3rd of Glade, 120 AS
Location: Lyra's hidden lab
A shattered piece of Abjinurium rolled across the small desk, the sound somehow echoing in the too-quiet workspace deep within the Warrens. Slowly it made its way over papers, past a single open book before finally falling off the edge and landing in a growing pile of its brothers. It should have been impossible for magebane, even the minor and lesser varieties, to have been reduced down to such a state. Yet here was the evidence that there was indeed magic that even this particular dragonshard struggled to suppress. Around the pile, there was a minor distortion in the air as mage light struggled to hold itself in the presence of the powerful stones, but now in their currently corroded state, Lyra knew they would quickly lose their potency.
Vex bent down low to examine the pile, his black eyes staring unblinkingly at the shards as if trying to puzzle out their meaning. Reaching forward with one long-fingered hand the creature picked up one of the shards and held it up to his face, turning it over to examine each side. Lyra watched him impassively as she reclined in the simple wooden chair in front of the pile, even as the stone in Vex's hand steadily began to disintegrate further until it was nothing more than a pile of dust which the creature simply dusted on his black robes... or was that skin?
"You shouldn't be able to do that." Lyra said, not with anger or other emotion, but with mild curiosity. When those unnerving eyes turned on Lyra the old witch couldn't help a very slight tingling along her skin. The way Vex looked at her, at Naila, and at anything was so odd. Like he could see something that didn't exist, or that shouldn't be understood.
Why?
Straightening to his full height the Aidolon nearly touched the ceiling of the lab. Curiously his height never seemed fixed. At times he was simply a bit taller than the average Ork, while others he stood taller than Lucious, a Half-Moratallen. Naila had tried to question him on this in the past, but each time the creature seemed unable to understand the question. Either that or he simply chose not to answer.
"Abjinurium, also known as Magebane, is supposed to be able to suppress a mage's magic, making it unuseable while it is in effect. Yet you are able to destroy the shard as if it were just another stone."
I am not a mage. Vex's voice was soft, but somehow always sounded like it came from right beside your ear. Lyra stared at the creature for some time, and at some point, it seemed to figure out that she desired more, It is not magic. I do not use aether, but the absence of aether. I unmake the stone with the thing that it is not."
"That doesn't make any sense. If you do not use aether, you are using nothing at all, and 'nothing' cannot cause a dragonshard to disintegrate like that."
Why?
Lyra rubbed her temples. This always happened when she tried to speak with the creature. It simply didn't reason the way she did, or how anyone else she had ever dealt with before. Gods were enigmatic and confounding at times, but often one could find a certain logic or reasoning in their actions even if one could not fully understand their machinations. With Vex, however, it was like talking with a child about the matters of the universe. It would say things that were completely nonsensical, yet then those things would happen.
Glancing to the side Lyra saw the magical wards that surrounded Odison's resting place were still active. They gave off a soft glow, sparking periodically as they responded to minor fluctuations in the interior's aether flow. He lay upon a bed they had fashioned for the area, sleeping given the late hour, but still clearly visible from where she sat.
"Is his power similar to yours?"
The creature slowly shook its head, No.
There was a long pause while Lyra waited for more, but when it was not forthcoming she looked up and raised an eyebrow at Vex, "You both cause these to deteriorate, to decay and corrode. How is what he does dissimilar to what you can do?"
The darkness consumes from this plane. Its aether seeps into the cracks, dislodging and tearing away at portions of Od like a fungus in a carcass. I touch the Ud and unwind with the opposite, unmaking the Od.
"The... Od?" Lyra frowned, brows furrowing as she stared at Vex. It often said curious things like this.
The Od, the world, the physical, the spiritual. That which you know to be known. That which is encompassed by the Greater Space. That which defines all from the Outside.
Lyra merely stared at Vex, uncertain what to say, for the statement seemed beyond questions. Once again Lyra was reminded of another creature who spoke similarly. A creature that spoke with many voices, that said things in ways that twisted the mind and made the world seem so utterly small and fragile. She still thought of the Monument even after the coming of Spring. Its words haunted her, pulled at her mind in uncomfortable ways.
She let the silence lapse. Her head was becoming filled with odd, contorting thoughts that made her feel as if maggots were beginning to crawl behind her eyes. Naila sent a mental shrug. She was this creature's master, and yet even she found it difficult to communicate with Vex. It still stared at Lyra throughout the silence, unblinking and unwavering until Lyra turned away and looked at her notes. Thus far the experiments with Magebane had been unpromising. Within minutes of exposure Minor and lesser shards began to be consumed, and Odison himself admitted he felt no sign of the stones affects on the surging darkness within. It seemed like this problem was not one that would be so easily solved.
