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‘This is Kardaan, master Emmrich, she recently showed magical promise, Vorgoth wanted me to ask you to benchmark her, they said...payment for the painting?’ Qunari this time, huh? Rook.
‘Yes, of course, thank you, tell Vorgoth I will benchmark her.’ Emmrich barely looked at the Watcher who brought her. ‘My name is Emmrich Volkarin, Senior watcher and-’
‘Undead Lich, I can see that…I have heard of you all before, back home, under the Qun.’ Kardaan – Rook, his Rook - wasn’t wary of him, she knew what to expect when she ran away from her people. ‘Don’t worry about it, your uhh, skull…cool, in a creepy kind of way.’
If Emmrich could blink, he would have. Every reincarnation, their fearlessness shone through, that never changes, and those first few words.
‘Emmrich Volkarin of the Mourn Watch.’ He had introduced himself as when he first met the elusive Rook. Rook was a man back then, a small thin human boy with freckles all over his face. He had looked so serious, grasping his hand firmly, introducing himself as Bellara had rambled on about her letters to him. He had known back then that his whole world would get turned on its axis. ‘Cool skull, in a…creepy kind of way.’
It has been generations since that moment, that fateful day, centuries had flown by and he had known many reincarnations since then. Elves, humans, they even managed to get a dwarven body or two, though those were rare with their disconnect to the fade.
Every single one of them, Emmrich fell in love with, cared for, until their demise. Then, he would take their body and carefully bury it in the special memorial garden that the Necropolis had provided for him.
‘Follow me, we will find a spot where you won’t do harm to the graves or spirits.’ Emmrich set off deeper into the Necropolis, a spring in his step that was unbecoming for someone of his station.
‘So you’ve been here for long?’ Kardaan looked around, the Necropolis felt like a weird sense of coming home, even though this was her first time here. ‘Stupid question, you are a lich, of course you have been…Can you leave the Necropolis? Or are you like, bound here?’
‘I can leave the Necropolis when I wish, my dear, but my duties are to the protection of the Necropolis.’
‘Bet you have seen all of the world then.’
‘Close to it, though I must say that Par Vollen and Seheron aren’t too welcoming for people of the Watch.’ Emmrich looked over his shoulder to Rook, watching for her reaction. She snorted, shaking her head. ‘Only those who want to convert to the Qun are truly welcome, every once in a while they allow traders into the ports, but those are closely guarded.’ She quickened her steps, keeping up with him. ‘It might have been home, but the country wasn’t that beautiful anyways.’
Emmrich led them down a set of stairs, into another garden. ‘What made you leave the Qun? I doubt they take too kindly to run aways.’
‘Self-preservation, I didn’t exactly want to get my mouth sewn shut like the other saarebas.’ She sighed, looking around. ‘And I knew that they would not look too closely at the Necropolis for a runaway, paid good money for a hiding place.’
They crossed the garden into a small training room, away from everyone else. ‘Admirable, that takes great courage.’
‘No, it is cowardice, but I am not ashamed.’ Kardaan set down her bag to the side.
‘So why the Necropolis and not say…Ferelden? Plenty of hiding spaces there.’
‘Rumour has it that even the Ben-Hassrath has difficulty infiltrating this place, figured it was better than an open country like Ferelden.’ A logical choice, not one made out of instinct.
‘Do you have a staff?’
‘No, I could not afford one, spent my little savings on getting here.’ Emmrich nodded in reply and went to the supply closet to get one of the training staffs.
‘They aren’t strong, however, this will do well enough however.’ He tossed it to her and she caught it with ease. ‘Show me what you can do.’ Emmrich watched as Kardaan widened her stance, take a deep breath and swing the staff. A small ice bolt flew at the training dummy, striking true. Emmrich nodded at her and she did it again, getting more comfortable with the weight of the staff. ‘An affinity to ice, very good.’
‘I wasn’t a warrior under the Qun, of course, so I am unused to battle.’ Kardaan sighed, looking at the staff. ‘I bet I could heal, if that is what is needed from me.’
Emmrich walked over to her, resting a bony hand on her shoulder. ‘You can enrol into the classes here, see what pulls your attention. You will of course put in the work, but I am sure you will find it easier than you think.’
Kardaan looked at him with a small frown, her head tilted ever so slightly. Some habits transcend life times, it seems. ‘You speak as if we are familiar, professor, but I have not met you before.’ Emmrich was glad his skull didn’t show any emotions at that moment.
‘Of course not, like I said, I have never visited your lands.’ Emmrich’s voice was strained, he had waited for too long to mess this up now. ‘Apologies if you were unsettled.’ He took as step back, folding his hands in front of himself again.
