7/28 After the Fall

 Melody Ultovex says, "Well, Artaghh. Let's see about replacing your parts. I'll need you to describe what you want, in detail..."
 Hisashi Sone says, "I mean.. never got around to enhancing me."
 Melody Ultovex says, "Is there anywhere... private to do it?..."
 Hisashi Sone says, "the uhh"
 Melody glances to her left, longingly. Oh, that clinic and its darn runes.
(Melody Ultovex)
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Vedran Ivanovich says, "Mmh.. not really."
Hisashi Sone says, "The parts are pre-fabricated"
Vedran Ivanovich asks, "Tower maybe?"
Artaghh exclaims, "Sure!"
Melody Ultovex says, "I will still need to know what to do, Tenko..."
Melody Ultovex says, "I can't cut into things wildly."
Artaghh says, "Pffff."
Hisashi Sone says, "Be sure to attach the circuits to the nerves."
Artaghh says, "Come along ye' fool."
Aldrah Leverd says, "In case of anything going wrong, it's better I go together with ya all"
Artaghh says, "This'll be fun. Clearly not extremely painful."
Melody Ultovex says, "..."
The old man takes a seat next to the rest, was there in case they needed him for something, or in case of a 'problem'. It's always good to have a necromancer near by, right?

He had to separate some undeads later to go to the abandoned house that he found and take it for him. He needed a new place to stay after all.
(Aldrah Leverd)
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Hisashi takes a quiet seat as he begins to move runes, though extremely slowly, showing off each of his creations in a hard-light hologram. A replacement chest segment modeled after his current, additional plates overlapping prior creations with more intricate and definably 'older' aesthetics. Several Arcanium circuits wer set to its edges, designed to be placed in still living tissue, capable of transmitting sensory input to living nerves based on material reactions.

The second object were new-formed lungs, hollow with additional filtration scripts, designed strictly to oxygenate blood and filtrate toxins, a little overboard with it's efficiency perhaps that it would almost work as a second liver to alcohol.

"I am no doctor, but Sors had told me a few things when asked, and Jennifer's instructions while using me as a dummy were enlightening. Follow the Diagrams and try not to damage the little pieces.. Those are what will make each work as intended." Painstaking craftsmanship for a man worth fixing, though too late for his own interests in the statues, still a work of his art.

(Hisashi Sone)
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 Ser Artaghh would lead the small host of former Dusklings steadily the lone tower of Obsidia's spacious first floor, whistling a jolly tune idly as they made there way inside and towards the nearest table. The old knight would flash a tired, missing toothed smile to Melody and a stalwart nod to Tenko and Aldrah before, with a snap of his fingers, the old knight's body began to shimmer translucently with an ethereal glow. Briefly transparent, the old knight's trusty nyeshk cuirass would tumble through the swordsman's form before clanking with a metallic cacophony against the ground, revealing the full extent of Artaghh's old wounds for the whole tower to see.

If the burn scars upon the swordsman's arms and face were bad, it was nothing compared to his torso. Even decades after the occultic, alchemic fire of Alastor Vishkar had scourged him, his skin was still marred, patchy, and an irritable red where the remnants of his original musculature sat. Densely packed sinew barely held in by the rough, ungainly layer of skin that remained in the rough fourth of the knight's chest that was still his own. But it was what wasn't Artaghh's that proved to be the most painful sight.

Where once most of the knight's abdominal muscle and chest had been, mithril plating stood brutishly bolted and threaded into his nerve damaged flesh, holding in Artaghh's organs only by the rough hand of Sors occultic proficiency. Purplish red spread throughout where metal was brutally bound to flesh, and the sheer brutality of the surgery could easily be recognized as that of Sors Ultovex himself.

Lying back, the old knight would laugh through his gritted teeth, the wood already inflaming the occultic implant that had him together.

"Sorry Melody, I know it ain' the prettiest sight."
(Artaghh)
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Melody watches as Artaghh takes off his armour and shirt and reveals to her the true extent of the damages. A metal chest piece, bolted to the body to hide whatever was beneath. Her eyes warily fixate across it - Staring with complete disbelief at this feigned attempt at medicine. Sors does not come to mind, but it would not surprise her if this did turn out to be his work.

