![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.mountbakergames.com\/manifold\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Blessed-Mender-1024x760.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nMira took another deep breath, closed her eyes, and drank in another surge of the Locus\u2019s euphoria. Her veins quivered, as every inch of her body battled over where to store the excess essentia. A tear dripped from her eye, which she quickly wiped away; the apprentices could not see her fear. She forced as much heat as she could into the brass studs of her coat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGood,\u201d Nina offered. \u201cNow breathe. What did the listeners tell you?\u201d.
\u201cInvaders are in the back halls,\u201d Mira responded through measured breaths. \u201cStaffbearers have been deployed. Bowl clerics are deploying the poltergeists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd Alric?\u201d Nina asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mira merely shook her head. The first message was a cry for help. The listener that she had sent back for reconnaissance had not returned. Alric and his staffbearer Lucca would be on their own but protecting the Locus was the greatest priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOk,\u201d Nina acknowledged. \u201cStick to the shadows, wait until the right moment to strike. Don\u2019t hesitate to kill. Anyone who makes it down here has survived the poltergeists and needs to be considered highly dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes ma\u2019am!\u201d the apprentices decreed in unison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mira wiped her face one more time, just in case it betrayed her true feelings, and took refuge behind a column.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014————————————————————————————————————-
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The screams of the immolated and smell of burning hair hung in the air as Ventin followed the team of templar through the tunnels in the annals of the temple. A tall dark-haired man named Courder, the youngest of the team, took point as they navigated the narrow corridors searching for the entrance to a bunker. They traveled with the archmage Eurus, the Federation\u2019s Chief Bishop, and only Federation wizard who believed he may be able to harness the Singularity. Eurus was flaring small evocations of fire in each hand, one held before him and one behind. He kept grunting and chuckling to himself, altogether useless to the military operation that was underway. At least he could keep up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the team came to a ‘T’ in the hallway, Courder and Erica crossed the threshold in unison. Erica fired her blaster down the left passage at a target Ventin could not see. When Ventin rounded into the new corridor, he saw two white robed clerics about 25 meters down the hall. One had been struck by Erica\u2019s first blast, but both had now initiated an abjuration, blocking the hall with a pale blue energy. Erica fired two more blasts, which were absorbed harmlessly by the ephemeral wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMelee!\u201d Ventin called out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Courder and Gaeve pulled their swords as Eurus stepped aside to let Ventin pass. Eurus was more interested in his own hands than the new threat these clerics posed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ventin pulled his sword, and followed his men toward the clerics. From behind the clerics, a group of transparent poltergeists flew through the barrier and toward the templar. These grotesque spirits were vaguely humanoid, with ghastly transparent limbs dissipating into an undefined aether. Their visages were warped into demonic scowl without eye or tongue, bearing instead an eerie void. Two more blaster shots came from over Ventin\u2019s shoulder, but they flew harmlessly through the poltergeists and once again struck the blue abjuration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ventin uttered a quick incantation, lighting his sword aglow with an energy that could sever the incorporeal\u2019s ties to the material. He watched as Gaeve made contact with the leading ghost, the first mighty swing was dodged, but the second blow struck true. As Gaeve pierced the essence of the spirit, a foul black smoke filled the air. It had no particulates, it was evil energy leaking from its vessel, but it gave the sensation of bitter taste. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The poltergeists began to howl. The one which had been struck began the wail but was swiftly joined in the cacophony by the trailing spirits. Ventin had heard of these screeches, but had never experienced one. It wasn\u2019t a sound, not literally, as the sensation was independent of one\u2019s ears. Instead, these screams were imagined, created when the poltergeists tainted the victim\u2019s energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ventin felt his vision narrow as the poltergeist\u2019s corruption began to affect him. He began humming his academy anthem to regain focus, and to flood his conscious thought with images of his own design. He engaged with a spirit. He parried as it swiped at him, and pierced it with the point of his blade. Again, the foul smoke was upon him. He knew it wasn\u2019t real, and tried mightily to disbelieve it and focus on the foe before him, but the smoke engulfed him and blocked his vision. His sight went black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Panicking, he disengaged and backpedaled a few steps, hoping to pull out of the cloud, but to no avail. The cloud only existed in his own experience. He felt helpless realizing that he could not defend himself in this condition. He swung his sword out in front of him, hoping to deter the spirits\u2019 advances. His blade struck something hard, and was pulled from his hands. He fell to his knees. Harrowing thoughts of defeat at the hands of a poltergeist pounded at him. He could handle being struck down by sword or spell, the destruction of his body would result in the end of his experience, but to have his spirit corrupted was a horror he was forced to fathom. He was alone, powerless in the dark, facing a foe he could not perceive. He wanted to go home<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then a light approached him through the dark. A glowing rope reached out to him, along with a piercing whistle that overpowered his thoughts. He closed his eyes tight, but could sense the rope all the same. Maybe this was part of the ruse, perhaps following this was