• Graded • The Trial of the Inferior

[Aegis]

Ashan 30, 719, Mayhaply

Once he was pulled into his door, Cervantez would find himself in a world only dimly lit by an unknown source. He appeared to be in a valley between two mountains, with trees stretching the distance before him, as well as behind them. These were no ordinary trees, nor ordinary mountains. These were formed of corpses in various states of decay, from the fresh, leaking bodies of the recently deceased to the dried bones of those long since gone. At the far end of the forest in front of Cervantez, a ball of pure white light glowed. At the far end behind him, a great ball of pure darkness.

Cervantez himself, though, was simply a skeleton, with no muscle, skin, or organs of any kind. His spark reveled in this form, and it appeared that his senses, and ability to move, still worked. Soon, the trees began to move, the mountains began to move, as the bodies formed thralls of impossible shapes and sizes. And each of them wore Cervantez's face, from a different time in his life. There were smaller skeletons, bearing the face of him as a young boy. There were skeletons that bore the face of him with his magically mutated flaming eyes. There were those that bore the face of an elderly man, the mutation seemingly gone.

Every skeleton and corpse in here was Cervantez.

And many of them began to move toward him. Others began to move toward the ball of light, some to the ball of darkness, and some simply shambled around. A screech rang out over the area, off to the side. A purple fog began to flood down from both of the mountain tops. Each corpse it flowed over, returned to life, forming a living, albeit misshapen Cervantez. Their eyes glowed purple, and they began to attack the corpses, all while keeping their eyes on the true Cervantez, and making their way toward him.

!	Message from: Aegis
	This is your trial Cervantez. If you have any questions, you may ask, I may answer. I may not. I will post again on April 29th.

[Cervantez]

☠ Ashan 30, 719, Mayhaply ☠
☠ Mood: Confused - Panicked
☠ Company: Endless "Cervantez" Thralls
☠ Current Thought: Must reach the light
☠ Current Theme: Bury Me Low
☠ Attire: Skeletal Body

"Common Speech"

"Xantheon Speech"

☠ As he blinked and looked around he found he was no longer in the long corridor with the others, no he was somewhere else. The scenery was morbid, but it wasnt something he wasnt use to seeing. The mountains and trees where corpses, both new and old, some seeming to still be warm from a fresh kill, and others dry as bones and withering away.

He noticed that in front of him and behind him were both beaming with light, as the natural light of the area was dim. One end was vibrant and radiant from a white orb of light, the other ominous and alluring from a dark orb of light. It seemed these were the only paths open to him and he wasn't sure what to do.

He went to go scratch his head and felt nothing, not a single strand of hair remained on his head. not to mention skin. Looking at his hands they were bone white, and as he looked over the rest of himself he was nothing more than a skeleton.

"Just what in Raskalarn's name is going on here?"

Before he could even fix to try and find an answer, the sound of movement hit the air. The corpses were moving, the landscape was coming back to life. He back up a bit as he watched, then when the screeching came along with the fog, it didnt take much to realize he was in danger. He watched as the corpses effect by the fog became of flesh and blood and in gruesome forms, attacking all in their way.

It seemed that he was their focus as they came through the horde, and Cervantez had no choice but to run, run to the place that resonated with his spark. Without wasting time he made a dash for the light, pushing past the shambling corpses of himself that got near him. he wanted to reach the light, hoping to find some way to protect himself in the ominous darkness of the black light orb. ☠

[Aegis]

Ashan 30, 719, Mayhaply

As Cervantez approached the ball of darkness, he'd find it pulling on him, tugging, assisting him in coming closer, just as it did with the others that got near to it. As he, and the others, got closer, soon small particles of their being swirled up and off them, heading directly for the center of the ball. And with Cervantez, it wasn't simply pulling pieces of his skeletal form, but his ether was being ripped through his soul, draining out of him and flowing in a small stream toward the darkness. This pull of ether against his will had a name in the magic world.

Cervantez was being flayed.

The closest of the other undead to the ball of darkness was lifted from his feet and rose in the air, as more and more spirals of dust twirled away from him, joining the ball. Cervantez's spark seemed to resonate with the darkness, wishing to continue further into it.

All around Cervantez, the purple fog was making the undead into the living, creating an army of the grotesque forms. And soon, the numbers of skeletons were dwindling. The grotesque living then began to turn on each other, attacking one another. But each strike of a fist, bite of a mouth, kick of a foot did not cause damage. Rather, it healed those being attacked, causing them to turn into living, breathing, recognizable people, body wise. People Cervantez had known.