Kardaan shook her head. ‘No, I do not mind, I was just doubting my own memories, you seem familiar yet I know I have never met you.’ She looked him over, her eyes narrowed. ‘Do you have a second face?’
‘Second face? Do you mean my glamour? You would not recognize it, I haven’t been outside the Necropolis for quite some time.’ You always drift to here, Rook, without a fail. Emmrich was a fool sometimes, a hopeful fool – He put up his glamour, standing in front of the new version of his rook as the esteemed professor once more.
Kardaan inhaled sharply, the smell of books and ink rushing through her nose, looking at the man before her. He is familiar, so painfully familiar, but looking into his brown eyes, she couldn’t put her finger on it. ‘Infuriating, you seem so familiar, yet I have no idea why.’
‘Maybe I just have one of these faces.’ Emmrich knew that telling her wouldn’t help, it never helped.
‘Rook? Who is rook?’ Emmrich sighed as the elf in front of him gripped his waraxe tighter. ‘Reincarnation? Unlikely story, who are you, are you a slaver?!’
‘No, goodness no, I am no slaver, I am professor at the Necropolis, I have no intention of kidnapping you.’ Rook had attacked them then and there, fearing for their own life. Emmrich had to leave that cycle behind, waiting for the next chance.
‘No, that isn’t it, too put together for just another face.’ Kardaan stepped closer, her rope trinkets clinking together. Despite Emmrich’s height, the Qunari was bigger than him, broader, her horns adding to her imposing length.
‘Y-you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.’ None of the reincarnations had been this close with the fade before, maybe this one could remember with a bit of coaxing.
‘Try me.’
‘You are an old soul, Kardaan, a reincarnation one…You made a promise decades ago, right after we defeated the Elven Gods, to always find me, in every cycle.’ Emmrich’s tone was careful. ‘And you have, every few years you show up on my doorstep and we start anew.’
Another sharp inhale. ‘My asala is bound to your antaam?’
‘If that means soul and body, yes, it is…but don’t be alarmed, you are still free to go and do what you want, if you do not wish to stick with me.’
Kardaan was silent for a minute, looking at the man before her. Emmrich stood still, not wanting to scare the Qunari off. ‘I used to read smuggled in books back home…Romance books, some talked about…Soul mates, is that what it is?’
‘Maybe in a less literal sense, but yes.’
‘And you said that we defeated those…Hissra together?’
‘Yes, we did, the Veilguard were heroes when we finished.’
‘Sick.’
Emmrich let out an indignant snort, she sounded a little like Taash, their dear old friend that had found themselves back in the guard.
Emmrich looked at Kardaan, his rook. ‘I promise, you are not bound to me, you do not have to stay with me, you are free to explore other options.’
‘What if I wanted to? What if I want you to take me out on a fancy little lich date?’ Kardaan took his hand gently, the glamour once again fading. ‘I like food and the beach, flowers are cool too.’
‘Honeysuckle and Hellotrope.’ Emmrich whispered, holding her hand slightly tighter.
‘Yeah, I love those, how did you…You know what, do not tell me, keep some secrets for me to uncover.’ Kardaan’s smirk sent a flutter through his non-beating heart. ‘So, what would a…Lich date entail? I assume somewhere in a graveyard? Maybe some kind of ritual? Don’t let it be a ritual of sorts.’
Emmrich laughed, a genuine laugh, shaking his head. ‘Only if you are comfortable with such things, otherwise, there is this lovely café topside that I know you will love.’
‘I don’t mind the dead, they are fascinating in their own way, though, the walking skeletons are something to get used to, we just burn our dead back under the Qun.’ Kardaan put down the staff now, picking up her bag again. Emmrich made a disapproving noise, but didn’t say anything else on the matter. ‘Do you know if I can get a room down here? I would prefer not going uhm…topside, as you called it, without someone with me.’
‘There is your old rooms, if you desire? They are not far from mine so you know where to find me if you need anything.’ Kardaan nodded in response, following the professor down another hallway and down another set of stairs. It took them another 10 minutes before they got to the apartments and Kardaan wasn’t sure if she could find her way here on her own. ‘Here we are, this is your key, everything should be cleaned, but there are some belongings from previous lives in there, if you want to get rid of them, please come see me first.’ He slid the key into the lock, opening it for her before stepping aside.
‘Thank you, prof- Emmrich.’ She smiled before heading inside, taking the key, slowly closing the door behind her.
‘Oh and…Rook? Thank you for coming back.’