Re: The bogs of Erestelle

[YeweLion]

A quiet hum akin to a soft swarm of insects sounded from the fae king, filling the silence as he mulled over Zepar’s words. He supposed that the demon wasn’t incorrect, they did have startling abilities. Their use of magic was…swift and dangerous, but even flame could birth something new. It was known for the fae to burn a sick forest down when it was too far gone for their magic to make a difference. It wasn’t necessarily a bad experience, for they knew a bigger, stronger forest would replace the one lost.

“Have you even tried?” Andromedeux counter-argued, with a strange expression. It appeared that he had tried to raise a non-existing brow. “I do not doubt that it is strange for a creature like yourself to hide, but now would be a good time to start if you really want that mark gone.”

The king made another wooden expression, this time squinting as he attempted to wrinkle a nonexistent nose. “Not to mention the disappearances.”

It was the whole reason why he had left his kingdom to begin with. That, among other reasons of course. Although it hadn’t been linked together formally, he was fairly certain that those so-called “Sons of Helios” were to blame. If they were treading through his forests to claim his people, then Andromedeux wasn’t too sure of their safety on his lands.

They were both strong, sure…but despite all of his pride, the king wasn’t foolish enough to think himself invincible.

“If you cannot do it, shall I try?”

[Wolkenser]

The demon’s jaw hung lightly as he stared at Andromedeux with incredulity. Surely he was jesting?
“Tried?” A bellow escaped him along with a chuckle. “If you’d ask a dwarf to try and be taller, he’d not grow. Our magic is different.” Zepar then repeated, dropping the left arm to his side as he seemed to analyze the other man.

Suddenly, he was both intrigued and disgusted. He could try, yes, but Zepar wasn’t quite sure if he wanted him to. He hadn’t seen fae magic be worked on demons before and the outcome, though hard to admit, irked and even scared him. Magic itself was a terribly volatile resource to work with, albeit still craved by many a person, though his own people didn’t hold it in too high a regard.

Demons and the Tolderan people weren’t all that different – fighting is what matters, strength measures your worth.
Their kindred race were different – more akin to the elves and perhaps even the fairies. They’d often study the magic and attempt to master it, even if this wrought havoc in their society. Should they fail, they’d add to a pile of failed experiments, but if they’d succeed, their names would be remembered with reverence.
Absurd.

With an expression that hinted at suspicion and questioning, Zepar furrowed his brows at the fae and narrowed his eyes.
“Perhaps.” He said after a few seconds of silence. “But what, exactly, would you do?”

[YeweLion]

Waving off Zepar’s first reply, Andromedeux skipped right to the meat of it. He grinned- an expression that was rather unsettling on a being that resembled a tree.

“Well,” He started, wandering over until he was rather close to the demon. His unblinking gaze clawed up and down Zepar’s body until it landed on the scrunched up expression the creature wore. “For one, I would make that scary face of yours look a lot sweeter.”

The fae king snorted a laugh at his own joke, paying no mind to the fact that it would probably upset Zepar. There was still plenty to fear from the demon, but being around him for so long was beginning to make Andromedeux drunk with confidence.

“I am basically going to pump you full of my mana and temporarily change the way you refract light. It is different than how I change, but you are not fae.”

Honestly, he really hoped it would be as simple as that. Most of the creatures he had transformed were small and dumb-witted. Zepar was…Zepar was definitely the opposite.

“I would have to use a visage that I have personally seen in the past, however. Do you have a preference of race? My people have a habit of hating things that are not like us, but I feel like anything other than you would be okay.” Andromedeux flashed a grin. “So take your pick.”

[Wolkenser]

It was hard to say what emotion was taking reign in Zepar's mind; paranoia, curiosity, mistrust or the sheer frustration of knowing that he'd regardless agree? It was aggravating.

An expression line deepened in one of the corners of the demon's lips - a confession his inner disagreement. His intermittent breathing was slow and deep, as if every time he exhaled he was sighing, and his eyes dropped from the fae to the soil under them for just a moment before returning.
The grin Andromedeux now wore did little to comfort him, it even reminded Zepar how little he could trust him thus far.

