Sigil: City of Doors

Posted: **Fri Sep 11, 2015 12:00 am**

(((( IC and organization thread for the relevant plot, a few in game events are on the menu so lets post here to try work out suitable times ))))

Setting off into an uncharted territory alone is an ambitious and a dangerous undertaking, setting off to an uncharted plane, against the very design of the 'verse? You do the math, berk. And yet a certain wizard known not to be too fond of playing chess with Graz'zt was very intent on advancing his daring plan.

Posted: **Mon Sep 14, 2015 12:00 am**

Of course, asking the help of a priest would have been easier.
The thought had crossed his mind more than once only to be dismissed shortly after: the one he was planning was a chat he wanted to have face to face, and in private. He wasn't willing to rely on someone else to get what he needed.

The fact that the Genasi had the brilliant idea to go to Brindas about that without even telling him had already irked him enough, still, some good had come out of her usual recklessness, since he now had an information he completely ignored up to that moment.
If he was lucky (but was he ever?), he maybe didn't have to venture among TharizdunÂ’s petitioners, after all.
Not that the option he was facing now was much easier. More reassuring, maybe, to some extent, but stillÂ…

Reviewing the information he had on this plane he needed to reach was easy, since they amounted to none. None useful, at least.
The only thing he was mildly sure about was that, if a soul hadnÂ’t already reached its plane of destination after its vesselÂ’s death, there was a good chance it was dwelling in there.
Oh, of course he knew for sure who could have real informations on the matter. Devils and Demons dealt with souls on regular basis afterall, he was sure they had their way to reach that place, still, last time he checked, turning to fiends for help wasnÂ’t that great of an idea.
He was going to find another way, and in fact, he already had something that could be considered a plan in mind.
If this place was where all the souls gathered after their host deathÂ… chances were he could find a way to track a departed soul to that plan. It needed researches, sure, and something more than the mere dip in necromancy he had until that moment. Also. it needed some subjects for testing. But that was the easiest part, at least.

He had already decided the first thing he needed to look into was the art of soul binding. Not that any binding was expected, but the spell used to trap souls into gems was a good base he could use to start his experiments, and the only knowledge he had on that matter was a ritual he had partaken long ago, which wasn't enough. He needed to study the original spell or something closer to that.

The forging of Soul Prism of course was the first thing that came into his mind, and he had gone as far as snooping discretely into Ziporath business on that matter. He knew that as a Faction they maintained ongoing business with those providing all kind of coinage, and Soul Prisms were not an exception. He needed contacts, and aÂ… surprisingly collaborative clerk had provided him with the records he was looking for almost immediately.
Of course she was probably going to ask something in return, unless he found a way toÂ… prevent that... but it was something he could deal with later on.
For now, all he needed to do was return the record to her (though he still wondered why did she chose the Golden Bariaur for that, of all the places...), and then think a way to meet the contact he had chosen.

He had some work to care about ahead.

Posted: **Sat Sep 19, 2015 12:00 am**

The Taker clerk came to the dinner in an elegant evening dress, and ordered all unnecessarily fancy high-up food and wine, with the exaggerated rich decorations, genteel preparation and complicated spice. She threw in some relaxed small-talk with an occasional giggle or a subtle, flirtatiously ambigous remark. Upon receipt of the borrowed records she explained hushly how "a certain bird has many eyes and ears in certain places", and how "showing up in this nest" would hinder the suspicions. She gave him a kiss on the cheek good bye and that concluded the meeting.

___

Before they left the temple, Lilazi explained to Neerepha.
- I don't know what you should tell him... That.. blasphemous - she said with a hint of anger - Defier, no he won't worry about becoming a larva... - She looked to the side, at first a slight grin, then a hint of sadness appeared in her expression. - I don't think love ever meant anything to him either. I don't want you to bring him back, I only want you to convince him souls, his soul, he exists! No ghost can exist without belief. If you don't do it in time, he will simply cease to exist. Now.. how in the Three-Sided's timeless awe one does it, is anyone's guess.

