Chapter 16: Ghostly Warnings
Deryk O'hara spares a glance back to the duskwight before shrugging. "Maybe. Or maybe not. Who knows."
Deryk O'hara tilts his head and purrs. "I feel my Master approaching."
Deryk O'hara approaches and smiles. "Bonsoir, Master. Aww.. I got the color just off.. What do you think, anyway?"
Khada Laxan glanced up towards the rest of the library. Void corruption. He's not the best at detecting that in particular, eyes flickering around, "Mm." Yep, that's all that was going to come out of him, though his gaze shifted behind him to the - ah. A slightly more familiar face.
Ravena Blackwind: "I forgot how tall you are."
Ravena Blackwind: "This is going to be one of those weird days where I'm one of the shortest in the room."
Khada Dazakaar shrugs. "I wish I could, but Eorzean architecture doesn't let me have a day of peace"
Ravena Blackwind: "At least Deryk and Vath are kind enough to a Lady to be shorter than her."
Deryk O'hara looks to Ravena. "My lady, you wound me. You have always been taller than me."
Qaelemont Drauculoix smiles at Deryk O'hara.
Deryk O'hara smirks. "Yes, my kindness is what's caused my deformaty."
Khada Dazakaar "This is true, it's quite kind of them."
Ravena Blackwind "There are many who think that way."
Ravena Blackwind smirks.
Deryk O'hara gives Khada a look like 'I will bite you.'
Ravena Blackwind "Oh, Khada, I managed to cause a minor incident of my own."
Khada Laxan glanced briefly to the conversation to his right with a momentary blank stare before settling back against the pillar of books, his own packaged novel in hand and - once again - began to doze.
Qaelemont Drauculoix: "Bonsoir, mon petit," he bends down to give Deryk a light kiss. "It still looks lovely." He brushes his gloved fingers through the Hyurzen's hair, curling the blue streak between his fingers. "Perhaps mine won't take..." he sighs wistfully.
Khada Laxan "...bleach."
Khada Dazakaar looks likes he's ready for the Hot Goss. "Oh? Do tell."
Khada Laxan"Bleach your hair first, then dye it."
Deryk O'hara nods. "Don't worry.. I'll keep trying. You know me." He then glares at Khada and grumbles.
Khada Dazakaar calls over to Qaelemont. "Give me a week and I'll figure something out."
Ravena Blackwind : "Turns out Scarlett and I work well together as researchers. We managed to almost tear a hole in reality. Thankfully, we stopped in time, though, just barely."
Deryk O'hara looks to their new.. friend.. and smiles. "Don't worry. I am taking care of his hair. I'll figure it out."
Qaelemont Drauculoix bows courteously to Khada Laxan.
Deryk O'hara smiles. "Master, we have two Khada's now. We need a code or something. Also! The Wizard said you gave him the password!? How could you?" He pouts a bit.
Khada Dazakaar "Oh! Congrats! The next step is to do that on purpose and use the stabilized pocket dimension to keep your hot drinks hot."
Khada numero dos glanced up to Qaelemont, "Ah. The elezen back at the Corsair. It's been a while." He held out a package, eyes briefly drifting shut, before glancing up, "...your request from Ark Archives. Apparently you spoke to Kreide - this is yours."
Khada Dazakaar "Hey now! I didn't say I got the password from Qaelemont! I just said I cracked it! That took three months!"
Deryk O'hara glares at Wizard Khada. "I don't believe you."
Ravena Blackwind "Sadly the hole we found was to the sewater problem this library had before. Though we didn't learn much, we did get something to happen. We won't be trying again until we do some homework first."
Ravena Blackwind "Tril was quite emphatically clear that I wasn't to do another 'test' until we guaranteed no seaweed would get into the larder or the booze."
Khada Dazakaar "Let me know if you need to borrow some of my equipment, I have a few drones that you could chuck in the next time you open up the hole"
Ravena Blackwind "That's just it, we stopped before it opened."
Ravena Blackwind : "Barely. It was trying not to give us a choice. We took offense to that."
Khada Laxan has no idea about "tearing holes in reality". That sounds complicated. Possibly potentially dangerous. Probably explosive.
Ravena Blackwind stopped precisely because she was afraid explosive was an option; and she likes her laboratory!
Khada Dazakaar "Ah, so it's being stubborn. I've found it doesn't like when it experiences resistance. I've taken to carrying this one specific staff around because of it's tendency to -look- at things that shouldn't be looking at me."
Qaelemont Drauculoix "Bonsoir, bon monsieur," he greets Khada!Elezen with a smile. He's about to continue but the Reference Page mammet squawks at the man leaning against the round bookcase, "Do nOt LEaN aGaINsT CARd CaTAloGuE! THaNk YoU FoR YOuR COopErATIoN!" The librarian gives the mammet a wry smile then shrugs to the other Duskwight. He nods to Deryk then bows his head with a smile to the Khada in front of him, casting an amused smile to the Lizard Wizard for a moment. "Merci beaucoup. Which order is this? I believe I had a few in with them?" (
Khada Dazakaar thinks everyone should get on his level and build an explosion-proof lab built out of a repurposed allagan bulkhead :P
Ravena Blackwind "Once Scarlett and I organize our notes, we will be sharing our results with the group. I showed up personally today to give an important clue to help the rest of you along for now."
