Open Chronicles [The coven] Dangerous mattles with dangerous consequences

[Asuego 'Susanna']

Somewhere in the woodlands near a grouping of menhirs...


The book of shadows laid open on a page titled 'trapping demons into items'.
It was one of the 'natural' ways of enchantment. Or at least a way that the many academic magicians disapproved of, for indeed it could quickly go awry.

As the page stated; summon a demon of the plane of Oboras through the sigil of his realm, whip it with a rod of Yew into submission and compel it to enter the object of desire.
A circle of salt should be drawn around every person in presence. This is the only way to be protected from demonic influence.

It has been some time since the witches of the Leafsie lord joined together. The coven naturally fluctuated, but there was no need to be together forever. Each witch had her own duties to attend too. But today was special, it was in relation to the young Selina Altas, who was preparing for a rite in need of many witches.
Asuego believed the young, maiden witch had grown marvellously independent, and her curiosity was a valuable asset to her learning. With some discussion with Medea weeks prior, Asuego decided to gift the youth with a copy of the fifth edition of the Encyclopedia Infernalis to call her own. It was a valuable asset, and it would show the many names and sigils with which to call for demons, as well as the names of the many witches apparatus and their usage.

Though the calling of demons by a novice witch was never a safe ordeal. Especially one that has barely tapped into the realm of demons, and barely forged a reputation among the otherworldly. Perhaps a little bit of divination would help clear the mist of assumption?

 

[Farzad Oldsummer]

“I tried to discover, in the rumor of forests and waves, words that other men could not hear, and I pricked up my ears to listen to the revelation of their harmony.”
- A Lost Memory
​

Before he travelled in a wasteland born on the backs of corpses and corpulence, before that he was spiralling down a chasm lampooned with cave arts from times immemorial and before that he was in a city that sprawled and spiralled with long tendril roads that cut into the very hearth of the earth. He wasn't certain how he had managed it. He wasn't certain how he managed much these days. Ever since escaping the grasp of death he seemed to be losing long tracts of travel. He always had a penchant for covering vast distances in the wrong way, but this was getting a little out of hand.

Hand.
​

That was what was off. He brought his hands to his mouth, a small doll in his palms that was about the only thing about him that matched, creepy like the air, elongated like the trees and dirty like the... well the dirt. He took in a deep breath, fractions of ice emitted in cold breaths as he breathed warm air that quickly evaporated to the whims and wills of this primeval that had surrounded him. But they kept his hands a little warmer even in his multiple layered gloves. "Ohhh boy Sellia." Farzad whispered through the pulsations of magic and arcane that buried itself between the roots, that swirled between soft wind's and dancing leaves.

"What have I gotten us into this time?"
​

He was talking to the doll. It may have dripped with magic, but it lacked any form of sentience. Just nice company for the road. Even if the thing didn't look like good company, didn't act like good company and overall wasn't good company. But it was nice to pretend.

Rule *8; If you have to travel alone. Don’t travel.
​

He'd personally never been good at it. Keeping company was hard to do when you were Farzad. He wasn't sure what it was about him. Maybe it was the antics? The constant danger? The fact he would often split up without telling other people? He wasn't sure but he didn't have time to worry. He ducked under a great root that twisted and crawled its way through the dirt and stone bending every way like a great worm in paralysis before hearing odd noises in the distance. The call to adventure? Maybe. A call he was going to follow. Probably.

 

[Selina Della Altas]

Selina was elated at having a book related to the new craft she was trying to learn. Since the moment the Encyclopedia was gifted to her she didn't put it down until she had read it cover to cover, then she went through and did a focused topic by topic study of the book and its wealth of knowledge.
And now she was gathered again with her sisters and mentors and they were going to guide her through the process of enchanting a simple dagger by binding a demon with it and utilizing its power.

This method of enchanting was totally new to Selina, she was used to using magic itself and special tools and materials to create enchantments and place it on the object. Needless to say she was overflowing with excited energy.

She stood in the grove in her dark clothing and cloak with her hood thrown back revealing her full head of black hair that descended down her back in glossy locks.
She held a twisted wooden staff that bore the markings and enchantments of a powerful arcane focus.
While she trusted in the precautions of the rituals it was wise to have a backup plan, and she knew a couple spells that could deal with a demon should something go wrong.

"Please don't tease me, sister! I'm dying from anticipation! How do we begin the ritual?"

 

[Medea]

Medea sat upon a branch rising from the ground, a rod of yew in her hand and pale eyes glancing between her sisters as they prepared for the ritual at hand. Around her, small flowers began to blossom and bloom, stretching out underneath her form as a blanket across the wood.

