Author: Porthyrius, Posted: Sat Sep 2, 2017 1:58 PM, Post Subject: Days of Hebheka Contest Part 3: The Hemut Workshop

When the three challengers were finished with their crafting and enchanting and each item was laid out before him after the demonstration of their use, he motioned to the shrouded beings with whom he conferred for a brief second. He nodded with them before turning to each of the crafted items. First he picked up the ring that was forged with the enchanted substance that had required the blood of two deities and the shadow of a third and regarded it for a moment. 

"This piece would surely be a boon to those who are trapped in the eternal love of the night. You put a lot of thought into the creation of this item," Drae said. "I will admit however, I was a little disturbed by what had to go into it to be created. Because of the requirement of certain… materials… I'm afraid that very few would ever be created," he said as he considered the vial of Liquid Moondrip and the ring that had bathed in it by fire. He set the vial and the ring down again upon the display.

His walk to the set of frilly maid armor enchanted with lacriamium was a thoughtful one as he picked up the still relatively light garment. 
"This is an impressive creation, Jesgil. As a mage, I know that there is precious little than our own skills that keep us safe in the field of battle. Most armor hinders the somatic movements that spells require and for clerics and healers alike it is often too bulky to be practical for their skills. While the particular style definitely would not flatter MY figure" he said to the chuckle of the crowds around them "this armor would indeed be useful and practical to those who would use it on a daily basis. Well done!"

Finally he moved on to the glittering flute that Myouga had created. He picked up the enchanted instrument and looked at the oni woman with eyes narrowed in interest. "You, my dear, had me wondering for a while," he told her with a bit of a smirk. "Had me guessing as to what you would be creating. At first there felt like no rhyme or reason to it, but I dare say you have pulled off a truly wondrous feat here. The use of the various items to take it from ordinary to something that kings and even dragons would fight for to have in their treasuries is surely impressive. And while I was not charmed to it as others in the audience were, I could feel its magic and I did actually start tapping my foot to its spritely tune. It takes a lot to be able to sway a deity like that, even just a little. I was also very impressed with your talent at alchemy and transmuting. You were very precise, and that precision certainly didn't harm you here," he said as he handed her back the flute. 

The Keeper moved back into the center of the gathering area, standing in front of the crowds and the final three. 

"Today was a great day! As Parvpora moves out of her full phase and begins to wade, we have seen something truly remarkable during these Days of Hebheka. Each of these talented women have brought before us something never seen before, in hopes to make it a reality in the world!" The Keeper said to the cheers of the crowds. 
"Unfortunately, with the joining of the moons failing… I only have the power to make one creation here permanent!" 

Drae moved up to Celeste, and motioned for his Avatar to come forward. 

"Celeste, you progressed far in this event, always managing to remain one step ahead of the competition. You showed ambition, intelligence, wit, and superb magical ability." He nodded to Iris who produced a rather large bag of silver and a spell scroll which she handed to her master. The Keeper passed these things to the Vaewolf and stepped back. "I have faith you will do well in the world as a mage. Continue to seek Knowledge," he added as he placed about her neck the Golden Amulet of Knowledge. "Tar Eisalae welcomes you!"

He waved his hand over the ring and the vial of Liquid Moondrip and it shimmered for a moment and disappeared. He turned and walked to Jesgil. 
"You progressed far in this competiton, Jesgil. You showed creativity, and spunk. I liked that," he said as Iris handed him a larger bag of silver, a spell scroll, a velvet bag that contained a glowing bottle of starlight, and the small gold figurine of a sphinx that would come to life when broken.  "I look forward to seeing what you will come up with in the future," he added encouragingly as he placed about her neck the Golden Amulet of Knowledge. "Tar Eisalae welcomes you!" 
Like the ring and the vial of Liquid Moondrip, he waved his hand over the Maid's Battle Armor and it shimmered into nothingness. 

Finally, he moved on to Myouga with Iris following closely behind him. 
"Well, well well. I will say, in this entirety of the challenges, I can honestly say that I saw no one that surprised me as much as you did, Myouga," he said with a slight laugh. "From the moment you entered the labyrinth, I knew you were going to be a force to be reckoned with," he said. He nodded at Iris, and as he placed the Golden Amulet of Knowledge around the oni woman's neck he spoke. "As of today, Myouga, you are the the Champion of the Days of Hebheka!" 

Cheers errupted from the stands as she was passed a purse of silver, a scroll, a bottle of starlight, and a sphinx figurine. He lifted up the flute that she had created. 
"And this flute, shall mark you as that champion, a reminder of all that you accomplished here," he said as he delicately gifted Myouga her creation.

