Something Wicked this way Comes...

[LordDice]

Snapping out of his troublesome thoughts as he enters this most holy place...

An eerie light pervades the room, quite a bit brighter than he remembers...the Glowmoss that had been carefully sculpted around intricately carved stalactites has grown and covered the entire ceiling of the chamber... The air is still, heavy....uncirculated. As it should be, this most precious up welling of pure earthen energies coming together into a single point was one of the greatest secrets of the Falgen Stoneshapers. Some ancient magic keeps the air here breathable, likely put in place by his ancient ancestors. At least that's what the elders told him as he voiced concerns once upon a time before being sealed into the room to meditate upon the Font.

Reacquainting himself with the large chamber he walks to the Wall of History, whereon engraven images show the ancient meeting between Dwarf and Elemental here. A joining of two races that would shape his clan for the rest of time. Tracing over the engravings he finally comes to one of the last images on the Wall, the newest engraving depicts a stone heart being implanted into a young dwarf....himself. A dramatization to be sure, but not entirely inaccurate as he remembers the ceremony that bound a piece of stone into his very core, the rest of that stone forming into an elemental.

Looking on sadly he glances at all the panels of the Wall that have yet to be filled and most likely never will be.

Finding himself in a sullen mood it helps not to look at the Wall of Ancestors, thick with the names and deeds of those Stoneshapers that had gone before him. Coming to his name at the very end he's tempted to fill in his deeds... but it just doesn't feel right, who will ever see this again but him anyhow.

Turning away from all these bad memories he focuses on the center of the room, a simple raised platform. There is no need for glowing runes or flashy magic to make even the most mundane realize there is an incredible force weighing upon that very point in the center of the room. Weighing is the best word for it, for as he gets closer he can feel the power pulling him down, trying to make him one with the earth.

At the base of the steps a large basin sits filled with quicksilver of all things, stepping into and kneeling he goes about the ritual cleansing dipping his hands into the liquid he washes away the impurities of the flesh, his mind settling as he starts moving oh so slowly. The cleansing takes over 15 hours but he hardly notices, time slipping through his fingers like the quicksilver. Moving ever so slowly, carefully he comes closer and closer to the center of the chamber... a few more hours finds him centered in the chamber, physically and mentally.

Letting himself go, he merges with the living stone as best he can broadcasting his desire to be reunited with his Bonded once again.

[Mr. X]

With a rush of like being dunked in an icy pool, you merge body mind and soul with the font of power...

As before, you feel your fate being re-woven into that of the earth and mountain, and you are flooded with visions of past or present, or perhaps what is to come...

... Reeling, you are aware of this Font, and are just beginning to gather your bearings, when the earth splits open in great magma spewing chasms that splinter off the Source like a spider's web, reaching across the face of the continent to other similar Sources, where the reaction occurs again... And again... Until the whole of the continent is shattered... Broken, and scoured clean in purging volcanic fire...

... But then the vision shifts, and the devastation is gone...

...

... The wind howls in your ears, as you find yourself standing atop a jutting rock reaching out into ocean, where the strength of the Mountain meets the might of the Sea... Beyond a costal town can be seen, but you cannot recognize which it may be...


For a moment, all is calm. The day is bright and clear, and even at this distance, you can see the people scurrying about their daily business, and ships with their billowing white sails glide serenely over the waters... But then something changes...

... At first is seems as though the ocean is boiling...

... Swarms of dolphins, hippocampi, sharks, & fish of the sea flood towards the land, mad with fear, beaching to wriggle hopelessly or pushing through the reef, to be torn asunder in their terror.

The waters of the coast are swiftly rendered pink with their flesh & blood.

With a great heave, the tide draws out, fast and far, capsizing ships & leaving the barnacled docks of the port bare & somehow vulnerable; naked without the Sea to gird them.

Even the simple molluscs about your feet seem to be fleeing, a sad sense of desperation in their painfully slow retreat.

It is then that the thing appears... Rising from the depths to blot out the sun, Wreathed in a rainbow of razor sharp coral, and stinking of mud & debris from the primordial depths, the creature is mountainous... It explodes from the depths, arcing it's sinuous body leagues across the sea, casting you in darkness as it sails overhead. Faceless, the forward end of the beast pulverizes the piers & docks like matchsticks, it's body still trailing over a league back into the ocean depths.

New horror strikes, as from the bulk of it's form, pinkish crinoid tendrils, each the width of a stout oak & easily a field in length, explode from the muck shrouded depths of it's bulk, shattering buildings & dragging horses, oxen, & screaming sailors into it's interior.