"You are not to blame for this. Do not apologize." Warily, the woman steps forward. Her hand reaches out for the plating, pressing against it and sending surges of her own mana throughout his body. They ping and tingle against his circuitry, giving her a mental image of the damage beneath it.

"What is under here, Artaghh." She comments, her eyebrows dipping low. She pulls back after a moment while processing it. "A plate of metal. You could have harvested some parts from criminals or other low lifes." In perhaps a harsh tone, she speaks. "You are a fool for living with this for so long."


(Melody Ultovex)
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 Ser Artaghh would flash a tired, missing toothed grin to Melody as he barked out in laughter, shrugging his shoulders lightly as the doctor's hands examined the metal. His ever burning corncob pipe was spit from his mouth, determining that smoking during a surgery in his sixties was almost as bad as when he smoked the moment he'd gotten out of lung surgery. She wasn't wrong in the slightest, of course; the old knight had lived a life of determined foolishness.

"It's wha' happens when ye' go under the knife o' a young Sors Ultovex. I go' burned....real bad defendin' Crafthold. By a rogue legion'a undead wit' ma own Adjudicator's alchemic fire. He told me occult were nae a magic'a healin', an' went'a work. Mmm, bu' the pain allowed me'ta master mysticism, to walk the transcendent step 'tween the living world an' tha' o' the spirits. Guess it made me who I am today."


The old knight would lay his head back upon the table of Obsidia's tower fully, a tired, but contented grin upon his burn scarred face.

"Sors pu' a lump'a occulty muscle in me'ta hold the mithril chassis toge'er from ma spine. Real painful like, bu' I go' used'ta it o'er the years.""
(Artaghh)
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 The laugh irritated her.

With a displeased look, the woman reaches out and plucks the death stick from his lips. She summons forth a sphere of water and douses it, before passing the smoke back. "Your first mistake was letting Sors do this." She knew what his idea of healing was. Her arms still had the cut-sized fur to prove it.

"Alright, pass over the equipment." The woman reaches ahead, plucking the kit and opening it.

Why did it have to be Lungs. She gives Tenko a glance, just briefly. How that man could throw away his life s needlessly confused and infuriated her. At least she had a good reason for almost doing it, back then. "I'll be needing your help in practising creating rifts and the likes." She comments, looking at no one in particular as she grabs ahold of the arcanium lungs.

This material resonated to her finger tips, almost like circuitry itself.

"So try to avoid dying before then, Tenko." The woman sets the lungs and artificial nerves down on the table beside Artaghh. She takes a long breath in, probably too long. Her head went into a bit of a flutter. "I can numb your entire body, or I can try to knock you out."

She looks down at Artaghh.

"Pick your poison because removing this chestplate and applying these... devices will not be quick."


(Melody Ultovex)
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 Hisashi looks at Melody a moment. There was an old addage about such a demand. Those that cannot do, Teach. Then he looks at Artaghh, a faint smirk on his lips. "I'd say do it without, no balls.. But even you have limits, Artaghh."
(Hisashi Sone)
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Ser Artaghh would blink idly with his remaining eye as his pipe was snatched, flashing an amused, if tired grin to melody with complete acceptance. But he would simply shake his head as the mentions of numbing and unconsciousness would bring. Yet, though the knight was deeply tempted to be foolishly brave and spiteful to pain by demanding he receive neither option, Melody was the actually competent doctor here. If he was squirming around from pain, he might interrupt her efforts and cause an error in the surgery.

