Tunnel Rat

Chapter 142: Runes and Repairs

In a spare corner of Cichol's Arcane Library, Milo had begun working on a long overdue task. He needed the privacy and the advice of the old mage to work on the special project. The table he was working on had a polished stone top, and legs carved from the thigh bones of several large and extinct creatures. To one side was the knowledge he had accumulated in the Tower of Strife. Cichol was happily copying it all to have for his own library.

Besides the journal, Milo had found three books with infomation on runic formations, along with seven scrolls, and a dozen torn and burnt pages from a book lost to the ages. Despite his near perfect memory, he had read through each bit of literature several times. He also asked both Arlothe and Cremona for their thoughts on the validity of the manuscripts, and their interpretation of the spells and runes presented.

His physical components were sitting on the table as well. In front of him was the arm bone of an ancient creature he had appropriated from Philistron, the old weapon he had bought in the market place of Limburger Hollow, and the once-enchanted weapon that had been destroyed in his attempt to cast a spell upon Captain Pikes harpoon. He had broken both his own magic, and his weapon, Shadowblight.

Milo was contemplating the classic puzzle that pondered what happens when a damaged piece of a ship is repaired? Is it the same ship? What if each piece is replaced over the years, slowly but surely taking away the old parts and replacing with new. At what point did the ship become something different?

However, the ship in question lacked a magical aura that was made up of the sum of its parts. Shadowblight was still slightly magical, but not functional. Bone had been pulled from it, as it had been from Milo's own body. What was left was old and brittle. Milo had been studying the weapon for weeks, and now with Chichol's help, they examined it one more time, making notes as they looked over the weapon bit by bit, finding the runes used in older books, and studying the bones.

The wooden handle was the simplest part. It acted like a mage's staff, channeling the power of the runes between the different bone spikes and drawing power from the mage. Milo had read several books on the construction of wands and staves among the resources in the tower, and examined Arlothe and Cremona's personal staves, asking numerous questions. He had no doubt that he could create a staff that would channel his own magic, if he had needed such a tool.

The spiked bone of the weapon were from different creatures. The tooth of a Gigantic Spasmotic Leech was the largest. Cichol had identified the effect from an old account of the fall of the Kingdom of Kazmar. The leeches had been bred by Spasma the Great, a breeder of fantastic beasts. The King of Kazmar desired an army of beasts that would attack the undersea cities of the Azcantl Merfolk. Complications had arisen when it turned out the Gigantic Leeches didn't like the taste of merfolk, but found humans very tasty. A horde of hungry leeches had rampaged around the island kingdom until Spasma managed to turn them into kittens. After all kittens on the island had been slain to make sure the leeches were dead, Spasma was hung by an angry crowd and his notes burned. Whether because he was the creator of such misfortune, or because the crowd was upset over the kittens, is unclear. The few remaining fangs of the leeches were prized because of their debilitating effect on those wounded.

The second bone spike had been carved from the elbow spike of a Vampiric Hell Beast. These large, flightless, bat-like creatures had infested the Mountains of Morun for ages. They were heavy bodied swoopers who dove off cliffs, driving their prey to the ground were they feasted on their bodies after draining their blood. The poor victim grew weaker as the Hell Beast grew stronger. They finished their meal, climbed back up the cliffs, and went looking for bigger prey. These creatures were still in existence, and for that reason no sane person came within a day's journey of those haunted cliffs.

Other bits of bone had been enchanted with common runes for Swift Striking or Durability to keep the wood from splintering.

Starting with the ancient armbone, he separated the arm from the hand bones with their two small fingers and huge, clawed thumb. He was going to replace the destroyed wood with this ancient bone. Even as it was, the material was twice as strong as the enchanted wood had been. Milo improved on that by carving the ancient bone-rune for Hard-Runed Bones. Instead of Swift Striking, which was a powerful, if mundane rune to make a sword or weapon faster, Milo used the bone-rune for Velocity. He shaped and sanded the three feet of arm bone until it was what he needed for the weapons handle. Even as it was, it would have made a good weapon, but Milo knew this could be more than just a club.

