Kurts
Prince
Posts: 3,760
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Post by Kurts on Mar 10, 2015 22:59:19 GMT -5
Oriax accepted "do what you must" as the closest to carte blanche he would receive.
"As you command, Your Grace." he said, giving a short bow to Benjen's back as he left to see to his affairs.
Immediately after he turned to Malix and began giving instructions in rapid-fire Ghiscari to collect as many bodies into a pile as he could, preferably those of men still clinging to life. Then fetch some pitch. The pit fighter grunted in affirmation and set himself to the task at hand.
Oriax then turned to Amelia, speaking quietly.
"You know the royal family." he stated the fact. "Collect the blood of those dead or dying. Start at the highest link in the chain of your bizarre feudal system, King Terrence, and work your way down."
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Post by Amelia Royce on Mar 11, 2015 6:24:49 GMT -5
Amelia looked up, the memory of a conversation clear in her mind. She thought of how Terrence had been at the center of things and she wondered how Benjen might cope with that.
"Gods help us..." She whispered, before making her way to the sept to collect the King's blood.
Danya remained, eyes on the Asshaii. "What are you planning?" She asked quietly.
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Kurts
Prince
Posts: 3,760
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Post by Kurts on Mar 11, 2015 12:31:49 GMT -5
Oriax fixed his cold black eyes on the Frey girl.
"To remind Snow and his ilk why it is that men fear those who have walked the Shadow."
Elsewhere, Malix prodded bodies, looking for signs of life. Each time he was met with a half-alive groan or shallow breath, he dragged the individual to a pile in the courtyard. The Ghiscari was thankful he could not understand their words of gratitude, pleas for help, or beseeching of their gods.
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Post by The Forgotten God on Mar 11, 2015 12:32:43 GMT -5
After fifteen minutes or so, he has a good chunk of bodies assembled for his ritual.
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Post by Amelia Royce on Mar 11, 2015 12:35:45 GMT -5
Danya nodded quietly, her crossbow still at the ready. "I will watch," She added, before waiting for Ami to return.
(OOC: Does Ami find Terry blood?)
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Post by The Forgotten God on Mar 11, 2015 12:47:27 GMT -5
The king is too guarded to just walk up and bleed him, but you can collect a bunch of blood all over the floor that isn't quite dry.
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Post by Amelia Royce on Mar 11, 2015 12:48:33 GMT -5
(OOC: That is what she will do then.)
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Kurts
Prince
Posts: 3,760
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Post by Kurts on Mar 11, 2015 14:15:11 GMT -5
With the raw material procured that were required, Oriax set about to the true task at hand. Much like a craftsman building a home after collecting the necessary lumber, Oriax set to work on his ritual. Runes were drawn in three gradually smaller circles around the pile of bodies, in the blood of the dying mixed with the ash of their homes, long and intricate strings of Asshaii symbols. The outside circle contained many runes that Amelia would recognize, such as death, pain, rot, disease, and a simple locating rune. The second inner circle contained fewer that she was familiar with and those in the most inner-circle were known only to the sorcerer himself, many inflicting horrors that there were no words for in the Common Tongue or that were too dangerous to teach, such as the rune for demon. The shadowbinder was meticulous in each drawing, connecting each rune precisely, knowing that if a single one was just slightly off, the results would be disastrous. When the intricate ring of magical symbols was done, it had a macabre beauty to it. It was near dusk when he was finally finished, the setting sun and flames of Eddard's Rest casting bizarre shadows.
Satisfied with his work, the ritual began, with pitch poured over the piled of still writhing bodies and a podium erected just outside the outer circle of runes. Oriax began chanting in his native tongue, shrill and ululating, a curse from the corpse city of Stygai in the heart of the Shadow, where even shadowbinders feared to tread. Not a single man present likely understood the words, but goosebumps prickled their skin nonetheless and it left a chill in the blood. The shadows in the city began to sway unnaturally on their own accord.
When the chanting had built to a crescendo, Oriax tossed the torch into the pile, the pitch igniting instantly. The flames roared, drowning out any screams of the wounded as their life was added to the flames. The flames waxed and wane with the chant, twisting and straining, but unnaturally contained by the runic circles. At the precise moment, the vial of king's blood Amelia had provided was also thrown in, the glass shattering and fire roaring as if gasoline had been poured upon it. The flames turned unnatural shades; at one point red, then blue, then green.