Though it was only revealed with the slightest of smiles, the grove witch was delighted at the sight of Selina's pure elation at the prospect of learning the ways of the Leafsie Lord. Oh, the excitement on the young girl's face when they handed her a copy of the Encyclopedia Infernalis! Medea doubted Selina could've put it down even if she wanted to.

Such desire for knowledge was a promising trait in any enterprising witch and, should she manage to harness the skills necessary to utilize it, Medea had no doubt she could grow to great heights. However, such things were often easier said than done. Demons were fickle beings, and to call upon their services was always a risky thing—especially for a novice unknowledgeable in their ways.

"Patience, young one. The magic we practice is many things. One thing it is not is quick." Though her face was stern, a small chuckle soon followed her words. "Your excitement is infectious, though. My dear sister Susanna, what say you? Are all the preparations in order?"

Asuego 'Susanna' | Farzad Oldsummer | Selina Altas

 

[Asuego 'Susanna']

Medea Selina Altas Farzad Oldsummer

»Oh dear, what are you waiting for, the grove is yours to command. I trust you have the courage to conduct the ritual as the head, and we will only work as more wells of might for the rite.« Though Susanna's face sullied rather soon.
»Summoning a demon here is unlike a familiar contract, « she warned the young sorceress. »No demon likes to be trapped within an object. Any break in your composure it will try to abuse, for what does a wolf think when you approach it looking like a hedgehog!«

 

[Farzad Oldsummer]

The air became thick and musty, a combination of the abstruse nature of the land and forlorn magical winds. They were fresh in a way. Untapped. Untampered. Unfounded. It was that last thought that put Farzad in a spin, eyes becoming mystified by it all, twisting in colouration to the chimes of natures own magical pact. He knelt down a little. Pulling out a small vial and twisting his hand into the soft growth of dirt. It was leaves mostly, dug between with fat worms untouched and unknown to the fears of the mortals that seemed to rule the world.

"No matter how far our reach stretches. It seems the roots of trees are always a little further away."​

He was soft and quite in this forest, whether reverence or panic he still wasn't sure, but placing the small vial back into some unknown hole in his myriad of clothing, Farzad slowly began to skim through untapped and tarnished wilderness until a soft wind carried cackled voices made long, with tones born from unforgotten, yet best untouched ages.

 

[Asuego 'Susanna']

Farzad Oldsummer Medea Selina Altas

What is done is done, and Asuego could now only watch for any mistakes that may come forth and ward against them.
Among the witches utensil, cauldrons, brooms, wands, staves, sickles, knives and needles were swords too.
For with what else would a witch defend against a demon if her word had failed?
The cold iron blade at her hip which was borne of demon blood will shake a demon to it's imagined bones.

 

[Selina Della Altas]

Selina licked her lips. She had studied the ritual forward and backward and had studied everything they gave her on the subject. If she was anything she was a good student, her ability to memorize nearly anything at a glance served her well in her magical studies.

She approached the ritual circle and knelt in her assigned spot. She laid out the material components, used her staff as her focus, and began the incantation.

As a wizard this wouldn't be her first encounter with a demon, but a little imp was a far cry from the sort of demon this ritual was prepared to contain. The elemental energy began to swirl around her as she began to focus that same energy through her staff which made it available for her to use.

 

[Victoria O'Connor]

Through whisper and rumor Victoria tracked the coven. It wasn’t difficult if one knew what to listen for. The dark arts all held similarities with one another, although she had to admit that in this case the parallels were... lacking.

Vampires delved into rituals, blood craft, and the dark, but witchcraft, true witchcraft seemed much dirtier. Literally, the spells often required dirt, or plants, or some part of a chicken. It seemed very crude and beneath her station, but she couldn’t argue with their results.

She needed those results, now. Annoyingly holy sects we’re beginning to form in her lands, and she knew the infection needed to be excised before it spread.

She did not expect them to be in the middle of a ritual when she arrived, though, so she she stood at the edge, watching from the sidelines.

 

[Medea]

Medea stood from her sat position, the Grove Witch taking the gnarled wooden branch that was her staff and carving a circle into the dirt around her. Taking a pinch of salt out of the earlier prepared bowls set up by the ritual, she sprinkled it into the sunken earth as the foundation of her defensive enchantment. She had no desire to fight off demonic influence today. It was so tiring to do, after all, and she hadn't the time for it.

Satisfied with her protections, her gaze drifted upwards, intending to land upon their young apprentice. However, her attention was instead caught by the appearance of an unfamiliar woman, crimson hair atop curious crimson eyes.

"It appears we have guests," she observed. "Surround yourself with salt, spread it in a circular fashion and without deviation. Quickly now, there isn't much time for dallying." Her voice carried with it a calm authority, one that seemed to almost be carried by the wind of the forest itself, as though to broadcast her message to any other unseen visitors that had stumbled on their supposedly hidden grove.

