Leafiara (prime)/Tales/Notes on Thadston

Original Story: Eoantos 1, 5120

Leafiara blinked at the journal lying open on her desk when she walked in--her own journal, but when had she put it there? She flipped back several pages and scanned over it.

~~

Working theory: the Bleakwalker has either A) attached itself to Thadston via a hybrid of spiritual, elemental, and mental magic or B) is, itself, a being of concentrated mana of all forms.

Spiritual because it appears to be incorporeal--or, more realistically, appears to have been incorporeal, but more on this shortly--and because it's a denizen of the Bleaklands, which were created by Chaston Griffin's activation of the obelisk--he himself utilizing spiritual magic.

Elemental because it seems capable of limited control over Thadston's body at times; if I understood Magister Raelee's lecture at Silverwood Manor correctly, then elemental magic, among the three fields, is the best at directly manipulating the physical world. Furthermore, although Chaston probably used spiritual magic, the obelisk was almost surely tampered with first by Raznel, whose background was in elemental magic prior to studying spiritual magic herself.

Mental because the Bleakwalker speaks to minds directly and because Thadston is able to suppress it while intoxicated. In other words, it relies on a clear mind to even so much as speak.

Additional working theory: since Thadston had it relatively under control for months without the use of drink, the Bleakwalker is probably growing in power, either directly or simply by stabilizing its chaotic hybrid magic. Whether I'm right or wrong about this doesn't matter, though, as either way we have to solve this problem as soon as possible.


If the Bleakwalker were a being made of concentrated mana, that would make things pretty straightforward; we could use something like Cordarius' manafires again, create an amplified mana vacuum similar to a more sustained Mana Leech spell, or even simply have Thadston borrow kroderine armor from Sir Cryheart long enough to choke the Bleakwalker out of existence.

I don't think it'll be that simple, though; Thadston's arms are already full of kroderine shards and there's no obvious effect on the Bleakwalker. More importantly, there are also the mysterious circumstances of Thadston entering the Bleaklands portal with a never-healing wound from Disean's Raznel-cursed blade only to return in full health other than the loss of his sight.

Lady Casiphia claimed at Thadston's hearing that he died in the Bleaklands and the Bleakwalker gave him life; that might be only her interpretation or repeating something Thadston claimed to her at some point privately, but for now I'm assuming a worst case scenario that it's literally true. If so, then it's probably merged with his physical body at least partly and was responsible for healing him because it needs him healed.


As for possible solutions... If the Bleakwalker is like a hybrid magical and (now) physical entity, then the good news is that we're probably able to corner it. Xorus or Magister Raelee can probably determine the specifics of how better than me, but broadly speaking, either it can willingly extract itself from Thadston or it can't.

If it can extract itself, then we pressure it into doing so. We might need to hear from Thadston regarding if or how the Bleakwalker affects him while asleep. The Magister made a good point that sleeping patients are easier to study, which is how the Hall originally worked with him when it found him--and we have the means too, since Casiphia and Thadston had a powerful sleeping concoction they used to help him when the pain from the witch's blade was too much to bear. It's possible that the Bleakwalker is unable to defend itself while Thadston is asleep. It's also possible that it never sleeps since it's a partially incorporeal entity, in which case we rely on Thadston exerting his will against it along with whatever means we devise.

If it can't extract itself, that'll make things tougher. I almost hate to write this, but Quinshon's transference would actually be perfectly suited to this task; the trouble is none of us are studied in what was an unprecedented ritual, it's too dangerous because Quinshon himself couldn't get it to work anyway, and we can't trust Vlashandra, the one person who did get it--or at least something like it--to work.

So, failing that, I think something vaguely like a ritual to amplify dispelling magic would work, with most of us channeling mana and energy to a few primary drivers. Even just between the two captains alone, we'd have every sphere of mana covered to throw at the Bleakwalker regardless of how it tries to protect itself. Dispelling magic from Shinann or perhaps a Song of Unraveling from Stormyrain--something to that effect, but supported by the rest of us. (Note: last I've seen, Captain Stormyrain is no good at receiving mana by conventional means. However, directing energy at her unconventionally for a blood magic ritual worked during the capture of the first Rone, so I don't foresee it being impossible... all hypothetically, at least, since this idea might not hold any water in the first place, she might not be interested, Thadston might not want to use blood magic, or other possibilities.)

Alternatively, if we have any kroderine weapons among us to use or borrow, it's possible that more concentrated kroderine would have an effect where the scattered shards in his arms don't. This is a vague skeleton of an idea and others might have better ideas anyway, but if it were possi

(the writing abruptly veers off into a sharp line down the rest of the page)

~~

Leafiara raised an eyebrow. I must have been in one of my late night rambling sessions and fell asleep... I wonder who got me home. She paused, then shrugged. Either way... Not the worst ideas I've ever had, so at least it's okay if anyone dropped by and snuck a peek. I'll bring them up.