The Trials of Edict

8th of Etnikh 3E

My name is Tadresi Avareth. I am a researcher of questionable goods and practice things. I am curious about things most people believe are evil and I dabble in things that are considered taboo. I am an outcast because of that.

It doesn't stop me.

What can be learned must be learned, at all costs. Knowledge is and always will be a necessity for the advancement of any race. This includes things any normal human would turn their nose up at in disgust.

Now, with that stated, let me begin.

Today was an utter success. My dabble in the dark magics was a work in progress for many moons and many failed experiments. Today, the 8th of Etnikh 3E, my trial did not result in any injuries to my assistants and, fortunately, no deaths. The attempted spell ( found in the book The Trials of Edict ) bubbled to life in the palm of my hand.

Before this day, the effects would often go wild and strings of a black gelatinous glob ( the best description for the unholy thing ) would whip around my foyer, slashing and staining anything it touched. The smell was simply ungodly, worse than any decaying body or rabid beast. It produced a sticky heat, also, and stuck around for many days until it burned itself out. We had to leave the doors and windows open all across the house for it to dissipate.

That was the only clue that I was getting close to the answer. The spell was a simple one – only meant to bind the element of fire to my body. It would be a dark fire, a cursed fire, but it was still a powerful tool to have. My assistants begged me to let them preform the ritual before I ever attempted it, so I could study it and improve it without it damaging me. They are so kind – it's almost a shame they work with someone like me instead of some rich lord that could provide for them more in a day than I could in years ( my type of work doesn't exactly bring in a flow of currency ).

The spell did not burst to life in a blaze like a normal fire. Instead, as it grew, it bubbled from the centre of my palm. In the end, it did have the appearance of what you would expect a handheld fire to be. Except, it was not the magnificent reds, yellows, and oranges I am accustomed to. It was shades of blue and with a shining white centre and outline. It was even more beautiful than I had expected it to be.

It's mine, now.

The ritual bound it to me, like the book said it would. It was a one time spell, unlike the others I have looked at but never performed. They only gave the cursed fire for that one time, you were forced to cast the spell again and again to get it . With the spell from Trials of The Edict, I would always have the cursed fire with me. The proof is the thin twisted bands of deep blue around both of my wrists. As I write this, three and a half hours have passed since the ritual. I have gotten down the basics of how to will it back to me, how to use it. My assistants have stayed close to me, documenting each demonstration for our combined notes.

The first attempt half an hour after the ritual; I did not understand how to call it back to me. I got frustrated with it. One of my assistants attempted to help, and I only snapped at him. The anger conjured it and a ball of cursed flame flew straight at Travos's chest. Luckily, he moved out of the way before it hit, scared and confused, and the flame zoomed out the door and disappeared before it could set fire to my forest. I shouldn't have snapped at him like I did; he was only trying to help.

I noticed I had felt the same feeling I did when I first summoned it. When my anger calmed into understanding, I was able to summon a small, shifting orb in my hand, though it simmered and melted away when my attention was lost.

Another half hour after that, I was able to summon a larger, more stable, orb and keep it for several seconds before I felt it waning. The assistants were able to sit and take brief notes and Travos, despite his previous experience, felt no fear towards me. He sat on the outer circle around me, a fair distance away, with his notebook in hand, sketching. He, Amerie, and Ugolas all did, drawing various angles as future reference for documentation, which I'll have to remember to include with this journal when I run out of pages.

Each session after that, my control with the fire grew and grew. With little practice, I was able to run with the fire without catching anything on fire, shoot it from my hand at a straw dummy, and, from that, learned that, even after I let it out of my hand, I can pull it back to me and control it.

The latest and last session of the night yielded yet another new fact that went straight into the book we pulled the spell from. While the power is much weaker and I can't summon it, I can toy with normal fire. It bends and moves with my will but just barely. With great focus, I can extinguish a candle flame. I feel this power will grow as I, too, get stronger. It is an interesting side ability, but it not one I will concern myself with greatly. I can see how it would be useful, though, for many applications. We will see – I will speak with the assistants and get their opinion on what to do about it.

We have uncovered more spells hidden deep in the Trials of the Edict. I am curious about why ancient people or whoever wrote the book hid such complicated spells in a text of a great hero – dark spells at that.

Even with my curiosity peaked, I cannot devote all my time to studying the book – I have many other things to do and my experimentation with dark magic simply can't drive me away from my other, equally important work.

The fire had a... strange, almost unpronounceable, name in the book. Ulvengavak Etticus. We dubbed it "The Trial of Fire".