<strong>Location:</strong>Dorm<br/><strong>Tagged:</strong>Na'ima<br/><br/><div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/N7zx7MH.jpg?1)</div>Ellen realized she had made a mistake by establishing hand-on contact with Na'ima.  She mentally scolded herself and promised to keep things at arm's length.<br/><br/>"Even before coming to Redhurst, I've been involved in arcane studies.  I'll tell you something few others know: I grew up in the kingdom of Ollivart, a rural nation of mountain passes and glades.  Centuries ago our nation was affected by plague.  The gods did not look kindly upon the land, and so we had no priests or divine aid to stem the death toll.  The Carascans, a noble family of arcanists, altered the ley lines with necromantic magic in an attempt to bring about an end to death, but things went very wrong.  People died, but their essence still remained tied to the land.  Matthew, one of my cousins from my human side of the family, was contacted by his dead ancestors and other family who remained within the ley lines.  He was frightened by this ordeal, people thought he was cursed.  For years we did not know how to help.  But in recent years we had found a way."<br/><br/>Ellen produces a necklace with a blue jewel in the middle.  "It's a ward against the undead," she said.  "I crafted it myself, for Matthew when he still lived.  Wearing it helped drown out the voices at night, but the protections wore off over time and eventually they came back more than ever."<br/><br/>Ellen looked down at the table, lingering on the necklace.  "I made an imperfect model, and in some nights I swear I can hear Matthew from beyond the veil.  There are others within my family who are affected by the ley lines' curse, and although it will take the efforts of many mages to undo the damage, we have to start somewhere.  It's one of my reasons for coming to Redhurst; I hope that I can find what I'm looking for here."<br/><br/>Arturon returned suddenly.  "Sorry, did I interrupt?"