With a clap of his hands, portals began to open across the fields as the three challenge areas began to shiver and crumble into nothingness all around them, the energy that had held them through the time of great magick waning as Parvpora had begun to. 


OOC: Thank you so much to all who entered the Days of Hebheka Writing Contest! I couldn't have put this on without you!

Author: Hanaoni, Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2017 2:44 AM, Post Subject: Days of Hebheka Contest Part 3: The Hemut Workshop

It was the final round and when the deity of knowledge led them to the workshop, Myouga found herself in alchemy heaven. Reagents and materials stretched as far as the eye could see. Anything and everything a practitioner of the arcane arts could ever want for an experiment was here, right before her. She spent a few minutes staring at it all with a goofy grin plastered on her face and a faraway look in her eye. How long had it been since she was allowed to be within a ten meter radius of potentially volatile arcane materials?

Snapping out of her moment of rapture, she realized everyone else was beginning to work on their pieces. Right, she had to craft something this time to impress the judges. Looking at the wide assortment of ingredients, she muttered: “…Well drat. I have no idea what I want to make.” Back when the first stage of the contest had started, her head was swimming with ideas should she ever have the chance of making it to the very end. But now she was actually here, all of her ideas had flown out the window.

The little mage slapped her cheeks with her hands and took a deep breath. She had to get a hold of herself. Now was not the time for panicking. Their objective this time was to make an enchanted item, something that they would use themselves. So as long as she made something that she herself would use, then it would meet the requirements. Exhaling through pursed lips, she sighed. “This is going to take a while. Well no time like the present, let’s dive right in!”

Flying by the seat of her pants like always, Myouga charged headfirst into the fray. She began grabbing handfuls of whatever ingredients caught her eye. She took a few gold ores here, some silver ores there, some lacriamium, a couple pieces of snowy-white jade and ammolite, some bright red cord for tassels, handfuls of dragons scales, and a little bit of everything from the alchemy reagent piles. Last but not least, she snagged a flute.Taking everything she had collected, she dumped them into a pile on the floor and began drawing magic circles.

While she had been grabbing whatever she could in sight, the small oni’s brain was running a mile a minute. By the time she was done with drawing her arcane set up of sigils and runes, she figured out what she wanted to do. Originally she had been thinking of replicating her goldfish plant experiments in a show for the judges, but since they were making items and not chimeras—that idea was scrapped.

The arcane array consisted of five magic circles, all linked to each other. There were four smaller circles in each corner with lines linking to a larger, central circle. In that central circle she placed the flute. In the other four she dropped a lacriamium ingot into one, the gold and silver ores in another, and the jade and ammolite pieces in their own separate circles. Taking out her wand, she began to chant while channeling her power into the magic circles. One by one the runes and sigils on the ground began to activate and initiate the fusion process. The reagents in the four outer circles glowed, and turned into energy that traveled down the lines converging at the central circle. The flute glowed brilliantly, transforming and changing shape until the process was complete.When the rite was finished, a shiny new flute laid in the center. It was a far cry from the simple reed instrument that had been placed minutes earlier. It was now plated in lacriamium, accented with gold and silver floral embellishment, and had a jade mouthpiece. The ammolites had become fused with the lacriamium metal, creating an iridescent sheen in some places. It was an instrument worthy for royalty, just by appearance alone. But Myouga wasn’t going to stop there.

Taking the red cord she made some simple tassels to add the finishing touch to the instrument. The bright crimson contrasted beautifully against the silvery-blue luster of the lacriamium plating. Proud of her handiwork through the wonders of magical fusion, she began to bring over the alchemy ingredients. To make this item extraordinary, she planned to infuse it with the essences of the elements. No expense would be spared as she planned to go all-out.

Throwing sundrops, dragon scales, and some ammolites into a pot she did a little dance while she synthesized a seraphim feather. She piled dragon scales and a wyvern heart in one circle, a seraphim feather in the second, ectoplasm and a shrunken head in the third, and in the fourth a big chunk of opal petrified wood with one sarut de noapte. She had to use telekinesis to move that one, as the flower was incredibly toxic.

Her eyes started to glow a bright viridian green as she infused the power of the items into the flute, which began to emit motes of light. Her second step was finished, and she had one more left before her masterpiece was complete. Placing the last of her alchemical reagents, she took a swig from a mana potion to ensure she wouldn’t burn out the rest of her power before the process was finished. A nevermelting icicle, conch shell, shard of fulgurite, and a single pristine quatl feather were set in the four circles. Activating the magical circles one last time, she imbued the last remaining items into the fully-enchanted flute.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she went over and gingerly picked up her work of art. Raising it high above her head she cheered in triumph, and went to present it to the judges.

