Hard Times and Assassination

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Hardin Klein explains that his mission is to figure out how to use mana without having to dig it up and refine it. The cost of doing so is growing too great. He asked them to find someone like Xin Yue for him to study, and the picked me. I’m furious, but there’s nothing to be done about it. He’s not planning any of the ridiculous experiments his underlings had been doing.

I try to explain my magic to him, but since most of it suddenly appeared one day, I don’t think it will help any.

Some comes from the earth, like Xin Yue. Some comes from the old goddess, the Dawnmother. Some may come from the evil eye of the dead fae god, Balor, but I haven’t tested that yet. The rest… Well, a hag in the woods said it came from murder, but I didn’t kill anyone when I got my magic. Honestly. I think she was referring to the Old War.

Poor Mr. Klein spent hours asking me questions and I spent hours explaining that I had no clue how I did it. I showed him what I could do, and talked about how I made the elements do what I wanted. I told him all about the Dawnmother and my prayers to her. I even explained Balor and the horrible, awesome power as we destroyed his eye. This went on for months.

Then, one morning, I woke up and something was wrong. Mr Klein hadn’t seen me for several days, and I had no memory of that time. He looked into my head and noticed my memory had been modified. I begged him to fix it and he did, though it took some doing.

Rictus had taken me away from the facility. He made me do things. But it wasn’t me! I didn’t have control! I can see in my memory, watching my body kill people. It’s foggy, but I think there were six of them over those days. Then he wiped my memory!

I think I had a bit of a screaming fit after I realized what happened. Some of it in Sendings to Dalish, some to my other friends. I’m not sure I was coherent at all, but they all agreed it was horrible. Klyce, as usual, was the most reasonable of the group.

He suggested I tell people about what was happening. Put pressure on Rictus to get him to stop wiping my mind at least. I wouldn’t be able to stop being his instrument of death, but at maybe he would stop messing with my head.

Mr. Klein looked terrified at the idea of going against Rictus. Aleria replied to my plea saying that Primes are above the law, and short of a Certimum, there’s nothing to be done. I asked Dalish to ask Rictus if he would meet with me, and if not, would he at least stop wiping my mind, I’d do what he wanted. Dalish passed the message along, then told me Rictus said it was better if I didn’t know what my body was being used for! That just made it ten times worse!

Next, Klyce suggested I try and gather political power to put pressure on Rictus. I asked Dalish if his party could do anything, and he apparently caused a scene at a meeting. One of the members did come talk to me, though. He said that I needed to get more political allies, and change the law which put Primes out of legal danger. He also talked to people on my behalf so I wasn’t stuck inside the facility all day every day. I got to go into the city on weekends.

It happened again. I lost a few days again. Mr. Klein wouldn’t help this time. He didn’t seem to understand what I was asking. I think Rictus might have broken his mind a little bit, too. I sent to Remy, asking if his party could help. They want to limit magical use and abuse. He got a representative to come talk to me. He insisted I join their party if I wanted their support, it would help with lobbying the other parties if I was a member and not just an independant. So, I agreed and the following weekend, I signed up with the Magical Regulation League.

But nothing happened. No one could figure out who it was I had killed even. I was still stuck trying to explain my magic to Mr. Klein. He continued to grow more and more despondant as it lead him nowhere. I didn’t lose any more days, though, before it was time for our Harvest Festival shore leave. I was so grateful when the day finally arrived.

Mr. Klein

On By ravonlockeIn Journal, TristiaLeave a comment

My first full day in Atlantic City didn’t go terribly well. They had brought me to a small room in the basement, for my bedroom when I arrived. The next morning they took me to meet with Dr. Hardin Klein!

“Young miss, I am sorry that we have been reunited under such awkward circumstances.  I have been here, paying penance for my sins. The Primes have chosen to punish me by keeping me confined here, but in truth this is where I belong.  I must do whatever I can to make up for what I and my team did.