Farzad Oldsummer | Asuego 'Susanna' | Selina Altas | Victoria O'Connor

 

[Farzad Oldsummer]

It was that final sliver of noise that he came to the dim limelight that carried haunting melodies and unearthed voices, the familiar power of death and demons became an undercurrent in the primeval forest. Shit... This is just like Loot Runner's again... He looked up and around him, the thicket's of branches and foliage slightly less dense than last. Only this time slightly less macabre.

He came in a crawl under one last turning and churning branch made thicker than any bone of a monstrosity by nothing more than the passing of time. He laid low, the bog and mud clinging to his fantastical clothing and making himself more akin to that of a swamp thing than to anything resembling an attention whore wizard.

His eyes were quickly affixed to the ritual circle, the great swirls and ancient glyphs going through his memory as he tried to figure out if he could locate just which ancient and forgotten tongue had been scrawled to open the gates of pandemonium

 

[Asuego 'Susanna']

Farzad Oldsummer Medea Selina Altas (my apologies for the lateness)
The spell proceeded as expected, and the region called forth was correct as the star's currently hidden by the sun's light were reflected within the magic circle.


Asuego was of poor sight, nobody could blame her for relying on others to keep watch, especially there where she was not surrounded by every ward and fetish under her arsenal.
» What has begun cannot be now stopped! « hissed the alabastrine witch in a grave voice.
The sorcerers worried, for Selina likely could not balance both a demon of Obora's domain in the pits and intruders at the same time.

She better grab for the salt to keep the incoming demon at bay for now.
People were likely the least of their problems.

 

[Selina Della Altas]

While Selina recited the exhaustively memorized incantation she was unaware of the goings on around her. The inset crystal and the runic etchings of her staff glowed an arcane blue along with her eyes as it gave her the power to cast the spell. This ritual not only had a soup bowl of material components, a series of somatic components, and an entire script of verbal components, but also a mental component that diverted the last of her focus. If she let her discipline slip it could have catastrophic consequences.

She, along with her sisters, had researched extensively into the sort of demon they wanted to bind. The candidate they had chosen was powerful, but not so powerful as to be able ignore them.

Her voice echoed around the grove in the infernal tongue, magic swirled about her reaching speeds that picked up leaves, rocks, and sticks from around the Grove to fly about, though miraculously those in the ritual weren't harmed by the flying debris.
At the climax of the ritual Selina lifted her staff, and calling out the name of the demon she brought it down to strike the center of the circle.
"Dantevile!"
An eruption of arcane magic followed, and a forbidden rift was formed, a rift through which the demon emerged.

 

[Victoria O'Connor]

The witches did not seem concerned by her intrusion. Maybe they had foreseen it? Victoria had heard of such things. Regardless, the one who looked more tree than woman approached her and gave instructions. Victoria took the handful of salt but looked at it distastefully. She was not a demon, but she shared enough with all things dark that a ring of salt would make her uncomfortable. Maybe she wouldn't need it.

Her attention was drawn to the far edge of the circle, where a very strange something was crawling. Darkness held no veil to her eyes, but the mud made it quite impossible to tell exactly who or what it was... not that she had time to linger.

Asuego's warning brought her attention back center, and the young woman at the circle's center had begun the spell in earnest. The wind pulled at Victoria's hair and gown, it howled around loose branches as the sparks of magic joined its maelstrom. The power was palpable, and Victoria's hubris was beaten down with it. Quickly, hastily, she crouched low and spread the salt in a circle around her feet just as the demon's gate opened.

She stared at it, awestricken as the demon revealed itself. She felt a little queasy, though whether this was from the salt around her or the beast before her she could not say.

 

[Medea]

Medea nodded as the stranger took the salt. Whether she heeded her warnings or chose to blindly face the coming ritual without its protection was now out of their hands and into the palms of Fate. All she could do was turn her gaze to the spell and watch.

With every word spoken in the infernal tongue, the air around Selina grew heavier and heavier. Air imbued with the arcane began to whip around the young witch, twisting and churning around them as sticks and debris soon joined the sudden maelstrom of magic.

The Grove Witch stood still, her face unmoving as she gripped her yew and trusted her salt. Even as the earth ripped apart to form a shifting rift, revealing the demon they had spent weeks researching, she stood and waited. This was Selina's ritual, not hers.

 

[Asuego 'Susanna']

Salt was holy to all things living. No demon could dare step over a closed circle without serious harm.
Yet the violent spell cast with arcane energy, which blew the sticks and pebbles in a vortex, also blew away the salty barrier that marked the spell's perimeter.

Dantevile would not be so easily put into submission. His weird, contorted shape was with long spindly limbs that seemed to end in stars and a boy which was gleaming golden like the sun.
He was In any and all sense of the world. Free.