The Forge

[xinoehp512]

The front of the alleystorm washed through the alleycity. It would arrive in only a few minutes.

[The Grumpy Elantrian]

Ishek tailed Laonin in his usual firm and confident gait, eyes always watching for signs of trouble. Ears, honed by tapping tin, reaching out into the orld around him, giving more warning than his eyes ever would.

After some time Ishek regarded the short man in front of him. "Why do you do it" he asked, "really". 

 

[Karnatheon]

Laonin thought for a long time before he answered Ishek's question. Why did he do this? What was his real motivation? Was it right. Did it feel good. Was he really as selfless as people assumed he was. Did he use this as an excuse to deface the guilds and people of power. Did he even know?

"I do it, because someone needs to. People are hurting, Ishek. Everyone has a past. Everyone has pain. The people on the streets have been forgotten by everyone. I used to be one of those people, until someone gave me a chance. Through someone's time and effort, I grew to become the person I am now. I learned skills, I learned Forgery, and I learned about people. I could have simply taken the gift I was given and bettered myself with it. I could be living in luxury somewhere far away from everything. But, all of these people deserve the same chance I was given. I don't pretend to be these peoples' savior. I just want to help, and someday if that turns me into a beacon for them then so be it. I tell myself I don't crave power. But in what I'm doing, if I don't go about things in the right way, I will gain power. The power of people's hearts. And I don't know if that's a power I'm fit to wield. Everyone doubts themselves Ishek, that I've learned. And I doubt whether or not I can resist power if it's handed to me freely. That's the real reason I regard the people causing these problems the way I do. I see myself in them, if I should ever fall prey to temptation. And maybe I hope that by feeling as I do about them it will stop me from making their mistakes."

Laonin trudged along, contemplating himself. He had never quite mastered Soul Forgery. They said to do it you needed to know your true self, but what if you didn't like the person you found. He was content with being himself, at the risk of falling prey to his fears.

"How about yourself? Why did you come here? Why do you want to help?"

[The Grumpy Elantrian]

After a long pause, long enough that it seemed he wasn't going to answer, Ishek replied "I too have experienced loss at the hands of those in power" Ishek hesitated, then seemed to grow hard once again. "But who hasn't? I have my reasons, as do you"

[Vargo Seldon]

Aeodin appeared in a flash of light.  He stumbled towards the two men, oddly uncoordinated for an Elantrian.  It soon became clear.  He had a knife embedded in his gut.  He collapsed in front of the two men and muttered, "You fool!"

@Ookla the Ring @Ookla the Ookspren

[Karnatheon]

Laonin wished Ishek would just open up for once. No matter the act he put up he still had emotion and feeling inside, everyone did.

As Aeodin appeared and fell, Laonin rushed forward and knelt down next to him. "Aeodin! What happened? Who did this to you? Ishek, can you treat the wound?"

[The Grumpy Elantrian]

"I know some first aid. RUST if only I'd memorised some medical textbooks."

He rushed forward and placed pressure on the wound and, using the sash he wore around his waist as a bandage, compressed his wound to restrict bloodflow. 

"I don't know much, it could have punctured his gut. We need to take him to the hospital, now."

[Vargo Seldon]

Aeodin heard voices dimly.  He realized that Ishek had started to treat the wound, but it was too late.  The knife was a hemalurgic spike made by the DA, designed to kill and preserve the power.  Aeodin had a healing Aon, but it was in the deep folds of his robes, and he'd be dead by the time Ishek found it.  With shaking pale fingers, he reached into the hidden pocket, and brought out the Aon.  He wouldn't be able to use it, as he didn't have a strong enough connection to the Dor right now.  He held it up in weak arms, gesturing to Laonin to take it.  His arm fell back, weakened from blood loss, and the Aon rolled free of his fingers.  It was his only hope for survival, he needed...

Everything faded to black.

@Ookla the Ookspren, @Ookla the Ring

[Karnatheon]

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So, tried figuring this out on the Coppermind, but didn't come to a definitive conclusion. Obviously Elantrains and Forgers both come from Sel, and access the Dor in different ways. Since this healing Aon you've already created(Not sure how that works either) is powered by the Dor, are you implying in your post that Laonin could apply it to Aeodin because the Dor would still flow through him even though he isn't Elantrian? I think that's what I'm getting out of that but I just wanted to make sure before trying and just saying it worked. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Laonin watched as Ishek tended to the wound as best he could. Aeodin was dying, quickly from the looks of it. They needed to do something, fast. Aeodin reached into his robe and weakly pulled out an already formed, but not activated Aon. All it required was a surge of power from the Dor, and it would work its wonders. Before he could do anything with it, however, he passed out. "He's lost too much blood! We don't have time to get him to the hospital. We need to fix him now somehow." Laonin said, trying to keep the panic from his voice. 