“All this war, murdering innocents by the thousands… All for mana.  If I can prove my theories are correct, and find a way to access mana without refining or moving it, then all this territory grabbing will be unnecessary.  We’ll have all the power we need, already in our grasp.

“Will you help me, Tristia?  Will you help me save this country from itself?”

I’m ashamed to admit, I kind of lost it then. I stared at him for a long time. Emotions raging through my brain and across my face. Fear, anger, relief, hope among the top ones vying for control. It took longer than I liked to find my voice. Everything was still spinning, but I had to try.

“You… Wha…?” I tried again. “You want me to help you? After everything that happened?” I know it wasn’t his fault, but it was his lab! I press on. “T..tell me what you’ve been doing down here. I want to stop the war, stop the genocide of Fae and Natives. We agree on that. Did you help make those Machines?  Was that you? Now you want something safer? Because people died?” I couldn’t stop. It probably wasn’t him, that’s not what he said. “What are you doing here? Why am I here? Why did they take my friends away?” I stop, I’m shaking again, like a child. Close my eyes and shut down for a moment, breathing. “What do you want from me?” I barely manage to whisper. 

“Yes, I know what happened.  The machine, it was designed based on some other mage’s work, a man named Garion.  I wasn’t involved in that, though that project seemed miraculous.  Recovering mana from summoned creations, that was rather ingenious, I still don’t know why that project was recently shuttered.  But no, my research is a different animal.  I don’t know what’s happened to you and your friends, but I want to help.  I know I have sins to atone for, that’s why I’m asking for your help, so that I have a better chance.  I am sorry for all that I’ve done, wittingly or not.”

“I don’t know why you’ve been sent here, Tristia.  Please understand that I did not request you to be sent here, not specifically.” He seems genuinely sorry, but I can’t believe it.

“Those machines were awful! Those creatures being murdered inside them were Sentient Beings! By the Hundreds if not Thousands. Summoned from their homes and slaughtered for their Mana. Garion was a horrible monster who tried to do the same thing to me!” I’m yelling now, furious, and he’s the only person to yell at. I shouldn’t yell at people, it’s not proper. It wasn’t his fault, but I was still scared.

Breathing. Calm. 

“They stopped using them because they all exploded at once, killing hundreds of soldiers who were near them.” I looked at him to see how he’s receiving all of this. “They sent me here because I don’t drink Mana like everyone else does. Like Xin Yue.” 

Calm, I have to stay calm. Angering him will not help my chances, but I wanted him to understand. 

“What are you working on, Mr. Klein? How do you want to use Mana? How can I help?” 

So, he told me, and I tried to listen with an open mind.

In The Eye of a God

On By ravonlockeIn Journal, TristiaLeave a comment

The top of the tower is terrible. We all feel sick as we emerge through the door. Turning back momentarily from the horrible sight, we see Dalish, trapped inside a newly reformed prismatic wall. He didn’t move fast enough. But we don’t have time for that. The eye of Balor is before us and one of the mages turns towards us moaning, with his own eyes gouged out.

Turning to face the eye, people start picking off the mages when Nat says that they are protecting it while they try to contain it. I hear His voice in my head.

Submit Daughter, and destroy these mages.

So, I pick off one of the mages, too, but then I realize it was His will, not my own. I close my eyes and cover my ears. I hate it up here. The beating is so horribly loud.

The mages are all gone, when I look up again, and hear His voice.

Rebellious child… and He tells me to kill my friends. I try to cast thunderwave, because we are all still gathered up around Hank, but Gerhardt counterspells me. Then I shrug off his will again. I Really Hate it up here.

Gerhardt gets put to sleep after that. I manage to get a call lightning spell going. Maribeth gets turned to stone. Francis gets paralyzed. Shelly gets turned to stone.

