This thread is for the character Kennar and any other WPL involved. No one else has permission to post here unless told otherwise. Posting in this thread will bring down the wrath of the WPLs and their infinite weapons of mass destruction.
Before Kennar was the glowing purple stones connected to the underground building. As he stood before the stones he couldn't help but feel drawn into the hypnotizing glow of the stones...
Kennar stares after the Yolin, his body swaying slightly under the purple glow.
Almost by itself, Kennar's body follows the Yolin down the stairs. Kennar's mind races as he descends. Soon... the flamekin thinks, the thought somehow seeming to echo off of the stones. Or maybe it was something inside him, subconsciously repeating his thoughts, like a caged beast sensing freedom.
Kennar shakes his head, steering his thoughts away from the disturbing notion. He was here to gain power, not to go on a journey into his subconscious.
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
Kennar becomes momentarily blinded by a purple haze as he moves through the stones. While blinded he feels an outside force choking him from every direction, as if trying to squeeze the life from him. Inside himself he can feel his inner fire being suppressed and on the verge of extinguishing.
Then as the blindness passes he lands on his knees in a cold dark crypt void of any skeletons greets his adjusting eyes. Looking around he can barely make out the stones of the crypt with his flickering fires. Behind him, where he thought he came in, were the same simple stones without the purple glow.
Still he felt something foreign inside him squirming about. The sensation was strange as he could feel the foreign object sliding over his inner fire like oil on water. His instincts told him the sensation was both alien and discomforting, a cold presence caressing the familiar warmth of his inner fire.
This presence seemed to be the source interfering with his normally bright and vivid flames, which still remained a small flicker upon his stone skin. Looking forward into the dim lighting provided by his flames, he saw that there was only one path leading forward with no sign of the yolin. After twenty feet the darkness of the crypt seemed to consume Kennar's natural lighting, providing zero warning for what lay ahead...
For the duration of the quest, until told otherwise, Kennar only has a fifty percent chance of connecting to red sources of mana. When drawing upon a red source roll a 2-sided die. On a 1, Kennar fails to draw upon the source. On a 2, Kennar succeeds.
EDIT: To clarify 'drawing upon a red source'- This means whenever Kennar tries to play a land that is solely a red source. Once a land is successfully played, Kennar can freely draw out the mana of the land without worry.
Kennar begins breathing heavily, terrified of whatever was snaking around inside him. He didn't dare cry out, however, as a voice in the back of his mind whispers that he wanted this. He wanted the power. He knew it would change him. Perhaps this was the mana beginning to seep into his body.
"Or perhaps not," the voice whispers. "Perhaps you're too weak, and the mana is consuming you from the inside."
Shuddering at the sensation of the creeping thing inside him and even more at the mental voice of doubt, but determined not to show weakness or fear, Kennar slowly rises drawing his sword and stalking forward.
"Yolin," Kennar hisses into the darkness. "Are you here?"
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
The only sound answering Kennar's call was the sputtering sound of his flickering flames. His slow movement forward revealed an open spaced room with four other arched hallways leading off into the dark.
Stepping into the room, Kennar noticed a faint odor lingering in the air. Just as he was wondering what the source may be, his flames revealed a scattering of bones on the crypt floor.
Kennar, still squirming uncomfortably at the strange sensation and unaccustom to the guttering flames of his body, decides that calling his magic here might have some kind of unforseen concequences. The memory of a huge, metallica dragon rearing at him flashes though his mind. A faint smile of rememberance tugging on the corner of his mouth, he maneuvers the bones around with the tip of his sword, meaning to examine them and see if he can tell what creature they came from.
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
As his blade approached the bones, he immediately recognized them as belonging to a human. Then catching him off guard was a whisper sliding out from the shadows, "Are you afraid of simple bones...?"
The essence slithering inside Kennar's inner fire seemed to jump excitedly at the sound of the voice from the shadows...
Kennar nearly jumps out of his skin as the voice mocks him, then wishes he had as the thing slithers around inside him uncomfortably.
