Interventions and Restoratives of Epochxin Affliction (essay)

Addressed to the Heir of Bourth and the Mayor of Wehnimer's Landing
c\o Lord Breshon Caulfield, Hendoran Outpost
c\o Mayor Cruxophim, Moot Hall
c\o Mayor Lylia Rashere Faendryl, Moot Hall

In recapitulation of our initial introduction a month past, I am the Mayor's advisor on matters esoteric as well as history. I was not present in the region at the time of the late Prelate Chaston Griffin's bloody purges, as I was conducting research in the Southron Wastes. I am what you might call an "occult archaeologist" in Common, especially with respect to dark magic and dangerous artifacts whose origins hail from primordial aeons, which leads me to conduct my field work in places such as our present location.

While I was not present when your sister was poisoned, I am studying the details of her situation. I do recall meeting the Lady Larsya not so very long before it happened. The circumstances surrounding her affliction are very strange, and quite probably orchestrated with foresight of memory by the witch formerly known as Naimorai Kestrel.

Interventions and Restoratives of Epochxin Affliction: Public Report to the Mayor

I. Introductory Context

It is my understanding that Pylasar, formerly associated with the Hall of Mages, recused himself from the situation owing to some relation with the blood witch Raznel. In light of recent events it is believed she is truly Naimorai Kestrel, who was apparently trapped in Toullaire over six centuries ago. She would have perhaps acquired unnatural longevity from knowledge of the Everblood or the corruptive power of the shadow realm. While this is not the place to work through the historical implications in great depth, Naimorai was quite well aware of Larsya's condition and confinement in the Hendoran Outpost. It stands to reason her affliction was the moving of a pawn in these wider schemes.

In my reading of the records it would seem the malicious agent Vinswith, who assaulted Larsya with the exotic poison, was some unnatural transmogrification of Archales and Wolfloner. While I cannot speak of the provenance in the case of the Onarian Tehir, the blood of the former was certainly once in the possession of her cabalist Grishom Stone, who undoubtedly believed its Ashrim lineage would help his intentions with the relic known as the Eye of Ta'Ashrim and various other epithets such as the Galestone. They were undoubtedly selected for their marked anti-Imperial sentiments in order to incite retribution. Nevertheless, Larsya had a more subtle role, which was revealed later.

Regardless. It would seem Lord Brieson Cassle of the Hall of Mages was directed by Pylasar toward a text supposedly written by "two Faendryl brothers" given a remembrance from the wastes, oddly insinuating its relevance in spite of this seemingly being neither of their fields and rather begging the question. This is especially strange as it is highly illegal under Faendryl law for such contents to leave the borders of the Empire, and I would simply point out that Grishom Stone has been known to write his own notes in our language rather than his own. These cabalists have a long history of framing individuals and conspicuously leaving evidence to lead the locals around as if by an invisible leash.

The essential premise of this work in any event is that the venom of the ebon-swirled primal of the Southron Wastes is in effect its blood, and that this "epochxin" is critical in countering Everblood, and so relevant to the demonic blood magic of their wicked cabal. It was speculated by Lord Brieson that her blood had effectively become epochxin, and so they used her as a beacon in the Southron Wastes to draw out primals from which they harvested samples to work on the salves. The rapid aging effect of the epochxin is presumably inverted for the Everblood, or perhaps rather nullifies its own temporal negation. I would have to study both in detail to get a better sense of these things.

II. Concerning Communes

It is my understanding that the holy sorts wish to seek divine intervention on young Larsya, perhaps holding out hope for some kind of faith healing. This is a rather tall order and you should be aware that the Arkati are an exceedingly unpredictable source of aid. There is no guarantee that calling upon Lorminstra, for instance, might not instead be answered by Luukos. It is not my wish to impugn the religions of other cultures, but please keep in mind the nature of these beings. Their resemblance to us and the way we think of the world is superficial at best. Whether higher or not, the way they think is foreign. It is necessary to look at things from their self-limiting perspectives.

(A) Lumnis

Consider the case of Lumnis, the Queen of Wisdom. The reasoning for seeking her aid is surely rooted in the idea that she can tell us what to do, being the goddess of scholars and knowledge, or point us in the right direction for a cure since surely she would know such things. This is shrouded in the sense that the Lords of Liabo are good, as opposed to the malicious Dark Lords of Lornon who are evil, and will do good things of their own benevolence. These are human conceptions projected onto self-absorbed powers who are vain and capricious, creating theological problems such as why do good gods allow evil things to happen, when the problem itself stems only from unstated assumptions.

In truth they rarely ever intervene in mortal affairs, without care for material concerns, and hardly convene as they have almost nothing in common with each other. When we say "it is beyond Eorgina's understanding that power not be taken where it is offered," this is quite literally something beyond her own nature and understanding. And so it is with Lumnis that you must be cautious. For her knowledge is not about consequences, and indeed, she holds disdain for the mere use of knowledge in the pursuit of ends.

Thus, consider what such a commune is truly asking from her perspective, as a non-corporeal being who cares only for reflection. Lumnis is no more a mother than she is a scholar, we are appealing only to maternal and scholastic affects. Lumnis is to be presented with an unnatural hybrid of demonic blood, and we will be asking her for special understanding of blood magic. There is on the contrary, in fact, no reason she should know such things. What the gods do is more kin to flow magic rather than rituals and alchemy, for which this is manifestly not her domain and she regards as forbidden, and her own followers are notoriously opposed to the study of the dark arts at all.

Worse, even if she was willing to provide such understanding to those who would best be able to work blood magic given the nobility of intent, these sorcerers and blood mages would be placing themselves in tremendous danger as she is known for disappearing power-hungry mages who pursue knowledge that way. This would be assuming she is willing to help at all. If it is her opinion that only objectionable insights can be used to save the girl, she may well take the girl away to prevent us from understanding her.

