(TEXT)

[hexrot]

FILE: RUNIC SCRIPT
FILE: TENANTS, 1-6

FILE: THAUMATURGIC REACTIONS & GLYPH COMBINATIONS – EXPERIMENTAL OBSERVATIONS PERFORMED BY JAYCE TALIS, OVERSEEN BY VIKTOR

OBJECTIVE OF TEST: To investigate the possible magical interactions between different runes, identify their combined effects, and assess their stability, potency, and potential applications.

[ there's more technical text such as an outline, hypothesis, methodology, a mention of using the combinations as a way to trigger a reverse transport and return people to their own world and time, etc, but that's mostly unimportant here. skip right to the personal entries: ]

ENTRY 1: COMBINATION 1A (MOTION + SPIRIT)
— Runic Script: Transcribed.
— These runes don't work with a channeling source. (Not needed? Or not the right one?)
— A burst of light, buzzing white noise and what felt like a psychical shock inside my head sprang after both runes were drawn together.
— Viktor did not experience anything of the sort. Sole user of the runes affected.
— Disorienting.
— 30 minutes post combination and I'm feeling restless. Can't keep still. I'll go for a walk.
— Result: unsatisfactory.
— Started feeling hungry again. It's different this time. Just what I needed.

ENTRY 2: COMBINATION 1A
— I had a dream last night.
— "Dream" feels fantastical. Felt more like a vision.
— They come in flashes: the moon breaks apart. Moon shards rain down on a cityscape and destroy it. A woman wails right before I wake up.
— Observation: Day 5 post combination and the same dream persists. Every night.

[ attached are sketches of the scenes, both on paper and a crumbling wall. ]

ENTRY 3: COMBINATION 2B (MOTION + TIME)
— Day 6. Dream persists, for the record.
— Immediate burst to the head similar to 1A. Difference is that I bled from every orifice (not as severely as 1° COD) and grew a rack of antlers.
— Health deteriorated near instantaneously, senses heightened and hunger escalated.
— Fed on blood. Health restored just as instantaneously. Never felt better (a scary thought, but one for another entry).

ENTRY 4: COMBINATION 2B
— The dream changed.
— I keep seeing someone tied to an altar. Can't make out if it's a man or a woman. They change into a monster before being sacrificed where they were tied. Also indistinct what monster. I can only remember an awful shape and sound.
— Day 8: Same dream.
— Day 10: It doesn't stop. I sleep but there's no rest.
— Day 13: I was tied to the altar this time. My body tore and broke itself apart to grow into something horrific. Six limbs, too many bones and rot. Couldn't stop screaming. Even the scream was ghastly. I was sacrificed.
— Day 14: Again.
— Day 16: Again.
— Day 18: We should terminate the experiment. I want to, but at the same time I feel like we're close to something we wouldn't have learned about this world otherwise. What if it's the key to returning?
— Got my hands dirty, might as well see it through. The safest option is a dead man doing it.
— "If you're going through hell, keep going."
— Remember your promise.
— All that remained were fields of dreamless solitude.
— I won't fail. I swore.

[ attached are more drawings of the dream. with each passing sketch, the imagery becomes more manic, messy and eerie. ]

ENTRY 3: COMBINATION 3C (MIND + LIFE)
— It hurts
— suspecting that there is no correlation to effects and glyph combinations i theorize that no matter the combo the effects will only get worse

ENTRY 5: COMBINATION 3C
It's all I hear all I hear is i need you i see you i need you i see you i need you i see you i NEED YOU I SEE YOU I NEEDYOUISEEYOUINEEDYOUISEEYOUINEEDYOUISEEYOUINEEDYOUISEEYOUINEEDYOUISEEYOU

[ it goes on for about 6 pages before becoming illegible. ]

CONCLUSION: FAILURE. GLYPH COMBINATION EXPERIMENT TERMINATED.
HAZARDS ENCOUNTERED: The following symptoms and events were experienced after Combination 3: explosive mental discomfort, incessant auditory hallucinations (SEE: NOTES, ENTRY 5, 3C), paranoia, disorientation, and insistent & focused monster attacks until sunrise. At dawn I heard the words: NEXT TIME YOU ARE MINE.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE SAFETY MEASURES: Immediate suspension of activity. DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, ATTEMPT TO REPLICATE THIS EXPERIMENT!!

No more tests will be performed until further notice. If you still attempt to use glyphs in any way after reading this, the consequences are on you alone. Don't be a shithead.

The glyph for MOTION was found mostly by the gas stations and appeared with more frequency when the storms neared. Something to keep in mind.

If you have any inquiries, I'll do my best to answer them.

I'm sorry.

Comments

[bufudine]

[Where would he even begin? All that he knows is so instinctual; he'd been made for fighting.]

Do you have any combat training?

[He knows Jayce's hammer is effective while being so strange, but it was a bit hard to gauge Jayce's ability when he had been so... mentally incapacitated that night.

Are monsters struck by the hammer even edible?]

[hexrot]

. . . I'm a scientist.

[ none. nothing. no training whatsoever. ]

Everything I know is, [ he considers it, gestures in the air, ] sheer force and instinct.

