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Post by Cantio von Lumen on Jan 10, 2024 23:32:15 GMT -5
Something’s wrong. Astrid’s expression says more than words ever could. The fellblood purses his lips tightly and steps forwards, his stride quick to join her; and in no time at all, he makes it to Astrid’s side, and… and… Oh. Oh, dear gods. For just a moment, the sight, smell, and sounds in the room make Cantio freeze up. He noticed the smell of iron in the air halfway down the hallway, but a warm rush of acrid odor crashes over him when he reaches the girl hovering at the entrance of the doorway. His golden eyes widen, brows furrowing in horror as he scans the room; the blood, the bodies, the man in a crimson-stained lab coat elbow-deep in a cadaver. It takes every ounce of willpower within him not to gasp, and an equal amount of it not to lose his lunch. There’s a creature lying idle in the corner; a horrible glob of… of mismatched limbs, skin, and parts… evidence of experimentation from bodies lying around that have died much… much more recently than he would have thought. It’s difficult to tell how they died, if they were removed from a crypt or grave, or if this man… may have killed them himself. The report said that the cadavers were dug up, but… Cantio bristles, hands instinctively resting on Astrid’s shoulders to pull her back protectively. He blinks the glazed look from his eyes, a wave of disgust and repulsion washing over him; this… this is horrid. This is horrible. This is so much worse than the Mage’s Guild had made it sound— and it did not sound pleasant in writing! Seeing it is… it’s different, and Cantio can’t quite put his finger on why; maybe because in writing, there’s a separation from reality. Like stories, like songs. But this… this is… They’re here, looking at the deceased; Astrid is here, looking at them. They've been ripped apart, tangled together, like a doll; Cantio knows they're dead, but they shouldn't be treated like this. They should be laid to rest, where they should have stayed... what kind of person...?
Cantio grits his teeth behind pursed lips; he outstretches an arm over Astrid’s shoulder, blinking the light back into his eyes. Sparks of light gather and dance across his fingertips; and the finch flutters from his shoulder soundlessly, exploding into the myriad of particles that begin to bind like a snake— and then shoots forwards, twisting around the scientist’s legs like a vine. (1.)They hadn’t exactly come up with a plan; and to take the first course of action is admittedly unlike him— however, this… this is horrible. What is he supposed to say? What are they supposed to say? What questions can they ask? Nothing that is happening here is okay, and he isn't even sure he wants to know why this is happening or what has possessed this man to conduct these kinds of experiments; but so long as he is standing, he's a danger to Astrid, so questions can come later.
She's already had to see all of this; gods be damned he let her get hurt here on his watch.
1. Binding Light
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Feb 3, 2024 1:34:59 GMT -5
A severed arm, long since drained of blood and life, with no body that it clearly belonged to in sight, is a different thing to see or smell or deal with than the atrocities of science and magic taking place in this dank lab beneath the swamp. There are untouched and decayed cadavers and others with evidence of tampering, with mismatched body parts. Some of them still look like people. It’s hard thinking about the fact that these were people. Gods, some of them look more recent than others. The smell certainly says so. As much as Astrid wishes she did not know what death smells like, she does. This place smells of death more than decay.
Cantio’s finch casts light above her head, and Astrid watches it explode into a binding snake of light that catches the mad scientist off guard. He didn’t hear them come in, and if he heard any of the ruckus outside, he surely paid it no mind as he worked. This man, a smile on his face as he digs through this cadaver, loses his expression upon his legs being bound. A messy floor covered in blood and swamp murk causes him to slip and fall.
“Wh– ACK!” CRASH. CLANG. SPLAT. WHUMP. He takes his tray of tools down with him, and some fleshy bits stick to his coat as his arm rips free of the open corpse, which causes it to shift and roll off the table, falling to the floor in a stiff heap opposite the side of the scientist.
Recovering from the start, the scientist sits up, now even more covered in goop with glasses skewed on his face, and his expression blank and blinking. He looks at the golden vices around his legs, utterly befuddled by this turn of events. “What the he–!” Suddenly, lightning bolts blast down from the ceiling and surround him, pulsing angrily with the wrath of the gods.[1] He gets shocked from residual electricity dancing through the liquid on the floor. “OW!”
Astrid’s temptation to run up and deck him in the face is only restrained by the cage she trapped him in. Her hammer sparks with remnants of the spell cast while she grips it tight in her hand. Cantio might be the parent here, but she stands firmly in front of him to defend him from this madman.
The man glances under the table toward the door and spots the angry child and her guardian. “Oh. Well, this isn’t the warmest greeting I’ve ever received, but welcome!”