Ravena Blackwind "I was assistant on this run - Scarlett was the lead mage. I helped ensure stability and containment. Whatever we're dealing with - it did not like those things."
Deryk O'hara looks over to the mammet. "I've.. never heard it yell at anyone before. I lean on that thing all the time.."
Khada Laxan "...something regarding a signed adult novel. I believe this is a one-of-a-kind." If he's bothered by the mammet yelling at him, he doesn't show it. In fact, Khada's expression hasn't really changed from his perpetual sleepy look, "The rest of your order - I don't recall. We're in the middle of renovations so we do apologize for the delay." The man gave a shrug, "It was for a trade of some sort of Mhachi book, if I recall. But that can be taken care of later if you have other things that need to be done." The snake blinks at the red-haired pair in front of him. Blink. Bloink. He sticks his tongue out briefly as Khada looks to his right, "Because from what I am understanding, there seems to be a situation."
Khada Dazakaar "Excellent. I hope to do the same once I have a nice afternoon with unlimited tea and my data. It'll be coming soon, Shiro is having me taste-test matcha from a few new makers."
Ravena Blackwind : "Oooh! That sounds like a fun and relaxing time. A great way to clear one's head before initiating a project!"
Qaelemont Drauculoix 's brows rise at Khada's words. "Did it not arrive by courier?"
Khada Dazakaar nods. "I understand I am truly spoiled in that regard. I've been out gathering readings from the other sites. I'll have you know, I had to actual, for real, stand on the edge of the Black Shroud and convince the Elementals to let me in and gather my data in peace."
Khada Laxan : "...oh. That must have been what it was. Then yes." Khada blinked slowly, "I'll speak with our boss and have it marked off."
Deryk O'hara tugs on his Master's sleeve. "What is it?"
Ravena Blackwind gives a heavy sigh at that. "Yeah, they can be, oh what's the word, ornery at times when it comes to people poking around the fabric of the Shroud's aether."
Qaelemont Drauculoix beams with delight at Deryk O'hara.
Deryk O'hara widens his eyes.. and then smiles. "Is.. this for the collection, or for Devin?"
Khada Dazakaar laughs. "Oh, they really REALLY don't like me. Last time I tried to do anything in that hellscape they shorted out my equipment and gave me hayfever for two weeks."
Qaelemont Drauculoix sniffs derisively. "Pour moi !"
Say [2026-02-04 19:31:58-06:00] Khada Laxan : "...that's better than the Greenwrath coming after you at least." Oh - maybe Sleepy Khada was listening.
Ravena Blackwind snickers, then replies, "are you sure it wasn't a Moogle attack? That sounds like something they'd more likely do."
Deryk O'hara laughs softly. "To be fair, we borrow everything you own, mon amour, so it's not that much of an insult to ask."
Khada Dazakaar "Oh no, they're more subtle than that. Every branch is slightly too low for my horns, but too high for me to see. Every root is exposed just enough for me to stumble. I am somehow allergic to every single tree and flower in the Shroud, but if the same flowers are grown outside of it I have no issues."
Qaelemont Drauculoix "Et I knew you'd figure it out eventually, mon ami," he finally says to the tall Xaela. "You only heard mon petit humming it about cent temps."
Deryk O'hara shrugs. "What can I saw? I love giving hints."
Qaelemont Drauculoix smirks confidently at Deryk O'hara.
Khada Dazakaar "Now I can dig through the catalogue spreadsheets in peace. Ah, bliss."
Ravena Blackwind "That is both incredibly intense, and incredibly petty. You might be right about this one."
Qaelemont Drauculoix "Eh bien... Devin is resting after we ventured to the Shroud. It was... harrowing... pour il."
Khada Laxan has finished his delivery. He probably -should- go - but. The place seems cozy, though he keeps squinting around as if trying to scout the place. Or maybe he was falling asleep again.
Deryk O'hara laughs. "I'll just change the password." He then looks over to Qaelemont. "Is.. that when I was still upset at him?"
Qaelemont Drauculoix "You think I keep my private collection in the library database?"
Qaelemont Drauculoix smirks confidently at Khada Dazakaar.
Qaelemont Drauculoix nods to Deryk O'hara.
Qaelemont Drauculoix "Oui."
Khada Dazakaar "Of course not, I just like seeing what's newly published before it hits the stacks."
Deryk O'hara sighs. "I should have been with you two.. Desole.."
Ravena Blackwind "Two keywords for you, Khada."
