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235 - Tuning Complete [Cherno]
🕑 Added 2024-10-11 06:33:31 +0000 UTCA/N: Longer than usual because I really don't want to have a chapter be half system readouts but I want to include them as a refresher.
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As the grafters progressed, so too did Krahe gradually notice improvements. Less resonance at first, and thus, less pain. From thereon, however, the resonance returned, but this time, it was cold, almost comforting. After Fidelia finished a thirteen-hour session of meticulously adjusting tiny details on the interior of Krahe’s Soul Furnace, the high grafter had deemed that all that could be done, had been done. Now, when Krahe ran through the usual tests, she noticed the greatest changes. While diving, the world was slower than before, just a bit, and she could dive again after emerging sooner than before. Similarly, she could skim further, and could skim more often. But perhaps the thing that stood out most was the moment. That instant after skimming, when the world nearly halted around her — it had grown in length by about half. It was a simultaneously tiny, yet also impactful change. All of these changes were also reflected upon the system readouts, and first among them was that the dive recovery time and skim recharge time had both shortened. Her Astro Dive time dilation factor had also grown by 0.2x, and, somewhat vaguely, one line in the description for Astro Skimming had changed by a single word: from “upon arrival, the holder experiences a brief moment of extreme cognitive time dilation,” to “upon arrival, the holder experiences a moment of extreme cognitive time dilation.” Besides these changes, Krahe had an inkling that the resonance had magnified the Liminal Coil’s passive benefits, even if only slightly.
[LIMINAL COIL]
[Status:]
Sacred
[Details:]
This graft bestows the “Silver Key of Kadath” Boon.
This graft brings the holder’s Astral Body (Material Soul) and Physical Body into resonance. All of its attribute-modifying effects are at least partially resultant from this fact.
This graft reduces the risk and severity of graft rejection and accelerates the integration of grafts.
This graft accelerates recovery of blood, improves blood quality, and strengthens the immune system.
This graft significantly reinforces the holder’s base Control attribute.
This graft reinforces the holder’s base Durability attribute.
This graft reinforces all of the holder’s base Thaumic attributes and improves the efficiency of Thauma-burning as well as Thaumic Fusion to a minor degree.
This graft’s full characteristics will become available when the holder fulfills the requirements to make use of them.
[SILVER KEY OF KADATH]
[Tags:]
Graft Source (Liminal Coil)
Astro Diving
Astro Skimming
[Details:]
The holder is capable of Astro Skimming and Astro Diving unassisted at a reduced efficiency. The holder’s capabilities for Astro Diving/Skimming will improve significantly if the holder implants a voidkey with the Astro Diving and/or Astro Skimming Tags.
Astro Skimming
Astro Skimming entails entering a semi-astral state and skimming the realspace-adjacent region of Kenoma (the Astral Gulf) for an infinitesimally short period of time. In practice, this allows the holder to near-instantaneously transport herself a limited distance in any direction. The holder has limited control over her relative facing and retention of momentum upon arrival.
Upon arrival, the holder experiences a moment of extreme cognitive time dilation.
One cannot Skim to a location where one’s body would intersect with concrete matter; in such a case, the holder will be rebounded to her starting location and her relative momentum will be inverted.
Current Skim charges: 2
Current Skim recharge: 4 seconds per charge
Current Skim range: 4.3m
[Next Page]
Astro Diving
Astro Diving enables the holder to wholly transition into an astral state of being and dive into the Astral Gulf. Unassisted, without special preparations, only a Partial Dive is possible, wherein the diver is partially present both in realspace and the Astral Gulf; a Full Dive, allowing Kenomaic exploration, may be achieved with appropriate preparatory measures. Unless specified otherwise, all references to Astro Diving within this Boon description are in relation to Partial Diving.
Sustaining a dive continuously builds up Hard Entropy.
While Astro Diving, the holder becomes partially disentangled from realspace, effectively becoming semi-intangible. Most Thaumaturgies will have no effect in realspace, most artifacts cannot be activated, and most other means of directly affecting realspace will have no effect. The diver’s subjective flow of time accelerates in relation to realspace while diving.