"I prefer to think of it as cautious," Kennar mutters darkly to the shadows.
"Liar," the voice in the back of his head says, smugly.
He shakes his head, turning from the bones to the four arches, examining them. He ventures to the entrance of each, trying to see any features he can make out.
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
The voice whispers out from the shadows as Kennar examines the archways, "Interested in those paths? I wonder if you know what those paths lead to?"
Laughter fills the room echoing down the hallways as the shadows whisper again, "No, what I really wonder is if you truly understand what you are asking for here."
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
A form slipped out of the shadows stepping into the flickering light of Kennar. Hissing he said, "Asking? Asking!?"
"Asking for power only suits you when you know you will receive it! That is the only reason to ever 'ask' for power!"
The yolin stared with malice and scorn in his eyes while raising a clenched fist before Kennar saying, "If you want power then you take it!"
To accentuate the motion, the yolin drew upon black mana channeling it into his eyes causing a trailing purple light to exude. Tilting his head back in pleasure he whispered, "Black mana is the simplest and truest form of mana to draw upon. Many fear the magic because they misunderstand the art."
Lowering his head so his glowing eyes were level with Kennar, the yolin spoke in a elderly voice saying, "The reason I say black mana is simple, is due to it's honest nature. When dealing with the other colors of mana, mages find themselves struggling with the core value of those colors. This is because they all have their own fanciful ideas and preconceptions on what the cores are. Each of the other five colors is cluttered with these ideals that try and encompass the primal nature of the mana."
Kicking a femur bone aside, the yolin took a step closer to Kennar. This close he could see dozens of wrinkles in the yolin's skin. Liver spots lined his face all the way up to his silver streaked black hair tied back at shoulder length. Kennar's attention snapped back to the yolin as he pressed in closer giving off the odor of death saying, "Black mana is simple because it has only one core value, one ideal, one word that encompasses it's primal nature."
The yolin let a moment of time pass as he searched the flamekin's eyes, building the anticipation before saying in a rasped voice, "Power."
The yolin turned his back on Kennar lecturing, "That one word is the only true lesson you will ever have to learn in matters concerning black magic."
When the yolin was several feet from Kennar, he turned to face the flamekin again before continuing the lecture, "Every spell, enchantment, and summoning through black magic can be traced back to power in some form. Remember that word. Dedicate all your studies and practices in the art of black magic to power and you will succeed."
Gesturing to Kennar's core where the alien essence squirmed about his inner fire, the yolin said, "When you entered my crypt I gave you what you asked for because you paid my toll. Right now festering within your very soul, is a seed of corruption. A fraction of my power instilled in you."
The yolin's hands came together, fingers pressing against each other as he studied Kennar saying, "The moment you entered my crypt I saw from the shadows as fear gripped your soul. A reaction born out of ignorance. A reaction that threatens to burn away the power I have opened up to you."
Flicking a finger to Kennar's sputtering flames, the yolin explained, "You are an elemental being born of red mana. You are naturally chaotic, emotional, destructive, and at times powerful. You instinctively react with your fire magic as it has been ingrained into your very essence. At this moment your soul is reacting on that same level, reflecting your insecurity about the decision you have made."
The yolin smiled knowingly saying, "I have seen similar reactions in other fire mages I have trained. Your soul is far too susceptible to your emotions. You are not to be blamed for this reaction. You, like other fire mages, have learned to harness those powerful emotions to power your red magic. That care free spirit, that trust in your emotions is the cause for this reaction."
The yolin lifted his right hand and pointed at the pile of bones channeling black mana into them. Quickly they shifted under the force of his magic forming a stool made of bones with which the yolin sat upon saying, "To harness this new power you must learn to school your emotions when necessary. Remember this mantra, 'Power at any cost'. Black mana is power incarnate; if you allow anything, your emotions, the morality of the world, anything at all to distract you from that power then you will never fully master black mana."
The yolin placed his hands on his knees to support his weight before asking, "Do you understand yet? Do you see what black mana is? Do you understand what true power means?"
