With an agent on the inside of the already deeply damaged Clan Viska, Valdis begins to make a play at Akane.
Valdis is a powerful necromancer, born on the edge of the Plague and Water border and trained in the art of necromancy with variations from both sides. She brings her victims back to life incomplete on purpose, tying them to her and making them wholly reliant on her, unable to do bidding of their own. She can also speak and see through her undead.
Some of Valdis’ reanimates gain peculiar powers when they become undead. There’s no particular way of knowing what these powers will be or if they’ll manifest at all, and Valdis has ordered clans slaughtered in an attempt to experiment with this ability.
A lot of Valdis’ subjects don’t make it very long. She tires of them quickly, particularly if they don’t manifest any other gifts or if the gifts they do take on aren’t to her liking. Her longest surviving one is still by her side now; a Pearlcatcher by the name of Libitina. Libitina’s gift is the touch of death; anyone she touches will turn to dust and die. Another of her undead is Amrit, a Skydancer. He can shapeshift into all manner of other creatures. Valdis finds this particular gift rather dull and plans to dispose of Amrit soon, as she no longer requires him and his gift to spy on Clan Viska.
The last of her undead is Serkan. She found him, dead, killed by Harpies, while travelling in the Southern Icefields. She reanimated him on a whim, but thought that her magic had failed her with him when he didn’t wake quickly. Bored, she moved on. But Serkan awoke again later, and was thrilled to discover his blood magic. Ever since then, his ambitions have had him moving quickly and Valdis struggled to find him again. When she finally did, she was more than pleased.
Serkan was in the company of a dying breed, a Blood Whisperer. Valdis very much wants one by her side, and that Akane is the Queen of the Blood Whisperers makes it all the sweeter.
Valdis conspires to put herself close, and in Akane’s inner circle, which is all the easier with a spot open (left by Desire). She wishes to kill Akane and take her spot, with very few being any the wiser. However, Rehbein, who greatly mistrusts her, attempts to block her path in every way.
He finds a partner in Calandra, who has another necromancer, can tell Valdis is one too, and the spirits Calandra surrounds herself with warn her that Valdis is up to no good. When they discover how Amrit, Libitina, and Serkan are bound to Valdis, Rehbein and Calandra attempt to break her control over them, but Calandra is not experienced enough to do so.
It’s then that Iarere, a Dream Caster, makes his way into Viska territory, bringing with him his reluctant (and grumpy) partner Ryu. Iarere comes to meet Calandra, curious about her abilities as a necromancer and her connection with spirits, with interacts with the dreamrealm he walks in.
Calandra quickly enlists his help in defeating Valdis. While she sleeps, Iarere attempts to rip the secret of freeing her undead from her grip. Iarere succeeds in getting the spell from Valdis, but Calandra is only able to free Amrit before Valdis turns Serkan and Libitina loose on Clan Viska.
Calandra is able to free Libitina, but not before Libitina is able to touch her. Calandra is able to gather enough power from the spirits to keep herself alive, but she falls into a coma immediately after breaking the hold on Libitina.
And through a hard won battle, Valdis falls under the combined strength of Akane and Mahli. Serkan flees the battlefield and doesn’t return. When the deaths are tallied, it’s discovered that Humarya, having been kept as a prisoner, was killed as well.
Final death toll: Valdis, Humarya, Fayne, Asterion, Lyra
Alright, Blood Whisperer weaknesses, let’s do this
@hellkite-fr @clockworktophat-fr @kattafr (I talk about Gwen!) @crimsonsasaki-fr @fr-mar @glowing-globe-fr @clan-dark-woods @tetris-fr @flamerest-fiendcat @pyrouge-fr @clarisaxx @tirnaillclan @deadlanddisciple @mask-fr @higuchifr @chaosnebula @aliceflutez @aftershockfr @shadespitter @shadow-goblin @vanadium-and-circuitry @littleshroomclan @majestyrising (Desire) @fusefr (Humarya)
Please let me know if any of you only want to be pinged for actual lore posts, or if it’s cool to ping you for these info posts too
There are two Blood Whisperers in my clans, Akane and Humarya. Akane’s children are also Blood Whisperers, so this is important for all of them.