(B) Fash'lo'nae

It is almost universally agreed by us that calling upon Fash'lo'nae for assistance in this matter is a terrible idea, and indeed it would be considered a curse in some cultures to say: "May Fash'lo'nae find you interesting." Nevertheless, the reasons it is a bad idea are best elaborated, simply to underscore the deeper point regarding communes. He would be far more likely to regard Larsya as a play-thing to experiment on if he found her worthy of his attention in itself. Considering Grishom Stone's knowledge of blood magic was acquired through visions, as is often the case with ancient demonic powers, Fash'lo'nae may well take great interest in these workings of epochxin and Everblood.

But more broadly speaking, Fash'lo'nae is the god of the consequences of knowledge, and all of the further inquiries that will come of it. Where Lumnis is the goddess of insight, so-called "eureka moments" and the intuitions of mystics, Fash'lo'nae is the god of process, logic, and actual knowledge. Magister Svala is quite correct that you are effectively admitting you are unworthy by asking him for aid in answering a question. However, Fash'lo'nae is far more like an actual scholar than Lumnis, for he is truly interested in methods. Should he be sought on this issue it must be done on completely different terms, not least of which for the safety of the girl. She must be left out of it.

It would be far more likely to work out in our favor if his assistance were sought in solving a different problem which pertains to our own quandary. His reasoning for actually helping would remain hidden to us, as the eye in the sky is ever the observer. Perhaps it would be to see if we could actually accomplish it. Perhaps it would be to see what effect the knowledge would have on future events when placed in mortal hands. Perhaps he would favor the ambition in the future inquiries proposed. And perhaps he would see through the ruse entirely, but respect the attempt at dishonesty in the pursuit of knowledge. What he will not respect is holding our hands out like lazy students.

What I would suggest in this instance is that we frame our interest in terms of disentangling the bat from the elf in the vesperti, and are seeking his assistance due to the lack of sufficient records of his follower Augustin Vespertinae. This would not be any moral concern for the condition of the vesperti. Our hypothesis would be that the various races and abominations originated in a common humanoid stock, and we wish to later study the constituent aspects of these bloodlines. To discover if the Elves, for instance, were fashioned by crossing humans and fey. Given their ability in piercing the veil, and the capacity of the demonic to form unnatural hybrids with the living as well as proficiency with the undead, we would seek to understand how to build and take apart unnatural hybrids of the living with extraplanar entities. We might cite the half-Ithzir cambion Rodnay as an example, as he was fashioned using Grishom Stone's blood magic. It will prove most fortuitous if it turns out we actually need to undertake that operation.

(C) Other Options

The gods of knowledge are not the correct route to seek solutions, at best they will only provide us direction for things within our own disposal. If we truly wish to heal the girl with divine intervention, it is not Lumnis who should be sought for her knowledge of such things. It would be far more appropriate to commune with Imaera, whose assistance is sorely needed with the Bleaklands and the coming Blood Harvest regardless. It was Imaera who was the chief force in reconstituting the mortal races of the world after the Ur-Daemon War, and it is her special concern to heal the twisting and dark transformation of the living. There would have been drastic examples of demonic hybrids of the living in that time period, and the primal oculoths of the Southron Wastes may have originated in that chaos. If there is any deity who has experience reversing the effects of epochxin on the blood it would be her. Larsya herself would be most naturally attuned toward drawing the attention of Imaera, given her "ranger's spirit" so to speak and her connections with the Wyrdeep. Once again, however, consider the danger. If Larsya is beyond acceptable means to Imaera, she is also a corruption to be weeded out of the garden.

III. Temporal Magic

The rapid aging effect of the epochxin is apparently a temporal distortion, much as the immortality of the Everblood would seem to owe something to it as well. It was necessary to put Larsya in one of the enruned glass coffins for this reason, until Brieson managed to concoct a weak anti-venom that was sufficient for drastically slowing down its progression. In fact, much as the Everblood would seem to halt aging, Larsya now ages slower than normal. This temporal factor in her stabilization is key to the point of keeping her by Melgorehn's Reach. Unfortunately, temporal magic in the direct sense is not my own expertise, and its most prolific user recused himself from this affair.

In the historical precedence of such things I would note that Daephron Illian, the Faendryl sorcerer who was ultimately responsible for the incursion of the Vvrael, bound himself up in a temporal rift with an enruned box. It had the effect of reversing him to the age of a young child, and from which he rapidly grew to extreme age until he died.

I suspect his life force is rather still bound to the box, and that he merely follows through in cycles when released. This is the only plausible explanation for how it managed to move around where it needed to go and away from the servants of the Vvrael over thousands of years. Indeed. I suspect Daephron himself was the wandering journeyman who corrupted Terate with his scrolls on the subject, manipulating the future course of events much as we see in our situation. The point of this historical curiosity is simply to say that Larsya's life force can be similarly bound to an object with sorcery, and rather than having recurrent amnesia she might be reverted to a more human condition.

It was also only last night that I was speaking with the Palestra Blade Schalyne regarding a similar incident two years ago in the Elven Nations. There was a group of Faendryl who were sustained in a kind of time suspending sanctuary by what is called the Illusion's Shroud, a bone ring now called one of the Prisma relics that was once part of a V'tull-graced veil iron maul. When the ring was removed this Isharn Enclave suffered drastic temporal acceleration, whipping forward by many thousands of years suddenly. While I do not know if anything of value could come of this relic, and its possession is a point of contention between the Illistim and Faendryl monarchs, I have now been tasked with investigating the ruins to see what might come of it. Magister Svala is more likely than myself as a mage to be able to offer methods of immediate temporal interventions.