Feel free to role play any interactions or mind sets that you want to develop to Kennar. A proper mindset will allow Kennar to return his flame to it's full glory as well as allow him to manifest black mana traits in his flames should he choose to do so.
Kennar listens to the Yolin, his eyes distant. "True power... is... is not the ability to wield magic, or learn to use new mana. It... is the willingness to disregard distractions and fully embrace what you can do with that magic. To do what you must to achieve strength."
"Listen to yourself," Kennar's inner doubt hisses. "Do you really think you can disregard your emotions? Even now, you doubt yourself, your willingness to compromise what ideals you've come to think of as your core."
"Be quiet," Kennar whispers, not realizing he's speaking aloud. "I know what you are now. You are emotion unrestrained. You are negativity incarnate. You are all my fear, my hesitation, my cowardice, my unwillingness to do what is necessary. I know you. And now I know how to stop you from poisoning my thoughts."
Kennar closes his eyes, his teeth bared. He reaches deep into himself, feeling the Yolin's power slithering around his inner flame. He touches his inner fire, the symbol of his raging emotions. At the same time, he focuses on the strength the Yolin gave him, visualizing it as a black fog surrounding his fire but not touching it.
With an effort of will, Kennar looks into the very center of his inner fire and finds his negative emotions blazing there, a single flame; a scarlet core to the orange conflagration of his being.
"You think you can be rid of me," the inner voice screams, and Kennar feels as though his head has been cleaved in half. "I'll always be here, alwa-"
"Found you," the flamekin says vindictively to his doubt. Reaching deeper into his inner fire than he's ever done, he imagines the black fog rushing into the scarlet flame, turning it from a single blood-red flame into a black wildfire, burning hotter than before but totally contained by his will and his focus.
Kennar opens his eyes slowly, looking at the Yolin. "I fought it," he says out loud. "I fought it and I won."
For the first time in memory, Kennar realized he had no doubts. No fear. He knew what he could do to reach his potential might. And he knew he would do it. No hesitation. No thought as to what concequences others might face for his ruthlessness. Just the potential might of the future, and his ability to harness it.
And his "honor". Kennar saw now that honor was merely a rationalization: a way to hide his weakness with the percieved strength of structure. No, honor had no place in the pursuit of power. It limited what you were allowed- no, what you allowed yourself to do, in the search for greater strength.
When this quest is over and/or when Kennar fully connects with his black mana, I'd like Kennar's appearance to change from flamekin to cinder. Same size and facial features, just a physical change in his body and flames.
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
This shift in Kennar's thinking transformed the essence inside of him. No longer did his soul fight the seed of black mana. Now the black mana represented a black wind being channeled into his fire. Where before the flames had been chaotic due to his emotions, flaring here and there; now the flames grew powerful and hot. There were no other emotions interfering with his flame, just one constant emotion, the craving for power.
It was as if the black mana were being focused into the fire by bellows. The result caused his flames to return to a brighter glory than before, easily pushing the shadows further back into the hallway.
The yolin smiled saying, "Good. Now you see that power is for the taking. The only thing that ever holds us back is what we allow. If we disregard the little things that distract us in this world, then the path becomes clear."
Gesturing to the four archways Kennar had seen upon entering the room, the yolin continued saying, "Before you lies four paths. Each path is but one of many to power."
Looking to Kennar, the yolin smiled revealing yellowed teeth asking, "Are you ready to explore the paths I have prepared for you?"
Just to let you know, the random effect on red sources is still in place for the time being. The issue right now lies in Kennar having black mana available but not knowing how to draw upon it and thus it interfering. Think of misses as being the low points where air is not being pushed into the fire by the bellows.
Shouldn't be an issue much longer as one of the paths will teach Kennar how to use that mana. Which one actually teaches him will be up to you.
Kennar basks in the roar of his new inner fire. He also revels in the disappearance of the slithering sensation of the black mana. His mind in sharp focus instead of warring with itself, Kennar faces the four arches, unafraid.
