Draught of Incite
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Origin lore
| The Draught of Incite
“All you need is but a little… spark, to light your soul back up.” [ https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/144322-the-darkhollow-the-yoresigil/ ] Note: This lore has been updated via: https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/160255-update-the-draught-of-incite/
https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/169122-draught-amendment-proposal/ It will be merged into one piece soon. For now, make sure you read the update followed by the amendment as it alters how the draught functions.
To Know
True life is a dream which most undead covet, whether they hail from the Gods or the godless. They, who shamble across the earth as husks, are they true subjects of suffering; Men cannot compare in what they may come to know, for it is the undead who fall into death, only to go beyond it. What waits on the other side of demise is either what path the Soul Stream sets the spirits of Men upon, or a second, more rude awakening; and to be awakened from a sleep which should not be disturbed malforms the soul, denying those who suffer such a fate afterlife. But to live again… that means something. It’s all that some undead have; all that gives them hope.
And rightfully so. To regain warmth and flesh and the mythical “Flame of Life” again is a drive for many undead, so desperate to undo their affliction. No magic known has conceived the ability to give unto the undead life again; neither arts from the Gods or the godless, whom both share due cause of many unliving specimens. There are many who suffered the path of reclaiming the Flame of Life, from the first of the Necromancers, the Old Lords, to the one said to be responsible for what is known as “Further Alchemy” and the horrors which it spawns this day. These wretched Men, in all of their darkness, saw the merit in giving undead life again. Whether they were undead themselves or only scratched the surface of what they endured, they all knew it needed some kind of… reprieve.
They always relied on one side. It was either the light or the dark that would solve it, yet they did not realize both sides were but pieces to the puzzle. There lies that shattered miracles within the souls of undead Men, the Darkhollow, which is understood by little, and its former form known of by practically known. The Yoresigil, which was once cited by the Ashkeeper Abdiel as the “source of warm life”, is what drives mortals to exist as they do. Without it, their Lifeforce would be astray, and they would be imperfect and astray from the image of their lost, unspoken Creator.
In its reanimated form, which breathes ash and exudes only remnant embers instead of the warmth of fire, the Darkhollow exists to erode and punish undead. Where the Yoresigil acted to moderate, the Darkhollow drains and breaks the unliving down until they are mindless husks, craving for the reprieve of Lifeforce, or whatever their madness leads them to desire. It is through the undead known as Liches and Darkstalkers that the Darkhollow is truly embodied, for they naturally gain the power of lifedrain, and tear from the living and all that flourishes their Lifeforces so their soul does not crack and drive them into a madness. Undead, without sustenance, soon become the serpent which gnaws its own tail.
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To become whole again, Men must peer beyond the machinations of the Gods and the godless, and take from both sides the very core of what drives them. They must look to the art which communes with the very plane they stand upon, Alchemy; they must rip from what lives which drives them to breathe and die, Mortality; and they must pull from the Gods which allows them to last through aeons, Immortality.
“The undead are of Men as you are, young moth. They live, and fight, and die… … and it is their persistence of life which frightens our kind. But the nature of their existence is beyond what we can see. The spirit hidden within the shell of an undead is marked by a force which has long since lost its flame… so we must kindle it again, so they may come to know warmth a second time.” - Old Lord Dhurzumkal
To Gather “We must rip away the nature of both sides, you see. It allows us to shape the mimicry…”
The regents of the Draught of Incite demand that both the essences of Mortality and Immortality be bound to one concoction, one binding which reforms the flesh of undead, yet does not make it defiant to time and the corporeal nature which communes with a mortal coil. To obtain the essence of Mortality, one must merely look to Lifeforce itself in all of its untouchable abundance. What is desired is such a concentrated amount that it takes material shape; something that can usually be found as what houses the souls of Liches and Darkstalkers. If one is not willing to sacrifice that which keeps a fellow undead operable for the sake of regaining their flesh, they must seek a master Necromancer and ask from them a coveted Lifeforce Gem - mortal essences confined to the shape of a dark crystal.