In one corner were two darker skinned people, one woman and man, wearing Cervantez's face. If he'd seen them, he'd recognize their bodies from the Moseke fertility festival. There was another pale man with no body hair, next to a thin woman's form, crimson in curls, both wearing Cervantez's face. If he looked close enough, he'd see that every person here was someone he'd met, all wearing his face. As the grotesque became the normalized, they began to speak, wandering around muttering, bumping into each other, lost and confused.

!	Message from: Aegis
	I will post again on May 8th.

[Cervantez]

☠ Ashan 30, 719, Mayhaply ☠
☠ Mood: Confused - Panicked
☠ Company: Endless "Cervantez" Thralls
☠ Current Thought: Must reach the light
☠ Current Theme: Bury Me Low
☠ Attire: Skeletal Body

"Common Speech"

"Xantheon Speech"

☠ The sensation he was feeling was familiar, something he had known or seen in the world of mages. To his shock he realized what was happening, why he felt like his very being was being sucked out of him. The orb or beautiful black light was in fact flaying him.

To add to his shock his spark seemed to want to go further into the orb, but Cervantez knew all too well what flaying does to the soul of the one being flayed. He refused to be taken from this life like that, not before his dreams were realized. So instead, he began to flay the orb back, fighting against the pull with his own.

It was a struggle to maintain the ether he had as well as pulling off the orb. But as he did so he caught sight of some of the skeletons, well mortal beings now as they shambled about. They were no longer monstrous constructs but actual beings.

It was unsettling still to see his face on everybody, man, woman, child and elderly. Out of the ones he saw, he recognized some of them. One had his face but was clearly Hwyn, knowing that body after seeing it naked several times. The other group, a family, that was the couple and their child, the one he met when he ventured into the fracture at Ralaith's shrine.

Everything seemed to unsettle him, and he wasn't sure what kind of trial this was supposed to be. In all honesty, his main concern right now was living, and so he focused on flaying the orb that was flaying him, though the whispers of those around him echoed in his ear. Just what could they be saying? ☠

[Aegis]

Ashan 30, 719, Mayhaply

As Cervantez flayed the darkness, the power it had stolen from was beginning to return. And as he flayed, his thirst was skyrocketing, yearning for more and more flaying. And so, like a man who'd found water in the desert, Cervantez's spark drank it all up. The darkness continued to shrink and shrink until it winked out of existence.

With the darkness gone, the bright white light at the opposite end of the valley doubled in size. The light removed all shadows from the trial, and allowed Cervantez to see within the body of every being that was shambling around. He would be able to see that there were no souls within them, for of course not, they were undead. However, there were grey blobs within them, moving about, seemingly seeking out something.

As the bright light touched Cervantez, his flesh, organs, and muscles all grew back, quite painfully, as he felt each cell returning to him. The skeleton was no more, and Cervantez was back to normal. And he was full of dark, pure ether, his spark itching to consume it all. The shambling beings that had been wandering toward him, now wandered away. Those that had been wandering to the darkness now wandered toward him, while those heading for the bright white light, continued to do so.

The first of these latter ones reached it, and when it touched it, it converted fully into a person. A person that Cervantez would recognize. Several others joined it, and he would start seeing only familiar faces. After touching the white light, they began making their way back toward Cervantez. But there was no intelligence in their eyes, no souls in their chests. They were nothing but empty husks, shambling his way.

!	Message from: Aegis
	Questions are always welcome. I will post again on May 15th.

[Cervantez]

☠ Ashan 30, 719, Mayhaply ☠
☠ Mood: Confused - Panicked
☠ Company: Endless "Cervantez" Thralls
☠ Current Thought: Must reach the light
☠ Current Theme: Bury Me Low
☠ Attire: Skeletal Body

"Common Speech"

"Xantheon Speech"

☠ There was something satisfying about ddrinking up that ball of dark ether, something that made him want more. He could feel it in the center of his chest, the pit of his soul and he like it, but he wanted more. His soul yearned for more. And as the light of the orb at the other end touched his marrow like bones, he found he was being made whole again.

He roared as the pain of every fiber of muscle and organ reformed. It was unlike anything he had experience but he endured and found he was whole again. Looking tot eh corpses moving about their patterns changed. It seemed he had a following now, the corpses that went to the dark orb were now flocking to him. those that were coming after him were fleeing which was good, and the ones that were going for the other orb did so, and as they basked in the light they became whole just like him.