1. Lightning Cage (+2 electrical surge charges)
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Mage's Guild
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Post by Cantio von Lumen on Feb 3, 2024 19:26:46 GMT -5
Cantio winces, every muscle in his body tightening in a cringe as the stranger collapses in a clumsy display of imbalance only capable of the most topsy turvy (a percentage which Cantio also falls under). In this moment, hands half-covering Astrid’s eyes even as she stands defensively in front of him— armed with a hammer almost as tall and definitely much stronger than Cantio— as if he could protect her from what she’s already seen, not even Ziev could shut him up: “Welcome!?” Cantio exclaims, utterly baffled by the greeting. “You… you were arm deep in a cadaver! You have a… a…” Cantio waves frantically with one hand at the sleeping glob of flesh and mutilated features. “…thing in the corner— they’re all over the gods-dang place— and this is literally a crypt! What do you mean welcome!? None of that is welcoming! This is not a welcome!” He bristles, the fur on his tail standing tall as he finally releases Astrid and rests his hands on his hips instead, the spitting image of a nagging mother hen.
“And what in the world are you trying to accomplish here? You’re putting people together like dolls. I mean– there's disrespect for the dead, and then there's this. Their ancestors are crying! Grave robbing, stitching people together, necro… I don’t even know if this counts as necromancy!"
He takes a deep breath to calm himself before he continues. This is a mistake. Cantio claps his hands together, calmly directing them at the scientist with furrowed brows. "Explain yourself with haste.”
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Feb 3, 2024 20:41:08 GMT -5
The scene before them is horrific, and yet the only thing Astrid can immediately focus on is racking her brain for a single instance of Cantio ever having chided her or Blue in this way. Parental energy really exudes from him in this moment, and it’s completely caught her off guard. For a moment, it makes her think of the way her moth– Nope, Cantio is nothing like her, and he never will be. She perishes the thought quickly, not wanting to go down that rabbit hole.
“Thing??” the scientist repeats, almost offended by such a brazen use of the word in this situation. As he continues, he makes some attempt to stand again despite his legs being bound and lightning biting at him. One hand manages to grasp the table to help pull him up. “That ‘thing,’ I’ll have you know, is a very important and groundbreaking –eugh– science experiment!!”
Fully on his feet, though still unsteady, his hand motions to the room around him – at least, as much as it can in the tight space of the lightning cage. “Sure there’s a little sprinkle of necromantic magic helping to make motor function occur again, but look at the wonders I have managed with only a fraction of what the most powerful mages in the world can do! It’s wonderful, I tell you! Absolutely incredible, the work that we can do to breathe new life into people. Imagine the armies we could create. The unstoppable forces that could lead anyone who invests in this to victory!” As grandiose as he is, it’s evident that the man is proud of his accomplishments here.
Astrid can see, upon closer inspection of the body on the floor, magic runes akin to those that make golems of stone and iron live and move. Her brow furrows as she looks at him. “Yer tryna combine golemancy with necromancy?” she asks in disbelief. “Th-There’s all kinds a’ other materials ta use, why the heck are ya usin’ bodies??”
"Yes! Bodies! The material we have an endless supply of! Mines will run dry! Resources of the earth aren't forever, but bodies? Ho, ho, ho! Those are in great supply! People will always die, and what good do they do to us by simply just rotting away in the ground forever?!"
Seeming confused for a moment, the scientist suddenly stops his ranting and looks at her. Then he rests his chin in his blood-covered hand, completely unbothered by the viscera staining his skin. “Huh. I thought you were just short, but your voice is too high-pitched for a fully-grown dwarf. You must be…” He gasps. “A child! Oh, and a powerful one at that! Just look at this high-level magic you’ve conjured with such little effort!” He prods at the lightning only to receive a painful shock. “Ouch! Well, a bit too close on that one, I suppose. It’s very… bitey, if I could put a word to it. Anyway– Wait, a child?”
He suddenly turns on Cantio. “Bold of you to throw heinous accusations my way when you’re the one who brought a mere child to a swamp! Do you know what kind of creatures are out there that might cause her harm?!” All of his ire is purely for show though, some effort to garner some kind of empathy or humanize him in some way. “I’m just a man of science performing experiments in a swamp, away from civilization to avoid endangering people unnecessarily!” This is not true. He simply does not want to get caught. “Meanwhile, you have dragged a small child here and exposed her to the horrors of the world!” He pauses then smirks. “And to my brilliance. Anywho, what do you have to say for yourself?”
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