"Something is going on, I checked the child for signs of Evil Auras, and there is one present, and it is growing stronger; I fear she might yet come back as one of those undead. Watch her closely. However, there is something else going on as well; there is an echo of that evil coming from far off, connected somehow, but I think Simon might be in danger. I am going back to find him. If anyone else is coming with me, now is the time."
He hands the girl back to Kiwyn, and turns his horse back around. Then digging in his heels, sets off at breakneck pace back towards Simon.
Meridian shifts his weight, and his horse falls in next to Zhan's.
Kiwyn carefully takes Khloey's still form back from Zhan and cradles it. As the two ride off she brushes the girls bangs aside. "I am so sorry little one."
She realizes the possible danger of the girl reanimating as the others had and glances around briefly. Locating a suitable spot the kitsune carefully dismounts and carries the girl to a clear spot. Laying her down, she kneels beside the girl and draws her dagger. Setting it in her lap she takes the girl's had and holds it as she prays in her native language.
Pushing hard, but with Meridian at his side, Zhan makes an effort to reach his old friend and ally as quickly possible.
"Something funny is go'in on. I dont like it." Silent says in his usual gruff voice.
Ok, this is new.
"Zhan! Can you hear me? Can you see me?" Simon yells, not sure of things after his odd out-of-body experience.
"Then that amulet must have something to do with it. We'll need to look at it we want to know more."
Robert spares a few more moments to make sure that the girl and Kiwyn is alright before running in the direction where Zhan went off.
"Please, grant me the understanding. Why did you allow us to find this girl only to claim her so soon?" Kiwyn asked softly as she prayed. "Did I do something wrong? If so, I beg you why punish another?"
"She had been untouched by the creatures. I saw so with my own eyes." She thought to herself. "What kind of foul magic could this be?" Kiwyn gently squeezed Khloey's cold hand.
"Was the pendant cursed? No. If it had been, why had I not been affected? Could the Btotherhood be responsible? Again, why target the girl? It could not be the very town. None of us seem to have been affected. " The kitsune shook her head in confusion. "None of this makes sense."
Trying her best to clear her mind Kiwyn takes a deep breath and exhales it slowly. Still holding Khloey's hand in one of hers, the little wizard begins casting Detect Magic on the girl.
Zhan brings his horse to a halt, and gets down in an even motion. He starts walking towards 'Simon' with his hands held out, not making any sudden moves.
"You are right where you left me Simon; Kiwyn is with the others. I just left them, they are safe. Are you all right? You seem confused. What happened while I was away?"
Meridian remains mounted, his musket ready but not aimed at anything. His attention on everything at once rather than focused; looking for a disruption in the pattern that will tell him something is not right.
"Of course, of course, how could I have been so thoughtless." Kiwyn berates herself. "I let the grief blind me."
Holding tightly to Khloey's hand she continues to concentrate on the magical aura. Slowly the magical energies begin to come into focus as she attempts to unlock it's secrets.
"Well damn." Simon grumbles to himself, waving his hands to try to get the attention of his allies, who apparently couldn't see him.
"Zhan, you better figure this out or I'm going to haunt the hell out of you."
Robert arrives at the scene and then rushes over to Simon. It strikes him as very odd to see the man crying. "What happened?"
He immediately does a quick scan to see if there's anything wrong with him that might be causing it.
"I told ye gurl, dont go getting into trouble!! Ye gone and made a mess o' things!!" Silent shakes his head in disbelief.
He pauses then continues."Ye go mess'n with magic that ye not known'n one darn thing about! Ye too stubborn for ye own good. Now we're gonna have to find the person who and make sure they undo this." Silent continues to mutter under his breath about how foolish this whole thing is, something about cutting the head off of who ever did this.
"You are right, I am too stubborn for my own good. But perhaps I can be stubborn enough for her good."
Kiwyn drops the detect magic and begins chanting a new spell. Her hand forming complex gestures and motions. Ancient arcane words flow from her lips forming unseen ribbons of magical energy the begin entwining Khloey’s still form. The kitsune’s magic attempts to pierce the magical aura surrounding the girl. Trying to disentangle it from her, pulling at it so as to unravel it.
