90 lines
4.7 KiB
Plaintext
90 lines
4.7 KiB
Plaintext
Prologue
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A Treatise on Immortality by Stephen Bonet, Filius of Penelope, House
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Bonisagus (Order of Hermes), presented to the Stonehenge Tribunal on
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March 20, 1854
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Greetings Fellow Magi!
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As always, it is with great honor and privilege that I address you at
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this Tribunal. My sodalis and I have come across a most curious breed
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of man, and I would like to present our studies of this man for you to
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enjoy:
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His name is Guillaume, and he was born in the year 1422 to a
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farmer and wife outside Paris, in France. All of this information
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about him has come from our explorations of his mind and body, for
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despite his incredible powers he is but a man, albeit a very special
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kind of man.
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Through his mind, we saw his death and rebirth: unlike
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the mummies of the southern lands, however, he does not travel to a
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spirit realm and beg to return, but rather his internal power somehow
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regenerates his form, no matter how damaged it has become. This
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natural healing is rapid, causing him to return from the most grievous
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of wounds to his full health in scant hours.
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We tested his mind's visions, and in fact his wounds heal remarkably quickly.
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He cannot be drowned, for somehow his lungs draw air from the water itself.
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He can be burned, or shot, but he heals so quickly that the most heinous of
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wounds are little more than an annoyance to him.
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Through his mind, we likewise learned of others of his kind. A teacher, who
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came to him and taught him the Rules, and others, who came to steal his power
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for themselves.
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Their kind have Rules, built up through centuries of
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conflict. The only way to kill them is to remove their head from
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their shoulders, separating their head from their heart (the two
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sources of life, as we ourselves know). If this is done by another of
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their kind, the power within them (which they refer to as their
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Quickening, or life) flows into their killer, making him even more
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powerful. Their legends speak of the Gathering, a time when all of
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their kind will battle, until only one remains. That one, with all of
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their power as his own, will be like unto a god.
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How do we explain these beings? Quite easily, in fact. Their power is
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nothing less than raw Quintessence, somehow drawn to them from reality itself.
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As all living things have some faint spark of Quintessence in them, these
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beings have a raging flame, which gives them strength and power. This
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raw power is similar to that of our own Avatars, yet in many ways
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different. Those of us who study the Prime have recognized this in
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our subject, and in fact can sense the power flowing through him. At
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the same time, he does not seem to have the Gift, and we have been
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unable to Awaken him. We have not yet endeavored to remove his head
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ourselves, until we are certain we have learned all we can from him.
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Another Rule of their kind deals with Holy Ground, and the fact that
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they cannot fight there. According to Guillaume, he can sense this
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ground, much as he senses others of his kind when they draw near.
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Through studying him and his memories, we have gained some information
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as to this sensation. It seems our Chantry is also considered Holy
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Ground to him, as it seems all Nodes are. These connections to
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Quintessence are off limits to them? Why is that? The answer lies in
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understanding their battles.
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When two of their kind fight, the Quintessence within them begins to flow,
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empowering them and their weapons, and literally filling the air around them.
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When one loses, the winner draws his own Quintessence back into himself, as
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well as some of that belonging to his opponent... the rest, with nowhere to
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go, wreaks havoc on the environment around them. This Quintessence he
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absorbs from his opponent carries with it a shadow of the man's
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knowledge, indeed his very life... and in some cases, can overshadow
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the life of the victor.
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On a Node site, the Quintessence from the loser flows not into the victor, but
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into the Node itself. In this way, the victor not only gains nothing, but in
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fact loses that Quintessence of his which had mingled with that of his
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opponent... a very pragmatic reason for the Rule they follow.
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There are many things about these beings still to be learned. They seem as
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closely tied to Quintessence as we ourselves, but at the same time seem to be
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able to contain and harness this "Quickening" of theirs in other ways.
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In some ways, they seem a living Node: a constant amount of Quickening
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within them, unused by their healing and powers, and always the
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capacity for more. We will experiment more with this subject,
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including channeling Quintessence into him, to further explore our
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theories.
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Thank you for your patience, and good night.
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