Soul Searching ...

[Jezerai]

Tayntrix stared at her reflection in the mirror intently.  Contrary to what some may think upon seeing a lovely young elf regarding herself so fixedly in her looking glass, Tayntrix was not judging the beauty of her reflection.  She did not notice the russet braids laced with flowers that lay across her shoulders, nor did she pay attention to the wide, green, upward-tilting eyes that stared so determinedly back from the mirror.  Rather, she stared past the surface of her reflection, attempting to probe the substance beneath the outward image.

Finding her exercise to be fruitless, Tayntrix sighed and turned away.  "Hello?"  Her soft voice trembled, fearing that there would be a response.  But there was none.  She sighed again.  Unlike others she had talked to, she couldn't really hear the souls that had been assigned to her by the Vigil.  She would occasionally catch stray snippets of thoughts that would startle her with their strangeness, their alien feel.  But, always a calm, steady, sensible sort of girl, she would allow these impressions from other souls to flow through her and was little bothered by their presence after so many weeks association. 

That is, she was able to filter these odd thoughts out until her last soul, the Necromancer, had been added.  Indeed, she had put off acquiring this soul until last.  Her gentle nature was horrified by the practices of necromancers, even the relatively benign practices of the Guardian ones.  She had balked when the notion had been breached to her by her trainer.  There were plenty of others who had no hesitation accepting such a tainted soul, while for her it was anathema.  She had pled to let these others take the burden.  But the Vigil had quietly, but firmly insisted.  There were too few Ascended to allow such squeamishness.  Every Ascended had a duty to carry as full a complement of souls as they were able to bear.  She understood the point of the lecture, but could not help shuddering at the thought that this taint was touching her own soul.

And so, she stared into the mirror, dreading what she might see.  The face of the necromancer peering back at her.  She said hello, dreading to hear a response from the necromancer riding piggy-back on her soul.

"Hello?" She said softly, once again, into the quiet stillness of her room.

[Jezerai]

Tayntrix lightly rubbed the surface of the weathered piece of bone, trying not to think of it as what it was ... the remnant of a once living, breathing, laughing, loving man or woman.  Her mind filled with ways that the bone could be used.  She repressed the shudder of revulsion she had at the thought of making use of this left over bit of humanity.  It was important not to squander the knowledge she had been given, even if she much preferred relying on her own elemental companions to an animated skeleton to fight beside.

A deep, masculine chuckle filled her mind, startling her and causing her to drop the bone, which bounced and rolled off down the hill.  "You remind me much of my sister."  Tayntrix scrambled to stand, looking around for the speaker, even while she realized that the voice came from inside her own mind.  None of her other souls had spoken to her so distinctly, and with such a strength of personality.

"Who ... who are you?"  Tayntrix knew the answer even before she finished the question.  It could be none other than the necromancer, the last soul she had added.  The thought chilled her, even as the cold was dispelled by the warmth evident in the timber of the voice.

"You may call me Naddok, though I believe I am really part of you now."  Tayntrix could sense a twinkling eye and a tall figure filled her mind's eye, bowing as he introduced himself. 

[Jezerai]

Tayntrix felt a warm brush of air, as though someone exhaled close to her cheek, and blushed.  The necromancer's soul was certainly disconcerting and she did not have sufficient experience to know how to handle someone of this ... vivacity.  Naddok chuckled.

Feeling at a distinct loss, Tayntrix ventured an uncertain ... "Your sister?"

She felt a smile float on the air in her mind.  "Indeed," the masculine voice chuckled.  "She was much opposed to necromancy."

Tayntrix bridled at the patronizing air.  "Indeed, indeed!"  Her forthright response embarrassed her and she subsided again.  "What did your sister think, exactly?"  She managed, with a deeper tinge to her blush.

Tayntrix felt Naddok's sigh brush against her cheek, a lover's touch, and shuddered.  Again, the warm, masculine chuckled filled her mind.  "My sister was a very sweet girl.  Much as you, dear lady" Tayntrix blushed again, despite her determination to remain as cool and detached as the necromancer.  Naddok seemed to pay no mind to his listener's distraction.  "We argued many times about the inherent nature of necromantic arts.  She thought them evil.  I loved my sister a great deal and wanted to please her ... but what was I to do?  I have no great skill other than my control of the dead."

Tayntrix bowed her head, studying the ground at her feet and hesitant to give offense.  "But isn't it evil ... I mean," she blushed again, "wrong, to harness the powers of death?  To force the spirits of our ancestors to an individual person's will?  Isn't that a form of coercion, and the focus of the spell has even less innate protection than a living person!"  The warmth of her conviction grew in her as Tayntrix argued, seemingly with herself.

Tayntrix felt the warmth of Naddok's smile and tried not to be pleased at his apparent regard.  "Indeed!"  He exclaimed.  "It is very wrong to coerce a soul."  Tayntrix sensed the soul settling, as though at a table with a mug of ale, and responded to the suggestion by ordering two ales from the server.  Naddok nodded and smiled again.  Taytrix blushed in confusion.  "I cannot speak for all Guardians, but personally, I refuse to coerce a soul except in the most trying circumstances.  I always ask for aid.  If a spirit chooses to aid me, I am able to give that spirit a body so it can do so."  Naddok sighed at Tayntrix' shudder of revulsion.  "I do know how many of you Guardians view the necromantic arts.  But really, how is it more horrible to seek the aid of those already dead than it is to seek the aid of a being of the elemental plane?  One, I might add, that has no quarrel with what is happening on this plane?"

[Jezerai]

"What are you doing?"  The question made Tayntrix jump, pricking her finger with the needle she was wielding.  She put the injured digit in her mouth and looked reproachful.

"You shouldn't sneak up on me like that, it's rude."  She sensed Naddok's smile.

"There is no way for me to announce myself that is not "sneaking" as you say."  Tayntrix looked down at the sewing in her lap.

"I'm sewing.  I found memories of sewing from one of the souls and thought I'd try it."  Tayntrix thought a moment.  "Why is it that with you, I can almost see what your form and face.  We can talk and be almost like two separate people.  But with the others, my sense of them is so much less.  I can't tell much about them as people, though I can sense their skills and use them." She picked up the sewing as an example.

"I honestly don't know.  This is something completely different than anything I have worked with before.  It's like I'm in a large house and I have my workroom here.  I can see my things as I would have left them and my books are here.  I just heard a voice calling a greeting and responded.  I can't really see you, though I can sense your presence."

Tayntrix blushed.  "I am glad to hear you cannot see me.  I was worried about that."  She ducked her head in response to the rueful chuckle.

"Well, my dear, it makes me very sad.  I imagine you are as lovely in form as you are in thought.  But perhaps it would make privacy a bit difficult, hmmm?  As for the others, perhaps they are in their own rooms somewhere in this house.  Maybe they will wake and join us, or perhaps they will slumber.  Only the Vigil can be certain.  For myself, I am glad to be awake.  If you don't mind, I will join you by this fire.  I brought a book so I will not disturb your sewing further."

Tayntrix nodded her assent and picked up her sewing again.