Robert moves away, somewhat wary. "This . . . looks like Simon, and yet is not him. Did the stone cause this also? Where is it?"
"You're Khloey? Yes, Kiwyn does have your body. We'll get this all figured out and get you back into your proper body. Khloey, who is Marcaus? When did he tell you this, and how?"
Zhan and Meridian and Robert
Your gentle words are soothing to Khloey, and after a moment she is calm enough to be sensible. "Marcaus is the one that saved me. He kept me safe when everybody in the town was being..." her words trail off. "He has something to do with this stone though." She pulls the small red stone out of a pocket on Simon's coat. When she holds it up, you can faintly see two figures within the stone. It is cloudy, and a red mist seems to be swirling inside of it. One of the figures you immediately notice as Simon, the other is a tall pale man, with glowing runes carved into his skin. "He said he can fix everything, but I have to get back to my body." She reluctantly hands over the chained gem to Zhan. "But he also said he needed to talk to Simon."
Silent
Kiwyn seems to be deep in meditation, and the others have left your side. You're rather angry about this, but being a stubborn individual yourself, you find subtle understanding in their actions. Not that it helps your mood any. Looking around the shipyard, you notice the ship that was in great shape seems to be available for use. There is nobody left in town, and this leads you to think that it may be wise to gather any materials you can.
The Simon in the stone does not look happy.
"Alright Khloey, we have your body, and it's safe. It is with Kiwyn. COme with me and I will take you there right away."
Zhan gestures to his horse, and invites the confused girl-in-a-man's-body to come closer and mount the animal. He secrets the chained gem in his pocket, removing it from view.
"Right." Robert is obviously out of his depth here, but follows Zhan's lead.
Meridian is utterly confused, but follows Zhan's lead while keeping a watch for any threats.
Silent will gather supplies and probably loot, taking his time to search. He's got no more objections too it. Seeing he believes most people are dead.
Kiwyn recites a few unlady-like words as she pants from her efforts. The magic on Khloey's body was just too powerful for her to effect. She looks back the way she had rode, back in Simon and the others' direction.
Standing to stretch her legs and stay by the still body. "Whatever has a hold of you little one, it is strong." The kitsune looks back at the girl. "But I promise I will not give up. I hope the others are doing well." Kiwyn returns her gaze off in the direction of her companions.
Zhan, Robert, Meridian and Simon are all returning to the site of Kiwyn, and when 'Simon' sees her body, she runs over and slides towards Kiwyn. "Ahhhh! Kiwyn, it's me, it's Khloey. What happened to me? Is my body ok? Zhan said you kept it...me...safe? she stops for a moment..."I'm still me right? My body is still me?" she looks at Kiwyn confused. In this moment, you look into Simons eyes, and you see they are not his, but Khloey instead.
The rest of you notice that Silent isn't in the immediate vicinity, but hear him nearby the ship. You also notice a pile of goods near Kiwyn.
Kiwyn blinks in confusion of her own when 'Simon' rushes to her and begins 'rambling'. But looking into 'his' eyes Kiwyn begins to comprehend what had happened. "Of course. Moving a soul from one vessel to another would require a powerful necromantic magic."
Kiwyn places her hands on 'Simon's shoulders and smiles at the scared little girl inside. "Shh, shh.. Your body is fine little one." She puts a hand on 'his' cheek. "We will find a way to put things right."
It's about then the wizard realizes the other half of the problem and looks up at the others with some concern. "Where is Simon then?"
"He is here, Zhan states, holding the gem aloft by its chain. "Well? I saw two of you in there and I assume the other is the one Khloey said she had spoken to. Can you set this right?"
Silent will grab the ring and continue to search the ship. After he will also wait till Kiwyn calms down and see if she can help him identify the items. All while grumbling why anyone would let this stuff go to waste, specially the smithing materials.
When Zhan speaks, there is a glowing light from the stone, that bursts forward in all directions. The light subsides after a moment of shining. When the light subsides, Khloey starts to move in Kiwyns arms, and Simon, who has fallen to the floor, starts to rise up.
