12th Summer, 514
The Storyteller's Die.
It, like the Maledicted Jawbone, was a product of Venser's created before he steeped into the use of Auristics. Invoking the use of the Legacy without being able to read the aura of the artifact was possible, but imperfect. The Legate was capable of so, so much more with the use of Auristics. What the Rush twin could do now... He could divine the effects of the Storyteller's Die, perhaps...
I wonder if I could replicate it! Similar stories drawn into the dice, but the carvings themselves altered so that one could make use of the dice in common situations. It's a very useful artifact... but it's weakened by the six faces.
The fact that Venser had drawn six nubs into each side of the Storyteller's Die reduced some of its usefulness. Venser would, of course, rectify this in the creation of the teeth he had in his hands this day. The Rush twin managed a grin as he sat within his room, picking the smallest of files from his toolkit and placing it upon the table that his room was furnished with. Sitting within the only chair that the room offered, again Venser found himself with a budding stress of having to practice the Legacy in such a small space, preferring the use of the Labs in the Institute, but he had no cause to go so late in the evening.
It would only raise questions and Venser required no assistance or tools besides the ones he already had on his person. The Institute offered asylum from scrutiny from the common folk of Ravok, but it lacked... privacy. It lacked the secrecy that Venser desired. It was better suited to larger Legacies and peeling apart the bodies of corpses he desired to use. Perhaps some day, it would come to greater use. Human bodies were the next logical step in the recourse of Malediction. The desire picked at him, the want welling in his mind, but he restrained himself.
At the very least... I have these teeth to use. I'll replicate the Storyteller's Die in one, the same carvings with the exception of the dots. The other will become something else. I'll analyze them with Auristics while I craft them, and afterwards to divine the effect.
Venser began his work with the first tooth. The file, less than an inch wide and several long, was vastly preferred over what he had used the last time. He could shape the sides more quickly and accurately, the Rush twin gripping the file with two fingers, his other hand holding the tooth in place upon the table as he worked at the roots of the human tooth. Dust ground into the material of the root as Venser Rush slowly, steadily ground the bone, shaping the first side until the roots were transformed into a rough, but plain surface. He followed the rough filing with a smoother finish, the Rush twin ensuring that the surface was smooth to the touch.
It makes the work faster if each side is smooth to the touch. Rather than wait until everything is done, I'll engrave each side as the carving is done. I want to streamline the process, make it simpler.
And so, the Legate performed the engraving. A wider pick was used first, a single, large dot imprinted into the face of the tooth. The process was followed by the formation of an X, the center of which was the dot. A simple design, though there was a challenge in the effort, the engraving taken slowly, each line formed with a deep caution, which served him in keeping the lines straight. He then encased the design in a circle.
Six strikes laid upon the source. The completion of a fight that led to the rise of the Legate and the Fall of the Prey.
There was no need to speak the story aloud. It was insignificant in the midst of everything else. Rather, Venser spent the remainder of his focus tapping into the essence of djed, drawing from it the power which he needed in order to have this effect transpire as he desired. He steered the djed through the astral pathways of his body, bringing it to his eyes and his mind, pleasure rolling down his spine as he pushed the djed.
He willed for the magic to steep from his thoughts and synchronize with the unfinished die's aura. Unlike the wolf corpse, who's aura was mere inches wide, the tooth, a much smaller item, sported a much more focused and powerful djed. Small, but dense, the djed purer than that of a beast.
Which is why the die is more complex than the jawbone.
The Rush twin lowered his pick and instead raised the file. He slowly shaped the next side, a soothing effort directed towards the transformation of the item. Malediction was a craft that Venser enjoyed the process of. Carving into bone was a much easier thing for him to get into. The curved, smooth surface of the molar was gradually shaped with each swipe of the file, smoothed and flattened into a second surface, and Venser began to engrave anew.
The second side of the die was engraved with two dots, the surface embossed with dots smaller in size than the first, diagonally imprinted into the item. Then Venser began the effort to create the second side. Auristics directed his movements, information that he already knew, regarding the story of the item, the djed that curved and twisted within the item. Identity was the number one necessity within Malediction, the story giving it back to the artifact, which had lost its identity in death. After he finished, he engraved a circle to fit the design into.
Malediction. The Legacy because it creates a relic from a corpse, but it also tells a story that allows the item itself to remember what it was. These items have rudimentary personalities. It's best to recall this.
The second side was imprinted with the two arrows that existed in the other die.
The Hands of Time. Six weeks spent recovering from the brawl that created the opportunity to craft this artifact and the others. That poor bastard lives on knowing the fear for Venser Rush, time imprinting it into him.