"I am ready," he says simply. With a more curious look at the arches, he says "What lies down each path is different from the others?" He gives the Yolin an appraising glance. "But each leads to power. So what lies on the path isn't the most important aspect. It's what lies at the end that truly matters."
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
"Not much," Kennar says a little sheepishly. "I know necromancy is the magic of the dead. Reanimating corpses, ending life, manipulating souls. I've fought a demon before, but I did not have a chance to study it in-depth. Of black magic, I only know what you have told me: power at any cost. And I have never encountered a vampire before. My knowledge of them is very limited."
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
Ooooh, this is a tough decision. I've always wanted Kennar to have a vampire satchel, but demons are pretty nifty.
Cool. Unexpected character development ftw. Demons and vampires could be fun.
Kennar considers this for a moment. "I have always been drawn to the unkown," he muses to the Yolin. "The most unkown of the four are vampires. But demons... The one I fought was extremely powerful. If I could harness that strength for myself."
He approaches the arch behind the Yolin. He stands at the entrance for a moment, a thoughtful expression on his face. Coming to a conclusion, he nods. "Demons it is."
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
"Very well." whispers the yolin from behind Kennar. Before the flamekin could look back to the yolin, there was a flash of purple light and the clatter of bones. Passing before Kennar's peripheral vision were streaks of shadows barreling down the hallway.
Once again, the flamekin was alone on his path down the dark arts for power...
Kennar begins his advance down the hallway, his sword drawn and in a defensive position. He reaches out his left hand, palm up, preparing to draw fire through his body as he always had been able to before.
Dice roll to see if Kennar succeeds on playing a mountain.
Dice Roller1 D2 rolled
2
Edits to come after I see the result.
EDIT: Perfect. That's exactly what I wanted. Now I can introduce a new look for when Kennar does draw red mana.
For the first time in his life, Kennar fails to draw red mana to his hand. He stares at his palm, shocked. The black mana he reasons. It must be having some kind of effect on my ability to use red magic. Perhaps my body needs time to adjust to the power.
Kennar continues to advance despite the fact that he didn't manage to call up any red mana.
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
Just as Kennar was beginning to place his hand back down to his side, he felt a sort of delayed reaction in his mana. Below his stone skin was the sensation of water flowing hard and fast, desperately trying to find a way out.
As he looked back at his hand, he noted that the area of his palm began to turn a dark black, reminiscent of charcoal. Getting closer for a good look, he was surprised to see his 'skin' suddenly crack as he moved his hand slightly. Radiating from the small cracks was a bright red glow like lava. Surging out of the cracks were strings of small flames that climbed from his palm all the way up to the flames on his shoulders...
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
A little bit of both. I was thinking a slow transition to start would make sense. Currently only his left palm has been subject to the reaction. I imagine it a bit like a burn for a flamekin.
To be forward in the answer: Yes, it's Kennar's reaction to the black mana, but it's also how I envision him becoming a cinder. Sound like a plan?
Kennar stares blankly at the blackness on his hand. He flexes the fingers of his hand, and feels the strange sensation: a little pain, and more heat than he's used to coming from under his skin.
For a tiny fraction of a second, Kennar can almost hear his doubt trying to resurge from the recesses of his mind. He brutally crushes that feeling with the knowledge that he has mastered his insecurities.
The Yolin must have known this would happen to his body, or he would not have implanted the black mana into Kennar in the first place.
Another reaction Kennar thinks, hoping he's correct in his assumption. How much more will there be?
He stares at his palm, wanting to examine it more, but resolving to go on ahead instead. A simple distraction, he says to himself, recalling the Yolin's teachings. Something to be ignored on the path to power.
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
The stone hallway of the crypt continued on with no light source other than Kennar for one hundred yards before curving to the left. There down fifty yards from his position was an open spaced room lit by several torches. From this distance, Kennar could make out a rather large humanoid shape chained down in position.
Before Kennar took one step closer there came a scream of rage shouting, "Kraust! KRAUST! Is that you? Come here pact breaker! You owe me blood!"
A moment of silence barely passed before another scream of rage echoed out, "KRAUST YOU BASTARD!"
