it's a dead man's party; who could ask for more?

[deadelfwalking]

Date & Time: 10/9, however many days beyond
Location: Around the city
Characters: Koltira Deathweaver, yOU?
Summary: this stupid fuck is back from the dead. you should probably punch him in the goddamn face.
Warnings: this intro prose is hideously purple pls forgive



He knew of the rumors, had heard the theories whispered throughout the halls of the Undercity, the muttering among the troops he once commanded at Andorhal. According to some, true death for the undead was a release, and perhaps this was the case for the petty troops of the Scourge: the ghouls, the geists, all those creatures who were merely shells for otherwise untainted souls. But for the higher orders of the undead, the reality was much more dire. Koltira's will was his own, but his soul was irrevocably stained, fractured by the Lich King and the unforgivable acts Koltira had committed while enslaved to that overarching dominance. He was damned in this life and the next, as he discovered soon after the last of his energy ebbed out of his broken, mangled body.

For a few brief, shining moments, he felt restored. Whole. Koltira had observed his corpse, now truly still, unattended on the forest floor, and felt nothing but serenity. But then he was thrust into another world, blinded and lost, beset on all sides by slavering, growling things that stared at him hungrily as they gathered for their feast.

Koltira had no defenses. He could not move, nor cry out; he was nothing but vulnerable spirit stuff here, tender and primed for the shredding. And the shredding had come. An eternity seemed to pass, and each inching, crawling second of it was stretched out beyond rational possibility. The creatures of this otherworld had fed on him, ceaselessly, mercilessly, until he was sure that there was no more of him left to take. But somehow their claws always found something to slice. His consciousness was reduced to the basest emotions: despair; terror; agony. He was nothing else, and he deserved nothing else.

Then, inexplicably, Koltira had woken up. He was back on the island, back in his monstrous body, Byfrost lying next to him. The Initiative had resurrected him, and for once he was relieved to feel the old, familiar pain coursing through his limbs. It was nothing compared to what he had just endured.

Koltira's armor was not there in the infirmary, but someone had laid out a suit and a pair of gloves, presumably taken from his sparse room in the apartments. He had climbed out of the bed, dressed himself, taken up Byfrost, and walked out. There was work to be done.

The memory of the past few days lingered, nevertheless, haunting him as he moved about the city, coming and going in brief, dark flashes. He supposed it would for some time.

[ooc: tags can be either action or prose; whatever is easiest! You may find him on the street, in the bars, or lurking in the apartment buildings over the next several days.]

Comments

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira's own gaze seems hugely interested in the ground.]

I will wait, and I will watch, and when it becomes necessary, I will neutralize him again.

[stonefaith]

Of course you will. I've no doubt of that.

[ He was bitter, perhaps unjustly so, and it came through in his voice. In better times he might have been more considerate. He might have understood. He might have, at the very least, been worried. But these days his worry tended to twist into anger and he had given up on undoing that damage.

He leans back, still looking down at the other man. ]

Are you proud of yourself? For what you've done?

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira's ears twitch at Bariyan's phrasing. Dislike he could tolerate. Cold treatment was expected. Distrust, a given. But condescension? That was too much, even for him, even for right now. He looks up, and the cold blue of his eyes flares just slightly.]

What exactly do you mean, Bariyan?

[stonefaith]

Do you feel that you've done the right thing?

[ His leans forward, suddenly, his words coming harsh and fast. There's a return flare in his own eyes, too. Subtler, quickly repressed. He freezes as he is for two seconds, three-- then the tension drains out of him, and he leans back again. Lazy, uncoiling. ]

No. I suppose you must. Good for you, then. I hope you learned something from it.

[deadelfwalking]

[He's incredulous, now.]

You're--angry with me, aren't you? [Koltira isn't always the most perceptive guy in the room, but this is all pretty hard to miss. He just doesn't understand it. How could his actions possibly matter to Bariyan one way or another?] Why?

[stonefaith]

I'm angry with everything, Koltira. [ flat and emotionless again. the same answer he'd given someone else. that had only been a few months ago. things had not changed since then.

bariyan gets up, pausing only to find his balance before descending the stairs, stepping delicately past the other man as if to walk away from this entirely. ]

It doesn't matter. You'll do whatever it is that you think best and I'll have to support whatever you decide. There's no use in fighting you.

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira is desperately confused, but perhaps he should just let Bariyan walk away. He thinks back to their excursion, to Bariyan's sincere apologies--his sudden kindness, his anxieties over Martin, etc. Had all of that been a fluke?

Of course, he recalls Bariyan warning him against going after Arthas, too.]

--is this because I disregarded your advice? I am sorry for that, but--

[he stops suddenly, gritting his teeth. Those bodiless claws are on him again, ripping, tearing, and the jaws, too, wide and hungry and so close. The rest of the sentence is strangled in his throat, and he becomes still for the next few seconds, waiting for the flash to pass.]

I am sorry, but I didn't know what else to do, not in that moment. I shall not go alone again, however, of that you can be sure.

[stonefaith]

[ bariyan turns back at the pause, at the choking. his frown finally breaks from coldness to concern, but koltira picks up again before bariyan can ask what is wrong. and he forgets the moment in his haste to answer. ]

Can I, now. [ there's still very little inflection in his voice, but his articulation is not quite so sharp. ] What changed your mind?

