Flashback A time to understand

[Vick]

Fall, 1, 412 AV

The light from the sun slowly kissed the ground as the young nuit, Vick, stood along the shores of Sahova watching the tide of the ocean. No sounds of birds were around, or the sounds of people for that matter. Just the sounds of the tides pushing and pulling as he stood alone just lost in thought.

Truth be told he forgot what the sounds of a city sounded like. He had been here for so long he had a hard time recalling anything about his family besides fade facts of genders and for the life of him he could not even recall where he use to live. He just had so many other things to remember when he came to the island that his past just had no meaning so it became useless bits of information that he would have to meditate on for awhile to even try to piece together.

His eyes closed as he took a deep breath in. His dead lungs moving once more filling with air as he took focus upon his djed deep inside his soul. It did not take long to find his djed, a pool of power twisting and turning inside him. His focus shifted from finding it to using it.

Tendrils of djed came to the surface of his skin from deep within his soul. His focus was to pull the power inside his eyes as the world around him lit up in more shades of color then he could even hope to grasp.

The world was made of Djed, energy, from the tiny rock to the largest tree. What Vick saw now was something of a painting. The ocean was a deeper blue, almost a purple one could say. The stones around him were glowing a moss green, the sand was lighter green almost pale. Even his hands as he looked upon them were twisting with color which was a deep red mixed with black.

When he first started learning this power called, Auristics, it drained him so much as if he had ran all day. However now he just felt a slight fatigue as he held onto it letting his mind take in the new world. It is always around yet so few had the sight to understand it.

His mind took focus upon a nearby rock. The rock itself was rather unremarkable even the aura it gave off was just a waste of time to study. However Vick knew how hard it was and where it was smooth at. Little basic facts he knew just by looking at it but he wanted to push himself to in this just a bit more.

He felt deep within himself that he was ready to try to understand more than just the basic facts. He wanted to know more in depth about it. Was it magical? Or at least did it hold a magical residual from the magic around it? Yet even as he asked the questions nothing came to mind other than what felt like an steady increase of fatigued that pressed along his mind.

No longer could he focus on the rock as his hold over his magic was lost. He was not sure how long he had it in his grip or how long he was trying to focus upon that rock but all he knew now was that his mind felt tired. He dared not try again for a good awhile but for now he would focus on other tasks at hand. One of them dealt with his world magic but first he had to obtain the items for it. With that he left the beach and went back to work.

As he walked towards the main part of the island away from the docks he had to answer questions inside his own mind. He knew about Djed and the forms of magic in the world. He knew that the power came not from the body yet from the soul, it was was Nuits were able to use magic in the first place and get better at it even with a transfer of body.

Yet what came to mind was a simple question which he could not form an answer towards. How did the magic inside a persons soul grow? His world magic, Malediction, was better than his Auristics one could say even if the Malediction was a world and Auristics was a personal.

Yet could one compare the two on the same scale? Or did he have to compare the forms of magic towards each other such as his Auristics and Voiding? For both of them came to be personal forms of magic but his Voiding was far weaker than his Auristics. It took much more focus and time to even spark life into his Voiding form but much less time for Auristics even if they both used the same pool of Djed.

Was this due to his Djed was more like a plant? A tree perhaps. The trunk base part was his overall Djed force but the branches of the tree were more like his skill and the fields of his magical skill such as Voiding? Could his Autistic branch be larger and stronger than his Voiding that he was still trying to understand and learn? If that was the case then where was his world magic Malediction upon that tree? World magic was far different yet it did hold the same key traits in some areas. Maybe that was another tree yet the roots could have been tied together?

The questions and answers were never easy to form but it was a thought nonetheless to him as he made his way towards the Office where he could order the items he needed from the island.

[Vick]

Material Procurement Form E-43
Name: Vick
Occupation: Malediction, Wizard, Legacy Imaginarium of Artifacts
Master:N/A
Name or Title of Project: Research under Malediction field within Legacy Imaginrium of Artifacts as Wizard status with Sahova dated under 315 AV under status of Sahova rank.
Brief Description:To further form artifacts using bone under field of Malediction for the Island.
List of Materials: Bones from the island which the Golems can gain in the testing grounds. History of bones would not be needed however would help further the research goals.

