silent, in the trees [open]

[necrocabbage]

Characters: Trahearne, open to everyone
Date: Early February
Location: In and around the Dreaming Bridge
Situation: There's a quiet plant guy lurking around. That might be a little weird.
Warnings/Rating: Nothing yet


A. During the day - outside the Dreaming Bridge
When he's not busy with other matters, Trahearne has been spending some time right outside the Dreaming Bridge building. He mostly walks around the outside of the Quayside wing, though sometimes he makes a circle around the Breakwater wing as well, to cover all his bases.

What exactly he's doing out there might not be immediately obvious. When he's not just walking around, examining the dirt and peering under bushes like he's looking for something, he's been leaving little pieces of jerky in specific, tucked-away places. Trahearne later returns to check to see if the jerky is gone, but even when it's disappeared, he seems to keep walking away with nothing to show for the endeavor.

Whatever kind of animal Trahearne is trying to lure out hasn't yet revealed itself, but he's certainly patient enough to continue trying.



B. At night - in the Dreaming Bridge lounge/lobby
Trahearne hasn't been sleeping well. Tossing and turning is one thing, but after the first night when he kept waking from terrible nightmares, he decided that persisting in a useless endeavor would only end in disturbing his roommates. The idea of having to explain what he was seeing in his dreams to two complete strangers wasn't just unappealing, he knew that it wouldn't help matters any. He'd still have trouble sleeping, and he'd still wake them with it, whether they knew what was happening or not.

Instead, he's taken to slipping out of his room after the others are asleep, taking with him a small pile of books on the Planes that he's obtained from one of the local libraries. Trahearne then curls up in one of the more comfortable chairs in the public lounge, reading by the light of a lamp, up until he dozes off or simply can't see straight anymore. Whether he's found awake or asleep, he's always gone before sunrise, either to get breakfast or to return to his room to prepare for another day.

Comments

B

[annihilist]

Much like Trahearne, Devin hasn't been sleeping much. He's used to nightmares; that's not really the problem here, although admittedly he's not pleased by the idea of anyone seeing him wake up in a more vulnerable state. Fortunately, he usually sleeps through them. No, it's merely the fact that he isn't accustomed to living with other people and would really rather avoid them as much as possible. It's been about seven decades since he was forced into such close quarters.

He doesn't need as much sleep as humans. This is not the same thing as no sleep, but he can deal for now. It seems that Devin isn't the only one who takes to late nights, and he's seen Trahearne a few times without saying anything. If they're to be regular nightly denizens, might as well find out more about the strange Dreamfolk.

"You might want to consider some lighter reading one of these nights," the vampire comments without looking up from his own book. He's leaned back into a chair with his feet propped up, a volume of history in his lap.

[necrocabbage]

Trahearne has likewise started to learn that he wasn't the only night owl in the building. In the end, that was a good thing; total solitude wasn't good for anyone, he knew that much. He's also equally comfortable with companionable silence, so chances are that Devin has gotten a nod or two of acknowledgement during those nights. Making conversation in the middle of a quiet building always seemed like treading on a delicate moment, as though the silence truly could be broken apart.

But tonight, Trahearne's eyes are just wandering over the page in front of him, taking in the words without actually reading them. He did need the break. "This is important research," he pointed out, looking up at Devin. "We're better armed with knowledge if we know the mechanics behind how we came to be here."

[annihilist]

"Be that as it may, you'll be better armed if you actually process all of what you're reading." There is an edge of amusement to Devin's tone. "And as I understand it, figuring out what the Dreaming is doing and how to use it is the entire purpose of the Aisling Tower. Best leave it to the experts, mm?"

He lifts his eyes from the page, shooting a sly smirk Trahearne's direction. "Then again, it's been more than 560 years and they still haven't figured out how to send us back at will, so some 'experts' they are."

[necrocabbage]

Trahearne rested his chin on his hand, regarding Devin with some skepticism.

"I'll grant you that I might not be absorbing this well tonight, but experts aren't the only ones that can contribute knowledge. As you said, if they haven't figured it out, who's to say that one of us won't? Sometimes a fresh perspective is what it takes to make a breakthrough."

Not that he felt like he was anywhere near a breakthrough, but he had to defend his choices somehow. Quite a bit of Trahearne's research was fueled by his own curiosity, by just needing to know more about the place the multiverse had spit him out into.

"And what of yourself? It doesn't look as though you picked particularly light reading tonight."

