A Brave New World

"To the town!" Flint bellowed.  Eliena started running towards the town with Flint at her side however she began pulling ahead of him because of the weight of his LAK.  Ignoring her instincts telling her they would be better off sticking together she sped up even more.  
Within seconds the first outer houses were visible as well as some strange distortion in the air.  The next thing she knew she was flying through the air as a blast of magic hit the ground directly in front of her.  She corrected her flight and landed on the roof of a house, facing the strange distortion.  A robed figure emerged from the distortion and disappeared out of sight.  There was a pause, and then more robed figures dropped from the distortion to the ground.
"Eliena!  Are you alright?"  Flint had finally caught up to her.
"I'm fine, it didn't hit me."   She replied.  Flint let out a near silent sigh of relief.
"So we're dealing with Mystics then?"  He asked.
"Looks like it.  I couldn't count how many dropped from that distortion, but they've gone out of my sight."  A flash of light burst from their left.  "Looks like a battle, should we go help?"

'Not hit. She's fine...'
Flint's mind had flashed with an array of grotesque possibilities that blast could might have brought... And so soon after wondering how strong her defenses were!
Flint's sign could not be help.

Mystics... Theists...

Flint could accept the caution of the pious. Flint could accept the strange logic behind spellcraft.
But, Flint could not accept the blind arrogance found in either. He builds to give the mundane man strength to fight off such people.
His response to threats were simple. A foe attacking without deadly force would be restrained. A foe attacking with deadly force would be restrained if the force could be removed. A foe attacking with magic... Neutralize with full force.

A flash of light burst from their left.
"Looks like a battle, should we go help?" Eliena asked.
Steam vented pauldrens began to hiss as his fists of steel and gears flexed. Flint answered by throwing off his traveling cloak, exposing his full plate armor. He would need the poor disguise in one piece later...
"Most definitely."

Flint began moving towards the houses. As his muscles worked against the apparatise, Flint pushed each movement to be faster than the armor's response. This was how he worked the boiler without his hands. At first, Flint felt the system holding back. Then, he could feel the roar of combustion fuel his stride. Thud. Thud. Thud through to the town.
There was a flash before Flint heard the bang crash around his body.
A blast must have hit him directly. How trite.

When Flint's vision readjusted, a very shocked expression behind robes stood in shock. Perhaps that blast breaks normal men. Flint would smile if Eliena's life hadn't been threatened by the same Mystic. Flint threw his unbridled charge into a punch and the robed figure was no more.

"Right, just be sure to not let them touch you. I hope you realize that the connection between you and your gods has some amount of magic involved."

The paladin had told Alcina to go hide somewhere, but at this point there really was no where to hide. Several contingents of Negatori had already warped in, and already their work was cut out for them. Andorath knew that Alcina was strong, or at least that was what he had felt from their brief interactions together, but he had to be sure she would be somewhat safe. He pressed a closed fist against his lips and whispered,

"Alabaster walls shield you, and obsidian walls fortify you"

He waved his hand in Alcina's direction and shimmering dust scattered, flowing to her. Andorath knew few negation spells, mainly because they were kept secret from other magi by the negatori, but this would cause a couple spells to rebound off of her, about three before the magic fading. 

Andorath prepared to call lightning down from the sky to assist them, when a grey bolt of magic just barely missed both Andorath and Darien. Orienting himself towards where the bolt came from he saw none other than Corporal Julia Azzittire.

"Blood mage Andorath, surrender and accept your fate! Archmagus Estra has offered to grant you life imprisonment instead of death for your crimes!"

Archmagus... Fendralan was Archmagus, not Estra. Something wasn't right. Andorath continued to weave his spell, and as he did so a storm cloud formed above them, bolts of lightning would occasionally shoot outward from the cloud and strike the ground. With a swift motion of his arm, a bolt of lightning arced from the cloud and struck the Corporal. She was injured but definitely not dead.

"I decline your offer! I will not be imprisoned for something I did not choose to become!"

Andorath could see a faint glint in her eyes, and a slight stinging sensation coming from his arm. He touched his fingers to where he felt the stinging, and felt a warm liquid on the tips of his fingers. The bolt missed the paladin, but not him. He was bleeding. Andorath looked to the sky as the cloud began to darken further, and the lightning arcing from it took on a crimson hue.