Qaelemont Drauculoix rubs Deryk's arm. "You've no need to apologize, Deryk."
Qaelemont Drauculoix looks around to the others. "Mais, at this point, I think we might benefit from reviewing some of what I have in my private collection."
Deryk O'hara looks up. "But.. I'm your safety net.. you said so yourself.. and.. I let you both.. go alone. I.." He huffs and looks away. "I should be sorry.. I shouldn't let Devin get to me like that."
Ravena Blackwind looks to Q and Deryk. "They're the same two keywords for you as well."
Khada Dazakaar nods at Ravena. "Yeah, it's... It's something. They got Extremely Offended when I decided to do my usual rituals to commune with place-spirits without appeasing them first."
Ravena Blackwind "The whole room; really."
Khada Laxan glanced briefly towards Telural. Blink. Blink? Private collection? His attention sloooowly turns back to Qaelemont.
Qaelemont Drauculoix 's head tracks to Ravena and he listens attentively.
Ravena Blackwind "Two things became precisely clear when Scarlett and I were working. Mhachi sigils appeard in the air. Mhachi Hydromancy sigils."
Khada Dazakaar braces for the common sense he very much knows and yet ignores when it comes to those god damn Gridanian nusances-----
Deryk O'hara blinks. "Wait.. what?"
Khada Dazakaar groans. "I was really really hoping it wasn't Mhach."
Ravena Blackwind "Mhachi Hydromancy."
Deryk O'hara sighs. "So.. I was right.. this is voidal."
Ravena Blackwind "The clues lead in that specific direction."
Khada Dazakaar "It all stems from the same godsforsaken swamp."
Qaelemont Drauculoix 's brows rise at Ravena's words. He sucks his teeth for a moment, inhales, holds his breath, then huffs a long sigh. "Putain."
Khada Dazakaar "Frankly, the only way it'd be worse is if it was Allagan."
Deryk O'hara looks up to Qaelemont. "That explains why Tril is staying so far away from this.. if what I think is true.. you should be too. We all should run.." His eyes were shimmering softly.. gold on green.
Ravena Blackwind "It also aligns with the theme of 'below' that's recurred in our clues. We're dealing with some type of old sea-based Mhachi devil, or worse. That's why I'm keen to hit the books as it were. Now that I know it's magic type, I can work with you all on specific-tailored protection measures."
Khada Laxan "...questionable. There's a few things worse than that." He glanced over to Deryk, to Ravena, then, "...mind giving a summary for the people not in the know?"
Deryk O'hara nods. "Luckily, for me, I don't need anything.. but.. I could try to help you make something, my lady."
Qaelemont Drauculoix snaps at the Lizard Wizard, "Ferme ta bouche." He smirks at the man, taking the sting from the words, but his meaning is clear—he doesn't want it to be the damned Allagans either.
Ravena Blackwind "But, those two keywords I needed shared with the group while Scarlett and I get to specifics."
Ravena Blackwind "Deryk, I'm grateful you offered. As, whatever I do choose to craft, is going to require your expertise to make right."
Khada Dazakaar nods. "That part is true. Mhachi void magic is nasty as you can get, but it's all built on the same paradigm. Mhachi were structured, at least."
Ravena Blackwind "The only reason containment held was because of the box you made for us."
Qaelemont Drauculoix "Why don't you give a summation, madame. Le monsieur has not been present for much of these strange happenings."
Qaelemont Drauculoix smiles at Ravena Blackwind .
Deryk O'hara smiles softly. "I only made the seal.. but I understand. I am at your disposal. Kaasan wouldn't expect any less."
Ravena Blackwind nods to Q, then faces the new Khada.
Khada Laxan has his eyes closed, but he's probably listening. Probably.
Ravena Blackwind "About a month ago, this library was affected by a strange magic phenomenon. Seawater started leaking from a few of the books. When we identified the source, Deryk and Vath saw the books contained and delivered to me. Khada, to my left, helped share the aetheric signature of the event, which itself proved useful as we started finding other incidents across the last month."
Ravena Blackwind "From an attacked caravan, to apparently an ill-fated escapade in the Shroud, whatever this thing is that's causing the issues; it's trying to reach our world."
Ravena Blackwind "Scarlett, an employee here at the library and a friend of mine, along with Mizuki and myself, attempted to study the affected books from the first recorded incident."
Ravena Blackwind "That's how we have come this far. It may not seem like a lot; but, great care has been put to safety and prevention. My measures to contain this thing's attempt to enter my laboratory were simultaneously excessive and inefficient on their own."
Khada Laxan tilted his head back as he slowly, slowly cracked open his eyes, "If we're dealing with excessive water aether, lightning aether may be a good idea to counter it."
Deryk O'hara looks to Khada L. "That's the problem.. it eats all.. aether."
Ravena Blackwind nods. "Knowing for certain the Era of magic, and the style of magic, we can definitely look to measures like that."
