[Ialari's Dominion] An Uninvited Guest

[Ialari Pythone]

1st Day of Winter in the Year 520 AV

On Mizahar, winter had begun bringing with it the abnormal weather all around thanks to Morwin's absence. Within the confines of Ialari's Dominion however, the arrival of winter went unnoticed. The Dominion, appearing as a vast subterranean cavern, at first somewhat resembled someplace one may find beneath the mountains of Kalea. The resemblance though was fleeting. The cavern ceiling was split with a series of fissures that allowed light to filter down to the cavern floor. The floor itself was covered in grass and moss with a handful of trees broken in places by small boulders. There was a small pond with a flattened stone in the center that barely breached the water's surface. The sounds of songbirds filled the area as a variety of small rodents scurried through the grass. The occasional butterfly rested on one of many small flowers the dotted the small expanse of grassy area. Occasionally, a subtle breeze would drift by, causing slight movement of the grass and trees. Basking in one of the pillars of filtered sunlight were two quite unique snakes; unique in that their were currently only two of their species in all of existence. Created from a mystical property within Ialari's own blood, the snakes with their jet black coloring and silver-veined patterns, shared the appearance of Ialari's metallic arm.

Looming over the serenity of the cavern floor, reaching up from the ground not far from one of the cavern walls, was a massive, gnarled oak tree. From its branches hung dozens of bodies all baring the image of Ialari. Each body looked to have died from different violent means. The tree was in part, a symbol placed in the Dominion by Dira, Goddess of Death. It was also, as Ialari had learned, the key to finding the answers about herself she so desperitely sought.

Finally, not far from the edge of the pond stood a tall, stone statue of snake, coiled in a way that looked as though it may strike.

Sitting in the grass, her back leaning against the cool stone of the statue, was Ialari. She was dressed in a simple black loincloth as the temperature in the Dominion was whatever she chose it to be. Her eyes were closed, her legs crossed with her hands resting in her lap as she slept.

Whether she dreamed or not while she slept, she did not know. She would always wake either from a simple dream or a jarring nightmare with little to no recollection of what any of it may have been about. Such was the case when she finally opened her eyes. Arching her back, she stretched her arms up and out and let slip a wide yawn.

Looking around, she allowed herself a smile as she took in the sight around her. Out loud to herself, she said in a raspy, just awoke from a long sleep voice, "I never get tired of seeing this place."

Slowly, with some initial difficulty, she got to her feet and stretched her legs. "How long did I sleep this time I wonder?" She thought as she placed her hand against the statue for balance.

A familiar voice answered aloud as if hearing her thought, "I would imagine it has been too long." The voice was moderately deep with a hint of gravel to it

Stepping from around the back of the statue and coming to stand a few feet from her was a older man with a long, well kept white beard and short white hair. He was dressed in crimson red robes and had a calm look on his face. It was Amir Berliotz, Former Wizard of the Seven Robes of Alahea...or at least an echo of the man. The real Berliotz died long ago from overgiving during his own experiments at discovering Dominion. His soul had been split into 10 pieces, each existing as a ghost driven insane by the ordeal. When Ialari encountered the ghosts in the city of Nyka during her own discovery of Dominion, they possessed her for a few body-rending moments. During the possession, the wizard's broken soul was reforged into a single whole. Eventually, Ialari would end up confronting the reformed mad wizard's ghost in a battle to possess the secrets of Dominion. Berliotz's rage fell to Ialari's faith and he was finally delivered to the hands of Dira.

Now, existing as a few thoughts and memories from his earlier life left over in Ialari's mind after the possession, this Berliotz was given form in the Dominion through Ialari's bond with it. He was little more than a reflection of Ialari's own thoughts mixed with fragments of the wizard of long ago.

It had taken some time for Ialari to accept the shadow of one of her greatest enemies as being just a harmless mirage yet she sometimes, when she talked with him, she forgot that she was basically talking to herself.

Berliotz's sudden arrivals ceased to surprise her long ago. As she was about to speak, Berliotz answered her thoughts before they turned into words. "You conveniently keep forgetting that the longer you spend in the Ukalas, the more it will change you."

Frowning, Ialari chided back, "I really wish you'd let me actually talk before you answer me." She knew however that it was pointless to argue with the "man". As he had told her countless times over the years, she was only arguing with herself.

Ignoring her frustration, Berliotz commented, "Perhaps you should leave this place for a time, return to the world, refocus."

Ialari considered his words for a moment before responding. "You may be right. I...I am having a hard time remembering what it feels like back there." She was referring to Syka.

