Blood Magic
Unraveling the Burdens of Flesh.
.
Unraveling the Burdens of Flesh.
Glade 31st, 4622.
The engine rattled on, slowly, through the murky crags. The night still wore on heavily as Vesper's reflective eyes cast their gaze over the quiet rocks. Behind him, a slave, blissfully unaware as to his status, clung to his frame upon the bike.
"This must be it," mumbled Vesper. "Has to be around here somewhere." He wound down the engines to his pack-saddled ramshackle bike and stepped off with Hazel, who seemed mystified.
"I can't see shit," he laughed. holding on to Vesper's cloak.
With a sigh, Vesper brushed him off. "Stay near the bike, there's nothing dangerous here." He moved to the rock walls, the instructions in that note seared upon his mind. This place was exactly as described, so he settled his paws upon the walls, running them over the coarse stone.
Within an alcove, his paw touched something that made his brow rise, and clutching this, he pulled back with a firm tug. The area shook, the stone next to him shifting as he stepped back with surprise. "Found it," he said. "Asshole, how did you find this place?"
Walking back to his bike, he tugged Hazel's coat. "Come on. Into the earth we go."
A true scrapper, Hazel nodded and stood nearby as Vesper wheeled the heavy, rickety bike onto the elevator platform. Finding the lever, he tugged it once more and the entrance began to shut behind them. As he felt himself moving deeper into the earth, Vesper wondered aloud. "Ah, the elevator is an old golem. I'm surprised it still functions." He sniffed, audibly. "Filtration system could use a touch-up." Peering over the mechanisms, he thought to how he might encode something like this himself, with Artificing.
"Yeah?" Hazel said. He wasn't sure what to say. But Vesper was already off in his own head, looking over the machinery.
Connect this there, use the Runic Script to . . . rotate these, into that. Yeah, I see how this thing was built. I wouldn't expose so much of the machinery like this though. It'll fail any day now… I'll need to replace this elevator as well.
As the platform clunked to the bottom, a rounded door pulled aside for them both, a large foyer greeting him with lived-in trappings scattered about. "Poorly organized - keep your ears out for his friend. There should be another scrapper living down here." Parking his bike along the wall, Vesper hollered out into the dark facility towards a crease of golden light along the door at the far end. "Isabelle, we're associates of Asshole! I'm Vesper."
Trusting that was enough, Vesper started unpacking. "Hazel, grab that would you?" he motioned to the bag of scrap.
"I'm doing the heavy lifting?" Hazel chuckled, grabbing the sack cloth knot and heaving it over his shoulder.
"Well, you're the slave-" Vesper shrugged.
"What?-" Hazel hadn't realized.
"Asshole has to vet you," said Vesper. "We're still getting this operation on its legs, so I'm not sure where your role will settle. I personally have need of a Scrapper, but we can't let just anyone run amok with our crew in its infancy. Mages and Blighted all, you'll need to prove your worth."
"Huh." Hazel adjusted the sack, and then the both of them went to the door.
"I'm coming in. Please don't shoot," said Vesper to the door as he nudged the lever. It swung open, revealing an array of lanterns, and the barrel of a gun levied at him.
Sure enough.
"You're Vesper, huh?" spoke a lady with an eyepatch, the barrel rising before she slung it. "It's been unbelievably fuckin' boring here, can't believe I agreed to this shit. Glad to have ya, pussy."
"Aye," chuffed Vesper, walking by her and setting the two jugs of blood in the foyer. Reaching back into his belt, he drew a pocketbook and a graphite pencil, sketching out the two front rooms. "So I'll be needing to plan out… defenses, resources, logistics. I need the layout of this place. Did you ever sketch one?"
"Oh, no," said Isabelle as Hazel lurked quietly nearby. "This place gives me the creeps."
"What is your role with us, Isabelle?" Vesper asked.
"Still figurin' that out," she replied. "I'd say we're thick as thieves, but I don't know about being a part of this whole …operation just yet. What I'm good at is Sunderin' and Asshole has been helping me with a few things."
Clicking with his tongue, Vesper jotted down a few more notes. "You. You're a Sunderer?" He blinked, then looked at her incredulously. "Well if you're not yanking my tail, that seems like a boon. I'm an engineer, a smith, and an Artificer. If something needs to be fixed or made, bring it my way."
"You've got it, 'puss," laughed isabelle. "What about that one?"
"Oh, he's my slave," muttered Vesper. "Might let him off the leash if he proves useful to us, but he's gotta prove himself. I just took him yesterday. One of the Anointed, but clearly a rookie - they never gave him Madness."