Things weren't looking good for Andorath and Darien. Vastly outnumbered, and now with Andorath injured, it seemed grim at best. 

"Andorath! Aim to kill! You'll heal that way!" Darien shouted. He saw a bolt of magic flying right towards him. Just as it was about to hit Darien, he binked, and ended up right behind the Mystic who cast it. 

"Surprise." Darien smirked as he drove his sword through the Mystic's chest. He felt a surge of energy as the fresh kill brought back some of his energy. Now finding himself on the wrong end of the battlefield due to the teleportation, Darien found himself under an onslaught of magic attacks. Dodging, blinking, teleporting, stabbing, he hadn't felt this...alive, in a long time. Which was funny, Darien thought, that he felt most alive when he risked death. Maybe, just maybe, this fight would end well.

He was wrong. An explosion decimated the girl's house, crushing everything the poor girl knew. He heard the screaming of someone who just experienced horrific loss.

I know that feeling too well.


He watched the girl unleash a startling wave of electricity, smiting more than a few Mystics in front of her. How could this girl do something so... horrifying!?

He couldn't think for too long, as behind him, near the backside of the field, he saw a huge, armored figure punch a Mystic to nothingness. More enemies?! Or friends?

In a slumped piled, the sorcerer Flint had punched lay crumpled against the foot of a house.
'Clearly incapacitated.'
'Potentially in life threatening condition.'
'Definitely out of the fight.'
'Alone? ...'

Analyzing the situation breathed clarity back into the inventor mind. However, Flint found with the clarity that he had made an oversight in his straight-forward tactic. The tunnel-visioned nincompoop had left his sides exposed for retaliation. '... Negative'

In accordance with Flint's realization,  a blast as loud as the last heralded a feeling of vertigo. The concussion struck low and forced Flint over on his side. 'Confounded blind spots!' The lack of foresight was a mocking bruise. Momentum brought the imbecile on his back. Without turning to look, the foot steps of the flanking Mystic stopped. Or was there two sets of steps? Flint tried rolling over, away from laying on his back, but Flint's effort met resisting force. Something strong tethered him in place.

"Surrender! We have you pinned" A female voice, older yet rugged, barked. She stood loomed over with glowing palms. 'Perhaps a clever retort? I have little other option to choose...'
"Corporal Azzittire needs help, we must make this quick," said a second Mystic in a rushed male voice. The speaker came into view. The pair were in matched robes. There were a handful of options, between diplomacy, intimidation, flattery, false submission, that raced through Flint's mind, until a familiar and welcomed blur careered behind the two Mystics.

"Thank you for the assist," said Flint with sincere gratitude. Just before Eliena struck both Mystics down from their blind side with an eloquent flourish, Flint received the satisfaction of the pair's momentary stare of confusion at his statement to his unseen ally. With restrains lifted, Flint rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself off the ground. There were more Mystics present from what his unconscious captors had accidentally divulged. A Corporal was present. A Keystone to their organized attack. Although, Flint bit his lip, a separate pressing matter needed to be attended to immediately.

"Now, before you start on them, and I know you will..." Flint added, as he realized that helpless on his back, one moment ago, Flint must have looked ridiculous to Eliena. Now that he was no longer stuck on his arse and his titanium rescuer was before him, Flint began to speak again with some struggle. The justifiable smug grin beneath Eliena's goggles was impossible to ignore. "...Yes, yes, I'm quite aware of the... the apposite... tortoise stuck on its back quips that you are wholly entitled to make,"

(OOC: Should we re-post our bios in a separate thread? I go back to read others and to tweak my own, and having a planned thread would help organization in the long run.)

((OOC: Might not be a bad idea if we did that I'll make the thread in the planned forums, we can post our bio's there!))

The tempest above them returned to it's regular colouration, thanks to Alcina's healing magic the wound on Andorath's arm closed, and as such his blood magic was thankfully no longer influencing his spells. Several negatori now laid dead thanks to the combined efforts of the three, many of whom were decimated by Alcina's spell.

The nice thing about divine magic was that for Theists, it was power lended to them from their gods, and while emotion could still influence the magic given, it would not rebound on a theist. For mystics, conducting divine magic often involved manipulating the ley energies of the land, or if a mystic was truly bold, taking the power from the god with little permission, regardless if a mystic became to emotional while casting, or if they lost focus the spell would rebound, and they would be left scarred. 

