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Post by myinsanemind on Feb 4, 2012 1:22:05 GMT -4
In the depths of the Wizard’s Tower, a small figure lied curled up on a bench in one of the basement laboratories. Soft snores escaped from under the blanket as a small feminine hand reached out and curled it closer around her. On the lab table next to the bench, a fairly large stone glowed red. The dancing red light gave the room a rather eerie feel, like the walls were being licked with bloody flames from Hell.
With a soft thump, the door to the lab opened. A salty, white goat trotted into the room. It paused, glancing around. When the goat spotted the small lump that was clearly a sleeping….well, something…it let out a soft bleat. Hooves clacked as the goat walked over and tugged on the blanket. A moan arose from the blanket, and the bundle shifted closer together.
The goat shook the blanket and let out a loud bleat, “Baah!”
When the bundle still refused to move, the goat walked back toward the door of the laboratory. About half way across the room, it spun around. It stomped its feet and tossed its head. The goat charged. It hit the bench with incredible force; the sleeping bundle shot into the air and fell with a scramble onto the floor.
“Wha..?”
The small head of a female gnome poked her head out from the mess of blankets now scattered on the floor. She rubbed her large eyes of sleep as she glanced around at her surroundings. Seconds later, she was scrambling to her feet.
“Oh! I’ve over slept! Erfryn is going to charm my hair orange over this! He wanted me to have it up to him by-”
The gnome paused in her sentence as she fought to straighten out her slivery lilac hair and the wrinkles of her robes. Grabbing the stone off of the counter, she staggered and almost dropped the precious item. The goat grabbed a bag and the gnome, known as Ayame, placed the stone into it.
“Come on Dumbles! Let’s get going!” she cried.
Dumbledore, the goat, bleated and let Aya hop onto his back. Once she was settled, he took off at a fast canter (well, it was fast for a goat) through the lab doors and up the long stairwell. They did not even pause until they reached the door that led to Erfryn the Sage’s floor.
“Oh! Now I know we’re late! He has that blasted door repaired!”
Hopping off of Dumbles, she went to enter the room where she knew the professor was waiting. Aya gave her salty goat a peck on the nose as she passed, bidding him to go out and munch on the grass around the tower. Straightening herself, Aya opened the door to her master’s quarters and entered, briefly taking note of the others who were already there.
“Master Erfryn, I am sorry about being so late, sir!” she apologized, bowing her head toward the Sage.
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Post by blackhawk on Feb 4, 2012 14:33:37 GMT -4
Vulgrim frowns at the circle as all the things are being put into place, looking up and raising a bristly eyebrow at the gnome that stumbles in late. He looks back to his chair, frowning. Woulde swore tha I left that mug over there. Mebbe he'll have them about after. I somehow git the feeling tha this is a day that could use a bit of drink.
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mith
Junior Member
Posts: 90
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Post by mith on Feb 4, 2012 17:30:25 GMT -4
Grumplestiltskin looked over the notes the Archmage had handed him. He had rarely seen Jorell's writing so neat - obviously, he had taken great care in these pages. The potion combinations were generally simple (all of the complicated stuff had been done in the laboratory), but a few required careful timing and exact proportions. The goblets also have ornate script carved into them, whether to stabilize the contents, protect the alchemist, or serve some other magical purpose Grumplestiltskin isn't sure.
After reading things through once more, he sees that the others must be waiting on him. "Ah well, here we go then," he mutters lightly, and begins pouring the potions.
Craft: Alchemy [dice=20] +16 +2[rand=822881713276729776926996652036972619524574838588043955080211163]
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Post by irishmagician on Feb 4, 2012 17:35:37 GMT -4
As the branch and holy symbol are placed in their respective positions, soft chiming sounds can be heard again. The holy symbol also rises a couple inches similarly to the dagger, but the symbol begins to glow with a bright golden light. The branch rattles around a bit, then suddenly lurches upright. With a sharp crack, foliage and bark grows explosively forth from it; until a miniature tree stands rooted in the floor amidst its circle, coming up to about waist height.