IV. Blood Magic and Sorcery

While I have heard some rather sentimental psychologic notions that the girl is suffering recurrent amnesia as an avoidance of traumatic awareness, I would caution against taking these thoughts too seriously. The primal is a distant cousin in the same demonic family as the oculoths, shadowy monstrosities whose "blood" is a viscous black ichor that is truly a mind shattering venom. These demons have powerful abilities for possessing the mind, as well as plunging the consciousness into a nightmare world of hallucinations.

It is important to remember that this transformation in her mind is almost certainly conjoined with the same preternatural corruption which has aged her body. It will surely be necessary to heal her blood in order to heal anything else about her. This is not categorically different than what would be needed to make the orphan Rodnay human again.

(A) Flesh Golems

Magister Svala once remarked to Lord Brieson that the Everblood itself could possibly be used directly as a counter-balance to the epochxin in Larsya's physiology. The key point in this would rather be transforming her physiology so the two would cancel in terms of their aging effect. Unfortunately, I would expect the mental effects of the epochxin would still be present in this case, but it is difficult to say what might be possible without experiments. The trouble is we can hardly test any of it on Larsya herself.

What I would recommend is using the confiscated texts of Grishom Stone at our disposal to make proper flesh golems of Larsya. Flesh golems are usually nothing but patchwork monstrosities, his methods are of another order all together. These would be afflicted with epochxin and treatments accordingly until something workable has been proven.

(B) Transmogrification

There is a certain twisted logic in suggesting her fate should be placed in the hands of Lorminstra. The goddess of death has been known in rare special instances to reincarnate the souls of the departed, with their healed wounds becoming ethereal wisps in the world which are eventually processed. This is a special dispensation she gives for heroics, however, which comes at the cost of making sacrifices which substitute for the heroic deeds she is owed. It is not at all clear that she would grant Larsya such a "deed", nor that she would be able to return her in the original unaltered form of humanity. She may simply keep the soul and cleanse it, or possibly even destroy her soul entirely.

That being said, while she may be limited to leaving the scars, methods of reincarnation are not without merit. There is a very ancient and powerful relic in the Broken Lands, which is an interplanar realm that touches upon Lornon itself, which is much like the Talon of Toullaire through which Raznel likely in effect created herself. It is a tremendous absorber of magical power, and has the ability to fashion such power into physical form. With spirits these "spirits born of death" may be reincarnated, even into other forms of themselves as if from other points in history. Larsya would be seen to vanish into thin air, and reappear changed in a brilliant flash. Hopefully not as a giant fog beetle.

However, its mechanism was considerably damaged by the fellows of the last scholar who was researching it, and at the moment it cannot even be turned off. This is a place surrounded by temples to the Dark Gods, and the site of the artifact is most immediately controlled by the The Sheruvian Order. While it is undoubtedly capable of restoring Larsya outright, it might just as well transform her into a massive shadowy oculoth. Its function is dependent upon the dead language of Iruaric, which is partly telepathic, and while this is my own specialty I cannot guarantee its outcomes. It would require something with innate psionic power like Rodnay to break the local wards against telepathy.

(C) Hybridal Splitting

In relation to the proposed approach for communing with Fash'lo'nae, it may hypothetically be possible to split a hybrid thing into its constituent entities. This would be some confluence of the mage duplication magic in conjunction with sorcerous phasing, which with inanimate objects are essentially inverse processes, except executed using the necromantic aspects of sorcery rather than merely the planar. In itself this might simply rip the body apart or spill it out into an ungodly mess of blood and sinew.

However, if it were approached with the alchemy of blood magic --- and perhaps what can be gleaned from the "certain empathic methods" of Vespertinae, or even the demon worshipping cultists previously associated with Bonespear --- it might be possible to separate the humors into their more natural wholes as living organisms. In the case of Larsya this would be magically phasing the young girl from the demon-blood fueled old hag, or perhaps what comes out might be something of a mirror image of the primal. This approach has the defect of being completely new magic, and it would be quite necessary to test on many flesh golems. With or without the assistance of Fash'lo'nae.

(D) Soul Transference

It will provoke considerable anger from the townsfolk, but the fundamental issue with Larsya is her body. Her mind is most surely shattered because of her endless exposure to the epochxin, which is now fully part of her own constitution. The most simple way of treating this would be to transfer her soul into a new body, much as was supposedly attempted with Cyph and Reannah Kestrel by Quinshon, the blood father of Raznel and Black Shaman of the Tehir. Ideally this would be a treated flesh golem of herself.

In my own opinion Quinshon was most likely failing on purpose whenever it suited his deeper agenda, and so far as I am aware no attempt was made to save Larsya in similar fashion. This suggests to me the possibility she still has a role to play in their schemes, just as he let slip the insinuation that Rodnay has a purpose for which he was created.

Considering Quinshon is a mindwalker --- and more likely than not a former Disciple of the Shadow and truly the agent or rival of Stone --- and the fact that Grand Magister Dennet Kestrel occupied the same field of interest regarding the acquisition of esoteric and primordial antiquities, it stands to reason that they would have sought my own assistance on these rituals if the intent was to succeed. They would have been familiar with my own background interacting with cultists in the Southron Wastes who engage in similar dark rites. I would have warned strongly against it. What they attempted with Cyph and the corpse should only have been done using Luukosian methods.

(E) Other Test Subjects

While tests could certainly be performed on other humanoid races where any moral qualms on the matter would be less vexing, it would be still less objectionable as I understand it to consult with populations who are naturally afflicted. The Southron Wastes possesses numerous humanoids away from the Horned Cabal, whether tribes or iguanoids or the parasitic Collectors, which is the same region haunted by the primals. There is undoubtedly experience with epochxin venom in these sources.

