Nameless [ZnT/?] Quest.

[X] Maybe one last ritual calling out to anything that will answer?

 

[X] Remain motionless where you are, depressed and trying to fully accept what happened.
- - [X] Look at the lights of the academy, the sounds of [successful] students heard as they talked in their rooms and did things.
- - [X] Lie down on the grass and look up at the twin moons...

 

[X] Even if you can't perform magic like the others, you can still use magic. Though all it is good for is destroying.... Become a war mage, specifically artillery.

 

.... Interesting.

Karin: *Ahem*. You did what, now?

 

How so, Chibi-san~? Kekeke~!


I wonder, I wonder~

 

Louise would be perfect for blasting through magical defenses. It's like they don't exist to her.

If she can get her accuracy to crazy amounts of good, she can probably shoot down enemy spells.

 

You're crazy become a criminal? Even in the far off world she gives up pride and somehow survives it there's still loyalty, love, common sense, and fear.

Seriously. Though. She'd die unless it was against commoner with no ranged weapons at all and she can make bloody chunks with full incantation spells.

Also her mother would come and hunt down the theif who is bringing shame to the house valliere, newly risen from a period of decline ,and hurting the standing of her sisters with it by wrenching a wide gaping wound through which people who hate her guts can attack the family.

 

Even if Louise abandons Pride or something, I can't see her abandoning everything so long as Cattleya and Henrietta are still alive or she has a falling out with them.

 

[X] Screw everything. Bind yourself. ¿What can go wrong?

 

I wonder how we'd even do that though...

Kiss a mirror?

 

Epic contortions.

 

no that would probably bind the mirror. I figure we can just kiss our arm. If it must be on the lips, well we are female. :

[X]Try binding yourself. Maybe the only familiar ideal for you is yourself?

edit: dammit ninja'd

 

[X] Try the ritual again calling out for something anything to come to you and to help the spell you heard somewhere that heathen mages use their blood to draw the symbols they use in rituals maybe that will help?

 

Tied between 'Be depressed' and 'Maybe trying to bind yourself will help'.

Though I can easily see where the one could lead to the other. But I'll go so far as to combine the two, I guess.

Hold on one second...

[blockquote]Rolled 1d100 : 77, total 77[/blockquote]

 

A success not a minor one or a major one but still a success.

 

Actually, since 75-95 was one of my brackets, this is... well, not as good as it could theoretically have been, but still pretty good. Particularly given that 1-5 was a 'you miscast and cause an explosion inside of yourself' result. And those are a lot... messier than explosions outside of people, that just batter them a bit.

Anyhow...

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20 : 4, total 4[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d4 : 4, total 4[/blockquote]

 

Awww we could have tossed away our religion and fully embraced heresy.

 

Because binding ourselves as our own void familiar isn't mindbreaking enough, right?

 

Not in the slightest, holmes.

 

I hope we are still gandalfr, then we can be a muscle wizard

 

=>> No way can this go wrong...

You watch as the lights in the student dormitories go out. One by one, most of the inhabitants go to sleep, except for a few shining candles and hearths.

Kirche is still up. Of course. You don't want to know the details of what that loose-moraled Germanian....

Ugh.

.... The moons have risen.

...

Yeah. There's no way that you can just pick up some random animal and pretend that everything went fine. They'll know, somehow you know that at least the Headmaster and probably a few of the teachers will know, and the other students... well, they might not know, but they'll definitely suspect, or more accurately, imply that you cheated to pull through. The only way you could stave that off would have been to successfully summon in front of the whole class, and probably not even then.

Ugh.

Probably doesn't matter anyway. If the one spell didn't work, you have no reason to believe that the other would. And if you just picked up a well known stray, or someone's pet, it would be recognized. Entirely leaving aside the deliberate heresy.

You might as well just claim that the summon had failed because its target was already here, and tried to bind one of the other students' familiars. Or one of the other students, come to that, though that's also murky waters.

Or yourself.

.... Well, why not. It's not like trying out a slightly different brand of failure for today can make things that much worse.

You incant the ritual words, then hesitate for a few moments before just brushing your lips against the back of your hand.

Well, nothing happens. Just as you'd conl-Brimir's Bride, your hand is glowing.

You have just enough time to register this before the pain hits, a rending and soul-searing agony that feels as though it will tear your very soul asunder.

You don't have the time to scream before you black out.

----

.... What the?

You're surrounded by black emptiness, an empty void which you can't peer out of. Tendrils are connected, into you, through you, taking out and in the same breath, putting back in...

Something.

You aren't sure. It seems.... symbolic?

It doesn't hurt. It hurts, but it doesn't hurt, and it doesn't mean to hurt you, but this is just what it's doing, what it's meant to do, what it has been designed by its creator to do, fulfilling its purpose, and while it doesn't mean you harm, it doesn't care if you are harmed...

Out.

Brimir's mercy, out, you have to get out.

But there's nowhere to run to. And nothing to run with? From, is everything, is you, it is as much you as you are it, it has been with you and a part of you for so long, both taking and giving as it was designed to do and-

No. Nonononono, out, let me out, I never wanted this, I never asked for-!