Looking around Andorath saw that the few negatori remaining were backing off, a couple teleporting away. The last person that needed to be dealt with was Julia, she was wounded, and to Andorath she still had a purpose, she had something he wanted. Information.

He picked up a small twig off the ground, and a small stone in the other as he walked towards Julia. He tossed the stick in front of him and it stopped in the middle of the air.

"Be brought down by the grand chains of gravity."

He pointed two fingers at Julia, and the stick contorted and snapped as it collapsed upon itself. Julia immediately went from standing in a slumped position, to her knees as the force of gravity bore down upon her. Andorath tossed the stone in front of him, similar to the stick, it stopped in mid air.

"Time pass over this woman, and do not subject her to your will. Leave her in a perpetuity, unmoving, unaging. I command you to stop!"

Wind blew across the grass and the stone began to slowly turn to dust. Like all time magic, this was temporary, he would have until the stone turned completely into dust to ask her his questions before the magic wore off. Thanks to the gravity spell he had cast, movement for her would be difficult, and with time so dense around her, it was be effectively impossible.

The grass around Julia now stood completely still, despite wind blowing through the area.

"What happened to the Archsage, negatori."

Julia struggled to move her jaw to speak.

"f-foolish blood mage, Estra s-saw the c-corruption in Fend... Fendralan. He has been... removed from p-power. Just, as... Just as I shall strip you of y-yours!"

The veins in her body began to glow grey, the glow easily visible despite being below her skin, as did her eyes. She forced herself to grab a bandage that had been wrapped around her arm and pulled at an end of it, causing it to unravel. Beneath the bandage there were several scars that were also glowing grey. A wicked smile grew on Julia's face, as Andorath realized what she was, and what could possibly happen next.

"You... You lost control, you're scarred... damn"

Andorath turned and ran back towards the other two as he heard Julia whisper an incantation. Lock away the essence, and shatter eternity's key. I WILL NEVER stop hunting you Andorath. Rather than the spell actually working, Julia was knocked back by a wave of force and a new grey scar formed on her neck. However, unlike the others this one glew much brighter than the others and began expanding, covering a larger, and larger area. When he reached the two Theists he grabbed them by their arms.

"We need to get out of here, NOW! Fall back to the trees!"

Giving both of them a light pull before letting go, he ran towards the tree line. He hoped that the other two would understand the urgency of the matter, unsure that either of them knew what Julia was about to become.

The mystics called them the fallen. Mages who let their emotions rule them and allowed their emotion to ruin their focus. Each time they lost focus their spell would rebound and give them a glowing scar, these scars increased their power, but once a mage had acquired enough of them, the next scar they received would change them forever. Their body would be torn apart by the raw arcane energies that scarred their body, they would then turn into a being of pure magic, the kind of being they became depended wholly on the type of magic that scarred them the most. In Julia's case she was about to become a being a pure negative arcane energy.

Andorath made it back past the tree line, he could still see Julia slowly breaking apart. He immediately began using his hands to weave runes onto the trunks of the trees around him. Abjuration was a school of magic all mystics were made to practice intensively from their early days until they were fully inducted. Andorath wasn't sure if the  barrier formed by the wards would protect them adequately, but it was the strongest abjuration spell that he had been taught, and for that matter it certainly wasn't advanced magic. He began to weave the fifth ward on a tree to the north of him when Alcina's voice cut through the air.

"Andorath?"

He looked around, he couldn't see her anywhere, and as far as he could tell the paladin was no where to be seen either. If he couldn't bring Alcina and the paladin to him, perhaps there was something he could do about Julia. Julia's increasingly unstable form was causing major disturbances in the ley lines in the area, and he could use those disturbances to find her exact location for a summoning ritual. Using fire magic Andorath cast a circle in the center of the wards, he ran over to the northern tree and started to weave the fifth ward again, but this time upside-down. In doing so he would invert the barrier's ability to repel an attack, so that it would repel it from the inside instead of the outside, in the hope that when Julia's human body detonated from the intense energies it housed, the barrier would contain them. He began the ritual.

"To this world I call you hence, across the planes travel to me. I summon you to this circle, Julia Azzittire!"

