first invocation

[redprayer]

Priest's Progress [Vault]

In a corner of one of the Vault's training rooms, Rezo is standing very still, holding a shakujo-style staff in front of him. At the same time he can be heard chanting in a foreign tongue, and as he chants, air begins to swirl around the tip of his staff, rattling the metal chimes together. The currents grow faster and stronger, whipping his hair and the ends of his coat around dramatically, and then-

"{Diem Wing.}"

-Rezo stomps the end of his staff against the ground and the wind whooshes outward in a circle away from him, knocking over several targets in the process. The closer they are, the more likely it is they've been sent flying.

Of course, any coolness is then undermined by Rezo having to shuffle around and right the targets up again...

Dewey Decimal-less [Vault]

It's been long enough since he was rescued that Rezo has gotten more comfortable with reading Imperial, such that he's started to read more for specific subjects than he is for the sake of reading practice.

That said, he's still learning to navigate the Vault library and his reading isn't exactly fluent yet. After another shelf proves to be of no use to him, Rezo exhales; then perks up when he hears someone approaching.

"Excuse me. I'm trying to find books on a particular subject...?" Hopefully you're someone who normally helps out at the Vault library. Or that you're a generally helpful sort.

Spirit Surgery [Locked to Ziel]

Rezo's fairly sure that Ziel doesn't believe that Rezo can help him. Or maybe it's Rezo who has his own doubts. Still, Rezo does have a little background in soul research- in manipulating astral bodies beyond just exploding them- so he seems to be the best shot Ziel has at treating such an unusual injury.

Settling on a time to meet in between the preparations for the Corsairs' latest mission was simple enough even if nothing else is likely to be, and when the time comes by Rezo is sitting quietly in his room awaiting a knock at the door. When he hears it, he answers it promptly.

"Ah, Ziel? Please, take a seat."

Rezo flips on the overhead light and stands aside so Ziel can enter. The Vault dormitories aren't exactly the most reputable of spaces for a doctor's office, but Rezo's doing his best with the space he has. His room is neat and tidy, with most personal effects tucked away, and he's found a spare chair and a set of medical tools that he's set on a side table.

As soon as Ziel's inside and the door is shut, Rezo asks "How have you been feeling?"

Comments

Spirit Surgery

[achelord]

Ziel had stood out in the hallway for a minute, trying to decide if this was worth his time. Over the last few years he’d hunted down dozens of so called specialists or miracle cures. None of them had helped, and he wasn’t sure why this strange, very polite, blind priest would be any different.

But if he just left and took another nap, he’d always wonder. It was that last spark of hope that never quite went out, no matter how much he wished it would.

Eventually, Ziel knocked on the door and was invited in. He took a seat and adopted his usual slouch while looking around disinterestedly.

“Eh. I’ll live.” He said, with a shrug. “Or I won’t. One of those.”

He didn’t say, “do you actually think this will work?” But the question was occupying a lot of his brain.

[redprayer]

Rezo takes a seat on the one other chair in the room, folding in on himself slightly to compensate for the relatively small amount of space in the room. It's not a closet by most means, but with two tall men in here, one of whom is built like a solid wall of beef, it's a little cramped.

Ziel's answer is a little noncommittal, so Rezo decides to be a bit more specific. "Have there been any noticeable changes in your condition since we last spoke?" Rezo asks.

[achelord]

A sigh. “No, it hasn’t changed. It’s frustratingly stable.”

Which was the crux of the problem. Ziel’s life had felt in stasis since that day. No forward or backward progress.

[redprayer]

Rezo, meanwhile... Well, he has the tact not to actually say 'Oh, good,' but he does think it simplifies matters for him.

"What about your meditation? How is that going?"

[achelord]

He used to have a dedicated cycling chamber, lined with magical materials that all resonated with the very concepts of force and motion. Now…

“I found a place where people won’t trip over me while I’m doing it. That’s progress.”

[redprayer]

Rezo chuckles. "I'm glad to hear it," he says. It probably is better that Ziel is getting tripped over less. Fewer injuries all around that way.

"Now, there are a few things I'd like to go over before we begin. Magic that directly affects the spirit is an underdeveloped area of research in my world. I happen to have more knowledge on the matter than most, but any treatment I can give you will be experimental."