Before Kennar was the glowing purple stones connected to the underground building. As he stood before the stones he couldn't help but feel drawn into the hypnotizing glow of the stones...
Almost by itself, Kennar's body follows the Yolin down the stairs. Kennar's mind races as he descends. Soon... the flamekin thinks, the thought somehow seeming to echo off of the stones. Or maybe it was something inside him, subconsciously repeating his thoughts, like a caged beast sensing freedom.
Kennar shakes his head, steering his thoughts away from the disturbing notion. He was here to gain power, not to go on a journey into his subconscious.
{Magic: The RPG}
Then as the blindness passes he lands on his knees in a cold dark crypt void of any skeletons greets his adjusting eyes. Looking around he can barely make out the stones of the crypt with his flickering fires. Behind him, where he thought he came in, were the same simple stones without the purple glow.
Still he felt something foreign inside him squirming about. The sensation was strange as he could feel the foreign object sliding over his inner fire like oil on water. His instincts told him the sensation was both alien and discomforting, a cold presence caressing the familiar warmth of his inner fire.
This presence seemed to be the source interfering with his normally bright and vivid flames, which still remained a small flicker upon his stone skin. Looking forward into the dim lighting provided by his flames, he saw that there was only one path leading forward with no sign of the yolin. After twenty feet the darkness of the crypt seemed to consume Kennar's natural lighting, providing zero warning for what lay ahead...
EDIT: To clarify 'drawing upon a red source'- This means whenever Kennar tries to play a land that is solely a red source. Once a land is successfully played, Kennar can freely draw out the mana of the land without worry.
"Or perhaps not," the voice whispers. "Perhaps you're too weak, and the mana is consuming you from the inside."
Shuddering at the sensation of the creeping thing inside him and even more at the mental voice of doubt, but determined not to show weakness or fear, Kennar slowly rises drawing his sword and stalking forward.
"Yolin," Kennar hisses into the darkness. "Are you here?"
{Magic: The RPG}
Stepping into the room, Kennar noticed a faint odor lingering in the air. Just as he was wondering what the source may be, his flames revealed a scattering of bones on the crypt floor.
{Magic: The RPG}
The essence slithering inside Kennar's inner fire seemed to jump excitedly at the sound of the voice from the shadows...
"I prefer to think of it as cautious," Kennar mutters darkly to the shadows.
"Liar," the voice in the back of his head says, smugly.
He shakes his head, turning from the bones to the four arches, examining them. He ventures to the entrance of each, trying to see any features he can make out.
{Magic: The RPG}
Laughter fills the room echoing down the hallways as the shadows whisper again, "No, what I really wonder is if you truly understand what you are asking for here."
"Power," his inner voice taunts. "Or petty revenge for a percieved slight to your so-called honor?"
Trying his hardest to ignore the voice of doubt in his mind, Kennar says quietly to the whispering voice "What am I asking for here, if not power?"
{Magic: The RPG}
"Asking for power only suits you when you know you will receive it! That is the only reason to ever 'ask' for power!"
The yolin stared with malice and scorn in his eyes while raising a clenched fist before Kennar saying, "If you want power then you take it!"
To accentuate the motion, the yolin drew upon black mana channeling it into his eyes causing a trailing purple light to exude. Tilting his head back in pleasure he whispered, "Black mana is the simplest and truest form of mana to draw upon. Many fear the magic because they misunderstand the art."
Lowering his head so his glowing eyes were level with Kennar, the yolin spoke in a elderly voice saying, "The reason I say black mana is simple, is due to it's honest nature. When dealing with the other colors of mana, mages find themselves struggling with the core value of those colors. This is because they all have their own fanciful ideas and preconceptions on what the cores are. Each of the other five colors is cluttered with these ideals that try and encompass the primal nature of the mana."