[deadelfwalking]

[still reeling from the flash, he sits down, pressing one palm flat against his forehead.

This nightmare changed my mind.]

Byfrost has evolved, and because of that, I was able to wound Arthas severely. But not mortally. It is not enough, not yet. So I have realized.

[stonefaith]

[ It takes Bariyan a while to process that answer. It was not the answer that he had expected. He had expected.... more resistance. The same as before. He had not anticipated any change. Never did, not anymore.

He exhales, slow, through his teeth. ]

So you have learned.

[ He turns back to face Koltira, as it appears that he will not be leaving yet, but says nothing more. He feels drained, suddenly. Emptied of anger. Now struggling to find something else in its absence. ]

[deadelfwalking]

[he closes his eyes, and then winces, because wow, that's a bad idea right now. He's still not particularly appreciative of Bariyan's tone--and he doesn't quite understand it, either. The man had expressed uncertainty over the circumstances of Martin's return, but Koltira feels that the situation must be much worse, and much deeper, than he had previously imagined.

What can he do, though? As predicted, he seems to be only a stressor in Bariyan's life.

Koltira opens his eyes, his half-smiled pained, and looks up to the sky.]

There is no teacher like experience.

[stonefaith]

[ He moves slowly, unsurely, back to crouch in front of Koltira, arms folded across his knees. If anything, he still looks angry. Or irritated, at the least. ]

No. There is not. [ He watches Koltira. He still finds the man hard to read, perhaps always will. Can't tell what the smile is for.... Bariyan scowls. ]

Do you realize how many people you worried?

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira meets Bariyan's eye.]

Were you one of them?

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan stares right back.

Anger wells up in him again and for half a moment he is seized with the impulse to say no, to get up and walk away and leave this be. But the anger unravels itself back into the anxiety that it had come from, to the concern. Emma had said that Koltira had died... and, unable to cope with that idea on his own, Bariyan had run to Martin. He'd needed reassurance. He'd been afraid.

Bariyan lowers his eyes and turns his head away. ]

I would not have told you to stay back if I did not care.

[deadelfwalking]

[Oh.]

I thought you had simply found me foolish.

[which he was, admittedly, but it's not necessary to care about a fool.]

[stonefaith]

And you think I have time to waste on fools I don't care for? No. [ 'course not. that's time wasted that could be spent drinking. ] Seems that my time was wasted anyway, of course. You did not listen.

[deadelfwalking]

I only meant to--

[another pause, as Bariyan's irritated face suddenly shifts, becoming formless and black, filled with no discernible shape but teeth. He inhales sharply, pressing on.] --protect you. And the others.

[stonefaith]

Of course. [ It takes a great deal of effort for Bariyan to keep the bitterness out of his voice, this time, and he still fails to hold all of it back. ] And you did well. The Lich King has killed approximately zero of us so far, the last I checked.

[ He inhales and bites back on his lip. He's being unkind. He knows he is. He sighs. ]

You're too noble for your own good, Koltira.

[deadelfwalking]

[No worries; Koltira takes it well enough, shaking his head.]

No--I am not. It is not noble to lie alone in the woods, bleeding onto the grass ... [he rakes a hand down his face.] It is ridiculous.

But I have known Arthas before, not only in Azeroth, but in a city similar to this one. He targeted the people I loved most. He tortured them. He killed them. And then he put them on display, for me.

That was all I could think of when I saw his face, here in Exsilium.

[stonefaith]

[ Terrible as all those things are, it is hard to internalize the full impact of something when described in only a few words. Especially for Bariyan. He can only consider this information briefly now, and file it away for deeper thought later. ]

What did you do about him, in that other place?

[deadelfwalking]

Truth be told, I cannot remember. [IT WAS PRETTY MUCH THE SAME THING HE DID HERE, THOUGH, EXCEPT HE DIDN'T DIE.]

My memories of that city are incomplete. However, there was a much more significant force there from Azeroth than we have here. I would imagine that we banded together against him.

[stonefaith]

And what, do you think that an Azerothian force is the only one that could defeat him? [ almost a scoff. ]

[deadelfwalking]

[he was expecting that, and he just sighs tiredly, looking down at his gloved hands.]

I do not mean to cause offense. Many here are powerful, even more so than I am. It is not a matter of that. The campaign against Arthas involved every able-bodied man and woman, of all races, and of every faction, across our entire world. The campaign raged for well over a year, and it took an army to defeat him.

[he balls his hands into fists.] An Azerothian understands the stakes. I fear many of you do not.

[stonefaith]

You fear. Do you know?

[ Bariyan's no longer sure of what he's saying -- or why. Koltira has not been as set in his opinions as Bariyan had expected and that leaves him with little else to squeeze out of this conversation. If Koltira understands now, then he understands. There is no need for Bariyan to knock it in any further.

He looks away and raises a hand to rub at the back of his neck, jostling the chain. ]

Talk to the rest, if you plan on going after this Arthas again. I'm sure you'll be able to talk understanding into some of them, at least.

[deadelfwalking]

[Koltira glances from the chain to Bariyan's face, frowning.]

I admit that you are among my primary concerns.