Looking down at the Aon on the ground, Laonin wondered. Their Investiture shared a source. Would he, a Forger, be able to power the Aon since an Elantrian had already drawn it? Laonin didn't even know for a fact this was something that would save Aeodin even if it did work. It could be an Aon for fire for all he knew. But they didn't have any other options right now, good or bad. Picking it up off the ground, Laonin took it and pressed it to Aoedin's chest, like he would if he were applying a stamp to something. He didn't know if this would activate it or not, but anything was worth a shot. He felt something in his fingertips as a small glow began to appear from under his hand. Not knowing what to expect, Laonin looked to Ishek, then looked at Aoedin for any response to the Aon.

[Vargo Seldon]

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Actually, what is happening is some power of the Dor has already been tied to the Aon.  That's how anyone who's non-elantrian could use an already formed Aon.  It's basically a healing Aon that hasn't been used, so all it needs is someone to activate it.  That could be anyone.

 

[Karnatheon]

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So I take it that what Laonin tried didn't activate it then?

 

[Vargo Seldon]

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All Laonin would have to do is hold it over the wound and intend to activate it.  Since the basis for drawing Aons is intent, that's all you have to do.

 

[Karnatheon]

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So it has to be directly over the wound then? Cause Laonin is definitely intending to activate it.

 

[Vargo Seldon]

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Well, I suppose that you could just hold it anywhere since it's just a general healing Aon, but hold it over the wound for maximum effect.

 

On 11/30/2018 at 7:33 PM, Ookla the Ring said:

Laonin took it and pressed it to Aoedin's chest

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This should work,  it won't heal the wound completely, and the knife will still be imbedded, but a lot of his blood will be restored and the skin will seal around the blade.

Aeodin, from the depth of his subconcious, felt a small bit of warmth on his chest.  The warmth increased, and kept increasing to the point of being paunful.  He realized that it wasn't just on his chest, but spreading throughout his body under his skin.  Most of the warmth began concentrating itself in his gut, and there it increased to painful levels.  Aeodin slowly fought his way toward consciousness, and as soon as he was awake enough to feel, he groaned and arched his back from the pain.  Healing Aon, he thought, never a pleasant feeling.  He suddenly felt a spike of fear as he remembered his wound.  What had that hemalurgic spike taken from him?  Hopefully not his connection to the Dor.  He fell back as the Aon did its work and relaxed.

[xinoehp512]

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That's a spike out? You're going to be feeling awful right now...

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#SandersonChat Twitter Q&A with Audible.com (Feb. 4, 2016)
#109 Share  Copy

 

 

Volratho

If someone was tapping gold, would spiking a separate ability out of them kill them? Or would it work at all?

Brandon Sanderson

It is possible to spike someone without killing them. But they'd never be the same. It would be worse than being a drab.

 

 

[Snipexe]

A white van with the HPL (Herdazian Power and Light) logo emblazoned on the side approaches the single whole building in the area. It stops and a man gets out. He’s holding a clipboard and is in a blue jumpsuit with his name embroidered on the front of it. He walks up to the door of the door of building, and knocks. Everything about him, from his appearance to the way he knocks on the door seems well rehearsed, and well practiced. After waiting a few moments and getting no response, the man quickly scribbles something on a flyer then attaches it to the door handle. As he walks back to the van he whistles a simple tune and marks something next to this address on his clipboard. He then gets in and the van drives away, this just another in a long list of names and destinations. 

The Flyer:

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Sorry We Missed You!

We at Herdazian Power and Light would love to come talk to you about how we can improve YOUR life! In order to arrange a visit, fill in the below survey and leave outside your house next week. If you would prefer to meet in person come to city hall and talk to one of our representatives!

Best Wishes!                                         HLP

———————————————

When is the best time for us to meet with you? __________

Do you have any concerns in particular you would like us to address while we are there?________

*Written on the side in red scrawl* We have to work on setting a transformer in this area tomorrow, so we’ll say hello then as well!

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Sorry if this bothers you, or interrupts any carefully laid plans. I can remove or edit this if necessary.

 

[Karnatheon]

Seeing the Aon begin to work, Laonin sighed with relief. Realizing the knife was still in there, he carefully removed it, then shifted the Aon lower down towards the wound itself to help focus it's energies where the healing was needed the most. "I think he'll be fine. A moment more and it might have been too late. Hopefully he can explain what's happened."

@Ookla the spearman

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You're fine. Not sure exactly when we'll be making our way back to the forge. Might be immediately to look over Aeodin or it might be a bit longer, but I'll tag you once my chatacter has time to fill it out.

