NationStates Jolt Archive

Malec-Keth walked among the many ethereal vats, filled with the most bizarre creatures, some of which did not even had names to be identified with. The loud humming sound of the ethereal siphons barely could hide the abominable shrieks of the creatures, as magical energies of different forms were pumped into their bodies. Many would die horrible deaths. Others would become so twisted that they would have to be sacrificed. But a select few would come out from the vats, improved and infused. Those few were exactly what they were looking for, creatures strong enough to sustain the massive magical bombardment, and adapt to it. This would stain them forever with special magical properties. Such creature was called the Spelltouched.

The theory of the Spelltouched was first developed long ago, by wizard researcher of forgotten name. According to his studies, a creature who has been target of a spell sometimes finds that some of it's magic rubs off on it permanently, leaving an echo of the original spell. A creature who is victim of several shape-altering spells, for example, may develop the unique ability to alter it's features into the specific form it is most familiar with. Beneficial spells may linger around a creature like magic radiation, bestowing and advantage somehow related to the original spell. In contrast, some have a homeopathic reaction to hostile spells; by suffering the effects of a spell, they develop a countermeasure to it.

A particularly shaken creature caught Malec-Keth's attention, a beholder. The creature was magically shackled and blind, so it could not cause havoc with it's many eyes. It waved it's eyed tentacles with fury, although to no avail. Thick drool oozed from the maw of teeth it had as mouth, and the main eye seemed lost, disoriented. Upon closer inspection, his nose almost touching the dangerous ether, he noted a thin ring of crystalline ice formations around the main eye. Equally, several parts of the round hovering body had touches of blue, where the same minute ice formations populated the thick skin.

Malec-Keth spoke to the wizard in charge "This seems rather interesting. The creature's body is developing according to the magic infused. Any observations so far?"

The wizard, sitting on a hovering armchair nodded "This beholder's behavior has been different from the rest of it's kind to ice spells. Although during the first hours it seemed as if it was about to pass out, it's condition improved greatly once we increased the amount of ether used to infuse the spells. It would seem that there is a critical amount of ether that must be reached in order for the subject to survive the threshold"

"Interesting" Answered Malec-Keth, as he slowly circled around the ethereal vat "All the other beholders exposed to this procedure with ice spells have died?"

"Most of them, except two" Came the wizard's answer "One of them quickly developed what we can signal as a semi-immunity, although at a great cost of physical prowess. The more it resisted, the worse the state of it's body, although the direct effect of the spell did not affect it" He coughed "The second subject, well, managed to escape before we could continue the tests upon it... although we managed to capture and eliminate it before anything could happen" He hurried to add "It managed to survive through the process much like the subject we have here, although, due to the unfortunate accident, we were unable to conduct further experiments on it"

Malec-Keth nodded "Very well, continue with this creature. Please keep me informed of any further development on this case. It is one of the few successful ones I have seen so far, and Mordenkainen wants answers quickly. Proceed"

OOC: This looks... interestiing.

Malec-Keth continued his walk through the research halls. He had already visited the three long rooms were testing upon beasts and creatures were taking place. Now he headed to a smaller room, one were testing over a different kind of creature were being held.
He stoped in front of the first ethereal vat he found. Three long bearded wizards were discussing something about the subject inside. A human figure stood there, in a comatose stasis, held a few feet in the air thanks to the strong magic field around it. A pair of energy spheres circled the vat, sending beams of brownish light toward the subject at long intervals of time.

"The spells will be deadly to the subject" Discussed one of the wizards, dressed in yellow and red robes "It's system will be unable to sustain the shock, and even if it does, it will be unable to live. It is not an elemental!"

The two other wizards, younger and both dressed in blue robes, looked at each other. One of them then spoke "Master Elzra, it does not have to be an elemental. We will make it one" He turned to Malec-Keth "Overseer, welcome. We were just discussing a few points about the subject's development"

Malec-Keth stared at the subject for a moment. It was what the others called a WarClone, a sentientless human breed from exact genetics copies of another subject, programmed through science to perform specific orders. Technology was not one of Malec-Keth's strong points, and he always held a good deal of respect to it "Raw energies from the Elemental Plane of Earth. As Elzra said, this could easily kill the subject"

Elzra smiled "As I was saying, infusing it's body with such energies would be a far too drastic change for it's system to withstand the effect. It could literally petrify it. The rate is too large"

