[✗] Rune of Purging, Runesmithing Addition

[Josh3738 1712]

 

Preface

The aged dwarf looked out into the expanse of the desert with a calmed countenance as the sun began to sink slowly beneath the snowcapped mountains in the distance. He exhaled slowly and closed his eyes once more as he mentally noted the closing of his seventh day in meditation. He vaguely remembered the purpose of his purpose in beginning this state but the thoughts had long since turned from their original purpose to that of a more pressing issue. As the North had fallen to the corruption and taint of the undead, so had many an eye in The Citadel turned from the promise of research to that of preparation. Yet what could the runesmiths do against such expansive corruption? The tools gifted unto them by the mighty Yemekar had only gone so far in the ever present war against the undead and would take them no further. As these thoughts danced slowly about his mind, a familiar voice echoed from deep within his mind, “Then give the runesmiths a tool”. His eyes opened slowly as the thoughts came to him. Yes… A tool is what we need.

 

A tool. For that was what the runesmiths needed to fully join this fight against the undead. Time and again they had watched from the sidelines as the clerics and ascended had stepped forth from the rank and file of the descendents to spread the light of their deity across the tainted landscape, purifying it of the corruption that undeath had so unceremoniously cast upon it. Surely there was sense and science to this method. Some natural means by which these magi had cast their power outward to cleanse and cure. So this was the pursuit the runelord set out upon. A tool to purge the corruption.

The Pursuit

 

“If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

Sun Tzu, The Art of War

As any good tactician might tell you, the first step in defeating any enemy is knowing them. In learning about your enemy, you discover weakness and failure where previously you saw only strength. In this same mindset, so must we seek for answers to expand our knowledge. In doing so we inevitably provide ourselves with the tools necessary to counter every question. It is here that the runelord began his journey, one that would take him far beyond the halls of The Citadel.

 

Before a tool can be developed to fight the corruption, it is necessary to test it, to study it, and to learn from it. To do so many samples were required, warranting an expedition deep into the lands of the undead and indeed to the fallen city of Bastion. Alongside several compatriots the runelord traveled far into the north, evading the undead along the way, and arrived below the walls of Bastion where the group gathered samples of the corruption to take home with them. After days of travel, they arrived and completed their mission before returning to The Citadel where the taint was locked away in vats and containers in a high security lab deep below ground.

 

It was from here the testing would begin, but the question immediately arose as to where he should even begin and the thought occurred to him that this had all started from thoughts of the ascended and clerics doing the same task which he aspired to replicate. It seemed only common sense then to seek out those who had already done so and learn everything they knew on the subject of corruption.

 

The studies began by sending a bird to an old cleric friend of Zahrer’s, Ser Rosencrantz Revandir, who arrived within the stone hour alongside one of his apprentices. As Zahrer escorted them down to the lab chamber, he briefly explained the goals of the project and the expedition to attain the samples. As they entered the viewing chamber, of the project lab, Rosencrantz began his explanation. He explained slowly, answering the questions Zahrer posed to him as he went through and he mentally stored all the answers as well as the explanations. As the hour or two drew to a close, he nodded slowly as he already began to mentally piece together a solution to the root rune. With a warm smile and a bow of his head, Zahrer watched the clerics depart before eagerly setting to work.

 

The Testing

From beginning to end, the process of testing runes is both tedious and dangerous. As the runelords of the Hall of Urguan quickly discovered, runes that were incorrectly made or too powerful for the materials they were carved into were likely to simply explode or worse. Within the testing labs of The Citadel, the Arcadians worked slowly through the various processes of discovering cures and solutions to various forms of problems, but it was the issue of creating a root rune involving corruption and taint that served as more of a problem than much else. As the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months, the prospect seemed utterly hopeless and the studies seemed to bring them no closer to finishing the rune than when they started so far back. It was not until several years later did a breakthrough finally come to light…

 

Late one night in one of the labs, the quiet tapping of hammer against chisel and chisel against stone sounded through the empty halls of the lower labs, all the researchers having gone to bed quite some time ago. The rune itself was incredibly complex, the culmination of years of work and research put into a single example of the runelord’s power as he chiseled a final circle into a section of the rune. With tired hands, he slid the stone rune into a long fixture in the form of a metal arm braced over a small bowl of tainted goo. Having done so, he proceeded through the vault door and into the viewing chamber where he took a seat in a small wooden chair with a groan. Expecting little to come from the test, he leaned back in his chair and said the activation word while he lifted his glass of bourbon from the table, his attention entirely focused on it rather than the test. He closed his eyes slowly as he savored the flavor before looking into the room beyond the reinforced glass. The drink slipped from his hand, the glass shattering as it hit the stone floor, sending shards of it and its contents across the ground. He slowly stood with his hands against the glass as he peered into the room with an expression of utter disbelief and shock. The bowl was empty…

 

