Bone Pillars

I - PHASE ONE: RESEARCH

I have largely completed this phase myself, although further input, verification, and correction is always certainly welcome. Beginning nearly a year ago, and with redoubled effort over the last several months due to a need for dire expediency, I have been exhaustively researching -- often spending upwards of twelve to sixteen hours a day in seclusion, as duty allows -- how best to accomplish this daunting task. I have pored over the available remnants of Stone’s written works in an attempt to decipher his eremetic and often uniquely cryptic methods, acquiring or researching further rare resources scattered to the four corners whenever necessary. Following this trail, I have also researched various other tangential inclusions... from the preternaturally powerful Everblood, to the magical disruption and nullification used so effectively by Raznel, to the Exiled Blade Aralyte’s rituals and incorporation of alien methods pertaining to the Ithzir. While it would be foolhardy to attempt to reproduce Stone’s original work directly and by the same unscrupulous means, this extensive study has led me to a method of modular reconstruction by which we might harness and redirect portions of this original framework for a new purpose… or more specifically, an complex inversion of its original purpose.

The five bone pillars (which I have colloquially dubbed the “Hand of Erythro”, or simply the “Hand”) were originally created to abolish the wards which Akhash and Raokh had placed upon the town in order to protect it; unfortunately, these pillars were eventually successful -- thus ironically proving their effectiveness -- but their remnants still remain in the surrounding environs of Wehnimer’s Landing. While they are seemingly ruined and depowered, this proposal hinges upon the fact that the magical formulae inherent in their creation remains intact. With the assistance of a few colleagues, I have succeeded in tested this theory by evoking reactions through tenebristic energy channelled from the Shadow Realm; you can currently see the results of these trials reflected in the bone pillars themselves, as Captain Shinann so studiously observed, with more or less obvious visible manifestations of these subtle modifications depending on the particular phase of the experimentation.

While there are numerous possibilities to exploit here, as well as room for further and more complex augmentation later, the most refined essence of what I propose is this: to reconstruct and invert the innate magic of the pillars, providing a radius of ambient effect that will attempt to nullify hostile and destructive magic before it is able to penetrate our town. Given the gravity of what we may face in the future should the Ithzir return, and the severity of the situation we now find ourselves in with a potentially devastating war between two powerful mages, I would think that the dire necessity of this proposal would speak for itself. For it is in the most hopeless of times that we often turn to the more unorthodox of methods, when those methods can mean the critical difference between survival… and extinction.

II - PHASE TWO: RECONFIGURATION

The key to the success of the proposal lies in the modular reconstruction I have been working diligently to formulate and transcribe. If I may offer a simple analogy for the benefit of any laypersons who may reading this, think of it as attempting to communicate a story without the ability to speak, read, write, or otherwise convey your intent directly. Now imagine, if you will, that you have in your possession a codex; this codex tells a complete story of its own, and while it is not the story which you wish to impart, all of the words which you will need for your own tale are contained therein. Slowly, you use comparative analysis to learn the meaning of and pick out which particular words will be useful for your purposes. You cut out these words, one by one, carefully arranging them so that they form a new pattern… and ultimate, create this new narrative -- your own narrative -- all without having penned or spoken a single world yourself. This is the most quintessential nature of what I am proposing.

A few samples follow, with further elaboration later:

Several pages of diagrams and complex illustrations follow, containing arrayed samples of some eldritch magical sigil-language that is accompanied by corresponding annotation indicating various translations. To the uninitiated, the cryptological sigils may seem naught but chaotic and vaguely disquieting nonsense, resembling strange goetic forms with harsh edges and intersecting lines that convey no real meaning; to those well-versed in more obscure arcane literature, however, the revelation of some deeper protean meaning within the patterns may begin to take shape.

II.IV - As you can see, it is conceivable -- dare I say, even plausible -- to dismantle and reconstruct the complex algorithms used by Stone to imbue the divested pillars with their abhorrent power, even without a complete understanding of his methods. We have the singular advantage of being a collective of many minds and bearing many different areas of expertise, which will no doubt help in this imposing task. Over the last several months, I have been consulting with a wide variety of experts for their input and analysis. Continuing on, I will now discuss the two fundamental elements (positioning and integration) necessary to establish baseline use. Time is, after all, of the essence now.

II.V - POSITIONING AND MAGICAL RESONANCE

There are three distinct possibilities for placement: two involve using the pillars where they currently stand, while the third involves transporting them to key areas within the town itself. I will break these down in simple terms, with further elaboration for more nuanced consideration to follow.

A detailed map of Wehnimer’s Landing and its surrounding environs fills the next page, including the locations of the five bone pillars. Several notations and diagrams indicate some form of magical ley lines that run between the pillars, through the information is dense and difficult to interpret. Written at the bottom of the map:

• First Pillar -- Southern reaches of Upper Trollfang, near the dead tree [Coordinates: 11.98].
• Second Pillar -- Coastal Cliffs, south of the Black Sands [Coordinates: 4.96].
• Third Pillar -- Northeast quadrant of the Glatoph glacier [Coordinates: 25.61].
• Fourth Pillar -- Along Mine Road in Upper Trollfang [Coordinates: 42.00]
• Fifth Pillar -- Wooded Hills of Lower Dragonsclaw, near Darkstone [Coordinates: 4.24]

[Note: These are all Lich coordinates, if you remove the decimal points.]

II.V (Subsection A) - CURRENT POSITION, ACTIVE:

Preliminary Assessment of Advantages: The natural seclusion and distant proximity of the pillars does, of course, offer some reassurance in the event of a malfunction or even catastrophic failure, or should they be somehow surrendered to enemy forces. With some careful calibration, the existing array could be aligned to provide a wider area of coverage that might extend even beyond the town; this would provide a disseminated resonance of greater effectiveness against magical onslaught of a less concentrated nature. In their current position, they would have a greater capacity to draw ambient outflux from the RED (Reach/Eonak/Darkstone) vortex and convert it into soluble tenebristic energy, using the “Widening Gyre” configuration detailed in [II.VI - Subsection 17]. In short: the current positioning would provide more generalize coverage and a greater capacity to utilize the surrounding nexus of energies.

Preliminary Assessment of Disadvantages: The remote locations of the pillars also serve as a disadvantage, being far less defensible positions in the event of a prolonged (or even short-term) siege. Protecting and maintaining them would require us to spread our defensive forces thin and decrease overall mobility, and might leave the pillars themselves more susceptible to outside influence. The Widening Gyre configuration also provides less focused protection to specific potential penetration points, making it a less

PHASE FIVE: AUGMENTATION

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See Also:

• Beyond the Arkati (Inception)
• Pillars of Approval
• Enacting the Pillar Plan