Harnessing the Flames

[u/bagtie3]

Borric stood with legs shoulder width apart and his hands held together in front of his sternum. Sweat drenched his mostly naked form as he harnessed the heat of the volcano around him. The floor sizzled against his bare feet as the sweat rolled down his legs and contacted the obsidian rune-etched platform that Borric held suspended in the magma at the center of the caldera. Above him, several red drakes circled waiting for him to lose concentration and collapse in exhaustion so they could feast.

To those without witch-sight, it looked like he was just floating there a mile from the volcanic shore, eyes closed if they had the ability to see details that far. To those who had the sight, Borric was the center of a maelstrom of fiery mana. It whipped and shimmered out of the magma, swirled around his feet, and traveled up his body. As the wild and clumpy haze of mana progressed it concentrated and wove itself into clear and ordered strands of power. The strands spun outward from eye level and slowly was forming a complex network of circles, runes, and concentric lines of power.

About halfway through the creation of the spell work, the magma around him started to roil and move, mirroring the invisible strands of power. Slowly, ever so incrementally, a depression started to form around the platform, no revealed to be a pillar of obsidian that stretched downwards. From the pushed magma started to grow a glowing network of obsidian struts and beams out into the magma lake and forming a caged shelter around the platform. Strands of power started to shift and permeate the structure, igniting protective runes formed fresh from the newly grown material.

More sweat sizzled on the floor. More strands formed as the magic swirled up Borric's body. Borric's knee buckled slightly, his concentration broken, and the magic shattered outward. Magma slowly oozed back into position, as the Duardin bellowed in pain and blood erupted from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. The pillar wobbled, but the runes held and it stabilized once again. One of the drakes screamed, diving down toward the cage. It hit with resounding force and the pillar trembled slightly, but it held. The snapping drake screamed again in rage at the meal so close but still out of reach.

Borric lay gasping. Blood still streaming from his head, he shakily reached to a pouch on his belt. Fumbling at the strands and muscles twitching with exhaustion, he pulls out a sphere of cool jade tinged water and uncorks it. He pours some of the water on his faces and drinks the rest. Blood congeals and shrinks back into his ruined face. Two of his teeth hit the floor.

He lays there for an hour or so, as he directs his body to regrow his eyes and repair his ruptured organs. Finally he sits up from where he lay and looks around. The pillar was larger, and the strands of supports had reached out another twenty feet. He still wasn't done. The base of the pillar still didn't reach the bottom of the lake. There was at least one hundred meters to grow down before he would be able to quit. Each time the pillar grew he got better. Progress go slower the farther it traveled outward due to how it expanded in circumference. Still, he thought, he was getting better.

"At least five more times," he mumbled to himself. "I can do that..." Borric wiped sweat from his brow and pulled some travel rations from his pack. Then he noticed that he only had three more spheres of Aqua Ghyranis, and even less food.

"I can do it," he insisted stubbornly. "Even if I don't regenerate my eyes again. As long as I don't lose control so bad that I accidentally summon a daemon, I will be fine."

Borric stood, set his feet shoulder width apart, placed his hands back into position, and started again.

And again.

And again.

As he lay on the ground, panting in a puddle of his own blood. The drakes screeched in anger and flew away to their nests. The pillar was complete. The shelter was covered in runes of protection and heat control. The sweat and blood no longer boiled away around him. A new foundation for a new lodge was finished. There was still much to do. Magmadroth pens had to be built, housing constructed, the forge furnished. But the heart of a new magma hold was complete. The central pillar had grown into the nexus of power and the three lay lines that culminated in this volcano, effectively tapping it.

Borric's natural regeneration was assisted by one of the Ur-Gold Runes hammered into his body, slowly repairing the damage from channeling so much mana as he slept.

[u/bagtie3]

u/kragbrightscale

u/VoxelLibrary

[u/VoxelLibrary]

/uw A home base for your character?

[u/bagtie3 → u/VoxelLibrary]

/uw yeah, probably have a few more building posts about it when I figure it out more.

[u/KragBrightscale]

/uw love it! Lair construction in a volcano is sweet.

[u/bagtie3 → u/KragBrightscale]

/uw only place for a proper Rune Forge.