"Let us say, creature, that you are me." Lyra looked up at Vex, who tilted his head slightly, "You need to keep this man, Odison, from accidentally destroying all that he touches. How would you do that?"
Unmake him.
"No," Lyra sighed, resting her head in her hands, "No you can't unmake him. You just have to help him control his power somehow. It is too powerful for traditional methods of suppression, and as you can see Abjinurium seems to have little effect."
There was a long silence where Lyra thought Vex would not reply, but eventually, it came.
Decay is natural to the Od, and so it cannot be suppressed. It looked down at the pile of shards and picked up another small piece, examining it, The Od must do as it is meant to do. If you do not wish it to destroy, then follow its nature instead of fighting it. Vex paused then, adopting what might have been a thoughtful expression before it continued, Or change its nature.
For several long minutes, Lyra stared at the creature, not really seeing it as she pondered its words. The way it spoke, it felt so wrong, off in ways Lyra could not put her finger on, yet still there was a pearl of peculiar wisdom there. She watched as Vex made the shard in his hand deteriorate as well, and as the dust fell to the ground she felt the beginnings of an idea begin to form. She cast aside the thought of changing the powers nature, as that was ridiculous on every level, but the rest...
"Follow its nature..." she murmured softly, looking back at her notes. Up until that point, she had thought the answer would be found in canceling the magic entirely, pushing it down, and neutralizing it to be completely harmless. But that was like damming up a river. Eventually, the damn would overflow, the power released even more potent than it was before the dam was put in place. In fact, that was likely what was causing the issues Odison currently faced. What if, instead of trying to stop the power from overflowing, she instead redirected it? Could she curb its potency? Or perhaps siphon off the excess overtime?
A pale hand landed lightly on Lyra's shoulder, making her freeze and lookup. Vex now leaned over her, staring at the notes as it had the stones previously. It raised one long finger and touched the pages, tracing several lines of scripts in Lyra's handwriting.
The Od is a prison. It said quietly, black eyes turning to stare at Lyra, It binds the thinking of those within it.
It stared for a few seconds more before leaning back, returning to stare down at the pile of dragonshards. Unconsciously Lyra shifted slightly away from the creature, touching the place where its hand had been on her shoulder. The fibers there were now slightly frayed.
Location: Lyra's hidden lab
A shattered piece of Abjinurium rolled across the small desk, the sound somehow echoing in the too-quiet workspace deep within the Warrens. Slowly it made its way over papers, past a single open book before finally falling off the edge and landing in a growing pile of its brothers. It should have been impossible for magebane, even the minor and lesser varieties, to have been reduced down to such a state. Yet here was the evidence that there was indeed magic that even this particular dragonshard struggled to suppress. Around the pile, there was a minor distortion in the air as mage light struggled to hold itself in the presence of the powerful stones, but now in their currently corroded state, Lyra knew they would quickly lose their potency.
Vex bent down low to examine the pile, his black eyes staring unblinkingly at the shards as if trying to puzzle out their meaning. Reaching forward with one long-fingered hand the creature picked up one of the shards and held it up to his face, turning it over to examine each side. Lyra watched him impassively as she reclined in the simple wooden chair in front of the pile, even as the stone in Vex's hand steadily began to disintegrate further until it was nothing more than a pile of dust which the creature simply dusted on his black robes... or was that skin?
"You shouldn't be able to do that." Lyra said, not with anger or other emotion, but with mild curiosity. When those unnerving eyes turned on Lyra the old witch couldn't help a very slight tingling along her skin. The way Vex looked at her, at Naila, and at anything was so odd. Like he could see something that didn't exist, or that shouldn't be understood.
Why?
Straightening to his full height the Aidolon nearly touched the ceiling of the lab. Curiously his height never seemed fixed. At times he was simply a bit taller than the average Ork, while others he stood taller than Lucious, a Half-Moratallen. Naila had tried to question him on this in the past, but each time the creature seemed unable to understand the question. Either that or he simply chose not to answer.
"Abjinurium, also known as Magebane, is supposed to be able to suppress a mage's magic, making it unuseable while it is in effect. Yet you are able to destroy the shard as if it were just another stone."
I am not a mage. Vex's voice was soft, but somehow always sounded like it came from right beside your ear. Lyra stared at the creature for some time, and at some point, it seemed to figure out that she desired more, It is not magic. I do not use aether, but the absence of aether. I unmake the stone with the thing that it is not."
"That doesn't make any sense. If you do not use aether, you are using nothing at all, and 'nothing' cannot cause a dragonshard to disintegrate like that."