Taking a few careful steps while allowing her balance to return, Ialari glanced at the Tree of Death. All the answers to her most pressing questions were in that tree. She finally had access to it but her fear of what she may discover held her back. The thought of returning to Syka for a change of perception was becoming more enticing by the moment.

"Alright, I do believe it is long past time to return. I wonder what has come of the place. Would they even remember me?" It was a passing thought. Whether they remembered her or not didn't bother her all that much. Her stays in Syka hadn't been rather extensive but she had a few profound moments.

Just as she called on memories of her past adventures, Ialari's attention was quickly pulled away. The cavern floor began to, softly at first, vibrate. The vibrations gave way to trembles and then to full shaking. Falling to one knee only moments after finally finding her footing, Ialari looked all around her. The shaking of the cavern in such a way meant only one thing. Getting back on her feet, she ran quickly to where she kept her various supplies and possessions. She grabbed her robes, strapped on her belt and dagger and retrieved, Stormslinger, the magical weapon that looked like a crossbow without the bow.

Just as soon as she had prepared herself the best she could, there was a shimmer in the air several yards from where she stood. The shimmering was replaced by rippling followed by the horrendous sound of ripping and tearing. Then, just like someone ripping a hole in a piece of cloth, a ragged, pulsing rift formed within the Dominion. It was not all that unlike a bloody wound spontaneously opening up upon a person's flesh. An ever present reminder of just how damaged the Ukalas was after the Valterian, the rift was a tear in the fabric of reality. Ialari had encountered a couple in the past with varying results but they were each unpredictable and potentially quite dangerous.

Moments after the rift had opened, Ialari could see something moving on the other side and it was moving toward her. Her return to Syka would have to wait a bit longer.

Word Count: 1,334

[Ialari Pythone]

With Stormslinger pointed at the rift, Ialari watched and waited for whatever it was on the other side, to emerge. She briefly considered trying to close the rift but such a thing was rather involved and something she'd never attempted before. Regardless, there wasn't enough time.

From the rift, Ialari saw a single black tentacle slip through. It was followed by many more as a large mass of tentacles emerged. Dozens of the black appendages pulled their way through the rift as Ialari watched with no small amount of fear. She'd faced a threat from such a rift before in the form of a pair of canine-like horrors which she'd barely fought off. This new threat was something quite different.

She could have unleashed Stormslinger upon the horror the moment it presented itself yet her confidence with the weapon was slim and the nature of the threat was still unknown. As the mass of tentacles entered her Dominion, Ialari noticed that it appeared hesitant and struggled slightly as if it were experiencing a new environment; one that it was unfamiliar with. The writhing mass however quickly began to take on a somewhat familiar form. Several tentacles began to weave themselves together to form what looked like a leg. This was followed by another and then two more until it was effectively walking on four "legs". The tentacles continued to bind themselves to form a body. In all, the beast was roughly six feet in height and twice as long. Some of the tentacles then peeled back along the trunk of the body revealing a head. The beast's head was grey and somewhat skeletal, flattened like an insect with a tooth-filled maw. It sported three mandibles, one on either side of its mouth and one extending out from the top and front. Each of the mandibles were covered in a slimy brown substance with a sharpened tip. A pair of deep violet colored eyes were positioned on the top of its head.

With the beast now completely through the rift, Ialari brushed her finger over a glyph on the metallic surface of Stormslinger. The glyph began to glow and the weapon started to vibrate. A few breaths later, a thunderous boom echoed throughout the Dominion and a ball of crackling electricity shot forth. Unfortunately, Ialari’s lack of experience with the use of the weapon led to her aim being completely off target. The shot sizzled past the beast, missing it by a few feet. Cursing aloud, Ialari quickly worked to reload it with a stormgem, the source of the strange weapon’s power.

Immediately following Ialari’s floundered attack, the creature turned its attention to the now obvious threat. Awkward in its movements at first, the monster quickly found its footing in the new environment it had entered. With Ialari now in its sight, it shot out a half-dozen tentacles toward Ialari. It moved with such speed that Ialari was caught flat-footed as the tentacles snapped at her, wrapping around each of her arms, legs, around her waist and chest. As soon as the tentacles made contact with her body, they began to squeeze. For anyone other than Isur, the grip would have been enough to crush bones. Thanks to the density of her body however, the tentacle’s grip, though immensely painful, was not enough to cripple her.