Upon emerging from a dive, the diver will not be able to dive again for a short time.
Current time dilation factor: 1.7x
Current dive recovery time: 4s
While originally, the plan had been to select and implant the reinforced conduit lines right after the tuning, Firminus argued for a delay, based on the supposedly-impending viability of an operational prototype for an improved conduit line model. He asked Krahe, almost as an aside, whether she would be willing to use a prototype graft. After asking a few questions regarding the graft’s properties and level of development, she felt no reason to refuse — even with the knowledge the conduit lines were directly based on Abara Morph Tsetse. Thus, with more paperwork that they burned immediately after filling it out, the delay was agreed upon, and for a while, Krahe was left to her own devices within the compound.
Besides recovery, she spent this time reading, exercising, and, as ever, attempting to crack into Yao Fu’s scroll, in the subterranean compound’s surprisingly expansive library. Her progress remained as incremental as ever, but progress it was, and from her improved understanding, she whittled a breakthrough — an improved Wandrei Faust talisman pattern. The improvements were small, but altogether, they added up. Remove some extraneous strokes here, shorten a stroke there, alter the angle from which a certain stroke was executed, and before long, the difficulty and thus time requirement of each talisman had been reduced. In the same manner, the actual theurgy was now more efficient, allowing for more offensive power and higher mobility. Not by much, but enough to be noticeable.
Whenever she grew frustrated with this pursuit, or simply couldn’t draw anymore, she immediately redirected her focus towards something else. Whether it was poring over her texts on the history and construction of wards or simple physical exercise in the compound’s entirely far too well-equipped gym, Krahe couldn’t bear being idle. Not here. Not now. If she couldn’t be on the surface, actively eroding what remained of Hashem’s foundations so she could get to whomever was holding them up, then she would channel that energy into preparations.
Casus just showed up at one point, walking into the gymnasium while Krahe was there. The musculature of his right arm was darker, but besides that, he looked the same. Though they didn’t speak at length, the banisher made it clear he was relieved to see her recovering so quickly. He also mentioned that he would likely not be around much during their time at Fidelia’s compound, as he was undergoing some kind of combination physical and spiritual training to help him handle his new Mamon Knight form.
Throughout it all, Barzai slept. Less than even refusing to answer, the eidolon didn’t react in any way to her call. She could feel from him no sense of exhaustion, no sense of hunger, nothing. She couldn’t even observe him within the vault of her soul. She knew, for certain, that this was no injury — no tests suggested anything of the sort, and her Chthonian Eels heeded her command as readily as ever.
When she checked her Eidolon Vaults, she saw Barzai was, apparently, undergoing some kind of evolution.
[TRUE EIDOLON VAULT NO. 1]
[Astral Morphology:]
Raven of Ruinous Eyes “Barzai”
Developed via retroactive cogniphagy of the host upon bonding.
[Morphological Archetype:]
Scout/Skirmisher
[Eidolon Status:]
Boon Symbiosis: Deathsmoke Blessing
When manifested in its natural form, this eidolon is difficult to notice for those not intended to notice it, and may appear as a mundane raven.
Boon Symbiosis: Phase of Earthen Jade
This eidolon benefits from the reinforcing properties of this boon.
Boon Symbiosis: Chernobog’s Mystic Wisdom
This eidolon is capable of becoming a daemon core.
Gestating Morphology Evolution
Evolution Ritual Reagent: Souldregs of Semzar Hashem
Fully Nourished
Unbound
“It’s one thing after the next,” Krahe thought. She decided to look into it when she could, going through whatever texts she thought might be relevant, as well as mentioning the matter to both Casus and Firminus. Casus’ surface-level knowledge only affirmed the fact eidolons could and did evolve, but that was all. Firminus, on the other hand, knew enough to be helpful — but not an iota more than that. She questioned him on the matter while he was getting everything in order for her Adamas Organ implantation. It took place in chamber that Firminus had clearly gone to great effort to arrange in a manner matching his own home turf. The contrast between the absolute cleanliness of this place and the organized mess in Firminus’ shrine-workshop was almost comical.
