» Hauntings & Healings

the Rift

They come to the Wolf God’s aid…or do they simply come with vengeance in their hearts? Perhaps, if Reszo would have been more real and his last vestige less infected by the Rift’s sickness, he would be intrigued to understand the subtle differences between Zahra’s wild wielding in the skies and Mbwana’s fearful cowering. He may be inclined to understand the warlord Volterra’s endless strikes and Otem’s subtle protection of himself and the cowering colt.

The one-winged phantom that plagued the first to arrive screamed with sharpened, voiceless jaws at the gold-bellied mare. They rip from Zahra her branch charm, morphing into their jaws and leaving it a wispy husk of itself. But this vengeful apparition is not done—oh no, those endless jaws open further in fury as the Eleos struck it in half with its wings. This specter of a past life reacts in kind, those ghostly jaws reaching towards the very wing that cleaved her in two; the ghost proved herself more than just an ephemeral nightmare as she consumed the mortal flesh of the white and gold-tipped wing from the stallion, leaving nothing but a ghostly echo.

Phantoms of many pasts swarm around a gathering of bodies—surrounding a cowering colt so afeared for his life as sanity slips to and fro, like an ocean tide. But there is no tide here; no pleasant waves to lull one into safety. Oh no, to the black stallion that tries to help the poor youngster, the these dead shadows swarm; they invade the nostrils, seeking to suffocate, and in their wake they leave their mark, streaming from Tamlin’s nares.

Around the colt in question, these specters hover, as if tasting his fear; and then they strike, blanketing the colt in a blackness so thick, it was tangible. They would leave their mark, reminding Mbwana of them whenever he felt scared.

And to Otem—the small filly so marked by favor of Kisamoa found no favor here. A single, small specter rose from the blackness surrounding Mbwana. So small—barely even equid, this demon hovered; it was a ghost of ghost, something killed by her mother in its womb so long ago… this misshapen creature stared for an eternity (—or was it a mere moments?—) at the living, breathing daughter…before turning its wicked, sharp, misshapen jaws on the very sprite that chased it towards Reszo. The vengeful shadow would make these sprites as sick as it.

There was one, far and deep within the howling, writhing mass of angry ghosts. A goliath of a man, Volterra, chasing a memory already quite dead. This great beast turns on them, a whirling and snarling mass of lunging teeth and flying limbs. So, these horrid specters seize his jaw and pull his tongue so far from his lips that it just may rip clean from its root. But that is not their game; oh no, while pulling on his tongue these ghosts root deep in his jaws, forever marking any he touches with his lips. And to his son, the lava leaking colt who does not attack… they leave him be.

Before the man with a skull upon his withers the mists condense; an image, a ghost of a long-dead Reaper appears…before fading into naught but death’s scythe. A single slice of cold, rushing air and it has cleaved from your chin the very beard that so proudly sprouts—in it’s place is a nest of writhing, misting snakes.

A mothers love is a funny thing… so pure and true. And so happily warped by these specters. The ghost stares, with wicked smiles, before dissolving into a thousand bees in the face of Melita’s stinging fury. Though they are silent, one can feel the thrum of their angry hum through the air as they burrow into the filly’s many white spots. There they will live, until the time comes to remind the young girl of their presence.

And to the admirable young man, Iskra, who gallant defended the bee-girl, these specters also swarm for a moment. Though they then shy away from Reszo’s blood that pulses so close to the god’s power.

Dragons are so much more common here, now; and there so these ghosts do not even hesitate as the gold-touched dragon hybrid delves into their depths, chasing a long dead spectre. They writhe with glee as this phantom of a mother whirls and turns on Amaris, suddenly draconic fangs sinking repeatedly into her scaled flesh. These ghostly wounds would leave ghastly scars.

One thing the remnant of Reszo did note was that Erthe, the cold and pearly hybrid, bringing a relic of his solid form closer. Red eyes turn, for a brief moment, from his endless battle with these vindictive, relentless wraiths; and they burn with appreciation towards the pale mare. The god’s fang flares briefly, a bright and searing red that burns away the shades as well as shatters into 3 deciduous wolf teeth.

A pale ghost stood before the gargoyle queen, Oizys. She stared, vindictive and estranged from her screaming, angry child…before slowly morphing. This specter grew huge and masculine, shifting between giant stallion and basilisk. Was it the young mare’s sire? Whoever it was, this angry ghost snarled and snapped its snake-like jaws at the spark-wolf that chased it towards Reszo—though the god did spare an approving blink towards the wolf creature. However, this hostile shadow would not leave such an affront go unpunished…and Oizys’ spark magic was to be penalized.

A whole mess of dead, dark souls descends upon Lyanna, Family, friends, and everything in between. They attack—but there is one in particular. A grey mare, whose horn is now whole, unlike what it had been in her true life. So this mare-spirit plunges her horn into Lyanna’s chest, leaving there a token of her fury beyond the grave.

These ghosts gleefully dance around Weaver’s scythe, untouched by its blood poisoning magic—as ghosts are bloodless. However, they do find the rune of death on her chest quite interesting; and there they infest for later times.

The great wolf god’s jaws pause in their snapping and snarling as a familiar voice calls to him. “My daughter,” the words are less words and more thoughts that echo through the mists. And they are sad, forlorn, as they answer her plea, “You must help me, before I may help you.” Though the god, forever bonded to his pack as any wolf would be, breaths gently in her direction.

Around the star mare’s horn, these ghouls skip and play. Their endless eyes never seem to leave hers, despite their many movements. One particularly vicious soul latches onto her horn and pulls and pulls and pulls—so hard that, for a few breathtaking moments, it seems that this ghost of her father will rip it from her skull…but it releases it, leaving her unscathed, save for a sore skull.

Finally, finally, with a triumphant and resounding snarl, these many ghosts screech one last, desperate and noiseless sound that is felt instead of heard. And then they are torn into a thousand mist droplets, shredded by the god’s teeth that are suddenly everywhere.

And, though triumphant, the wolf god is gone once again. His heart is dead as it was, with mere whips of angry specters left as echoes of the fury that writhed mere moments before.

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Reszo has gone, bringing (most) of the vengeful spirits under control! You may reply to this thread for closure; it will be archived in ~1 week’s time. (Also, apologies for the atrocious grammar in this post :P )

Specter Effects: {already added to records & decided by dice roll}
Zahra - Branch charm emits continuous black fog and no longer glows.
Eleos - Rips one wing from him, leaving a ghostly echo of it behind.
Tamlin - Black mist billows from nostrils.
Mbwana - Black markings grown and consume parts of coat when experiencing fear.
Otem - Earth sprites now intermittently vomit black smoke.
Votlerra - Now has black, slightly acidic saliva.
Erebos - Now has beard of black-mist snakes.
Melita - Black honey now oozes from bird-catcher spots.
Amaris - Covered with bite-wound scars that burn with black smoke when wet.
Erthe - Now has 3 deciduous wolf eyeteeth that allow for past/future scrying when arranged in a circle.
Oizys - Lightning creatures now shock Oizys.
Lyanna - Tip of glowing black crystal horn embedded in chest.
Weaver - Death rune on chest painfully burns red whenever scythe is used.
Kahli - May summon a black, blinding mist from transparent horns.