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The second reagent is much more daunting. To find a physical embodiment of a God, an Immortal, is folly; they are incorporeal by their very nature, and dwell realms which do not bend to the laws of the World of Men. Yet, upon the very same plane, they have embedded seeds of their being which has adhered to these laws without losing the everlasting of those who planted them. Those who are beyond mere connections to the Aengudaemons, such as deific entities that carry ichor or “gold blood” in their veins, must be found and robbed of their essence if not given it without resistance (a rarity, given the circumstances). There are other alternatives which demand more strain and struggle in order to obtain the embodiment of Immortality. It is said Dragonkin blood carries within it the vestiges of their great Father, Dragur, and thus contain the secret to great power and a lasting self. Such a resource works just as well as the gore of Godly slaves.
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The binding agent which forces both the light and dark of these two mediums is what runs through Men themselves - flesh. It is the flesh and blood and matter of mortals which carries the warmth of the Yoresigil and the Lifeforces which filter through it according to natural law. Without direction and cast astray, both light and dark, especially together, may be purposeless and cold. But with the remnant fire of the flesh to guide it together, it mixes into a substance which defies the Curse of the Undead, and brings unto them a second chance at life. But alas… It is a mimicry.
To Create
In order to fashion the Draught of Incite, one must first be skilled in Alchemy, and have atleast an introductory involvement in the field known as Further Alchemy. Both the concentrated modicum of Lifeforce and the essence of Immortality must have been obtained within the same year as the creation of the Draught, lest the process fails. The crystal must be shattered, and then ground into a black dust before being poured into a mortar, and then the gold blood must follow. If a third foreign component is added during this, the already unstable mixture begins to become erratic, and may combust before the Alchemist. This could result in violent death.
Should one be patient and careful, mingling these two aspects of existence will produce a bizarre, almost ethereal substance of glowing gray shade. It is calm and lingers like ectoplasm, however, this shall not last long, for the worldly forces which define both Mortality and Immortality will soon take notice to this affronting binding and cause the concoction to once again explode. This is why fresh flesh or blood of a mortal must be added -- it acts as the binding agent and establishes a “familiarity” between these embodiments of the cosm.
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The decoction soon adopts the crimson hues of the lifeblood of Men, and retains the unearthly glow which it formed a time before. The Draught of Incite is created through these methods.
To Become
It is only the undead, either Godly or godless, who may imbibe this potion and feel its effect. The living react to it like a poison and an acid in the veins; it invades their enfleshed systems and confuses them, causing organs to fail, blood to turn to ash, and skin to crumble. Death is imminent once one among Men drinks the Draught.
But the opposite shall transpire for undead worthy enough to get their hands upon the Draught. The skinless Darkstalkers and Liches, who had lost the warmth of their coil after it decayed away amid the passing ages, would find the visage of their past life embedded still in their soul awaken -- and painfully regrow upon them. Sinew, muscle, vein and skin and organs would all take shape as the Draught communes with their spirit and gifts to them the Flame of Life, kindling the Darkhollow upon their soul and returning it the fire which once made it bright. This is one example upon many -- many undead may drink this, may wash themselves in the Draught, and rise again as true Men. But they must know to find caution in defeat; for when their new flesh is torn asunder, they shall awaken as the undead once more, and would have forged the Draught for nothing.
To Be
Though many undead are able to use this potion to become clasped in skin and warmth once more, if not for a temporary time, there are certain restrictions and guidelines which each undead must follow, lest they are unraveled and made dead again.
