20 Failure

The acolyte observed the object made by the fusing of the bones, it was all a single piece, from front to end, even what was supposed to be the trigger was fused with the rest of the catalyst "Yess… shotgun… yesss… swift bringer of cleanliness… yesss…." Thought the skeletal acolyte, lifting the catalyst, it was a heavy thing, draining mana from the acolyte with the mere act of him touching it, filling the runic carvings slowly with mana.

[It seems the shape hasn't affected the spell, Good… now cast the spell, aim at the dust pillar, it should hold after the impact] instructed Throzahk, seeing the faint light of the boomstick as it absorbed mana from the acolyte, filling the runic scriptures, and creating an strange glow [Try to concentrate the mana in the… front? Point?... the whatever end pointing towards the pillar… and then release it… like this] said Throzahk, repeating the steps one by one, creating from his finger-tips the runes, he launched them one after the other in a swift the mana took the shape of an orb, that flew swiftly and hit the target, denting the dust pillar a bit removing part of it [This is disappointing… I knew I was weakened but not by this much! O! Blessed Quilrorry… Forgive the weakness of your servant!] lamented Throzahk in prayers.

The acolyte followed suit, taking the artifact with a pose that resembled that of a novice shooter, holding the catalyst by what seemed to be the stock with one hand, and with the other he casted the targeting rune, it flew and stuck to the dust pillar, creating a path for the skeletal acolyte to follow with the tracking rune, this path was a spiraling towards the target in ever closer turns until it arrived on target.

[Here it goes! Yes yes!] said the acolyte, the catalyst followed his will, gathering mana in the muzzle of the shotgun like artifact, the orb took a different shape, an elongated oval shape, that was immediately shot towards the dust pillar, with tendrils that cracked and damaged the artifact the moment it left for the target.

The mana orb impact took a big chunk of the pillar, about a third of its width, however the mana orb didn't stop, as it kept going for a short distance before dispersing and disappearing.

[I had heard from my master that the shape of a catalyst could have an effect on the shape taken by the spell its meant to be used with… however… this is quite interesting indeed… yet the catalyst has turned out to be a failure! Cracking with just one use! Failure I tell you!] Lamented Throzahk, as he looked at the cracked artifact, deep groves ruptured the runic scriptures, and blue mist escaped form the artifact.

[Failure may it be, however I cannot deny that if I had the materials required for this kind of artifact it would have endured the strain put by your mana… it needs to be said that part of that Bolt's mana was coated with lighting, not much of an elemental coating, however… that I had not expected… usually spells like this do not take on an elemental turn… O! Most Holy Quilrorry! This servant thanks thee!] said Throzahk, praying to his goddess.

[WHAT! It broke?!] Asked the skeletal acolyte, worrying about the state of his new tool.

[Yes… it has ceased to work, as the damaged is much too great… however this has been a very enlightening experience indeed… however, the fact that the catalyst is damaged tells us one very simple thing, your mana is much too chaotic for simple catalyst… and an experimental one at that!] said Throzahk as he moved towards the staff engraved slab.

[Chaotic? What does that mean? Yess….] asked the skeletal acolyte.

Throzahk sighed before answering the acolyte [Its very simple, as your mana is going through the process of attunement, it has traces of the core own mana, in other words flowing through the mana veins there are two similar yet different mana sources, in this case yours and the core, this caused the catalyst to strain itself in the process of gathering the mana… I should have expected this] explained Throzahk

[I see…] said the skeletal acolyte putting the now broken catalyst back on top of the stone slab.

Seeing this action Throzahk spoke once again [Put that failure aside… I expected an outsider to have interesting ideas about the staff and catalysts, nonetheless it seems that I was somewhat mistaken… Planeswalker… Qliphoth… Planestouched… Summoned Ones… I should have considered what kind of Outsider you are… You aren't a Planeswalker, as far I know… Neither a Qliphoth, as you are not a discarded shell nor a divine being casted into shame or exile… Nor a Summoned One, as there was no ceremony that would have you come to this temple… That leaves one options of the few that I know, however limited my knowledge is…] said Throzahk as he looked over the Gann Ceann remaining bones [Whats more… I had heard that most, if not all of the Otsider were a cautious lot… Valuing their own survival over anything… Bah! Does not matter… Show me the bone spear, we have work that need to be done!] instructed Throzahk.

