6/17 Spire Shard Cleansing (SF Dev)

[21:24] Ohtli Tezcacoatl asks, "Ah...But banter aside. You were around when the large rift opened up on Baukdengrad's peak, yes?"
[21:26] Noel Elisheva says, "I.. think so, yes."
[21:26] Noel Elisheva says, "It's been a while, though."
[21:26] Noel Elisheva asks, "Mind refreshing my memory?"
[21:27] Ohtli Tezcacoatl says, "Naturally."
[21:27] Ohtli Tezcacoatl says, "I think it opening was before your time...but for a while, the vampires lived in a city that was once called Baukdengrad, in the north in the icy wastes on the mountain."
[21:27] Noel Elisheva says, "Yeuch."
[21:29] Noel Elisheva says, "Oh! I remember now."
[21:29] Noel Elisheva asks, "It was closed by you and some other magis from Huangzhou, right?"
[21:30] Ohtli Tezcacoatl says, "Correct."
[21:30] Ohtli Tezcacoatl says, "Well, them and Eiphraem, yes."
[21:31] Noel Elisheva asks, "Does that tie in to what you'd like help with?"
[21:31] Ohtli Tezcacoatl says, "It does."
[21:31] Ohtli Tezcacoatl says, "A corrupted spire shard was used in its construction, it's what kept the miserable thing running at all"
[21:31] Ohtli Tezcacoatl says, "And I shouldn't have to tell you how...-worrisome- a corrupted spire shard is."
[21:33] Ohtli takes a box from her coat. Oh yes, she knows exactly where it is. To lose it would be a catastrophe. Sleek black, far heavier than it looks, it might just be made of pure Nyeshk. Even than as it's removed from her presence, it exudes a feeling that can only be described as 'wrong'.

She holds out the little box towards Noel for him to inspect. The lid is clearly hinged to open.
(Ohtli Tezcacoatl)
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[21:40] Noel scrunches his nose up in response, eyes staring at the object as the 'vibe' from it begins to spread.

It was his first time seeing a corrupted shard, but the essence was something he had experienced before. Too often, perhaps.

The demiangel reaches into his own coat to pull out a 'normal' spireshard for comparison.

"Yikes. I'm a bit shocked you didn't do this sooner if I'm being honest."
(Noel Elisheva)
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[21:40] Noel Elisheva says, "But yes, I'll help."
[21:43] "I have been...admittedly putting it off. But even then it hasn't always been in my possession. Eagleheart held it for a time, and I wonder if it didn't make his illness worse."

She pauses, frowning at the thought, and shakes her head.

"I have been keeping careful watch on it, making sure it is contained. However, it's high time it was cleansed. This last little peace of Malentine's curse on this continent can finally be put to rest.

"I thank you for your help. I'd rather not risk failure on something like this because of my foolishness."
(Ohtli Tezcacoatl)
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[21:47] "That.. I can understand."

The man spends some time comparing the two and then puts his own away in favor of focusing entirely on the corrupted one. Instinctively, he rolls his right sleeve up soon after to reveal the arm that had sealed away half of Sugarlad's magic.

".. Alright. Have a gameplan in mind, or should we just go for it?"

The hints of divine magic within made him second guess.

Spire shards were scary.
(Noel Elisheva)
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[21:49] Ohtli shows the same hesitance. Experience has been a great teacher in making her wary of the divine magic within these sacred crystals.

"I'm afraid...I didn't, no. Nothing particular. We could draw up a ritual circle that might help disperse some of the corruption. But it is very...dense. That is my primary concern."
(Ohtli Tezcacoatl)
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[21:50] Noel Elisheva says, "That might be the best starting plan."
[21:51] Noel Elisheva says, "If this really did fuel that rift gate, it wouldn't hurt to show caution. Especially since my method of cleansing has a limit."
[21:56] Ohtli Tezcacoatl says, "Then we can set one up up here, or down by the pool."
[21:56] Ohtli Tezcacoatl says, "I've a few things to make it work, wherever we manage to put it."
[22:02] Ohtli considers the little patch of open dirt directly to their left. She starts fumbling through her pockets- the dreaded FUMBLING- to access a few different bits and bobs.