Darkstalkers The Darkstalkers of Xion are affected by the Draught similarly to Liches, in which they reform into living beings at the cost of retaining the nature of their undead design. Darkstalkers are known as the “perfect” soldier, for within their bodies carry the strength of honed humans and, without flesh, they can carry on through battle without so much as a flinch in the face of normal steel falling upon them. As “Incited Darkstalkers”, they find themselves with flesh again and inclined to reach the peak of mortal strength, yet are still unable to cast magic. Their Curse of Undeath looms over them like a persistent shadow and refuses to fade, for Incited Darkstalkers must continue to drain to keep sane and functioning, lest their flesh falls away and they die, only to awaken as they were in the beginning.
Liches Like Darkstalkers, Liches are capable of reforming into “mortal” beings by imbibing the Draught. They regain their flesh and blood, yet like all Men brought into this world, they once more gain the weaknesses of the arcane and suffer what pains mana exhaustion brings. They are cursed to remain thin and almost frail, much like they were as undead, and even by abandoning magical arts are afflicted with an inability to gain proper muscle mass. Liches are cursed with the hunger to feed on Lifeforce like Darkstalkers, but decay brought by ignorance of this is slower, albeit more painful.
Dreadknights Incited Dreadknights can breathe once again, if not for a few details which they peculiarly share with their Paleknight kin. As the Draught communes with their souls, Dreadknights reform on the inside of their armor - and because the runes which bind their spirit to it cannot be broken by the Draught, they are cursed with the inability to remove a majority of their armor and must be forced to choose what they must lug around on themselves, lest their runes break and they are unraveled. Like Darkstalkers, Dreadknights cannot use magic as the Incited, and must use their martial prowess in order to protect their coveted and reclaimed Flame of Life.
Paleknights The spectral nature of Paleknights does not clash with the nature of the Draught of Incite, but rather embraces it much like other corporeal undead do. The ectoplasm within the stone-plated frame of Paleknights is given the warmth of life, and like Dreadknights they reform inside their armor. As their being is designed around inhabiting their unusual stone cages, Paleknights are rebirthed as naturally strong mortal beings in order to handle the weight forced upon them. Some pieces of armor may be removed from their body, but substantial amounts must remain - such as an entire plated sleeve and gauntlet or the sabatons and greaves.
Gravens Gravens are like Morghuul in a way where the Draught is able to commune with their Soul Shadow, but are lesser on account of containing a false spirit. Their ectoplasm reforms into flesh and blood and veins and bones and their bodies are remade as they were in life, yet with no soul, Gravens are unable to reproduce, and with the purpose of their existence tied to their “duties”, they are still driven to commit to them but with the pains of mortality to get in the way.
Morghuuul Morghuul are granted life by the Draught, if only to become an even more convincing shell of what they once were. With their Soul Shadow bringing to them convoluted mental agonies and scattered thoughts, Incited Morghuul are able to embrace the life they lost, if not as lesser Men. They also cannot reproduce alongside having to endure the afflictions of the mind, shaping them into outcasts of mortal society. Like Liches and Darkstalkers, they are still cursed with a slow inner-decay, and thus must cannibalize upon the living in order to keep themselves healthy and sustained.
Wraiths As adherents of Mordring, the Draught convenes upon the undying Dragaar’s powers and meddling with the inherent nature of the new-age Wraiths. Instead of reassembling into living creatures once again, they instead are “contained” within enfleshed bodies much like how Wights may possess the living, and thus act as they are if they were husks. Their black scar remains upon them, but they can come to truly feel alive once more without the degradation of magic intervening upon what martial skill they bear. Mordring is able to detect this infringement of form, however, and may seek these Incited Wraiths out so he may destroy the coil they have regained.
Concluding Details
There are guidelines which each Incited Undead must follow in accordance of what they are in undeath. These details are listed here, and behave in a general fashion, applying to all undead who turn Incited.
- Most weaknesses which the listed undead share, such as an aversion to gold and holy magic, no longer work upon them once they are Incited, as the flesh they wear is living and rejuvenated. The only exception is Ascended magic, which is able to detect blights upon the soul of the victim and thus damage them regardless of form.