The form was filled out and given to the Synchrograph Office for his items. He almost made a smile as he filled out the title of the project as even now he still had amusement from his childlike mind that never truly grew up in a sense as he handed it over. He knew the request would be granted and the items sent to his office.

So with that he made his leave towards the great library where he would then spend the next few hours to days researching about the history of Malediction. He felt if he knew more about it in theory that would then him his work. The library held almost everything within the halls of magic and more than he could understand in a lifetime. Even if he spent all his time reading he would doubt he could understand a fraction of what was inside all the tomes.

He made a seat and ordered the golems around to get the needed books for him. He had been in here so many times since his first time on the island and it felt like home to him. The books were found with ease from the catalog golems and with that he just started reading.

‘Malediction, or Legacy, had a large demand thousands of years in BV due to the cheap magical items were made yet also due to the lack of economies and could not withstand the demand over Magecraft items.’

Vick would have sighed as he knew this already. He knew Malediction was the sister to Magecraft and had been fighting for more time than anyone could even grasp. He knew it was far cheaper than Magecraft but at a cost. However it lacked the sophistication of Magecraft and that alone made it a far more danger when trying to make the artifacts do what the crafter wanted.

Yet he just kept reading the book flipping the pages letting his mind gather the information for it could have had a clue of what he was searching for. Just a spark would help fire his mind and ideas.

‘During the peak or close to the peak of the Valterrian the market for Magecraft items pushed the crafters of Legacy down and forced them to work away from the large cities. Yet in AV the market for Legacy took a boom since few could gather the income needed for items of Magecraft forms. Master Sophera Rickstand once said that Zapatl would always be around and that it could have the power to be the strongest form of world magic.’
The name did not ring any bells. Vick just passed it as another random death within the war as he knew so many had passed away before the event that changed everything. How many pages had he read in this book? He was not sure as he closed his eyes, it was just a basic history it sounded like but he could not bring himself to put it down all the way.

Yet Zapatl was the real name of Malediction, the name Malediction did not take form until after the war to curse the name almost to show how bad it was. Yet he never saw it as bad per say. The bones would just rot away at least this way he could make a use for them.

Yet how could he make a powerful artifact? He was nowhere closer to that goal then he was when he first started so many years ago. It was a shame he could not talk to another Master but the island had no Masters of the craft that he knew of. It might have held one or two but they kept to themselves and he did not prove himself yet for them. Or at least that is what he told himself as he pushed the book away and picked up another one.

‘Artifact of the Zapatl field can come about many things. However it is noted that the stronger the person was in life can have an effect over the bones in death due to the stored Djed. Knowing the history can help as well. Such example would be on page 43.’

A mutter came from Vicks lips as he had already read this book more than once. The book talked about experiments but he had already knew them. They talked with how a person subject A could do such crime and how the Crafter A then could use the bones to make Subject B have this effect if used a weapon or item. Yet Crafter B had make a point on a different skill level combined both Subject A and Subject B bones together to form a far different effect.

In the end it was things Vick did not have a hold of on Sahova or at least right now. He needed to pull off something far more than what he had to have more say over the island and over the shipments. If he could gather the items from off the island then he just might could pull of the idea in the book but for now he was stuck with knowing very little history over the items.

With that he ordered the golems to put the items away and he left for his office. Maybe he would have luck or at least show something for his skill that could help.

[Vick]

The request he made had came in at last. It was inside a wooden box along his desk with a simple note telling him what pulser had given the box to him from what golem. It was not needed however as he looked over the simple bones. A few skulls of different sizes but the main thing inside the box was a Jamoura bone which was the humerus.

He had worked on Jamouras before and knew of the anatomy of the race. This was the humerus bone which was a long thick bone from the shoulder to the elbow. This bone would be perfect for his task at hand as he took the bone from the box and placed it on the table on the far wall behind his desk which held different body parts of bones and tools. He had to use a step stroll to get on due to his childlike height but that was far normal as he was turned into a Nuit as a child.

