[coronatiger]

Thoughts on December 2nd

We met Wilhelm at breakfast in the common dining room and asked if he had time for us today. He replied that he’d been thinking of us and agreed to meet after the meal. We met up in his office, and Va’lyndra and I presented our cases.

Va’lyndra explained our planned ritual and the need for an observer in Garuk. Wilhelm said it was no problem to send word to an agent there; the message should take about three days to arrive. We realized we should specify a date for the ritual, so the agent would know when things were supposed to happen. Planning the ritual depended on our quest.

I told Wilhelm I had learned he had a quest for us, the silent village. Wilhelm, on the other hand, had something more urgent for us to do. A trade delegation from Surd had arrived in Urdon recently, led by the colonial governor’s son. Guild merchants wanted to trade with Garuk and had come to discuss terms with the Sidel family. Why they talked to the rulers of Urdon instead of Garuk was beyond me, but this was the case. The knowledge guild believed that a trade agreement would speed up war preparations in Garuk. Since it was the Serals who wanted this war with Alvheim, we were against it.

Although Wilhelm wanted the delegation to disappear peacefully, it sounded to me that he wanted us to assassinate them. I balked at that and Olivia nodded agreement. Wilhelm said we didn’t have to kill anyone, and we brainstormed for a solution. It took a while before we came up with the idea of using a ritual to ask Sulla to mess with the minds of the delegation. If this succeeded, the people from Surd would hopefully say or do something so terrible that the Sidel Family kicked them out and back to the capital.

The delegation stayed in one of the military encampments outside town. We decided to go to the edge of the forest, where we could see the camp, and set up a ritual circle there, hidden by the trees. Attempting this would allow us to see whether and how the ritual worked, and we told Wilhelm we’d do this first, before sending word to the agent in Garuk. We needed time to prepare, but if everything went smoothly, we could do the ritual tonight. Leopold wanted to do more research and got full access to the library from Wilhelm.

Leopold and Va’lyndra thought that we might not have enough mana to complete the ritual. A suitable sacrifice to Sulla would reduce the amount needed, but they were worried we didn’t have anything to offer. I said that I would have given up my virginity for this cause, as it would have been a most suitable offering to the god of love, but I had left it in the Old World. However, I could go into Urdon and round up some virgins to sacrifice. Va’lyndra didn’t like the idea of involving outsiders, so we shelved the suggestion.

We split up. Leopold went to the library, Va’lyndra, Ilzo and I went to find a good spot at the edge of the forest, and Olivia went to put her feet up in our room. It was only about a month until her delivery.

We needed a flat space with hidden view to the military camp. I didn’t know the first thing about camouflage, so I just followed Va’lyndra. Ilzo found a place for our ritual almost immediately and called us over, but Va’lyndra thought we should take the time to see if we could find an even better location. She believed the direction we had gone looked promising. When Ilzo came with us, he quickly found a spot that was as good as Va’lyndra thought we’d be able to locate, so we decided this was it.

We returned to the knowledge guild compound, where Leopold had found a document warning about this kind of ritual. It said that those who participate might be affected by the god who is worshipped, perhaps even taken over completely. My friends found this concerning, but I didn’t see the issue with giving Sulla power over us.

Va’lyndra and Leopold informed me that their mana wasn’t aligned with Sulla, so they couldn’t contribute in the ritual. I had to do this all on my own, but they’d tell me what to do, and they said I should try to draw energy from a powerstone. Leopold lent me his.

I followed Va’lyndra’s instructions for how to use a powerstone, but while I felt both taller and more satiated when Va’lyndra said I should, I didn’t actually grow, and I still looked forward to the next meal. Va’lyndra’s way didn’t work for me, so I took the powerstone and left the room, but I stopped in the hallway and went back inside. “Um, this is my room. Can you guys leave?” I hurriedly added that I didn’t include Olivia.

