dev 11 - surfacing energy

The Accursed leads the Shenlong into a laboratory off the main entrance of the manse. Well stocked with all manner of accoutrement for pursuits alchemical, runic, and magitechnical. It's a well used, well-maintained workplace.

"Realized it wouldn't work. He wasn't what I was lookin' for. So bounced 'im. He was in Leven the next day pawin' at his now-current wife, so can't say I felt a lotta' remorse for it."

She doesn't offer much more than that in explanation.

Another shrug. She begins to organize some bottles of ink and needles on the center workstation.

"So. Gimme more details on what you're after. Just so I can make sure this'll go to plan."

Ardith removes the grimoire from her hip and sets it alongside a stack of notes.


(Ardith Hirai)

Such laboratories were always fairly impressive. He visited plenty in his life by now.. and of all sorts of people out there. Though, there was certain, distinct flavor to this one, something akin to the vibes he's been having in countless catacombs of Illyotha and other laboratories they had in there, especially the one under volcano.

It almost felt same.

But perhaps it's just her affinity. Perhaps, she actually had more clue about it than he suspected- but he wasn't going to begin asking her about it, at least not yet. They came here for a different reason after all.

"Mm... happens, I guess."

It reminds him of his own mistakes, of how the particular someone ran off to be with another, but.. Levengard is almost in shambles now, isn't it? So in the end, who cares about that city and who chose to remain in there?

"Ah-" With the request for explanation, he continues speaking.

"The purpose was to let this mana surface upon my body better, and so to say 'coat' me entirely, if that makes sense." He was never that great at research, but he had his own methods of getting things through. In particular, the cloak he wears is slightly disheveled as he speaks, and he reveals the azure lines all over his body.

They're line veins. The lines of azure, dim glow covering his body, all representing the magical circuitry filled with spiritual energy. It seemed to be in fairly good control by now too, circulating at well established frequency. Has he worked with it already?

"In other words, allow me to channel it better, all across my body too; intensify it, if possible, and help my transition while I control this energy."

He imagined there might not be any better explanation to it. And yet.. he digs around his garments, handing over a parchment with Illyothian runes- they all belonged to one of the rituals he's done to attune such energy to himself in the first place. To an extent, she could recognize it..

These runes were responsible for what happened to Eshmun and Caira.

"..Don't just copy those runes, though. I'm giving them in case they help you understand what you're dealing with. They're at different potency, frequency and the energy is different too."
(Keitaro Tennouji)

"Yeah. Happens," she replies with a non-committal grunt. Even the Accursed, after a while, knew how to put things behind her. Things that didn't matter, were inconsequential, had to be discarded in the constant march forward.

A shame. Her distaste for Kabu has subsided until the funny looks he kept affording her recently. Still largely inconsequential, but irritating. Like a gadfly. Neither here nor there for the matter at hand.

The lab carries much of her affinity, of her research too. It doesn't help either that it's located smack dab in the Dreadwoods, but here? She is home.

When he displays the lines of mana circuitry on his skin she leans in to examine.

"Hfff...Lemme see..."

She turns to her notes, which are extensive as is fitting her research, and flips through the pages of the eldritch, ancient tome. While the former is half in Illyothian, half in the common tongue, the latter is entirely in Illyothian. At first the pages appear blank, but as she turns them runes shimmer and appear. A strange thing...

The symbols Keitaro gives her are added to the growing pile of material and examined, cross-referenced.

"No. I ain't into copyin'. That wouldn't work here. What precisely were they used in though, and how were they applied? You mentioned some kinda' machine, I think..."
(Ardith Hirai)

With entirety of his focus put upon the task ahead of them, the drakanite allowed her to examine it for the time being; he knew that she would have to realize what exactly she's dealing with, and doing it any other way is simply impossible. So long as it succeeds though, all of this work would be worth it..

Yet, he can't help but curiously glance at all the inscriptions he sees, some of which are in Illyothian, whereas others are in common tongue- some going as far as to even be entirely in the lost language. It makes him ponder just how far she's gotten into this research, but considering all of her work and how much she's been doing..