"…Yeah," Hazel agreed, pinching his fingers. "I can cook, though."
"He can cook," said Vesper. "Keep an eye on him for me, will you? I still don't fully trust him."
"I'm hurt," said Hazel.
"Whatever you say, Chief. Just glad to have another soul to talk to in this dump," said Isabelle.
Vesper moved to the next room, mapping it out. Room by room, he assessed the entire facility over the coming hour, Isabelle and Hazel bantering loudly, faintly to him from so deep within those metallic walls. It seemed few areas had any signs of disturbance, the dust thick in several places. However, one area of the facility was outright foreboding, and Vesper opted to leave that door alone.
Pushing the paper against the wall, he used a ruler to make straight lines, marking off everything in isometric space. "Twenty-two rooms, in total… not counting the area marked for no-trespass," he muttered. "Estimated… five hundred pounds in rusted scrap." The ventilation system had long failed, the few golems maintaining it only yielding a whisper of thin air. "Replace the ventilation golems and clear the ducts," he added to the list.
Arriving to the group with a sigh, Vesper moved by the both of them and finished bringing in the rest of the scrap and broken things sitting on his bike before dumping it on the floor with a loud clatter. "Hazel," he said. "Grab up everything and move it into that room there. It links up to a large room that will serve as the Artificing Workshop. The subsequent three rooms are reserved… so get your shit out of there, Isabelle."
"That's Asshole' shit," said Isabelle.
"Ah." Vesper crossed his arms. "Just move it out into the hall, he'll understand."
"Aye, boss," said Hazel, grabbing up the materials.
"Isabelle-"
"Not your lackey, chief."
Vesper's eyes rolled, and he sighed. "Fine, be that way." Starting off towards the end of the hall, metal screeching was announced shortly thereafter, Vesper pulling a metal shelf into the storage room. Metal banged as he and Hazel piled it heavy with unassorted metals and components. More horrid noise resounded as Vesper gathered every table in the facility with Hazel and distributed them across the workshops.
Isabelle did nothing.
When all was set and done, Vesper drew up plans for the Artificery shop, then set out trays of metal, organizing and labeling his components. In the coming hours, he built a board of metal hooks arranged into a humanoid configuration of limbs, either for strapping in bodies to serve as life models, or for hanging the golems he was working on. Then, he swept it out with a rush of wind, Impelling the air pressure with the Weave. This simple act sent a billow of dirt into the halls, and Vesper heard shouting as the rust-laden fog swept into the other rooms. Hazel showed up, waving his hands. "E'gads! What the hell—oh." Hazel's eyes swept over the room. "You've done this before."
"Clearly," replied Vesper, tapping the metal table. "Why don't you have a seat? And hold out your hand for me." The cat's sideturned eyes peeled before they turned back to the task at hand, picking through bits of metal. "I don't have enough cogs or mounting blocks that aren't rusted, so it's time I showed you your true purpose here."
Hazel snatched back his hand. "That blood shit, yeah?"
Vesper nodded.
The man looked side to side, shifty-eyed. "Look, before you take my blood, can you like… make me into one of you? A Blood Mage?"
The cat sighed. "Yes, but tomorrow. Let's do this first."
"Will it hurt?" Hazel asked.
"Immensely."
"Fuck."
Vesper clutched that hand in his claws and dragged through the man's palm with a tight squeeze, the red bubbling forth. "Ow, ow, that's enough!" yelped Hazel, but Vesper leered, digging deeper, drawing upon that natural compulsion of Sacrifice. The man shivered within his claws, the flesh slowly hewn.
"It… The magic," Vesper muttered as the blood dribbled with an audible patter into a pan. "It's more malleable the more it hurts." Vesper cast his hand over the shallow basin, swaying it with a natural compulsion to follow him. "Very interesting."
Hazel was shivering, biting his lip. "Are y-you done, sir?" he stammered out.
Vesper let go with a coy grin, slowly. "That will be all." He turned with the pan, focusing intently on his project. Through his connection, he congealed the blood to take the shape of the simple bolts and blocks he needed, marveling privately at his creations. He glanced over his shoulder. "Thank you, Hazel. Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Hazel hissed, eyes bulging as he clutched his wrist. "Got anything to stop the bleeding?"
"You forget who you are," replied Vesper.
"I…" Hazel nodded, then bit his sleeve and tore a rag for himself, wrapping it nice and tight.
"That's a good man," replied Vesper, fiendishly congealing another bolt. They weren't as perfect as machined ones, but this did seem to be getting easier compared to his first time out in the wastes.