Ravena Blackwind nods to Deryk, then back to Khada Laxan . "And Deryk hit the proverbial nail on the head."
Ravena Blackwind : "We can't just fight aether with aether, since whatever aether directly affects this thing, it consumes and uses to make it's piercing attempt stronger."
Qaelemont Drauculoix nods to Ravena Blackwind.
Qaelemont Drauculoix "Mais..."
Deryk O'hara nods. "The only two people in the house that could deal with it directly is.. me.. and one other." He isn't sure if sharing her name is safe.. yet.
Khada Laxan | Well, that's probably a problem. One that he frankly doesn't know too much how to counter. His eyes flick back over to Deryk, "And why is that?"
Ravena Blackwind also turns to face Q and Deryk, yielding the floor.
Khada Dazakaar nods to the racks of recently published scientific journals, and.. is that...? Does that one have his face on it? "You know my specialization is banishment and nullification. Once I isolate everything, I can prepare more effective countermeasures."
Deryk O'hara opens his hand.. and creates a perfect black rose.. but it shimmers.. not quite.. right.. "Because.. I don't have any." The rose is made of pure dynamis. He offers it to Khada L.
Khada Laxan takes the rose and, if no one stops him, he just immediately tries to "consume" it.
Ravena Blackwind smiles at Khada Dazakaar , "we're going to need them."
Deryk O'hara smiles a bit. "That makes sense. You seemed a bit brighter than I expected."
Ravena Blackwind looks curiously at Khada Laxan , attempting to eat a dynamis rose.
Deryk O'hara moves closer to Qaelemont. "I have never seen anyone consume one of my flowers, though. Maybe I should have made you some food."
Khada Dazakaar "Excellent! Another use-case for my procedural counterspell algorithms."
Khada Laxan gave a shrug, "I'm good against aetherical threats for that reason." The man huffs out a sigh - almost briefly falling asleep, "I'm no expert on voidsent or that sort." His hand cracked - whatever rose he had was completely disintegrated before he waved, "No need. I'm not that hungry."
Deryk O'hara chuckles, hiding his concern. "I can see that."
Ravena Blackwind "Fascinating..."
Deryk O'hara looks to Ravena. "Maybe he can handle the books too."
Khada Laxan slid his gaze back over to Ravena. Blink, blink, "What's fascinating?"
Khada Dazakaar looks over to whatever... THAT was, and nods along with Ravena. He hates dynamis theory for shit like that.
Ravena Blackwind "Maybe. I would want him tested before attempting such. I would sooner say in tense situations he could touch things with relative safety like you can."
Qaelemont Drauculoix pauses in his ruminations to arch a brow at the other Duskwight disintigrating the rose. Then he says, "Perhaps fight fire with fire." He looks around and adds, "How foresters sometimes burn out underbrush ou other select areas to keep forest fires ou wildfires starting from lightning strikes."
Khada Laxan | Maybe Khada was a little hungry.
Deryk O'hara watches Qaelemont. "I.. am not sure I follow.."
Ravena Blackwind "That's how I'm containing the books. I've created a pocket area bereft of aether entirely."
Deryk O'hara "Starving the source.."
Qaelemont Drauculoix nods to Ravena then to Deryk. "Oui. Control where *we* want it to go."
Ravena Blackwind "As I already said, Deryk, your box was essential for this to even work."
Qaelemont Drauculoix beams with delight at Khada Laxan.
Deryk O'hara gets REALLY excited. "Oh! I get it! I.." Nope, he was praised.. if he had a tail, he'd wag it.. instead, his Elezen ears wiggled and he blushed.
Khada Laxan tries to follow. He looks a touch lost, but his gaze turns back to Q, "...you have a stare. Out with it."
Khada Laxan | Social graces? What are those?
Khada Dazakaar "I might be able to snoop on it's movements from the aetherial sea, but it's a longshot. We can't just drench entire areas with aspected aether without consequence. It'd help if we knew where it was going to be next."
Deryk O'hara smirks.. at something.
Deryk O'hara is prolly gonna get smacked one of these days.
Qaelemont Drauculoix "Et vous aussi, oui ? You're bereft of aether for the most part, mais you just made a snack of that dynamis as if 'twere a bon bon."
Deryk O'hara smiles. "Because he's like me.. kind of."
Qaelemont Drauculoix: "Tall, dark, et grumpy, oui."
Khada Laxan "...it's a specialty of mine. Bereft of aether...not quite." Khada closed his eyes, "It's useful for my work, but if you're saying that I have experience with dynamis manipulation, then you would be correct.'
Deryk O'hara scowls. "I am not tall, or dark, or grumpy. That's you."
Ravena Blackwind looks back to Khada Dazakaar , "this is why I'm delving into this new research. I have a pass to the Occult Crescent, so I will research the Mhachi ruins there first."
Qaelemont Drauculoix: "Non, you both use dynamis. That was the 'sort of.'"