One of the younger wizards let out a sigh "If we dilute the spell with more ether, the earth forces will become too thin. It would be like filling the subject body with nothing more than raw magic, with no true shape or purpose. It would be useless"

"Not according to the tests I have been doing over Subject 202" Elzra noted, statement that immediately caught the attention of Malec-Keth "If you would come with me, Overseer, I have a quite interesting thing to show you"

The two young wizards stayed at the vat, and broke into another discussion, while Elzra leaded Malec-Keth among the various vats and equipment scattered around. After a while, they arrived at a new vat. It was much bigger than the rest, and it shone with preternatural orange light. The human figure inside could barely be seen.

"It's because of the ether" Elzra noted "We have been infusing nothing but pure ether into the subject, and that has undoubtedly increased the size of the vat. But it should not have any dangerous effect; it is well concealed"

"What is so interesting about this subject, good Elzra?"

The old mage smiled again "That it is alive, even after all the ether we have pumped into it. We have been able to avoid it dissipating into the Ethereal through a Planar Hook, and we then continued the process"

Malec-Keth noded "I see. That is why it is so diffuse"

"Indeed" Continued Elzra "From this point, we have two main experiments to perform. The only problem is that they are mutually exclusive" Elzra's smile went away for a moment "First, we insert a permanent hook into the subject and then release it from the vat. In theory, it should have habituated itself to the ether enough, becoming what we call the Phase Being. Such creature would be able to jump in and out from the Ethereal, once it is able to control it's own power. Furthermore, we believe that we can manage to create a 'magical box' around it. This would allow the subject to actually use the ether that composes it in order to affect it's surrounding, other objects, and opponents"

"An ethereal warrior. Interesting" Came Malec-Keth "And what is the second experiment?"

"By using the ether already incorporated into the subject body, it would be easy to manipulate it and instill it with any magical property that we want. The ether would act as fertile soil for the spell to proliferate, and infuse the subject permanently. This would eat away the raw ether, however, so it eliminates any chance of turning it into a Phase Being"

Malec-Keth noded "I understand. In any case, both are experiments that should be completed at an incoming date. Is there any possibility of duplicating the effect?"

"Yes. In fact, we are currently treating eight more subject with ether bombardment, in hopes of creating additional test subjects with the same conditions. If you would come with me..."

-Tagged-

This looks very promising.

"We discovered this by accident during the morning, when one of the students attempted to cast a spell within the experimentation halls" Elzra pointed to a light blue sphere of energy that floated above what seemed to be an ordinary bowl of metal "It was nothing big, just a organization spell to put the things around him back into their place, after he broke one of the bodily liquid containers... In any case, a strange event took place when he did it, and this was the result"

Malec-Keth came closer to the sphere. It was as big as a human head, and illuminated the whole area of the room "I can see it is ether, although by the color I can tell it has been under the effect of magic. What happened?"

"Although we are yet unsure, we believe that the ether caught the spell upon completion of the casting. The spell was never resolved. The sphere appeared between the hands of the student after he finished the gestures to cast it" He placed his hands above the sphere "As you can probably have sensed already, there is a faint aura of transmutation emanating from it, same as the spell originally cast. This makes us think that, perhaps, the ether acted as a web around the spell, trapping it inside this sphere of charged ether. Where the ether came from is easy to explain, since this whole area is brimming with it"

"This could prove to be useful. Has anything been done to it?" Asked Malec-Keth.

"Nothing. Asides from the magical aura detections, we left it untouched and under the grasp of this ethereal grappler, so you could witness it"

Malec-Keth passed his hand through the ether sphere. It was harmless, although his hand did become transparent upon contact. It felt as if his hand was somewhere far away. He could also feel the magic contained by the ether "There must be a way to force the ether to release the spell, since there is clearly something inside, trapped. Perhaps if we..." He went silent, as he moved his hands in a few complicated gestures. After a few seconds, the tip of his fingers shone with red light, that immediately went away. The following moment, the ether sphere had turner darker, it's cerulean color changing to a deeper tone of blue "It seems that it devoured my spell as well" He said, surprised.

"What were you attempting, Overseer?" Asked Elzra.