Your mind reals against the terror, searching for something that could be of use against such a serpant... A ballista or trebuchet would be insignificant to it, and even cannon-fire might at best serve only as an irritation.

Suddenly, you see it's form convulse mightily, raining mud & small crustaceans upon you as it flexes it's massive bulk...

It is then that you know you are Doomed, for with a titanic effort, the beast pushes it's true form from the ocean floor, of which the monsterous serpent is but a single, segmented limb!

Lungs the size of a great castle draw breath for the first time in countless millenia, & you lose consciousness within the devastating cacophony wrought by the god's voice, roused from eons of slumber...

...

... You jerk awake sputtering and convulsing from the pool of mercury, your vision spinning wildly as you gasp and heave, your mind still reeling from the vision...

... But someone is there...

... Strong arms catch you and hold you close... And keep you safe...

...

...

... Sid.

Spoiler

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A new Spell:

Cataclysm
When no hope remains, let the world be scoured clean by volcanic fire... All may be lost, but the foe may be prevented its victory... And from those ashes, time may begin anew...

System:

Spoiler

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To cast this spell, you must attune yourself to every Source or Font on the continent, and conduct a greater ritual to channel and network their energies together.

The successful completion of the ritual shall cause a series of [as yet] uncertain events, resulting in the destruction of all life on the continent... Every person, tree, squirrel, mushroom, and blade of grass. Everything.

Check the OOC for further information.

[LordDice]

Huddled in the pool of quicksilver, mind reeling from such Revelations...

Knees hurting he finally pulls himself away from the pool, having fallen there at some point. It drains off quickly back into the basin as he steps out, feeling Sid's concern for him along their now so much stronger link.

"I'll be fine...Thank the Living Earth you've returned to me, I was worried...managed to put it out of my mind for awhile. But it's not the same"

His only reply is a burst of feeling, Kinship and Belonging....

Resting on a small ornate bench, looking at the Wall of History he sits quietly, chewing on a bit of food he had saved from his stay in Deep Mote. Thinking of what can be done next...his brother is still half a continent away, doesn't sit well at all. They should be together.

The Chamber is perfectly clean, it had always been highly maintainted by his ancestors...no dust was left to lie in here and sealed such as it was nothing entered or left...But he still needed to speak with Taalkar.

A quick look towards Sid and he'd already anticipated what he needed, Reaching through the Wall of History with a mere ripple he comes back with a hunk of limestone, crushing it between his massive hands it quickly crumbles into dust and sand.

Speaking a low and gutteral word of Terran it quickly starts dancing upon the floor, the magic searching for the other half to connect to. With a Ripple it finishes, dust dancing in the light of the Glowmoss.

"Brother, Brother are you there ?

[Barthac]

He had been riding hard through the night and there was one thing he was sure of, dwarves were not meant for riding horses. Rubbing his backside, he wondered how the Calvary could ever do battle from the back of a beast.

He had just crested the rise of a hill and sat atop the horse, considering the valley below him and how to cross the sparkling line of a river in the distance. Suddenly, something happened. He wasn't sure what it was but it washed over him in a wave. He felt a weirdness invade him. It was difficult to describe but he had an urge to dismount. He climbed down from the beast and lay on the ground. The horse glanced at him, perhaps wondering about this strange behavior.

Taalkar lay on the ground for awhile. There was a certain rightness about laying on the earth. He had a strong urge to return to mining, something he had not done since he was a child. He focused on the feeling and felt some sort of strength emitting from the ground itself. It was something he hadn't felt or imagined before. It washed out of the ground in cool waves that tempered the heat of the sun that shone on him like waves cooling the sands of a beach.

He had no idea how long he lay, enjoying this new feeling. A faint voice called to him through his revery, Brother, Brother are you there ?

It was Karazi, thank Moradin. He hadn't heard from him since he left camp and began his new life as a horse thief. Reaching into a pocket he pulled out the bundle of sand and ash. Oy, What have you gone and done now?

[LordDice]

"I've made it home, well part of home anyhow. I was doing the ceremonial Earth Bonding to retrieve Sid and something happened, so much more.

"Visions of a nightmare rising from the sea and the means to stop such a thing if it should happen. The bond between Myself and Sid is stronger than ever, I feel great."

"Did you get the sanctuary you saught with Star Spire brother ? are you well ?"

[Barthac]

The wee king was unwilling to directly aid what is most likely an outlaw of Deep Mote. He did let me take a horse and send me to search out the elves of Loc'nethal.

Brother, was yer bonding thing about an hour ago?

[LordDice]

"Aye it was....how do you know that though ? did something happen ?!"