Kicking a femur bone aside, the yolin took a step closer to Kennar. This close he could see dozens of wrinkles in the yolin's skin. Liver spots lined his face all the way up to his silver streaked black hair tied back at shoulder length. Kennar's attention snapped back to the yolin as he pressed in closer giving off the odor of death saying, "Black mana is simple because it has only one core value, one ideal, one word that encompasses it's primal nature."
The yolin let a moment of time pass as he searched the flamekin's eyes, building the anticipation before saying in a rasped voice, "Power."
The yolin turned his back on Kennar lecturing, "That one word is the only true lesson you will ever have to learn in matters concerning black magic."
When the yolin was several feet from Kennar, he turned to face the flamekin again before continuing the lecture, "Every spell, enchantment, and summoning through black magic can be traced back to power in some form. Remember that word. Dedicate all your studies and practices in the art of black magic to power and you will succeed."
Gesturing to Kennar's core where the alien essence squirmed about his inner fire, the yolin said, "When you entered my crypt I gave you what you asked for because you paid my toll. Right now festering within your very soul, is a seed of corruption. A fraction of my power instilled in you."
The yolin's hands came together, fingers pressing against each other as he studied Kennar saying, "The moment you entered my crypt I saw from the shadows as fear gripped your soul. A reaction born out of ignorance. A reaction that threatens to burn away the power I have opened up to you."
Flicking a finger to Kennar's sputtering flames, the yolin explained, "You are an elemental being born of red mana. You are naturally chaotic, emotional, destructive, and at times powerful. You instinctively react with your fire magic as it has been ingrained into your very essence. At this moment your soul is reacting on that same level, reflecting your insecurity about the decision you have made."
The yolin smiled knowingly saying, "I have seen similar reactions in other fire mages I have trained. Your soul is far too susceptible to your emotions. You are not to be blamed for this reaction. You, like other fire mages, have learned to harness those powerful emotions to power your red magic. That care free spirit, that trust in your emotions is the cause for this reaction."
The yolin lifted his right hand and pointed at the pile of bones channeling black mana into them. Quickly they shifted under the force of his magic forming a stool made of bones with which the yolin sat upon saying, "To harness this new power you must learn to school your emotions when necessary. Remember this mantra, 'Power at any cost'. Black mana is power incarnate; if you allow anything, your emotions, the morality of the world, anything at all to distract you from that power then you will never fully master black mana."
The yolin placed his hands on his knees to support his weight before asking, "Do you understand yet? Do you see what black mana is? Do you understand what true power means?"
"Listen to yourself," Kennar's inner doubt hisses. "Do you really think you can disregard your emotions? Even now, you doubt yourself, your willingness to compromise what ideals you've come to think of as your core."
"Be quiet," Kennar whispers, not realizing he's speaking aloud. "I know what you are now. You are emotion unrestrained. You are negativity incarnate. You are all my fear, my hesitation, my cowardice, my unwillingness to do what is necessary. I know you. And now I know how to stop you from poisoning my thoughts."
Kennar closes his eyes, his teeth bared. He reaches deep into himself, feeling the Yolin's power slithering around his inner flame. He touches his inner fire, the symbol of his raging emotions. At the same time, he focuses on the strength the Yolin gave him, visualizing it as a black fog surrounding his fire but not touching it.
With an effort of will, Kennar looks into the very center of his inner fire and finds his negative emotions blazing there, a single flame; a scarlet core to the orange conflagration of his being.
"You think you can be rid of me," the inner voice screams, and Kennar feels as though his head has been cleaved in half. "I'll always be here, alwa-"
"Found you," the flamekin says vindictively to his doubt. Reaching deeper into his inner fire than he's ever done, he imagines the black fog rushing into the scarlet flame, turning it from a single blood-red flame into a black wildfire, burning hotter than before but totally contained by his will and his focus.
Kennar opens his eyes slowly, looking at the Yolin. "I fought it," he says out loud. "I fought it and I won."
For the first time in memory, Kennar realized he had no doubts. No fear. He knew what he could do to reach his potential might. And he knew he would do it. No hesitation. No thought as to what concequences others might face for his ruthlessness. Just the potential might of the future, and his ability to harness it.