His voice returns, ordering me again to attack my friends. So I call lightning down on the largest group together. He disintigrates Wan Kei. And Klyce manages to crack through the eye. I call lightning down on Klyce and Remy before I manage to shake His will again.

Now what? It doesn’t feel so awful up here anymore, but it looks like everything is about to explode. Gerhardt and I want to banish it to explode somewhere else. But others want to circle up and stop the explosion.

I start to pray to the Dawnmother for guidance, but His power draws me in again. It feels so good, not horrible like the machine. I walk forward and put my hand to it. The power fills me! Fills me to overflowing. And I can see beyond everything. I can see an infinity of power.

I wake up in my tent. Remy is just coming in to check on me. He explains that they did try to circle up, but there was too much power to contain. They did manage to contain the damage to a five mile radius, but only because Maribeth made a deal with some dark patron to save all of us.

I go see her, but she only cries. I don’t ask her any questions. I check on everyone else. Gerhard is studying his potions. Klyce and Dalish are working on magic. Remy, when not checking on me, is checking on everyone else, including our old troop Sergeant. It takes me a while to find Nat.

She’s off to the edge of camp, blindfolded and practicing with her daggers. She tells me what happened, too. And I try to explain what happened to me. I ask if I could share her tea, to try to see what I saw again. She agrees, and I ask what would happen if we brewed it with mana. Since that place was so full of it, maybe it would help me go back there. She thinks that’s a great idea, so we plan to do that soon. She also tells me that she can maybe talk to the gods now. And maybe even force them to answer, like a more powerful version of prayer, backed by her magic. We’re not sure if that’s a good thing, or if it will get her smited, but she’s going to try it out sometime.

I also visit the crater that used to be New Calay. (I guess it’s spelled New Calais, actually, but now that it’s gone, I don’t think it really matters.) It is Silent. So silent. Everything in the crater is dead. I fly down into it, after passing all the dead soldiers that were turned to stone and dust in the explosion. I sit for a while, in the silence. It is peaceful after all the noise and the beating. Restful.

We get a summons from Durance and report to his tent on day four after the explosion. The army has started moving again, having buried what dead it could, they’ve been packing up camp. The Lt is glad to see we are all coping alright. We lost 3,000 men in the explosion, and a port city for decades to come. Our report of the events has been relayed up the chain, and we all have new orders. The machines all exploded, taking out hundreds of men, and so production will be halted and more regular means of mana production will be resumed.

Dalish is ordered to head back to New Gnosis to work with Rictus. Natty to the Carribean to work with the Navy. Gerhardt to the Black Hills in the Dakotas. Klyce to the Mexican Territories. Remy is headed to California, and Maribeth to the Northwest Territories. I am to head to a research facility outside New Gnosis to help with magical… research. We’ll be shipping out in two days time.

Nonononononononono! We can’t! We can’t split up! I won’t! Please, can we go to Argentina now? I don’t want to be an experiment! Guys! What are we going to do??

I don’t say any of this until we leave his tent. Remy doesn’t want to split up either. As usual, Klyce is the voice of reason. We have to. We have to do this, serve our term, honorably. Or they will torture and kill our loved ones. Send them to the mines, execute them, draft them. Whatever. We have to do as we are told, until we can do something else.

We also have to stay in touch. We work better together. Everyone needs Sending in their spellbooks. We’ll have to get materials before we leave or that. Nat has to work on her mindpalace to strengthen the range. We each give her something of our own, or of our person, to take with her. Hoping that like scrying, it will strengthen our connection.

Klyce agrees, my assignment sounds the most dangerous for my person. He encourages me to reach out to Xin Yue and her brother’s group if I need immediate rescue. Dalish will be nearby, as well. I am still terrified, but I know that any one of them will come if I call.

Maribeth goes off to get scribing supplies. Remy and Klyce go talk to Triplehorn one last time. And Nat and I go off to drink some mana tea.

