((Am I able to perform simple cantrips, such as lighting a candle?))
((Yeah, I'll allow little stuff like that for RP purposes and such, as long as it doesn't affect your actions too much; you can light a candle, but not light five hundred tiny flames to kill something, and so on.
Incidentally, I got a PM from Skyrunner yesterday about her not being able to post for a while. As I'm not sure what constitutes "a while", I'm just going to assume that Mina is tagging along without contributing useful, though if it ends up going on for longer than two weeks or so, I might drop her into long-term storage with Hedric.
))
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DermKicking off from a fencepost, you drift towards the hall, catching yourself on the doorframe. Looking inside, it is a single, large room line with columns. A small section at the far end is sectioned off with heavy curtains and appears to contain cots and small end-tables. The hall is empty, the torches and lamps along the walls look as if they have been dark for several weeks.
You summon your power, weaving it into the wood and stone of the structure [5], successfully forming a powerful framework for a number of protective wards. Thinking for a moment, you attempt to fashion three layers of protection: an alarm that will alert you if someone or something with hostile intentions enters the building; a repulsive ward to discourage dark spirits from investigating the interior; and a final layer of protection to attack intruders. [6] [1] [4]
((You'll see the specifics of those results quite soon.))
This work done, you push off the wall, drifting towards the ceiling, where you lie back and try to sleep.
-18 MP
+ 15 EXP
+ 1 MP capacity
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TalendirThanking the herbalist for her offer, you politely decline. A moment later, you ask that Sinterous return your blob of flesh and teeth in the morning.
You search the town for a safe place to rest for the night [3], but cannot find anything but bare hillside and small homes, nothing but lack-of-concealment and dead ends. With a somewhat fatalistic shrug, you head towards the town hall. As you pass through the door, you feel
something slide over you. You notice Derm dozing off in the rafters, then move towards a wall equidistant from the door and curtained-off area in the back, pulling your legs up, sword and shield in hand. It is rather uncomfortable, but that is nothing new to you. You drift off into a light sleep.
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AeroWithout a moment of hesitation, you accept the herbalist's offer with a wink and a grin, following her home. As you pass the threshold [4], you feel a bit cheerier than you were, a smile spreading across your face. The herbalist brushes against you as she steps by to bar the door, then moves into another room, where she begins to sort the contents of her satchel into a wall covered in labelled wooden drawers. She asks you to make yourself at home.
Glancing around you see that three rooms are attached to the entryway: the kitchen/workshop where the herbalist is now; a small bedroom; and a sitting room with a pair of old wooden chairs and a fireplace. The herbalist finishes her task and returns, telling you that it would be best to get an early start on the night, and asks you if you'd like to sleep on a blanket, or if you'd mind sharing a bed.
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SinterousYou thank the herbalist for the offer as she walks off, Aero in tow, but decide to find an area to safely study the flesh-ball. [6] Ascending a nearby hill, you find a circle of weather-worn standing stones arranged around an altar carved with magical runes which no-doubt once glowed with power. Abnormal swirls of wind maintain a steady breeze within the array of stones as the moon peeks over the horizon. You couldn't have built a more perfect place to test a possibly-cursed artifact if you'd tried.
Placing the ball of flesh down on the altar, you stare at it, probing it for a response with a few fingers of unformed magic in the grand tradition of magical research: poke it and see what happens. [2] The teeth shudder, and an inhuman voice echos in your head, mad babbling in a language beyond your comprehension! [3] v. [2] The mental voice dies down, but the memory of it is horrifying; you empty your stomach onto the hard, cold ground.
-3 MP
-1 HP
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LeiYou wake to the slow, steady sound of droplets of water landing on stone. Blinking, you try to clear your head. Wha-who are you? Lei, Lei Senai. You were sent on... a mission? Yes, a mission for that never-sufficiently-damned Freeholder. Something about a lich; that felt like an Age ago, though. You had just escaped that forest and asked for aid from the simple folk of a nearby village, who had been suitably impressed with your postion. After that, though... wha?
You shake your head, concentrating on the moment. Location? Looks like a small cave; rough stone, lichen, a small blue-black light hovering near the ceiling. Iron rungs protruding from one of the walls, leading up a closed hatch. You feel incredibly weak, as if you've spent nearly a week unconscious in an underground chamber, likely being fed and watered just enough to keep you ali—oh,
wait.
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((Derm and Talendir: You're both currently asleep, and if you want to stay that way until, ehe, something happens, you don't need to post any actions for this turn. For Derm in particular, you'll heal a bit more if you keep sleeping as long as possible.))