RP:Finding Secrets That Time Forgot

Summary: Blut, near death and fading into oblivion, journeys to the Temple of Q'na to perform a time-reversing ritual on his father's disintegrated journal. Inside the journal lie the secret of how to live with the family curse and extend his life. While there, a priest named Algernon finds Blut and tries to steal the journal for himself.

NPCing by Josleen.

Temple of Q'na

Blut entered the temple but rather than being in his normal position he entered with a slight limp. Black dust coming out of his dust. His body was weak and failing and as he entered his hood fell back. It revealed a face that was jet black and dust flew from that as well. Blut walked over to the hourglass as he looked over his notes setting relics that looked like hourglasses around the main one. The way he set them down was so that should one look at it from a birds eye view the relics would look like a hourglass the large one from the temple being at the center of it. Blut set down his holy and unholy weapons not considering that someone might be here as well as being worried that they might cause problems for the ritual. Blut sat on the ground as he read over his notes one last time in order to be sure he had the prayer down. He doesn't need any more mistakes.

Algernon, a priest of Q’na lived with a tribe of nomads in the desert. He was not one of their people, but had joined them in order to be closer to this temple, and thereby be closer to his god. He appointed himself caretaker of these ruins, and over the years he’d met only a handful of pilgrims to this time-holy site. He never knew when another voyager would come, and thus he was surprised to see Blut in the temple when he arrived. “Excuse me?” he called from behind Blut. He gasped when he saw the black face and the dust which crumbled loose from Blut’s nose and lips. “Who are you?” He looked at the arrange of hourglasses on the ground. “What is this?”

Blut sighed as he looked at the man with a glare in his eyes. His eyes gave off a crimson glow "I'm a man lost in the passage of time. So I'm here to make an offer to this god. I need to see if he can help me." Blut answered in short gasps as he took out a charred book cover most pages were completely disintegrated whilst some remained it was black evident that the book was caught in a blast. "Please don't. Interrupt me. If it fails I'll disappear from this world if it doesn't. It has to work" Blut wheezed as he set the broken book down.

Algernon stepped cautiously forward towards the charred book. “Let me help you. What do you mean you’ll disappear from this world? Why?” He glanced at Blut’s notes on the ritual. “What are you trying to do here? If you have no experience wielding Q’na’s gifts, you may fail. I have some experience.”

Blut shook his head before holding his chin in thought. "I mean the world will reject me." Blut wheezed as he pointed to the dust flying off his body " This is my essence it's what is keeping me tethered to the world. My time has all but expired a long time ago so the world is trying to reject me. Taking time from other gives me a few extra moments more time to fix it. But there isn't enough death to keep me sustained." Blut pointed to the hourglasses "Those glasses each hold the potential lifetime of a mortal being. I could harvest it myself to sustain myself but it is only a short term fix. This journal was nearly destroyed one hundred. Years ago it contains my father’s life work I think. He found a way to more efficiently sustain himself rather than what I'm doing. If the ritual works then the notebook will be restored if not I embrace oblivion." Blut explained with a short chuckle "If you still want to help me after. all this then your crazier than I am."

Algernon pales when Blut confesses to killing others to extend his own life. Such dark ambition would not typically be sanctioned by Q’na, though it is confusing because Q’na doesn’t view death as a true death as time is not linear and thus everything always is at all times. Nonetheless, Blut’s motives are dark, which stray from Q’na’s teachings. Suddenly fearing for his safety, Algernon pulls a pocket watch from his pocket and pulls on the pin. He begins to spin the hands idly backward. “You’re right, I would be a fool to help a man as evil as you. What sort of magic do you use and why do you come to this holy temple to fix your wicked father’s journal? Your ritual will fail if your motives are selfish. Time is not selfish, neither is my god, Q’na.”

Blut chuckled at the man’s response "I'll tell you if I survive this but for now I ask that you get away from me and this ritual. I never asked for this curse. If it wasn't for him I'd be in a grave. Resting peacefully." Blut spat out despite the obvious pain he was in. " My father tried something but if it's anything like this. Then you don't want this curse." Blut warned his motives were not pure but they wouldn't be selfish either. This curse brought uncertainty of what would happen after he passed. Would he be forced to wonder the void, would his soul move on. Blut never asked for these powers nor did he ask for this faith but be it sheer will to live or crippling fear that drives him towards survival he would live on. Blut chuckled before turning to the glasses of time that laid before him " Time is not selfish time is blind and uncaring for time is the physical manifestation of what we mortals call faith." Blut explained waiting a few moments for the priest to move before he could start the ritual. He would clap his hands when starting after a few moments whether the priest moved or not.

Algernon briefly considered chasing this wicked man out of this temple, but Blut’s understanding that time and faith are intertwined gave him pause. This fading man knew something of Q’na’s teachings, and his ritual intrigues Algernon who had never seen anything like it. The priest took a step back to watch the ritual, and, if necessary, protect the temple from Blut. But he had decided not to help Blut and let fate unfurl as it would. Q’na may decide whether or not Blut succeeds.

