Freeform Magic (IC)

[drack]

"Well, the truth is I have used much of the manna I will use. Now if I were to go off and barter with traders I could get you a fair deal more, yet It would do nightmares to my image if any of them thought I couldn't even keep track of my own cloak. Now if you could give me the cloak I will go and make those dealings, but seeing as you refuse to do that I am left with just power and shadow manna, and my power would be drained along with a part of that manna that I refuse to give you were I to attempt to overpower you, which mind you with you overextending yourself on silly rituals, and with your bodily weakness from making the blood concubine would be easy. There are only two problems with that idea. first I do wish to get this barn spell done, and second the particular spell I was considering would not leave me entirely in control of my actions, and as such I may leave my cloak on your bleeding carcass. Now what of this offer, you ask your questions, give me my cloak, than I actually help you. fair?" Old Man Jim's red eyes flash at the thought of doing away with Baylin, but his hands remain lax on his staff.

[Norts]

Cambion studied long into the night, working his will upon reality. Power magic was something he had little training in, as his order usually preferred to use subtler methods. Nevertheless, he felt that some facility with Power would be a needed tool in the coming days.

As he finished the day's practice, he pulled out the coins he had been given. As he did every day, he tracked each target in turn, sneering in annoyance as he came to the Old Man's coin. The old fellow must be paranoid to have created a decoy without any cause apparent. "The paranoid ones are so bothersome. Well, I guess that decides my direction, for now. One has two signals, the other is in the middle of an undead horde, and the last is conveniently close by." Standing, Cambion prepares to break camp. "Let's go visit this Bairn of Plinth, shall we cat?"

[Exthalion]

Worried by the other ritual, Bairn began subtle work to make the field asymmetrical. A great ellipse, the farthest point just able to protect the village. This would allow him to deploy faster, hopefully before the other ritual was complete. He could then focus purely on increasing the fields potency, while the other would have to expend energy on area.

As any mage of the Nation knew, marginal increases in radius produced increasing marginal costs as each additional unit of radius produced a greater increase in volume. As potency related to area, a larger area was harder to make more potent.

This should allow him a stronger defense for the village.

[UltraFennec]

Ashleigh pondered the news of Olm and wondered if perhaps the fellows he fought with (and against) could be found there...but for now, he had more pressing matters to attend to.

Deciding to check on Bairn for the day, Ashleigh waited until he was out of town before opening the Infinite Logbook and summoning Yeffu.

"Yeffu, I need you to follow up on a lead for me. An old tale-teller in town just informed me that the spirits of this island are guarding something dangerous on the ocean floor. Can you get the ocean spirits from that shore near the Hill to confirm this? Even if I'm just getting pointed in the right direction, it'll help."

Once that was over with, Ash continued his small journey to Bairn, bringing any essentials he'd needed along with the news about the city of Olm's intentions toward the undead and the stories he'd heard in the tavern.

"I'm starting to wonder who this Champion really was...or is, I suppose. We can't rule out that he'd be powerful enough to survive this long if the Elves' divine power brought him halfway across the world to fight demons.

"Anyway, what are your thoughts on Olm? I mean to investigate these "demonic" weapons first, but it seems the focal point for resistance is there."

[Exthalion]

Ashleigh was being very patient these days, as Bairn was often unable to respond for several hours until a pause was reached in the ritual casting.

To even a novice of ritual magic, the work was beautiful and extraordinarily complex. Circles with opposed spiral directions were laid one upon another. They even shared major runes!

From the beginning, large standing columns of transmuted stone had been raised in a circle around the nexus. Spiral grooves had wrapped around each. Now horizontal stones capped them and leylines, visible to the naked eye, were entwined in the spiral grooves.

Just as Ashleigh walked up the columns began to resonate, then sing. The atonal vibrations settled into the Hymn to Love, one of the oldest cultural artifacts in living memory. It had been preserved in oral tradition since the Prime War.

As he walked closer it became harder to move forward; the resonating leylines produced a tangible field of power. As its density grew, along with the triumphant stanza's of the hymn, it condensed into a liquid neither wholly physical or entirely mana. As it poured out from the hilltop the barren ground sprang to life.