[Barthac]

Something is exactly what I would call it.

What about this 'nightmare from he sea'? Are ya sure it wasn't some bad mutton? I remember ya thinking you was being chased by badgers one night after a taste of old lamb.

[LordDice]

"No, this weren't no bad mutton ya lumphead, twas a message from the Living Earth...a warning of the dangers to come."

"The Blighted are by no means done, more Danger comes. The Earth guides though, it told of other Fonts to visit and a spell of great desperation, for when all is already lost. Stone will always endure after all Brother, This time it wants a hand I think."

[Barthac]

More fonts? Like the one at the Keep? And something bigger from the blight? What do we do now brother?

[LordDice]

"Aye more Fonts and yes a great Blighted beast from the sea, in the vision I was shown even even the cannons couldn't touch it hardly. It seems a mite more important than some Human King wanting you to go poke around looking for vanished Elves"

[Barthac]

So, ya usin that bracelet from Malthos. Taalkar feels the urge to spit for some reason. You're sure it does what you think it does?

[LordDice]

"Aye, I think it's best and since "something" happened to you when I finished the ritual...I think you need to do it as well, any boon from the Earth must be given the proper respect after all.

And if it don't work then Sid and I are in for a hell of a walk aren't we...here goes nothing"

Reaching onto the bracelet he pulls off the tiny Taalkar dangling off it.

[Barthac]

Taalkar quickly stands and grabs his pack and his axe from the horse. He gulps deeply and waits.

[Mr. X]

Taalkar

The wait is ended abruptly by a sharp tug behind your navel, and the sickening sensation of being turned inside out...

... You come too laying in the sanctum of the Source. Home again, for the first time it what seems a lifetime.

[Barthac]

Taalkar let's go of the breath, now a long way from he breathed it in. He reaches down and makes sure his belly button is on the outside. Feeling everything in order he takes in his surroundings. He had only been here once before, but he recognized the room quick enough. A sudden surge of nostalgia threatens to overtake him as he admires the dwarven workmanship of the walls and their carvings. Walking around the room he's struck by a sudden thought.

Ya lame-brained, half-witted, worm-eating, lummox! He points at the blocked doorway Ya summoned me into a TOMB! Are you trying to kill me, now?

[LordDice]

"It's not a TOMB you disrespectful ass, this is the source of our Stoneshapers for over a thousand years !
Gesturing around wildly in rebuttal.

"Besides, you just open that wall there and the passage back to o..ur...Oh ****. Our Caves are collapsed arn't they."

[Barthac]

Wool-headed, knob-brain!

Taalkar paces a bit. Finally he plops down and pulls an apple from his pack. Taking a crunchy bite, So what's yer brilliant plan for geting us out? He glares at his brother Cause I know ya got one, right.

[LordDice]

We'll worry about getting out later. I can feel the Earthen energy pulsing into you via our connection, you need to be attuned. I've no idea what that kind of raw magic will do to you without the proper Ritual binding it to your flesh !


Mumbling afterwards "...And maybe during the Ritual I can come up with a way to leave that doesn't involve turning you into a cat"

[Barthac]

Taalkar nods and takes another bite, Wait, did you say cat?

[LordDice]

"Hmm, no it was nothing."


"You got another apple ? I've only had stale food I borrowed from my enchanting accomodations at the Capital"

[Barthac]

He reaches in his pack and pulls out a pear instead of an apple. Tossing it to his brother.

So whats this ceremony. He leans over and looks in the silvery pool I don't have to take a bath, do I?

[LordDice]

Munching on the apple a little before commenting "Could you be a LITTLE respectful of our customs Brother ?....Yes you'll need to bathe in the Quicksilver in a manner of speaking"

Seeing his brother start to disrobe he quickly stops him

"BAH, it's not a normal bath you elf-brained dunderhead ! Just get in the blasted pool...it's not gonna hurt your precious axe."
Now over the course of the next 15 hours you will wash away your stray thoughts, while the Quicksilver washes away the impurities from the Stone of your Soul"

"Now I'm oversimplfying this so even you can understand, you MUST do this. By the end of the Washing you'll be moving -incredibly- slowly...Do not get impatient and try to hurry things up, go look at the Wall of Ancestors for Dralith the Hasty, he was the last to try and hurry up this process."

"After you've Washed properly you will very carefully and slowly move to the center of the chamber, letting the energies washing over and through you. I cannot help you if something goes wrong brother. But you've Stoneshaper blood in your veins and the Living Earth is unlikely to harm you"

"Then it's just a matter of a few hours of Meditation in the center of the Font to finish"

[Mr. X]

For Taalkar:

Spoiler

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When you begin the process, will you please give me a Will Save, and a Fortitude Save.