And his "honor". Kennar saw now that honor was merely a rationalization: a way to hide his weakness with the percieved strength of structure. No, honor had no place in the pursuit of power. It limited what you were allowed- no, what you allowed yourself to do, in the search for greater strength.
When this quest is over and/or when Kennar fully connects with his black mana, I'd like Kennar's appearance to change from flamekin to cinder. Same size and facial features, just a physical change in his body and flames.
{Magic: The RPG}
It was as if the black mana were being focused into the fire by bellows. The result caused his flames to return to a brighter glory than before, easily pushing the shadows further back into the hallway.
The yolin smiled saying, "Good. Now you see that power is for the taking. The only thing that ever holds us back is what we allow. If we disregard the little things that distract us in this world, then the path becomes clear."
Gesturing to the four archways Kennar had seen upon entering the room, the yolin continued saying, "Before you lies four paths. Each path is but one of many to power."
Looking to Kennar, the yolin smiled revealing yellowed teeth asking, "Are you ready to explore the paths I have prepared for you?"
Shouldn't be an issue much longer as one of the paths will teach Kennar how to use that mana. Which one actually teaches him will be up to you.
"I am ready," he says simply. With a more curious look at the arches, he says "What lies down each path is different from the others?" He gives the Yolin an appraising glance. "But each leads to power. So what lies on the path isn't the most important aspect. It's what lies at the end that truly matters."
{Magic: The RPG}
{Magic: The RPG}
Cool. Unexpected character development ftw. Demons and vampires could be fun.
Kennar considers this for a moment. "I have always been drawn to the unkown," he muses to the Yolin. "The most unkown of the four are vampires. But demons... The one I fought was extremely powerful. If I could harness that strength for myself."
He approaches the arch behind the Yolin. He stands at the entrance for a moment, a thoughtful expression on his face. Coming to a conclusion, he nods. "Demons it is."
{Magic: The RPG}
Once again, the flamekin was alone on his path down the dark arts for power...
Edits to come after I see the result.
EDIT: Perfect. That's exactly what I wanted. Now I can introduce a new look for when Kennar does draw red mana.
For the first time in his life, Kennar fails to draw red mana to his hand. He stares at his palm, shocked. The black mana he reasons. It must be having some kind of effect on my ability to use red magic. Perhaps my body needs time to adjust to the power.
Kennar continues to advance despite the fact that he didn't manage to call up any red mana.
{Magic: The RPG}
As he looked back at his hand, he noted that the area of his palm began to turn a dark black, reminiscent of charcoal. Getting closer for a good look, he was surprised to see his 'skin' suddenly crack as he moved his hand slightly. Radiating from the small cracks was a bright red glow like lava. Surging out of the cracks were strings of small flames that climbed from his palm all the way up to the flames on his shoulders...
Is it Kennar's transformation from flamekin to cider, or some kind of mana reaction between red and black?
{Magic: The RPG}
To be forward in the answer: Yes, it's Kennar's reaction to the black mana, but it's also how I envision him becoming a cinder. Sound like a plan?
Kennar stares blankly at the blackness on his hand. He flexes the fingers of his hand, and feels the strange sensation: a little pain, and more heat than he's used to coming from under his skin.
For a tiny fraction of a second, Kennar can almost hear his doubt trying to resurge from the recesses of his mind. He brutally crushes that feeling with the knowledge that he has mastered his insecurities.
The Yolin must have known this would happen to his body, or he would not have implanted the black mana into Kennar in the first place.
Another reaction Kennar thinks, hoping he's correct in his assumption. How much more will there be?
He stares at his palm, wanting to examine it more, but resolving to go on ahead instead. A simple distraction, he says to himself, recalling the Yolin's teachings. Something to be ignored on the path to power.
He continues ahead.
{Magic: The RPG}
Before Kennar took one step closer there came a scream of rage shouting, "Kraust! KRAUST! Is that you? Come here pact breaker! You owe me blood!"
A moment of silence barely passed before another scream of rage echoed out, "KRAUST YOU BASTARD!"