While I cannot legally seek out the Faendryl texts that undoubtedly exist on this subject and bring back such knowledge, there may be useful information in Brieson's notes and the text he was consulting. In any event, we should be collecting epochxin samples from the southern wastelands, so we would be in the neighborhood regardless.

V. Conclusion

The effect of poisoning your sister was to transform her own blood into epochxin, while at the same time leaving behind evidence seemingly undermining the plans of the late Prelate, allowing the development of the restoratives. In the grander scale of things this was necessary for the blood witch to manipulate her own rise, as these events had previously happened from her own perspective, with the whole affair of the Church of Koar and the half-elven sickness being a ruse for some other design. It is quite possible she was responsible in some fashion for the annihilation of both Toullaire and Talador, and that the formation of the Bleaklands was for a suitable magical medium.

There is a thread weaving through all of these affairs for some mystery that is slowly revealing itself. It is not a coincidence that the Wizardwaste and the Bleaklands are so similar, nor that there are recurrences of patterns in historical events. These are ripples revealing moves in a higher strategy. Celestial alignments are being used to time actions through temporal distortions and interplanar admixtures using Melgorehn's Reach. I would draw special attention to the orbit of the Ithzir and their Emerald Sun.

(A) Bleaklands and Blood Maw

In my study of the Bleaklands it has become clear that some seeding of the Marluvian blood trees has taken place in spite of the blood maw having been sealed in the Deadfall. Raznel may well have seeded Talador with a harvest of blood trees, knowing she would eventually obliterate the land, allowing this strain to germinate to specification. The oily black saplings have sprouted there for some time, as well as the characteristic spores. Considering the druidic wardings on the Red Forest failed after thousands of years owing to some complication with the Elemental Confluence, it will not be surprising if the druidic wards also fail on the Deadfall. Thus releasing the shadowy blood maw. Much as Rodnay has claimed he has not yet reached his final form, the Faendryl Harrower said the same of the blood maw, which he remarked was clearly extraplanar in origin.

Harrower Ersix Severus of the Extrachthonic Cartographer's Guild conducted the removal and transfer of the maw, which I might add was nearly sabotaged by Pylasar, and was surprised to discover he was unable to move it through anything but the shadow realm that had belonged to the Maw of the Void: Althedeus. Supposedly the tainted shadow energy of those who had been there previously anchored his portal to that plane, effectively cursing it, though travel back there since has had nothing similar. Something is all together suspicious in this affair. It is quite likely that the situation was manipulated to give the illusion of choice, where the only options in actuality were to place it in the shadow realm or the Deadfall. While this reaches back years, I would note Raznel left things for herself (or us) in the Outpost, even before the events with Chaston Griffin.

(B) Ithzir and Time Warps

When the Hendoran Outpost returned from the Ithzir world of Kol'Tarsken, where we discovered various notes written in Faendryl and astral objects Grishom was using through Glethad, there was also a Chastonian banner from before the fall of Toullaire and a pristine mithril dagger in the style of the Kestrels and specifically Hall of Mages. I would also point out that Grishom would have us believe he calculated the timing of the mana storms of the Reach, but that he mis-timed it by two weeks and had to hurry up. He may simply have been told when it was roughly going to happen. Another storm happened offset a year later. To be blunt, Larsya's affliction requiring a bane coffin and stabilization through the Reach was not mere inspiration for future events, it was seeding methods to the witch's father Dennet Kestrel so he would use them on his wife Reannah.

This is so much to say that Larsya is not merely a victim of an assault, she is an integral piece on a vast chess board shrouded in mists. Rodnay should have been handed over to me as an apprentice when I asked years ago. For all we know now he may be the avatar of artificial life Grishom always aspired for making himself into a Blood God. There is no telling what latent powers might rest even in his ordinary flesh golems, especially given the artifact he now possesses, which I have reason to suspect is Ithzir in origin.

By my hand,

Lord Xorus Kul'shin
Vice Chancellor Emeritus of the Hazalred Thaumaturgical Society
Advisor to the Mayor of Wehnimer's Landing
Fashanos 20th, 5118

Appendices and Amendments

In light of the confusion regarding the epochxin and prior events surrounding the poisoning of Lady Larsya Caulfield, this will serve as a relatively concise appendix of salient details on the issues covered in the more full report. In the fog of contradictory statements even I was unclear at times on these points concerning the epochxin, and I believe I misspoke on the place of the tar-like black salve on the chain of end products. I will later add another appendix addressing the strangeness of how this happened.

Appendix A: Derivatives of Ebon-Swirled Primal Blood

Epochxin is a term that is presumably a portmanteau of the words "epoch" and "toxin" to imply its accelerated aging effect. This has led to some confusion regarding the contents of Larsya's blood and the poison on the arrow which struck her. This arrow was designed to disintegrate, such that the poison was never able to be studied. Lord Brieson Cassle introduced the word "epochxin" months later based on a text on the ebon-swirled primals, which was supposedly written by two Faendryl brothers.

The text that was studied by Brieson asserted that the ebon-swirled primal is a distant relative of the shadowy oculoth demon, and that the primal blood is in itself a venom. This is consistent with the fact that oculoth family demonic have black ichor venom which subjects its victims to horrifying mind shattering illusions. It is highly probable that Larsya's recurrent amnesiac state was a consequence of her transformed blood. For the sake of clarity we will avoid using the word "epochxin" in what follows.