[bufudine]

[Serph closes his eyes for a long moment. A scientist. He's unfortunately reminded of the quivering scientists that he questioned after he and his comrades had broken their way into the facility...

And he suspects the sort of instincts Jayce has are very different to the sort of instincts he has; Serph had been made for fighting.]

I'll teach you.

[Just...]

Can you tell me more about your weapon? That hammer?

[hexrot]

What about it?

[ lacking in defensiveness and more probing. he's asking not because he's secretive, it's just . . . it's a commplicated story he could spare details of if he knew exactly what he wanted to know. what was relevant to know, anyway. ]

[bufudine]

[Hm. How to put it... Serph's expression and voice is flat when he replies.]

It shoots lasers. Lasers that makes the things it strikes defy the laws of physics.

[hexrot]

[ . . . funny story, that. ]

The lasers were my idea. I built it. [ based on an idea he had when he was a kid. ] It didn't always look— or act— that way, though. The tech was distorted by [ he's never had to explain that, so he gestures to fill the gap of his wording, ] exposure to a corrupted Arcane.

[bufudine]

[Jayce was the one who made his hammer shoot lasers. ...Well alright then.

The obvious question then is what is corrupted Arcane? But more pressingly-]

Your weapon leaves bodies in a... [Serph fishes for a word that could adequately describe how monsters had been left suspended mid-air, flickering.] ...corrupted state. I don't know if they would be safe for consumption.

[He'd try himself, but he suspects it might leave him with one hell of a stomachache. Not that it would have stopped him from trying with Jayce's body previously...]

[hexrot]

[ serph had a point— if jayce had considered sharing (which he did. obviously it felt wrong to heat an entire creature and not share). something to keep in mind if he wants to bring in some meat for the rest of the convoy tired of pancakes. ]

That corruption was what killed me. [ when his corpse was splayed open toward the sky, ribs and skin apart, no heart to speak of and hollowed out by the infection that ran wild inside. outside. ] It's still part of me, now. I don't think it'd affect me the same.

But you . . . I wouldn't take chances.

[bufudine]

[ :( It's true that it probably wouldn't be a good idea for Serph to eat a monster corrupted by Jayce's hammer. It's a damn shame he doesn't access to medicine for demonic stomachaches. Still... wondering what corrupted monsters tastes like harms no one, right?]

Is there any other weapon you would use?

[Otherwise only Jayce is going to be able to eat whatever he hunts. Which is fine; it's not like Serph usually shares either, here. But it's good to have options.]

[hexrot]

[ jayce sighs deep and runs his thumb and fingers over both brows, smoothing outward. it's not the same. this is for his own good. his survival. and what if he had to share? would everyone get sick? drop dead? unlike him, what were the odds that they would reanimate? if he sounds a bit annoyed to come up with an answer, it's because he can't see himself with any other weapon. ]

A knife, I guess?

[ his hand flips up, in gesture. a sword was more similar to swinging a hammer. maybe a spear? a cane with a knife at the end? he has no idea. he's not a weapons person at all. ]

[bufudine]

[Given Jayce's reaction, maybe that is a task for another time. If Jayce can learn to hunt using a weapon that he is, at least, familiar with, then training in something else ought to be easier later down the line.

Besides, he doesn't see a knife as being a particularly effective weapon for Jayce. It means getting up close and personal with the monster, many of which have natural armour of some kind.

The corner of Serph's mouth curls up in a wry smile.]

Stick to your hammer for now. We'll work on alternatives later.

[His upper pair of wings stretch, feather shuddering before he folds them back.]

Tell me when is a good time to start. I'll make time for you.

[hexrot]

[ he isn't doing anything of utmost importance where he can't stop soon, so—

it's pretty easy for him to hit a conclusion. ]

I could wait a day or two if you need that time. But the sooner you can, the better.

[ he'd rather start making a feeding schedule for himself now and . . . not run so much of a risk, even if it's the chronic anxiety talking the loudest. ]

[bufudine]

[Serph nods. To be honest, he feels strangely idle in this world. Without the constant threat of combat, a large territory to defend, and hundreds of soldiers to see to, he's finding himself at a loss on what to fill his time with.

Although he hunts at night, it's perhaps not such a good idea for Jayce.]

Tomorrow, before the sun rises.

[There will light enough and it will be hours before the Convoy gets going. Many of the other Drifters would be either still asleep or rousing themselves for food and other preparations for the next leg of their journey.]

[hexrot]

[ jayce tightens his lips together and breathes in— an inwards sigh of relief that accompanies his nod and intense eyes. ]

Thank you.

[ gives him enough time to plan; obviously, he'll bring the hammer, and. maybe something else, if he could find it. ]

[bufudine]

[Serph nods in acknowledgement of Jayce's gratitude.

Well then... seeing as the primary concern of their conversation has been addressed, Serph doesn't see much reason to linger. It's a bit of a Task, but if there's nothing else particularly pressing to talk about, he uses the side of Jayce's truck to help him wind back over his serpentine coils before (somewhat gracelessly) disembarking from the back of the truck to leave.]