He said the names then, the first thing anyone had understood that had come from his lips, seeking to find and curse those declared with every horror voiced with his tongue and drawn in runes.
"Harrys Snow, Bryce Dayne, Richard Grafton, Stafford Lannister" he intoned.
(Ritual 93+5 for each body sacrificed+whatever the bonus for using king's blood is)
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Post by The Forgotten God on Mar 11, 2015 16:33:53 GMT -5
As the sorcerer chants, everyone around begins to feel what seems the very fabric of reality thin in places. The dying peoples' screams echo about, and over and over and over, building to a sound no one can withstand. As the road clears of any capable of movement, Oriax feels the force of his might descend upon the realm. A cloud, bright red in color, lit by what seem to be the flames of hell, rises in the night sky, and orange lightning flecks it. Four sickly green bolts fire from the cloud, on heading east, one north, one south, and one west, seeking the prey that Lord Oriax has commanded.
The earth shakes and for a second everyone imagines a tsunami again wiping out the city, but when the orange lightning strikes where the Asshaiian sorcerer stands, it seems to do nothing. Oriax can project his sight into the four beams, watching as one illuminates a great army in red and gold, seated on a hill, another dancing over a tower overlooking a city, another a castle on the sea, and the final one seeming not far from where they stand.
As the spell fades, Oriax feels something else. Far to the north he hears the call of forests of weirwoods, thousands of men and women and children with no masters, and the power beyond them, power beyond measure, beyond any single man's ambition. Except maybe an Asshaiians.
Less noticeable immediately is the small shadow that leaves the cloud immediately before it vanishes, streaking off towards the God's Eye.
+2 ritualism
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Post by Amelia Royce on Mar 11, 2015 17:40:12 GMT -5
Amelia and Danya jumped back when the the lightning struck and the green beams short forth. Finally, when the horrible explosion of magic was done Amelia stepped towards Oriax.
"What do you see?" She asked quietly.
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Kurts
Prince
Posts: 3,760
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Post by Kurts on Mar 11, 2015 17:44:59 GMT -5
"Saddle the horses." he answered, stepping down from the podium with the calm of a man who had not just enjoyed the brief thrill of omnipotence and omniscience. "We ride North after Snow, to finish what your prince currently lacks the heart to."
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Post by Amelia Royce on Mar 11, 2015 17:59:04 GMT -5
Amelia frowned and Danya fetched their horses they had rode here on, which were still saddled.
"A little compassion wouldn't hurt," Ami told Oriax in a tone of voice that meant she was serious. Danya returned then with the horses and the two girls saddled up.
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Kurts
Prince
Posts: 3,760
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Post by Kurts on Mar 11, 2015 20:07:28 GMT -5
Oriax was momentarily stunned that after such a display, Amelia could chide him on such a mortal concern. If anything, he expected her to understand now why he viewed them all as little more than ants.
"I have had a long time to study, lifetimes more than most. Do you know what subject I found the most challenging to grasp?" he asked, as he waited for the horses. "It was your languages. You had all these words...these concepts...that were simply impossible to understand. Compassion, empathy, selflessness-we have no words for these. It took years of study to comprehend what they even mean and I still find myself puzzled by them. Perhaps my ignorance is for the best, as they seem weaknesses-obstacles to power."
He swung up onto the saddle, Malix mounting up on his own steed, spurring it north in the direction the green bolt had pointed.
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Post by Amelia Royce on Mar 11, 2015 20:10:59 GMT -5
Amelia thought on that for a moment as they began to ride off. "I read once that those who live in the shadow are often viewed as inhuman. I can understand why now." She rode in quiet for a moment before speaking up again.
"We should take him alive, if we find him. If we can." Ami suggested. "No doubt you will have questions and so will Prince Benjen."
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Kurts
Prince
Posts: 3,760
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Post by Kurts on Mar 11, 2015 20:23:44 GMT -5
"Those bold enough to brave the Shadow ask not what it means to be human, but what it means to become more than human." he replied, in his usual monotone, riding between Nyles and Malix. "Can you?"
He left the second point unremarked. Oriax did indeed have questions for Harrys, but the man and his ilk needed to be dealt with in a permanent manner. Magic was about control and he had watched Cassadar lose his. A man must be judged by the company he keeps.
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