The box he then placed under his desk for further testing but for now he had work to do. The Jamoura race while smart also had great strength due to the large race they were. It did not matter if they did not use that power in life but he knew they could and had it so he could focus it out in death.

First thing to do was simple, clean the bone which he moved to the barrel of water near him placing the bone inside it letting the water climb over the bone. Then he took a simple clean cloth and rubbed along it making sure no dirt or blood was along the bone. Getting the bone off a body was never easy, neat or clean. He always had to take the time to clean up afterwards and even once it was washed he would still have to work along it before he could use his magic upon it.

Once it was cleaned he then took it back to the table. His hands moving around in his craving toolbox before pulling out a basic scraper tool. It would be with this tool that he would use to smooth out the bone a bit before making the symbols.

The work was long to say the least as the scraper moved along the bone slowly. His lungs did not move as he did not need to talk. When he first learned how to do this he was told not to breath the dust in that the bone had made due to the bone dust would rip apart his lungs or could make him sick if he was living.

It took a few bells for him to smooth out the bone to where he wanted it. He was getting better at using the carving tools to help him mold the bones he worked with. Next he took a quill and ink from his desk and placed it near him. Working with bone took time but he found that if he drew the designs he had in mind first with ink then traced around them with the tools it felt like it sped things up or at least in his own head.

The circles of Malediction were rather a simple idea. They could hold words, a story or just images but they were meant to dig into the bone and force the Djed out and funnel it into a use which the crafter made or at least did his or her best to make as the Djed and results never could truly be made perfect. Which Vick has learned far more than once.

The circles themselves could be of any design for that did not matter as long as the crafter had the goal in mind. On a normal day Vick would would crave with his tools then cover it up with paint. That way if a person saw they would not think much about it as the symbols would be hidden. If the symbols were to break however the artifact would be damage or just break overall.

It took different skills in the end to make a Malediction product aside from just knowing Malediction. One had to craft into the bone which could had been carving itself or it could be painting or drawing and that be it. Once the symbols were done then one had to fuel that spark of Djed with blood yet just a drop would do. Then it could be shaped into an item like a weapon or something to wear like a bracelet.

This project would be rather basic as it would just tie along the forearm but he would have to cut it in two so it would fit. While that weakened the effect of the magic he had a theory that it would still be about the same as if it was whole as long as the same person wore it. The effect would just be an increase of strength like the race had. If that worked or not would be a different story.


So with that in mind he then started more work, the symbols were inked on both ends being the same. Inside the circles were a simple word in the ancient tongue that meant ”Strength”, “Power”, and “Body.”

Once the words were written in the black ink he gave it time to dry as he then used his carving tools which was just a simple pick which had a sharp point to indent the surface of the bone. He would use that to trace over the ink and form the indents of the words and circles. Right now it was just a bone with the words and ink but soon it would be magical artifact of some sort.

This part took the longest time. Thankfully he had all the time in the world as he did not need to eat, sleep or even take breaks. His undead body had no need for that for he did not get tired like living people did. He had spent weeks nonstop writing and researching and even longer working nonstop like the rest of the nuit race.

The only sounds inside the room were the sounds pick scratching away at the bone as he made detailed notice on following the ink. First were the circles, lightly pressing down onto the bone slowly moving into a circle.

This was the hardest as he had to make sure to take his time. He learned the hard way long ago how not to rush things when it came to magic. Mistakes could kill him even now so he had to be careful. It took him a Bell to do one circle but he did not care as he moved on to the next. In the end the large bone would have six circles, three on each end.

The total time took more than eight bells in the end as he had a problem with the last few circles as his mind kept trying to wander. Yet in the end they were done. Crude circles as his skill with carving just never took off to be masterwork. Yet it worked for Malediction sure enough as he then sharpen the pick on a wet stone before going back to work.