He noticed that, between the orbs. The dark one seemed to destroy one's own existence, whereas the white orb restored things to what they were. His mind wondered what would happen if he flayed that orb, and being the curious mind he was, he decided to practice that theory. As he walked he looked to those that had been restored to whole beings.

They seemed normal enough, but something was off, they may have looked normal but they still gave off this husk like air to them. What was different between his restoration and theirs? As he approached the bright white orb he could feel the want, the hunger to devour it. The ether called to him like that of a siren song. He couldnt resist the urge.

Lunging at the orb he flayed it, he flayed all he could from it. He couldnt help but wonder what this would do to him though. He knew that flaying was highly addictive, but what harm could truly come of this. It didnt matter his soul yearned for this ether, and he would surely give it to it. ☠

[Aegis]

Ashan 30, 719, Mayhaply

As Cervantez flayed away the ball of light, the energy he consumed was counteracting that from the orb of darkness. Within him, the energies were negating themselves all through him. His body, now back to its typical appearance, was now glowing with black and white power, all swirled through him, emanating from every piece of him. As these mingled energies touched the bodies around them, they returned back to skeletons, but still, moved about, aimlessly, shambling. Without either of the orbs, many of these were now seemingly lost, disconnected.

The power coursing through Cervantez gave him power of the world in here, but something was still missing. Something still needed to be found. As they bumped into one another, the fell apart, only to rebuild themselves once more. This continued to happen relentlessly and without rest throughout the trial. Cervantez had achieved balance but without purpose.

The powers within him were struggling to be contained. They were threatening to explode him, turn him into an infinite amount of pieces, body and soul, cast him into the winds as energy and dust. And the energy was beginning to fade now as it was consumed by Cervantez's necromancy spark. It wouldn't take long for all that energy to be gone, completely and forever. And Cervantez's spark was thirsting for it. The more it consumed, the more it wanted.

Cervantez was running out of time in his trial and would need to act fast, and correctly.

!	Message from: Aegis
	Questions are always welcome. I will post again on May 22nd

[Cervantez]

☠ Ashan 30, 719, Mayhaply ☠
☠ Mood: Confused - Panicked
☠ Company: Endless "Cervantez" Thralls
☠ Current Thought: Let me Free you then
☠ Current Theme: Bury Me Low
☠ Attire: Normal Body

"Common Speech"

"Xantheon Speech"

☠ As he thought, it was foolish to heed the hunger of flaying. He had been warned so many time about such a thing, the addiction to it. He could feel his spark devouring the conflicting energies as they clashed within him. He fell to his knees as the power writhed within him.

What could he do? He had no way of knowing the best possible route, not knowing how to pass this trial he had to undergo. There was so much information he hadn't learned before coming into this that

"Why do I need to do this trial?"

he whispered, hands clutching at his bare chest.

In those agonizing moments, something whispered into his ear. It was a voice, clear and ethereal all at once, and it answered him. "To determine that you’re strong enough to become pure." it said, this voice. The necromancer's eyes shot open when he heard it, looking to the skeletons shambling about, as they fell apart and reformed when making contact with one another.

He looked around for the source but felt his soul echoing far more than it had been during all this. he could only surmise it was his spark that spoke, as the thralls before him had no semblance of intelligence.

"Why do all of the thralls look like people I know?"

he asked, looking to the skeletal forms as they were now. "Because they were formed by you." it responded, which raised on brow on the necromancer's face.

He had made them? How could that be the case when he clearly saw them form on their own, from the light of the dark & light orbs that now swelled and raged within his being. It all still wasn't making sense so his inquiries continued.

"I did that? I created them?"

he asked to which another swift and ethereal response came. "Yes you created them"

That meant that someway somehow, he had sway over this place as a whole. Could he shape this place to his will now? Just what did it mean?

"What is this place?"

he asked, and the answer that came was not what he was hoping to hear. "This is my prison." those words felt like an immortal punched him in the gut, as he felt his heart stop a bit. This was his sparks prison? Is that why he felt so calm in front of the portal?

"Have you had your fill of this energy, it hurts?"

he asked as the pain was growing in intensity. "I don’t need the energy, you do." an answer that caused a brow to rise on the necromancer. Just what did it mean by than?

"What am suppose to do with it then, this energy?"

he inquired further. "That’s part of the trial." It was? That didnt help him figure out what to do, however.