Why?
Lyra rubbed her temples. This always happened when she tried to speak with the creature. It simply didn't reason the way she did, or how anyone else she had ever dealt with before. Gods were enigmatic and confounding at times, but often one could find a certain logic or reasoning in their actions even if one could not fully understand their machinations. With Vex, however, it was like talking with a child about the matters of the universe. It would say things that were completely nonsensical, yet then those things would happen.
Glancing to the side Lyra saw the magical wards that surrounded Odison's resting place were still active. They gave off a soft glow, sparking periodically as they responded to minor fluctuations in the interior's aether flow. He lay upon a bed they had fashioned for the area, sleeping given the late hour, but still clearly visible from where she sat.
"Is his power similar to yours?"
The creature slowly shook its head, No.
There was a long pause while Lyra waited for more, but when it was not forthcoming she looked up and raised an eyebrow at Vex, "You both cause these to deteriorate, to decay and corrode. How is what he does dissimilar to what you can do?"
The darkness consumes from this plane. Its aether seeps into the cracks, dislodging and tearing away at portions of Od like a fungus in a carcass. I touch the Ud and unwind with the opposite, unmaking the Od.
"The... Od?" Lyra frowned, brows furrowing as she stared at Vex. It often said curious things like this.
The Od, the world, the physical, the spiritual. That which you know to be known. That which is encompassed by the Greater Space. That which defines all from the Outside.
Lyra merely stared at Vex, uncertain what to say, for the statement seemed beyond questions. Once again Lyra was reminded of another creature who spoke similarly. A creature that spoke with many voices, that said things in ways that twisted the mind and made the world seem so utterly small and fragile. She still thought of the Monument even after the coming of Spring. Its words haunted her, pulled at her mind in uncomfortable ways.
She let the silence lapse. Her head was becoming filled with odd, contorting thoughts that made her feel as if maggots were beginning to crawl behind her eyes. Naila sent a mental shrug. She was this creature's master, and yet even she found it difficult to communicate with Vex. It still stared at Lyra throughout the silence, unblinking and unwavering until Lyra turned away and looked at her notes. Thus far the experiments with Magebane had been unpromising. Within minutes of exposure Minor and lesser shards began to be consumed, and Odison himself admitted he felt no sign of the stones affects on the surging darkness within. It seemed like this problem was not one that would be so easily solved.
"Let us say, creature, that you are me." Lyra looked up at Vex, who tilted his head slightly, "You need to keep this man, Odison, from accidentally destroying all that he touches. How would you do that?"
Unmake him.
"No," Lyra sighed, resting her head in her hands, "No you can't unmake him. You just have to help him control his power somehow. It is too powerful for traditional methods of suppression, and as you can see Abjinurium seems to have little effect."
There was a long silence where Lyra thought Vex would not reply, but eventually, it came.
Decay is natural to the Od, and so it cannot be suppressed. It looked down at the pile of shards and picked up another small piece, examining it, The Od must do as it is meant to do. If you do not wish it to destroy, then follow its nature instead of fighting it. Vex paused then, adopting what might have been a thoughtful expression before it continued, Or change its nature.
For several long minutes, Lyra stared at the creature, not really seeing it as she pondered its words. The way it spoke, it felt so wrong, off in ways Lyra could not put her finger on, yet still there was a pearl of peculiar wisdom there. She watched as Vex made the shard in his hand deteriorate as well, and as the dust fell to the ground she felt the beginnings of an idea begin to form. She cast aside the thought of changing the powers nature, as that was ridiculous on every level, but the rest...
"Follow its nature..." she murmured softly, looking back at her notes. Up until that point, she had thought the answer would be found in canceling the magic entirely, pushing it down, and neutralizing it to be completely harmless. But that was like damming up a river. Eventually, the damn would overflow, the power released even more potent than it was before the dam was put in place. In fact, that was likely what was causing the issues Odison currently faced. What if, instead of trying to stop the power from overflowing, she instead redirected it? Could she curb its potency? Or perhaps siphon off the excess overtime?
A pale hand landed lightly on Lyra's shoulder, making her freeze and lookup. Vex now leaned over her, staring at the notes as it had the stones previously. It raised one long finger and touched the pages, tracing several lines of scripts in Lyra's handwriting.
The Od is a prison. It said quietly, black eyes turning to stare at Lyra, It binds the thinking of those within it.
It stared for a few seconds more before leaning back, returning to stare down at the pile of dragonshards. Unconsciously Lyra shifted slightly away from the creature, touching the place where its hand had been on her shoulder. The fibers there were now slightly frayed.