The following are known or suspected derivatives of ebon-swirled primal blood:

Base	Derivatives	Anti-Derivatives
(A) Primal Blood	(B) Transmogrification Agent (The poison on the arrow which struck Larsya.)	(G) The Restorative Salve ("tar-like black salve")
	(C) Afflicted Blood (The victim of the transmogrification agent.)	(H) The Modified Salve for the Afflicted ("bubbling black potion")
	(D) Purified Everblood Essence	(I) Treated Afflicted Blood
	(E) Everblood
	(F) Half-Elven Sickness ("blackblood")

The transmogrification agent (B) was unable to be studied due to the arrow disintegrating. It immediately caused Larsya to begin rapidly aging, which was halted by suspending her in a bane coffin with temporal magic. This agent caused Larsya's blood to be transformed into ebon-swirled primal blood, or else something so similar or partially constituted with primal blood that it was sufficient to draw primals to her. This was a premise given by Brieson from studying the Faendryl text. It is here referenced as Afflicted Blood (C).

While the primal blood is itself a venom, it is not necessarily sufficient to cause the transformation of the blood of its victim, which would have to be studied with samples and experimentation. Considering those who were assaulted by the primals in the Southron Wastes were not afflicted in the same way as Larsya it is very unlikely that the arrow poison is merely primal blood. It is very highly likely, however, to be based on primal blood. It is not at all clear that the poisons (B) and (C) are the same derivative form.

The distillation of primal blood immediately yields an alchemical substance known as "purified everblood essence" (D), suggesting in the strongest possible terms that primal blood (A) is a critical ingredient of the Everblood. Worded slightly differently, Everblood (E) is a processed derivative of primal blood, with other unknown reagents. Their effects are essentially opposite: Primal blood (A) rapidly ages its humanoid host, Everblood (E) halts their physiological condition. Essence of Everblood (D) in turn is the key reagent in the Restorative Salve (G) for treating the half-elven sickness (F), which involves mixing substance (D) with black toadstool and the highly poisonous white baneberry.

This salve is also a counter-agent for the Everblood (E), negating the immortality of its host. It was used to coat weapons to vanquish the Blameless, who were immortalized by Everblood. Its usefulness in this respect was discovered by accident through loresinging. This same salve has been used to negate three different blood conditions. The purified everblood essence (D) is known to be an intermediate in the processing of primal blood into products (G) to (I) with anti-parallel effects including presumably Everblood.

The mechanism for this is straight forward, "purified everblood essence" (D) is merely distilled primal blood (A), which directly counteracts its magical effect. Its usefulness as a plague salve implies the half-elven blood sickness (F) is ultimately based upon the primal blood (A). The essential point is that all of these are apparently derivatives of primal blood. The anti-derivative agent known as the "tar-like black salve" (G) is essentially an anti-venom for the primal blood (A), causing it to be effective on potentially all of the derivative forms. It was a slightly modified form of this salve (H) that was used to stabilize Larsya. Brieson boiled the salve and made a few minor changes, pouring it into the coffin as a bubbling black potion. Since Larsya was treated with potion (H) her blood is now substance (I) which has some unknown distance from substance (C).

Magister Svala is correct that we cannot assume her blood is still the substance (C). In fact, her treatment with the potion (H) has slowed or even halted her aging, analogous to Everblood. However, a rather subtle point has been overlooked in that as far as I can tell, Larsya only displayed her recurrent amnesia after being treated. Rather than a consequence of (A), (B), or (C), her being frozen in time may very well be a consequence of her treated blood, which has artificially suspended her temporal progression.

Olaesta 14th, 5118

Appendix B: Model of Epochxin Intermediates and End Products

The following is a hypothetical set of models for mapping the relationship between blood conditions and agents related to primal blood. This constitutes a theory that there is a single underlying methodology behind a family of transformation blood curses. The relevance for curing Larsya of her physical affliction is that the case of Drangell can be used as a model. He was the opposite situation of having his primal blood derivative aspect (Everblood) remain in tact while his (troll) blood substrate conditioning was negated. This means he was reverted to his original Giantman form while retaining his Everblood immortality. It may be possible to perform a similar reversion for the other victims.

Alchemical Products:

End Product	Processes	Components
Purified Everblood Essence (D)	Distillation	Primal Blood (A) + Alembic -> Distillation -> Purified Everblood Essence (D)
Tar-like Black Salve (G)	Simmering	Water + Black Toadstool + White Baneberry -> Simmer -> Purified Everblood Essence (D) + Chanting Disintegrate or Wither spell
Bubbling Black Potion (H)	Boil	Tar-like Black Salve + "Minor Changes" (Consult notes of Lord Brieson Cassle.)

Blood Curses:

Treatment of the following blood curses by the alchemical recipes (G) or (H) causes a reversion in the blood negating hypothetically the primal blood component of the blood curse in question. This is sufficient for obliterating Everblood and reverting blackblood plague to seemingly the original blood of the host. The situation is more complicated in the case of Larsya because her physiology is hybridized with foreign blood. In this respect she is more like Thrazyar, Drangell, and Rodnay than the Blameless or blackblood victims.

Blood Curse	Proposed Base	Hypothetical Process	End Product
Afflicted Blood	Primal Blood (A)	Transmogrification Agent (B) + Victim (Human) Blood	Primal Blood or Analog (C)
Everblood	Primal Blood (A)	(See notes below concerning the origin of Everblood in the troll curse of Drangell.)	Everblood (E)
Blackblood Plague	Primal Blood (A)	Unknown processing (possibly involving iguanoid blood)	Half-Elven Sickness (F)

Transmogrification Agents:

While it is possible the arrow poison represents a singular poison or possibly even reduces to a formula such as (B) = (C) or (A) = (B) = (C), which have collectively been referred to as "epochxin", we should entertain a more general model for the likelihood that there is a shared methodology with other blood magic transmogrification curses of the provenance of the Arcane Eyes. It is possible that primal blood (A) or Everblood essence (D) is one of the Unknown Ingredients (U) for the transmogrification agent.

