1st of Ymiden 719, ~17:00
Just yestertrial, the protean had finished the development of their new ability, and with it, they'd collected one of the most elusive totems they could imagine. The creature wasn't very good at hiding, no, but something about its biology triggered complete and total petrification upon death, making it impossible to make a totem of. But quite cleverly, Varthakh had worked their way around the problem, and totrial, they had it. The Scalv Ziemia totem was theirs.
Now, in the land he was native to, they rested and meditated with him, encouraging the conduction-born totem to join their family and open himself to them. In the darkness of their mind, they were all gathered around their becoming spark, which hadn't fully recovered from the ordeal just yet. Beneath their hovering spark, there was the Scalv-tooth dagger, being coaxed by all of them to awaken. In their mind, all their totems manifested; the company that was the cause of referring to themselves as a collective we, without understanding for most, and without care for how others might perceive them.
Complete silence surrounded them in the darkness, all of them focused solely on the latest addition to the collective, even Aeon, who was marred with broken runic scars. Those scars, they knew, were down to their own abuse. They'd placed too many powerful runes upon themselves on Aeon while they wore his form, and now he was paying the price for their arrogance, their impatience.
Regardless, they had a task at hand. Soon, now, the totem would awaken to his new family, then they would speak with Aeon and discern the weight of his affliction.
Just as they'd began to think of fixing their beloved totem, the Scalv began to spark, then boomed with power in their mind. The tooth-like dagger manifested, and outward sprawled a full seventy feet of boulder snake. The beast blinked, then looked between all of them. Varthakh smiled and bowed their head. "Welcome," they said, which drew the giant serpent's gaze to the Protean's eyes. The Protean stood. "Well met, brother," they said, "you've answered our call, welcome to the collective."
Steadily, their spark worked toward filling the serpent's mind with consciousness. It was the same with all the new arrivals, for the first couple of trials, the serpent would appear as little more than a stiff, robotic member of the species without character. As always, all their totems marveled and inspected the specimen, acquainting themselves with the newest addition to what they knew to be their home, the Protean's mind. They smiled softly while they watched the scene, then looked to Aeon, who was not as invested in the welcoming party.
Varthakh frowned.
Indeed, Aeon had been distant in recent trials, barely speaking a word as his condition worsened. Now, it seemed he'd nearly completely isolated himself from the others. That seclusion would lead to segregation from the others, and they knew so. For a few trials now, they'd noticed Terrance and Reiner sizing him up, and it broke their heart. Aeon met their gaze then, despondent and hurt. The Protean couldn't hold the gaze. Looking into his eyes alone was too much for them to handle.
They cast their eyes to the darkness of the ground, then looked back to Aeon and nodded with approval. It was time to fix him.
With a sharp draw of breath, the blended Ithecal stirred from their meditation, blindfolded and wrapped with their only article of clothing; the Kinaba loincloth. Before them, rested their latest totem, the Scalv Ziemia tooth dirk. Without pause, they collected it from the stone of the mountainside they rested upon, then drew Aeon from their domain bag, which was tied to their Drexion tail belt.
Their bare, rune-laced finger ran over the texture of the totem. The damage didn't reflect physically, it was all etheric, like a corruption. Aeon was corrupted?
The Ithecal furrowed their brow, for they'd thought corruptions were the cause of overstepping and growth in magic. Why? Why had Aeon been corrupted? They certainly hadn't overstepped in hone recently, how could hone corruptions even attack one of their becoming totems? Was their Umbral spark really that vicious that it would lash out at their own family? And for what? They were always so careful with hone, what cause did she have to do this to Aeon?
Seething, the Protean placed Aeon on the stone of the mountain walk-way and focused their attention on the hone spark. The arachnid manifested on their crossed leg while they were fuming. "You have some explaining to do," they said simply. "Me? Whatever fo-" was all the infernal creature managed before the protean slammed their armored fist into the stone with enough force to shatter the surface and boom the sound of thunder for miles to come. "NO GAMES, INSECT!" They roared, visceral.
"What is this? What have you done to Aeon?" They asked through constrained rage, very near the verge of snapping and attacking the arachnid, the figment of their mind. The creature looked to the rune-laced totem and paused, then looked back to the Protean. "Consequences," she replied, her voice flat, devoid of her usual glee. "For what?"
Of course, the arachnid didn't know the cause, but being a figment of their imagination, she could only answer with the aid of their memories and subconscious. "I think you know what," she said, prompting Varthakh to reflect upon what had transpired. They'd placed five runes upon themselves, all linked with endurance to make them half as effective. The body could handle six, and they hadn't particularly pushed themselves making five linked runes. They weren't particularly skilled in flying and had broken their wings somewhere in the flight, only to discover so when they dismissed their runes of endurance. They'd already suffered physical consequences, why were there etherical consequences?