Julia appeared in a flurry of flames within the circle, her form continuing to break apart. Andorath activated the barrier and ran through the woods hoping to find Alcina. Eventually he saw a figure in the distance that looked similar to her, the hem of her gown was torn. Andorath picked up speed, only to be knocked down by the force of a shockwave. It was clear what had happened, Julia had become one of the fallen, and now the barrier would not be able to contain her.

Flint shook his head. More disorientation in one evening than he was used to. With an arm to hoist Eilena over his shoulder and another to pull themselves up with, the analyst got on his feet.

The fight had migrated. Figures were moving to the woods, little shadows shifting against a foreign light source. High probability: not a campfire. With an unconscious ally, he was hesitant to rejoin a brawl...

Another figure, outside the treeline and moving much closer, caught Flint's peripheral vision.

'Armed, straight double-edged sword crafted for two handed use.'
'Wearing a dark coat, chain shirt? Low probability of being mystic.'
'Clearly sees us. Not attacking and presenting as nonthreatening.'
'Crusader? Potential ally? Has moved within conversational distance...'
'Oh Farcical, you dolt, stop thinking and speak.'

With his unencumbered side, Flint opened his helm to show the man his face. Faceless introductions unnecessary and could raise suspicion. Exposing anything more than his face was also unnecessary and a risk.
"Might I make the bold assumption that you're not with the robed incursion? Swordsman, my name is Flint and this is my partner."

Darien had lost his two new allies during the fighting, but he was focused more on killing these mystics than he was keeping track of them. Andorath seemed capable of protecting themselves from the other mystics. Just as he was striking one down, he felt what felt like the beginning of a large explosion coming his way.

'Blast it!' Darien thought, immediately shifting into the spirit world. While nearly transparent, he still felt the large shockwave that followed and was lifted off his feet and thrown nearly ten feet. Had he not been in the spirit world, he would have surely been disintegrated in the blast. After regaining his footing, he shifted back into the living realm. He noticed a few of the mystic's cloaks had survived the blast, unlike their masters. Picking them up, he went to go find Alcina and Andorath, hoping they were still alive.

He didn't find them, but he did see he was approaching a much larger, heavily armored man, or was it a machine? He saw that it was carrying an unconscious female on his shoulder; probably knocked out from the blast. The armored figure took off its helmet, revealing a man in the metal.

"Might I make the bold assumption that you're not with the robed incursion? Swordsman, my name is Flint and this is my partner."

Darien threw the five mystic cloaks he had claimed in the battle towards the large mechanical man's feet.

"Hopefully this answers your question. The name's Darien Tyrell, of the Oathkeeper Paladins. I am most definitely not an enemy." Darien said, "How's your partner? She took a nasty blow to the head there. And by chance, have you seen two others that were in the fight here? One is a renegade mystic and the other is a young girl, I was trying to help them before the fight broke out."

"If anywhere, Paladin Tyrell, I would recommend the woods. I would gladly join in your pursuit, were not my assistance needed here,"
The cloaks made for a padded surface to carefully lay the unconscious analyst down upon.
"Indeed. She's took a heavy blow," How long for her stir awake was hard to estimate. Taking a knee beside her, Flint glanced around to be sure they were safe. Appearing so, he ostensibly beckoned for Paladin Tyrell to approach. "Come on, Eilena. You've bounced back from worse. If you're audio cognizant, please wake. *sigh*"

Despite Flint's difficulties trusting magic users, he commended the devotees of a faith or the few students of the arcane that opposed those with malicious intent. Scores of self righteous crusades have given analysts and mystics alike enough to warrant strong scrutiny for godly men.
However, Eilena could very much use a performer of good works, of healing and beneficence. This man, fortunate for them, looked the very kind. Flint's options were bound.

Flint would trust Darien. He was the only one within leagues that might assist them now.

"Tell me Friend, are the aptitudes for healing among your Paladin abilities or abilities of your astray allies? ...If not, then I ask you, help take Eilena with us into the forest. I will fight beside you but I cannot safely hold anything when my armored contrivance is active."

"Healing isn't what you'd call my...specialty. I'm usually the one that sends those to the healers. I'll see if it is some darker power that's plaguing her, or if it might be more of a physical wound that's harming your friend. Don't frighten at what I'm about to do, it's a little surprising for those unaccustomed to the Oathkeepers." Darien said. He shifted into the spirit world, where he saw a dark aura emanating from Flint's female friend. Shifting back to the living realm, he looked at Flint.
"It seems that the blast your friend took damaged more than just her physical body. There's a dark aura surrounding your friend, which can't be seen in this world. To others, this would seem like a curse or another type of misfortune, but it is dark magic. I don't know how you want to interpret that, I haven't had too many interactions with your kind before. I'm going to phase back into the spirit world and try dispelling the aura."