Blood Whisperer weakness number one: they tend to suck at physical fighting. Akane’s eh at it, and Humarya is just god awful. If you get close enough to hit them, just go all out.
Blood Whisperer weakness number two: this one is the big one.
There’s only been four instances where I talked about someone being able to stop a Blood Whisperer from fucking with them. Well, actually, Hara did it twice, but one of those times were non-canon.
Hara does it first, against Akane’s father. Desire is able to counter Humarya’s power, and then Akane does as well. I also mention Blood Whisperers, especially those of the nobility and royalty having a far greater ability to shake off the influence of a Blood Whisperer than the commoners of the now destroyed Blood Kingdom.
Blood Whisperers not only invade the body, but the mind. They exert their will over their victim physically, mentally, and magically, so if one has enough strength of mind and/or magic, they can shake off the control of a Blood Whisperer.
It is not something that’s easy to do, or to learn. Akane was taught to do it through hands on experience, which is just torture. Her father and mother took turns hurting her until she was able to shake their control.
Hara taught herself through studying the Blood Whisperers, and through mediation.
Desire was not taught, but she was only able to do it because of the Shade influence on her already powerful magic, and because she lost control. If she was not Blessed, or if she was not Shade touched, she would not have been able to counter Humarya’s power at that moment in time. Desire cannot counter Akane’s power fully even with those abilities, as Akane is a more powerful Blood Whisperer than Humarya.
When Akane and Hara counter their Blood Whisperers, they both erect shields around themselves as an extra protective measure. These shields only stop other magical attacks, and do nothing against the actual Blood Whisperer control, but they help the caster get in the right mindset to block a Blood Whisperer. Hara was never able to counter a Blood Whisperer without casting a shield first. Akane was, once, but chose not to take that chance while fighting Humarya, just in case she was out of practice.
Since we’re talking about shields, I just thought this would be a good time to bring up Gwenyth. Gwenyth has protective, or Sentinel, magic, which basically means her protective shields and spells are extremely powerful and she can create and cast ones that most dragons aren’t able to. She can also do things like redirect attacks and dissipate pain.
If you’re going against Blood Whisperers, Sentinel mages are really good to have on your side. They’re not immune to a Blood Whisperer’s power, but their protective magic is excellent at countering it. Gwenyth could counter either Humarya or Akane in battle.
Like I said, a dragon doesn’t have to be magically powerful to counter a Blood Whisperer if they also have mental fortitude. However, it’s much more difficult to do so without the extra boost magic gives you, and much easier if you use the magic route, but also have a strong mind. A lot of Sentinel mages exercise their minds as much as their spellwork, which is another reason why they are so adept at countering Blood Whisperers.
I feel a sudden need to commission someone to draw Humarya lying on her back, looking totally defeated and then about to murder the fuck out of Krashos. Goodbye money
@hellkite-fr @kattafr @clockworktophat-fr @crimsonsasaki-fr @fusefr (Humarya is a child of yours)
Warnings: Super short, continued from here.
Her mistress swept down, straps of her belt swaying. The thick, pale scars that Sigr hated so stretched on her bare legs, ugly reminders of a past she would never forget anyway.
“Where?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
Anger simmered in Sigr now, such as she knew it did in her mistress. But it was hidden behind such pain.
Pain that laced her every word, every step, every memory. Nothing brought her joy, not anymore. Only with Sigr did she not hide behind her mask and hood, and still Sigr could bring true happiness to her scarred heart.
“By the Wyrmwound, my mistress,” Sigr said, curling her green claws into the earth. “Not far from here at all.”
Her mask went on, hood over it. She stood before Sigr, strong, yet weak.
A living relic, beautiful and deadly, ready for war.
If I bought the dragon from you, I’ll tag you in their lore posts and major bio updates (for instance, these guys all just got their bios). If you don’t wanna be pinged for these things, let me know and I won’t ping you.