The halfling carefully performs the manipulations and admixtures necessary for his part, as strange and puzzling aromas waft gently from the goblets when finished. When placed in position, the liquid inside the goblets glows with scintillating colors, and the goblets slowly lift into the air; slowly orbiting each other within the confines of their circle.
The Archmage looks up from his notes again as the other gnome enters; this time with several other books floating around him, open to various pages of interest for his experiment. He smiles, waving a hand to send the books whizzing back to their shelves.
"Ayame! I was wondering when you would get here, my dear. No need to worry about being late; through a rather serendipitous error in my time-adjustment calculations, you have actually arrive quite on time. If you could go ahead and position the meteorite fragment in its position," Erfryn says as he gives a nod towards the last empty circle in the diagram, "then we should be able to get started shortly."
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Post by myinsanemind on Feb 5, 2012 1:35:51 GMT -4
Ayame smiled at the Sage. Turning to go place the meteor shard in the circle, she took another glance around the room to observe all the new comers. In one circle, there was a Halfling mixing a bunch of ingredients for a potion. A gruff looking Dwarf was glancing around for something in another circle, and Ayame considered sharing a bit of humor with him to lighten his mood. She didn’t, however, recalling another time a Dwarf did not take her jokes as lightly as she intended.
Shaking her head, Ayame quickly passed over the tall human in the room. He was boring and by far too tall for her taste. The last figure was an elf that was also fairly tall. Heaving a sigh inside her head, she tried not to let being in the presence of such dull people get her mood down. Ayame walked over to the circle, pulled the meteorite gentle from her bag, and placed it inside the edgeless shape her master had indicated.
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Post by Naerwen on Feb 5, 2012 14:34:12 GMT -4
With the sharp crack Naerwen takes a step back. When she sees the small tree she feels a little better knowing that some piece of nature exists in this chaotic room. She glances around at the other circles noticing the items that have been placed there. All of them except the tree seem to be floating or hovering off of the ground. When the newcomer came in her attention shifted to the individuals in the room. She watched the girl place the item into the circle and glance around at everyone. Noticing the head shake she followed the girl's gaze to see why. Naerwen continued to look around the circle and noticed that the tall were quite outnumbered by the somewhat less than tall. She felt kind of awkward. Looking around at the faces she wondered if she had seen any of them before. Last she landed on the other tall individual. She stared for a moment trying to place him. She thought of possibly attempting to initiate a conversation, but her conversational skills were somewhat lacking.
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mith
Junior Member
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Post by mith on Feb 5, 2012 15:40:37 GMT -4
As he filled each of the goblets, Grumplestiltskin noticed the rune-writing on the sides fill with a faint, shimmering glow. Quickly and deftly, he poured the proper proportions of three potions into the final goblet, which wobbled slightly as an unseen force brought all four cups into close contact in the center of the small circle in front of him.
Finished, he sighed and sat back against a stack of books, noticing the newcomer for the first time. She seemed wary of everyone but the Archmage as she moved to her place in the circle. The rock she carried brought a strange red glow to the room.
"Well if that's not the eeriest thing I've seen this week, I'll eat my shoe!"
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Post by irishmagician on Feb 6, 2012 13:58:53 GMT -4
As the female gnome places her item on the diagram, the soft chiming sound rings forth a final time. A rock rises slightly into the air, rotating slightly by an unseen force. Large enough to require two hands to carry, but small enough to be easily transported, the rock glows a shimmering red color as if a flame burns continuously within itself. When the final item is placed, all five larger circles flash briefly with a white light simultaneously. Erfryn claps his hands once with excitement, almost bouncing along as he dashes around the circle making last-minute preparations.