The engine rattled on, slowly, through the murky crags. The night still wore on heavily as Vesper's reflective eyes cast their gaze over the quiet rocks. Behind him, a slave, blissfully unaware as to his status, clung to his frame upon the bike.
"This must be it," mumbled Vesper. "Has to be around here somewhere." He wound down the engines to his pack-saddled ramshackle bike and stepped off with Hazel, who seemed mystified.
"I can't see shit," he laughed. holding on to Vesper's cloak.
With a sigh, Vesper brushed him off. "Stay near the bike, there's nothing dangerous here." He moved to the rock walls, the instructions in that note seared upon his mind. This place was exactly as described, so he settled his paws upon the walls, running them over the coarse stone.
Within an alcove, his paw touched something that made his brow rise, and clutching this, he pulled back with a firm tug. The area shook, the stone next to him shifting as he stepped back with surprise. "Found it," he said. "Asshole, how did you find this place?"
Walking back to his bike, he tugged Hazel's coat. "Come on. Into the earth we go."
A true scrapper, Hazel nodded and stood nearby as Vesper wheeled the heavy, rickety bike onto the elevator platform. Finding the lever, he tugged it once more and the entrance began to shut behind them. As he felt himself moving deeper into the earth, Vesper wondered aloud. "Ah, the elevator is an old golem. I'm surprised it still functions." He sniffed, audibly. "Filtration system could use a touch-up." Peering over the mechanisms, he thought to how he might encode something like this himself, with Artificing.
"Yeah?" Hazel said. He wasn't sure what to say. But Vesper was already off in his own head, looking over the machinery.
Connect this there, use the Runic Script to . . . rotate these, into that. Yeah, I see how this thing was built. I wouldn't expose so much of the machinery like this though. It'll fail any day now… I'll need to replace this elevator as well.
As the platform clunked to the bottom, a rounded door pulled aside for them both, a large foyer greeting him with lived-in trappings scattered about. "Poorly organized - keep your ears out for his friend. There should be another scrapper living down here." Parking his bike along the wall, Vesper hollered out into the dark facility towards a crease of golden light along the door at the far end. "Isabelle, we're associates of Asshole! I'm Vesper."
Trusting that was enough, Vesper started unpacking. "Hazel, grab that would you?" he motioned to the bag of scrap.
"I'm doing the heavy lifting?" Hazel chuckled, grabbing the sack cloth knot and heaving it over his shoulder.
"Well, you're the slave-" Vesper shrugged.
"What?-" Hazel hadn't realized.
"Asshole has to vet you," said Vesper. "We're still getting this operation on its legs, so I'm not sure where your role will settle. I personally have need of a Scrapper, but we can't let just anyone run amok with our crew in its infancy. Mages and Blighted all, you'll need to prove your worth."
"Huh." Hazel adjusted the sack, and then the both of them went to the door.
"I'm coming in. Please don't shoot," said Vesper to the door as he nudged the lever. It swung open, revealing an array of lanterns, and the barrel of a gun levied at him.
Sure enough.
"You're Vesper, huh?" spoke a lady with an eyepatch, the barrel rising before she slung it. "It's been unbelievably fuckin' boring here, can't believe I agreed to this shit. Glad to have ya, pussy."
"Aye," chuffed Vesper, walking by her and setting the two jugs of blood in the foyer. Reaching back into his belt, he drew a pocketbook and a graphite pencil, sketching out the two front rooms. "So I'll be needing to plan out… defenses, resources, logistics. I need the layout of this place. Did you ever sketch one?"
"Oh, no," said Isabelle as Hazel lurked quietly nearby. "This place gives me the creeps."
"What is your role with us, Isabelle?" Vesper asked.
"Still figurin' that out," she replied. "I'd say we're thick as thieves, but I don't know about being a part of this whole …operation just yet. What I'm good at is Sunderin' and Asshole has been helping me with a few things."
Clicking with his tongue, Vesper jotted down a few more notes. "You. You're a Sunderer?" He blinked, then looked at her incredulously. "Well if you're not yanking my tail, that seems like a boon. I'm an engineer, a smith, and an Artificer. If something needs to be fixed or made, bring it my way."
"You've got it, 'puss," laughed isabelle. "What about that one?"
"Oh, he's my slave," muttered Vesper. "Might let him off the leash if he proves useful to us, but he's gotta prove himself. I just took him yesterday. One of the Anointed, but clearly a rookie - they never gave him Madness."
