn to conceal most of her armor... tight fitting as this was, such wasn't too difficult. The rib like spikes behind her head stayed, though... they offered too much protection to forego, and her necromantic indulgences were already obvious, besides. She wasn't ready to take on a lighter armoring, just yet.

"Guardsmen, a word. Wherein Juant can we find a blacksmith and tailor? I've a new servant, and though she has vexed me considerably, I've promised, in my benevolence, to see her properly attired again now that we've arrived." Hopefully they wouldn't be turned away... or worse, all but quarantined to a ghetto, where no skilled craftsman presided. With a regal bearing, hopefully Iblis could convince them she was an archnecromancer, and a noble besides... well educated, well carried, and with money. She wasn't, of course... but she was a very capable diplomat, and could possibly convince them otherwise. Besides, she had a few tricks up her sleeves... and few would risk crossing the wealthy and powerful in any age, even for a gander at someone as beautiful as Maryabelle.

 

[Reptillicus]

Maryabelle stuttered, "F-Fearsome?! b-but how!? I'm e-e-exposed!", before Ibis got the guards attention, sweating for the first time in hundred years. She wasn't sure what to do with herself but, she got of the pale horse and then lined up next to the golems all the same. She then channeled all her unease and distress to make herself stand up straight and look straight ahead, hands at her sides letting her hefty breasts hang free, and crotch uncovered and bared to the world. In life she had kept her lady parts clean shaven so there was nothing to obscure the view to pussy. she would look as stoic and serious as possible with a slight frown. but she couldn't stop herself from sweating and blushing..... her ghoul heart would thump quickly within her chest.

The guards would awake with a start! glancing around before for a second before seeing Ibis. "Eh what?! wha-?!", said the one on the left. "Ay? wassat?", said the guy on the left. They both wore a helmet and chest piece that one might think of what the spanish conquistadors of the other worlds wore but, far less shiny and well kept.... there were lots of dents and rust. They would blink at Ibis seeing her and instantly recognizing the signs that she was necromancer. They would stare at her for a moment after she was done speaking. they look past Ibis to see some boney servants with..... one rather busty... naked... woman.... behind her. The would see her blue skin and red eyes but there gazes would hover more on her endowments than anything else. They would figure she was a powerful necromancer to bring back someone so... beautiful and make her look like she was nearly alive again.

The guards held up a hand as a signal as they said, "Eh.... one moment!". there was much hushed discussion before they turned back. "Yeah, you'll find both of them things 'ere my good lady....", said one. "But eh, there is a bit of tax for bringing undead into the city....", said another as a small smirk began to cross his face. He would look at Maryabelle again, who was trying so hard not to squeal in embarrassment and move to hide her shame. "But uh, we could make an exception and not charge ya' a thing if you let us.... inspect this new servant of yours.... ya know make sure she's safe.", said the first one giving a dirty grin. Maryabelle's eyes would grow wide and she would stare at him a face full of indignation and disgust.

 

[ShinyHappyFitsOfRage]

Iblis blinked. She did little more than that. A small, sharp inhale, a twitch of the eyebrow... her golems, still as statue's until then, turning their heads to stare at the guardsmen. "In all my years as the Comtesse de Launcrey, archnecromancer of the ninth veil, -there were only six veils known to mortal man, but a non necromancer was unlikely to know that- no single man has ever had the GALL to demand a tax of me upon entry to the city. I'll tell you what. I'll not take it upon myself to see you dragged in chains through the streets and your entire family unable to hold trades for the rest of their miserable lives. I trust this payment..." She stepped up to him, bringing her beautiful, sinister face inches from his own, "Will suffice?" Trying to shake down a noble, whether legal or not... was a beyond foolish endeavor.