Phasing back, Darien looked at the aura surrounding the girl. It was wispy like smoke, but it was a thick, black color. He reached to touch it, but his hand felt a sharp sting the moment it got near. unfazed, he uttered a prayer of protection to Helion quickly and reached again. The aura parted from his hand, and he felt fear and anger coming from the aura. This was something he had never seen before. It was like the aura had its own soul. Nonetheless, Darien reached to the girl. Grabbing her shoulder, he phased back from the spirit world to the living realm, with a wave of magic coursing out of him. 

"That should have eliminated the aura. Let me check one last time to see if it's still surrounding your friend." Darien quickly phased again, and was surprised at what he saw. The aura wasn't gone! It was far weakened, but it was still surrounding the girl, but only barely. It was stronger than his little healing powers could handle.

"I couldn't destroy it, but it does look like I've damaged it significantly." Darien said after he phased back. "I remember one of my companions saying they had some healing capabilities, but we need to find them fast, otherwise your friend might never recover from this. If only I knew-"

Darien paused as he heard the snapping of twigs, as he began to see shadows of figures approaching them. He immediately drew his sword, preparing for another fight.

Alcina navigated her way through the trees as best she could. She didn’t know where Andorath was, nor the other people she had seen before; all she could hear was the sound of yelling and various magics being performed. Her arms and legs were marred with cuts, and her hair was decorated with bits of leaves. Her eyes, most of all, were wide with fear in the gloom. Alone and in danger, Alcina was very, very far out of her comfort zone.

With a shock, she came upon a trio of humans. She could not see their faces right away however one was standing facing her with a sword at the ready. With no clue who they were, she immediately reached to her heavenly guardians with her mind and felt her will strengthen.

“I am not your enemy,” she proclaimed. By this time, her eyes had adjusted, and she thought she recognized the threatening one. Was he not the paladin she had encountered not so long before…?

She turned her attention to the other two. Those she did not properly recognize. They were covered in metal plates, pipes, and pieces that confused her – were they even people? One, presumably female by the length of her hair, was lying on the ground. The other that leaned over her she could not distinguish.

After everything, Alcina still felt compelled to help the injured. She gestured to the fallen. “If she needs healing, I can do my best. I am a Theist preacher, and assuming you are trying to leave this place as I am, the sooner we go the better.”

Awaiting a response, the young woman got down on her knees by the other woman’s head to examine what could be wrong with her.

“Magic has affected her,” the paladin said to her. “It is too strong for me to remove.”

Alcina shuddered. She did not like magic. It was nothing like the divine forces that coursed through her when she prayed, and she wanted nothing to do with it. But there was strength in numbers, and this company may make good allies.

She closed her eyes and touched the woman’s forehead with her fingertips. Her skin was hot and beading with sweat. Aela and Helion, mother and father of our lives, rulers of fate and justice, she prayed, feeling the centre of her chest heat with every word, abolish the evil that clings to this girl. She must awaken and help me fight the sinners that have plagued us.

What felt like warm tea rolled out from inside her chest on to her shoulder and down her arm. When the healing power came to touch the woman, it made a hissing sound, like grease in a pan, as it fought the dark aura that surrounded her. But the gods were far stronger than this spell, and the gods’ care washed over the stranger.

“Alcina is my name. I preached in the town square,” she explained to no one in particular. “I have served the gods my entire life, and so they have granted me their generosity tonight. You are lucky; I think your companion will be fine in a moment.”

Eilena's world gradually lightened from black to a dark grey.  She had not yet opened her eyes but could hear low voices of two - no three - people nearby.  The slight sound of metal on metal told her that one of the people was Flint.  She was unsure of where she was or why she was lying on the ground and searched her memory.  The last thing she remembered was turning to yell a warning to Flint.  Adrenaline surged through her body suddenly; what if they had been captured by that strange glowing Mystic?
Moving slowly to not draw attention to herself Eilena maneuvered her hands beneath her in preparation for a gas burst.  Her eyes opened at the same time that she sprang backwards in a flip and landed facing all the voices.  She took in the scene carefully.
A strange woman was kneeling next to where Eilena had been lying on the ground, her face set in shock from the unexpected movement.  Standing beside and behind her were Flint and another person clocked in robes.  Seeing the robes set Eilena to start preparing for combat before she noticed that Flint was unharmed and unbound, gesturing for her to calm down.  She came down from the battle high quite abruptly then and unclenched her fists.