At once the skeletal acolyte did as he was instructed, placing the bone spear on the stone slab and asking [Well I was never a carefull person anyhow… and what did you mean when you said Summoned One? Yess… as far I know I was fished out? Caught? Hauled? From some river… yesss!] said the acolyte as he placed the bone spear in place.

As Throzahk was about to speak muffled shouts were heard coming forth, then the dull and blunt impacts that had made the spell tremble for a bit, resumed.

[Damned She-Daemon! May Holy Quilrorry bestow upon us her guidance so this temple can be rid of her foul presence!] prayed Throzahk, as he extended mana tendrils from his hands.

[Hmm… it seems that this spear is no spear at all… a crude catalyst, used for melee… quite an idiotic idea! It didn't break simply because no spells were used, I presume… I had wondered how were you able to defeat the Gan Ceann, this foul beings are afterall quite difficult to deal with… this explains it… no matter… it will be of use] said Throzahk as he turned towards the skeletal remains.

[Now in regard to your question… who do you expect to perform a ritual, ceremony or the like here! The undead? The skeletons that you have granted peace? Me? Must I remind you that I am unable to channel the divine? Bah! If you had been Summoned the form you would have taken would correspond to that of the place you were summoned forth, not in the shape of a skeleton, and a kobold skeleton at that! HA!] laughed Throzahk still looking at the skeletal remains of the Gan Ceann.

[I see…] said the skeletal acolyte, as he moved to the side to let his would-be master work in the staff.

[And how would you know about the river!? Unless… Hmmm… it is possible… considering the state of affairs before the treason…] muttered Throzahk, touching his chin with his left hand.

[Hmm… matters not, there is something important to do right now, you can tell me your tale after we rid this sacred place from the foul existence of that She-Deamon!] said Throzahk [Now, we must make haste, take three ribs and place them on the slab… There is work to be done… The barrier will hold, but the seal on that foul being is being corroded as we speak, we must be rid of her if we wish to accomplish anything] instructed Throzahk.

The skeletal acolyte felt a bit irritated, as his origins were waived, but he still obeyed Throzahk, although this time he remained silent as he placed the tree ribs on the slab.

[Good… this time I will be the one arranging the catalyst, as it needs to be done in a way that lets the mana be properly managed…] said throzahk as he worked with the bones, placing tow of the ribs near the spearpoint, pointing upwards, and the last one sideways just below the speartip.

He then began to fuse the bones once again, the body of the spear lost all the protuberance that came from being made from the bones of a tail, becoming a trident as the third rib had become the beam that connected the other two to the main body of the catalyst [There… shaping is done, now comes the difficult part] said Throzahk as he began slowly engraving the runic patterns, shaving away a bit of material from specific places near the trident head, in what seemed to be cutaways for incrusting some kind of core or jewel.

Throzahk carved away the proper runes, in the correct pattern in a very slow pace, it looked like this process would take an eternity to complete [There! It is done! However, as it stands this is a crude staff, Truly one must consider the materials… anyhow, take it, test it and then you may go] instructed Throzahk.

The Acolyte obeyed his orders, silently repeating the process, casting the runes, then directing his mana to gather at the trident head, as he witnessed the mana separate at the trident head, bifurcating towards the side prongs, the left prong bore a wild looking mana, as it extended furious tendrils as if reaching for its foes, and the right prong bore a calm mana, that seemed to be like water, attracting some of the tendrils, before finally being concentrated on the tip of the middle prong, forming an round orb.

The acolyte then released the mana orb, it followed the runes and struck the dust pillar, shattering its surface and making a small shockwave backwards.

[Impressive! You can now go and begin your task to cleanse this most sacred temple, and do not forget to bring any core you find, however small it may be it will have an use!] said Throzahk, as he admired his creation at work.

[Understood...] said the acolyte as he began walking slowly towards the hallway.