A visage? So it would not actually be shifting anything he could do, it seemed. This made the decision easier to swallow, to be sure. After what he'd seen earlier, he had to admit it was slightly relieving that the shifting would not be similar to that of the fairy man - somewhere in the back of his mind, it was also disappointing.

The demon sighed out a perhaps personal "Fine.", low and soft. He couldn't continue, however. He didn't know what to respond or how to say what he thought; should he leave it at the fae's discretion? That, in itself, sounded like a terrible idea. On the other hand, Zepar couldn't possibly predict what would cause the least horrid reaction amongst the fairyfolk. It was a given fact, however, that demons didn't cause the best impressions infront of anyone - even with humans.

"I - don't truly care." He said with a somewhat doubtful tone, though with some finality. "If its a visage, as you say, then knowing nothing else changes is enough. The way I look to others couldn't matter less to me."

[YeweLion]

It wasn’t difficult to see the fae’s excitement if you were capable of reading his bark-like features. With all but a clap of his hands, Andromedeux grinned a wooden smile.
“Excellent!”

Experiments were fun. Experiments on fellows that had upset were even more fun.
The king began to size the demon up once more with a silent stare, almost as if he were slicing the beast up with a fine razor. How was he going to do this? Who was he going to use? His first instinct was to use his father’s visage to perhaps get a rise out of his lovely subjects- what great fun THAT would be. It would be like seeing a ghost… Ah, but for that very reason Andromedeux gritted his teeth and decided on a different path. He wasn’t quite…ready, to see his father so soon.

Zepar was giving him free reign to decide what he would appear as. Andromedeux toyed with the idea of teasing the beast, perhaps giving him a bosom. Though he somehow knew that it wouldn’t really make a difference. After all, Zepar had no qualms with nudity and he didn’t seem to make a fuss over gender. Attempting to wrinkle his wooden face, Andromedeux crossed his arms and fixed his test subject with a look.

“I was stolen away,” He murmured quietly, eyes unblinking. “It was dark. There were many. You…”

Andromedeux wandered closer before reaching out to beckon Zepar closer, palm outstretched and reaching for the beast’s face.

“You were there and assisted me in escape. I owe you. You wish for it gone.”

The king had entered some sort of trance by then, his gaze cloudy and distant. Even his words seemed to echo in his throat. His ears though…his ears were deafened by the crackle of mana that was flowing through his core, burning his flesh in a way that left it unmarred.

[Wolkenser]

The fae’s evident excitement slowly began to make Zepar’s mouth feel dry. There was something oddly disturbing about Andromedeux being this amused and excited about using his magic on him, though the large demon attempted to make no show of the discomfort he was interiorizing in the mouth of his stomach.

The feeling of being inspected was something that he was used to, though not in this way. The fae’s scrutinizing eyes tingled the surface of the demon’s skin, a quiet voice in the back of his mind kept telling him to keep his guard.

Zepar, however, made no real movement; his eyes simply followed the motions and expressions the other man made, sometimes causing a small twitch in the edges of his brows or the clawed fingers of his left hand hanging by his side.

Suddenly, Andromedeux shifted. Though surprised at the unpredicted motion, Zepar did but pull his head back but slightly and stared - until the fae began to talk. Though doubtful, the demon inched his head back towards the fairy man and hunched his torso so Andromedeux could reach him.

The story the other man began to narrate made Zepar raise an eyebrow as curiosity invaded the scarred, coarse features of his face. Was he recalling the events that happened? Since the fae princeling had mentioned he couldn't create an image, he assumed it'd be thus. Perhaps, however, he was telling him what he ought to keep in mind when acting as the visage he'd be given. Either way, he payed close attention.

The wooden fae had entered a sort of stupor, it seemed, and in what way. It was an interesting and mildly intimidating image that reminded him of the mages he’d once seen, thousands of years ago. Their reckless manipulation of the magical energies was something that he would never envy or personally attempt, but always struggle to try and understand – almost by how a highly destructive explosion is interesting at the same time it’s horrifying.
The demon could only hope that Andromedeux knew what he was doing – whatever that was.