[annihilist]

"If you think you can catch up to their level of study, be my guest." There's just a hint of criticism in the words, sprinkled lightly so as to be mistaken for something else. "Not that my approval matters, I suppose."

He is hardly Trahearne's keeper, nor does he have ownership over the knowledge that he seeks. Devin can pretend, however, just to be annoying about it.

"Whether history is easy reading or not has a lot to do with how it's written down; the best authors make it seem alive. The worst make learning it a chore." He holds the book he has aloft. "This one's tending towards the former, although I think something's a bit lost in translation."

[necrocabbage]

Trahearne was becoming less and less amused the longer this conversation went on. He wasn't sure if this man was purposefully poking at him, or if this was a personality trait of his that came naturally.

"Is that so?" He let the silence stretch for just a beat before continuing, his eyes narrowing a bit, "I'm quite glad you found a book equal to your reading comprehension. Let me clarify that I'm something of a scholar, considering I spent well over twenty years of my life studying the undead, necromancy, a dead civilization founded over a thousand years ago, and every scrap I could find about the elder dragons. So, while your concern is touching, I can promise you that I am in fact very good at catching up."

Thorns and brambles, he didn't usually trot out his credentials like this, but it had been years since anyone had questioned his academic skills.

[annihilist]

Oh, this is just too easy. Devin had started to get out of the habit of irking people on purpose by the end of his tenure in Keeliai, but now he has a whole new crop of Dreamfolk who don't know him. He could work on building those walls back up, especially while he was stuck here at the Bridge.

There is clear amusement in his face as he listens to Trahearn's credentials, resting his chin in his hand over the armrest. He might even bat his eyes a little. "Should I relate my own resume, or would it simply be faster to find a ruler?" Devin has spent the better part of his free time over the past century reading and studying. "I wouldn't have pegged someone so... ecologically inclined to be interested in necromancy. What kind of undead?"

[necrocabbage]

Trahearne just gives him a completely unamused look at the mention of a ruler. As far as he was concerned, he'd been forced into a corner by the way this human was pecking at his pride.

"I take it by 'ecologically inclined', you mean my leaves." He gave a soft sigh, marking the page in his book before closing it. "If you're unfamiliar with my people or my world, it's something of a long story. The elder dragons are a primordial force that awakened to consume the magic of the world. They each have spheres of influence, and the dragon Zhaitan's power was that of death. It spread a corruption that raised the dead and created terrible abominations to serve as generals and lieutenants. That was what I studied - it was my Wyld Hunt, my calling, to cleanse Orr of the dragon's corruption."

[annihilist]

Devin's curious about whatever species Trahearne is, but given the way this conversation is going he may not find out much. Then again, he seems relatively talkative. Maybe with enough prodding Devin can get Trahearne to share without realizing it.

"Very noble of you," he replies dryly, and while his tone is approaching sarcasm, he does actually mean it. The things Trahearne has faced are serious, and that reflects well on him. "So, you have zombies and zombie-creating dragons. Interesting." It is, actually, but he maintains a distant sort of curiosity.

"Would it surprise you to know you're sitting in front of someone undead?"

[necrocabbage]

Normally, it wouldn't be hard to get Trahearne talking at all. He's as fond of sharing knowledge as he is gaining it, and none of the curiosity he's been faced with so far has been of the hostile kind. He had, in fact, just opened his mouth to say something else when Devin dropped that tidbit about himself, leading to Trahearne looking a bit taken aback.

"Undead, you say?" Trahearne stared at him for a moment, slowly moving the book off of his lap and onto a side table next to his chair. "Yet you don't look dead and rotting in the slightest. Or are you employing some form of illusion to mask yourself?"

His tone has dipped from conversational to being slightly tense. It wouldn't be the first time he's encountered a dead creature disguising itself to appear as one of the living.

[annihilist]

The shift in Trahearne's posture and tone gets a slight head-tip. He's received worse reactions to that sort of announcement in the past, and might have expected something more vehement given the aforementioned corrupting dragon.

"No, I look this good all the time," Devin quips, waggling his eyebrows a little. "Undead don't rot in my world, we're just..." He waves his hand vaguely. "Not alive. No heartbeat. Nasty buggers, too, since we're basically apex predators with over-inflated egos."

[necrocabbage]

Perhaps Trahearne isn't being expressly hostile, but he's on edge now, watching Devin with a far more wary expression. He'd be on his feet if he weren't confident in his magic, that he could absorb the brunt of an attack without needing to stand.