Within the circles he started work on the words themselves. In each circle would hold one word, from right to left it was ”Strength”, “Power”, and “Body.” This took even longer as each letter had to be indented into the bone itself. While the letters were rather small he knew the size did not matter as he did his best to make each letter as perfect as he could.

While the circles took eight bells the words in total took almost a full day to come about. As much care as his hands gave him he placed in the circles on each side of the bone. His goal was to enhance the body with Strength and the power it gave like how Flux would boost a person. Would it work? He was not sure.

Yet first he would have to cut the bone in half by which he would use the saw in his tools. He knew the risk of cutting the bone on how it would weaken the magic or at least turn the magic into two shards but he had to. His lungs did not move as his left arm held the bone down and his right moved the saw cutting into the bone slowly.

He would have to make a golem one day to saw for him but for now he did it himself as he did not budge from his task until he was done. If he had to sleep or eat then odds are he would have taken far longer maybe even three days for the project but since he had no need for that he got the job done far faster. Nuits were the best race in the end or at least he thought so as the saw came though the other side at last.

Now he had to drill two holes in each end for rope or some form of string to go though so it could be tied along the arms. Like armour of sorts but that was easily done as he held the bone in a vise on the table and used his hands to power a basic drill. He had to be very careful with this part of the project as if he moved to fast the drill would crack the bone and could damage the symbols.

He knew he should have made this first and the symbols last but that was just how his mind worked. He was not perfect and made mistakes like this like anyone else. Yet for now he just focused at the task at hand with the drill.

Time passed once more like always and days passed before Vick was done with forming the holes and using string to tie into the holes. All he had to do now was just use his Ichor onto the objects. Then he was done. In the end this project took almost ten whole days from start to finish and he was proud of the results. Did it work? He did not know that yet.

He would not even test it but he would make a pulser test it. It could work or it could backfire and make the user weaker than normal or even kill the person. He did not know but he would not test it himself but watch someone do it. Then he would either sell it or keep it but he was not sure. For now he was done and he wanted to leave his office. Yet before he did he let his finger be cut by a knife, his dark ichor blood touching both bones and a candle light flame later his cut was sealed.

No magic lights took place other than his blood fading from the bones. He knew the magic was alive now. Yet he placed the objects inside a box and took them to THE office to fill out a form for a test subject. Then he would call it a day so to speak and work on something else.

Material Procurement Form E-43
Name: Vick
Occupation: Malediction, Wizard, Legacy Imaginarium of Artifacts
Master:N/A
Name or Title of Project: Research under Malediction field within Legacy Imaginrium of Artifacts as Wizard status with Sahova dated under 315 AV under status of Sahova rank.
Brief Description:To further form artifacts using bone under field of Malediction for the Island.
List of Materials: Pulser to test out new artifact.

With that he filled out the request and then would see the results for himself. Then either sell the items or keep them. But for now he would move on to another project and wait for a tester.

[Mirage]

Vick

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Auristics:	2
Drawing:	2
Carving:	3
Malediction:	3
Philosophy:	1
Research:	1

Lores

•	Is my Djed like a tree?
•	Maledictions early history
•	Maledictions true name: Zapatl
•	Lessons Learned: Drill first carve last

It's Not What You Think...

Great thread! After turning in the form Vick was provided with a human pulser test subject within the next 10 days. Upon applying the maledicted item it was discovered that the bones gave a flux-like effect to the body part it was attached to. In other words if it was attached to the left arm it would pull the strength from the rest of the body and apply it to that one arm. Because the bone was sawed in half the effects are slow and can take anywhere from 3-5 chimes to be fully felt.

I loved your writing in this Vick keep it up! Just a note, you only got 1 point in research because all I really saw Vick do was read a book. I actively research on a daily basis, and I personally see research as a combination of studying, note taking and experimentation. To gain more points in research start having Vick take down some notes, and vocalize his own theories and assumptions in thread . Past that it was amazing! I look forward to your next work!

P.S. this is a new template so have not figured out how I want to add items yet, so go ahead and add your 2 maledicted items to your inventory plus any extra bones