Generalized Transmogrification Agent:

Step #	Component	Process	End Product
Step 1	Unknown Ingredients (U)	Processing	Transmogrification Catalyst (J)
Step 2	Transmogrification Catalyst (J) + Substrate	Contact	Generalized Transmogrification Agent (K)

Instantiations of Transmogrification Agent Class:

Blood Curse	Component	End Product	Effect	Victim
Epochxin	Transmogrification Catalyst (J) + (Substrate = Primal Blood)	Transmogrification Agent (B)	Blood Curse (C)	Larsya (Human Blood)
Orc Curse	Transmogrification Catalyst (J) + (Substrate = Orc Blood)	Transmogrification Agent (L)	Blood Curse (O)	Thrayzar (Human Blood)
Troll Curse	Transmogrification Catalyst (J) + (Substrate = Troll Blood)	Transmogrification Agent (M)	Blood Curse (P)	Drangell (Giantman Blood)
Ithzir Curse	Transmogrification Catalyst (J) + (Substrate = Ithzir Blood)	Transmogrification Agent (N)	Blood Curse (Q)	Rodnay (Human Blood)
Winged Fiend Curse	Transmogrification Catalyst (J) + (Substrate = Vathor Blood?)	Transmogrification Agent (O)	Blood Curse (R)	Children (Human Blood)

As an addendum on this point, the Everblood was allegedly adapted from the blood of Drangell, but as we know now the Essence of Everblood intermediate itself is a distillation of ebon-swirled primal blood. The cursed troll form of Drangell was reverted to his giantman body, albeit without the elimination of the Everblood, which remained until the development of the tar-like black salve (G) for the half-elven "blackblood" sickness. This implies the ritual performed on Drangell was able to specifically target the physical consequences of his substrate component (troll blood) while leaving the Everblood aspect in tact. This may even be indirect if trolls originated in demonic blood magic.

The relevance of this point is that Larsya has already been treated with an anti-derivative of the primal blood, allowing the opposite situation of the primal blood derivative being countered but not the substrate transmogrification. The Tehir spirit caller Akhash was able in Lumnea 5111 to sever the troll specific aspect of the curse on Drangell using items tied to the curse and troll blood and body parts. This reverted the victim to his Giantman form. In this case it was a longsword that Thrayzar had used to strike down the witch that cursed them. If this model is essentially correct then a similar ritual plus the salve could be performed with items of the curse creators and the relevant substrates.

Olaesta 14th, 5118

Appendix C: Inhibitor Effects of Primal Blood Anti-Derivatives

The empirical evidence for the counter-action of blood curses by treatment of epochxin anti-derivatives are as follows:

Blood Curse	Inhibitor	Effect	Description	Examples
Everblood (E)	Restorative Salve (G)	Death	The subjects melt into a tar-like substance.	Chaston Griffin, Blameless
Blood Curse (P)	Restorative Salve (G)	Death	The subjects melt into a tar-like substance.	Drangell
Blackblood Curse (F)	Restorative Salve (G)	Reversion to Original	There is a burning sensation, black veins are expunged.	Cured half-elves.
Afflicted Blood (C)	Modified Salve (H)	Stabilization	The rapid aging effect halts, does not constitute being cured.	Larsya

It is possible that the blood curses Everblood (E) and the Blood Curse (S) of Drangell, with the troll form (P) removed, are exactly the same but this will not be taken for granted. This table suggests that the tar-like black salve interacts with the Everblood by transforming the physiology of the host into the tar. The hypothetical causal mechanism for this is that the Primal Blood (A) component of the Half-Elven Sickness (F) is expunged from the host blood, while in the case(s) of the Everblood this underlying Primal Blood (A) component is catalyzed into more tar-like black salve or something similar. This suggests the constitution of Everblood fuels a runaway reaction of self-replication.

The inference to be drawn from this is that the "essence of Everblood" (D) becomes an accelerant with the tar-like black salve (G), which in effect becomes an anti-derivative substrate for the generalized transmogrification agent (K) per the model in Appendix B. In contrast, the salve acts as an inhibitor of this mechanism in the cases of Afflicted Blood (C) and Half-Elven Sickness (F), where the latter is a whole body purification whereas the former perhaps only inhibits the blood but not its imposed physical effects.

Olaesta 15th, 5118

Appendix D: Extraplanar Hybridization

Our world consists of a material plane of existence formed of essence which pervades all animate and inanimate matter. The essence which constitutes a thing may be corrupted by exposure or intersection with the energies of other realms. It is thought by some that those forces we wield into magic are higher order essences, warping the otherwise inert properties of our material world with that of others such as spiritual and elemental planes. When the interplanar bleedthrough is with the elemental planes, saturation with elemental power is eventually infused within sentient forms. These range from frost giants to lava golems, where neither giants nor golems are intrinsically elemental.

In the case of "unholy" power this corruption tends to curse the souls to their vessels or locations and thus warping the spirits of the living toward undeath. It twists the spirit toward malevolence and a hunger for destroying itself. There is an intimate relationship between the demonic and undead for this reason. The unnatural fusion of such foreign powers, the siphoning and fusing of hybrid forms, fall under the domain of sorcerous magic. Soulstones are thus used for siphoning both spiritual and elemental power.

(1) Higher Necromancy

It is in this lack of sanctity for intra-planar purity that we find the unifying principle of higher necromancy. Things of one realm of being are not uniquely bound to that natural domain, and may be transmogrified into other kinds entirely or miscegenated into hybrid forms of neither world. This is a basic fact when interacting with extraplanar entities, whether demonic or whichever other categorization. Vathors make necleriines from humanoid corpses of our world. The Vvrael servants are tranformed with corrosive black blood and now one with the self-aware "anti-mana." Glistening cerebralites replicate themselves from the brains of the fallen. V'reen morphs and magru breed from flesh.

