Journal of Zeviah, with Excerpts from Zaroth's Journals.
Day 12, Month 3, Year (Insert 5 years ago):
Summoning of the Succubus, called Hellia: Success.
While the initial summoning had troubles, I was able to summon and bind the succubus named Hellia. Thankfully this did not go the way my first attempt at Hellia went. All hopes go out to the next summoning, my Fel Hunter. I am unsure of how things will go. Unlike my other demons, the Fel Hunter is not a higher thinking being. This could make it easier, but the devouring of magic has me concerned. Perhaps my father's notes will help me, even if I do dislike him.
Part of a page is torn out here and is placed in Zeviah's Journal
Zaroth's Demonology Guide: Fel Hunter.
The Fel Hunter is an interesting demon to summon and bind. They are very powerful against any sort of magic user, thus they have an advantage compared to the summoner. However, there are several steps you must take in order to properly summon and bind one. First, you must limit the amount of active magic you are using, as it can feed on these. Second, it is recommended you make the ritual circle out of your own blood, as shown here: The picture below is brownish from being made in blood which has dried
Now, once the ritual is set exactly correctly, you may proceed...
Return to Zeviah's Writings
I am worried that to make a ritual circle out of my blood will end badly as I will be to weak to summon my Fel Hunter, so I will draw it with chalk instead. Hopefully this will not cause any problems.
A drawing is on the next page, seems like she just did it for no particular reason.
((OOC note: Neither picture is my own! I just found them online! I can not draw, so don't ask me to draw >.<))
Day 5, Month 12, Year (insert 3 years ago)
My excursions into the field of necromancy haven proven very intriguing. I've been looking closely at what I’ve been doing as I raise different types of skeletons, and noticed a similarity. They all retain the exact skeletal structure of when they are alive, obviously, but if I replace the femur of a human with the femur of a bear, they still move just not as well. Thus I’ve decided to try a ‘fusion skeleton’ as I’m calling it. Here’s what I’m using:
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Legs of a human
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Chest of a bear
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Head of Mountain Lion
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Arms of a Night Elf
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Claws / hands of a Worgen
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Feet of an Orc
My hope is that I will find that this skeleton is stronger than the one’s I’ve used before. It is of course an experiment, but strength is all that I care about at this point. I have to be able to protect myself from those damned paladins and their church. I won’t allow them to catch me off guard again….I won’t let anybody else I care about die because of those bastards.
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Day 12, Month 12, Year (insert 3 years ago)
My ‘fusion skeleton’ was ultimately a failure. While it was able to move, it was sluggish and couldn’t control its body as I had hoped it would be able to. This is very disappointing, but in my research and gathering of the bones I’ve found some old necromantic notes on the black market, and they were just what I needed. They describe, only briefly and not in complete detail, the lich transformation process. I think I have deciphered that they had a theory for a partial lich transformation, allowing part of your body to be skeletal or to get a phylactery. This was just what I needed, so that the Church and their minions couldn’t find me. I will hide it in plain sight if I do, but to someone I trust. Of course that means I have to find someone I can trust, but for now I can stow it.
Below is a drawing of a necklace, seems this was her idea for a phylactery hiding place.
Day 21, Month 9, Year (Insert 2 years ago)
After one year of searching I'm still missing one crucial part to the ritual. I am still missing a good phylactery. I've got a small gem, but I worry it won't be enough. I have been able to decipher part of the ritual circle, but I've had to fill in the rest with my own knowledge. It will be very difficult to do, and it is risky, but I'm willing to take that risk in order to get what I want out of this. Maybe If I get this power, those paladins and priests will leave me alone, or if they don't I can at least defend myself better. The church has done enough damage to me both physically and mentally, I won't allow it to continue.
This is the basic ritual circle, though I'm going to add on this one to help with stabilization and with keeping the magic in check, it will be around the basic ritual circle.
If this goes wrong, it could mean the end of my life...though that may be a better outcome then anything else. This is not a life that is worth living, I believe.
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Day 19, Month 10, Year (Insert 2 years ago)
The hand writing in this area is atrocious, as if a right handed person was writing with their left hand.
