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[!] Another post for all to see as things happened in the Spire's spire. [!]

[Highsun 28, 1642]

Those who agreed to the call of helping forge Lady Ciren'na back together showed up at the spire. Ser Raime and Ser Adrian would hold the entrance open for others to escape if we fail.

In the spire, Lady Ciren'na explained how the ritual would work. "As the ritual begins, the crystal will try to shatter itself. You must hold it in a single piece. Raw anima may arc off of it, you must do your best to channel it into yourselves rather than let it tear this place asunder. Each shall channel their anima inwards, forming a shield of sorts around the circle. Should anyone fall, you must maintain the circle; do not let any side go unguarded. I trust I am understood?"

Everyone agreed. 

Each of the three Ciren'na's eyes began to glow in a sight that was familiar to some, as the crystal at the heart of the Spire began to glow similarly. Dim at first, then growing in pace as it illuminated fully. The air of the room was broken by a loud CRACK as the stone rings above our heads began to shift shape and begin to spin. The runes etched along the stonework began to glow a bright blue. A gentle weight begins to press outwards on the mage outside, before the gradual pace of things is broken by a lighting arc of anima that spans out from the crystal. It struck each of the three Ciren'nas in turn, each seeming to be taken aback by the force, quickly moving to brace themselves. The rings above spun faster still, and the air came alive with a certain feeling of spark on the tongue of each.

The first arc shot outwards, crashing into the ground between Lena and Nergui. The force grows ever stronger on each; it is now like the weight of a person leaning against each of them, an invisible force trying to push them outwards. A lighting bolt of Etheric energy charged outwards, crashing into Insis. The black-blue of the Ether sears into Insis' left shoulder, instantly blasting their left arm out of its socket and sending a searing pain of heat down to their core. The clothing covering their shoulder explodes into flames. This was just the beginning.

The Ciren'nas would rise up higher as the Etheric energy became more unstable within the room. As expected, it soon after breaks off, flying outwards with its speed as it barrels towards the ground, threatening to take out Keraer and Nia. Nia has stonework crash into her side as it sails over top of her, but she maintains her footing. Adrian is grazed to their left by an Etherdome that forms in a moment, collapsing Nia and Keraer outside of this reality as the stonework crashes against the outside of the dome and flies off into the wall of the chamber before settling on the ground. Bits of loose stone from the chamber's ceiling pebble down at the impact, but as Keraer and Nia reappear from their slipspace a moment later, they are left unscathed. The brief absence of the two is felt by Adrian and Lena however, who are both suddenly struck with a heavy force on their left and right sides respectively that threaten to throw them off balance.

The bottom ring, now fully off balance due to the large missing chunk, is spinning more rapidly, with jolts of anima arcing towards and from it. Another arc charges outwards towards Anwar and Aerwyn, bifurcating into the air to strike at them both. Anwar dives towards his right, towards Petrus - the bolt seems to whip around towards Aerwyn, and as Anwar and Keraer both attempt to cast to save the Arsa, both branches of the bolt reform into one and strike into the ground and at Aerwyn. They are blown back into the wall behind them with a loud crack of breaking bones, and as the bolt rips up the wall, it tears into the Ether, bringing the void to look back.

A bolt hits the elder Ciren'na a moment later, with half her face lit in an unholy blue. A soul-wrenching scream escapes the woman. This place at the core of the Aedellian lands was not without its own eccentricities. As the Ether is ripped open, shadows of the past phase in and out of the room, walking around. A pair near Siona manifest, speaking idly amidst all the chaos. "These ring-runes here serve as a means to control the crystal, you see?" They speak in Ancient Tongue.

Adrian holds Aerwyn's place, though the force is tearing at both their arcane abilities and their physical strength. Through great struggle, they maintain the stability of the circle. For now.

"Sadly we have not yet found a means of obtaining the large amounts of anima required." The other one beside the spectre speaking is scribbling down notes. Then they vanished.