@Ookla the Skeptical

Edited December 5, 2018 by Ookla the Ring

[xinoehp512]

The alleystorm hit. The spheres in the lanterns burst alight with energy, which the dark blob pulled on greedily. It drank and drank until the gemstones shattered from the strain. It loped off through the city, doing the samewith all the other spheres it could find.

[Vargo Seldon]

Aeodin felt almost healed, but not quite.  It was like he got injured, and wound stopped bleeding but never fully closed.  Except this time the wound was his soul.  He looked down at himself, and realized his skin had lost some of its shine.  More like silver that nobody polished and left sitting on the shelf until it eventually tarnished.  As Laonin pulled the knife out, he watched with horror as his skin lost its color completely, becoming pale and sickly with dark splotches.  Laonin quickly treated the wound, stitching it up, but it would never heal as long as he remained that way.  So it was my connection to the Dor, he thought.  Figures.  Fortunately there was an easy fix.  He weakly grabbed for the knife that Laonin had pulled out, but Laonin didn't understand.  He finally got his hand on the spike.  He picked it up, pointed it at himself, and, to Laonin's horror, plunged it into his heart up to the hilt.  It hurt, yes, but the results were well worth it.  His skin regained its former luster, and the wound in his abdomen closed.  The wound in his soul, however, would not be so easy to fix.  At least he had regained the piece of soul he had lost.

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I hope you don't see this as godmodding, karnatheon, mild though it is.  Also, the knife is a hemalurgic spike with a connection to the Dor, so by spiking himself he's regaining his elantrianness.

 

[Karnatheon]

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No don't worry you're fine.

Laonin watched gladly as the wound healed,  but then Aeodin's skin changed. Aomething else was wrong now. What happened? Was it the Aon? Did I do something wrong? Concern growing on his face, Aeodin gestured for the knife. Laonin handed it over, and watched with horror as he stabbed himself. "What are you doing!?" he yelled. Aeodin's skin quickly changed back, and he seemed relieved. More confused than ever, Laonin asked "Start talking Aeodin. What's going on? What happened and why were you hurt? Why am I a fool?"

[Vargo Seldon]

"You're not a fool," Aeodin assured him, "hemalurgy is quite confusing until you get the hang of it."  Aeodin got up, and walked towards the forge, displaying a surprising amount of vitality for one who had just gotten stabbed.  "It appears we have an enemy among the DA," he continued, "Or at least one other guild that endorses hemalurgy.  Might be the canton."  He grunted as he sat down on a piece of rubble and started talking again, "Some sucker for investiture came up and stabbed me in an alleyway.  He thought to take my connection to the Dor, though why I do not know.  There were plenty of targets with more powerful, less subtle investiture.  Fortunately I was able to activate a pre-made Aon Daa, which killed the thief.  I then transported myself here." He reached up to the dagger protruding out of his chest, then paused.  He drew Aon Iir in the air, and his muscles expanded, bulging beneath his long robes.  With delicate hands, he reached up to the dagger, and in an impressive show of strength snapped off most of the extraneous metal.  "Do you know how hard it is to dress with a length of metal in your chest?" He asked.

[The Grumpy Elantrian]

Ishek's face betrayed concern "there is use of Hemalurgy in Alleycity?"

He grew even more concerned as he thought of the hemalurgic constructs he had encountered back on Scadrial. 

"Are there any creatures with spikes through their eyes? Creatures made powerful through hemalurgy?" His voice was tense, as if the worry were straining to break free through his words. 

[Karnatheon]

On 11/29/2018 at 9:47 PM, Ookla the spearman said:

 He collapsed in front of the two men and muttered, "You fool!"

@Ookla the Ring @Ookla the Ookspren

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Just to clarify when I asked about being a fool this is what I was referring to.

@Ookla the spearman

[Vargo Seldon]

4 minutes ago, Ookla the Ookspren said:

Ishek's face betrayed concern "there is use of Hemalurgy in Alleycity?"

He grew even more concerned as he thought of the hemalurgic constructs he had encountered back on Scadrial. 

"Are there any creatures with spikes through their eyes? Creatures made powerful through hemalurgy?" His voice was tense, as if the worry were straining to break free through his words. 

Aeodin chuckled, "Ahh, yes.  Valdwen told me of inquisitors.  It's those monsters that killed his parents, actually.  And yes, hemalurgy has been an essential part of the alleyverse since day one.  Inquisitors do exist here, but I suspect that they would not be able to contend with a vast majority of hemalurgic creations here."

[Archer]

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This post has no impact on the plot. Carry on stabbing people as if I was never here. 

Meanwhile, conveniently providing an explanation for how this establishment acquires its raw materials, a deliveryman unloaded several crates of gold from his truck. He placed them by the back door for the owner of the Forge to collect. Then he retreated to his vehicle and drove away.