"What happens if i unleash this energy, let it flow over this place?"

he asked hoping his spark would give him a feasable answer. "Part of your trial is figuring this out." Well that was just great, but knowing he had some control in some way over these thralls was a good thing.

In all honesty, this wasn't sounding any good to him, but he had more questions now that a channel of communication was open between him and his spark.

"If I'm the key, what happens to you when I unlock the door?"

he asked, not wanting to know the answer, but his curiosity getting the better of him. "I go back to where I belong." Where it belongs?

"Where is it you belong?"

the answer coming quick after being asked. "With the great spirit." There was a great spirit? His spark wanted to return to this entity, to leave him.

"You know me, I need more detail than this, what am i not seeing here?"

it seemed to sigh a bit before answering. "You’ve found balance, now you need to find your purpose." It wasnt an answer he was expecting, bt he felt a little better knowing he at least acheived something during this ordeal.

"My Purpose huh?"

he mumbled to himself, but his spark answered anyway "Yes"

"What happens to me If you leave me? We've been together for so long?"

he asked, clenching his chest tighter as the energy swelled. "I won’t leave you if you complete this. If you do, I can never leave you." That sounded contradictory to its earlier statements of wanting to be with the great spirit.

"What happens to this place, to me, once you return to wherever it is you belong?"

the necromancer asked. "It will be with you. You will be free of here. " Cervantez wasn't sure what it meant by that, was it trying to say that he'd always remember this place?

"What happens to me If you leave me? We've been together for so long?"

tears were forming on his face, odd given he had flaming orb for eyes now, as he didnt even want to know the answer to it. It hurt enough knowing he was holding the key to setting his spark free of this place, this prison as it was called. "I have loved every moment of it. We need to do this. Together." it answered, which caused tears of joy to flow. He was glad his spark was happy while with him, which made his next decision even more clear now.

He found his purpose at that moment. He knew that his goal wouldn't change. He wanted to make a place safe for others like him, for other mages. He was certain a place like that would be welcomed and appreciated among his kind. It would serve as a bridge to help others not like them to understand magic and see the good it can do. Even if he didn't have a spark, if he released it, his goal would still remain the same. So he knew his purpose now, and it was time to finish this trial.

"yes, i do think its time we finish this."

he noted as he stood up. he allowed a few more tears to fall before wiping them and holding out both hands. In his left, he focused and channeled the white energy and in his right hand came to dark. Bring both together he watched as the became one and swirled in a vortex of black and white, dark and light.

"Its time you went home old friend, to be free of this place. Know I'll cherish every memory I have of our time together and you will be dearly missed."

he spoke plunging both hands with the energy into the ground.

"As for this place, I will use this energy inside me to unlock the prison, so go and return to where it is you belong old friend."

he spoke allowing the energy within him to flow over the place, focusing on unlocking whatever door was holding his spark here. If he was the key, if he needed the energy, then he'd use it to unlock the door.

He was content in losing his park now that he finally had found what his purpose was, this energy would help fuel that purpose. Marriate would be happy to know her student final found his ambition. ☠

[Aegis]

Ashan 30, 719, Mayhaply

As the energies were combined within Cervantez, the entire Trial reverberated with the strength of the balance he was now achieving. The undead stopped unmaking and remaking, and instead, all turned whole and remained that way. They all turned toward Cervantez, walking toward him. There was no menace within them, no malice. As they reached the man, they disappeared inside of him, one after another, becoming one with him.

This continued until every undead was gone and Cervantez was left alone. A glowing purple gemstone slipped out of his chest, floating in front of him. It floated down to the combined energies, and unlocked the prison. The entire world flashed grey, blinding Cervantez temporarily. As his vision returned slowly, he'd find himself face to face with a storm of dust and decay and destruction. It whirled and raged and was prepared to destroy anything and everything.

And yet Cervantez would not yet be affected by it.

In the heart of it, his spark, the purple gemstone floated. The storm grew until it engulfed the entirety of the trial. Unmade and remade everything within it, except for Cervantez. But Cervantez could feel his bones, his cells, his very being becoming super charged with the power here. He would feel his soul changing. It was not a painful experience, but would certainly be quite the strange experience. All around him, faces of dead and alive could be seen, as now his body began to disintegrate into dust, fading into the storm. Again, this was not painful, but every bit of it would be felt.

And soon, Cervantez was gone.