With frantic and excited movement, he made his way back into the lab nearly forgetting to put on his protective equipment as he did so before frantically lifting the bowl from the table. Empty! He raised it above his head, shouting an old dwarven victory chant as he jumped up and down around the room. As he finished his celebration he quickly went to pour some more goo into the bowl, placing it beneath the rune once more before stepping back and saying the activation phrase once more. What happened next could only be considered Zahrer’s fault as the rune simply exploded into two halves. While one half shot backwards, embedding itself in the stone wall of the lab, the other shot straight at Zahrer, tearing through his protective equipment and shooting through the flesh of his upper arm before going out the back of his gear, through the reinforced window and embedding itself in the stone wall of the room beyond. He cried out, clutching his arm as he fell to the floor. Despite the shallowness of the cut, it began to bleed profusely and the blood seeped through the grip on his arm and dripped down his fingers and onto the floor. He stood slowly, still clutching his arm, and made his way slowly to the door where a pair of servant golems had been waiting with bandages as well as a mop and bucket. While one attempted to rectify the large mess he had made within the lab and observing room, the other began to roughly bandage his arm, the stone fingers making the process painfully slow and equally as uncomfortable. As the lab was once more secured and the breaches contained, he dug the two halves of the rune from the walls and placed them on the table before him in the lab once more. What had gone wrong this time that had not gone wrong during the previous test? This, he determined, would require much more research.

 

Lore Details ((OOC))

Simply put, the single rune is merely an addition to current runesmithing lore in that it would act as a root rune in much the same fashion that the elements work in the current lore. The difference, however, is that it current state as an exceptionally newly created rune means there is little knowledge yet known in the application of this rune in the manner of how it may be applied. As such, the beginning of this rune would start, as rply described, simply as a Destroy + Corruption/Taint/Etc. rune. With that said, there would be no other uses as yet know by its creators until such a time as it is further researched and would be classified more or less as one of the Divine Runes due to its minimal functionality and uses outside of simply removing taint.

 

Now for every LMs favorite thing, Red Lines!

 

The rune may only be applied to natural occurrences (ie. landscapes, tainted forests, etc.) and would not work in exceptionally corrupted and tainted places such as The Nether.

 

The rune may not be used on any living creature afflicted with taint. This means that it cannot be used to purge any undead or taint spawning creature.

 

The rune itself is incredibly complex in nature and construction. As such it would take even a runelord quite some time to carve a single rune, preventing any large scale manufacture of these runes.

 

The rune itself is entirely dependent on the skill of the runesmith in regards to its power as well. A skilled runelord might be able to clear out a larger area whereas a novice would only be able to clear out a very small one, if he was able to make the rune at all.

 

With the excessive output of power from the rune needed in order to physically purge the taint, the rune then becomes unstable and may not be used again. Any attempt to do so will result in concussive repercussions.

 

As previously stated, the rune expels a large amount of energy in its use. This makes it likely to explode on the first use let alone the second. I might suggest this be presented in the manner of rolling to determine if it explodes or not. A 50/50 blow up/don’t blow up chance is my thought but I’m open to raising the the chances of it blowing up if that makes a bit more sense in a given scenario.

[itdontmatta 7192]

How do I acquire this new knowledge?

 

what kind of corruption can this be used on???

[Josh3738 1712]

40 minutes ago, arockstar28 said:

How do I acquire this new knowledge?

 

what kind of corruption can this be used on???

0

 

 

As it stems entirely from the research of Zahrer, he would be able to teach it to others.

 

As for what kind of corruption, it would work more so on corruption as made by the living creators of it. An example of this would be the taint surrounding Bastion as that was where many of the samples came from irp.

[Dtrik 330]

If this was added, runesmithing would be a magic that includes all magics. Purging, voidal, enchantments, wards, anything really. With no drawbacks like how other magics have. Seems sketchy to me tbh to allow all magics within one. 

 

When it comes to the level of the runesmith/runelord the ability for a player to jump from a theoretical t1 to a t5 is insane (like any magic) but for the effects to vary based on the skill of the runesmith would, in my opinion, end up with very few theoretical t1-t3 runes of purging and the player assumption of them being able to create t4-t5 sooner than it should be. I also feel that only a handful of players would accept a 50/50 chance of blowing up. Knowing staff too, since many do not have in depth knowledge of lore, if a t1 purging object was used it would purge more than what would actually be purged mcly. Would also reduce religious role play as these objects would circulate around as more players decide to create and sell the objects causing the need for religious orders to actually go out and rp purge land. I trust players, but only to a certain extent.

[GodEmperorFlam 3447]

Thank you for submitting your piece! It is now under review and a verdict will be given on the 26th.

[GodEmperorFlam 3447]

We thank you for the effort put into your piece, but unfortunately it is denied. The team feels runesmithing can already do a lot and adding something like this extends into other areas such as holy magic or druidism.

 

Topic moved to Denied Lore forum.