- Now, was there anything else? We also offer a range of slaves and curses. - She gave them a blatantly fake smile.

___

Rhistel knew he acquired himself a rare find, yes, albeit looking at the conditions of the deal, one could have wondered how much worse off he would be exactly had he chosen to deal with devils instead...

Posted: **Tue Sep 29, 2015 12:00 am**

Weirdly enough, Rhistel was almost not concerned about the latest events, a probably misplaced sense of confidence, if not simply indifference, pervading him as he went carefully through the content of the tome he had received from the Priestess.

No, he indeed never fancied dealing with demons, but in this occasion he felt as if everything was under control. It was personal for both him and Lilazi, even if she didn't want to admit it, and he knew he could work with that.
She wanted the soul of that man to exist. "Defier" she called him. He probably turned his back to their God, and his soul remained unclaimed in the Fugue.
She had been really quick to provide him with the last remains and belongings of that... lover of hers, and he wondered if it was because they didn't meant much to her or simply because she didn't have any other viable option.

Not that it really mattered at this point.

The Genasi had attracted attention, as usual, bringing her was a mistake tried to get more information about the man from Lilazi, and she indeed received some. He, instead, wasn't interested in interrogating the alufiend on the matter. People lie and deceive, and he didn't want to proceed with information he couldn't fully trust: anything he needed to know about this man, he was going to find out himself.

A strand of hair, much more than a simple possession, it was part of the man's mortal body; a ring, just an object but something clearly full of emotional power.
There were divinations he could use on them to know about the subject, and even thought they were probably going to drain him, he preferred that route better.

Also, he had a name, Dwayne Kerrick, and with names usually come records.
He had everything he needed.

And if she was going to try and put into practice her threats, he was going to make sure he knew how to retaliate.

Posted: **Wed Sep 30, 2015 12:00 am**

When Rhistel thought of potential retaliation against Lilazi, he would have quickly gathered infiltrating the temple would not be by any means a simple task given the measures she employed. For all the wizard knew, the priestess would have had enough devotees not to need to leave the temple at all. Bah, even Zipporath's most trusted men - because he would be sure the deva would not leave his dealings with Lilazi to any less, if not himself - came to meet her in her place and not the other way round.

He was apparently focused and intent on collaborating on the favour Lilazi so kindly asked for and it was a wise thing to do. Although one might question the reasons for his willingness, he seemed rather dispassionate about the conformity maybe apart from a hint of concern in his voice when he'd speak about it.

While the wizard seemed occupied with gathering more on Kerrick, other questions must have crossed his mind. What value - apart from the obvious - lied in the book he was generously lent? How to turn theory into practice? Most importantly, the ring and the hair - the priestess seemed convinced they would allow to find Dwayne Kerrick without effort. Surely Lilazi did not get to find lost souls often - a cynical person would think - but it was apparent to him the priestess was a bit more than just a pretty face. Could he utilise this information in the real agenda of his own?

Or perhaps, could he be distracted enough not to concern himself with it for now? Or simply methologically preferring to close off his outstanding questions on Kerrick first?

Posted: **Fri Oct 02, 2015 12:00 am**

Indeed he realized that there was no way he could actually "harm" the priestess, even should he want to, but that idea was quite far from his concept of retaliation. He was not a man of war and he cared not for the temple or her blood. Her threats aimed at the heart, and so would he, should it be the case. He was sure there were worst thing that could happen to that Kerrick guy, worst that his soul's disappearance itself.
And if she indeed tried to harm the Genasi as she said, he was going to find each and one of those "worst things"...

But yes, as long as everything kept running smoothly he had no reason to focus on that matter. He indeed preferred collaboration, it was easier and allowed him to give his whole attention to the study of the tome itself.
He already decided how to proceed with Kerrick and he could take care of him later, right now what really mattered was being able to put in use the knowledge contained in the book.

[align=center][/align]

The translation was just as accurate as he could muster with his understanding of that old Gehennian dialect, yet, its content, or at least the part he was most interested in, was too abstract for his tastes, too vague even while being specific... and he enjoyed it less than the general sense of uneasiness and the constant whispering coming from the book itself.

