Cyrus decides to study fashion and this in no way, shape, or form gives Ophelia a headache.
...Well, it shouldn't.
Things were ridiculously peaceful after Wellspring.
No one brought up the mark of soot on the bottom of Ophelia's staff after they left to cross back over the desert. They avoided Sunshade. They had a brief stopover in Rippletide to visit the Colzione matriarch and patriarch.
Tressa's parents were happy that Tressa was traveling with the Flamebearer, the Unbending Blade, and the Royal Professor. There was also the best apothecary and best hunter in Osterra. Some would dispute Alfyn's title but the party took this as absolute fact. Tressa's parents knew it was the guy keeping their little girl healthy and accepted the title too. They didn't dispute H'aanit's title either for similar reasons. They would have been amazed to know there was also the lady Azelheart among the crew, but Mrs. Colzione already accepted Primrose was a great person and Primrose didn't want to bring up the title. Therion wasn't ignored politely, but the family made sure he got a heaping helping of the dinner and plenty of smiles despite the Fool's Bangle.
Cyrus was on the best behavior everyone had seen. He took Olberic's words to heart and studied pretty much everything but blood magic. He acquired various samples of fabric and ran an exhaustive study on the properties of cat hair sticking to clothing. He gave an incredibly cheerful lesson on the history of double-entry bookkeeping to the Colzione family over dinner. This lack of blood magic study and discussion lasted all the way to Goldshore.
This good behavior did not mean that Cyrus was left unattended. He was still receiving the occasional chomp from Linde when talking to strangers. Ophelia had gone off to help a kid and they figured she'd be fine as long as everyone was in town.
After Ophelia was finally back on her feet, the group left Goldshore at a breakneck pace. They'd done the shopping for Ophelia while she was out and bought plenty of inspirited plums. All other quests and goals were set aside for Ophelia's mission.
The whole trip to Wispermill had Cyrus completely back to saying worrying things of course. It started with an innocuous question as they were taking their first steps onto the road. "...May I see the map?" Cyrus asked. He traced the rivers on the map and then checked the position of hills.
Cyrus was back to thinking about blood magic. He said, "This reminds me of a Galderan rite I read about in From the Far Reaches of Hell. Unsavory practitioners would take upon them a fragment of power from the Fallen. The altar used for the rite was actually lost. I believe it was sealed by priests of the Silver Flame a few decades prior to an earthquake."
"Wait, how did we not know about this?," asked Tressa.
"Even before the sealing, there was secrecy surrounding the location of the altar. I had to extrapolate information from some of Ophelia's stories and it wasn't in any written records I had access too, even in Atlasdam." Ophelia realized she should have been a bit more careful about some of the old stories. If Cyrus had figured this out from her, it was possible the 'Savior' had gleaned hints from members of the clergy.
"After the quake itself, the known paths to reach it were all buried. If its seal is weakened..."
Then came Wispermill. This town made Sunshade seem positively delightful. This was by far the creepiest town in all of Osterra.
And then they had been locked up because they didn't want to slaughter half a town's worth of people.
"_ you, Mattias."
"Although I would have used a different expression for this situation, your statement does have a certain appeal in its brevity, Therion." Cyrus said. He went back to muttering something to himself about underground waterways.
This was where they were now, in the cells. They even had attached a padlock to Therion's bangle and cuffed the other hand to keep him from picking locks. The villagers assumed that Therion's bangle was locked. It seemed nice and symbolic to have him bound by his own Fool's Bangle. He opened up the bracelet once the coast was clear and was almost done on the other arm.
"How come you never mentioned the thing was unlocked now?" Tressa asked Therion as he picked away at the tumblers. Therion shrugged but clamped back on the bangle when they heard noise.
"Excuse me but is there a septagonal rune on the inside of your left sleeve cuff?" Cyrus asked Lianna from behind the bars of the cell. Ophelia and Lianna both stopped their talking. Therion kicked at Cyrus' shin to make him shut up when Ophelia was talking her sister out of a bad idea.
"A what now?" Ophelia asked as Lianna hastily flipped part of her sleeve inside out to check. She then caught herself.
Lianna glared at Cyrus. "How did you know that there was a rune on the inside of my sleeve?"
Cyrus was doing his thoughtful look and the others in their cell were wondering if they should be stopping the professor. "I read about a similar ritual a few weeks ago before a certain book was stolen from me."
"Cyrus, please tell me it wasn't that one." said an aghast Ophelia. Oh by Aelfric, did this mean her sister was marked as a sacrifice? "She isn't going to-"
Lianna's guard was up. "What are you implying about the Savior!?"
Cyrus tried to speak reassuringly at the two sisters. "My dear girl, I wasn't implying that you were about to be sacrificed in a blood ritual."
"Oh-Okay?" Said Ophelia who felt a slight sense of relief even though she knew there was going to be more.
"That particular symbol is used to designate a catalyst in a ritual blood sacrifice. From this smaller spot here on the rune, I can infer your role as the vestal is to be the conduit by which the life force of the other participants is to be drained. If Mathias knew how to manipulate these magics, he could have introduced the plague effects and removed them by virtue of knowing his own w-"
"I've heard enough of your lies and slander! You're just making things up! Matthias would never do anything of the sort! He will bring back father! Our Savior will bring salvation! You don't know him like I do!" Lianna yelled. She stopped. "Please, Phili... Just leave... I'll get father and we can be happy."
"Lianna..." Ophelia and the others watched the girl leave. Cyrus was stopped from saying more by Primrose slapping a hand over his mouth. They didn't need him doing more damage. "Take advice from a person who is an expert on manipulating people. Next time, let Ophelia talk to her sister."
While the majority of the team was moving the weakened townspeople back to Wispermills, Cyrus was pulling out his notes and some crystals from the bag. He took along Olberic, H'aanit, and Alfyn when he returned to the altar that night. Alfyn wondered why Cyrus was so insistent on taking this trip back while Ophelia was working in town. Some bats ambushed the man as he was making last minute adjustments to some sketches mid-walk.
Alfyn finished treating their wounds and said, "Hey, Cyrus, what are we doing here anyway?"
"Hm? Oh, this altar needs to be resealed." Cyrus said. "It has been dormant for some time but events today will likely have called forth some of the dark power which was bound long ago here. If I am correct about this location, we will want to create a double inversion on the source of the dark energies lest they leech into the surrounding environment. If this happens, Wispermill may have yet another plague in the waters..."
"Wait, really?" Alfyn said. Cyrus nodded as Olberic grimly folded his arms.
"We shall have to rely on your expertise. Is there any way we can assist in your endeavors?"
Cyrus spent the rest of the night drawing runes and setting crystals in place around the stonework while Alfyn and Olberic took turns with the lantern and supplies. H'aanit talked with the beasts of the cavern to let them know what could happen if any of them touched Cyrus' work here. They returned with few hours remaining to dawn and a sense of accomplishment. The soulstones were not part of the bindings themselves, but were there as indicators of leaking magical energy. If the light stones dimmed or the dark stones burst, then something was wrong and the town would need to call some clerics in. Once Ophelia completed the last part of the Kindling, Cyrus felt certain this experimental arcane construct would be more than necessary to keep Wispermill safe.
I kinda forgot about this. Not sure why this chapter took forever, I actually removed a large part of it just because it wasn't necessary and was introducing more problems in my storytelling. I just want to get this chapter out so I can have fun with the rest of my ideas. Steorra is waiting and no plot hole is gonna stop me!
Probably. I just needed to post something and this chapter will be something I'd rewrite if I ever get to rewriting this.