Deryk O'hara nods. "Oui, et non." He then shrugs. "His dynamis feels different.
Khada Laxan "...I'd say he's more pale than dark." Khada glanced over to the smaller of the pair, "...the way he utilizes his "song" is different."
Deryk O'hara blinks.. and then smiles. "I.. like that. I'm using that from now on, if you don't mind too much."
Khada Dazakaar : "Good plan. I also have a pass, if you need an assist, but I feel like my place is with a few dozen books and my raw data"
Ravena Blackwind nods. "I'll find the clues, you crack the code."
Qaelemont Drauculoix shrugs and makes a languid wave of dismissal with his gloved right hand. "De toute façon... Let us adjourn to my study et see if I have aught there that might be of more use."
Khada Dazakaar nods with eagerness. "Exactly."
Deryk O'hara just turns and heads off.
Khada Laxan gave a shrug. Well - he's pretty much dragged into this now. Maybe he'll get paid overtime, but off he goes.
Khada Laxan seems to mutter to himself (?) "...I don't know why I'm doing this." A pause, "...well, maybe Ysse will get a laugh out of it later."
[The all go into Qaelemont's private study.]
Khada Dazakaar scans the tomes on the shelves and with a flick of his fingers marks the specific ones he wants pulled with a tiny wisplight.
Qaelemont Drauculoix "I keep my Mhachi works on these shelves," he says, reaching up to take off his glasses and send them away with a small surge of aether.
Deryk O'hara pulls out a book on Mhach and flips through it, shakes his head, puts it back, and tries another."
Khada Laxan has no idea exactly where to start, but he glanced around to Qaelemont. Then back to Ravena, "What would be useful to search for?"
Ravena Blackwind does the exact same thing Deryk's doing.
Khada Laxan just starts staring at book spines. Hooray.
Deryk O'hara sighs. "I can't seem to find it.." He then looks to Ravena.
Ravena Blackwind "Don't fret, Deryk. One of the realities of ancient research is there may not be a tome to find."
Ravena Blackwind continues searching.
Khada Laxan just continues to page through the spines of books, "Might be a good idea to look into things about Nym or Amdapor as well."
Ravena Blackwind "You're not wrong. As natural enemies of the empire they may have countermeasures against Mhachi Hydromancy."
Deryk O'hara: looks to Khada L. "That would be Devin's forte.."
Khada Laxan stares at the books. The man is an artist. Alchemist. Maybe a serial killer, but no one needs to know that. He is, unfortunately, not much of a researcher.
Ravena Blackwind lets out a huff of annoyance, then drops to her knees.
Ravena Blackwind places her hand on the carpet, then looks to the books around that area specifically.
Deryk O'hara pokes at the tip of her mage hat.
Khada Laxan "...so. Who's Devin?" Khada wanders back over. Let the bookworms find the books. Probably for the best. His snake companion, on the other hand, starts also scanning the lower shelves.
Deryk O'hara looks over. "Hm? Oh, he's my other mate, and chain brother."
Ravena Blackwind "Here. Something is here. Deryk, I will likely need you or the new Khada in a moment."
Khada Laxan "...chain...brother?"
Deryk O'hara nods, pulls down his suit collar and shows.. well.. a collar. Gilded, with a red heart shaped gem in the center. The Q inside glows.
Qaelemont Drauculoix pauses, a few books pulled off the shelf and tucked into the crook of his left arm. "Find something, madame?" he inquires of Ravena.
Ravena Blackwind "...water."
Deryk O'hara blinks and kneels next to Ravena. "Where?"
Ravena Blackwind points to the spot near her where she found the wet mark.
Ravena Blackwind is following the water to find it's source.
Deryk O'hara reaches in and pulls out a very.. sodden book. He sighs. "Even in here?" He stands up and steps back, keeping it away from Ravena.. and the other two aether creatures.
Deryk O'hara will get the damn book holding emote when I feel up do it...
Khada Laxan stares at the sodden book, squints at the collar with a shrug. Not his business, though he doesn't seem to mind. His snake continues to root around, tail smacking against the floor.
Khada Laxan stares at the book, "Well that's ruined." He gave a huff, squinting at the book, "Any idea what it's about?"
Khada Dazakaar looks up from his diligent note-taking. "Anyone find anything interesting?"
Deryk O'hara sighs. "If it was normal water, I could restore it.. we do that too.. That's actually our main business.. but.." He looks down at the sodden book. "This smells just as briny as the rest of it.."
Deryk O'hara looks to his friend. "Yeah, another wet book."
Ravena Blackwind "We found a wet book in here Khada. Both Khada and Deryk are looking at it now. I highly recommend not touching it."
Deryk O'hara won't hand it over until he gets the ok from his Master.
Khada Laxan "A soaked book." Sleepy Khada yawns before he wanders over to a table, "Maybe we can salvage something out of it. Here. Bring it over."
Deryk O'hara holds his closer to his chest. "I.. will.. when He says I should."