"You're alright Flint?" she questioned.  "What happened back there? The last I remember was seeing that glowing Mystic and then all hell broke loose."  Flint opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by the sound of a branch breaking behind where Eilena stood.  
Fresh adrenaline surged into her system as she set back into battle mode as she turned around to face the new threat.  A figure stood behind her, staff in hand, clad in a brown overcoat and tall black boots.  His white gloves glowed with runes and Eilena braced herself to dodge spells.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked, voice full of tension.

Andorath pressed forward through the woods. The corporal was gone, as to where it didn't matter at the moment, anywhere she was not was a safe enough place for a "renegade" mage. However he needed to find where the others had gone, he would not be truly safe until he did so... even then, there was the issue of the other theist, and what he had done to Andorath, he seemed trustworthy at the very least.

As he journied through the forest he heard faint sounds of voices to the north of him, accelerating his pace he pursued the echoes. As he got closer, and closer to the sound of the voices he focused less on remaining subtle, not watching where he stepped he forcefully planted his foot on a twig, snapping it and announcing his presence to an unfamiliar face.

"Who the hell are you?"

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her. Clad in the strange machinery of the Analysts, she stood before him battle ready. By instinct, Andorath readied himself in response, his hands brimming with arcane energies. He scanned the area around him, seeing the paladin and Alcina with another man... woman? It was difficult to tell who or what the third 'person' was beneath his armour. Rather than attack, Andorath put his hands up, his entire body taking on a blue sheen as blue glass-like shards fell from him, dispelling the enchantments that he had placed upon himself and others during the battle.

"I am Andorath Incanta, regarded as a renegade mage by my own people. I mean no harm to you, I only wish to survive."

Andorath watched as the Theist girl walked eastward. Despite his best intentions, Andorath had failed in trying to make the best of a bad situation, but could he really blame her? She had been thrust into a problem that never really concerned her. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of parchment flailing, caught on an object. A piece of paper had been caught between two small rocks nearby, he picked it up.

The paper was written in code, a code only Mystics understood. It was used when Mystics needed to leave their territory on a mission, mainly to prevent the other factions from learning really anything about their society. He noticed one word frequently repeated on the page, 'Annulment'. 

"Directive From the Desk of Archmagus Estra,

The renegade Blood Mage Andorath Incanta is to be captured and returned to the Silver Spire for questioning. He is considered very dangerous due to his high proficiency with Blood Magic, henceforth all members of the Negatori are authorized to induce annulment upon this individual. He has violated the laws of our society as has the former Archmagus.

It is advised that annulment be induced in the presence of the corporal and other members to ensure focus and prevent rebounding of the spell. Once again you are warned that using annulment without additional aid poses serious risks as the spell effectively, and permanently eliminates an individual's ability to use magic.


All members have been provided with a copy of this missive, which includes details for casting annulment. Exercise caution while hunting this individual, and stop him at all costs, our people's secrets must not be given to the outsiders.


Remember, Andorath is a renegade and a traitor to our society, show no mercy in your pursuit.




Archmagus Estra"

Annulment... Andorath had never heard such a thing. There existed spells that temporarily upset the flow of magic around a mage, preventing them from casting or interrupting them, but never a spell that could outright eliminate their magical ability. Silencing, was a common term for spells of this type, and Andorath knew a few, they were part of basic combat training. He looked below the writing on the page, and saw the details for performing the ritual.

"The Ritual of Annulment


Unlike classic silencing spells, which disrupt the connection between a magic user and a source of power, Annulment permanently severs the magical connection between the source and the caster. 


To conduct this ritual physical contact must be maintained between the caster and the target. Upon completing the incantation, a seal/brand will form upon the place of contact on the target."


The rest of the page was burnt. Some words could be made out, one of which stood out to Andorath, "Azrathim". Andorath tucked the paper into his coat and turned to the others.

"I know you have no reason to trust me, but the Theist girl is right. We don't have time for this right now. We need to gather supplies and keep moving."