Terminus: To Perfect Humanity III

[13:43] Solomon says, "Lord..."
[13:44] Solomon says, "I require a great deal of ores."
[13:44] Solomon says, "I have decided to pursue artificing."
[13:44] Laurentius of Terminus says, "... Good."
[13:44] Laurentius of Terminus stands in the corner in perfect parade rest.
(Laurentius of Terminus)
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[13:44] Laurentius of Terminus thinks, "I bring tithes."
[13:45] Solomon says, "I will also need something to decrease the amount of stamina crafting will take."
[13:49] {Item} You throw Copper x7.
[13:50] Solomon says, "Lord... I require more copper than this."
[13:52] {Item} You drop Copper x6.
[13:59] The clergymen that typically accompanied the sides of the shrine sifted about, searching coffers to find... A paltry quantity of copper within the nation's reserves. It would seem, they were destitute.

As the last of their copper and non-existent Iron reserves were emptied, handed over to Solomon, another provided a duo of potions. One encased in a fragile casing, vulnerable to magus charging to harden its exterior... And another? In a more metallic case.

''A potion that should invigorate your magus circuitry. I presume that it should even manage to make... even you feel more... Energetic.''
The air proved cold... With etheric tendrils slowly extending for both cloaked agents of his essence, feeding into his core to properly channel an energy that dared to challenge the lifestream itself.

Emboldened by such energies of Entropy, the psionic voice of the Patron boomed out across the room, using the collective of attuned minds and circuitry systems as amplifiers.
"These boons that serve you shall be your instruments.
Use them wisely."
(Etheric Presence)
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[13:59] Solomon says, "Yes, lord."
[14:02] Etheric Presence's voice (to Laurentius of Terminus): I sense damages from battle... Step into the depths of my blood, and find yourself healed.

[14:16] Laurentius turns and, without hesitation or delay, strides from that academy perfect stance to step into the waves of the pool and sink beneath. With his new flesh and blood, he drops like a stone to the bottom, relaxing within the depths of the pit as he always had.

The entropic mana brimming in his circuits is a decent sum, life stolen from several of those abroad. The wounds upon his body show signs of victory in that pursuit...

At this point, it is routine to him. The purpose of the soldier of Terminus, to gather more and more scraps for his Lord.
(Laurentius of Terminus)
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[14:19] Pesky abnormalities marred his construct with impurities... Imperfections.
Subtle weaknesses that simply could not be ignored.
These were the aftermath of Metallic Crystaline Petrification: A permanent incursion upon Laurentius. A tell to any observant person that managed to restrain, or even get too close under the correct circumstances.
"The persistence of Meranthe's agents proved aggravating at best. Their tenacity holds my Vision hostage... This, simply can not be."

The newly formed muscle of Laurentius' vessel was born of Terminus' cancerous defects, weaponized to his advantage. They ate at the rust, slowing down the decay they sought to invoke, if only passively. The pins were being ingested, modified through the passive casting of one's own circuit to rebuild bone in full. Where one lacked the natural aptitude of biomancy, the claim over divinity and spatial manipulation sought to defy one's magus restriction.

It was merely a byproduct that one's efforts hastened the regenerative qualities of one's anatomy -- From bones shifting back into proper place, mending at their splits with the shine of mana that gleamed through the seams of one's armor. What should've taken months, weeks even... Could be accomplished in mere moments at the behest of Terminus.
(Etheric Presence)
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[14:22] Etheric Presence's voice (to Solomon): I sense... Something amiss with you... Approach, and descend into my depths, so that I may examine it.
[14:36] Without a moment's hesitation, Solomon would plunge into the vantablack waters. Fully submerged, they felt at ease here within the dark tides. By virtue of their armoring, they sunk deeper and further until finally hitting the very bottom. Slowly, they took steady steps towards the husk of their Patron and took a knee. Thanks to their state as an undead, they did not need to breath, and it was most convenient in times like these.

Laying themselves bare before their Patron, they opened their mind to them.

"My mind and body are yours to peruse as you see fit.", he thought ''aloud''.
(Solomon)
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[14:38] Regeneration of the new flesh is a practice of his Lord, to attempt to correct those imperfections. That old wound, from the first battle. A lingering and pernicious thing that will not easily be vanquished... even so, the ascension had brought great vigor into the living dead.

Powerful, even, as his form twists and melds. Shattered bones are reformed under his patron's grace- yet those spurs of metal will linger stubbornly, beyond most to mend.

For now, at least... perhaps sometime, that will change. Laurentius for his part is uncaring of pain or suffering- it's all that he knows, and so one more wound fades into the moldering background of his existence. The more human thought-patterns forged inside his skull echo with a hunger- and a slowly blooming hatred for those agents mentioned.

Mended. Restored, yet some of his wounds still require time...
(Laurentius of Terminus)
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[14:46] Submergence within one's element, enabled a deeper level of control -- a means of peering into what impaired the constructed mind of the Patron. What could dare to dabble with his constructs...

Alas, the foreign magic proved notable -- discerning itself apart from Terminus' own. It proved most abundant within the skull, entangling with the artificial neural network forged of mana leylines -- all of which built around a suspended fleshbud core.

"Creative... But did they think their magics would escape my notice?"
Surely, they hadn't a clue what Solomon was... Whom they served...
Nor the capabilities of such. Master therapists would be hard pressed to challenge the impairments of the Occult -- a domain he had come to master in the past century's time.

Rather than attempt to 'cleanse' it? He emboldened it, enriching itsmore dark highlights to exercise the full array of its impact on the psyche.
"So many aspiring seers... So little comprehension of the possibilities..."
The Patron's raw understanding of spite... Of Hatred melded with the spell of self-doubt... Of dwindling self-assurances...
It sought to invoke spite, especially for the original initiator of such a spell.

"Do you feel that? That energy that surges through you... That, is the fathomless darkness of the Occult. A meager taste of the potential that the entity you've faced couldn't hope to emulate.

Embrace it... Understand it...
It is without equal...
It can not be falsified..."

With that, Solomon would be allowed to depart at their leisure...
The cognitive-born impairment, weakened, if only slightly.

(Etheric Presence)
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