Collected Journals: Enchantment or Curse (1/2)
The lilies are an enchantment, a complex manifestation of magick, will and intent. All enchantments are, they simply vary in complexity and intent. There’s very little difference between a spell woven as a ward or to grant succor and one designed as a curse. Once one understands that, it opens one’s eyes to the deception of barriers which are naught but veils that shield one from the truth as the Stranger said.
I understand so much now.
The Stranger came back to look over my work. He seemed pleased with it, excited even and was eager to help me continue. He gave me something to that end, something he said he acquired in his travels beyond the veil. Cryptic as always. But I was anxious to see how it could be of use. It was a secret, one that others carried within them as I would now carry it within me, in my own blood, my own aether and will. At last I had what I needed to transform myself and everything else.
There were others, he said, like me, getting a glimpse behind the veil, like him. We were using the truth to do the will of the New Gods. This was my test, as others had their own. I would prove myself worthy of the knowledge and once I proved myself by saving everyone here, they would open the door to more and no one need suffer ever again.
So I planted the lilies within me, from the seeds I grew and willed it into something new. I could give the lilies my aether and any aether I absorbed from other sources, constantly feeding it, growing my own reserve. But while it was a start, when I tested it on the stone, giving the aether I had stored, I found it still wasn’t nearly enough. I nearly died the first time. It would take more than just me, I’d need a whole field of lilies...or army. I’d need others.
So I made them. Some took convincing, others...would not volunteer to my cause so I had to be more forceful in my methods. The blight has taken so much from us at this point. When I told them that this is how we would restore life back to our loved ones and our village, a few hopeful souls were all I needed and they helped me with the rest. Implanted with the lilies enchantment, modified so that they could proliferate it into others, I grew hopeful…
But the first strain yielded...undesirable side-effects. The essence of the lilies is too strong and takes over, turning the body to part of the earth and nature. The capacity to hold and take aether is strong, but the mind degrades and the body withers until it is rotting flora. This first strain will not last long and will die out. I’ve experimented on my own body for ways to negate or prolong this. I’ve stopped the process on myself to a point, but what works for me does not on the others. I think it’s because I have the source and they are a weaker strain of me. I need to alter it for the second strain. Something heartier needs to be added while keeping some of the more...desirable...traits.
There’s not much left in the wood, a few beasts but barely. It will have to do. We’ll hunt them all down if we have to and I’ll grow new flowers with their aether and blood, I’ll weave a new spell from my aether and it will proliferate anew.
And when we have all gathered enough aether into ourselves, we can save them all. The healing will begin. We will sacrifice, the land will bleed, but when we have stored enough, we will give it all back.
