[Flashback] Essence of Mole (Solo)

[Eridanus]

Day 10, Fall of 416 AV
Early Morning
Aylasa Caves

It was early morning, but Eridanus was already awake, frowning at a piece of bone he held in his hands. His other associates were still sleeping of course, while the nuit Middleman was meditating as usual - that walking corpse had no need for mortal necessities like sleeping.

The night before one of them had brought back a mole for dinner, though neither of them questioned just how he managed to lay his hands on a mole. They were underground creatures! Regardless, Eridanus had managed to secure a larger piece of bone from the small animal, though after the skinning and cutting he had no idea where that bone came from.

Still, it was reasonably large enough for him to practice his new-found skill. Furthermore, it was a new animal and he could focus on new areas.

The only problem was... what the heck can moles do?

[Eridanus]

"Burrow underground?" He reasoned, wandering aloud. "If they are underground creatures, then they should be have good digging claws. In that case, they should be able to have some way of navigation underground. Vision? Scent?"

"They can breathe underground better than humans. A better temperament for low air conditions. Not any kind of air, the air that lets mortals survive," A sudden voice came at him. It seemed that Middleman probably wanted to reply to shut him up so that he could focus on his meditation.

"Woops. Thanks. Sorry," Eridanus replied, while Middleman grunted.

Low Air Conditions.

Yes, perhaps that would be one he could work at. He would characterize and promote this feature in the bone. Through the use of words and drawings, though he could not do what he did with the rabbit skull due to the lack of space. He needed to make his malediction circles compact but still detailed within reason.

Glyphs.

They were often used to subvert normal rules in magic, so perhaps he could use them to do the same for malediction? If he found a way to integrate glyphing into malediction such that the circles themselves were glyphs, he would be able to have more freedom. That said, he had to be sure to properly integrate the glyphs into the circles, rather than simply having his glyphs exist as merely... glyphs.

[Eridanus]

He first began by taking out his assassin's dagger, and began by carving a large circle around the ends of the bone. He hummed as he chipped away at the substance, slowly creating a reasonably deep surface as he did so, until he properly carved a full circle.

In order to use glyphs to subvert magic, he had to attempt to manipulate the djed itself. Malediction was a form of pulling out djed from a relic, and so it only made sense that he should be able to empower the use of malediction and enhance its application with glyphs far greater than his prowess in Malediction.

Or at least, theoretically he could, for he could only know upon Middleman's analysis.

Before he attempted to create any malediction circles though, he decided to engrave glyphs along the circle first, before placing the actual contents right at the center of the circle.

[Eridanus]

Glyphs that directed magic. That was his first thought as he hammered and chiseled away at the surface of the bone with his dagger. The idea was to first imprint path sigils onto the edges of the circle, and though they were generally complex, it was harder to try to create them via carving on a small piece of bone. It was much easier to do so with paint on say, a wall.

Still, it took him a while but he was finally done with the paths. Next was to use advanced and custom glyphs to modify the path sigils, and to specify a purpose for the redirection of djed. Pursing his lips, Eridanus stopped his dagger an inch away from the surface of the bone as he considered his choices, and finally settled upon a customized glyph for this purpose.

He would use Glyphs of Coagulation. These glyphs would attract djed and cause any summoned djed to gather in a central spot, thereby making the djed more concentrated, centralized and effective. Using a combination of symbols written in Nader-Canoch, and a mixture of barrier and path sigils, he meticulously engraved these Glyphs of Coagulation throughout the circle.

[Eridanus]

As an end to the glyphing, he made sure to allow several outlets of djed flow from these custom glyphs, then directed path sigils to connect from within the circle where he carved another smaller circle. The general shape currently was a donut shape, where the inner circle was at the moment empty while the other ring was filled with various glyphs painstakingly carved into the bone.

There was only enough space for a smaller, abstract, drawing within, and he knew that attempting to write legible words was impossible. Having any complex drawing would be impossible as well, and so the only means left was to use symbols.

And what other symbol could be more effective than actual glyphs?

He had a thought for the use of a pet idea regarding glyphs, and this was teh best way to try it out. His custom Glyphs of Definition, where he could precisely specify the purpose of the glyphs themselves. These glyphs were the most flexible, though their consistency left much to be desired if they were not complex enough.

Recalling the word in Ancient tongue for breathing, life and air, he created a single Glyph of Definition in a form of a symbol with these three meanings intertwined throughout.

Repeating the meanings of these words to himself under his breath as he worked so that he would not forget them, he first carved a shallow form of the Glyph of Definition, before returning to hammer in and deepen the crevasse.

[Eridanus]

"The ability to breathe in low-air conditions, huh?" The vantha muttered as he completed the last of the complex glyph, poking his thumb with the dagger and allowing a drop of blood to fall into the center of the bone.

"Now let's see..."

Summoning the djed from his body, he unlocked the aura of the bone, then began to probe into the specifics of the aura. First seeking the magical trace that became apparent as the drop of blood seeped in, he zoomed in onto any details he could glean regarding property.

If all went right, the Glyph of Definition should double appropriately as the required Malediction Circle, acting as an activation energy of sorts to bring forward the djed from the bone. The path sigils that linked the outer ring to the inner circle would then attract the djed from within to be enforced and gathered at the Glyphs of Coagulation in the ring, then sent back to reinforce the malediction circle at the center.

[Emblem]

Congratulations! You Get Glorious Experience! Eridanus Skills Malediction- 4 XP Glyphing- 3 XP Carving- 3 XP Lores Essence of Mole Custom Glyph: Glyph of Coagulation Custom Glyph: Glyph of Definition Enhancing Malediction with Glyphs Other Shenanigans: 1 Maledicted mole bone. Comments : Nice solo here Eri! I didn't award Assassins Dagger because you used it as a carving tool, so I decided to only go with carving. Also there wasn't enough auristics for me to give you a point, as you are an expert in the discipline. Any other concerns, PM me.