fourtieth labyrinth
[Standing at his workroom table, Felix took a deep breath and placed his hands upon the wooden surface, at the edge of the knot of symbols traced upon it in chalk, in the center of which a small pile of lyrium dust glowed like diamonds.
The premise of his experiment was rather simple. Lyrium was material magic. In normal people, those without the inborn talent to channel such energy could not cope with it. They had no way to expel it, as mages did in the form of spells. But mages - or wizards, in his case - were made to contain it. It dwelled as naturally within them as blood. That begged the question as to why the raw substance was lethal to mages. It was Felix’s theory that too much lyrium too fast within a mages’ system simply overloaded it. It had to be tempered; absorbed slowly and in small amounts in order to prevent madness or death.
Thus, the solution was obvious. He would act as a siphon.
Removing the marks from Fenris was likely impossible, but bleeding the magic from him, however, might not be. He still wasn’t sure how lyrium would affect a magic-user from a different world, but he wouldn’t know without trying.
The dust seemed to flare in brightness as Felix began to concentrate. Then, slowly, it traveled along the markings and finally contacted his fingertips. A tingling, not unpleasant, began to spread up his arms. The tattooed vines upon his forearms began to brighten, glowing faintly like the moon behind the clouds.
Yes…yes…it was working. The magic began to drain from the lyrium and into him.
Too fast.
The more he let it in, the faster it seemed to flow. Like water sensing a new channel it began to pour rather than trickle towards its new destination, and the more Felix fought to stop it, the faster it seemed to go.
Frantically he ripped his hand away from the table. Left with no outlet the magic reversed, slamming back into its source. There was a heart stopping moment of nothing and then…
It exploded.
He stumbled back with the force and fell as fiery, shimmering sparks of lyrium rained downward. A burning hole where the circle had been splits the table in two, the halves collapsing to the stone floor with a heavy thud, the jar with the remainder of the lyrium shattering and spreading its contents on the floor. His journal also tumbles to the stones, laying not far from the wizard himself.
Felix is consumed by dizziness. He only faintly registers the destruction, the faint smell of burning wood and singed hair. He is too focused on how the walls seem to twist before his eyes and how the air shimmers with ghostly lights only he can see.]
No…this isn’t…this isn’t right. [a gasp] Not again.
[Shaking, he staggers to his feet, caught by the inexplicable conviction that Malkar had returned to the Mirador and was pursing him like a wolf through the lower levels. He had to warn the Curia. He had to get out of here...]
You cannot have me again…
((ooc: tl;dr Felix blew himself up with lyrium. Characters are free to hear the explosion over the journal, or feel the surge of magic energy if they are sensitive to such a thing. Felix is in his workspace at Chimera HQ, atop Gaudium Tower, but he'll be staggering out of there shortly, and won't answer any inquiries over the journal, though you are free to make them.))
The premise of his experiment was rather simple. Lyrium was material magic. In normal people, those without the inborn talent to channel such energy could not cope with it. They had no way to expel it, as mages did in the form of spells. But mages - or wizards, in his case - were made to contain it. It dwelled as naturally within them as blood. That begged the question as to why the raw substance was lethal to mages. It was Felix’s theory that too much lyrium too fast within a mages’ system simply overloaded it. It had to be tempered; absorbed slowly and in small amounts in order to prevent madness or death.
Thus, the solution was obvious. He would act as a siphon.
Removing the marks from Fenris was likely impossible, but bleeding the magic from him, however, might not be. He still wasn’t sure how lyrium would affect a magic-user from a different world, but he wouldn’t know without trying.
The dust seemed to flare in brightness as Felix began to concentrate. Then, slowly, it traveled along the markings and finally contacted his fingertips. A tingling, not unpleasant, began to spread up his arms. The tattooed vines upon his forearms began to brighten, glowing faintly like the moon behind the clouds.
Yes…yes…it was working. The magic began to drain from the lyrium and into him.
Too fast.
The more he let it in, the faster it seemed to flow. Like water sensing a new channel it began to pour rather than trickle towards its new destination, and the more Felix fought to stop it, the faster it seemed to go.
Frantically he ripped his hand away from the table. Left with no outlet the magic reversed, slamming back into its source. There was a heart stopping moment of nothing and then…
It exploded.
He stumbled back with the force and fell as fiery, shimmering sparks of lyrium rained downward. A burning hole where the circle had been splits the table in two, the halves collapsing to the stone floor with a heavy thud, the jar with the remainder of the lyrium shattering and spreading its contents on the floor. His journal also tumbles to the stones, laying not far from the wizard himself.
Felix is consumed by dizziness. He only faintly registers the destruction, the faint smell of burning wood and singed hair. He is too focused on how the walls seem to twist before his eyes and how the air shimmers with ghostly lights only he can see.]
No…this isn’t…this isn’t right. [a gasp] Not again.
[Shaking, he staggers to his feet, caught by the inexplicable conviction that Malkar had returned to the Mirador and was pursing him like a wolf through the lower levels. He had to warn the Curia. He had to get out of here...]
You cannot have me again…
((ooc: tl;dr Felix blew himself up with lyrium. Characters are free to hear the explosion over the journal, or feel the surge of magic energy if they are sensitive to such a thing. Felix is in his workspace at Chimera HQ, atop Gaudium Tower, but he'll be staggering out of there shortly, and won't answer any inquiries over the journal, though you are free to make them.))