It wasn’t the grip Ialari needed worry about. As the tentacles tightened around her, she felt as though her strength and her very desire to move was being leeched from her body. It was all she could do to stay standing. Although she struggled with all that she was, she felt her resolve fading. Realizing that she would not be able to bring Stormslinger upon the beast in her current condition, she let it go, dropping it to the ground. With both hands free, she tried to wrestle control from the creature that was now gaining ground in pulling it to it; the beast’s mandibles snapping over and over again in anticipation.

A short few moments later, the struggle was broken as Ialari was flung on her back; her legs giving out. As she was being pulled toward the creature, several other tentacles flung outward, bashing every part of her body they could reach. Blow after blow slammed against her, threatening to separate her from consciousness. With a horrible death nearing, Ialari tried to gather what little of her fading strength remained. Turning her metallic wrist, she sought to take hold of the tentacle holding it. As her fingers made contact with the thickened flesh of the appendage, she squeezed as tightly as she could manage. Her fingers sunk into the tentacle, piercing it in five places as spurts of foul-smelling black blood splattered out. With a screech of pain, the monster pulled the tentacle away, granting Ialari the freedom to move her arm.

With a renewed use of her arm, Ialari quickly reached for the dagger at her waist. After more struggling, she was able to wrestle the dagger free and proceeded to stab and slice for her life. As the blade cut the creature over and over, it pulled back its tentacles while hissing and howling at the terrible little creature that had hurt it.

Scrambling back from the horror, Ialari held the blade in front of her as she tried to get as much distance from it she could. The dagger’s blade shimmered and flickered with chaotic patterns and pulses. As it released the magic held within, the monster appeared confused. Its grotesque head moved from side to side as its eyes darted from side to side. Its vision warped by the dagger’s magic, it paused for a moment in an attempt to right itself.

This gave Ialari a brief moment to crawl to where she’d dropped Stormslinger.
Just as she reached for the weapon, the creature shook off the effects of the dagger and charged her. Its tentacles whipped about in a flurry as it prepared to engulf her with crushing, bashing instruments of demise. Ialari’s fingers wrapped around Stormslinger as the beast fell upon her. Dozens of tentacles latched onto her, wrapping around her entire body with crushing force. With little defense left, Ialari flailed her limbs in an attempt to avoid as many of the tentacles as possible. Despite her valiant efforts, she found herself immobilized. The horror’s head with its open maw and snapping mandibles drew close. Still, in the final moments before a seemingly inevitable death, Ialari fought. With all the strength she had left, she was able to move Stormslinger to a point where she may be able to hit some part of her attacker. She had no idea what would be considered a vital part of the creature’s body but she was left with no options. A tentacle wrapped around her head, blocking her vision and squeezing to the point that she was about to black out.

Her finger found the activation glyph. Another thunderous boom shook the Dominion followed by a crackling flash of charged mystical energy. At that exact moment, time seemed to slow to less than a crawl just as Ialari felt darkness seep into her mind.

Word Count: 1,195

[Ialari Pythone]

Before unconsciousness could fully consume her, Ialari felt the jarring blast of Stormslinger followed by the feeling of freedom. Gasping for breath, she found herself finally able to move. Her vision still cloudy, she forced herself to crawl backward while the reality of the situation came crashing back to her.

The close quarter blast from Stormslinger indeed hit its mark upon the monster, forcing it to release her and fall back. For Ialari, the blast did not manage to damage her magical robes but did cause severe bruising which, combined with with the effects of being slowly crushed, left her feeling no small amount of pain. As her vision began to clear, she could see the creature laying on the ground a few yards away. Many of its tentacles were completely burned away and it struggled to move. It hissed and cried in pain, the attack apparently dealing a critical blow. Despite its wounds however, it was not completely subdued and struggled to bring its tentacles together to regain its footing.

Ialari, Stormslinger in one hand, her dagger in the other, lay on the ground while trying to manage the strength to rise. She briefly mused at the strange sapping of her strength that the beast caused while gripping her. It was as if it had leeched the her very life force, her djed. She had to admit it was a ingenious way to subdue its prey; draining it spiritually while its tentacles crushed the physical form.

Realizing that it was not the time for theories, Ialari returned her focus to the beast while attempting to stand. Her strength was slowly returning, thanks in part to her connection with her Dominion. The rate of restoration however was not enough to do more than allow her ever so slight increase in mobility. When she was finally able to stand, it was shaky at best, forcing to her one knee multiple times.