First grasses, then flowers, a little later shrubs and bushes, finally trees all grew from the seemingly bare rock and dirt. The eyes of a mage would see that each item was aligned in a such a way as to correspond to the great spell design which had been laid out. The species of plant, each with a symbolic meaning, reinforced the spell form. Moreover, the flow of life, through roots and by pollen through the wind, traced the lines of the spell over and over again, thus reinforcing it. Finally, living mana was bound up in the plants, allowing much finer control over power flow and density.

This was a work of the Ars Praxis. Not the in the full of its majesty, but worked by a master. Each element reinforced the others and the whole was greater then the sum of its parts. Hard arcane geometry and abstract geomancy balanced by the flexibility of life and the raw physicality of rock and stone.

The leylines in the area had been changed, this nexus was not simply a place of intersection, it was a node. These places, often places of great importance, changed the nature and resonance of the leylines that flowed through them. Its raw essence, in this case Grace, harmony, and purity, flowed away from it along with the mana flows. The inflowing lines were also altered, as the resonance traveled down them. A node did not change the mana flowing entered it, it changed the characteristic of the mana that would later flow into it. Thus all over the island the leylines took on aspects of Grace. In order for this to happen the nature of the island began to change.

Living things grew up where none had been before. A stagnant puddle in the wilderness was transmuted into a serene glad with a pool of water so clear it was like a mirror for heaven. These changes were worked all over the island. yet not a one was a waste of energy or time. They reinforced each other. Slowly, oh so slowly the island itself was becoming blessed; for the very water and stones were hallowed.

Siting in lotus position sitting at the heart of the stone circle was Bairn. "Hello Ashleigh, you have come at a very good time." He had a sort of mischievous smile as he said that. "How have you been?"

He seemed not to have heard the previous statements. He had, but the flood of mana had been sufficient to reignite the panopticon. He saw the entire flood of the electromagnetic spectrum. Had he been blind his hearing was so acute he could discern the shape of each grain of sand. Most importantly he had the Eyes of the People, seeing the delicate flows of life and energy in all things. People had died who were not accustomed to it, the seeming contradiction of seeing a little universe in every drop of dew and yet seeing the whole, the place of each thing and its interaction with all things.

[ArcaneStomper]

Baylin laughs, "You're really just a child aren't you. You're worried about silly trivial things like your image, you have a complete lack of patience, you simply shrug off deals and only pretend to fulfill them, and when that fails you turn to making impudent threats. You know I have changed my mind. There's no way you would know anything useful. You are simply far too immature."

Still laughing Baylin waves a hand and opens a portal to a small plane he used to store interesting things. Reaching in he pulls out the cloak. Tossing it to Old Man Jim he says, "Here is your silly little toy. Go or stay I don't care. You simply aren't worth my time anymore. Now if you'll excuse me I have real work to do and can't participate in your childish games anymore."

With one final laugh Baylin turns backs around and continues on his ritual, apparently completely ignoring Old Man Jim. Like he had said it was almost complete. Baylin had been very busy over the last couple of days. Through his ritual he had erected towering monoliths completely encircling the the island and linked to the black tower. He had even sent groups of blood combine around the island to pile rocks in strategic positions around the island. Rocks which his magic had then twisted into horrible black shapes which warped the mind of any unfortunate souls who looked at them.

Between the monoliths and the rock nodes he created a complete net across the island. A net through which he could direct his ritual applying it surgically at precise points rather than attempting to smother the whole island. After all he only wanted to affect the islanders, applying the ritual at places empty of life was a waste of power. And through his net he could both detect the islanders and apply his power in a much more precise manner.

And it was almost complete. Soon the last nodes would be finished. And he would finally be able to deal with this wretched island once and for all.

[drack]

A look of rage slowly fills Old Man Jim's face as Baylin speaks, and as Baylin turns away Old Man Jim replies "so than I suppose you don' want that nice little book Orven was reading with his ritual ay?