“Excellent, just excellent, I say! It’s almost ready, just a couple more things to finish,” he says, making a few adjustments to a sigil in the diagram. “This will be quite a treat! I must test it, of course; to make sure it works before I share this with my colleagues. Everyone, I would recommend that you step back for your own safety. You never know what will happen when dealing with magick…trust me, I know!” Erfryn says, laughing at an internal joke to himself. He gestures over to a space between two desks on the periphery of the room. “If you would stand over there, I have estimated a 95% chance that the area over there should be the safest place in this room. Not that there should be any reason for concern, I have run simulations of this many times before.” He turns to Ayame, a smile on his face. “I appreciate your assistance with the preparations for this, but I would like you to join them over there as well. I am afraid that the work that needs to be done now involves rather complex arcane manipulations, which may require a decade or two until you can master them. Do watch, though; you may learn a few things!”
The Archmage then walks into the center circle in the diagram, carefully stepping over the silver lines that make up the diagram. When he reaches the center, he takes a pouch from his belt and begins sprinkling some powder from the pouch in a circle around himself.
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Post by Naerwen on Feb 6, 2012 16:22:12 GMT -4
Naerwen moves over to the indicated space and kneels down behind one of the desks so that she can still see, but she can also duck if need be. From an outside perspective it's a rather comical scene. All you can see is a pair of inquisitive eyes that are an intense green with golden flakes and two pointy ears sticking up from behind the desk. Tiriel follows suit and hunkers down on her shoulder.
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Post by blackhawk on Feb 6, 2012 16:51:41 GMT -4
Vulgrim sniffs his nose silently at the tinkling noises of the other elements of the spell. I much prefer tha magic o' craft and hammer over this doodling and fussing about with bits and pieces o' things... He looks up as Erfryn speaks again and nods.
"Alright then. I just hope thissin doesn't go about exploding like whateever ye were doing earlier did."
He trods over to the indicated area between the two desks and leans on on of them crossing his arms and waiting for whatever was going to happen next.
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Post by zeferin on Feb 7, 2012 15:36:23 GMT -4
With the last of the items in place, Trazish barely had time to shield his eyes from the flash of light. After the Archmage directed them towards the desks, the Elf and the dwarf started to walk towards the location. Trazish, though, was hesitant. He didn't like a single part of this, he didn't like how there were four other people involved, he didn't like how there were four other items that the Archmage was using and he especially didn't like how this felt off somehow.
Unfortunately, what choice did he have? The Elf had already started to look at him as if she was trying to place him, and that was already too much for his over paranoid self. Taking his only option, Trazish headed over and took his place next to the dwarf.
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Post by myinsanemind on Feb 7, 2012 21:26:53 GMT -4
Ayame blinked as she tried to clear her eyes from the purple spots that floated in her vision. The flash had caught her shortly after the meteorite entered the circle, and she was blinded by the bright light. Erfryn started talking behind her, and she tuned into listen just as her vision started to clear up. After showing them an area that he considered would be safe, he turned to Aya.
“I appreciate your assistance with the preparations for this, but I would like you to join them over there as well. I am afraid that the work that needs to be done now involves rather complex arcane manipulations, which may require a decade or two until you can master them. Do watch, though; you may learn a few things!”
While slightly disappointed that she could not help out any more, Aya’s excitement at getting to see yet another great feat of magick made her slightly jittery. She smiled to the Sage and quickly dashed between the two desks were she crouched, much like a sitting pooch, to observe.
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mith
Junior Member
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Post by mith on Feb 8, 2012 15:52:53 GMT -4
As the arcane field flashes, Grumplestiltskin stoppers the vials he had brought, some with liquid left over, and collects them and Jorell's notes into his satchel. 'No knowing for how long these papers would be lost if I leave them on the floor,' he thinks.
As the other visitors fill much of the space between the two desks, the halfling moves to the other side of the right-hand desk, beside a large and haphazard pile of tomes and papers. He leans casually against the desk, and watches the Archmage make his preparations.