[Barthac]

Slow? Careful? Eighteen HOURS! Brother, Ye got the wrong dwarf! What in the hells do you mean "wash away" thoughts. That don't make no sense.

[LordDice]

"It's meditation you fool, you've got to be clear of mind or the Living Earth will overwhelm your puny mortal mind"

[Barthac]

Clear mind, eh. He scratches his head. I don't know about making it empty, but I do know how to focus it and block everything else. I'll show ya.

He carefully removes his worn gear and his freshly tattered armor placing them gently besides him. He removes his eye patch and rubs his tired socket, still pink and raw from healing over. His bare chest is covered in scars that cut jagged patches of bare skin across his hairy chest. Some of them old, some of them distinctly pink and new. Wearing only a pair of rough linen pants he picks up his axe. A now familiar spark of electricity dances across its surface, lighting the intricate etchings, as if in anticipation. A good weapon rejoices at being wielded well.

He sets his bare feet solid on the stone floor, his axe held loosely in front of him. He closes his eye and takes a deep breath. He imagines a roaring fire catching on fresh wood and burning fast and hot. He forces the fire down into white hot coals, feeding it the entire time. It is now the burning embers of a forge hot enough to melt steel. He focuses on a single coal, gleaming and pulsating with dancing heat.

Not enough.

He waits and waits. A single red mote drifts from the surface of the white coal and dances in the air. This is what he waited for. That red mote. On this single speck of heat he focuses and holds it firmly in his vision. The single point of light and warmth is all that exists for him. He grabs onto the mote and begins to dance with it.

To Karazi, this lasts almost an hour. He must be thinking that his brother fell asleep, standing like a stone for so long, barely breathing. Finally, his fingers tighten their grip the axe and he moves.

Sweeping axe strikes, pokes and chops behead shadows, as rolling, twisting, and jumping avoids countless motes of dust. His veins coarse with heat and life. His heart pumps liquid iron through his veins. His skin is covered in a sheen of sweat as his muscles work and strain. Taalkar doesn't notice any of this. He is the ember. He is the dance.

[Mr. X]

Taalkar's sinuous movements carry him lithely around the chamber in twisting concentric circles that loop and twist back on themselves as smoothly as the swirling mercury at the chambers heart.

To his twin the disconnect between their two approaches to life, the hot and cold stones, is suddenly bridged...

Though he has seen his brother's feats upon the battlefield countless times, Karazi abruptly realizes that, like his own, his brother's training was more than a glorified boot camp... So much more...

... The Warblade's dance flows through a deadly ring of swirling steel so far beyond the means of any mere soldier, that the marriage of movement and purpose borders on the sublime... The heart of the raging fire as focused and serene as the undisturbed pond...

... As the circle draws tighter, you are both poignantly aware of all those that have come before you, who crafted and defined the arts which you practice and employ... And with sudden, awe filled humility, you are aware that you have surpassed them all.

With this joining, you step beyond the the lands charted by the masters, and the burden of exploration and definition falls to you.

[Mr. X]

At length Taalkar's dance slows, and comes to a halt before the silvery pool... The raging flames burned away, leaving only the focused heat of glowing embers and smoldering coals, he lays down his axe, and slips onto the surface of the font.

Elemental mercury is a very curious substance. As you enter the pool, you discover quickly that you cannot wade into it as you a pool of water... Rather, you find yourself skimming like an insect across the surface, unable to break the surface tension without concentrated effort, and even then, you are far to buoyant to measurably sink.

Scooping some into your palm you find it heavy, like lead or gold, but so completely frictionless that, beyond the sense of weight, it is difficult to feel that you are holding anything at all...

... Indeed, so fascinating is the experience, that you loose yourself in toying exploration of the substance for quite some time... The surface of the pool is completely frictionless, and all but impervious to your efforts to paddle through it, and so you find yourself gliding from one edge of the pool to the other, and back again, for it is nearly impossible to stop your momentum once...

... It is giddyingly pleasurable, and for a time, you feel a child once more, playing in your bath, as you massage the metal into the skin of your arms, legs, chest, back, face, and scalp...

For Taalkar:

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Please give me a Fortitude Save. Your +2 racial bonus vs. Poisons shall apply.

Also give me a Will Save.

[Barthac]

Spoiler

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Life has taught me that rarely do good things happen after a DM says, make a roll:
Fort:(1d20+10)[23]
Will:(1d20+3)[21]