After several attempts, she was able to stand without falling. The same could not be said for the beast. It continued to try and gather itself only to fail. Stormslinger's blast had hit it pretty hard and Ialari could see that through the ruined tentacles that it did indeed have a body. Its body had suffered a terrible wound and the smell of burnt refuse filled the air.

Raising Stormslinger, she glanced at the weapon and remembered that she now had but four storm gems remaining to power it. Looking back at the monster and the condition it was in, she decided that using another gem would likely be too much of a waste. She dropped the weapon on the ground next to her and gripped her dagger tightly before taking a few cautious steps forward.

As she carefully approached the wounded creature, Ialari noted how its tentacles still flailed about, albeit with far less flare and speed. As she got closer, the beast hissed in her direction while sending a few tentacles toward her. It was a futile effort as the tentacles fell to the ground as the creature did not have the strength to keep them going.

Fighting pain and fatigue, limping from a badly bruised ankle, Ialari got within arm's length of the dying horror laying before her. Hesitantly, she reached with her metallic hand and gripped one of the creature's mandibles. That brought a renewed struggle with tentacles lashing out and smacking against her arm and leg. This caused her to collapse to one knee once more yet she did not let go. With the dagger in her other hand, Ialari thrust it into the point where the bony skull connected to its fleshy body. With one final gurgle, blood spilling over her hand, the invader trembled one last time and collapsed.

With the immediate threat neutralized, Ialari allowed herself to collapse. She sat back a few feet from the now dead monster and took a few moments to take in all that had happened. Her body was covered in bruises, some quite severe with her ankle possible the worst. She felt lethargic and weak although it was ever so slowly getting better. Her face, where the beast had slammed her with its tentacles, was also cut in several places. Although the wounds were not deep, they still stung.

It was another moment to thank the gods that she was not human. A human would have had their bones crushed after the first few blows with the rest of them shattered from the constriction. That fact however did little to sooth her otherwise battered body.

Turning her attention back to the rift; it still remained open. In her past experience with a tear in the Ukalas, it closed on its own after she’d dispatched the things that had slipped through. This one however did not close. It still hovered several yards away, ripping a hole in reality that resembled a festering wound. At any point, something else could slip through. It could be another tentacled horror, perhaps more than one or even something else, something possibly worse. This left her with little other choice but to attempt to seal it. That was of course one the mandates imposed in exchange for her being granted Dominion. Repairing the damage done to the Ukalas during the Valterian meant working to heal such wounds.

Doing so however was not something she looked forward to. Recalling what was said in the Dominion Scrolls, Ialari knew that in order to seal such a tear in the fabric of the Ukalas, she would have to call upon rather powerful magic and manipulate it into sealing and effectively healing the rift. In her current condition, she wasn’t sure she was up to the task.

Sealing a rift in reality required a strong connection to the Ukalas and the ability to focus on manipulating that connection in a way that only a truly skilled Domineer could. Exhausted and wounded as she was, Ialari winced at the idea of pushing herself any further. Unfortunately, time was not on her side. It was either endure the physical pain and risk greater spiritual damage and perhaps death or leave the rift to remain open longer and have to deal with whatever else came through. Left with no real good options, she readied herself for a greater test of being a Domineer that she’d not faced before.

Word Count: 1,059

[Ialari Pythone]

From her studies of the Dominion Scrolls, Ialari learned that following the Valterrian, the Ukalas suffered serious damage. Ivak's rage sent shockwaves not just across Mizahar but throughout all of the Ukalas. The rifts, tears, that resulted were a blight that, if left unchecked, threatened to unravel the entirety of reality.

As stated in the Dominion Scrolls, The Ukalas is a weave of energy that touches all things from the stones of the earth, to the plants, to the animals, the very sky, and unto the stars themselves. The Ukalas even links planets to other planets in a giant web of interconnectiveness. Both animate and inanimate objects; the living and that which has never been touched by life are effected by it. This weave connects all things, and provides the power source for such things as gnosis and djed.

One of the newly assigned duties of a Domineer, part of the cost of being once more granted access to such magic, is to protect the Ukalas, respect it and heal the damage caused during the Valterrian. The damage is most apparent in the form of rifts or tears in the very fabric of the Ukalas itself. Much like wounds suffered in battle, these tears, if left alone for too long, become infected and can twist and warp all that they touch. Through these tears, beings who exists within the weave can slip through from one point to another. In some cases, they may even slip out of the Ukalas as in the case of the Ethafael.

In order to heal these wounds and effectively seal them, the Domineer must open themselves up to the Ukalas itself; becoming one with it if even only temporarily. This will allow the Domineer greater access to powerful manipulations of djed which can be used to restructure and heal the damaged portions of the Ukalas.