- By reclaiming the flesh, Incited Undead also reclaim its weaknesses. Though some are inclined to reach the peak of performance, only because no other alternatives are viable, pain and suffering are reintroduced to them and thus they may die as all other mortals can.
- Once an Incited Undead is killed as any other mortal Man can be, they awaken as their old selves once again. They are forced to either carry on as they are, or struggle to find another Draught.
- All resistances brought on by forms of undeath are nullified by becoming Incited. As most of these resistances are from lacking flesh in the first place, gaining it once more reintroduces them.
- A Draught of Incite can only be created by an approved Further Alchemist.
- A Draught of Incite is not a regenerative concoction, so if it’s used to try to heal wounds, it will act as though it is acid to living flesh, and only worsen the condition of the victim.
- An undead cannot have a stock of Draughts of Incite, they may only have one at a time for when they wish to turn, and can only obtain or have one made for them until they are undead once more.
- Each ingredient has a limit on how long it's "fresh". Whereas the Lifeforce Gem has no limit, the blood or ichor of an Aengulic being only lasts a week after collection, and the mortal flesh or blood needed to complete the Draught must only be one day old. If there is error in these time limits, the creation of the potion may result in some kind of violent combustion. https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/152175-%E2%9C%93-alchemy-the-draught-of-incite/ |
First Amendment
| The Draught of Insight
[Update I]
Recent occurences and initial oversights have given me the inclination to give this lore its first update (hopefully one of few). The lore doesn't need any deeper reinforcement besides small changes and tweaks based on the aforementioned oversights brought to my attention both by some few members (Toodles, one in specific) and, again, previously mentioned occurences. This will be kept short.
Changes
1a; Wraiths and Wights, following the method in which the Draught "renews" them in coordination with their husking abilities (the means to inhabit either corpses or living bodies through "possession" [Wight exclusive]), will now experience physical distortion from whatever bodies they take as their Incited souls seek to correct their form. Following the Soul Blueprint ideal, the gender of the character cannot change from what they were in mortal life. Wights/Wraiths that occupy bodies opposite of their original mortal gender will now be "scorched" into correction during the Draught's revival process, wherein the flesh contorts until they both look and function as they were originally. This also applies for the husks and possessions that differ from the soul's original race, which are scorched into correction upon a Draught of Incite's use.
1b; Their curses of undeath are herein clarified. Like other undead species who become Incited (ie "mortalized"), both will endure similar disadvantages. Incited Abyss Wraiths return to a state of "Half-Undeath", but perpetually suffer an illness where the excess of stagnant Lifeforce within them threatens to break down their body if they don't expunge it through either magical practice or meditation once per day. Using other Dark Arts in this form also does not degrade it, but puts Incited Wraiths in pain much like Strength of the Abyss' powers. Wights retain their strenuous mental illnesses and disfigurements, worsened only by the fact they are made mortal again. In addition, they suffer "spectral numbness" in the lesser parts of the body - such as the fingers, hands, feet and face, which may cause them to experience difficulty in physical balance, the ability to produce genuine facial expressions, and move without a vaguely noticeable stiffness of the form. This causes some feats, such as wearing heavier armor or wielding heavier weapons, almost impossible to Incited Wights.
2a; All Incited Undead, of all species, must bear a deep black aura. Given auras are purely aesthetic and optional when in use of roleplay, this stands as no glaring disadvantage, but stands to hint as to what the Incited Undead are. This can be discerned as a reflection of their blackened soul, and though the Draught's power "muffles" their inner-darkness enough to reverse undeath, this spiritual stygia still leaks out.