The Elder starts working around in a circle, dragging her foot through the dirt to make a divot that she sprinkles herbs and oils in after. The circumference is lined with crude, primitive sigils; they're the ones she's most naturally familiar with, given her Gehennan origins.

So long as they get the job done.
(Ohtli Tezcacoatl)
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[22:13] Noel waits patiently as she does this, removing his coat and hanging it over one of the posts in the mean time.

He knows little about runes despite plenty of those he is close to know a TON about them, and it shows.

"Uh.. Need me to hel-No, you got it. Okay. That's a great circle, too."

Literally no use at the moment.
(Noel Elisheva)
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[22:16] "Comes with practice," she replies, setting up the final sprinkling of anointing oil and dried herbs on the final sigil.

She's made a ritual circle or two in her day. Or maybe like...a hundred. It's not like she's been keeping count.

"It won't contain it indefinitely, not something of this magnitude, but hopefully it in check long enough for us to purify what we need to."

Ohtli takes the little Nyeshk boxes, the lid propped open to reveal the inky black tainted shard, and steps outside the circle.

"It will be a matter of drawing it out...and then dispersal. Are you ready?"

The Elder follows Noel's cue, removing her own coat. She's a pretty ripped old bird under that big, bulky piece of blue cloth. Maybe it comes from hauling around all of what's in those spirit-forsaken pockets of hers.
(Ohtli Tezcacoatl)
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[22:25] The Empath glances over at the Elder, blinking a few times as he tries to understand how she is still so ripped. His focus comes right after as he turns back to look at the nyeshk box, a deep breath being pulled in.

"If this causes the mountain to collapse, we'll blame Sima. He is still young and has plenty of time to recover."

Something they had to agree on.

Giving a nod in response to her prompt, the magi steps forward and reaches out with his tattooed arm, though he doesn't touch it just yet.

"Let's get it done, Ohtli. I'm ready."
(Noel Elisheva)
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[22:31] Clearly Ohtli is ripped because she eats her Wheaties. Or maybe it's the order magic. Or -both-. Probably both. She snickers and smirks at the notion of blaming it on poor young Sima.

But the mountain won't blow up. Probably. Maybe. No more time to question it now anyway. The circle is set up and two of Agartha's more prominent cleansers, barring the Shimasus, are present on this little hillock.

She crouches down and just barely touches her claw tips to the outer edge of the circle. Whatever's in that oil that's been sprinkled in the circle begins to react, glowing with a soft white light.

It isn't just the oil itself that reacts either. What corruption lies within the spire shard starts to shift and roil as well in response, oozing out of the blessed gem and into the inner circle of the ritual containment field. It's drawn to the white light like a moth to the flame.

Hopefully Noel's ready.
(Ohtli Tezcacoatl)
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[22:32] Genki exclaims, "SHIT! I ZONED OUT!!!!!"
[22:33] Genki's finger quickly pointed to Noel.

"Headmaster Noel! Where'd the rest of the class go??"
(Genki)
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[22:33] Noel Elisheva says, "So-"
[22:33] Noel Elisheva asks, "Genki?"
[22:34] Noel Elisheva says, "South. To the Dryad Hill."
[22:34] Genki exclaims, "Thanks!"
[22:41] Seeing the ritual in action puts Noel at ease, somewhat.

As the Drakanite starts the process, Noel includes himself, allowing the tattoos along his arm to light up with prismatic colors just long enough for his aim to be set.

"Three.. two.. one."

With a sound that resembles two metal objects scraping against one another, the color from his arm drains instantly, leaving nothing but varying hues of black and white that spark out around his limb.

But it doesn't stop there.

This greyscale effect expands outwards, draining the color from the very world around them. Dirt and grass, water and wood. All fall victim to this oddity as the Sunyata Expert expands his reach. Naturally this meant that both he and Ohtli would be caught as well, but it was nothing to worry about.

A single index finger reaches out like the hand of man reaching for God, and once it connects with the shard - the process that the order magi had started speeds up exponentially.

"Okay, okay. We're in it. Tell me when."
(Noel Elisheva)
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[22:49] While she's witnessed Sunyata, at least once in her lifetime, she's never been caught up in the nullifying effects herself. Given that she has no occult to speak of, never having let the magic have any purchase on her, she's in no danger, but the sudden shifting of color and grayscale is a bit dizzying.