The ritual did not go as I hoped it would. My arm was transformed into some sort of skeletal abomination, and I did not gain a phylactery as I had hoped. I must find away to suppress this aura if I'm ever to go into the community again. Not likely that, but if I'm to get food from a marketplace I must hide this somehow...this will take awhile to research and understand in order to suppress it. I...I can't believe what I did for this....I wont....I won't do that ever again. And of course, this happens on my birthday....I will return, once I've figured this damned arm out, to being a demonology warlock and leave this magic alone....there is to much cost for uncertain results....I never will do this again, even if it means I will die. The power will hopefully be enough to protect anybody I end up caring about from the harm that seems to follow me from the church...they will never forgive me for-
The rest of this page is unreadable as it is soaked in blood, dried and flaky.
((I'm enjoying these journal entries more and more! I especially enjoy the illustrations you've added to the entries. Whew, so macabre and deeply intriguing! You're really capturing the "darker side" of Zeviah's past as a necromancer and warlock. Particularly, how she ended up with that skeletal arm! Keep up this fantastic foreshadowing if you've got more coming! I'll be looking forward to it!))
(OOC note: Any spelling mistakes / grammar mistakes are there on purpose.))
Day 6, Month 3, Year (Insert 10 years ago)
The Hand Writing in this section is more that of an untrained child than someone who knows how to write well. It's a bit shaky.
Dad and Mum are both gone now....I don't know what do. I know Dad gone fro good. Friend Sartha says she get me down south, run from hunters she said. I don't understand but outside sounds nice, I can sit and see stars and moon better now. Me not sure...
What appears to be spilled ink covers the rest of this page.
Day 18, Month 8, Year (Insert 9 years ago)
The Hand Writing in this section is greatly improved, along with the grammar and spelling.
It's been a bit over a year now and I haven't been able to get these church dogs off my back. They relentlessly hunt for me, and I've learned that they were the ones who killed my mother and father. I've been studying my fathers notes, which Lady Sartha insisted I bring with me, and have learned a great deal about demonology. This has helped keep me alive against these hunters of mine, but It is still not enough to live if they get help. Each time they find me I end up injured, and I've grown so very tired....but I can't stop. I want to see this world I live in, instead of being locked away like my father locked me away. I don't want to die...I was saved last time by a fellow demonologist, though I had to run from her after, being as I was Gilnean and she was Forsaken. I'll admit she looked powerful though...
Below this is a drawing of a forsaken warlock.
Day 10, Month 2, Year (insert six years ago)
I've been doing more research into what demons I can get and how to get them. As of right now I've only been able to get a void walker and an imp, and haven't yet tried the succubus. I found I was lucky on those two demons, as I summoned them without knowing their true names. I was able to subdue them anyway because of the notes I took from my father. As for the paladins that are hunting me, a new one has surfaced who seems to be quite the problem. She is a half-elf, though she hides it well. I've done some research about her, and heard that her family was wiped out by an assassin known as Adalia Silverswift. After that the church had taken her in and began training her. I can't get much more information but the rumors say that this Adalia was a Quel'dorei, a high elf, who used shadow and arcane magics in order to get her kills. The rumors say that this paladin, Elsepth Tirel, joined an inquisitorial department in order to hunt down magic users who were doing things illegally, as a way of hoping to find this Quel'dorei. She's locked onto me because of my demonology now it seems, and I've fought with her before. She's very strong, much stronger than I expected.....I am unsure of what I'm going to do about her, but for now I'll just have to keep moving like I have been for all these years.
Day 27, month 11, Year (Insert six years ago)
I've fought with this Elspeth several times now, and no matter what I do I can't seem to figure her out. She's more vicious, more cruel, more uncaring than I expected a Paladin to be. I heard another rumor though, that she was kicked out of working at the main church and so moved to the Plaugelands to fight. In the Plaugelands she got the nickname 'The Dark Templar' because of her ability to use the light to her will no matter what she was doing, torture, killing, healing, anything. I'll admit she's quite persistent at least. I doubt I'll be rid of her till I kill her, or someone else does. It's hard for me to say. On a different note, I've finally found what I believe to be the true name o the succubus I've got my eyes on to summon and gain control of. The name she goes by is Hellia, though with what I believe her true name is then I don't have to worry. I will continue this later this day after I've attempted to summon her.
This next section is a bit shaky in writing, a bit sloppy.