It is an interesting experience. Not as crazy as last time she pulled us all into that crazy mindpalace against our will. But it seems like a portion of that power is still inside me. Some untapped potential, just laying in wait. I know some spells I didn’t know before, that I didn’t want to know. But I also can feel some of that power already.

The last night before we go our separate ways. We all sit together. We eat one last meal. Drink one last toast. And promise to keep in touch, and to come if we are needed. I do not sleep well that night, and in the morning, it is time to go.

Evil God Body, Innocent Civilians, and a Prismatic Wall

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The fight with the eye monsters and the tentacle monsters went way better than the last eye monster. The boys were fast on their banishments, so we only had to fight two at a time. But Francis did manage to fall through the membrane in the center of the room, and I had to go fly down after him. We sat for a few minutes after, to heal up those who go hurt, and Locke told us how he has a mana fountain at home, that he can utilize even at a distance. Interesting. They get so much better training here

As we continue on, Remy talks to Turner about all her contraptions. She says they came from her parents. Then the conversation rambles off into the hardships of life, priveledge, slavery, politics, and religion. But all I can hear is this body’s heartbeat.

We find the shoulders and an abscess leading upwards. Into some sort of swampy section. I don’t even want to think about what part of the body this is. A bunch of weird lizard and frog monsters jump us here, and we put them down rather quickly. Only Klyce got swallowed, and only once. We’re getting the hang of working with our new allies.

We find the spine, and after a lengthy debate about simply severing the spinal cord, we head upwards instead, finally entering the regular building. The first room is packed tight with people. We freeze in mild panic as a mage flies towards us in dingy clothes.

Remy, Nat, and Dalish quickly convince him that we mean no harm to these civilians, and he is incredibly relieved. He has been working for weeks to get people out of the city. We tell him, we’re just here for the eye. He informs us that they used to rotate the mages working with it, until two days ago. Then they locked themselves in, and everyone else out. Now there are strange things between here and there, in the tower.

We watch as they sent the room full of people through a teleportation circle to Argentina, and then make our way across to the stairway up. The central staircase if full of flesh and bone, pulsing with power heading down towards the growing body. We take the outer stairs, but that pulsing beats in my head unbearably loud!

We catch creatures out of the corners of our eyes, but they don’t attack. Reaching the top, we find a shimmering wall blocking the door to the roof where the eye is. Dalish says it’s called a Prismatic Wall, and there are different layers of different colors that each take different magic to get through.

The first wall falls to a barrage of frost bolts. I control wind at the second wall. The third one requires force damage, and no one has any. Dalish says the fourth wall can be dispelled with our passwall scroll. So, Remy and Klyce dimension door through the third wall to cast it. Oh, the wall also blinds you when you get to close. They manage it, but the third wall still hurts them for their trouble. Hank and Gerhard walk through wall three, and I try to dimension door now that there is space, with Turner because they need a bunch of fire for the next one. It still hurts us, space apparently doesn’t matter. Turner fire-blasts the next wall down.

Next is wall that will turn us to stone unless we can cast daylight on it. I ask Wan Kei to come try their magic, but it’s not strong enough. Nat tries casting light on the mana in her phail and then willing it to be bright enough, but it doesn’t work either. I ask Locke to come in and help, and grudgingly, he does. None of us can cast daylight, but Hank has it available, but didn’t memorize it. Locke grabs his head and forcibly memorizes it for him. Then he is able to cast it and drop that wal. That was kinda creepy.

The last wall is strange, it will make one disappear and be gone forever if we don’t get rid of it. This is the only one that can simply be dispelled, but it takes a lot of tries to get it right. When it’s done, the force wall behind us drops, and everyone else comes through to join us. Gerhardt has to overcharge to manage it.

Overcharged and confident, we run through the door onto an open balcony. We’re on top of the tower, a fifty foot circle. In the center is the giant eye, fifteen feet thick. The nine wizards are held tight around it on their knees.

