Sal stood, and brushed the dust of his clothes. "Break... Purgatory? Pardon my ignorance, but isn't Purgatory... necessary?" Asked Sal. He looked at Noah, and Talion, gave a half-chuckle-half-sigh, and without waiting for an answer, he then said, "Never mind. Doesn't matter. We can fix it if we need to. Whatever it takes, we will maker her pay. Whatever I can do, count me in!"

 Talion rose from his slumped position and pulled a lantern from somewhere inside his jacket. He fumbled with a lighter for a few moments but the wick took. The flame burned green and smelled of incense. "When my people were a young race, they settled in a mountain near a swamp. At night, they saw the will o the wisps and mistook them for the souls of the dead. Ever since then, it has been a custom to light a green lantern to guide the souls of the departed to their final rest."

 He maneuvered himself so that the lantern was between him and the rest of the group. "Our second tradition was to ferment a batch of wine upon the day of birth or adoption of a child. When that child came of age, the father and the child would share their first drink in celebration... but, should the child pass before then, the father was to drink it as part of the mourning ritual."

 He pulled out a case of wine. Each was labelled with a name and a few bottles had already been consumed. He then pulled out several bottles of store brand (high quality) wine (a full bottle for each person), as well as a few bags of artificial vitae (again, in fairly large quantities). "Others drinking from the bottles I've brewed would break with tradition, but I have these. Many of you knew them. Some of you did not. Regardless, I would like to ask each of you to drink with me in their honor."

 He didn't look up from the green flame that burned in the ornate iron lantern... but he waited on your replies nonetheless.

Noah nodded setting down the half finished bomb and fished a lantern from his bag. It was one of the special lanterns from the Ark ritual. He then blew into the lantern letting out the perfected flame spirit out into the lantern. "Everyone, you can let your Ark spirit out through your breath. Be mindful of their heat."

Noah would drink with Talion, but he would also be plotting punching a hole in purgatory and letting isis fall to the void.

Nefertiti touched Hank by the shoulder "You should drink with him.  It would be considered very rude she looked over at Sariel if you refuse.

One could see that she moved over to drink with him but never said a word.  Standing a bit closer to Sariel.

Nodding, Hrafen understood tradition in relation to death more deeply and intimately than likely 90% of those present. His clan had always done similar, and as such: the intimacy and meaning were not lost on him.

Approaching Talion, Hrafen dipped his head in respect, while accepting the artificial Vitae, and awaited the signal that it would be time to drink, to share in the sorrow with Talion, and experience it with him.

Sal accepted the artificial vitae somberly. He followed Noah's lead in lighting his lantern, and stood in silence, though for the comfort of the living present, he continued to breathe, as he had long become accustomed to doing in "mixed company."

Michael accepted the wine and lit his lantern as well. He drank the wine in respectful silence as Talion mourned the death of his children. The priest knew it was just the calm before the storm that was to come for the one who had done this to the children.

 Talion raised a glass and nodded in silence before drinking. Once it was finished, he raised his voice in song. His voice was rough and warbled, clearly unaccustomed to singing, but sang he did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpeqMBG7_7I

 The song reverberated through the stones themselves and filled the massive structure above... a single voice echoing endlessly until it felt as though there were a choir all around you.

That was what Sariel was waiting for. His scythe came to rest on his back as he took a breath and started singing. It was the old magic he taught Necros so long ago. The hymn of Endar, his surrogate father. Ardainian, Endarian, and the words of creation.

Sariel sang with and for Necros, for Talion. And so did every single Echo of Sariel in the memory of any who met him.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:56, Thu 20 Oct 2022.

Unable, or unwilling, to hide his surprise at Talion's song, Hrafen glanced towards the grieving man with a newfound respect. He was taking this horrible news apparently well, despite the opinions that he wouldn't, and now he was one of his own?

Hrafen had an awful lot to think about, but now he recognized how very little he knew of those around him.

Noah added in his voice but did not move. He went slow enough if others wanted join in they could like a 90s song on the radio. Never did he think the language lesson from talion would be useful.

Nefertiti didn't know what to say, she was taken by surprise of Talion's singing.  Very surprised and slightly covered her ears.  Then when Sariel join then Noah.  She didn't wish to join for she knew nothing of this sort of song/music.  It was a bit eerie and captivating at the same time.

Michael observed in silence since he didn’t understand the song and did not wish to butcher it trying.

Missive

Her eyes looked over to Sariel for a brief moment then back to Talion.

Missives

 Talion finally finished his song and, for the next hour or so, drank with the group. Once they had all finished, he stood. "You all have my thanks. I will withdraw for now. For the next 30 days, I will mourn my children as is custom. When I return, I will take care of any matters that yet remain."

 He took a deep breath and his body began to fade from sight until nothing remained, leaving you in the cell.

Raising a hand to catch Talion's attention before he left, Hrafen approached, if able, and spoke to him in low tones.

Nefertiti's eyebrow arched slightly when she saw Hank moving to get Talions attention so soon.

She then shook her head and wondered if he was just going to speak about learning more skills or asking about the death of his family.

Michael nodded to Talion as he departed. The priest had his own matters to tend to as well. There was the meeting with Reginald and Victor. The coming days would be very telling of how things would proceed.

Noah finished up his bottle and waved to Talion as he faded away. "Right, so we are going to need to pull out the heavy iron as the moron has been nonstop doing shit without any consideration to fallout."

"If we just blacken her eye the seers will come sniffing at her. I can level her home, and I have an army. But how to we hamper her army of the dead?"

Michael considered how he could contribute. “If her army is truly made up of the dead, I could possibly attempt to turn her army against her squad by squad. I’ve been working on my abilities to affect the dead as a measure to fight against undeath.”

 Before Talion fades away, Hank approached and spoke with him. Talion smiled slightly and handed the man a slip of paper before vanishing.

Glancing down at the slip of paper, Hrafen nodded his head, and then refocused his mind. Michael and Nefertiti were still here, and he needed to continue that conversation with both of them.

Michael's form of power struck him as very straightforward. Nefertiti's seemed like danger. He wasn't certain of anything at this point, but he was worried that her Blood magic would take away as much as it gave, so he was inching away from it for his OWN personal use (though he had no problems at all with her using it herself... she seemed extremely capable).

As he returned to Michael and Nefertiti's side, he listened to Michael muse about his magic against undead.

Sariel moved forward and placed the silk woven humanoid figurine where Talion had vanished. He then made a circle around it with silver white, casting a spell in his native language. And then another.

"Is there anything anyone needs before I go and see to wild matters?"