These are conspicuous examples because they are "extraplanar" and yet their origins in our world cannot be disputed. South of the Demonwall there are many things which are demonic hybrids. These were fashioned by the hordes unleashed in the ill-advised warmongering of Empress Selantha II, or else from things missed by the Faendryl Armata in the unhealed tear in reality at the ruins of Maelshyve. These are the "unnatural" offspring of the demonic with (or otherwise spawned from) wildlife or livestock of our world.

The more subtle historical point is that many of the vaguely humanoid races of this world have unknown origins in the Age of Darkness. There was the chaos of a great demonic war that had corrupted and warped life so thoroughly that Imaera herself was kept busy for thousands of years. The discovery that the purified essence of the Everblood (D) is actually distilled ebon-swirled primal blood speaks to this pre-historical atavism of descent. While the Everblood (E) was adapted from the blood of Drangell (S), who had been cursed (P) as a troll, it is missing the point to say the Everblood is derived from troll blood. It is rather suggesting that the trolls originated many thousands of years ago in the corruption of humanoids (or perhaps giantkin specifically) by the venom of primitive oculoths. Orcs may similarly find their provenance in the descent of men or Elves.

(2) Transmogrification

Transmogrification is broadly speaking a process of fusion or conversion between kinds. Vesperti are such a thing between elves and bats, constituents seemingly only of this world, fashioned for their anti-magical and extraplanar powers. There is consequently a case to be made for such physiological transformations proceeding immediately from spells or spell-like manipulations inherent to the entities. In the case of a hybrid form this would be like breeding "horizontally" into a host instead of producing an offspring in descent. In terms of the model in Appendix B this amounts to the Transmogrification Catalyst (J) being nothing other than a sorcerous curse spell or something similar.

It might nevertheless be the case that in this instance of "the blood curses of the Arcane Eyes" there is some unknown substance acting as the catalyst which remains in the blood of the transformed. This is suggested strongly by the action of the tar-like black salve (G), which is made from purified everblood essence (D), and transformed the bodies of the Everblooded (D) into the tar. The Ithzir hybrid children which hatched from floating cocoons were made from slender crystal tubes of blood and abducted orphans.

Blood Curse	Victim Type	Kind	Culprit	Function
Ithzir Orphans	Children	Hybrid	Grishom Stone	Power conduit
Winged Fiend	Children	Hybrid	Grishom Stone	Power conduit
Larsya	Children	Semi-Transformed	Raznel	Beacon
Blackblood	Both	Semi-Transformed	Raznel	Power battery
Everblood	Adult	Semi-Transformed	Raznel	N/A
Thrayzar	Adult	Fully Transformed	Raznel	N/A
Drangell	Adult	Fully Transformed	Raznel	N/A

The Tehir spirit caller Akhash was able to reverse Drangell to a "semi-transformed" state where he was a giantman instead of a troll but still retained the Everblood. Grishom was able to adapt this directly from Drangell, while the same was done later for the Blameless. This suggests that the full transformation relies upon a substrate which can be separated out, while the catalyst and perhaps primal blood component remains. It is in effect the blood that is transformed with a secondary effect on the body rather than a hybridization or total transformation. The application of the tar-like black salve was arguably catalyzed upon the Everblood which led those bodies into a full transformation.

(3) Reversions

In contrast, the blackblood sickness (F) was merely burned out by it, and the boiled form (H) did not fully transform Larsya. This suggests its effect upon the blackblood was to reverse the "semi-transformed" state by expunging what was presumably a primal blood constituent. What will be argued in Appendix F is that the application of the liquid (H) to Larsya brought her body into closer unison with the primal blood. It is worth noting that the symptoms of curing the blackblood suggest relevance of elemental fire, which is known to inhibit the flesh restorative properties of troll blood. This suggests essence of fire would be important in curing primal or everblood admixtures from a host.

The blackblood veins resembled the taint from the shadow realm of Althedeus. Its purpose was likely to form shadow batteries for infusing the blood marble which destroyed Talador with fiery energies and corrupted it with shadow energy. The physical warping from this on Disciples of the Shadows is well known. The constituents of the blackblood are unclear, but there were iguanoid blood vials found in the Hendoran Outpost after it was liberated, which was the time period the pack with the salve recipe was presumably planted. It may also be adapted from whatever Raznel has done to her own blood. It is possible that the blood catalyst, if it exists, can be identified by fractional distillation of the blood of victims in this class (such as Larsya, Thrayzar, and Rodnay.) The wounds inflicted on Rodnay have notably vanished on their own similar to Everblood.

Similarly, there have been other situations of curses of the blood and flesh from Raznel which are not seemingly transmogrifications, but nevertheless perhaps involve corruption with the shadow energy. These would include cases such as a corpse erupting with a spontaneous transmutation of blood (U) into vermin such as scarabs. Most recently, we have learned that Disean the son of Lord Thadston Andrews has come under the control of the witch with perhaps the influence of a transformation (V), and he possesses a blade which inflicts a rotting disease (W) on its victims. When the corpse of an afflicted horse was burned the cursed energy was observed as shadowy ribbons of black flames. It would have been helpful to have acquired blood samples from this horse, but it might be studied for its differences from other injured parties such as Thadston himself.

It might well be the case that the Everblood possesses a self-catalyzing agent, much as would be necessary for the arrow "epochxin" poison to be nothing other than the primal blood, at least under certain conditions. If this were so it would only be necessary to expose a host to the Everblood and it would transform their own blood. That would not preclude other variants. The slow healing wounds of Rodnay may be less aggressive, much as Grishom healed slowly after the tortures of Nysorm. This may not even be a coincidence if Rodnay is a mixture of Grishom and Ithzir blood. Grishom spoke nebulously of exchanging our world for blood, and they of marriage of blood and power.