[YeweLion]

The Unseelie king’s finger tips connected gently with hot flesh that made them tingle, no doubt from the silent power that the demon held within. Being a wielder of magic had only made him that much more aware of others’ abilities, and so Andromedeux was not surprised in the least when a very painful jolt of what he could only describe as lightning coursed out from Zepar and up into his outstretched hand.

A silent yelp rounded the fae’s mouth, making him pause in his tracks as he acknowledged the pain, the only further sign of it being the slight curl of his fingers as they fought to remain where they were. Conflicting magics, different indeed.
Andromedeux focused on the near-distant memory that had begun to take physical form in his mind through the visage of Zepar until the fae was positive that he had envisioned the face completely.

“I hope you are not squeamish.”

The wooden smile upon his face returned once again, but it was obviously an afterthought as the king lifted his free hand to his mouth. For a moment it appeared that he was merely covering his face, but a second later the fingers were moved away and a thick, dark, liquid dripped from the fae’s mouth. It was a strange color, near-black but shimmery blue like a scarab’s back. As he lifted the fingers up and towards Zepar’s face, it quickly became apparent that Andromedeux had bitten himself and the dark fluid was actually his blood, tinged with all of his sin.

The wound served as a funnel, allowing his mana to flow freely like a stream. Most of it either dripped down onto the ground or down the barky flesh of his arm, but the rest was smeared along the demon’s face until he wore a gruesome mask.

“Snæs-idanc, thîr en vincarna enyalië. Khus.”

Andromedeux breathed out the spell with quiet force, definitive and sure. His eyes suddenly flickered in a strange way, as if they were rolling and his eyelids flickering. The king stood rigid in place, momentarily blind to the world. He silently hoped that he hadn’t messed up the ritual, and that when he opened his eyes he would see the familiar face of Halbjörn.

[Wolkenser]

Fairy rituals and magic seemed truly odd. Zepar had imagined and formed several outcomes in his mind, but what had happened was something he could not have guessed.
At first, Zepar felt a prickle on his dark skin as it came in contact with the jagged bark of Andromedeux’s fingers. It had seemed that the young fae had received some sort of energy from him, judging from the expression that then reigned on his tree-like face.

He could not have imagined that it would be Andromedeux the one in the receiving end of the apparent pain he went through, as usually when it came to magic the receiver more oft than not ended up screaming. At that moment, the demon felt somewhat confused and perhaps slightly lost, though he assumed they were not quite done yet.

Then, his question came rather unexpectedly.
Zepar answered with a snort of sorts and a half curl of his lips that left as quickly as it had come. As the Andromedeux lifted his hand the demon’s bright eyes followed the motions with a mix of interest and paranoia, though soon after the other man removed it they lingered on the liquid that fell in droplets from his mouth.

For a moment, he thought it was saliva – not a moment later did he realize that no… it was his blood. Ah, yes. The unpractical magic of the Unseelie, as he had seen it in Tolderas a few days back. Blood and runic magic.
Instinctively, Zepar pulled slightly back when the blueish liquid was spread across his face. He quickly tensed his neck and shoulders to stop himself and closed his eyes with a cringe.

Squeamish wasn’t something he would describe himself to be, but having blood rubbed against his face didn’t exactly make his list of ‘Things I enjoy feeling’.
With every word of the spell that flew from Andromedeux’s lips came a feeling resembling a wave of sensations that felt as though they griped every nerve on his spine, almost as if someone had poured a hot liquid on top of cold. A jarring sensation when paired with the shockwaves of mana that ran wild through his nerves’ ends.

Presumably, the feeling would’ve been hilariously intense to other races, but there are little things in this world that can outmatch the inner heat of the Íllr'faegir, as was their true name.
It was, however, a miracle by itself that anything managed to give him a feeling of warmth, let alone any magic.

Not soon after, the demon felt as though he was receiving constant yet small surges of energy. Dark skin turned pale and pinkish as spines seemed to have suddenly dissolved under peasant clothing. Supple leather boots took the place of the brutishly immense long-furred hooves, and gigantic wings had been hidden under the mirage-like spell the fae had cast.
In place of the large demon’s horned and spined face, was instead, Halbjörn’s red maned and bearded face, impassive yet betraying its once gentle familiarity with Zepar’s usual harshness.

[Sponsored content]