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Stat: Shadow
Intent: make another shadow duplicate of Orven's book
Mechanics: Before Baylin's overzealous disbelief kicks in again, an while the surprise that such a thing could possibly be missed by the concubine Old Man Jim forms the book in his hare (one of the places one would never expect to look.) I'll also give it some more juice by augmenting it with the concubine's belief in my powers.
Description: Old Man Jim flicks the shadow duplicate out of his hare at Baylin's feet before he has a chance to turn around.

Than With the arrogant strides of a magi Old Man Jim walks leisurely out of the room tapping his staff loudly as it goes. "Never underestimate my childish ploys good mage."


When Old Man Jim has put some distance between himself and Baylin He slipped quietly into the passageways before any of those silly concubine spears got him, not that a few undead could match him on the battlefield, but a spear wound would be inconvenient. Despite what the mage said Old Man Jim would keep up his end. His mind quickly jumped to the blood manna he had been gathering from his bug meals, but he quickly disregarded it as insufficient. He would need to go to market and with something juicy.
He went out to find a spirit. The only spirit on the island he had had dealings with in the past, and one who may be able to introduce him to some with whom he could better deal in return for but a trifle of humanity... yes, the fine memory of sitting in the cage with those men, munching on insects, and feeling the fresh rain drip off his skin... yes that would do just fine. He hastened off to exit the passageways at Flogle's pond. (Flogle being the spirit)
As he steps out he formaly greats the spirit before offering the memory in exchange for hooking him up with a lower-middle class demon, a well connected minor spirit willing to share his/her seal, and a minor spirit of purity.

[Thelonius]

Yeffu returns to Ashleigh

It didn't take long for the spirit to return with the news, which it whispered to Ashleigh's ear. There was an ancient compact by which the spirits of the sea were bound to protect something on ocean's floor. The magical storm that enveloped the island was mostly powered by the spirits of the water and now they are temporarily weakened by the effort and can't muster the same power to protect their charge.

Bairn Prepares Ritual (OOC)

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Just reminding you, that if you are planning to create a connection to the Holy Mountain, it would be beneficial to establish the ritual site on a mountain, for stronger sympathetic connection.

If you are basing the ritual on the concept ''Love Eternal'', however vague your understanding of it is, it would be beneficial to get other people to enact the chants or perhaps use as a focus person or object signifying love. This would be the most efficient way to gather some power.

Monolith Falls

Baylin was observing the map of the monoliths he directed Blood Combine to construct, when he sensed the disturbance. One of his dark nodes suddenly faded from his magical perception. Baulin checked the spellwork, but it was woven perfectly. Someone must have destroyed the physical lynchpin of the spell - Obelisk itself. The information flowed through the Blood Combine and Baylin listened. It appeared the human resistance has made its first move. They weren't going to just sit and wait for their doom.

A Trade of Memory

The spirit looked a bit less than human. Its long slender fingers were in the middle of arranging the leaves on the large tree in some indecipherable pattern, when Old Man Jim appeared. They were in the middle of dense forest, powerful and proud. Two weeks of raging storm and yet it looked like only a warm summer rain has passed.

''A trade of memories?'' It moved its hands to the mouthless face and made a gesture mimicking a smile. ''But of course, my Old Man Jim. But of course. I've got strings leading to many demons and spirits. What sort of memories you wish to barter?''

[drack]

Old Man Jim smiles slightly Assuring himself of the memory, and adding to it as he and all living things do, accenting the cool trickle of water on his skin, and the feeling of inclusion that at least Old Man Jim had felt. Old Man Jim than pulls the memory free of himself offering it to the spirit with an ability most humans lack, and stating his terms. "I would like you to show me to a lower nobility demon of Kalag, a minor spirit of purity, and a well connected minor spirit with connections as many spirits do, but one whom will be truly heard who is willing to barter with his seal." (Kalag is a lower demon class who's demons tend to be a little less well off than others, but a minor noble should still have a fair quantity of manna to trade, and a spirit's seal will allow one to summon it for a task, but the effort involved in the task, and how quickly it is done will depend on the initial bargaining.)

As he offers the memory he feels the old sensation of unimaginable loss as a fragment of himself is torn free such that he would never remember the moment again assuming it is never returned. "I hope this will suffice?"