"I was conscious, if barely from the pain, when he was doin' it in the first place, I oughta be awake fer this one too. Bu' ye' are the doctor, I'll take wha' numbin' ye' offer, anythin' helps. I've pretty much destroyed my body o'er the years, a bit more sufferin' won' kill me yet."
(Artaghh)
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Vedran Ivanovich says, "... I can punch 'im real good."
Vedran Ivanovich asks, "That an option?"
Hisashi Sone says, "I mean.. it's that or a lullaby. Unless Aldrah has alchemical anesthesia."
Melody Ultovex says, "It's his choice..."
Hisashi Sone says, "And I'm already tired."
Melody Ultovex says, "I can numb the majority of pain by applying Holywater to the back of his neck."
Melody Ultovex says, "Assuming you are not an occultist?..."
Hisashi Sone says, "Jus"
Hisashi Sone says, "Uhh.. Dont cause more surgical need."
Artaghh says, "Nope."
Artaghh says, "I'm an energy magi."
Hisashi Sone says, "Worst kind of occultism. Not-occultism."
{Item} You drop Arcanium Trauma Kit.
{Item} You drop Arcanium Trauma Kit.
 Glorious! The once paladin pushed himself away from his own seat, encircling the table with a look of sadistic glee plain on his face; the towering Cainite was swiftly consumed by an ominous red glow. What a terrible sign for knight! "Artaghh! What I'm about to do is an ancient vampiric technique that I learned over the pass' century..."

Vedran's piercing vermillion gaze was down casted at the poor sod. Yet, he didn't violently bludgeon Artaghh, opting to gently grab his shoulder..

"Count with me-..."

The vampire would glow even more violently, magically mustering his strength or something like that."

"Three!"

As soon as the countdown started, Vedran IMMEDIATELY slammed down his elbow atop his son-in-law's skull! Success...?

Success.


(Vedran Ivanovich)
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 Ser Artaghh would prepare for an actually civilized surgery, perhaps one of the first proper ones he'd received beyond Jennifer. It would be relaxing, he'd get to actually focus upon the procedure, perhaps even learn something educationally from the process. The old knight was lo-

THWACK.

The bald swordsman was out cold. His head was also bruised, and a bit of blood was leaking out of his nose. But he was definitely unconscious, head against the table of Obsidia's watchtower surrounded by good Tenko, old Vedran Invanovich, the doctor Melody, and Aldrah too.
(Artaghh)
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 Aldrah Leverd says, "..."
 Hisashi maintains his hard-light holograms for the surgery while picking up the small daemon, intent on cuddling it for a time.
(Hisashi Sone)
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 Well, while the rest were busy with the surgery, the old man would open his satchel and pull out a book from inside, along with some notes, such stuff was about riftmancy, where he soon began to read it. If they needed him, they just need to call him.
(Aldrah Leverd)
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"Technique? I really don't-"

Kraus damn it.

Artaghh faces the blunt impact, knocking him out instantly. Melody stares at Vedran, visibly displeased. "Now I have a concussion to fix... Thank you, that is all." At least the man was unconscious now. How anyone could stand to have surgery done on them while awake was so far beyond her understanding.

Washing her hands in holywater, she gets to work.

Murmering something, the woman picks up some tools and starts to remove the chestplate as exorcism shines upon the discount cyclops's skull. After some minutes of effort, she puts the tool down and proceeds to lift up the chestplate. Melody seems to pause in shock, but little surprise.

The organs were exposed beneath it.

"I would advise no one ever willingly have surgery done on them by Sors..." That man was just sadistic or plain bad at medicine. Likely just the former, though. Gently setting the chestplate aside, she pulls a scalpel from the kit and carefully starts to cut into the Lungs to sever the injured pieces.

This next part she needed to be quick with.

Taking the Arcanium Lungs off the table, she lodges one set inside the cavity at a time and activates them, removing the opposite lung when it was time to connect them up. They bond to the main connectors - Aided by blessed waters that she allows pool there to encourage quick regrowth. Within a few minutes asphyxiation is long avoided and they come to life, expanding and contracting to each unconscious breath.

The woman exhales.

"Now for the nerves..." Placing a hand against the mans bald head, she surges her mana throughout his nervous system. Damaged connections appeared like black spots, making it obvious where needed repairing. The majority was localized around the burns - But some were the victim of foul play.

This will take longer than the Lungs.