Such manipulations of reality do not come without risk. Lack of focus and weakness of will can cause the Domineer to lose control of the vast amounts of djed being manipulated and cause an explosion of their very soul.

The words were etched in her mind after she'd spent seasons committing the Scrolls to memory. While she'd hoped facing such a rift would happen under much better circumstances with greater preparation, her life seldom held such ideal conditions.

Moving to stand within a couple of yards of the rift, Ialari knelt before it. The rip in reality pulsed with a crimson fire around its edges while the rift itself pulsed with a pattern not unlike the beating of a human heart. Trails of reddish "smoke" drifted outward and there was a foul smell surrounding the entire thing.

Beyond the initial instructions provided by the Scrolls, details on the exact process were somewhat vague. Ialari recalled references to opening oneself up to the Ukalas.

"Maybe it's something like connecting with a Dominion." She muttered to herself. "Like reaching out and accepting a connection?"

Deciding to go with that particular mindset, she closed her eyes and set to clearing her thoughts; not all that easy considering the pain and fatigue she was feeling.

Taking a few deep, measured breaths, Ialari tried to push the pain to the side and thought only of one thing. She used a memory of the past, the image of the great anvil in the center of Izurdin's Forge; the Temple of Izurdin in the heart of Sultros. She imagined herself standing before it and then tried to see it from all directions by rotating herself around the anvil. It was a basic meditative technique but not always easy as it felt more natural to rotate the object being observed as opposed to moving around it. The effort and focus required meant that distracting thoughts were often forgotten.

Ialari's focus was briefly broken when she realized she biting her lip a little too hard; a side-effect of unconsciously trying to distract herself from the pain in other parts of her body. Catching herself, she stopped biting her lip, wiped her mouth and tried to recover the image of the anvil. After some increased effort, she was able to conjure up the image once more and begin focusing on it. She focused on the glyphs around the base, the polished metallic sheen on its surface and the various angles that formed its shape.

The more she focused on the anvil, the less pain she could feel. Eventually the pain seemed to become something of a separate element; detached from her body.

Her physical condition muffled for the moment, Ialari slowly pushed her thoughts away from the anvil to the emptiness outside. She reached out with her mind like she would do when seeking the connection with her Dominion. This time however, instead of directing her thoughts to her Dominion, she directed them further outward, to the endless connections and possibilities just outside the borders of her claimed space.

At first, nothing happened. Still, Ialari continued to reach out, looking for that first thread of something else. After what felt like far too long, she saw it. It appeared as a tiny thread of light amidst the emptiness she'd created in her mind. Raising her hand, she reached for the thread. As her fingers made contact with it, there was a spark and her eyes opened.

What Ialari saw when she opened her eyes was not the rift or even the Dominion that surrounded her; at least not in the way she normally saw it.

Her eyes no longer saw grass, trees, stone or even the expansive cavern outside the Dominion's borders. Instead, all Ialari saw were layers upon layers of patterns, lines and points of energy. She recognized the patterns of lines that made up her Dominion but there were countless more stretching in all directions. From them she could sense that they connected to things, people and places both close as well as beyond infinite. There were so many different patterns that trying to pick out any individual one and focusing on it for too long felt as though it could become nothing short of maddening.

She realized that it may be better to turn her attention to one specific pattern that didn't require much searching; the rift. Where most of the lines came to points and them formed patterns of energy, the rift itself was made up of broken lines, partial patterns and missing points. Perhaps more disturbing however was that the broken lines looked as though they were continuing to fray and fracture. The rift was growing.

Word Count: 1,091

[Ialari Pythone]

With the frayed lines of djed continuing to breakdown, Ialari had little time to consider the next course of action. She had to close the rift and quickly. How to do such a thing however was something altogether different. Magic, as she’d learned many years ago, was conceptually rooted in theory. In practice however, it was never quite the same for any single person. Techniques and methods of manipulation often varied between individuals and it almost seemed like there was never any particular “right” way of doing it. As with Magecraft, Ialari had discovered quite some time ago that the primary element of exercising Dominion was intent. Bending and shaping space through sheer force of will; molding it into what you wanted it to be, the practical application of such a thing was never truly defined in the Dominion Scrolls. Ialari simple willed what she wanted and the Dominion eventually responded.