[Thelonius]

A Trade of Memories

''Why so humble with your requests, dear Jim-Jim. Lower nobility, pah! I can get you a moderately noble demon, and transfer a favour he owes me. Perfect for your purposes. For that I want all memories, you don't have. Spit and shake.'' The spirit extends its long, thin fingers in gesture of handshake, while changing position of a leaf on the top branch of the nearby oak with his other hand.

[drack]

"I suppose I'll accepts assuming you are willing to accept all the consequences... You know how I get along with bigger demons and spirits... And some demons have a bit of pride... Well anyways I'll accept your kindness" Old Man Jim extends the memory to the spirit adding in as a curtsy and complement the small dream he had been having all the while of sitting under that nicely arranged tree, and feeling the cool fresh air with the calm pond stretching out... now devoid of the fantasy Old Man Jim stares at the trees anew fr a moment before continuing on with a faint air of complacency "Hmm, oh well guess we may as well get on with it than."

[Thelonius]

A Trade of Memories

The spirit's hand closes sharply and when it opens a dark orb of spiritual energy rests in its palm. Old Man Jim doesn't feel, that anything missing from his memory, yet it is clear the orb is filled with something, that was part of him. It draws him and is drawn to him in return, the locked memories swirling inside. The spirit rolls the orb along his arm to his other hand, and makes a half smile gesture with his fingers.

''Excellent. Let me impart to you the names and words to be spoken to invoke your demon'' The spirit's eyes shine and Old Man Jim reads the name of the demon in them.

(OOC - I leave to you to write the details of this Demon. Its more powerful then Kalag, but less powerful then Jellyfish Demon from the beach, and Jim now holds a favour to be redeemed by the creature).

[drack]

Old Man Jim frowns at the orb unsure of what he has forgotten (as is only natural), than smiles pleasantly not all too surprised "...and I assume you could direct me to the other two I requested?"

[Exthalion]

Many are the paths of magic, and innumerable its ways. Using the overflowing mana of the nexus, Bairn began to work opening a song gate.

An ivory oval grew out of the ground like a plant, first bent and twisted, but slowly straitening until its unmolested expanse appeared like a gateway.

"Beating of the wings on high, beyond the Earth, beyond the sky..." Bairn was not a talented singer by any definition, but the words were musically spoken if not sung.

At the chosen mountaintop, near the beach he had previously landed an identical oval had materialized. In truth, there was only one gate, it just happened to be in two places at once.

The song was a key and the true magic of the gate. It caused the gate to resonate and created a song path between its two locations. By steeping through one you could travel along the song to the other in a place beyond both space and time.

"Intone the words as I have, and you will be able to follow me. Sorry to leave so abruptly. If it isn't too much trouble, could you see about getting someone in the village to do something strongly indicative of Love? It would help to anchor the spell there."

With that he departed through the gate. Once on the mountain top he again sung the words. Through the gate he pulled mana and transmuted the stone into a simple tholos. That done he assumed the lotus position and opened his chakra and dissolved his giest barriers.

He again meditated on Love and again the world darkened around him.

One the Primordial Atom, the expression of Primeval Love appeared before his mind's eye he looked through it, to the Mountain of Glory. He did not seek to touch the Mountain himself, for that was folly. He sought to touch Love. The Mountain, and all true things in the world were of, from, and for Love. In a way it was like looking at the sun.

To look directly would scar the eyes. Yet to look through a proper lense would filter it out until its light was bearable. This is what he desired, to reach out to the mountain through Love and so participate in its power.

[ArcaneStomper]

The Black Tower

Baylin grits his teeth and spits a bit of blood mana onto his map. If the humans wanted to play a harder game he would oblige them. It was time to test his ritual anyway.

Focusing on the map, he mentally reaches back and connects to the blood combine. Then he uses the bit of blood mana he just spit out to establish a sympathetic connection with the map and through it the monolith network.