Lady Ciren'na's face is half-burned with Etheric energy spreading across their skin like a leech. Another large chunk of the ring above cracks off, glowing runes and stonework flying down towards Kai and Insis. The stonework at Insis' feet crack as wooden vines manifest in a split second, only to crack heavily as they deflect the stonework over her head as it crashes into the wall behind them. The great Aedellian mural forms a large crack up its length. Then Kai dives out of the way, a bolt from the crystal crashes into the wall where the chunk of the stone ring just crashed into.

Another pair of spectres manifested near Lena. "No, I told her that I do not believe her father will survive until the ritual. I'm sorry." The other wept. "There must be something you can do, surely?!"

The rings continue to move faster, and the triplet of Ciren'nas now appear as six, as other half-spectral fragments form a ring around the crystal. Another remaining chunk of the ring above gives up the ghost, as it is flung outwards like a spear towards Raime.

The first shook their head. "Go spend time with her. She could use the company. We can continue our work while you are away." - The spectres fade again.

The stonework crashes into Raime, the sound of breaking wood and steel overpowered by the crash of the stone. The left of his hip is shattered into several small pieces as stonework at first bends then pierces through his armour, digging deep into flesh. As the stonework comes to a halt, Raime is pinned up against the wall between a rock and a hard place, with a piece of broken stone still impaled at his lower-left abdomen. Part of the archway over the entrance collapses.

The spectres of Ciren'na around the circle continue to duplicate, as other spectres of the woman appear around the room. The conversations are familiar to each in the room, though in different ways.

"- I do love to gossip over tea." Echoes beside Anwar. - "The Ether is a land of wonder, Adrian." - "And so you hide behind the mask?" - Snippets of conversation echo in and out throughout the room.

As those flanking her have suffered injury, Siona has to carry greater weight. The force against her slowly seems to weasel inside, her head itself feeling like it is being both crushed from the outside and exploding from within. The migraine rushes along her head. A bolt crashes to Siona's right, splitting another crack up the mural on the wall.

The crystal at the centre begins to crack. Its integrity seems unlikely to survive the remainder of this ritual.

Adrian is the first to face the consequences as the anima is channeled into their core, joined by Petrus a moment later. The tendrils of anima shoot outwards, and as the waterfall of energy hits each of them, their skin begins to glow a bright blue and any fabric bursts into blue flames as their skin is warped with tendrils of the Ether crawling over it.

Nia casted Kinetic Array to back up Nergui's spell of Tether. Nergui is not prepared for just how much force works against them. A bit like holding a hand against a large flooding gash in a submarine, they use their force to try to hold one bit of the crystal in place, just as others begin to break free. It's not nothing, but it's taking all their strength to simply accomplish this.

The tendrils dig into the living wall and crawl over and through the facade into Insis' being. It is a terrifying sight to see it inch towards them for several seconds before it hit their centre - a fire from within that spreads outwards like a drop of water spreading across a surface. As it radiates outwards, the tendrils of Etheric energy dig into them.

Nia and Nergui assist each other, continuing to physically hold the crystal overhead from shattering into multitudes, straining against their muscles. They hold it for now, but adrenaline only lasts so long - it quickly starts to overwhelm, and their strength threatens to falter.

Struggling on a foot, the moment Aerwyn exposed herself to the Anima, she was wholly unprepared. It knocked her back and caught her aflame, a searing heat that burns her cheek with both the touch of the void and touch of very real, mundane flame.

Another arc shoots outwards towards the elder Ciren'na. The woman is slowly consumed by the blue-black tendrils of the void, her shriek of pain silenced as it fills her lungs and covers her face. The woman's essence is melted into its base parts and force explodes outwards at Lena, Nia, Keraer, Adrian and Raime.

Nia was able to block but also her Tripewire activated causing fire to have fire burst out towards Lady Ciren’na and Petrus  who was swiftly saved by Insis to not get caught in the flames.

The youngest Ciren'na is up next; the many spectres around her begin to coalesce into her singular form as she is struck by a bolt of energy - similarly crying out as she is consumed by the void and condensed into the core of her being, letting out a shockwave of energy that ripples outwards towards Nergui, Kai, Insis, and Siona.

