A History Through Blood

“How bad is the smoke, Rose?” inquired Julianna telepathically, via their shared connection to Victoria. “It is fairly thick, but thanks to the mask very little is getting through. The skull bone seems mostly stable, so come down when you are ready.” The former nun quickly descended the sturdy ladder, the tight-fitting mask and heavy clothing repelling much of the smoke from influencing her form. “Keep a look out for anything drawing power from the surroundings,” instructed her mistress from her position outside the human encampment. “If we can isolate the source of power, the priests may be able to seal it without reaching out to other deities until it has been resolved.”

Since she had left her small church, Julianna had to quickly learn the supernatural politics of the unseen world. Most supernatural beings exceeded the capabilities of most humans and acted in a similar manner to the apex predators of the respective ecosystem. Those with a degree of higher sentience varied in temperament, both due to inherent traits and personal deposition. These creatures of greater intelligence, when they are not aligning with more powerful entities, were rarely social enough to form ongoing ties to others. Most just used their abilities to lure unsuspecting victims into their clutches, usually for food or similar purposes.

That being said, any creature of considerable note was generally content lording over a domain of their choosing and ability. It was generally held true that as long their territory is respected, they are indifferent to the world around them. Entities with any real magical power rarely involve themselves with the world beneath them, beyond keeping similar powers in check or engaging in the worldly temptations of mortals. Victoria preferred avoiding notice from any of power of note, where possible. Getting involved with anything beyond trade and friendly banter only served to entangle herself with-in matters beyond her control.

Typically, only those with magical alignments with the inclination to guide the world acted with the intent to guide or disrupt mortal affairs. This also ignores the few lesser deities and upstart beings lusting for power or amusement, although those were more of an exception to the general principle. The dead god, whose essence was likely attempting to reform itself, would in all likelihood only garner attention from a more pro-active warden once it had significantly grown in strength. That is assuming that there was no long-lasting grudge between the deceased being and another powerful entity.

“I think I found something” called out Rose, her small frame allowing her to more easily skip and jump ahead over the uneven rubble. Sure enough, resting on a bony protrusion, lay a constantly shifting black mass that lay in state that was neither solid nor liquid. The object was roughly the size of an adult human skull, however it seemed to be slowly expanding with each second. At the ancient skeletal base were various bodies of the deceased miners haphazardly piled around the pedestal. Each one lay broken and distorted after the roof's collapse, drained of all of their life essence.

“The smoke seems to be a forceful attempt to draw in life force from the surrounding areas.” Noted Victoria, observing the situation via her familiars. “Try and retrieve a corpse. We can examine it with-in the purified area the holy men have managed to set up. Have Rose continue to observe the mass from a distance, it is likely we can resolve this issue without requesting aid from outside parties.” “Understood, I will be back up soon with one of the bodies.”

Separating the body from the pile took a while, as thin strands of black string feebly tried to return it back to a position conducive to its end goals. While it was a minimal attempt at resistance, Julianna did work with Rose to gauge the creature's relative strength, only to find it overall lacking when compared to much weaker entities. This further confirmed their working hypothesis that the deity's soul had been re-awoken after coming in contact with the fresh blood of the injured miners. There was a brief sense of familiarity within Julianna's heart, as she had not long ago carried her own body into the shallow grave provided. Such feelings barely lingered as she climbed the sturdy ladder with the deceased man's body hanging limp over her shoulder, limbs swinging loosely with each step.

-

A stunned silence fell over the room as Victoria entered the tent, accompanied by Kahina and a Duukunasi bearing the mangled corpse recovered from the mining pit. Only the veteran soldiers and medical personnel maintained their composure at the sight of the drained corpse, while the others either gasped or gagged on reflex. The miner's appearance was more of a skeleton with flesh wrapped loosely around the bones, rather than something once considered human. What was once a strong and able-bodied man in his prime, was now a husk of its former self.

During the commotion brought on by the grotesque corpse being placed unceremoniously on a nearby table, Victoria placed a steadying hand on her arm. This was not out of any attempt to guide the conversation, but rather to help fortify her against the barrage of pain she was experiencing simply by standing within the cleansing room. Her mistress wasn't present when the forward post had been established, focusing more on the mine than the clergymen waving around metal censers, so this was her first exposure to the evidently effective wards.

“Have them turn the cadaver over.” She said quietly, so as to conserve strength. The Farima's men quickly turned over the corpse, revealing multiple blackened dots all across his back. The skin around the incision points was heavily decayed, or in a state of localised necrosis as Victoria described it, with vein-like tendrils interweaving between points. Were there any blood or bile left within its veins, it would have stained the guard's arms or the worn table, yet both were unmarred.

“Victoria's associates have investigated the mine,” Kahina started, breaking the morbid trans-fixation held by many gathered. “There is some good news. The soul of the creature buried there is still weak. The black smoke is the result of a desperate attempt to steal as much life force from the surrounding area to reform its main body. Currently the magical core is the size of a human skull that is currently located in the center of the skull.” The Farima, knowing the specifics of Victoria's condition, decided now was a time to interject. “Understood. The doctor can focus on retrieving the bodies, Kahina will serve as an intermediary between our imams and your priests to create a prison for this thing.* Bring the bodies here to where they can be cleansed, we can work out the burial rights with their families later.”

“Victoria has also recommended contacting a local witch doctor in order to acquire their aid.” Her mistress's words caused audible confusion from those gathered. “Come now child,” started the Imam, ridicule entering his voice. “Haven't we already established that their futile rituals and so-called cures are completely ineffectual against this dark demon? Why should the Farima engage in haram when the prophet's words have been proven, yet again, to be superior?” Kahina, ignoring the patronising tone and instead responded to Farima Bello directly. “The spiritualist is not required to seal the dead god, rather it is to quickly induce rain to wash away the corrupting smoke and other residual effects.” The commander simply raised his hand, before stroking his chin in contemplation. “I will send for a shaman, now go retrieve the other bodies while the others create something to contain the enemy.”

Kahina followed her mistress out of the tent, as to hide signs of weakness, stopping at the edge of the purified zone. “Thank you for that...” she said, weakness finally being allowed to show in her voice. “Go back in there and try and keep discussion focused. There may be some lingering hostility or preconceptions over some military campaigns' centuries prior. Try and keep them focused on the task. Reference the devil spreading evil while they bicker, if you need to.” Kahina had briefly heard of the invasions from western aggressors against the Ottoman Empire from her former master's Imams, likely the foreign priests agreed with their side's justification for the incident. Regardless of their arguments from a century ago, she was certain that they could come together, at least temporarily, to seal away this evil.

Surprisingly to Kahina, both the local Imams and the English Priests worked together with little conflict. The doctrinal differences, while vast, were not so dissimilar that a working container could not be crafted by sharing knowledge from both religions. All parties agreed, partially due to the Farima's presence, to create a temporary seal first before fashioning a proper vessel when they were able to. The Duukunasi were sent to quickly gather the necessary equipment from where they could. Carved acacia boxes, lengths of high-quality ribbon, precious inks, holy water and other vital articles were quickly sourced.

Each side worked with the tiring tradesman, summoned from his sleepless night, to adorn the box with the desired phrases and symbols. Upon its hasty completion, the imams and priests took to blessing the box. The various religious leaders alternated between their two holy books and chanted rites, whilst a final coating of sacred oils was applied to the surface. Even to Kahina's untrained eyes, the box seemed to faintly glow with supernatural energy. Now they could only rely on a fellow demonic creature to seal away the ever-growing threat.