[align=center]"Turn the souls' element by an angle - the body returns to neutral position, but the mind will circulate in the opposite by the same angle."[/align]
Sat in his study, he repeated to himself what they called the "ultimate equation", pondering on its connection to the other information contained in the previous pages.
He was in no hurry, was he?
Maybe he was.

But this was indeed going to take its time anyway

Posted: **Sun Oct 04, 2015 12:00 am**

Upon spending his time with the book he finally had started to see analogies between the usual way the spells were formulated in modern texts and the exotic one he had in front of him.

The book was more theoretical than practical, yes, but he soon discovered it was more suited for his purpose anyway. He could try to generalise the workings behind and turn them to his purpose. He would start to understand how the intricate mechanisms governing the energies of souls could be manipulated. A soul prism was essentially a cage. But what he needed was something else.
A hook and a rope.
And the 'ultimate equation' seemed to be the main method behind any such manipulations.

There was only a problem he had to take care of: to allow free manipulation, the energies binding the souls had to be separated, but near.. this meant he needed fresh body to do so. A very fresh one as he would have only few seconds to bind the energies before they dispersed.
He had considered that already, of course, and he was ready to face the situation.
The Cage was indeed full of subjects that could work for his purposes, and he didnÂ’t even have to go that far from his own house to find one.

A quick run in the Undersigil had provided him with his first test subject, nothing more than a cobold as a starter. If needed, he could always bring him back as many time as he needed until he got a grasp of the spell and how the energies had to be manipulated.
Then he stumbled into the woman.
She really wasnÂ’t his problem, he knew, he was in a hurry and she shouldnÂ’t have tried to use the sewers to escape her pursuers. Still, as her cries followed him till the entrance of the tunnels, he couldnÂ’t help but stop, a weird sense of uneasiness on him.
She wasnÂ’t his problem, it was true, but as irrational it seemed to him, he couldnÂ’t help but remember how he would have liked for someone to help the one he cared about when she was in need and he wasnÂ’t there for her.
Was he empathizing?

All he knew is that, once outside the sewers and back to his house, he had two more subjects for his experiments, strong and lively.
And a woman owed her life to some stranger she never managed to see.

Posted: **Fri Oct 09, 2015 12:00 am**

[align=center]The Mind, the Body and the Soul
A Spell Research

[/align]

"Turn the souls' element by an angle - the body returns to neutral position, but the mind will circulate in the opposite by the same angle."

Upon visualizing the energies as they were, that passage immediately became clear.
It was now a matter of finding the right combination... and he wondered how many test subjects he was going to need for that.

Posted: **Mon Oct 12, 2015 12:00 am**

Upon succesful - to an extent - experiment, Rhistel managed to get a grasp of the practical applications of the spell. Witnessing the machinery behind he managed to interpret the equations from the ancient scrolls. Building on his experience the wizard solved the secret formulas and foreseen potential outcomes. Applying the principles of all magic and of School of Necromancy, he deduced the limitations and risks involved.

As such he could have considered himself lucky, realising the consequences of misuse could turn out far from idea. Issue with forbidden lore though is you don't really know much until you try it, no? But knowing his ground better now, he could prepare to cope with potential mishaps.

Once cast it all became clear to the wizard how the magical ring trapped the life on the virge of decomposition. He could take his time so long as he concentrated on sustaining the ring - funnily, or perhaps to someone who has been in Sigil long enough not surprisingly at all, rings made great cages after all - but difficulties still lied ahead of him.

The equation shed some light on operating the intricate machinery. But it was unlikely it would be sufficient to navigate through to where Rhistel wanted safely. By the way the book read it seemed the rest was at the time common knowledge. Unfortunately the rest was to be discovered. Before the experiment ended abruptly he would remember when he shifted the mental energies the bodily followed at the same rate, but the soul speeded up the pace twice. Two questions remained: what if he shifted the vital orb of dancing positive and negative energy, forming the focus of the energy of the body; and did he really want to try?