They've already more or less covered this, but Rezo figures he'd better make it clear and confirm matters before he indulges in irresponsible magics.

In a calm, cool voice, Rezo continues. "If anything goes wrong, there is a possibility that I could worsen your condition. I could also damage your mind, and perhaps even kill you. Knowing this, will you still allow me to proceed?"

[achelord]

“I don’t think it’s particularly well understood here either…”

But he actually did pause at that. He might end today a vegetable, or with the pain even worse than it is already. Does he want to risk what little he has left?

…This isn’t a life. Wandering from place to place, forever chasing after rumors, with the pain constantly hovering over him. Every second of every day, it sat there, in the back of his mind. Like he was full of broken glass. One wrong action and it would start tearing into him again, but even if he stood perfectly still it still hurt.

“…I’ve got nothing to lose at this point. Nothing worth anything, anyway.”

[redprayer]

Ah. That's about the answer Rezo was expecting, but Ziel may still catch a flicker of something in Rezo's expression before it's back to the doctorly calm.

"...I understand. Then let us proceed."

Rezo gets to his feet and moves a little closer to Ziel. "We'll start with a brief physical exam. It won't be anything elaborate, but I'd like to have an idea of your physical body before I work on your spirit body."

[achelord]

“Alright.”

Ziel went along with more or less whatever Rezo said. His physical body showed the signs of someone who had had trouble sleeping for years.

Beyond that, the thing that stood out were his horns, which weren’t made of any kind of organic matter. They were magical constructs that were part of a larger system of magic channels woven through his body.

Priest's Progress

[newmemorywhodis]

Link had come to shoot a few lazy targets himself - but he's soon distracted by what Rezo's doing. Abandoning all plans to practice his archery, Link comes over just in time to see the targets fall.

"...You control wind?" Link says, looking at the fallen targets with interest. Like Revali, and Yulin.

Dewey Decimal-less

[purplexing]

Donnie's so used to accidentally sneaking up on people that he's surprised to be addressed then. "Oh, hey." He smiles a little once he realizes who it is.

"I can try? At least I memorized most of the sections," he offers. While he doesn't work here, the boy certainly spends a lot of time in the library. "What are you looking for?"

[redprayer]

The horns do catch Rezo by surprise when his hand brushes against them.

"Oh-" After a little breath of surprise, Rezo begins feeling out the shape of them. This may or may not be weird for Ziel.

"Are these natural?" Rezo asks. The rest of Ziel's body is perfectly human, as far as he can tell.

[redprayer]

"Hm? Oh, yes. {Air shamanism.} Elemental magic."

Rezo stoops to right one of the toppled targets. It's densely stuffed, but not all that heavy- he could use something sturdier to test the strength of his air magic, he reflects. What he's using at the moment are meant for archery practice.

"...Link, wasn't it?" Rezo remembers him. The young man who'd encouraged him to eat when he'd first arrived.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods, as he steps forward to help Rezo pick up all of the fallen targets. Yes, he was Link.

...And then he remembers Rezo's blank white eyes. He can't just get away with nodding with him, can he?

"...Yes," he says.

[redprayer]

Rezo's expression and posture relaxes slightly as he recognizes the voice. From past experience, he knows that Donnie's a good person to work with.

"I'm interested in finding more information on the Old Gods of Esthere," he says. "The Church of the Divine is of some interest to me as well, but the old gods seem to be more elusive."

rezo's eyes are actually brown ftr!

[redprayer]

"Oh, thank you."

There's a bit of silence while the two of them work on picking up the targets, during which Rezo slowly comes to realize that Link is unlikely to ask Rezo to elaborate on the wind thing. And it may be up to Rezo to carry the conversation.

It's not ideal, but after a bit Rezo asks "Have you been well?"

[purplexing]

"Huh. can't say that's a subject I've explored in depth," if at all, Donnie admits. Still, he looks around to figure out where they are before he closes his eyes for a moment, calling up the layout as he's memorized it.

"Let's see...this is mostly culture-related so I guess technically you weren't too far off. Religion was..." He's looking around again, squinting at the bindings on the nearby shelf to pick out what words he can read before he wanders towards the end of the row. "Gimmee a second," he says before going off to check. No point in dragging Rezo along if they end up in the wrong place.