With drawing upon her knowledge of Dominion resulting in little useful substance for the situation at hand, Ialari muttered to herself, “Ok, I have to figure this out. I can see the shredded patterns, the breaks and the damage…”

Then something occurred to her. If Dominion was all about the strength of will and the intended result, it didn’t matter the in between. Raising her hands, she moved them as if she were reaching out and taking hold of the broken djed lines that formed the shattered pattern of the rift. In one hand, she grasped one of the lines and pulled it toward another line held in her other hand. As she moved her hands in this way and imagined herself pulling the djed together, she watched as the actual broken lines began to move. The actual effort expended however was not quite as proportionate to the initial idea. As Ialari made the movements to pull the lines together, it physically felt as though she were trying to pull a couple hundred pounds of rock up a hill, one in each hand. Already injured, the task was even more difficult.

Then there was the mental drain. Maintaining the altered perception required to see the damaged parts of the rift took immense focus. Ialari could feel the throbbing pressure in her head as if something was trying to push its way out of her skull from the inside. All the while there was the ever-present threat that something else may try to slip through the rift.

One by one, at a brutally slow pace, Ialari pulled the damaged lines of djed together and through sheer force of will merged them together. With each piece repaired, Ialari felt more and more of her remaining mental and physical strength fail. Her posture drooped. Her arms felt heavier and thus more difficulty to raise and move. Her legs burned and she felt herself go to one knee, then to two. She felt a strange, wet sensation around her nose before realizing that she was bleeding.

As each line of djed was reconnected, a point of energy formed. With each point formed a restored pattern was created. Finally, just as her hands felt too heavy to life and she was about to fall over, Ialari brought the last two lines of djed to form the final point in the pattern. With the rift’s damaged patterns repaired, it flashed once and was gone. Ialari’s sight returned to normal as she lay on the ground of her Dominion. With nothing left to give, she passed out.

When she awoke again, she was greeted with the sight of the grass in front of her face lightly moving to a soft breeze. The calls of the songbirds filled the air. Filtered light from high above stretched down from the cavern ceiling. The earthy smell of her Dominion soothed her blood-caked nose. Rolling over from her belly to her back, Ialari looked up and tried not to move. Although such a thing was not unusual in her Dominion, she had no sense of how much time had passed after she passed out. She was still lightly bleeding in places but much of it had dried and clotted save for the more serious wounds.

Slowly turning her head, she looked over to see the remains of the terrible beast that had exited the rift. With a sigh of relief that it appeared to still be dead, she turned her head back to looking up.

“If that’s what it’s like to seal a tear in the Ukalas…” She found herself unable to fathom doing such a thing a second time, much less more than that. She realized tt would take much more practice in shaping and manipulating the weave of the Ukalas in order to repair such damage in the future.

“I kind of miss when the most difficult aspect of all of this was creating a door…” She mused as she rolled back on to her belly and fought to get her limbs under her. After several moments of grunting with discomfort and a few cries of pain, she was able to get to her hands and knees. From there, she slowly crawled her way toward the pool of water several paces away; figuring if nothing else, she could was the blood and filth from her body and let the coolness of the water bring some relief.

Reaching the pool, she pulled herself into the water with her metallic hand. In the shallows, she lay on her back with her nose and mouth barely above water. There she lay for an indeterminate amount of time. The cold water soothed her internal bruising and when she felt like she could move with lessened pain, she began wiping the blood from her face and body. Carefully she lifted her leg out of the water and wiped it down. It was still quite painful and she knew that if she tried to stand too quickly, she would fall. She proceeded to lift her other leg and each arm. When she felt she could handle it, she crawled out of the pool and then over to the spot in front of the large statue of the coiled snake. There she sat down and leaned against the statue’s base.

“Alright, a few moments of rest and then you’re going to try and stand again. We get something to eat, bandage up a bit, then take a closer look at that dead monstrosity over there.” She told herself as if trying to convince herself that it was what she wanted to do.

Words - 1,087

[Ialari Pythone]

After taking a good amount of time to rest, tend to her wounds and take stock of all that had happened, Ialari began preparations for examining the dead rift creature. She cleared her workbench while assembling some gear on one of the smaller side tables. Her meager work area wasn't designed for studying such a large creature so Ialari had to adjust where she could. This meant keeping only the essential tools and implements at the ready and moving the rest out of the way.

