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Post by Swell on Nov 21, 2021 16:05:50 GMT -6
The enormity of this place was… difficult to describe. He’d spent what felt like an eternity at the base of the structure merely staring at the ascent before him, the air thick with magic, its presence almost threatening to overwhelm him with each breath. Places of power such as this were rare and more importantly they were hungry. Even now he could feel his own node pulsing and roiling from deep within, he could feel the call of the altar and before he knew it his steps began unbidden. He allowed his hands to run over the stone of the pyramid as he ascended, how many had walked this path? How many generations had found their way to the summit to commune with the divine and beseech their aid? How many had come to make their bargain only for it to end in disaster? He pushed the thought from his mind, it didn’t do any good to dwell on the past. He’d made a deal, he’d vowed his assistance and vows were something he took seriously.
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Post by Swell on Nov 21, 2021 16:06:11 GMT -6
As much as he tried to clear his mind for the task at hand he couldn’t help but notice how different this place felt compared to the pod’s ritual grounds. He’d only been a child during his last visit, but even then as he’d approached their altar, no his altar, he’d felt nothing like the presence that currently engulfed him. He’d walked his pod’s path with ease, each stone feeling familiar and comforting. He let his hand lightly brush the crystals in his possession and sighed as their power thrummed in anticipation.
Order, the element of stability. He’d never be able to cast divine spells as a water elemental, but the raw power of divine magic wasn’t something unknown to him.
“The power to undo, the power to imprison, the power to return that which is to what it once was…”
He touched his chest and felt his own heartbeat wondering if he’d made the right choice all those years ago, perhaps if he’d had that power, perhaps he could have found a way to ease the pain, a way to bring them all back.
“No,” he shook his head, dispelling the lingering regret to focus on the altar before him,”even if I had it wouldn't have been enough.”
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Post by Swell on Nov 21, 2021 16:06:44 GMT -6
He laid the collection of crystals on the altar, that young man certainly had an eye for quality. Nine order crystals, nine. There were spellcasters easily twice his age that couldn’t hope to amass such a collection, and judging from the amount of magic he’d felt in the boy’s presence this couldn’t even be a fraction of what he could actually wield.
His eyes flicked over the watchers, while their presence was perturbing he knew that rites such as these required witnesses. He thought again of the adherents which had crowded around the pod’s altar, they’d worn robes in much the same style, but again something about their blank gaze felt… wrong.
The knife felt heavy in his hand, he ran the tip lightly over the faded scar on his right hand; he'd let it dig so deep back then in the shadow of his ancestors. He remembered the pain, the fear, the desperation. Those same feelings had faded with age, but there were days where he’d wake and feel like it was all happening again, luckily today hadn’t been one of those.
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Post by Swell on Nov 21, 2021 16:07:23 GMT -6
He put the berry lightly on his tongue and crushed it against the roof of his mouth savoring the taste before swallowing, a pleasant moment before the next step.
He couldn’t change what had happened in the past, the knife sliced against the faded scar, but he could look forward to the future.
He clenched his fist and watched as blood flowed from the wound saturating the crystals on the altar, had they glowed a little brighter as his essence touched them? While it was probably a trick of the light he wondered lightly if his being an elemental affected the process at all. The pod’s elementals never made nodes unless they’d been forced to, The Fading had always ensured there wasn’t a need for such things.
“What would they think of me now I wonder?”
A deserter, a lost child, would they grieve for the man he’d become in their absence? Would they have been angry with him for leaving everything behind? Would they find this very act sacrilege?
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Post by Swell on Nov 21, 2021 16:07:50 GMT -6
He kneeled before the altar touching his forehead briefly to the cold stone for a moment before starting his prayer in earnest. He could feel the magic now, he could feel his essence being drawn from him and to the altar. He could feel his own node once again roiling in his chest filling him with warmth as his words were given power by its mana and his sacrifice.
Even as the weariness began to overtake him he felt good, he’d done a good thing today, he’d fulfilled a bargain and rendered aid. With this act maybe he could undo a measure of hurt done unto another, or at least give them a means to address their hurt, and that gave him a sense of peace. He asked the gathered gods for their blessing, he asked for their acceptance of his offering and that might take his offering so he could make good on his promises.
A promise to Noa.
A promise to his family.
A promise to his people.
This would be the beginning of everything, this would be the catalyst for change.
With body, mind, and spirit in alignment he prayed.
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Post by Nadia on Nov 22, 2021 14:10:50 GMT -6
Node creation: success! Cooldown period ends on 21st November 2022
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