You feel lips. Your own. Manacles settle around your wrists, as you draw, are drawn...

Light. Beautiful and glorious light, and you....

You can't quite...

No, let go, let me go, you have to, you're so close, you can't-!

Not free of its grip. Its grip is deep.

But your own chains bind you to the very sky, and you've almost gotten away, you can't quite get out, but it can't pull hard enough to draw you back in, it is only one part of a whole, and-

You don't understand anything at all.

---

You wake up, gasping, and covered by the dew. Your hand throbs. In spite of this, you feel better than you ever have in your entire life, like something heavy and cold and uncaring had draped itself across your shoulders, and now.... not drawn off entirely, but for the first time, you are noticing that it was there at all, as it is drawn partially away, held by a fire and dried out like a sodden cape.

The dim light of the dawn is enough to make out the branded marks of a familiar's runes, though you don't recognize them.

---

[ ] It worked! It... it worked. Uh. ... Shit. What now...?

 

[X] Nobles can't be familiars, it doesn't work like that...

 

[X] I just... I just bound myself as my own familiar? What? How does that even- This goes against all the teachings!

 

Oh my, did we just kinda got separated from our void affinity? Nice! Wonder what kind of void familiar we are.

[X] First thing, improvise a way to hide your familiar runes. You don't want the gossip mill to pick them up, at least not until you made some sense out of them to give an actual explanation. Afterwards, see what your magic would do if you try to cast something.

As a curiosity, what would happen if we had gotten the 96-100 bracket?

 

Teeeechnically, no, it doesn't.

Mostly because nobody thought anyone would be stupid enough to ever actually try something like that, since there's generally no benefit to being a familiar and a lot of benefit to having a familiar.

But while it's pretty much blasphemy to use the familiar binding spell on things that didn't turn up at the summoning ceremony, you did in fact turn up. To summon, true, but hey. Also, a familiar is considered an extension of the mage, which won't be a problem, because you already were an extention of your... self, uh.

Yeah, weird situation. And in theory, it shouldn't even have worked. But hey. Stuff happened.

 

[X] First thing, improvise a way to hide your familiar runes. You don't want the gossip mill to pick them up, at least not until you made some sense out of them to give an actual explanation. Afterwards, see what your magic would do if you try to cast something.

 

[x]Um Weird... Maybe you can Bluff? Your familiars something inhabiting your body space like a spirit or something? But wait. It worked. IT WORKED! and that weight it's ther but lighter was they why you couldn't cast right? Maybe you can now. Try some thing small and tiny.


Hum awareness of a weight faded off your shoulders.... Did we release void restrictions?

 

=>> Fumbling Awkwardly. Panic.

This is a great thing!

You have... not summoned, but bound an actual Familiar, like you'd given up hope of doing, almost!

And this is an incredibly terrible thing to happen, because that familiar is you and you're your own familiar and how does that even work, it doesn't make sense, nothing supports that concept because the binding runs all of your own magic and willpower through the target for a moment to brand it both inside and out as yours before pulling back out and to you, and...

It doesn't make sense. What have you done?

.... Your knees are wobbly, and your back is stiff from sleeping outside on the ground last night, but you dust off the dirt and loose grass and make your way back inside. Hiding and deliberately wrapping your hand inside of your cloak.

Nobody can see the marks! Not until you've figured out what the-

"Lady Valliere?" A maid says, politely.

Your back goes ramrod straight with a few subtle cracks of the spine, eyes wide.

"Yes!?" You say hurriedly, shoving your hand behind your back. "Yes-what-do-you-want-I'm-in-a-hurry, hahaha..."

"Are you well? Some of the groundskeepers mentioned that you were outside in the morning... you didn't fall asleep by accident...?"

"Yes!" You rush, trying to shuffle away. You don't know the maid's name. Damn, damn, damn, you can't even let servants see this, they can talk just like mages.
"Yes. I was... It was quite, uh, the grass, you see. Comfortable?"

The maid looks dubious.

"... Are you certain you are well, milady?"

"Yes! Perfectly fine, thank you-"

"But you slept outside?"

"... Yes, that-"

"Oh, you've done something with your hand. It'll just be a moment, and we can get you to the-"

"No!" You yelp. "No, no healers, I'm fine. Just, uh, just... just slept on it, you see, and..."

"Oh! Oh, yes, I quite understand. Have you tried rubbing the feeling back into it... actually, wrapping it up will just make things worse, you know-"

"No, I didn't sleep on.... I bruised it just a bit, haha, but it's fine, I'm fine now, just a bump and definitely not anything more than that, nothing important. Stop asking questions!"

".... Milady, are you feeling quite-"

"Look! Over there!" You say in a rush of desperation, pointing and flinging a gold coin.

The maid can't help herself, her eyes automatically track the small disc of valuable metal. By the time she turns back, you're long gone, in a flat out mad dash through the halls.

You lean back against the inside of your quarter doors, a few minutes later, breathing heavily.

Well.

That worked out all right, didn't it?

---

[ ] ??