But he did not remain that way. Soon, the storm reformed him, cell by cell, bit by bit, purged of the ether of Emea, and remade. His mutations fell away, his demonic hand fell away, and his spark was once more merged with him. The ether was replaced by a new power; Ephemera the power of nature and spirits. The Eternal warmed Cervantez, thanking him for freeing it, for it needed the bond of the soul to break out of this prison. And it returned to the great spirit that it was taken from. Cervantez was left standing upon a single, road of grey that led in a straight path to the exit.

Cervantez had been forever altered. He still maintained the tiniest part of his soul. Just enough to connect him to dreamscapes. But it would never be enough to house another spark again. However, along with the bit of soul was the core of a new spirit, the first and only of its kind. Cervantez had become something more, something new. He was now a Diri of Necromancy. This exchanged his power of ether for ephemera. A much kinder, more natural power than the foreign ether of Emea.

And this place, this training ground now answered to him and only to him. It was just as much a part of him as the magic he now represented. And so, when he reached the door, he would find that it would send him to wherever he wished to be in the world, from the date of Ashan 30th or later.

!

Message from: Aegis

Congratulations! You've now completed your trial and have become a Diri of Necromancy, the second spirit of any magic in all existence. Functionally, in terms of soul bits and stuff, Cervantez is now more akin to a Tunawa. We'll have plenty of things to discuss following this, but I'll try to clarify a few of them. 1. Cervantez still maintains his physical form while in Idalos. 2. Cervantez is now able to move back and forth freely into the Beneath and the Imaginings. While in these places, he'll have a spirit form that you may design. 3. Cervantez can never be initiated into another magic. 4. Functionally, Cervantez's Necromancy can still level up and use all of the same abilities as before. 5. Cervantez has lost all current mutations, including his witchmarks. He will no longer be required to have Awakenings. However, he can acquire overstepping mutations by standard means. 6. Cervantez may still reveal into Necromancy. However, this will be a custom revelation should that time come. 7. Cervantez's training ground is accessible to him at all times. He may enter there and control it just as it functioned during this trial. While in there, he will be in his Spirit Form. It takes time and concentration to enter it, so it cannot be accessed instantly. You may write up this as a location, and it will be attached to you if so desired. 8. Finally, Cervantez can initiate people into Necromancy by bringing them into his training ground and putting them through a trial of his own making. If initiated in this way, a person who fails will not die or become a monster, but simply be removed from the trial If you have ANY questions at all, please let me know. This is brand new content, and is one of a kind, so no question is too small or unimportant. You may exit Cervantez into anywhere else in Idalos. This should be done as either a new thread or as a new post in an existing thread of yours. These changes to Cervantez will take place from that timestamp onwards.

[Pegasus]

The Call: Thread Review

Overview: Cervantez

This was a really interesting thread to read. I went through it, not sure whether Cervantez was going to actually achieve anything, as he seemed very reluctant to do anything until your final post when he did all the things! It was very interesting to read, and to look at how he reacted to the grotesque events around him. Thank you for your patience in waiting for this review.

Enjoy your rewards - and, as always, if you've got any questions, drop me a PM.

Points

XP = 20
Renown = None

knowledge

Necromancy: Undead are what you make them
Necromancy: The Dead carry no sentience
Necromancy: No one necromancy spark is the same
Necromancy: A power from something greater
Necromancy: The magic that mimics the living
Necromancy: Untethered thralls are dangerous
Necromancy: Undead, the army that never sleeps
Necromancy: The answers to life & death begin with Necromancy
Necromancy: Experiencing being a marrow
Necromancy: Becoming one with your spark
Endurance: Being deconstructed & reconstructed
Endurance: Having unknown energy within your body
Endurance: The Weight of Ephemera
Discipline: Follow your instincts
Investigation: Questioning your Spark for more details
Detection: Noticing when there is danger
Detection: Seeing familiar faces on the undead
Leadership: Gaining command over a strange realm
Meditation: Achieving Balance
Meditation: Finding one's own purpose through self-reflection
Running: Fleeing from a horde of undead

Rewards

Mirror-Meld
A mirror which allows the person holding it to see themselves in any type of disguise / make up etc - as though it were done at expert or even master level of skill. Once a day, this will aid someone who is applying make-up (Cosmetology) or disguising themselves (Disguise) by making their skill effectively 1 level higher than it is. However, they must study the reflection in the mirror for a few moments, and apply the make up / disguise to themselves.