He figures it's a lot.

"Yes, yes. I believe it wouldn't really work here anyway. The runes are different, these are just to give you insight, and ah-"

He ponders for a moment. Remembering back at the entirety of machine, and how they used it, he speaks out soon after.

"These runes were used in the power core, all in order to transfer the spiritual energy from the spirit shards into my circuitry. I had to sit inside of the capsule, and Elyon assisted me with that transfer; the lightning shards were powering the machine as well."

"Basically, runework was responsible for constructing machine that could do such energy transfer and attune that energy to my circuits."

That's all there is to it. With assistance of another magi and these runes, the runework became possible, prompting to grant him the flood of this energy within his circuits. It's only then, after he acquired this raw power, he was learning how to control it..

But now? Now it was about making it surface for good.

"Would that suffice?"
(Keitaro Tennouji)

The Accursed's research is extensive. There can be no doubt about that. Over years, literal decades almost, she's come a long way. And, though she is not always quite so loud about it? There is no mistaking it.

She is a master of her craft. Nothing less. Her own self-experimentation with the runic tattoos is only one outward indicator, even if it has permanently twisted her flesh.

While not always in the public eye, that does not mean she has not been busy by any stretch of the imagination. Acquisition of the tome, and all this proof of her research, makes that clear. No one amasses all this by sitting still, and sitting still has never been quite her style.

"Yeah. Makes sense. And would've never worked if I just copied. Some of these runes can be used in what you want, sure, but not all of 'em."

She takes a fresh sheet of paper and copies the necessary runes from the notes that Keitaro's given her. Her eyes glance over the tome and she adds more from its eldritch contents.

"This oughta' do. Now understand...this won't be painless. Ain't just because it's tattoos either. These sorts of things have a way of changin' ya. Though...this shouldn't make a lotta immediate outward changes."

The more potent things never did, unless it was intentionally driven to do so by nature.

"You'll prolly need these tattoos over most of your body. At least at key points. If I knew any less 'bout how these all worked together, I'd have to fuckin' cover you in ink- instead I can prolly just work with a few...key points on your circuits. You're gonna need to strip down a lil'. Least to swimwear type stuff. And not 'cause I'm out to ogle.

"One on the center of your chest...one on each bicep. One on each leg. Oughta' cover it."
(Ardith Hirai)

It's good to have this sort of allies. He imagines that if he hadn't made up any network of people he could have any connection to, he would be lost- and yet, at the same time, he doesn't quite understand how some people go on their own without any intervention or assistance from others..

If anything, in these trying times, it looked like madness to stay alone. Now, more than ever, especially with those occasional murders happening here and there.. but he shouldn't be really focused about it, should he? Instead, where she speaks both clarifications and directions, he acknowledges it all with a nod.

"Glad you could handle it, and-"

He doesn't particularly mind the thought of stripping down, and dismisses that with a light wave of his hand; one way or another, you cannot exactly plant tattoos over someone's body if they're still wearing clothing, so he already knew ahead of time it would have to be something like that.

"It doesn't matter to me. Whatever gets the results, really." Spoken both about pain and stripping down. And so..

He carefully removes articles of his clothes, to reveal his chest, his arms, legs and pretty much the areas all around it; as it stands, by the time he's done, there's almost naught but the undergarments, leaving the exposure of countless scars over his body.

The scars she was familiar with anyway- and a web of azure energy. It looked.. bizarre, odd, to have this sort of 'veins' course through your body like that.

"I'll sit down. Feel free to move about accordingly, or move me, if you need better access."

And so, he takes a seat upon the table, nearby on the place with nothing around it. He didn't want to suddenly knock something over, after all..
(Keitaro Tennouji)

Results. Ardith is all about results. How they're gotten is, for the most part, irrelevant. Thankfully no fuss is made about what is entirely necessary for this procedure.

She takes something from a drawer and sets it alongside her other accoutrement. It is very unlike all the other tools at her disposal. Because it is in fact not a tool at all- it is a block of wood.