Robert's eyes widen. He laces his hands together in front of him nervously.
"That was not pleasant..." Simon growled, standing up and brushing himself off.
Kiwyn shields her eyes as the stone flashes. She blinks a bit as it subsides.
Feeling Khloey moving in her arms again she looks down, hopeful but reserved. She glances back at Simon's body as he stands up and grumbles. Satisfied that he was once again himself she turns back to the girl in her arms. "Khloey?"
Khloey stirs in the arms of Kiwyn, opening her eyes to see the young wizard looking down at her. "Kiwyn!" She jumps up and throws her arms around Kiwyn. The young girl that was seemingly dead only moments ago, now lives, and is as vibrant as ever. While she is enjoying her reunion with Kiwyn, you all notice that the sun is setting, and the canvas of yellow and orange that paint the sky fades into orange and purple. Night will be upon you soon, and the town is currently empty of life. The fires finished burning a couple hours ago, and everything for now is quiet.
Now himself, Simon is visibly irritated, angry, seemingly disgusted, and confused. The rash accumulation of feelings are new to all but Zhan, having seen this before under circumstances of extreme stress.
Kiwyn hugs Khloey back just as tightly. "I am so sorry that happen child. I promise to never give up on you."
"I thought I had lost her for a moment. I had almost given up, but not again. She promises herself.
Catching sight of the setting sun Kiwyn looks up at the others. "We should find someplace in town to to stay the night. Some place we can secure." She pauses to think a moment before offering her opinions for possible places to hole up the night.
"Perhaps the inn, the garrison, or even the mayor's house. I would think any of them would be large enough for us all, be sufficiently stocked, and have have closed in stables for the mounts." She offers, looking around at them.
Turning to Simon, Zhan gives him a pat on the shoulder, relief in his eyes. "Glad to have you back."
Turning to Kiwyn, he responds to her suggestions. "Hopefully we have seen the last of those undead, but just in case they rise again with the night, or we face some other horror, let us choose some place relatively secure; the jail was a bit lacking in security... The garrison would be a good choice, or if any of you feel confident enough to maneuver a ship, we could even take one of those moored here out into the bay for the night. That would hopefully keep us away from any trouble here in the city."
Simon shivers and pulls the collar of his coat higher.
"Thanks." he said dryly, clearly not in the right headspace to be making decisions. he rolled his shoulders and neck like he had an itch on his back.
Robert doesn't quite understand what's going on but nods. "I'm glad you're both alright now. Zhan, that seems wise. The garrison would be better, I think."
Meridian simply sits his horse, watching what is happening as well as the surrounding city. When there is a debate as to where to hole up for the night, he nods in agreement with Robert. Meridian seems unnerved by the goings on, and is disinclined to speak.
"Alright, seems decided. Let's head for the garrison and make it as secure as we can before nightfall."
Zhan mounts his horse and leads the group back towards the city guard's garrison.
Meridian waits for the others to follow Zhan, choosing to serve as rear guard.
Simon whistles sharply and waits for his horse to come trotting back from wherever he's run off to when he was shunted out of his body.
About thirty seconds later the large friesian stallion came trotting back. The big beast seemed hesitant at first, taking it's time to check on it's rider. It chuffed at Simon's ribs. Simon sighed.
"Yeah, I know. I don't like it either but we're going to have to get used to it. I'm still me."
The horse seemed satisfied and Simon mounted up to follow the group.
Kiwyn nods in agreement and helps Khloey up into the saddle before climbing up behind her. "A meal and a night rest I think will have us all feeling better come the morning I think." She tries to sound encouraging and optimistic.
"Aye, Girl if ye dont mind, look at these wares when we get to camp. I'm hoping they can help us out. Also ye may want to look up in captain's chambers. Lots of books and papers up there. Silent says to Kiwyn. To the group he says with a glint in his eye, "Good to see things back to normalish. Who of ye wants to help me open this chest?"
"I'm afraid locks are not my forte."
Zhan continues to ride forward, looking for signs of the stone walled Garrison up ahead.