Cichol made suggestions for carvings on the handle. Some were simply decorations that would improve his grip. Others were copied off of the wooden handle, the old mage explaining how some of the minor runes linked the carvings and merged the parts of the weapon into one magical item with one aura.

The handle finished, they began work to repair the Leech Fang and Hell Beast Spike. Two of the bones from the weapon he had purchased from Scrap-Hunter were still useful. The rest of it was rotted junk. The two spikes had minor enchantments of Hardness that had kept them from breaking. There was good bone inside the two pieces.

Milo placed one on top of the Hell Beast Spike, and slowly manipulated the good bone to enter and reinforce the destroyed structure of the Hell Beast Spike. After an hour's work, he was tired and sweating. The good bone had finally collapsed into dust, and now the Spike was heavy and hard. After a small rest, he labored to do the same with the Leech Fang. This one was tougher to do. The structure of the fang fought against him, and it took all of his will power to win against the inanimate object. But in the end, he had two parts of Shadowblight repaired.

The thumb of the unknown creature contained a powerful Rune of Sundering. WIth it, the beast could shatter rock as it dug through the earth. Milo had hopes it would do the same to enemy armor. Carefully he drilled and carved until he could fit the three spikes into the handle of the weapon. On all three spikes, he carved the Rune of Destruction. Small pins of bone held the pieces in place. Velocity and Hard-runed bones were carved into the handle. There was room for one more, and he added Sharp-Runed Talons.

Milo rested until he had refreshed his mana, and then held the completed weapon in his hands. He manipulated the bone of each part to merge with the other pieces. They fought and struggled and slowly the weapon merged into one piece. From the old weapons handle a malevolent shadow slipped into his new weapon. Milo saw it happen, but couldn't stop it.

"You! My destroyer.I trusted you, aided you, and you broke my bones and cast me aside. Now you think that you can remake my shell and bind my spirit to it again?!"

The Weapon Spirit Shadowblight demands a binding contract with you.

-Your mana will be lowered permanently by 50 pts to created this binding. You cannot regain this mana by simply abandoning the weapon. This weapon will be bound to you, and cannot be lost, nor can it be used by someone else.

Milo agreed. He'd bound to the weapon before. If fixing it meant binding it again, that's what he'd do. As soon as he thought this, the weapon turned in his hand, and one of the spikes gashed his chest, drawing blood. He felt a little weak, but it passed quickly.

Shadowblight (Legendary Bonepick) Sundering, Nigh Invulnerable, Destructive, Quick

A traditional weapon of ratkin warriors and scouts, sometimes referred to by the uneducated as a 'Spikeystick'.

Base chance to hit: 40+DEX x 5 + Rank with (Ancient Rune Lore) x5

Damage: 150 + 5xSTR

Effects:

Sunder Armor: Shadowblight unleashes the Rune of Sundering on your foe, destroying armor and shattering bones. -50 points of armor or mitigation. If used against inanimate objects (rock walls, doors, cheese wax) it does a large amount of damage. Cost: 50 stamina.

Nigh Invulnerable: Even a critical hit with an enchanted blade by a cheese-crazed fiend will not harm this spikeystick Enchanted Weapon. To block powerful foes, keep two hands on the stick. Skill: Weapon Block +4 ranks, reduced damage.

Destruction: Shadowblight drains your mana to charge its Rune of Destruction. Increase damage by +100 for the next hit.

Cost: 50 mana

Constructing such a weapon is a mighty feat. You have earned 10 Core Skill Points.

Milo's blood seeped into the weapon, not even leaving a stain. Cichol observed this and stared hard at the weapon. "That is one vindictive spikeystick. Not many of them get used enough, or mean enough, to form their own spirit. It was bad when Malskitter was using it. This new one is even sharper and hungrier. You and it should have some fun together."

Milo wondered about Cichol's definition of fun. He was just happy to have repaired his Bonespike. He staggered upwards from where he had been sitting. He was stiff and tired from hours of research and arcane tinkering. He needed to get back to the tower of strife and his comfy chair for a couple of hours of sleep before heading to fighting practice. It was going to be a long day.

Rune Crafting has reached Rank 8

Ancient Rune Lore has reached Rank 8

Runic Lore has reached Rank 8

Bone Carving has reached Rank 10

Bone Manipulation has reached Rank 9