"…Yeah," Hazel agreed, pinching his fingers. "I can cook, though."
"He can cook," said Vesper. "Keep an eye on him for me, will you? I still don't fully trust him."
"I'm hurt," said Hazel.
"Whatever you say, Chief. Just glad to have another soul to talk to in this dump," said Isabelle.
Vesper moved to the next room, mapping it out. Room by room, he assessed the entire facility over the coming hour, Isabelle and Hazel bantering loudly, faintly to him from so deep within those metallic walls. It seemed few areas had any signs of disturbance, the dust thick in several places. However, one area of the facility was outright foreboding, and Vesper opted to leave that door alone.
Pushing the paper against the wall, he used a ruler to make straight lines, marking off everything in isometric space. "Twenty-two rooms, in total… not counting the area marked for no-trespass," he muttered. "Estimated… five hundred pounds in rusted scrap." The ventilation system had long failed, the few golems maintaining it only yielding a whisper of thin air. "Replace the ventilation golems and clear the ducts," he added to the list.
Arriving to the group with a sigh, Vesper moved by the both of them and finished bringing in the rest of the scrap and broken things sitting on his bike before dumping it on the floor with a loud clatter. "Hazel," he said. "Grab up everything and move it into that room there. It links up to a large room that will serve as the Artificing Workshop. The subsequent three rooms are reserved… so get your shit out of there, Isabelle."
"That's Asshole' shit," said Isabelle.
"Ah." Vesper crossed his arms. "Just move it out into the hall, he'll understand."
"Aye, boss," said Hazel, grabbing up the materials.
"Isabelle-"
"Not your lackey, chief."
Vesper's eyes rolled, and he sighed. "Fine, be that way." Starting off towards the end of the hall, metal screeching was announced shortly thereafter, Vesper pulling a metal shelf into the storage room. Metal banged as he and Hazel piled it heavy with unassorted metals and components. More horrid noise resounded as Vesper gathered every table in the facility with Hazel and distributed them across the workshops.
Isabelle did nothing.
When all was set and done, Vesper drew up plans for the Artificery shop, then set out trays of metal, organizing and labeling his components. In the coming hours, he built a board of metal hooks arranged into a humanoid configuration of limbs, either for strapping in bodies to serve as life models, or for hanging the golems he was working on. Then, he swept it out with a rush of wind, Impelling the air pressure with the Weave. This simple act sent a billow of dirt into the halls, and Vesper heard shouting as the rust-laden fog swept into the other rooms. Hazel showed up, waving his hands. "E'gads! What the hell—oh." Hazel's eyes swept over the room. "You've done this before."
"Clearly," replied Vesper, tapping the metal table. "Why don't you have a seat? And hold out your hand for me." The cat's sideturned eyes peeled before they turned back to the task at hand, picking through bits of metal. "I don't have enough cogs or mounting blocks that aren't rusted, so it's time I showed you your true purpose here."
Hazel snatched back his hand. "That blood shit, yeah?"
Vesper nodded.
The man looked side to side, shifty-eyed. "Look, before you take my blood, can you like… make me into one of you? A Blood Mage?"
The cat sighed. "Yes, but tomorrow. Let's do this first."
"Will it hurt?" Hazel asked.
"Immensely."
"Fuck."
Vesper clutched that hand in his claws and dragged through the man's palm with a tight squeeze, the red bubbling forth. "Ow, ow, that's enough!" yelped Hazel, but Vesper leered, digging deeper, drawing upon that natural compulsion of Sacrifice. The man shivered within his claws, the flesh slowly hewn.
"It… The magic," Vesper muttered as the blood dribbled with an audible patter into a pan. "It's more malleable the more it hurts." Vesper cast his hand over the shallow basin, swaying it with a natural compulsion to follow him. "Very interesting."
Hazel was shivering, biting his lip. "Are y-you done, sir?" he stammered out.
Vesper let go with a coy grin, slowly. "That will be all." He turned with the pan, focusing intently on his project. Through his connection, he congealed the blood to take the shape of the simple bolts and blocks he needed, marveling privately at his creations. He glanced over his shoulder. "Thank you, Hazel. Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Hazel hissed, eyes bulging as he clutched his wrist. "Got anything to stop the bleeding?"
"You forget who you are," replied Vesper.
"I…" Hazel nodded, then bit his sleeve and tore a rag for himself, wrapping it nice and tight.
"That's a good man," replied Vesper, fiendishly congealing another bolt. They weren't as perfect as machined ones, but this did seem to be getting easier compared to his first time out in the wastes.
