Hmm, well, I know what's flawed in this room that the guys are in, so I guess it's time for me to explain a little more :)
[And I just ran over the character limit; sorry for another double post :-/ ]
A flaw "Don't walk anywhere near the altar," said Rystin, urgency making his voice sound a little high pitched. "I have no idea what it's doing, but it's still doing it. If you get too close, you'll be... changed, I suppose, by the altar." Dread walked around the walls, staying closer to them than the altar while Rystin stared at the altar like he thought it might catch fire. Fabian considered saying something but realised that his friends were both studying things he didn't understand, so he contented himself by looking at the bones on the floor and sifting through the artefacts scattered amongst them. The guns he set aside against a wall, noting with curiosity that they were all still loaded, though a few appeared to have been fired. "This was deliberate," said Dread as he reached the last wall. "These symbols are all part of the same ritual. They're not participating, exactly, but they need to be here and they are instructions after a fashion. Of course, there's no way of knowing how far through them whoever did this got." "Why not?" asked Fabian, glad to have conversation. "There's not enough left," said Dread. "There are things that are referred to in here, for example, basilisk blood, that's just not anywhere I can see. So maybe it got used up in the ritual already. Maybe someone forgot it and that broke the ritual. Maybe it was here and hadn't been used yet, but in the aftermath of whatever happened it got taken away. I just don't know." "So we don't know if there's a flaw in the ritual itself, or if something else went wrong?" "Exactly." Fabian picked up a scrap of cloth and rubbed it thoughtfully between his fingers. He had a fluttery, uneasy feeling in his stomach. "So we don't know how to turn it off again?" "Definitely not," said Rystin. He shook his head and took a cautious step back. "I'm not even sure we can. The altar is drawing energy from somewhere." "Is this what the auditors are after, do you think?" said Fabian. He rubbed the cloth between his fingers again, the touch triggering memories. "I hope not," said Rystin at the same time as Dread said, "It seems unlikely. How could they know this was here? And what could they do with it that we can't?"
The memory coalesced in Fabian's mind at last and he held the cloth up. "This is cloth from an auditor's robe," he said. "They were here at some point at least." Dread's face went ashen gray and Rystin, still eyeing the altar warily, crouched down next to Fabian and took the cloth from him. "Woah!" Fabian stood up and jerked backwards. "What?" Rystin also stood up, and Dread saw it too. "You... you look like you're stood inside an auditor," said Fabian. "Put the cloth down," said Dread, and Rystin let it fall from his fingers. "Ok, you look like you again." Rystin rubbed his hands against his trousers and shivered. "It's connected to the altar," he said. "So that means the auditors are involved in this somehow. Maybe they don't want to use it, they just want to cover it up?" "Then you'd think they'd be preventing anyone from making a Staff of Five Elements, not trying to make their own," said Dread.
"Let's look around some more," said Fabian at last. "Maybe there are more clues in here than old bones and a spell we don't understand." "A flawed spell," said Dread. "I'm starting to think that something bad happened here by accident and the auditors have discovered that -- their job is to audit everything after all -- and now there's a political element where they want to use it to their own ends." "That can't be good," said Fabian.
Hmm. More interesting developments. I feel like were approaching something important though, if not the end of this tale. I won't ask if you're coming to the end, as I'd hate to ruin anything, but that is my guess at this point.
3 comments:
Hmm, well, I know what's flawed in this room that the guys are in, so I guess it's time for me to explain a little more :)
[And I just ran over the character limit; sorry for another double post :-/ ]
A flaw
"Don't walk anywhere near the altar," said Rystin, urgency making his voice sound a little high pitched. "I have no idea what it's doing, but it's still doing it. If you get too close, you'll be... changed, I suppose, by the altar."
Dread walked around the walls, staying closer to them than the altar while Rystin stared at the altar like he thought it might catch fire. Fabian considered saying something but realised that his friends were both studying things he didn't understand, so he contented himself by looking at the bones on the floor and sifting through the artefacts scattered amongst them. The guns he set aside against a wall, noting with curiosity that they were all still loaded, though a few appeared to have been fired.
"This was deliberate," said Dread as he reached the last wall. "These symbols are all part of the same ritual. They're not participating, exactly, but they need to be here and they are instructions after a fashion. Of course, there's no way of knowing how far through them whoever did this got."
"Why not?" asked Fabian, glad to have conversation.
"There's not enough left," said Dread. "There are things that are referred to in here, for example, basilisk blood, that's just not anywhere I can see. So maybe it got used up in the ritual already. Maybe someone forgot it and that broke the ritual. Maybe it was here and hadn't been used yet, but in the aftermath of whatever happened it got taken away. I just don't know."
"So we don't know if there's a flaw in the ritual itself, or if something else went wrong?"
"Exactly."
Fabian picked up a scrap of cloth and rubbed it thoughtfully between his fingers. He had a fluttery, uneasy feeling in his stomach. "So we don't know how to turn it off again?"
"Definitely not," said Rystin. He shook his head and took a cautious step back. "I'm not even sure we can. The altar is drawing energy from somewhere."
"Is this what the auditors are after, do you think?" said Fabian. He rubbed the cloth between his fingers again, the touch triggering memories.
"I hope not," said Rystin at the same time as Dread said, "It seems unlikely. How could they know this was here? And what could they do with it that we can't?"
The memory coalesced in Fabian's mind at last and he held the cloth up. "This is cloth from an auditor's robe," he said. "They were here at some point at least."
Dread's face went ashen gray and Rystin, still eyeing the altar warily, crouched down next to Fabian and took the cloth from him.
"Woah!" Fabian stood up and jerked backwards.
"What?" Rystin also stood up, and Dread saw it too.
"You... you look like you're stood inside an auditor," said Fabian.
"Put the cloth down," said Dread, and Rystin let it fall from his fingers. "Ok, you look like you again."
Rystin rubbed his hands against his trousers and shivered. "It's connected to the altar," he said. "So that means the auditors are involved in this somehow. Maybe they don't want to use it, they just want to cover it up?"
"Then you'd think they'd be preventing anyone from making a Staff of Five Elements, not trying to make their own," said Dread.
"Let's look around some more," said Fabian at last. "Maybe there are more clues in here than old bones and a spell we don't understand."
"A flawed spell," said Dread. "I'm starting to think that something bad happened here by accident and the auditors have discovered that -- their job is to audit everything after all -- and now there's a political element where they want to use it to their own ends."
"That can't be good," said Fabian.
Greg - glad that worked out well then :)
Hmm. More interesting developments. I feel like were approaching something important though, if not the end of this tale. I won't ask if you're coming to the end, as I'd hate to ruin anything, but that is my guess at this point.
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