A flicker of Anwar's cast catches the corner of Siona as she is able to dive to the ground, a thud as she collapses onto the stonework and the whip-crack of the shockwave sails overhead. At this point the balance was heavily broken and the ritual neared its completion. It looked like the crystal was about to explode into hundreds of pieces as forces act on it unevenly. 

The final Ciren'na around the circle began to be consumed by the same etheric tendrils as the anima in the room hit a fever-pitch. Each of us in the circle began to drift off of the ground into the air. The look on Lady Ciren'na's face as she is consumed seems to be one of a brief terror as she is consumed, unable to even shriek in pain for her lungs are consumed by the tar of the void. She too is condensed into something without form; but rather pure essence, sending out a wave of energy that is more easily dodged by those closest as they are light on their feet and can maneuver out of the way, though it still knocks them into a bit of a spin, namely Petrus, Anwar, and Siona. As the condensed energy of the patron swirls, the crystal begins to light erratically, the cracks glowing with a blinding light that is hard to look at.

Jolts of energy shoot outwards, striking the walls of the room. Each of the mages felt weightless as the Ether seems to consume more and more of the room around them. Floating weightless, we continue to sail upwards as the air itself is energized.

Light blinded us; in a moment, we all saw an overgrown remnant of the chamber in the far-future. Plants abound as nature has reclaimed what was once civilization. A flash later, and we see the past - the chamber filled with Aedellian mages, working tirelessly.

We then return to the present, bolts of energy still shooting outwards, the void consuming more and more of the chamber. As the crystal reaches the apex of its power, the stone rings all begin to spin and shake haphazardly, the spire itself barely holding together.

The ritual completes, the crystal discharges a shockwave of anima outwards that knocks each of floating mages into a topple. Yet the Crystal is now unstable, the chamber being consumed by the void.

Each casts outwards, bending and bringing the anima about to heel as they seek to prevent calamity. Anwar is struck down by a bolt, though with the blurred vision of Petrus and Siona as he is knocked back, he finds the self-courage to bring himself back to his senses, continuing to join the effort. The mages float about the room, proverbial needles at the edge of the seams, tying them shut. Losing to the waterfall, they begin to push back; once they make it over the crest, they are on the offense! Time seems to pull back inwards as each relive a moment at the start of the ritual; then, blown outwards to the walls of the chamber, each collapses to their feet - and the air grows silent. Still.

Cracks in stonework remain, the remaining evidence of what happened here, as each is left with etheric scars across their body, black tendrils marring their bodies. Stillness hangs in the air, though each feels a notable absence - our power of the arcane. We are divorced from it. 

We couldn't cast anything. But then purple floating orbs came from the inking darkness of the pit only to fly around the crystal. 

A moment's hesitation, then each has that hand grasped. Their minds flooded with ideas and knowledge; skills of the arcane. It floods through them, like a warm fire after sitting out in the cold. New thoughts, even, swirl about. A feeling of elation is infectious in the room. The Patron Ciren'na, the Meddling One, is no more. The Patron Ciren'na, The Ambitious is born anew. The purple lights in the room take the shape of an outline of their Patron, looming overhead. Her voice fills each of their minds. "You, the bravest of the mages I have known. I thank all of thee."

Everyone seemed to rejoice in this as anima filled the room and restored us with energy. 

"There is little I would not grant you all in my power. There is so much, I see it now. Such a beauty to the world and all that dances about it. I had always thought so small, of the politics and competition,"Ciren'na spoke. "Yet there is such beauty, such wonder in that which we have yet to find. I shall be glad to share of it with you." The large visage scanned across the room, looking at each.

"Rest now, my friends. You have more than earned such." Her hand waves, and the room is filled with four banquet tables, filled with treats, drinks, and food. "I now will ensure the behemoth in the void remains in his chains. We will speak again. Soon."

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Written by Nia Belot

Advisor to the Magister