Raurke groaned, slowly coming to. "Why do I feel like I've been dragged halfway to Els..." He'd barely managed to grind out before a small, familiar humanoid shape crashed into him, causing the Breton to knock his head against the cool planking of the shack's wall.
Jack stared, bewildered. "She didn't kill him... did she?" He'd been trying to get the Wood Elf to talk, or atleast get her to smile when she bolted across the room and tackled the barely conscious man. Said elf was now cuddled next to him, saying something in a low, indiscernable voice.
"Yes, my magpie, I'm fine." Raurke said, kissing Malori. "More importantly, where are we, and how did we get here?" He took in his surroundings; they were in a rather ramshackle dwelling, which by the bloodstains and lingering stenches, may have been used for rather nefarious purposes in the past.
Duncan looked up from the private conversation he'd been having with the other woman, Jayn, if memory served Raurke right. "Ah, You're back among the living, friend!" He smiled wryly, both he and the revenant shared a laugh. "So it would seem." Raurke replied. "Jayn was just telling me of her and your wife's little adventure." Duncan smirked. "And quite a tale it's been. skeletons, giant snakes, and a womanizing pirate!" With the last, Duncan gestured to Jack, who flinched visibly when the word 'wife' was used.
Raurke regarded the Imperial with a scrutinizing eye. "Ah, a man after my own heart. She's beautiful, isn't she?"
After being filled in on the events between being subjected to the langourwine and his awakening, Raurke gathered up his belongings, and stepped outside with Malori for a while.
"What do you think they're doin?" Jack asked, a smile on his face.
"Likely not what you're thinking." Duncan interjected.
"How would you know?" Jayn said, giving the two the evil eye.
"Because the dead don't work that way." Raurke interrupted the discussion, looking much better now. He and Malori reclaimed their places as Raurke explained.
Jack and Jayna looked unnerved, though Duncan reassured them that they were atleast trustworthy.
"So, you're what... vampires?" Jack said, having recovered somewhat.
"Something along those lines, but closer to Druagr and Liches." Malori chimed in. "We vary in ability, weaknesses, and personality from individual to individual. We're wildcards among undead, but one thing is constant..."
"Souls." Raurke took over, holding up a translucent blue soul gem. "We survive on the life energy of others. Mudcrab or Monarch, it doesn't matter. But the first must always be black. For those with stronger moral codes, this causes... problems."
This particular bit of information was news to Duncan. "Problems? like what?"
"The personality... no... the very soul of the revenant splits. One half taking on the 'good' characteristics, and the other embodies the 'evil' side. These two forces compete for control."
"I'm assuming you two are the good sides, then?" Jayn spoke up, a hint of avarice in her voice.
Raurke smiled. "If we were going to kill you, we'd have done it long ago. I've completely subjugated my shadow, so rest assured." Raurke held up the gold medallion pendant around his neck. He smiled as his three companions looked at it questioningly. "A phylactery of sorts. a safegaurd, should our bodies be destroyed. They also serve as a prison for our shadows; the 'evil' side."
"Do they work?" It was Duncan's turn to ask questions. "And what do you mean if your bodies are destroyed?"
"So far, yes, and I wasn't always a Breton. I used to be an Elf, until I took a sword to the chest, that is." Raurke chuckled.
Jack was reminded of a gaurdsman in Windhelm who'd told a similar story one drunken night on the docks.