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Post by irishmagician on Feb 8, 2012 19:08:08 GMT -4
Once he sees everyone back at a safe distance, Erfryn claps his hands sharply twice. The powdered circle that he sprinkled around him shimmers a moment, and begins to glow with a pulsating blue light. He then snaps his fingers, and a small floating eyeball pops into existence a short distance in front of him.
"That should be enough precautions for now, I think," Erfyrn says to himself. He addresses the floating conjuration with a brief gesture towards another desk a short distance away from everyone. "This spell will take notes about the experiment for me; it is quite a bother having to write things down when there is so many exciting things going on! Let's begin..." The Archmage readies his wand and sketches a complex symbol in the air in front of him; the sigil materializing as a hovering design of shimmering blue energy. It slowly sinks down into the central circle of the diagram, covering the floor in a similar manner to the other circles around it.
With the last piece of the puzzle in place, an unexpected hush falls across the room; the absence of ambient sounds in the background almost giving the impression of the world leaning into to observe this event. The entire diagram then begins to glow with silver light, increasing in intensity until it is almost to painful to look directly at it. Magick energy begins to build in the room, becoming almost akin to a tangible presence that anyone could feel. The air pressure in the study rises, with static electricity crackling and snapping occasionally in various places. Amidst this burgeoning force a calm voice can be heard piercing through the sounds with crystal clarity.
"-and forty-degrees twenty-four minutes eighteen seconds latitude. Local apparent sidereal time is one-twenty-eight. Initiate spatial anchor focus linkage using predetermined channels for coterminous arrangement in three seconds. Convergent planar window alignment constructing within parameters. Linkage activate now-" Erfryn says, as if having a perfectly normal conversation. Despite this, arcane power can be felt surging behind his words, altering the space and time within the diagram.
The five items now glow brilliantly with power and energy of their own. The dagger has grown to become a pulsating blade of energy, intricate designs curling and dancing across it with a life of its own. The sun-shaped holy symbol has been replaced by a burning, miniature sun; its surface roiling with flames that leap from it in maddening arcs. A brilliant, raging ocean crashes wildly within the circle that once held the orbiting goblets; held back by an unseen force to the confines of its circle. The small tree has now become a large oak, its branches thrashing as if blown by an unseen wind, though they never pass beyond the demarcations of its surrounding circle. Its leaves appear to pass through an entire seasonal cycle in seconds; growing, changing from green to red, falling down, then growing back again. The rock that was brought in has grown in size to become a large, spinning, flame-wreathed boulder; pockmarked by miniature craters, indentations, and pools of magma. Pulsating lines of energy stream unending between these five sources, roaring with barely-constrained force.
Erfryn then abruptly slashes his wand through the air in front of him. Without pause, the circulating energy streams into a growing ball of scintillating light above the center circle in the diagram. When all of the energy has collected into the center, Erfryn raises his voice for the first time since the experiment began.
"Ambient collected force collected and utilized! Initiate planar window observation protocol! ACTIVATE!" he shouts, filling the room with a volume unexpected from his small figure. The writhing ball of energy suddenly pauses, quivers, and begins to emit a silvery light. It slowly begins to solidify into a ball of flowing, coursing silver liquid. It contracts to form a flat surface, almost like a mirror made of continuously flowing liquid metal. Silence once again fills the room, as the "mirror" floats silently down to the ground in front of Erfryn; reflecting the room around it as it settles an inch or two off the ground.
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mith
Junior Member
Posts: 90
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Post by mith on Feb 8, 2012 22:32:06 GMT -4
"Well, that's somethin' new," mutters Grumplestiltskin under his breath as the forms, colors, and energies twist and combine under the Archmage's direction. He'd seen a lot of magical and alchemical displays, but none so tightly controlled, or with such palpable energy. He continues to watch the display closely as Erfryn forms the "mirror".
(OOC: Ever-curious, if there is an opportunity for Tormoh to learn anything about how his alchemical contribution might have formed the ocean-energy, or the final product, that he hasn't already missed, let me know!)
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