Khada Dazakaar "I highly recommend putting it right here and letting me take a reading. It's the first time I've seen one of these." He gestures to the coffee table, where he's already laying out a protective sheet and what looks like a paperweight attached to a tomestone via usb cable
Deryk O'hara looks to wizard Khada. "It may not be safe. I can't let you do that without his approval. I won't be responsible for you getting hurt.."
Ravena Blackwind "Devin was possessed by touching one of those books, Khada."
Deryk O'hara nods softly.
Ravena Blackwind "Seems our Dynamis friends are not so affected. Though, I will ask, do you have a Warding Scale?"
Khada Laxan "Mm." Khada simply reclines and waits, going to flick open his hand and - poof, out came a bag of what seemed to be standard alchemical stuff, "...oh, that'll be fun if it tried to do that." Was that a smile filled with teeth? Perhaps. Or perhaps the man was bold, though his gaze turned to Ravena, "Was that to me?"
Khada Dazakaar "Okay, okay, I'll get his approval, but I will state that all of my sampling equipment is aetherically neutral. I'll have Deryk do all of the actual handling-- and yes, I keep one on me at all times, along with a few of my own measures."
Ravena Blackwind nods, and smiles in relief.
Ravena Blackwind is still searching around where the book was found to make sure there isn't anything else.
Deryk O'hara nods a bit to his friend and walks over.. but still waits for Qaelemont to come back to them from his wandering.
Khada Dazakaar "This isn't my first rodeo with malicious objects, you know!"
Deryk O'hara nods. "I get that.. but.. you don't understand. This thing.. makes Tril look like a school girl.. I can feel it.. I felt it.. before.. when I took the book from Devin. It looked at me.. through me.." He trembles. "It was horrible."
Khada Laxan has nothing else better to do, so he joins as well, leaving a tiny snake to search next to Ravena. The snake finally opens his mouth and - speaks? ["Wow, y'know with all this seawater, you think y'all would wear gloves before y'all get all pruny or something."]
Deryk O'hara smiles a bit at Saryn and nods. "I don't mind so much. I'm used to doing dishes."
Khada Dazakaar nods. "In any case, please put the book right in the middle of that sheet and place the pyramid square-side down on the front cover of the book. Afterwards, please remove the protective cover from the pyramid and dispose of it to prevent any cross-contamination."
Ravena Blackwind surprisingly, doesn't look shocked at all as the snake talks to her. In fact, equally shocking, she replies as if the snake could always talk, "simple gloves don't help. Stronger protective measures are needed. Though, you are kind to mention that."
Deryk O'hara nods and starts to.. before looking to Qaelemont.. was this ok?
Khada Laxan | Said snake sticks out his tongue, ["Wow, you really are a manservant. A collared manservant. Must be nice, being a-"] The snake blinks as a tiny bolt of levin aether is bounced on his head before he continues that sentence, ["Yeah, yeah - hey say, wasn't there like a technique to seal voidsent or something? I don't know my history."]
Deryk O'hara ignores the snake, focusing on his Master.
Khada Laxan himself settles on the couch. Bag of alchemy supplies at the ready - and he was dozing.
Khada Dazakaar "Oh, just to be extra safe, if you could also press the 'start' button right there, Deryk--" he gestures to the most busted-ass, home coded app. "In case it tries to possess via wired connection."
Ravena Blackwind smirks as the snake continues to talk. "Friend, everyone else in this room has knowledge on how to do just that. That is why we are doing research. We are going to form the perfect trap."
Deryk O'hara nods. "When I do this, I will."
Qaelemont Drauculoix had fallen into a silent stillness. Not moving. Not speaking. Not breathing. Lost somewhere in the halls of his mind palace. Finally he turns as if on gimbals and gives the large Xaela a solemn nod. "Oui, mon ami. Mais... be careful." He gives Deryk and even their new associate grave looks. "You both have the greatest chances of ensuring this does not get out of total control."
Emote [2026-02-04 20:37:06-06:00] ?Khada Dazakaar : also positions his Incredibly Judgemental Eyeball Staff so it can witness the proceedings
Saryn for once seems contemplative, tail swishing back and forth, ["Huh. Any idea why "Mister Wet and Briny" keep all going after you and your books? Seems like a weird place to attack unless they have something to gain."]
Deryk O'hara nods and then moves to put the book into the middle of the protective sheet Khada has put down. He places the pyramid, base down, onto the middle, before removing the film from the device.. he then presses the start button. "Like.. that?"
Khada Laxan just peeks an eye open, "...mm." He does, however, keep a close eye on the book.
Khada Dazakaar "Yes! Perfect. Now we just press the button and hope something doesn't blow up. I've set it to upload automatically to an empty storage device back in the lab in case my tomestone actually blows up."
Ravena Blackwind replies to the snake, "we're still not completely sure this is an attack. That's the first problem. It could be something simply trying to contact us; and, the method it has at it's disposal is both destructive and harmful. Also, it's not limited to books."