Picking up the scalpel once more, Melody goes through the three hour long process of cutting out parts of the nervous system and grafting in the Arcanium substitutes. Ensuring it is done right, after each grafting she observes the nervous system again to bare witness to lines of moving light of mana surging out from the cradle of the brain.

It was gruelling, it was long, and it was insuperably uneventful.

The woman packs it all together with the Arcanium chestplate, bolting it into place.

She taps his face a few times, before looking to the vampire.

The woman takes a step back and lets him do the predictable thing.

(Melody Ultovex)
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Given his blunt and harmful technique. The once paladin remained silent and leaned forward against the table, propping his elbows against it-... As time passed, boring, watching as Artaghh had nerve after nerve, sliced out only to be replaced with Arcanium nodes.

The towering vampire stayed dormant, until Melody stepped away and gave him a look.

That was enough to get Vedran's attention! Now, standing over the bald-man while he weighed the options. Slapping him? Enjoyable, but possibly not overly effect..

Perturbed.

Before one solution came to mind, kneeling beside the former commander before whispering..
(Vedran Ivanovich)
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 Ser Artaghh was effectively unconscious throughout the procedure, a mercy considering the hours of invasive surgery he required to fix decades of excessive trauma. It was as merciful as things got for the old knight, and as the hours went by he did not stir while bit by bit, his damaged nervous system and lungs were finally fixed with advanced arcanium solutions. He wasn't yet conscious to process the chance, to flow his mystical energy through the pieces of highly conductive metal, but already the long failing vitality of the old knight was becoming dramatically improved.

Old wounds were finally being healed.

When his lungs were replaced, the first clean breathe of air taken in three decades flushed the sickly pallour of skin just a bit away. It remained, of course, the foul, extra-dimensional poisons of the eldritch swuisarme king would take time to recover from. But his rot scarred lungs had finally been replaced. The foul poison that had plagued him at last flushed out. completely. The taint of his old lungs was gone, banished by the purity of metal.

As his nervous system was steadily recovered, bit by glinting, arcanium bit, the dense mana of the mystic would like a river current that had long been blocked by a dam, its flow finally returned after being impeded for years by the trauma of cursed fire. With each fresh link, each metal bit, just a bit more color returned to Artaghh piece by piece. His ever sickly pallour was finally being banished. After decades of torment and pain, he was finally being cured.

When at last the arcanium chestplate was put on, energy immediately flowed through its frame as a shimmer of rich, blue light surged from its surface. Bubbles of mana began to form as Artaghh translucently glimmered, before a replication of Artaghh's lost muscle was projected translucently over the frame, a spiritual manifestation of what he'd lost former of ectoplasm that could only be possible with the magically conducive properties of the rare metal. Slowly, steadily, his head would rise as he began to take steady, careful breaths, looking around the room with his remaining eye at last unyellowed.

"...I forgot...what it felt like to not be in pain..."

A light flow of tears would fall from the bald cyclop's remaining eyes, that of relief after so many years of suffering.

At long last over.
(Artaghh)
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 After all these hours of effort, it was done.

The woman finds the closest seat at Vedran whispers and sits herself down, putting her entire weight down on the stool. Surgery this extensive always took something out of her. If it was not Artaghh she likely would have avoided doing this all together. Leaning forward, she rests her head atop her arms on the table.

Her head faces the mans feet; Spared the sight of vulnerability.

Melody opens her mouth to speak, but stays herself. The truth was Artaghh did not need some magical metal to allievate his pain, there were so many options he could have taken. That man went through years of needless suffering. But for as terrible a person as she has become beneath her skin, she did not want to take this moment from him.

A brief moment of relief against a backdrop of suffering.

"Tell me if anything feels off. Though I can't fix anything mechanical." She lifts her head up and looks over at Tenko. "This is your work. You'll need to keep an eye on him to make sure it's working properly." His life depended on it.

One faulty piece and Artaghh does suffocate to death. As a doctor, she didn't quite trust metal like flesh and bone.

An ironic thought, considering one of her two eyes were mythril.