When the work area was ready, she retrieved a leather glove for her normal hand and her Sentinel robes before she moved toward the creature's corpse and paused a few feet from it. She waited a moment while watching to see if there was any movement. While she believed that she'd effectively killed it, she was taking no chances. With slow, measured movements, she leaned in closer and with her metallic hand, poked at one of its tentacles; it did not move. The ground around the corpse was stained black with the creature's blood and the smell of the burns caused by Stormslinger hung in the surrounding air. A few more pokes and prods were followed by Ialari reaching for the bony head. Finding a good grip, she attempted to move it. Surprisingly, the corpse was not as heavy as she imagined it would be; just a bit heavier than an isur.

Careful not to further damage the corpse, Ialari dragged it over to her work area; careful not to touch any part of the creature with an uncovered part of her body. She cringed at seeing the trail of disgust left on the ground from the leaking body while hoping that she could influence her Dominion to tend to the mess.

At her work area, she struggled to get the main part of the corpse up on the workbench. Not wanting to get too close and personal left her having to effectively drag and pull the body rather than lift and carry. After no small number of curses, she managed to get it upon the bench. Its tentacles spilled over the sides of the bench while the main trunk and head were eventually positioned as best as she could manage. The bench creaked under the weight of the corpse yet, for the time being, held stable.

Bringing the smaller tables closer, Ialari set up some of the items from her philtering lab as well as her poisoncrafters kit. These included tools for collecting specimens and a collection of bottles, beakers and jars and a large bowl of water for cleaning. She also laid out her journal so that she could record her findings for later reference. After pausing for a moment to catch her breath and get a drink, she got to work.

With a deep breath, "Alright, you horrible thing, shall we see what we can get from you?" Ialari was by no means an expert in butchering, much less dissecting terrors from the Ukalas. She was rather adept at collecting poisons from plants and animals however and preparing various substances and materials for philtering. Although not exactly the same thing, her present knowledge would help. At least that is what she told herself as she started moving some of the tentacles out of the way in order to get a better look at the creature's body.

As she worked, Ialari spoke aloud; describing what she was doing and occasionally commenting on what she saw. Doing so had become a habit as she often shared her thoughts and feelings aloud with her Dominion.

"The tentacles are surprisingly light...considering how strong they are. Soft to the touch as well." She followed the tentacles to where they connected to the rest of the creature's body only to find that they connected just below what she thought may be the neck. "They sprout from the "neck" in a sort of ring...It looks like there are three of these rings of sprouting tentacles."

Looking closer at the main body while poking, pressing and prodding, Ialari commented, "The main trunk is roughly six feet long and about a foot around. There doesn't seem to be any other extremities...not even any obvious parts for reproducing. It is a bit tougher than the tentacles although like them, it doesn't feel like there are any bones. The area around where Stormslinger struck is charred and it looks as though, along with some burned areas on some of the tentacles, the blast hit pretty deep. I remember the tentacles wrapping themselves together to form a body but it looks like they were weaving around the trunk for protection."

Following the trunk to where it connected to the head, Ialari noted the spot where she used her dagger for the killing blow. While there were no bones, she must have cut something important.

As she ran her metallic fingers along the skeletal head, she examined the various details while continuing to describe aloud her observations. "The head is roughly as big around as my torso. The head attaches to the trunk just above where the tentacles start. The head is flattened much like a bug but with a mouth full of teeth. These mandibles...they're covered in some sort of slime that is still there even after being dead for a short bit of time. I would guess that this thing would inject some sort of poison into its prey either to help kill or perhaps dissolve a body for consumption."

Employing one of the properties granted by her robes, Ialari stuck out her tongue and then brought the tip of it to the roof of her mouth, tasting the air as a snake would. The magic of the robe activated and she could taste the sour smell of the poison emanating from the mandibles. It tasted somewhat like snake venom. "Definitely to help kill."

The creatures eyes, sat more to the top of its head, had once been a deep violet color though they were now a dull, milky lavender.

Turning to her journal to write down her observations, So with what I experienced in fighting this thing combined with the closer look I just got, I am left with little in the way of information in the end. Cutting it open isn't going to help add much more as I wouldn't know what I am looking most likely. However, I think that, considering the otherworldly nature of this thing, I may be able to harvest some useful samples for use in philtering. There is of course the poison as well.

Retrieving her dagger, Ialari turned back to the corpse and started to cut. At first, she was careful in removing the tentacles. Each tentacle she cut at the point where it extended from the trunk. There were a total of three dozen of them. When she cut them a bit of thickened blood began to ooze out. This she collected as much as she could in jars. She then took several of them and attempted to cut the skin off. The first two she ruined as she had difficulty figuring out exactly how to separate it. After several attempts however, she was able to collect quite a bit of skin. Even dead, it seemed to retain an oddly high amount of elasticity and flexibility. Ialari decided to skin the remaining tentacles with varying levels of success and failure. She noted how there was little to no fat in the tentacles themselves. In fact, there wasn't much to them at all beyond the skin and a thin layer of meat and muscle.