Could it be that they were considered to have abused their totem? How? Fridgar had placed runes of speed upon himself all the time and they never affected him poorly with corruptions, The Sohr Khal, being several times Fridgar's size could surely handle those runes better, and they'd placed more runes on Fridgar multiple times. "No," they said, "I don't think I do." With that, they collected their Sohr Khal totem. "...If you ever do this to one of us again, we'll purge your spark. Don't dare forget that we were here first, that we're in charge."
They didn't know how to purge a spark, but they knew that Alistair had done just that with abrogation. They would find a way. Knowing this, the spider hesitated, then bowed her head in acceptance before dissipating.
It was difficult, having two of their most prominent sparks at one another's throats. Like a war within their soul with no just cause, they were torn. Still, their becoming was the revealed magic, it held a higher priority over hone, and Varthakh's totems were far beyond limits. Try as they might to stay their rage, they couldn't help but quake in the heat of their anger. With a slow exhale, they, they rose to their feet and cast totem guardian. Something wasn't right when they cast it. There was some sort of wall that they needed to climb over with a steep cost. Still, the Protean knew their magic better than any other and worked through producing the guardian.
Aeon manifested before them in his regular hue, shape, and size with the addition of the runic scars that covered his form. With a gentle frown, they approached the broken, pitiful form of their totem, then gently wrapped their arms around his long neck and drew him into a hug. "I'm sorry, Aeon... This is probably my fault," they said, then opened their mouth again with a different tone. "It's all ours, really, we all depend on you for travel... We didn't realize that the runes strained you so badly." Aeon merely bowed their head at the attention, then looked skyward.
"...Regardless of who's fault it is, totrial is about you, not me. Whatever you want to do, you can do it." The beast looked down at them with a tilted head, as if to ask if they were serious. The Protean nodded, then released their embrace and stepped back a pace or two. With their blind eyes and heightened senses, they felt over his form as he stretched his wings weakly, then turned to look skyward. They expected him to hunt, to fly off and chase something for a meal, and when he beat his wings, they thought themselves right.
The protean sat back against the stone and watched listened carefully for the totem's squawks and wing flaps... And he just flew. There was no dive or swoop, even though the mountains were surely crawling with stekir and the like. Instead, Aeon just flew. And though they couldn't see him, they felt him and heard him. There, in the sky, just flying without direction or cause, he was his happiest.
Just yestertrial, the protean had finished the development of their new ability, and with it, they'd collected one of the most elusive totems they could imagine. The creature wasn't very good at hiding, no, but something about its biology triggered complete and total petrification upon death, making it impossible to make a totem of. But quite cleverly, Varthakh had worked their way around the problem, and totrial, they had it. The Scalv Ziemia totem was theirs.
Now, in the land he was native to, they rested and meditated with him, encouraging the conduction-born totem to join their family and open himself to them. In the darkness of their mind, they were all gathered around their becoming spark, which hadn't fully recovered from the ordeal just yet. Beneath their hovering spark, there was the Scalv-tooth dagger, being coaxed by all of them to awaken. In their mind, all their totems manifested; the company that was the cause of referring to themselves as a collective we, without understanding for most, and without care for how others might perceive them.
Complete silence surrounded them in the darkness, all of them focused solely on the latest addition to the collective, even Aeon, who was marred with broken runic scars. Those scars, they knew, were down to their own abuse. They'd placed too many powerful runes upon themselves on Aeon while they wore his form, and now he was paying the price for their arrogance, their impatience.
Regardless, they had a task at hand. Soon, now, the totem would awaken to his new family, then they would speak with Aeon and discern the weight of his affliction.
Just as they'd began to think of fixing their beloved totem, the Scalv began to spark, then boomed with power in their mind. The tooth-like dagger manifested, and outward sprawled a full seventy feet of boulder snake. The beast blinked, then looked between all of them. Varthakh smiled and bowed their head. "Welcome," they said, which drew the giant serpent's gaze to the Protean's eyes. The Protean stood. "Well met, brother," they said, "you've answered our call, welcome to the collective."
Steadily, their spark worked toward filling the serpent's mind with consciousness. It was the same with all the new arrivals, for the first couple of trials, the serpent would appear as little more than a stiff, robotic member of the species without character. As always, all their totems marveled and inspected the specimen, acquainting themselves with the newest addition to what they knew to be their home, the Protean's mind. They smiled softly while they watched the scene, then looked to Aeon, who was not as invested in the welcoming party.
Varthakh frowned.
Indeed, Aeon had been distant in recent trials, barely speaking a word as his condition worsened. Now, it seemed he'd nearly completely isolated himself from the others. That seclusion would lead to segregation from the others, and they knew so. For a few trials now, they'd noticed Terrance and Reiner sizing him up, and it broke their heart. Aeon met their gaze then, despondent and hurt. The Protean couldn't hold the gaze. Looking into his eyes alone was too much for them to handle.