Skipping over to Adraejen, she held the flute up for all to see. “Boy, I sure had a hard time deciding what to choose. But rest assured sir, you won’t be disappointed! Behold! A magic flute! However it’s not just any magic flute—people with any level of musical ability can play it without hitting a sour note!” The mage eagerly continued her explanation on the item’s properties.

“As you can see, this once-ordinary woodwind instrument has been plated with lacriamium to resist the elements. The gold, silver, and ammolites have been fused with the lacriamium to create a decorative finish that would make kings gape in awe. The white jade mouthpiece and bright red tassels are the finishing touches to this gem. That’s not the only thing that makes this little beauty special though! I infused it with the essence of all the elements, with as many alchemical reagents and parts of creatures as possible. Adding to the protective lacriamium plating, the enchantments allow the player to hold sway over all beings—living and dead… aside from deities, of course.”

Putting the flute to her lips, she began to play a sprightly tune and marched in a circle. At once, those in the audience within earshot began to dance in rhythm with the music. Euphoria and tranquility filled the atmosphere as the arcanist demonstrated the flute’s true power. When she stopped, the enchantment was broken and the dancing stopped as well.

Beaming, she declared: “I christen this flute–Mikazuki’s Kagurabue! Named after a hero from an Ataiyan folktale who tamed the demons plaguing a city with the sound of his divine flute, this instrument will allow you to do the same! You can use it for almost anything–as a distraction, to buy yourself time for a quick getaway, or just for fun!”

Mikazuki's Kagurabue:
An enchanted transverse flute which causes all beings within hearing range to enter a music-induced trance, causing them to dance continuously until the music ends.

Materials:

• 1 flute
• 2 gold ore
• 2 silver ore
• 1 lacriamium 
• 2 ammolites
• 2 jade
• 2 leather straps (substitute for red-corded tassels)
• 1 wyvern heart
• 2 dragon scales
• 1 quatl feather
• 1 ectoplasm
• 1 Opal petrified wood
• 1 Shrunken head
• 1 Sarut de Noapte
• 1 Seraphim Feather (5 sundrops, 2 dragon scales, 2 ammolites)
• 1 Nevermelting icicle
• 1 Conch Shell
• 1 Fulgurite

Author: Jesgil, Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 1:41 AM, Post Subject: Days of Hebheka Contest Part 3: The Hemut Workshop

The final phase. Jesgil sighed in relief to be able to make it this far. After all was said and done, the end goal was nearby, yet not quite at grasp yet. After all, she had two other competitors reaching for the same title. Drae felt the eagerness within everyone and was quick to let them go, able to craft whatever they dare pleased. No real theme except to show what they can do as a mage. Jesgil smirked as she ran for supplies and brought them to her station. "Excuse me!" she called out, waving over one of the staff. "May you do me a favor? I need some measurements," she was quick to tell before holding her arms out. She wanted to be the demonstration piece of the item, after all.

After patiently going through the measuring process (quick to make sure she made note of the numbers), she took to a forged with a couple bars of Lacriamium. It was a very tough, but beautiful metal, but as it was now, useless to her. Getting the metals flattened into sheets, she wiped the sweat from her brow before letting it cool off, chuckling to herself, "Well then, these blacksmiths do have it much harder than I thought. Maybe I should give the next one that tends to Tillan a massage," and heading back to her item pile.

After the sheets had cooled (mainly thanks to water), the Draconian worked on laying out bundles of silk on top, emptying them out strange by strange until each layer was carefully covered. It seemed it took four bundles of silk to cover one sheet. With a quick sigh, she dragged each sheet to an alchemic table before using them to wind the tough properties of the metal with the soft strands of cloth. This binding gave more silk to work with, and each bundle was sent over to be loomed together on a magical, fast processing loom. After all, they would not want to wait forever on a contestant just for a few sheets of fabric. Same said with what seemed to have been a pretty instant dye.

This in turn gave Jesgil bundles of white and black Lacriamium Silk cloths to work with as she got out the toughest scissors and needle she could find along with a measuring tape and a mannequin to work as a base. Carefully, her hands worked with the needle and scissors, cutting the fabrics into precise measurements to her body and sewing them together. The body. Frilled dress. Short sleeved arms. Each peace was carefully put together inside out before finally being flipped over…. to reveal a maid's dress.

Dressing the mannequin in the outfit, she was sure to straighten it up to be nice and tightly before taking a step back, smiling at her work before stating, "Awaken my blood, and grant me your steel," before her battle axe once again forged itself into her scaly hands, quick to use it to strike at her creation. It clanged loudly on impact, but lifting the axe up, there was not a single tear in the cloth itself, giving Jesgil quite the chuckle. "Now that is what I like to see."