3a; The Draught's "ritual" no longer needs to be taught on top of needing an accepted FA (Further/Advanced Alchemy) application, as all the process consists of is mixing each ingredient in a clean and generally sanitary environment. Thus, all a "Further Alchemist" requires in order to experiment and discover the way to create a Draught is the necessary ingredients (Lifeforce Gem, Ichor [or "Godblood", which is essence extracted from Ascended, Keepers, Nephilim/Azdrazi, Soul Tree Druids, or Augurs], and mortal flesh of an amount no greater than a fresh hand), and an Alchemist's ingenuity.
4a; Ascended blood as an ingredient is now divided into two varieties based on "dilution". Diluted Ascended blood is defined as the ichor extracted from Ascended of Tier 3 and below. Empowered Ascended blood is defined as the ichored extracted from Ascended of Tier 4 and above.
5a; Upon the use of a Draught, an undead's racial curse which they bore in life, unless they are Soul Shadowed, experiences a "reset". Incited Humans become young again and Incited Elves may once more bear children, but for Orcs and Dwarves, their rage and greed does not fade, for they are not strengthened by the passing of time.
6a; New limitations are put in place. There is no longer a limitation as to how many Draughts can be carried, but every Draught must be recorded on a secure document (Google Docs, etc) with the date of its creation, because starting now, a week after a potion's creation, their powers fade and it becomes a bottle of dry ashes. This time limit must be followed to the T, or else there will be OOC repercussions.
6b; Undead beings are now incapable of using a Draught right after they had been killed as an Incited Undead. They must wait one week before they're able to use another.
Clarifications
- The Incitement of Soul Shadow Undead (Gravens, Ghouls, Paleknights) does not enable their mortal forms to be turned into any kind of creature that involves a phylactery (Liches, Darkstalkers and Wights). Phylactery Undead, or "Soulbearing" Undead, require actual mortal souls, which Soul Shadows are not.
- Darkstalkers and Liches experience withering of both physical and mental health on behalf of neglegence to a usual draining of Lifeforce, and by draining a source they are rapidly propelled back into health. To define how this would function in a multi-party roleplay environment, bydraining either another living individual or Lifeforce source, the condition of the Incited Darkstalker/Lich improves drastically. For Darkstalkers, muscle mass is regained (to littleimprovement to their actual strength during the concurrent situation), but for aesthetic purpose they can be defined as "bulking up" the more they drain until their craving is satiated. The similar can be said for Liches, except they gain very little muscle mass and, rather, their mental condition improves vastly to match that of normalcy. This cannot be used to heal the Incited of any wounds or restore any kind of magic-oriented focus, if the focus had been broken by something substantial such as wounds or any form of immediate trauma.
- The more an undead uses a Draught of Incite, the less painful and debilitating the restoration process is. For the first-timers, the experience of renewal would feel much like being burned alive, and for those who have died and used the Draught several times over (around 3 and above), they are able to reform into mortal beings and endure the process of regaining their flesh without an excess of suffering.
- Each player is entitled to own a single Draught, whether they made one or obtained one. This means, upon obtaining a Draught of Incite, they are only allowed to hold and contain that single item until its loss or consumption. In addition, by holding an approved Draught in ones possession, another cannot be made by that character until it is lost or used.
- Any differences in a Wraith or Wight's husk from their original form are forcibly changed back until they resemble what they appeared to be in life. This precedes all race and gender, nullifying them until everything is corrected. https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/160255-update-the-draught-of-incite/ |
Second Amendment
| Draught Amendment
A number of complaints have been made that draughts have essentially made certain undead into "slice of life/romance RPers". Along with a lot of people having access to it, which it originally was meant to be created as some kind of high end reward, hence these changes.
Changes are fairly straightforward: - Those with any kind of regular soul shadow can no longer draught. Graven and ghouls and homunculi etc. Greater soul shadows or full souls are needed. - You can not have kids or knock anyone up when draughted. - Draughts last for one month. Upon a month passing, the body will crumble. A week must go by before another draught can be utilized. - A thread will be made specifically for draughts and keeping track of who uses them. https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/169122-%E2%9C%93-draught-amendment-proposal/ |