"I don't know exactly how this thing had so much strength but it almost has to be tied to some form of djed manipulation. Maybe focusing its djed to empower the tentacles. This might explain its ability to form "legs" and walk while also being able to reach out and grasp with such force. Considering how weak it made me when it made contact with exposed skin, I am guessing it was using some form of leeching as well." She could only guess though as Ialari's experience with leeching was limited to minor observations during her time in Sahova.

She proceeded to slice the remains of the tentacles into manageable strips which she would later cook down and possible dry for easier storage and handling. When it came to the trunk, she worked to sever the head first. This proved to be somewhat easier than she first thought thanks to the lack of a skeletal structure. Setting the head aside, she sliced open the trunk; met by a spilling of a variety of putrid, dead innards. Although she could not identify most of the things she found, she collected all that she could anyway; storing it all in a variety of containers. At one point she realized that she was going to have to stock up on more containers after she was finished. She found what she thought was the creature's heart; at least it looked like it could be one. Unlike the dull brown color of most of the thing's insides, the heart was a bright red with black veins.

With the head, she used the tools in her kit to carefully collect the venom from the mandibles. She cut out the eyes although managed to damage one of them due to combination of lack of experience and lack of proper tools.

When she'd salvaged, collected and cleaned as much as she could from now fully mutilated corpse, Ialari took a short break before switching to preparing and storing what she'd gathered. The samples in the containers would be alright for a little while. Some of her philtering and poisoncrafting gear included some preservation items which would help with the containers. Controlling the temperature was not an issue in her Dominion so while she wouldn't go so far as to freeze them, she could at least keep them cool.

The head she would deal with later but the meat and skin she collected would best be dried for later use. Taking several small pieces of wood from her supply pile along with some salvaged rope, she proceeded to construct a very rudimentary frame to hang the meat and skin from. She positioned it beneath one of the pillars of sunlight that broke through the cavern ceiling high above.

Of course the drying would take quite a bit of time and it would likely benefit from some tampering with the humidity and temperature but Ialari decided that would come a little later.

This left her finally with the heart. She knew immediately what she would do with it. "This I think will do best dried and turned into a powder. It would be easier to test in philters." Cutting the heart into thin slices, she hung them from a metal bar supported by two posts over her small fire pit. It was raised high enough not to cook but low enough to catch the heat. It would take a long time to properly dry it out but it would be quicker than drying it under the sun. Since she wasn't drying it for consumption, she wasn't concerned about much else other than simply drying it out.

Over the course of several bells, Ialari continued feeding the fire while monitoring the drying process periodically. She took a few short naps while she waited. When she wasn't tending to the fire or taking a nap, she wrote in her journal; detailing further her experience not only with the creature but also with the closing of the rift.

Eventually the pieces of the heart dried enough for what Ialari had planned. As it was rather lean with no real fat to speak of, the drying process was more or less a success despite the lack of truly effective equipment.

Ialari took the dried pieces of the heart and with a mortar and pestle, started grinding them into powder. As she crushed and broke down the dried meat, she noted how it retained its bright, blood-red color. When she was finished, she had enough powder to fill a small collection canister. On the outside of the small metal canister, she etched a small symbol that meant "blood".

Planning to experiment with the powder later, Ialari turned her attention toward the other tasks at hand.

[Ialari Pythone]

Thread Grade

Arcanology 5
Dagger 2
Dominion 5
Food Preservation 1
Leatherworking 2
Philtering 3
Poison 1
Weapon: Verusk Lightning Thrower 4

Lore:
A rift opening in the Ukalas
Horror of the Ukalas
Using a Verusk weapon in self-defense
Suffering wounds caused by a Horror of the Ukalas
Sealing a rift in the Ukalas
Anatomy of a Horror of the Ukalas
Harvesting materials from a Horror of the Ukalas
Preserving materials from a Horror of the Ukalas
Making blood powder

Items/Materials:
Canister blood powder 20 uses
Several pounds of dried meat (Ukalas Horror)
Several pieces of leather (Ukalas Horror)
Skeletal head (Ukalas Horror)
Preserved eye (Ukalas Horror)
Several jars of blood (Ukalas Horror)
A few vials of venom; effects to be studied later (Ukalas Horror)
A collection of organs (Ukalas Horror)