Besides, this one was also rather talkative for a dead man. He might still be able to learn something useful.

"Predators," he repeats in a flat tone. Perhaps he did have his magic, but it was hampered somewhat by not having a weapon. Trahearne thought he'd have time before needing to buy one, and now he was cursing himself for the oversight. "I see. And who do you serve? What kind of master must you have that you were able to retain your intelligence?" That was how it worked on his world - only powerful lieutenants kept enough of their minds to have a personality, and they still slavishly served Zhaitan despite it. Even then, they had either been rotting husks or shades formed with death magic. It made meeting an undead creature that so easily mimicked the living more than a little frightening.

[annihilist]

By contrast, Devin remains completely relaxed, even finishing the page he was reading and flipping to a new one as Trahearne spoke.

"We serve ourselves, more or less. There's a hierarchy associated with sire lines, certainly, but it's not actual enslavement. No, that is reserved, unfortunately, for the humans that many vampires claim as property. Ghastly business." One reason among many he hunts vampires, although there's just a shade too much sarcasm to make it clear he despises his race. "That said, demons have been known to play puppet master from time to time," Devin allows, chagrined. "When they can get away with it."

[necrocabbage]

"Vampire," he repeats in a mutter. How curious. Trahearne has only ever heard that word as a descriptor for certain magic spells, not to refer to an entire variety of undead. It was what those spells could do that bothered him the most. Such a thing makes him think of curses, powerful ones, but now wasn't the time for theories. He couldn't let the details distract him.

"Then tell me," Trahearne asked, "What reason do these 'vampires' have to enslave humans?" His eyes are narrowed now, one hand gripping the arm of his chair. Oh, he could guess based on the descriptor alone, but he wants to be absolutely certain first.

[annihilist]

At that, Devin lets out a sigh. It should probably make him feel better in some way that another person has a negative reaction to undead creatures like him.

"Reasons, multiple," he corrects. "Primary among them is that we require human blood - or approximately human, as this place has made evident - to survive. They're kept for long periods, sometimes." Here, Devin allows some of his abhorrence to be heard. "Enslavement, or Binding as it's 'officially' called, is also commonly a precursor to being turned into another vampire. There's the ego aspect, too. Vampires, especially the older and more powerful, like their entourages. It's a show of power, and occasionally humans are also used as chess pieces in their own right," he explains. "Like I said: nasty buggers."

[necrocabbage]

"Then I've heard enough."

Trahearne pushes himself out of his chair, horror and anger warring in his expression. He's seen undead creatures do things too terrible to think of, but never before has he heard of the undead keeping the living for food, making them suffer before becoming cursed things themselves. The idea of allowing a vampire to go about that dreadful business here went against everything Trahearne had struggled against and fought for the majority of his life.

"This has been quite informative, and I have you to think for that. But don't think for a moment that I can allow something like you to exist. Prepare yourself!" Concentrating, drawing on his magic, Trahearne made a gesture that caused a swirling, dark portal to open in the center of the room. The hulking creature that crawled up out of it could very well be described as having emerged from a nightmare, with glistening bare muscle stretched tightly over the wrong bones in the wrong places, its purpose evident between its two large, sharp claws and the horn of bone protruding from its head.

this is literally his 'are you serious right now' icon, best use for it ever

[annihilist]

Usually, Devin is not trying to actively provoke people into attacking him (Kylo Ren possibly excepted), especially here. Dreamfolk often have their own magical abilities, and that means unknown risk factors. Trahearne's expression is a warning of its own, even before the portal opens and a vile monster emerges from it.

It sets all of his senses on edge, strings tension through him like a tightly-wound spring, and yet the vampire remains resolutely seated with a look of bored incredulity on his face.

"Really? It's the middle of the bloody night; you're going to wake someone up." Devin sighs as if greatly put-upon, closing the book and rising to his feet. Giving the opposite reaction to what was anticipated was as much to unnerve Trahearne as to buy time to figure out what this thing can do. "Besides, if you're so bent on damaging me, there are simpler ways. But, if you're going to insist, then consider the gauntlet thrown," the vampire announces dryly, giving a flourishing little bow.

omg that's a winner

[necrocabbage]

Seeing the vampire act so blasé about being faced with his strongest kind of minion only served to irritate Trahearne even further. He was already sleep-deprived as it was, which probably wasn't helping his decision-making process. But what was he supposed to do, wait until morning and bring with it the possibility that he'd get away? Or kill someone in the meantime? Failure to act could be dangerous.