"Are you able to move?" She sits up.
(Melody Ultovex)
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 Hisashi Sone says, "Trust me, Melody, my art is the legacy I leave behind. It wouldn't do to make it anything less than Perfect."

 Ser Artaghh would nod slowly as he carefully rose from the table's length, his body stiff and sore from the longs hours upon the table. Wiping his eye briefly with his arm, the old knight would sit upon the table for a time at a loss. The metal was an unfamiliar feeling, yet already the bald swordsman found his energy receptive to it. Breathing in and out slowly, his skin reflecting his tanned farmer's skin with a flush of color that had long been paled by taint, an uncontrollable grin spread across his lined, burn scarred visage.

He felt alive. Old, maybe, but ALIVE!

Leaping from the table with reckless vigor, Ser Artaghh would lunge forth to engage Melody in a an immediate bearhug, fresh arcanium plating and ethereal musculature crushed against the doctor as the old knight was overwhelmed with joy. It almost felt like they hadn't just lost a war.

"I feel GREAT! This is the real goddamn deal Tenko! I feel like I'm twenty again! Oh, how air tastes wit'ou' the foul tinge o' iron. So fresh...so volcanoey. An' ye' Melody! Oh, I owe ye' the world! I haven' felt like this since I was just a knight, cocksure an' invincible. Ye' did it doc! "
(Artaghh)
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 Personal space violation.

Hugged by a man child, she grits her teeth as the far larger man shakes her about like a ragdoll. "Y-yes, yes... That is good..." Hours of work and no complications, it could have gone worse. Lifting her hand out of the grip, she points over to a tray on the table containing some leftovers.

"I doubt you have need of them. But your-- Lungs are there."

As scarred and plagued as they were. "I desperately need a break, Artaghh... Can you please put me down?" Coffee... A long sip of Coffee, maybe a face mask too while sunbathing beneath the volcanic light. It was freezing up here; But the lava was warm and inviting.

She could almost see why he would want to jump in.

... Depression aside.
(Melody Ultovex)
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Vedran Ivanovich says, "... Get me a fryin' pan for the lungs."
 Artaghh says, "Ye' are a degenerate."
 Melody Ultovex says, "Vedran- No..."
 Hisashi chuckles lightly aa he enjoyed for a time the feeling of something close to himself, even if it eere a daemon. Seeing Artaghh happy brought him a bit of peace amidst his depression, the first in a long time.
(Hisashi Sone)
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 Vedran Ivanovich says, "Fine."

 Ser Artaghh would release Melody with a toothy grin, nodding steadily as he raised his hands with a gesture of apology. Slowly, he'd pace towards his discarded breastplate, sliding it back over his frame as he shimmered translucently once morebefore the black plate snugly fit over the arcanium. It felt like a new glove.

"Sorry Melody. Go' a bit excited. Aye, ge' some coffee an' some rest. Ye' have done all anyone could ask. I owe ye' a debt as much as Tenko for donatin' the metal. Because of you two, I won' need to die a cripple. Die poisoned an' in pain. If I fall, it will be free of torment a' last."
(Artaghh)
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Artaghh says, "A fresh breath o' air for a new start..."
Melody Ultovex says, "I am glad I could be of assistance, Artaghh. "
Melody Ultovex says, "Please avoid any hostile Daemon... kings for now on."
Artaghh says, "I'll do ma bes', bu' knowin' me...well, it's good yer around Melody."
Artaghh says, "I'm glad ye' stayed."
Vedran Ivanovich says, "... Artaghh."
Vedran Ivanovich says, "Now."
Vedran Ivanovich says, "We fight."
Artaghh says, "Very well."
Melody Ultovex says, "Nowhere else to go, I'm afraid."
Melody smiles sheepishly...
(Melody Ultovex)
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Vedran Ivanovich exclaims, "Tenko! ENCHANT MY PANTS!"
Melody Ultovex says, "..."
Melody Ultovex says, "I'll be ou tside."
Artaghh says, "Nonsense, anywhere woul' take ye'."
Artaghh says, "Bu' we're lucky."