[achelord]

“No, it’s a goldsign. A side effect of a ritual I underwent when I was a boy. Makes certain kinds of magic easier to use.”

It also made him particularly vulnerable to the specific kind of torture he had gone through. Some Imperial officer out there had done research on the best way to completely disable someone like him. Ziel contemplated this hypothetical person and his face twisted into something between a smirk, a grimace, and a growl.

It wasn’t for Rezo, so it was just as well he couldn’t see it. Keeping his voice steady despite the moment of rage and frustration, Ziel went on to list any details he could think of that the blind priest might need for this.

It’s a whole bunch of magibabble. We probably don’t need to cover ALL of it.

whoops let's pretend I didn't get that horribly wrong!

[newmemorywhodis]

Unfortunately, Link isn't exactly the most talkative of people. Or talkative at all. A fact he demonstrates immediately by giving an affirmative hum in response. Yes, Link's been find. And who even needs words?

But Rezo will hear the sounds of Link as he runs about, righting all of the fallen targets. Link might be quiet, but at least he's quick - in no time at all, they're all standing again.

And then, because it turns out Link does have a question, he asks: "How far?" Could Rezo's wind go as far as Revali and Tulin's? Maybe even further?

[redprayer]

"I've heard few people speak of them, even after joining the Corsairs," Rezo remarks. In fact he sometimes thought he heard them spoken of a little more by the Imperials, as one of various abominations that the Empire fought against.

Rezo doesn't really mind wandering around the library- he's not especially busy right now- but as Donnie indicates, Rezo stands aside to let Donnie go on ahead. "I'll wait here."

[purplexing]

"I've never really heard many talk about it here either. Have you ever met Angelika? She might be someone to ask about that sort of thing."

Donnie's father had been his main source of any information, and he'd never really touched upon religion of any sort. The life they lived was rather laid back in general, and there are days when Donnie can't help but be a little wistful for those times when they'd been blissfully ignorant of any goings on with the Empire. But maybe that's what his father had been protecting them from, all that time, in his own way...

The turtlekin tries not to take too long in his search, the most time-consuming part of it being picking out titles that might have any relevance to what Rezo sought. He comes back when he thinks he's found something.

"A couple rows down. I don't think it's that big a section, but I think it might have something?"

[redprayer]

The magibabble is a little tricky for Rezo to parse, being very technical talk in Rezo's second language, but he patiently listens and asks a few questions when he isn't sure about the meaning of anything.

He also at one point taps his fingers against one of Ziel's horns and asks "Can you feel this?" Followed by rubbing it and asking "What about this?"

This isn't strictly necessary, Rezo's just a curious guy.

Once he's satisfied he understands the nature of Ziel's goldsign, Rezo's quiet for a bit, mulling over the information. Eventually, he admits "Your situation is reminiscent of something that a few people have undergone in my own world. Though it isn't always voluntary. We call them {chimera.}"

[redprayer]

"Hm? Are you asking how far I can send my air spells?" Rezo thinks about it, doing some mental calculation. "I think some of the stronger spells could travel several miles before fading out. Although truthfully it isn't an aspect I've studied in depth." He idly twirls his staff, making the rings on it chime together.

"With air magic, the focus is generally on controlling the direction and the force of the spell. It's normally utilized for flying, to knock your opponents off their feet, or to create shields."

[achelord]

“They don’t have feeling but I can still tell you’re poking my head.”

Ziel doubted how much this part of the procedure was necessary, but humored him. Not much bothered him, anymore.

He couldn’t help a flicker of interest in what Rezo was saying. “{Chimera}, huh?” He mused, carefully pronouncing the foreign word.

“The gold ritual requires a lot of meditation and cultivation of power, so it would be difficult to force someone through it against their will…” how WOULD you forcibly ascend someone? Ziel supposed a powerful enough mage could do it, but the results wouldn’t be terribly impressive compared to someone doing it on purpose.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link's eyes widen. Several miles?! Revali and Rulin couldn't come anywhere close to that.

"So far?" Link says - and it's clear from the tone of his voice that he's amazed.