I made myself comfortable on the bed and slipped the stone inside. I didn’t dare including Olivia in my magical experiment, but going at it alone never did much for me. After half an hour, I gave up. I wasn’t going to reach ecstasy on my own, and it didn’t seem like the powerstone was releasing its energy either. I washed and dried it, and put on my clothes again before calling Ilzo, Va’lyndra and Leopold back inside. Va’lyndra checked the powerstone, and declared that it contained no less energy now.

Va’lyndra suggested I tried using the Elendus blob instead of Leopold’s ordinary powerstone. She had discovered that the energy contained in the blob wasn’t of Elendus. Maybe it was Sulla who had infused it with power?

Leopold asked if I used mana when I transformed. I told him I didn’t, I just grew a little tired. “That’s exactly how Va’lyndra and I use our powers!” Leopold exclaimed. I blinked at him. “But I don’t get tired when you guys use magic,” I said, utterly confused. Va’lyndra gave me a flat stare, and I realized I was being silly.

Leopold insisted I tried to transform, pulling the required energy from the blob instead of draining myself. I took the blob and focused. I think I managed to draw just a trickle from the blob. I didn’t actually turn into Fabian, but I felt my body become more masculine for a few seconds. My stomach turned, but I couldn’t tell if this was the same as Va’lyndra and Leopold had felt, or if it was just me reacting to the icky magic.

Va’lyndra and Leopold were convinced I could make this work during the ritual, and that made me certain it would work. Who was I to argue with the experts? Leopold said I just had to focus on the ritual instead of transforming, and that didn’t sound too difficult.

We still had to prepare the ritual circle. Leopold would do the actual drawing of the mystical symbols, but we needed to strip away the turf so he could carve the symbols in the soil. Ilzo and I fetched shovels and headed out. There were people out on the fields between the forest and Urdon, so we worked as quietly as we could, to avoid detection. Ilzo impressed me with his stealthy moves. We flattened out the worst bumps in the circle, and then we went back to the compound.

I recharged with Olivia before dinner, and Va’lyndra, Ilzo, Leopold and I returned to the ritual circle. It had rained while we were inside, and the water had turned the soil to mud, but Va’lyndra cast a spell to dry out the soil.

Drawing all the mystical symbols on the ground took a long time. Leopold was far more meticulous than I would have been. After a couple of hours, it started raining again, a real downpour, but Va’lyndra danced her spell dance again, and the clouds dispersed in a circle above us. If it wasn’t getting dark, people might have noticed the odd weather. Ilzo and I dug ditches out of the circle so water wouldn’t gather there, but Va’lyndra’s spell made it unnecessary. Still, it gave us something to do, besides watching Leopold draw in the dirt.


Thoughts on December 3rd

It was hours past midnight when Leopold finally declared that the circle was ready. Va’lyndra froze the ground, covering it with a thin layer of ice so we wouldn’t disturb the drawings. Leopold warned me that the ice would be slippery to walk on.

I put the Sulla statuette in the middle of the circle. Then I hesitated. Leopold reminded me what to do. After an opening prayer, I asked Sulla to mess with the heads of those people in that camp over there – I pointed – so they wouldn’t be able to conduct their negotiations the way they wanted. I tried to draw power from the Elendus blob, and I didn’t get nauseated at all, much to my surprise. I felt the energy surge from the blob and through my body, a most peculiar sensation.

When I finished the ritual, I walked towards the military camp. Ilzo came running after me, and I thought he might try to stop me, so I picked up the pace and left him in my wake. I tossed aside the Elendus blob. I don’t know why; it wasn’t very heavy. I skidded to a halt before the three guards at the entrance to the camp. They didn’t look like they had anything important to do, so I started flirting.

The situation escalated. When someone came to see what the uproar was about, I got them to join, usually taking the place of someone I’d worn out. The whole affair melted together into a long blur. At one point, while a soldier was feeding me snacks and drinks, I realized that the sun was high in the sky. I must have gone through every man in the camp, and I recalled vaguely that some female camp followers had joined in as well.