Now is hardly the time to appreciate the strange effect though. Ohtli digs her clawtips into the dirt at the edge of the circle. The corruption trapped within begins to writhe with a life of its own; tainted by the void, the ooze begins to grow tiny mouths with serrated teeth, which open up and shriek in hellish agony.

Pseudopods stretch from the black mass and begin colliding against the barrier that has been erected to keep the corruption from spilling out of their little ritual circle. It will go, certainly, but it will not go quietly or easily.

All the ebony ichor is out of the shard in the center, drained and expelled by Sunyata, but it still must be contended with now that it's free and set loose from the source of divine energy.

"Now!"
(Ohtli Tezcacoatl)
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[23:01] The word is what he had been waiting for.

Even as the entity grew teeth and began to grow sentience, Noel was not concerned. He had unfortunately come into contact with dark forces that were just as ugly.

The outwardly expanding circle of greyscale suddenly stops and begins to shrink with a sound akin to glass breaking. Noel had spent a certain length of time sensing the area with his talents as an Empath, and now he was going to condense and crush the foreign powers that be within this range.

It was a mixture of Satsuki's Art and the Mother Tree's magic, and he sounds entirely confident with it for the first time in a while.

As the 'barrier' retracts to surround the black mass, Noel's runic tattoos begin to light up once more.

"Unlucky for this thing, I'm fully rested from healing Laddie. If we could take an accursed down.." A grunt slips through his lips as he begins to quite literally absorb the corruption into his arm, muscles bulging and contracting rapidly. "Then we can take this too! Purify the parts that you can, Ohtli!"

It hurt. It always did with powerful entities. But there was no backing down now.
(Noel Elisheva)
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[23:13] It is fortunate she hadn't been brash enough to undertake this on her own. It would have been a far different, more arduous story. And it might not have had a happy ending either.

The shattering noises are joined by more cacophonous shrieks. Maws open and teeth gnaws only for portions of the oozes body to break apart like so much brittle stone. The circle shrieks and gives the void corruption no point of egress, choking it as it tries desperately to flee. It cannot go back into the stone, it cannot break through the prison, try as it might. Not that this stops it from thrashing and trying.

Rather than reply she grits her teeth and bares down into the act of purification itself. She channels her focus into the lifestream, the invisible flow all around, and begins diverting it. It's not a sacrifice of blood, but it brings a strain all of its own.

A prelude is signaled by an ear-popping shift in density around the ritual circle, the air itself becoming dense and compacted. With a rush of air the pressure releases and a great, percussive amount of force comes barreling down on half a swathe of vile tide. One strike, then several lesser ones in rapid succession.

She's not stopping until the thing is obliterated, washed down stream or absorbed. There's no doubt in her mind that Noel's of the same accord. The creatures of the void deserve no mercy.

While she's still got power at her age, it comes with a price. Sweat pours off her temples, her shoulders sag, and a thin trail of blood dribbles down from one of her nostrils.
(Ohtli Tezcacoatl)
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[23:34] It was a lot for one magi to handle on their own.

Luckily, the two of them were more than equipped to handle the challenge together.

Noel snaps his arm away at a certain point once most of the corruption is absorbed, the arm becoming even more discolored and grey than it had been before. Bruised. Shrunken in some places. Sugarlad's treatment was brutal, but this was honestly just as bad.

Regardless, he wouldn't stop until the job is done.

Using his good arm now, the kneeling magi winces and prepares to back Ohtli up however he could. Namely by sending several swords made of golden light directly at and into what blobs of grime remained.

One by one, they would meet a combination of arcane forces and the wrath of the heavens.

"Not too bad, honestly! Are you alright?!"
(Noel Elisheva)
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[23:38] One last smash of arcane power and the Drakan's hand lowers. Her head spins and she blinks several times in rapid succession, holding her head. She puts a hand against a nearby tree for balance.

It's then she's able to look over their combined handiwork. Sure the ground is broken up from their combined assault (oops), but not a visible shred of the void-based defilement remains.

All that is left is the spire shard, twinkling in all its bright hues in the center of the destruction.

"Yes, yes. I'll ah...be fine. Just give me a moment. Those things take it out of me these days.

"And you? Are you well?"

She doesn't need her spectacles on to see the state of the demi-angel's arm.
(Ohtli Tezcacoatl)
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