She still had some white cloth remaining… she could do something with that, too. In mere moments, she found her hands moving to sew together a pair of simple frilled wrists, each with a strap of cloth that could be placed through the middle finger. "But what to do with… I know!" Quick on her feet, she hurried back to the supplies before grabbing a collection of sundrops, dragon scales, and ammolite before mixing them together to forge herself a pair of Seraphim feathers. "So pretty," she complimented before working them into the inner portions of the cuffs.

Happy with what she made, she took all the items and headed off into a dressing room, changing out of what she wore for the competition and into the new dress before stepping out, taking her axe as she headed for Drae.

"The battlefield can be a dangerous place," Jesgil told him. "Injuries happen all the time, and most field medics can be ill-prepared for war. However, with this Lacriamium Silk outfit, they can remain comfortable and safe." Moving her hand to the naked mannequin, there showed very little sign of the damage she could have caused beforehand. "However, just like any armor, it will only protect what is covered." She did not shy to cut her arm with her axe head, easily drawing some blood, but was quick to seal it up with a healing spell. However, the wound was much quicker to stop bleeding and close than normal. "With this, units on the field can be tended to much quicker during times of desperation.

"Though even if you are not on the battlefield, this does not mean this outfit is not useful. I chose this design for a reason after all," chuckling before holding out her sewing needle. "Do you have anything for me to patch up?"

Maid Battle Armor
Enhances all abilities that align with tending (i.e. Sewing, sharpening a weapon) and healing magic. Can only be substituted with a butler's outfit.
Items:
Apron X1
Gloves X1
Silk X 12
Lacriamium X3
Seraphim Feather X2 (5 Sundrops, 2 Dragon Scales, 2 Ammolite each)

Author: Celeste, Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 9:28 PM, Post Subject: Days of Hebheka Contest Part 3: The Hemut Workshop

The contestants had all reached the final round of the show. Celeste counted herself lucky that she had made it first far, in all of her years this was her first contest like this. It was taxing and it made her nervous not knowing what the outcome would be. Her delicate ears listened to Adraejen talk and she had an idea right from the get go that could benefit her family and their allies of Kurayo.However, not all the ingredients she would need were here just yet. She slyly slid over from where the contestants were to work and found three gods conversing. It was Adraejen, Angela, and Dalanesca. Absolutely perfect. She couldn’t have asked for better subjects for this part of her task. “Hello friends,” Celeste put her arms behind her back and pitched to the gods exactly what she would need from them.

For the married couple, she asked for a drop of their blood. Angela gave it up easily but when it came to Adraejen the man about had a panic attack as she watched the two goddesses hold him down so Celeste could prick his finger and gather what she needed. Thirdly from Dalanesca, she clipped a bit of the woman’s shadow with her blessed permission. “You shall not be disappointed.”Taking her immortality soaked ingredients back to her workstation and delicately laid them out. At first, she fiddled with just how she would start such a delicate project but then her gears started to turn. Getting up Celeste moved to the alchemy station provided for her and began grabbing the bottles from it. Placing them neatly in a row where she was going to work she began to order the bottles in the way they would be placed on the kit.

Tiny fingers brought out a pair of her enchanted glasses as she made them snug on her face and opened up both the fauna and alchemy manuals. There was absolutely no room for error even if she had thought she memorized every word of the two. Once she had made a list she got up to where the ingredients were, these were specific things that she absolutely needed for this project to work.Digging through all of the things the Keeper provided for her Celeste quickly grabbed a large number of things. Angela’s enchanted salt flat mirror, a flask of Sundrops, a string of shrunken heads, obsidian, dragon scales, a couple Ammolite stones, a special circlet devoted to Canelux, a ring, and various other little things. When her arms would get full she took everything back and emptied them at various locations in her work area and repeated the process until she was.

Tying up her hair so she could work Celeste took a huge sigh of relief now that she had finally gathered all the ingredients. Taking the largest flask from the alchemy kit she placed it in front of her and retrieved a sturdy hammer as she grasped Angela’s mirror. She brought the hammer down hard and the sound of shattering glass filled the room. Very carefully she took the mirror and began to pour the enchanted water into the flask. It wasn’t a lot of water but it was enough to fill it about three-fourths of the way.Taking a mixing rod she poured an extremely powerful mana potion into the flask with the water. Mixing it for a good five minutes before the water and potion joined perfectly into an odd silver colored mixture.The elf put the readied flask onto the alchemy table and came back to start on the next flask. Taking special cosmic feathers she began to run a knife down the rachis and through the calamus. Using a dulled dagger gently she began to scrape off all of the blood dust still within the feathers. This blood was said to belong to the Mother of all night creatures the moon Celestial Canelux and it was a major part of her solution to their long standing problem.