The shortened point in this is that the mere presence of a primal or everblood component is insufficient for the tar-like black salve to result in lethal transformation. It was a vulnerability peculiar to that form of the Everblood curse. It would have unpredictable effects on others such as Rodnay, Grishom, Raznel, and whichever modifications have been made in the intervening period. The presence of Disean with surviving Blameless must allow for the possibility, though by no means the certainty, of Raznel somehow controlling the group of them rather than only that member. If this is the case there may be a modified Everblood (X) which is not vulnerable to the tar-like black salve (G). There is not yet any evidence this has happened, but the possibility must be anticipated. It would stand to reason another treatment involving primal blood might work.

Olaesta 24th, 5118

Appendix F: Temporal Nature of the Primal Blood

The fundamental alchemical identity of the epochxin and Everblood in the substrate of ebon-swirled primal blood forces the inference that we are witnessing anti-parallel temporal effects from the same underlying causal mechanisms. The Everblood (E) "heals" the body aggressively by forcing its return to a frozen moment in time, while not doing the same for the mind, whereas the Treated Afflicted Blood (I) has frozen the mind and almost halted the body. This is less of a paradox than it might seem. Consider that a thing frozen in a moment of time does not perceive itself that way. In its own frame of reference it is normal, but everything else is happening rapidly or simultaneously.

The curious fact that the ebon-swirled primal is a "primitive oculoth" rather than a cousin in the oculoth family is telling. What it is implying is that they are oculoths as they existed in some earlier point of evolution, their forms frozen into a given state of development. They are oculoths who have been corrupted by temporal suspension of their bodies imbued in their blood. They still have their sense of awareness, the ability to act. The venom being called "epochxin" refers to its temporal distortion on the flesh.

Blood Curse	Body	Mind	Hypothetical Blood Synchronization
Everblood (E)	Restoring Force	Normal	Body (Only)
Troll Blood (T)	Restoring Force	Normal	Body (Only)
Afflicted Blood (C)	Accelerated	???	Not Synchronized
Treated Afflicted Blood (I)	Slowed	Restoring Force	Body (Partial) & Mind

What I am proposing is that the primal blood venom may have a kind of "epochxin" effect on its own, but the arrow poison fully converted Larsya's blood into the ebon-swirled primal blood which may exist in temporal suspension. Without being properly hybridized with her body so that it is synchronized with its temporal freeze, the consequence is her flesh is infused with a thing that perceives its flow through time as much more rapid. There is in living things a kind of "blood-brain barrier" which presumably shields trolls and the Everblooded from having their minds afflicted by its filtering effect. The trouble with Larsya is her mind is in contact with the venom, per usual with oculoth venoms.

The fact that her mind is frozen in the moment she was first struck suggests her mind is like a spring about a fixed point in history due to her blood. This suggests in turn that synchronizing her body with the blood would return her flesh to that temporal state as well. At the moment, her body is in a sense too cured, when what is needed is deeper transformation. Once her body is returned to its initial condition of youth, making use of more temporal magic, one would be concerned with expunging the primal blood.

The commonalities between these blood curses is once again important. The blackblood sickness when purified will spontaneously manifest into writhing things such as maggots like the blood of Raznel. This is remarkable as the incident with the Ithzir which led to a dozen transmogrified orphans was rife with temporal distortions. There were "temporal warriors" bleeding through from the rifting, as well as incarnadine riftworms, and larger breachworms. This was not incidental. The first child victim "Jimmy" was transformed with blue pupiless eyes, his corpse leaking blue blood which spontaneously erupted as riftworms. Considering Rodnay's healing power and the oculoths existing in the shadow realm, this suggests the underlying presence of their blood as a component in the transmogrification agent itself. This may be what was destroyed by the tar-like black salve in the case of blackblood curse, if it was starved of everblood, whereas in Larsya it was acting directly on much primal blood allowing the catalyst to become a greater factor.

Olaesta 24th 5118

OOC Points of Clarification

(1) The author is having a moment of disorientation when conflating Archales and Aetheri. He knows better. The reason this happened is illustrated in "Through A Glass Darkly". The supposed assassin Vinswith being transformed or created as a chimera of Archales and Wolfloner may involve an entirely different blood magic methodology.
(2) It is a corollary of Appendix B that Everblood does not come as such from troll blood. It instead reverses the relationship, asserting that everblood essence originates in primitive oculoth blood as an empirical fact, thus preferring the conjecture that trolls originate in demonic hybridization and the properties of troll blood are loosely speaking a weak debased form of Everblood. This is an independent postulate which allows the transmogrification agent to not involve primal blood. Drangell would then have been loosely based on primal blood even if this unified model is wrong. This is made explicit in Appendix D.
(3) The theory represented by Appendix B is a basic model that may evolve into a sequence of more specific models. In this sense it represents an embryonic theory or "research program" rather than a finished form. The process involved with Rodnay was also involving a cocoon metamorphosis stage, for example, which he shared in common with another blood transmogrification curse of Grishom Stone's turning children into winged fiends. This may have been using vathor blood given the context. There could be a bifurcation in methodology at this point without the basic theory being wrong.

See Also

• Brieson's Plan for Larsya and the Everblood (10/26/2016)
• Contents of Raznel's Pack (10/26/2016)
• Recap of the Southron Wastes mission and aftermath (10/29/2016)
• Eyes of the Dawn Finale - Death of Drangell, Chaston, Blameless, Desolution of Talador (11/6/2016)
• Eyes of the Dawn - Stability for Larsya and Salve for Half-Elves (11/11/2016)
• Breshon and Larsya: Understanding the Situation (4/13/2018)