"Some people like havin' somethin' to sink their teeth into for the pain. Use it if ya want."

Outside tinctures or medicines might mix undesirably. Best to not risk it for this kind of procedure. The Accursed uncorks one of the many, many bottles of ink, dips her needle into the foul, sulfurous smelling contents...

And begins her work. A great deal of it. While she is typically impatient, headstrong, her work is an exception. She sees the path forward and she treads upon it with slow, steady, and confident steps.

She is the best at what she does. She is the only one to do what she does.

Unless halted at some point, she begins with the large, centerpiece tattoo upon his chest. Ardith refers back to her notes plenty, planting them on the desk beside where Keitaro sits. Concentric runes of symbols that were once lost to time are steadily pricked into his flesh and made permanent. It is the greatest and largest of what will be the five in total, spanning between his pectorals. It is meticulously linked to his circuits, as all of them ultimately will be.

The Accursed is a bit rough by her nature, and it shows in how she moves him as she works. Ardith is focused on the task at hand, not the comfort of her latest subject. Every now and then the demon in her finds little ways to wriggle to the surface. She takes his arm, stretches it out, and begins working on the first tattoo of his bicep.

As time draws on the ink will start to sting, and burn, but that is not her concern. It is part of the procedureand the Shenlong has been warned. To be changed, and to be changed so quickly as opposed to over the span of many years, never is comfortable.

Ardith finds a rhythm to her work, so long as he doesn't move too much. Too much twitching is sure to be met with snarls of irritation to correct any surplus squirming. One arm is done, then the second. She moves to his legs.

Even for her to spend so much time marking is taxing. What Keitaro asks for is no small thing. Sweat starts to bead on her brow. The runes take shape, but they haven't even been finished or infused with the last measure of energy that's needed. All runes, especially runes such as these, require empowerment after all.

After hours upon hours of hand poking in the lines, the symbols, the circles and connecting them to his circuits, she stands back a half step to examine her work.

"...There. Gotta' give 'em a lil' juice...Then oughta' be done," she huffs.
(Ardith Hirai)

The pain was to be expected.

And truth to be told, this sort of pain is nothing before the constant discouragement one could receive back in the day, and from the setbacks he had to suffer. If anything, this pain is just a drop in the rain from all that he had to endure in the past.. and considering the war, the conflict on horizon, it only makes sense that he would be willing to proceed with all of this as soon as possible. Though..

When she offers him the piece of wood to bite into? He arches a brow. A moment of consideration is taken before his lips idly purse, and then his hand carefully reaches out. "Alright then.."

It might look almost comical, but the top and bottom of his mouth part, the shark teeth of Shenlong biting down into wood; at first, there's nothing in particular that happens about it, but when she marks down the tattoos and runes, he grows mildly inconvenient- though, any potential movement from that is reduced to zero, remaining entirely unmoving.

He couldn't afford to let her focus be thrown off. Of all things, he needed that the least.. and when the burn was coming, his eyes closed, a single bead of sweat rolling down by the side of his head. While he remains as moveless as he can, the bite upon the wood grows stronger, even stronger, until it almost seems as if it's about to snap between his teeth..

"Mphh.."

It takes time, of course, but he endures. The drakanite was disciplined to endure, both by life and the training he had gone through. And so, where the runework upon him is finished, he finally opens his eyes; when Ardith remarks about giving it fuel, he merely nods.

A clear sign of agreement. For now, he waits.
(Keitaro Tennouji)

Nothing interrupts her work or her flow of consciousness as she moves from one sigil, from one line, to another. It makes it all go much smoother. No hiccups, no snaps and snarls from the Accursed. She is left to her work- in the end, it is best for everyone.

The work is done with her right hand, the needle held between her normal, more dexterous fingers. Empowering the circuitry? It is done with her gnarled left one. Somewhere beneath the twisted flesh is still the Illyothian ringed rune, the tether which ties her to the Archon's mana by his will.

It is more than enough to pull from, and the matching runic alphabets always have had a strange resonation with one another. Ardith takes her gnarled palm and presses it to the center of his torso tattoo.