"Is that your greatest concern right now? Sometimes, one must take action first and beg for forgiveness later. I can apologize once you're truly dead." Trahearne scowls, flicking his hand to the side, and that's when his summoned flesh golem begins to move. It promptly rounds on Devin, lumbering forward to slash at him with its clawed arms.

[annihilist]

Devin rolls his eyes as the flesh golem turns to swipe at him, and then quite suddenly the vampire isn't there.

Faster than most eyes can see, he darts to the side of the room and leans lazily against the wall. "I'm fairly certain that's not how you apologize to someone for murdering them," he remarks, offering a nasty smirk to his attacker. "But I look forward to it anyway. Didn't you get the memo? Death doesn't stick to people like you and me."

[necrocabbage]

Startled, Trahearne whirls around to face Devin's new location, the flesh golem following suit. By the Pale Tree, it was like he simply teleported! Actual teleportation, he had some experience in fighting, but speed like that was like nothing he'd ever seen before. It was the first sign that he had perhaps gotten in over his head, but that thought wasn't making much headway against his renewed surge of anger.

"Don't speak to me of death, you puffed-up poison ivy!" This time, there's no motion or warning from Trahearne, not that he needed to signal to his minions in the first place. The flesh golem simply lowers its head and rushes towards Devin, its large, bony horn aimed like a lance.

[annihilist]

There's a slight pause before Devin burst out laughing - it's completely inappropriate in the middle of a fight, and if he weren't more careful the outburst would have distracted him from the golem rushing forward. He rushes away again, this time coming to rest while holding a chair aloft like it's made of balsa wood.

"I think that's the best insult anyone has ever thrown at me," Devin wheezes, still laughing. "Do I need to break your little friend with this, or can you calm down and talk like a reasonable person?"

He could just as easily zip behind Trahearne and knock him unconscious or worse, and yet he does not.

[necrocabbage]

With its target nowhere to be found, the golem's momentum sends it smashing right into the wall, its horn leaving a good-sized hole in the drywall. The poor golem struggles there, trapped for the moment as it flounders in bringing its arms up to push itself backwards.

Meanwhile, Trahearne's left staring at Devin like he just lost some of his marbles. He had forgotten that no one here was actually used to the more unique parts of sylvari speech. "You already talk too much." Closing his hand into a fist, Trahearne drags it upward, and another portal opens close to where the first one did, a twin to the first flesh golem starting to crawl out of it. If he couldn't catch the vampire, then he had every intention of summoning enough minions to trap him in a corner instead.

spectators comment here

[consumeation]

Kei had heard the noise and become curious what was going on. Peeking in around the doorway... well, those certainly are some gigantic flesh monsters attacking a man with truly remarkable speed. He half wonders if they're kaiju and whether he'd be able to summon them (if he'd had the right capsule, the riser, and Belial's power), though they do look a bit small for that.

Overall, this is not his problem, but it certainly is entertaining. He'll watch as long as is feasible, and if the trouble comes his direction he'll just teleport away.

[purered]

Endless bickering was a day to day occurrence back in Libra headquarters - usually between Zapp and Chain, though such things usually had a way of sorting themselves out.

But this was another matter entirely.

Powers were being used in close corners, and Klaus wasn't sure how many of the onlookers were capable of defending themselves. And of course - of course Devin was part of it. Klaus wasn't about to make too many assumptions but he already had his suspicions about just who started this mess.

Whether his suspicions were on the nose or not, however, was irrelevant for the time being - both these men were capable of doing some severe damage.

There was a flicker of red light as Klaus drew blood from his palm, and it spiraled outward from the red stone set in his knuckle dusters, expanding and shaping into a wall of rather morbid looking crosses between the two combatants.

"That's enough from the both of you," Klaus said. He didn't raise his voice much, but there was a certain finality to his tone that suggested he wasn't going to tolerate an argument.

guys wtf

[iseeall]

Loud crashing sounds and arguing were a normal backdrop for him, but usually not when he was sleeping. And usually not close enough that he wasn't able to go back to sleep, forcing him to get up and go out in the hallway to find the source of the problem.

Klaus looked like he'd gotten to it first, but once Leo saw who the instigators were, he lost all sympathy. "YOU MOTHERFUCKERS! I'm trying to sleep!!" He yelled, and tossed the nearest thing he could at Devin's head-which happened to be a book. "Stop fighting or I'll kick both your asses!!"