Throwing the husk of feathers away she began to drip exactly three drops of the Sundrops into the flask with the blood. Obsidian and the moon shards from the circlet were also smashed into a fine powder as ingredients for this flask. Next would be the hardest part as she moved over to a builder station. Her fingers worked nimbly as she hammered, chiseled, mixed, and fused items together. This would be so much easier if she could just kill the things that had these items. Wiping the sweat from her brow she held up a glowing feather in one hand and a morbidly grinning skull in the other. Pleased with her work she moved onto the next stage of development.

Normally making enchantments was an accomplishment in itself but Celeste was actually quick to take a hammer to the skull and cut up the feather before adding them to the second mixture causing an almost outraged roar from the crowd. A smirk came to her face as she tossed the now useless enchantment leftovers into the trash and moved that flask into position with the first.

Next, she pulled the smallest of the flasks out and added the blood droplets from Adraejen and Angela in first. Meticulously she worked on Dalanesca’s shadow piece as she turned it into a liquid form, this took some time and the elf figured that she could only do so because the Reaper was curious about what she was doing with it. She poured the shadow into the flask and began to stir. The immortal properties began to glow with an eerie purplish light. For a moment Celeste hesitated before moving it over to the alchemy stand.

All of this hard work. All of the hours she had poured into it so far and she was almost ready for the testing phase. She lit the kit and began to heat up the materials slowly watching them combine into a single flask of. The end product looked much more like glowing mercury and the alchemist held up the flask to light so she could observe it for just a few moments.“This will do,” her voice was confident as she siphoned a little bit out and summoned a tied up man. He was gagged and squirming as she shot a small paralyzing blast at him. “You’ll make me spill it and then I’ll have to give your head to them instead.” Celeste hissed a threat at the man before dropping the small amount of liquid on his arm. Taking his wrist carefully she opened a hatch above her workstation and let unfiltered sunlight hit the mark. She observed as the rest of the man burned but the patch where the liquid was stayed protected. Noticing her unwilling test subject was dead she slid him over where the other trash had gone and moved back to the finished product. “Don’t worry, he was a criminal. I would never think of harming someone innocent.” There was an amused chuckle from her lips as she went to apply the product at last.

The only thing left on her workstation was the single ring that she had grabbed in the beginning. Bringing the silver liquid carefully to the ring she began to light the small blacksmith station with the hottest hellfire anyone had ever seen outside of Porta Inferni. She was careful as she soaked the ring with the silver liquid. Steam rose from the ring even before it hit the fire. Taking tongs she grabbed the ring and thrust it into the green flames.Making sure she turned it and never kept the ring still in the flames Celeste let it marinate in the flames for one or two minutes. If the liquid did its drop it would protect the ring from the hellfire that was needed as adhesive for the liquid to work on the ring. Humming softly as she pulled the ring out from the fire she dropped it in a small tub of water as the flames went out.

The ring now mercury colored with a light prismatic glow was slowly slipped onto her finger. She stepped into the sunlight and took a huge sigh of relief. It actually felt good for once. She was sure that the other contestants were probably done but she took the ring off and made her way to the crowd. “We have suffered in the sun for a long time. Praising Mother Canelux for her gracious rays but still, we wish to bathe in the sun without repercussions. Even Vaewolves sometimes suffer a drain from the sun’s rays. I created Liquid Moondrip, it can be placed on jewelry and bathed only in hellfire to enchant it. This will protect us from the sun and allow us to live like Daywalkers if we so wish.” The woman offered the ring and flask of Moondrip up to Adraejen who had the very final say at the end of the day. “Thank you for your blood Keeper.”

Materials:
Ring
Subbed Quatl feathers for Canelux’s Winged Armor feathers
Obsidian Shards
Canelux’s Circlet
Water from Angela’s Salt Flat Mirror
3 Sundrops
1 Seraphim Feather composed of:
5 Sundrops, 2 Dragonscales, & 2 Ammolite
1 Grinning Skull composed of:
5 Shrunken Heads, 2 Obsidian Shards, & 2 Dragonscales
Hellfire
Bottle of Greater Mana Potion
2 subbed Sundrops for Blood Drops of 2 Gods
1 subbed Shrunken Head as a piece of Dalanesca’s Shadow

Author: Porthyrius, Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 7:43 PM, Post Subject: Days of Hebheka Contest Part 3: The Hemut Workshop