They cast their eyes to the darkness of the ground, then looked back to Aeon and nodded with approval. It was time to fix him.
With a sharp draw of breath, the blended Ithecal stirred from their meditation, blindfolded and wrapped with their only article of clothing; the Kinaba loincloth. Before them, rested their latest totem, the Scalv Ziemia tooth dirk. Without pause, they collected it from the stone of the mountainside they rested upon, then drew Aeon from their domain bag, which was tied to their Drexion tail belt.
Their bare, rune-laced finger ran over the texture of the totem. The damage didn't reflect physically, it was all etheric, like a corruption. Aeon was corrupted?
The Ithecal furrowed their brow, for they'd thought corruptions were the cause of overstepping and growth in magic. Why? Why had Aeon been corrupted? They certainly hadn't overstepped in hone recently, how could hone corruptions even attack one of their becoming totems? Was their Umbral spark really that vicious that it would lash out at their own family? And for what? They were always so careful with hone, what cause did she have to do this to Aeon?
Seething, the Protean placed Aeon on the stone of the mountain walk-way and focused their attention on the hone spark. The arachnid manifested on their crossed leg while they were fuming. "You have some explaining to do," they said simply. "Me? Whatever fo-" was all the infernal creature managed before the protean slammed their armored fist into the stone with enough force to shatter the surface and boom the sound of thunder for miles to come. "NO GAMES, INSECT!" They roared, visceral.
"What is this? What have you done to Aeon?" They asked through constrained rage, very near the verge of snapping and attacking the arachnid, the figment of their mind. The creature looked to the rune-laced totem and paused, then looked back to the Protean. "Consequences," she replied, her voice flat, devoid of her usual glee. "For what?"
Of course, the arachnid didn't know the cause, but being a figment of their imagination, she could only answer with the aid of their memories and subconscious. "I think you know what," she said, prompting Varthakh to reflect upon what had transpired. They'd placed five runes upon themselves, all linked with endurance to make them half as effective. The body could handle six, and they hadn't particularly pushed themselves making five linked runes. They weren't particularly skilled in flying and had broken their wings somewhere in the flight, only to discover so when they dismissed their runes of endurance. They'd already suffered physical consequences, why were there etherical consequences?
Could it be that they were considered to have abused their totem? How? Fridgar had placed runes of speed upon himself all the time and they never affected him poorly with corruptions, The Sohr Khal, being several times Fridgar's size could surely handle those runes better, and they'd placed more runes on Fridgar multiple times. "No," they said, "I don't think I do." With that, they collected their Sohr Khal totem. "...If you ever do this to one of us again, we'll purge your spark. Don't dare forget that we were here first, that we're in charge."
They didn't know how to purge a spark, but they knew that Alistair had done just that with abrogation. They would find a way. Knowing this, the spider hesitated, then bowed her head in acceptance before dissipating.
It was difficult, having two of their most prominent sparks at one another's throats. Like a war within their soul with no just cause, they were torn. Still, their becoming was the revealed magic, it held a higher priority over hone, and Varthakh's totems were far beyond limits. Try as they might to stay their rage, they couldn't help but quake in the heat of their anger. With a slow exhale, they, they rose to their feet and cast totem guardian. Something wasn't right when they cast it. There was some sort of wall that they needed to climb over with a steep cost. Still, the Protean knew their magic better than any other and worked through producing the guardian.
Aeon manifested before them in his regular hue, shape, and size with the addition of the runic scars that covered his form. With a gentle frown, they approached the broken, pitiful form of their totem, then gently wrapped their arms around his long neck and drew him into a hug. "I'm sorry, Aeon... This is probably my fault," they said, then opened their mouth again with a different tone. "It's all ours, really, we all depend on you for travel... We didn't realize that the runes strained you so badly." Aeon merely bowed their head at the attention, then looked skyward.
"...Regardless of who's fault it is, totrial is about you, not me. Whatever you want to do, you can do it." The beast looked down at them with a tilted head, as if to ask if they were serious. The Protean nodded, then released their embrace and stepped back a pace or two. With their blind eyes and heightened senses, they felt over his form as he stretched his wings weakly, then turned to look skyward. They expected him to hunt, to fly off and chase something for a meal, and when he beat his wings, they thought themselves right.
The protean sat back against the stone and watched listened carefully for the totem's squawks and wing flaps... And he just flew. There was no dive or swoop, even though the mountains were surely crawling with stekir and the like. Instead, Aeon just flew. And though they couldn't see him, they felt him and heard him. There, in the sky, just flying without direction or cause, he was his happiest.