With this done Baylin then begins checking each monolith and node individually for humans to make sure none of them are in danger of being destroyed. Then he tries to examine the site of the destroyed monolith as closely as he can searching for the ones responsible. If he can't find anything in either of the two cases then he will instead find a small isolated town. Then he focuses his will and that of the blood combines. It was time to begin.

-----

At the site of whoever he finds.

The air gets darker as Baylin's will intrudes on reality. Faint almost invisible lines of red appear connecting each human to something elsewhere. And then suddenly blades of air materialize and begin their harvest. As the people die the lines connecting them get darker and darker. Eventually a tipping point is reached and every remaining human is converted to a blood combine zombie in a horrifically painful way as all their blood is seized and repurposed as blood mana. Soon the fallen corpses get back up and the blood combine has grown that much bigger.

The Spell

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Intent: To test out the ritual on a small scale by converting a small group or town of humans first before applying it to the entire island.

Mechanics: First any grace that might interfere with the ritual is pushed to the edge of the area. Not really on purpose, but simply because Baylin and the Blood Combine are basically anti grace creatures at this point.

Next as his ritual works Baylin will connect each human in the area to the Blood Combine. Since the blood combine were originally islanders there should be some sort of blood relation to help with this. If not it will be harder, but should still be doable.

Next Baylin will materialize some of his force knives/blood mana harvesters. These will begin killing and returning blood mana to the ritual to strengthen the sympathetic connection. Once enough blood mana has been collected and the connection is strong enough the humans should convert pretty much automatically.

Of course if they have some sort magical protection or a magician with them this will be more difficult, and if that's the case Baylin will probably spend some time analyzing their defenses first.

[drack]

As they walk Old Man Jim asks the spirit if it knew anything about that dreadful night that broke the island.

Edit: Now for spirits travel is quite a simple task, and most all can teleport, turn into wind/rain/fire/ect..., fly, hop through various unconventional gateways and so on, they have no real reason to bother either way... well they do tend to their own baths which may vary well pass through numerous unconventional gateways, but they don't tend to bother with all the speedy transportation humans use, because they aren't consumed with time.

[Thelonius]

===Dark Ritual===

Baylin didn't sense any interferences at the time, so he instead found a small village. The ritual worked well at first, delivering several kills, but the small flames of life have began to scatter and flee. Several barricaded themselves in small spaces, a number have been lucky to leave the epicentre of the ritual, beyond which the magical knifes began to lose their potency. Some haven't been as fortunate and were cut down before they managed to flee. The reanimation process has began. It worked fast on the people, who were connected by blood to the Combine. It worked in Baylin's favour that blood mixed easily on the island. If it was smaller, he probably would have had relatives of the majority of the population. Unfortunately, Cross Island was fairly large. The zombies have began stalking towards the people, who foolishly chose to barricade themselves, rather than escape. The ritual worked, but a fair number of people have managed to escaped it. There wouldn't be any place to flee, once the ritual covered the entire island.

(OOC - The last bit is for flavour. Covering the entire island would require lots of power, most of which would be wasted in non-populated areas.)

===A Walk in Forest===

''Ah... Yes. That was a night to remember. It's a pity you don't. And now won't.'' The spirit gives a hand wink and begins to juggle the black orb. Behind you, drops of water slide down the leaves and fall to the ground. Their falling forms A barest sound of music, that even Jim, attuned to the workings of the spirit, can barely hear. ''Can't give back goods I buy. Sold to me. Forever gone. You understand.''.

[ArcaneStomper]

Baylin nodded. It had gone about as he had expected. More power would be required to make it effective. He would have to tap further into the blood combine for the initial stages. Shrugging he raised his hands and began chanting a new ritual. Given the time it would likely take to gather enough magic he might as well begin now.

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Stats: Ritual

Intent: To connect Baylin to the full power of the Blood Combine. Giving him the power he needs to deploy the ritual.

Mechanics: There should be a pretty major sympathetic connection between Baylin and the Blood Combine given the fact that he's blood mana out of it, the initial spells, and the Baylin personality fragment that makes up part of its control.