"I was trying to force the spell to come out by casting the same. I thought that a similar release of magic would drive the power out and conclude the spell. Now I see I was mistaken. Apparently, the ether took my spell as well" He thought for a while "I will have to inform Mordenkainen about this finding. Meanwhile, keep it safe. I do not want anything to disturb this... whatever it is"

*tag*

Elzra took Malec-Keth to the level below, where the subjects who had survived the experiments were held, and various tests were done upon them. After walking a long spiral stair and passing through various rooms, they arrived at a large circular hall. A long metallic catwalk circled it, near the vaulted roof. The room had 60 feet in diameter and 15 high. A creature was below, a Gauth, a smaller form of beholder. Nine wizards floated around the creature in their hovering armchairs. One of them moved his arms and muttered some words, act that was followed by a blast of lightning coming from the palm of his hands. The discharge went straight to the gauth, but, as if it was a mirror, the spell turned back to the caster. It did not harm to him, however, as it was absorbed by the mage's protective shield, that became purple after the spell struck back, only to then become invisible again. The creature in the center of the room seemed barely awake, and it's body showed several wounds.

Elzra pointed to the creature "This is one of our most interesting finds" He said "After long exposure to augmented protective spells, the subject developed what we call Residual Rebound. It gives it an incredible resistance to magic, and, in certain cases and, apparently, involuntarily, spells bounce off the creature's body back into the source. Our researchers are conducting further studies on it as we speak..." His voice was cut finish by a second discharge of lightning from another mage, that also returned back to him. Elzra continued "At first it was weak against them, and some damage was dealt. It also allowed us to cast a slumbering spell over it, in order to keep it semi-unconscious. This further proves that the creature has no direct control over it's new ability. Or at least it does not need to be aware in order for it to take effect"

Malec-Keth and Elzra walked slowly around the hall, witnessing many more spell discharges, some of which were quite powerful, none of them seeming to affect the gauth.

Elzra spoke again "The more we exposed it to magic, the stronger the resistance became, until spells began to bounce. We are unsure of what to expect if we keep exposing it, but we are here to find it out"

"I see" Spoke Malec-Keth "I wish to receive further information on this experiment. As for now, I must take my leave in order to report to Mordenkainen. I will be back"

"It is a magic abyss" Said Mordenkainen after Malec-Keth described the anomaly "I saw one of them in the past. I find it strange that one appears within the laboratories so suddenly, as the one I saw was the effect of a terrible accident. How did it happen?"

Malec-Keth made a short pause "Elzra was not very detailed on this. He insisted that it had relation with the great condensation of ether, and the casting of a spell by one of the students. It was not a strong spell, just an organizational one. It seemed as if the ether created an envelope around the spell, keeping it inside of it. When I tried to cast a second spell of the same characteristics in order to force the ether to react, it swallowed my spell as well"

"Hmm, this is rare. Events such as this one occur in very specific occasions, and this one must not be overlooked. A magical abyss can prove to be a very useful element, if one knows how to work with it"

"What are you planing to do, Mordenkainen" Asked Malec-Keth.

Mordenkainen smiled "You see, a magical abyss acts as an endless pit for when it comes to magical energies. It will devour spells and the power behind them, trapping it inside itself. The spell per se ceases to exist once it enters the magical abyss. You sensed an aura of transmutational power because it was the faint trail left by the spell's energy, not by the actual spell. Now, these magical abysses attract magic depending on how charged they are. The more spells it devour, the stronger the pull. This makes it a powerful anti-magical element that can become a double edged blade to us wizards. But we can take advantages of it's power. We can take advantage of it's powers"

"But how? Did not you say that magic becomes trapped inside the abyss?"

The wizard lord nodded "Indeed it does. However, a magical abyss is composed from ether, ether that brings more ether around it. This generates minute strings of ethereal energies, that grow from the anomaly toward any nearby source of ether. These strings become charged with the abyss' consumed powers, affecting everything around it. Did you note anything strange when you were near the abyss?"

"Not at all" Said Malec-Keth "But, then again, I did not conduct any inspection"

"Then let us go. I will show you something interesting regarding the abyss' powers" Finished Mordenkainen. Moment after, the two wizards had disappeared.

Mordenkainen pointed to the small objects around the magical abyss "As you can see, the magic trapped within the abyss still affects it's surroundings" They watched how the small objects moved around slowly, organizing themselves by various categories, such as weight and size "It is quite a faint effect, so it is understandable that you had not noted it" The wizard stared at the sphere of glimmering blue ether for a few more moments "Take it to my private workshop. I will be conducting some tests on it in the future"

Malec-Keth nodded, and ordered one of the wizards around the to comply. The man took the apparatus that held the abyss grasped and went away with it.