The next question was more troubling: where was it that Rhistel wanted to navigate through to? Rhistel was confident he had foreseen all potential t r a n s f i g u r a t i o n s , but which to use was still an open question. One way or another it must have resulted in freeing the soul to the afterlife. He would use the time window and the temporal form given the soul to pin some manner of divination marker on it, task impossible on normal terms, but he could exploit the altered qualities a transfiguration would cause. One obvious candidate was the transfiguration of Soul Drain. If the wizard's soul was at the time marked with a simple divination, the mark would stay on the subject so long as the wizard was alive, for the little piece the sodding soul ripped away would merge with it. Of course, most wizards were attached to all pieces of their souls, even the little ones, and especially when it came to theories... perhaps he could devise a less costly alternative?

Another difficulty was implied. Simple divination was all he needed, yes, but he would not have time to cast it before trap collapsed and the spell backfired. But he realised something else also. The magic to raise a prison the vital forces before they dissipated was of highest intricacy, but once the energies were separated and held locked in the spell's grasp, they manifested as a simple arcane construct. Any spellcaster would be able to join effort with him then. This would address the problem of being unable to supplement himself with other spells once transfiguration is initiated.

There was of course the not so relevant question, naturally, taken into account and included in the costs, but if not for conscience then out of practical curiosity - how many more souls would he have to t r a n s f i g u r e ?

Posted: **Thu Oct 15, 2015 12:00 am**

[align=center]Spell Research
Notes

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The unexpected behaviour of the Soul orb had indeed caught him off guard, and he reacted badly to that situation, shifting the energies too abruptly in the effort of balancing the powers again. He had been lucky he only had to deal with the overload of negative energy, considering the direness of the other consequences he could have faced.
And he had been lucky Neerepha had been so scared and worried about him after the spell backfired that she forgot to beat him up for being that reckless... not that he was spared from one major scolding afterward, anyway.

As he lay in bed recovering, he thought again about the possibilities behind the manipulation of the Body instead of its more unpredictable counterparts:
if it was true that it kept a neutral position between the Mind and Soul, logic would suggest that moving its energies around the Cirlce could grant a greater control over the combinations.
Was it worth a try? Sure. After all, you don't really know much until you try.

He had also considered which one of the Trasfigurations would be best suited for his task, and the Base Combination was indeed the one he had immediately thought about. He needed for the soul to be free to proceed toward the afterlife, or else he wouldn't be able to follow.
It was when it came to think about the way he could use to mark the soul that he needed to ponder thoroughly.
When the Soul Drain option crossed his mind, he immediately dismissed it. He was among those deeply attached to his soul, and there was no way he was going to envision such a solution. Ever.

[align=center]"So, how it comes this experiment of yours is worth countless, potentially innocent lives, but not one single little piece of your soul?"[/align]
The answer lay in the question itself. It just was.

Anyway, now not only he needed to find a proper way to mark the soul in order to follow it through its extraplanar travel, he also had to figure out how to manage to do it in time.
A sense of vague bitterness hit him as he realized there was no one he could really rely on. He knew that if Kapaneus hadn't disappeared so suddenly, his help would have been the first thing he would have asked for... but now? It was too personal of a matter to just involve anyone else, and at the moment there was no one he trusted enough anyway.
Unless...

Of course that option took some time to make its way through his mind.
She would have helped him, of course. Or at least, she would have tried her best to, but...
Would she be able to do it?
Was he really considering putting his life in the hand of an inattentive, easily distracted Air Genasi, when precision and concentration was everything he needed?
Alas, yes he was. If he had to die, afterall, he was indeed fine doing so by her hands.
Not that he felt he had to die.

Closing the book in front of him and gazing at the parchments full of notes scattered all over the bed, he let out a small sigh and called for the girl.

Sigil: City of Doors

Journey To The Other Side

Journey To The Other Side

Journey To The Other Side

Journey To The Other Side

Journey To The Other Side

Journey To The Other Side

Journey To The Other Side

Journey To The Other Side

Journey To The Other Side

Journey To The Other Side

Journey To The Other Side