Using that sympathetic connection Baylin will connect himself to the entire Blood Combine. Since it wants the ritual to succeed just as much as he does it should let him. But at the same time he will buffer his mind from it for two reasons. First he remembers what happened the last time he filled up on blood mana. And two he doesn't want the Blood Combine infiltrating his mind and making him a puppet.

Also he'll send a thread out to his tower to see if he can establish a connection again now that the water spirits causing the storm have died down a bit.

He's in no hurry so he should have plenty of time to do both rituals right and connect to both the Blood Combine and his Tower.

[drack]

Old Man Jim frowns for a moment, than a smile returns. "Ah well, all business in the end, and after all the memories aren't everything, I still have the feelings, injuries, many contemplations of the day, the traces left on my senses, etcetera. In short I feel contented with our bargain, but would you mind telling me what the woods, and the seas saw that day? I suppose I could ask them myself, but after all there is a nice party down there, and I would like to return before it ends." (Thank you Old Man Jim for having experience with dealing with spirits )

[Thelonius]

Memories of Wood and Sea

''Ah...'' Spirit muses. ''If it was anybody else... But for you I guess'' its long fingers snap a twig and snatch a blade of grass. He doesn't stop there, plucking more plants and tangling them together. After another turn they suddenly emerge at the sea. Jim barely felt, when they sidestepped the space, moving miles in a blink of an eye. The place appears to be isolated and rocks have formed a pool of water. ''Get in now'' hand-smiles the spirit, now holding the thick tangle of branches and leaves. It moves with lightning speed to disrobe Jim, swearing to keep his cloak safe and return it to him, in a single breath.

[drack]

Old Man Jim obliges knowing spirits tend to be good for their word, and knowing that magical creatures tended to be aware of what his cloak was... and what would happen to them even if they could survive using it, or trade it quickly...

[Exthalion]

Ritual of Supplication for the Receiving of a Blessing of Mana from the Holy Mountain via the Mediation of Eternal Love

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Stats:
Ritual and Shadow

Spell's Intent
Obtain a flow of mana from the Holy Mountain without killing me so that I can use it to power and speed up my grace ritual.

Spell Mechanics
Bairn is in a quite and dark space. He opens his chakra and dissolves his geist barriers. Then he meditates on Eternal Love until the Primordial Atom appears. (Similar to what he did on the beach)

Within this expression of Love is contained all things, all connections, the relationships between every mote of dust and rock and tree and even the stars. The Holy Mountain is a sacred place, an it is part of this expression of Love.

Love is the living will of creation to exalt and know itself. Bairn is as much a part of Love as the mountain is. He will use the Namaste to great acknowledge the mountain through Love.

Normally connecting with the mountain blows up the mage stupid enough to do so. However, this connection is not direct. It flows through Love. The sympathetic connection he is forming is through the most fundamental of reality. Love has power, as has been seen in its abilities against the Prime Evil. Compared to Love the mountain is nothing.

Thus Bairn is asking Love to intercede between him and the mountain, giving him only as much power as he is able to stand.

Spell Description
The same thing as the equations and ball of light happens at first. If it works, Bairn will begin to glow, then become almost transparent. The power of the mountain is great, and the power he can hold is also great. He will appear to be made of living fire. If that happens he will channel mana into the ritual of Grace even though it is sort of far away.

If that works, all over the island it will become very obvious. Grass will spring form the broken ground, and the mountains will become lush and green. even the tiniest spring will ring like a silver bell with the music of water. The air will be clean and fresh and laden with the sent of flowers. All fruit bearing and flowering plants will be laden with ripe and full produce and heavy with flowers.

This is all the physical component of what is happening. Far more powerful, is the Aura of Grace all this is forming. The very rocks and water will be hallowed, and the blood combine will be beset by it as if by fire. wherever people seek out Love and meditate on it, and desire it for its own sake the field will grow stronger.

Those who call on Love shall be saved, for the power of the whole is contained in each. That is love, that the strength of each is as the strength of all. To kill even one person Baylin would have to overcome the power of the whole ritual.

This is assuming they don't do something stupid like think its evil and burn or cut down the trees or curse me or something. But at this point, it really is there choice.

I told Ashley to tell them to seek out Love. Now they must accept the salvation I grant them.