Allies, Explosions, and Intestines

On By ravonlockeIn Journal, TristiaLeave a comment

We don’t get far in the city before some guards are shouting at us, asking for our papers. Remy tries to talk them around, but it’s clear he is failing, when they suddenly fall unconscious. A teenager dressed in green, with a pointy hat, bids us follow him, and quickly. Having no better plan, we do. He leads us through the streets of the city, avoiding patrols and people , to an old abandoned inn.

Heading inside, we pass through the illusion, to a decently appointed inn, with a gathering of teenagers of all sorts. In short order, we exchange introductions. Hank, a young man in full plate armor with a tree of golden fruit is their leader. He is the chosen of the Green Witch. His companions are: Francis, a burly guy with tight clothes and swords; Wan Kei, an Asian guy with body wraps; Shelly, a hooded girl with daggers; Turner, a black girl working on some small tinkering project, and Locke, the wizard who saved us.

Hank tells us that his patron tasked them to come here and wait for us. They are to accompany us into the tower to destroy the eye of her father-in-law. Hang on, what?

The Royalist mages apparently have the eye of a god or fairy king or something, named Balor (of the evil eye). He was king of the fae realms. The Green Witch married his son, and then killed him. His evil eye popped out and was sent through the planes to ours. We have to stop them from using it or the whole city will be destroyed, maybe even more than that.

Hank wants to either send the eye back to the Green Witch or destroy it. We’re all on board with that, wondering if banishing it will do the trick. They’ve been here, hiding, for weeks waiting or us. There’s a quick discussion about the evils of our various armies, interrupted only when the whole in explodes around us.

Eighteen guards pour in through holes in three of the walls and the fight is on. Locke apparently has non-violent leanings like Klyce, because he dispells the first big spell Gerhardt tries to cast shouting at us not to kill people. But the battle rages on, the eye turns its gaze upon us, and bullets fly. We sleep and knock out as many as we can, but eventually, even Turner agrees with us, and some of the soldiers die. Maribeth ends up chasing their Captain for a bit, but eventually lets him go to avoid a bigger fight.

We run. Hank leads us away from the gaze of the eye and to another safe, empty building. Then he lays hands on us, popping the bullets out and healing us with much more effectiveness than my magic can ever manage. We talk a bit about his abilities, and some of the others, marvelling at his magic. Remy casts non-detection on the room we are in, and Nat uses her arcane eye to look over the nearby sewers. Shelly has to guide her to an entrance, but it goes smoothly from there.

Nat maps out the sewers. Noting that around the central building their are strange fleshy blockages. Pulsing, brown-red flesh surrounds all ways through the sewer to the tower. The flesh shifts and the entire town shakes. While this is happening, the majors fall over unconscious, pulled into a mind-palace with our commanders to report in after sending a short message.

We discuss possible ways through, and where best to go. Deciding to get as close as we can, then reasses the flesh. We’ll probably have to cut through because the army will be on high alert now above ground. When everyone is ready, we head out and down.

It takes half an hour or so to get to the point closest to the tower. Nat uses her clairvoyance to look beyond the wall. The sewers turn into fleshy tunnels beyond five feet of flesh wall. The tunnel is full of liquid – bile, puss, ichor – she’s not sure. Coming back to herself, she casts an augury about going into the tube. It comes up both weal and woe, so we decide that’s the best we’ve got.

Back down the tunnel away from it, into side tunnels as much as possible to avoid the flow. Then start hurling tiny spells at it to burn and freeze away the flesh. It takes a little while to get all the way through, but then the disgusting liquid pours free. Splashing all over several of the group. It takes a short while to finally subside as I levitate above the disgusting mess.

Then we head into the tunnel. It feels like it is breathing. I can feel its heart pounding. The others can hear the heart, too. We get up to another barrier after a while, and having met no resistance so far, burn through this one, as well. This room’s walls are pulsing with the heart beat, and we are not alone.