Blut clapped his hands together before bowing. Blut spoke in an ancient language perhaps centuries old his eyes closed " Oh great lord of time I beseech thee grace me with your presence as I make this humble offering. 6 mortal lives were vanquished so that their essence ma satisfy thee. What they, were will be, could have been I offer to you my lord." Bluts voice strained under the sheer pain his deterioration was having on him but still he held strong. " My lord who watches the now the before and forever onwards allow me to be a conduit for your power. Dwell within me and transform me into a tool of your desire and through mortal eyes I ask. Restore what has been destroyed a hundred years prior." Blut begged at this point refusing to open his eyes till the ritual was over. If the ritual was having any form of success the sand of the relics would be escaping and merging together only to be absorbed within the large hour glass. "So I ask again that you grace your child with this request Q'na." Blut prayed if the good accepted his tribute his body would be filled with godly energy as the god would channel his power through the mortal man in order to fix the journal. If he failed nothing further would happen. Blut thought of nothing but his prayer his mind void of any other thought just his prayer.

Algernon understands some of what Blut is saying, having dabbled in ancient languages during his studies to become a priest. He can’t translate all the words on the fly, but understands the gist of the prayer. As the sands start to move towards the center, large hourglass, he gets an idea. Theft is not exactly frowned upon by Q’na, it’s just a small thing that happens during time’s immensity. Here is Blut with this journal and its time-bending secrets, and suddenly Algernon is overcome with a sudden need to possess it. He grips the pocket watch he was fiddling with and whispers a quick incantation under his breath. Just as the journal is restored, the priest flings the pocket watch out like a yo-yo at Blut. If the clock makes contact with the assassin, then time will slow down for Blut dramatically. He’ll slow down so drastically that he’ll see Algernon move as fast as a flash of light, and with this enhanced speed (though in truth Algernon is running at a normal pace, and it is Blut who is slow thanks to the pocket watch), Algernon will steal the journal for himself and run out of the temple, unless stopped.

Blut 's pain started to subside as consciousness returned to the man. Blut gasped but in that instance he felt sluggish. Very sluggish almost as if he was slowed to a snail’s pace Blut noticed the sun moving across the room at a regular pace. Blut tried to move his arm which whilst it did so slowly it was like trying to swim through a large pool of jelly Blut saw the man running at a normal pace but was completely powerless to stop it. Within that moment he could have sworn words filled his mind from a source unknown. He could not tell if this was Q'na, his father’s memories or something entirely different but he repeated them in his mind over and over. "Let go of all earthly tethers, enter the void, become empty like time, do not fear the oblivion embrace it." Everytime Blut muttered these words in his mind the world started to slow down making it painfully clear he was developing a resistance to this magic that was afflicting the man and with that diminishing affect the pain returned as well. Blut hissed at it but that was the last thing on his mind right now. Whilst everything was still a lot faster than normal including the man who ran at the speed of a wild fox at this point Blut was accelerating faster and faster soon reaching his regular sprint speed. Blut being much faster than the average human male comparable more to elves than humans chased down the man. Blut aimed a punch straight at the man’s head in order to knock him down he didn't want to kill the man but he wouldn't hesitate if he puts up too much of a fight. With his sword breaker gauntlets, still on he still had a bladed weapon to take time away from this man.

Algernon had made it outside to the ruined city by the time Blut caught up to him. Impossible! Perhaps Q’na truly does favor this wicked assassin. The punch sends Algernon sprawling forward. He catches himself clumsily and rolls a few yards away, in the process leaving the journal on the ground between himself and Blut. He crouches and faces Blut, sees the journal on the ground, and must decide whether or not to try and take it again. He turns the pocket watch’s pin forward and slams the piece against his chest. He runs as fast as a vampire and barrels towards that journal. His goal is to take the journal from the ground and run into the desert, but should he miss, he’ll simply give up, leave the journal and Blut behind, and escape with his life.

Blut charged towards the journal his hand outstretched not for easier reach but to aim a spell. Despite being slower Bluts mana seemed to flow just fine as he aimed a novice wind spell at the book. Being a trainee at the mage guild meant he had to follow the basic training learning very minor spells. However Blut aimed to cast the wind spell from behind the book so that it would blow towards the man. Timing it so that when the vampire gets close it would blow away from his grab in the hopes that he may stumble and miss the journal. He leaped to get extra time on the journal for where it will land after the spell is cast.

Algernon misses the journal and doesn’t push his luck a third time. He runs east into the Nameless Desert, as far away from Blut as possible, his tracks blowing away quickly on the sand dunes, and doesn’t stop until he is sure Blut can’t find him. There he proceeds to vomit over and over, as the type of magic he just used on himself causes extreme nausea. He’ll rejoin the nomads and avoid the temple for the days to come.

Blut picked up the journal it had a crimson case as well as a physical lock. Blut groaned as the magic afflicting him wore off resulting in pain and lightheadedness. Once Blut regained his composer Blut rested the journal on his knee where there was armor to protect it as he smashed the lock open. The pages looked new almost as if it was a freshly published book even the smell a book gained with age didn't exist it was completely restored. Blut placed it within his cloak as he went to retrieve his weapons and relics he left behind at the church before heading off to find people. Criminals innocents he didn't care he needed time he was so close to the cure he wasn't going to be stopped now. With that through his disappeared as his body turned invisible as he traversed the desert once again.