"Now, I wish to see those ethereal warriors you spoke of" Said Mordenkainen, changing subject suddenly.

Elzra, who was behind the two, made a short bow "Certainly, my lord. Please come with me"

--------------------------------------------

Creatures with control over the ether were very powerful. Hard to come by, however, as such a fusion could rarely happen. Now the researchers were discovering a way to complete the process artificially, and it would prove to be important in the incoming future.

Ether is the substance of everything. Originated in far away dimensions, known as the Ethereal Plane, it is a strange substance that evolves in many ways, giving birth to mind and matter, souls and dreams. There are various properties inherent to the ether, some of which can be used for great benefits:

-Ether tends to group with more ether; it attracts more of itself. Passing through the infinitely thin barriers of dimensions, ether will pass from it's source, the Ethereal, and travel toward any condensation found within the Multiverse. This creates Fugues of Ether in the planes, points through which a stream of ether travels. These are usually temporally and of short spans of life, although large amounts may create a permanent one.

-Ether has a dual existence, since it remains within the Ethereal and another plane at the same time. This generates a state of incorporeality in bodies infused or made of ether when they are found outside the Ethereal Plane.

-Ether has a unique ability to adapt and morph, acquiring new properties. Such effect is widely used by magicians and spellcasters, since ether acts as a magical fertilizer. Upon the release of magical energies, some ether will be invariably attracted to it (magic and ether attract each other). Then the magical forces will inflict a change upon the ether, which will then switch it's status to fit the magic. In other words, magic brings the instructions for an effect to take place, while ether complies.

Not much time had to pass before the new Spelltouched units began growing the lines of the new armies of the Federation. The old forces were disintegrated shortly after the coup that returned Mordenkainen to power, and there was an urgent need for new and effective troops, and the wizards until then taking care of protecting the nation were simply not enough.
The experimentation took it's time, however, and many mistakes were made during it. But good results sprouted every day, and new techniques discovered on the run helped to speed up the process. Now extensive spellvat centres were scattered around the nation, creating spelltouched as fast as they could. This would be the first phase of reconstruction of the federal armed forces, and it would have to be consistent.

At the core of the army stood the new and improved SpellClone, the best example of how magic and science are starting to work together within the nation. SpellClones are bred in replication centres, taking as model a genetically improved human fetus. The characteristics of the base clone are replicated in thousands of new units, that are stripped of sentience during the process. Their minds are then programed through neural grafting with all the knowledge the clone should have. Originally, this had two main areas of practice, productive/industrial, left to ProdClones, and military, left to WarClones. SpellClones were instead embedded with arcane knowledge, so they would be able to control the forces they would be given to later on the process.
Once a SpellClone comes out from the replication centre, it is transported to a spellvat centre, where it is left within a Spellvat, where they are continuously bombarded with magical forces, in order for the individual to generate an automatic response to it. Part of this process still has a certain degree of randomness on the final effects, since not everything regarding this technique is well understood. The process takes a few days, and the effects are various. Then the new SpellClone is derived to different bodies of the army, depending on which abilities were developed by it.

EtherClones are a secondary group, bred specifically to undertake a few dedicated missions, being the most notorious espionage and support of SpellClone groups. Espionage missions find of great use the phasing abilities and controlled incorporeality presented by the PhaseClone (as it is called), since it grants them great versability when in special missions. Second comes the supportive EtherClone. This type of unit has acquired ethereal forces in a different way. Although it can not use the ether to modify it's own properties, as the PhaseClone does, supportive EtherClones have the ability to call forth ethereal forces, in order to instill SpellClones with increased power, or grant them protection. The ether in a raw form feeds spells and magical aptitudes, complementing their power and increasing it. Ether can also become a useful tool to protect from magic if used in large amounts, since it can saturate a spell and make it so diffuse that it's effects are lost. A third groups of EtherClones, those that boost the greatest control over the ether, become powerful weapons by themselves, since they can dissipate targets when concentrated. They will infuse a target with enough ether, so it will fade away into the Ethereal Plane. This, sadly, is a hard type of EtherClone to generate, since subjects usually dissipate themselves before the infusing process can be completed.