10:47 PM, Same Day:
Apparently the true name I had was wrong, and I had put insufficient barriers up. Hellia was able to break free. It was.....an...odd experience. I'm unsure of exactly what transpired, my brain is a little fuzzy, but I know that it wasn't me getting hurt. I feel just very exhausted, and my clothes are soaked in sweat though that's probably just from performing the ritual, it always takes a good deal of energy but I don't end up exahusted like this. I should use my magic to help me remember, probably will do that tomorrow. It looks like more study is needed in order to get Hellia. Hopefuly more will come to me soon, without the paladin-
A mixture of ink and blood covers the rest save for one line at the bottom, scribbled very hastily.
Was found by Elspeth and others, got cut, on the run.
(And now we take a break: More to come in a few weeks! Lot's going on IRL so not enough time to write more of this unfortunately. I hope you all are enjoying it so far!)
((Great job so far, Zevi! I keep reading the dates of each journal entry and notice that time continues to gradually advance forward. We're getting nearer and nearer to "present day"! I really look forward to seeing more of Zeviah's inner thoughts on the events leading up to, and of course, including her induction into the University. (If you're planning these journal entries that far down the timeline, at least.) No rush though! I definitely know how RL has a way of occupying plenty of time!))
(Look! Free time! I can actually write a post! Yays!)
Day 30, Month 7, Year (insert current Year).
I've grown so tired of running....so very tired. I've set up a more stable and hopefully more permanent residence in Duskwood. The worgen are leaving me alone thankfully, probably scared off by my arm. I've been looking into different possibilities as to how I can 'settle down' and still be safe. Stormwind University, the Stormwind Army, other mercenary groups, I'm not sure. I have a feeling of the latter two I'd likely be denied, even if I wasn't not sure if that's what I want to do....the first sounds interesting but the chances of me getting accepted are even lower, being as my magic is illegal and all that. In the mean time I've been trying to understand this passage, I think I need my father's notes that were left at home to understand it...
A torn page from another book was glued into this spot, her father's writing.
Now that you have gotten to this point you have a couple choices in what to do to further your warlock powers. You can work on getting the true names of stronger demons, such as Shivarra, Wrathguards, Abyssal, Terrorguards, etc etc, or you can go the path I did not take myself, but my colleagues did, and I studied what they did closely. You can become very, very close with your demons, closer than I think is wise. This allows the warlock much greater power but will be more obvious and could cause some repercussions that may not be to one's liking. They both are viable paths, however in my Demonology: Summoning books you will only find the earlier. If you wish to learn more of the other, find my Demonology: Journey of Joint Powers. I warn you, if you take that path you will be limited in what demons you can summon and use.
Day 3, Month 9, Year (insert current year)
I've decided that today I will send in an application to the place known as Stormwind University, and perhaps they will accept me. I have very low hopes for it, as I don't usually teach nor do I have a good background for them to investigate if they do a background check. However, it is all I can do not to hope that maybe my long time of running will be at an end. In all honesty I am not very hopeful, not hopeful at all in fact. Somehow I feel like this won't turn out well, maybe it will though and maybe it won't. For all I know, this is the one thing that will fix my entire life, I'll be able to get everything under control. Like that'd ever happen, especially with this arm. I'm not mentioning it in my application because I'm afraid to but...I guess I probably should. Eh, to late now. I've written it and I'm about to send it off. Who knows what will happen, the worst is that they report me to the church or work with the chruch and execute me. At this point, I don't really care....
Here is a copy, for my own personal use, of the application I'm sending in to the University.
What is your full name and title?:
Zeviah Rose Shardmind
What is your profession, and what academic subject would you like to teach? Can you tell us a little about your expertise with this subject?:
My profession is the same as what I wish to teach, warlock capabilities and summoning and controlling demons. I have been a demon summoner since I was 14 and my father asked me to summon an imp and bind it. I have been practicing ever sense.
Why do you wish to be a professor at Stormwind University? What can you as an individual bring to our University community to make it better?:
I wish to be a professor because while I have only hurt society and the younger generations in the past, I wish to rectify that and help society for a change. I want warlocks and their kind to be accepted more publicly. I bring knowledge of necromancy and counters to necromancy, as well demon summoning techniques and rituals.
Please briefly describe a recent experience involving your profession or academic subject.:
I have just recently returned from Outland, where I studied the portals and ruins left by the Burning Legion and the warlocks of the orc clans. I did summon my demons to protect me of course, as it was not a safe place.
Have you any interest in leadership?:
I am certainly interested in being a close adviser to those in leadership, but I am unsure if I want a full leadership roll. I can if it is asked of me, I am just unsure if I desire such a thing.