?Khada Laxan : "...what exactly are you doing with that?"
Deryk O'hara blinks.. and attempts to create a dynamis shield around the device, himself, and wizard Khada. He wasn't risking damage to the study or anyone else inside it.. before he presses the button.
Khada Dazakaar "I'm taking a sample of it's aetheric signiature- everything has one. So far, I've only been able to measure residuals from the events it's been leaving behind. This is about as concentrated as we can get on this plane"
Deryk O'hara blinks.. and sighs.. nope. He stays right there.. in front of Qaelemont incase something went wrong..
Saryn the snake glanced behind him, clearly about to speak - but he whips his head back over to look at Sleepy Khada, ["Hey, sleepyhead, wake up."]
Qaelemont Drauculoix raises a brow at Deryk then watches the two Khadas. He seems entirely nonplussed by the talking snake.
Khada Dazakaar thinks the talking snake is extremely cute
Khada Laxan glances up, eyes seemingly more awake in response to something, before he reaches out and - also - tries to create a sort of dynamis "cube" around the device, almost like a containment, "...Saryn, I'm not blind."
Deryk O'hara blinks... and looks away.. his hand trembling.
Khada's devices are quiescent at first. Maybe there's nothing wrong with the book? Maybe it's just a leaking pipe? Nah, that's just a pipeDREAM! All of a sudden every device the Xaela has set up goes HAYWIRE! Readings wild and unpredictable!
Khada Dazakaar jumps as his tomestone makes a very curious whine and colors bloom eratically across the screen. "Hold, hold.... It might stabilize...."
Deryk O'hara just continues to focus on a far point of the room, his face blank from emotion.
Khada Dazakaar "If it continues on like this, I'm going to have to trust Ravena to get these readings. My portable equipment isn't really built to handle this density..."
Ravena Blackwind looks up from her search, "am I needed?"
Khada Dazakaar turns around. "You might be if my equipment melts"
Deryk O'hara nods to Ravena. "You may be. Khada's equipment is struggling." He just.. walks away from the table.
Ravena Blackwind stands up from kneeling. Though she doesn't need to - she dusts off her knees out of habit.
Qaelemont Drauculoix 's head tilts over to the right, then to the left, then back to the right. He arches a brow when the Xaela reacts to his tomestone whirring and lighting up like a club on Heavensturn eve. He gently rubs Deryk's back then jerks back as the air wavers in front of him above Khada's equipment. "Bordel de merde !" A strange, translucent figure wavers in the air, shifting patterns of light moving through it as though through under water.
Ravena Blackwind notes Deryk wandering off. She looks concerned for a moment, then focuses on Khada's findings.
Ravena Blackwind sees the floating creature and immediately gets to work. She works a spell in the air to analyze the aether of the scene before her. Like Wizard Lizard, Ravena tries to gleam as much information as she can in that moment. She's annoyed a little that the water distortion blurs it's form; but, she stlil does the best she can.
Deryk O'hara: "W..where did he go?.."
Qaelemont Drauculoix blinks when the Xaela just disappears like a soap bubble with a distinctive POP!
Qaelemont Drauculoix: "Merde..."
Ravena Blackwind didn't notice. She's exceedingly focused on her task.
Deryk O'hara looks up at Qaelemont. "Master.. If that.. thing.. just shoved Khada out of the room.." He looks at it.. and tries really hard to feel anything that it feels.. his eyes flash golden. It seems he hasn't given up trying to help.
Qaelemont Drauculoix 's brow furrows as he studies the thing conjured up from the book. It's a memory. A distant recollection. Thought trapped in time. Horror never forgotten. A ghost caught in a loop as its mouth moves silently, speaking words without syllables. Water in the ear. Ink in the throat. Whispers. Fragments. "... read... shelves... sinks... walks... follow... dead..." More words keep coming. More. More...
Deryk O'hara just looks down.
Khada Laxan stares at the water ghost. He has - frankly - no idea what the -hell- this thing is. It's a ghost? It's something in water. Is the thing hostile? Not really. He can't glean any information from its past, but he does try and stare at it, "Sinks. Are there bathrooms here?" He takes a breath - and just reaches out, trying to figure out what the hell this creature's desires are. This could end very, very poorly - he thinks. But he's made poor choices before.
Deryk O'hara looks up. "Yeah.. there is a large bathroom here.. but.."
Once again, that dynamis flares - saccharine sweet, almost soporific as Khada's eyes gleam.
Deryk O'hara looks away, not enjoying what he feels from Khada's dynamis. It feels.. odd.. like a creeper's eyes on him.
Khada Laxan stares at the ghost like a statue. Too long, too still, but eventually his snake familiar launches himself in the air and smacks Khada -hard- in the face with his tail, ["Hey, HEY! WAKE UP!"]