By nature of the magic she wields, and what she is, a wave of sickly energy passes over the Shenlong. A potent pulse of nausea is likely to strike him as she sets the circuits into motion.

All the runework alights with a faint blue color to match the hue within his circuits, though for the first few seconds it is tainted with a dark, occultic purple. The skin surrounding the markings briefly bubbles like liquid.

This change is not likely to be painless either. All things come with a price, and change exacts a heavy one that is not known to most. When the bubbling of flesh subsides, so to does the pain. It remains as a faint ache as his system struggles to adjust to drastically new changes.
(Ardith Hirai)

Interrupting her could be equal to failure, and so he does his best to be absolutely moveless- so much that he almost resembles a statue in how moveless he remains. But perhaps that's for the best.. because disallowing her to properly work on this would only mean they have to restart it.

So long as he can endure it now, it wouldn't be necessary later. It brings about a struggle to resist the pain, but the drakanite was always made for it; of all things, endurance and toughness were his profile, and some of the most vile and powerful magics that attempted to kill him in the past didn't work.

After all, he's still here.. so he should be able to go through this too, right?

Though, the differences between them don't make it any easy. While the runes themselves aren't Occult, the lingering feeling for the first few seconds causes significant pain, almost as if he's being attacked; he had todo his best to suppress the instinct to simply lash out.. not willingly, of course, but due to pain alone.

Still, it should be worth it. And so, his breathing becomes bated, heavier, the drip of sweat becoming apparent. It wasn't easy to keep enduring it for so long.. but he knew he had to.

"..Almost?"

It's spoken through the wood he was biting down on. By now, it already had sizeable holes from his shark teeth, resembling what would be a testament to the pain he endured. Even now, it felt like a haze.. with the ache lingering, and his body adjusting to changes.

The glow around his circuitry permeating, pulsing.. with something clearly happening.
(Keitaro Tennouji)

The worst of it subsides, though a potent ache continues to linger. Her eyes flick over all the lines she's drawn, searching for flaws and potential defects.

She takes a small booklet from nearby and begins hastily scrawling. There are things to be learned here, notes to be made for further study. Some of this phenomena, and the runes he's shown her, are worth future application. Ardith would be a fool to not mark down what she's done and seen thus far, including his physical reactions to the new influence on his circuitry.

"Alrigh'...you're done. Ya might feel a lil' sick for a few days. Some dizziness. Lil' aggression. Hopefully nothin' too serious.

"Your whole system's gonna need time to adjust. These things ain't usually happen fully over night. Takes a lil' time for things to go where they gotta' go, things to change the way they need to...if you wanted it done all at once? Might risk tearin' ya apart."

While Keitaro is after results, that might be too risky for either of their tastes.

"You need somethin' for the pain, Lax oughta' take the edge off. And get that block outta' your teeth. Might take some wigglin'."
(Ardith Hirai)

With the worst out of the way, he finally drops the wooden stick out of his mouth with a loud exhale- judging by how it looks like though, it was fairly ruined.. with shark-like teeth marks all over it, and so much strength applied that it was seemingly about to snap in half any moment. The drakanite wasn't lying when he said his teeth could chew through anything, after all.

Though.. what comes about is a steady glow from his circuitry, and a strange energy coating him. Where once he sought to attune to this energy, and then learn to control it, now it was empowered and made to surface all across his body. The key points were necessary to do so, of course, and each of them was glowing more than the rest of the body.

"It's strange.."

It didn't take away from the fact of how worse he actually felt, of how the change was overbearing in a sense that he had to get used to such thing.And while the price was this, he didn't really mind it.. anything for progress, right?

So long as it doesn't involve him dying.

"Yeah, noted.. and appreciated."

Steadily, he climbs off the table and dresses up. It would take a while before this glow and ache subside, but.. now that he attuned himself to this energy, learned to control it, and made it to surface all over his body in such way, and even empowered it?

Now, he only had to wait.
Now, it was a matter of time.
(Keitaro Tennouji)