The Binding

The Binding

--- In the Northern Ithmia -----------
The bright sun shines down, blanketing you with its
life-giving warmth. The thick vegetation of the Ithmia
showcases itself here: twisted briars stand in the
shadows of gnarled and knotty trunks, the absence of
songbirds adding to the pervasive gloom that permeates
the ground. The thickness of the canopy forms a barrier
between the natural light above and the filtered light
of the forest below. Beyond the tree cover, a variety of
disquieting noises and strange rustlings disturb the eerie
silence. Casting a dark shadow upon the ground, a ritual
blanket of abysmal hues rests here. A dyed gold poster
bearing the title "Walk in Balance" has been rolled up here.
You see a single exit leading northwest.

Bluef kneels low to the ground and arranges a circle of
branches so they are surrounding a ritual blanket.

Bluef takes a cursed tablet from a medicine pouch.

Brushing the surface of the tablet lightly with her
claw tips, Bluef begins to chant in sombre whispers.

Bluef sighs deeply, her brow furrowed in concentration.

Carved upon the face of a triangular chunk of grey rock
is a rendering of a monstrous spider, its venom-filled body
dangling precariously from an intricately patterned web
centred upon the tablet. An ancient language and runes
inlaid with electrum glisten like water droplets upon the
fine threads of the arachnid's silken design.

Carefully running her claws over the surface of the cursed
tablet, Bluef shudders violently as a silvery-gold radiance
pours forth from its chiseled web and rushes up her arm,
turning murky black as the tendrils advance.

Bluef extends her arms out towards the circle of branches,
letting the murky black of the curse table infuse their
willowy forms with energy.

Turning the cursed tablet over in her hands, softly
whispered prayers fill Bluef's mind as she reads the
alloy-filled glyphs covering the opposing surface.

Bluef chants in a soft, growling voice, "For the harm you
have wrought upon others."

Bluef chants in a soft, growling voice, "May your fears
and confusion be without end."

Bluef etches a stick figure of a woman on the surface of
the tablet with her claws, and then watches as its form
is wreathed in murky darkness.

Bluef chants in a soft, growling voice, "Even upon inclusion
in the black, Inevitable Flame of Death."

The stick figure fades into the cold stone of the tablet's
surface as Bluef continues chanting.

Bluef chants in a soft, growling voice, "Hear this petition
Lord Thoth and grant her no safe passage through Your Halls."

Bluef chants in a soft, growling voice, "Just as lead is held
in no esteem and cold, let her lay ever-extinguished in Your
sight."

Bluef begins to wield a spool of cloth in her right hand.

Bluef begins to bind the tablet with strips of muslin.

Bluef whispers in a soft, growling voice, "Three is one.
One is three."

Bluef whispers in a soft, growling voice, "I bind you once.
I bind you three."

Continuing to wrap the muslin strips around the tablet until
it is covered completely, Bluef continues her chanted prayer.

Bluef whispers in a soft, growling voice, "Entangle spirit.
Entangle body. Entangle soul."

Shuddering visibly as the muslin turns the grey-black hue
of Death, Bluef whispers, "When all three are hindered,
there shall be no whole."

Bluef lets the tablet fall to the ground. Turning to the
North, she begins to sweep the branches away in a counter-
clockwise motion with her besom to close the ritual space.