Qaelemont Drauculoix shivers and slides back a pace from the undulating spirit. Khada's poor tomestone is emitting sparks and finally dies with a sad cough and puff of smoke, scorching the polished tabletop. "Of *course* he *would* leave. Bordel de merde... putain d'exorciste..." he mutters, grousing after his friend NOPED out. "It's not devouring aether..." he speculates. "It *is* aether. Incorporeal aether... A memory. A recording of thoughts ou feelings." He looks to the other Duskwight after the snake's outburst and raises an elegant brow. Then he looks back to Ravena. "Can you catch a ghost?"
Ravena Blackwind "I can exorcise a ghost..." *Ravena carefully studies the poor spirit.* "But this feels less like a ghost, and more like you said; a memory." *Ravena takes out an empty soul crystal. For context, think a job stone without a job in it.* "Let's give this a try, shall we?" Ravena then tries to transfer the ghost memory to her stone.*
Ravena Blackwind emits a cold fog around her as her aether mingles with the scene. This might have consequences later...
Ravena Blackwind cries out in pain as her stone shatters in her hand. "Well, fuck!" Ravena takes out a handkerchief and starts to bandage her hand as the ghost escapes!!!!
Deryk O'hara reaches for her hand. "I.. let me heal you?" His hands are shaking.. his confidence shot.. but he still cares about his friend.
Khada Laxan stares at the escaping ghost, just hyperfocused on it. He makes no move to stop it, no move to actually act, though his eyes glance over to the bleeding hand, "...a warden." He murmurs, "The books are seals. And the seals are breaking, it seems."
Ravena Blackwind looks to Deryk and nods, unresisting. She looks very annoyed - but not at Deryk.
Deryk O'hara takes her hand and places his hands over her wounded hand.. Hands glowing warm and golden.. comfort.. relief.. as he convinces the wound to close.. blood to flow as normal.. not leaving a scar if he's successful.
Qaelemont Drauculoix 's nostrils flare as Ravena's blood spills, but he has the good graces to give the woman a concerned look, even if he does take a step away from her. He looks over to Khada and raises his brows at the man. "Quoi ?"
Qaelemont Drauculoix shakes his head. "Non, another time."
Qaelemont Drauculoix "Dame Blackwind needs to rest. Merde, we all do."
Khada Laxan "Something is sealed here." Khada doesn't seem particularly interested in the wounded hand, but he paused, "...mm. Rest would be good."
Qaelemont Drauculoix nods to Khada Laxan.
Deryk O'hara lets his hand fall from Ravena's leaving her wounded hand healed completely.. and steps back, looking down.
Ravena Blackwind lets out a heavy sigh as Deryk heals her hand. "Thank you." She looks to the others. "Apologies. I'm confident in my skills; but, failure is always a strict instructor."
Qaelemont Drauculoix nods to Ravena Blackwind.
Qaelemont Drauculoix "First attempt in learning." He gives Deryk a direct look at that.
Deryk O'hara doesn't look up.
Ravena Blackwind "The failure itself is a good source of information. Combine what happened with what Khada D. learned with his toys. We're not empty-handed."
Khada Laxan is just content to stare into space. Maybe he's processing something. Maybe he's just not existing, "...then we search."
Ravena Blackwind pointedly turns to Deryk. "Thank you for the healing." She then nods to Q. "I'll see myself out. I will be in touch."
Khada Laxan "There is a history of this place, correct?"
Deryk O'hara smiles softly.. his eyes softening.
Deryk O'hara looks to Khada. "A history.. of the library?"
Khada Laxan "Mm. May be useful."
Qaelemont Drauculoix looks at the Xaela's toys... what's left of them. Sokhor is NOT going to be happy about buffing that out of the table.
Deryk O'hara looks to Qaelemont. "Is there, Master? A history of the library?"
Qaelemont Drauculoix: "Of this particular location?"
Deryk O'hara shrugs. "I don't know."
Qaelemont Drauculoix "I'd have to pull the property records. I didn't research that end of it. I only visited in person to assure myself of the leylines."
Deryk O'hara looks to Khada. "Would that suffice?"
Qaelemont Drauculoix: "Et that there were no liens upon the estate."
Khada Laxan gave a shrug, "It'll be something. Don't worry, I'll figure something out." His gaze turned back to Deryk, "I may need to borrow you both later. But for now, rest."
Qaelemont Drauculoix nods to Khada Laxan.
Qaelemont Drauculoix bows courteously to Khada Laxan .
Deryk O'hara nods and takes Qaelemont's hand, following him to one of their rooms.
Qaelemont Drauculoix "Bonne soirée."
Khada Laxan "..mm. Till we meet again." And off he goes.
Deryk O'hara smiles. "Let's go cut your hair, hm?"
Qaelemont Drauculoix nods to Deryk O'hara.
Qaelemont Drauculoix: "Oui."
Qaelemont Drauculoix smiles at Deryk O'hara.