surrendering to the curse of the poltergeist. If this lifeline led to his demise, he would follow it with haste. He grabbed at the rope, but it too was immaterial. He crawled toward its source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014————————————————————————————————————-<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eurus\u2019s vision into the hallway was muddled by the translucent formation of the poltergeists and their offal. Narrowly, he had constructed an aura which had held the onslaught at bay. He had entered with four consorts. Erica, Courder, Gaeve, and Ventin were all presently victims to the demonic illusions that poltergeists brought forth. Eurus had never encountered it himself, but the speculation was that exposure to this energy could cause you to release enough adrenaline that your heart stopped. Scared to death<\/em> is how the books described it. While Eurus would have loved to see what a man looked like after such an encounter, he had a mission and could use all the help he could get.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He peered fervently into the chaos to find his companions\u2019 viron wells. What he found, instead, were strands of energy that flowed from three anchors in the chaos past him and down to a uniform point below his feet. He surmised that these anchors were his companion\u2019s viron wells, and that one of them must already be slain. He pulled at the threads to make this energy flow through him, before it inevitably passed to the great well beneath the ground. As the threads crossed his well, he heard screams, and felt in his heart a sorrow which he had never known. For a brief moment, he became certain that he would not be leaving with the Singularity today. Whatever they sought was too grand and too unknowable. What he would define as \u201cvictory\u201d was impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He shook his head and dismissed these notions. The despair that the poltergeists were inflicting on his team was not a thought of his own. He pushed his anchor aside. Now, his friends were being pulled in his direction, but his pure magnificent energy would not be crowded by the tainted energy they consumed. He furrowed his brow, and flexed his magic as much as he was able. He pulled desperately on their wells, trying to will his companions to his side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gaeve crawled out of the chaos and into Eurus\u2019s protective aura. As his head emerged from the barrier, his body collapsed under its own weight. He rolled over to this back, and looked up at Eurus in abject terror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe need to get out of here,\u201d Gaeve uttered through exhausted breaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBack to your feet, coward,\u201d Eurus responded. \u201cTwo of our companions still live.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gaeve labored to pull himself a few more meters into the hallway as Eurus reached into the maelstrom and pulled on the viron wells he had honed in on. Several seconds later the blonde head of Ventin emerged through the veil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ventin pulled himself laboriously into the corridor, then collapsed against the wall to catch his breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThanks for that,\u201d Ventin said to Eurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s the door,\u201d Eurus grunted as he tried to gesture without disrupting the somatic components of his incantations. \u201cI lost one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ventin nodded with a gulp, and slowly rose to his feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gaeve shook his head in disagreement, \u201cWe need to wait for them,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow long can you hold out?\u201d Ventin asked Eurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs long as I need, but he isn\u2019t drawing closer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe need to get the Singularity,\u201d Ventin drew his sword.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy moment of triumph approaches,\u201d Eurus proclaimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eurus dismissed the pull on the remaining anchor. He gestured to Ventin to maintain the protective aura. Then he flared the divining flames on each of his hands. He recalled the line of energy that flowed to some point beneath their feet. He put one of his hands toward the ground, and as it entered the line the evocation flared with a new aplow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRather than viron wells, there seem to be rivers,\u201d Eurus mused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRivers?\u201d Gaeve asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIndeed,\u201d Eurus continued. \u201cWhen you reach into your well, you find it empty. No?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ventin nodded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLook outside yourself,\u201d Eurus continued. \u201cYour own virons flow to a heart underneath this cathedral. It\u2019s a cruel mistress. It wants all that we have.\u201d Eurus dismissed the energy on his back hand, and tossed the flames from his leading hand gently into the air. The fire quickly turned to smoke, but the smoke wafted with intention toward a wooden door nearby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d Ventin asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Locus is beneath us,\u201d Eurus explained. \u201cIt commands all the virons in the vicinity, and this door will lead us to it. This is it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ll take point,\u201d Ventin commanded. \u201cGaeve, maintain this abjuration. Give us thirty seconds, then hurry after us.\u201d He sheathed his sword, drew his blaster, and kicked in the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intently, Ventin pointed his blaster down the newly revealed stairwell. It was dark, completely unlit for 40 meters, with just a faint blue glow of light at the bottom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow is your magic?\u201d Ventin asked..<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUnassailable,\u201d Eurus responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGreat. I\u2019m spent, but put your shields up. Let’s do this.\u201d Ventin took a deep breath, then began his descent down the stairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eurus followed Ventin as they walked with cautious haste down the unlit staircase. He strained his senses listening for a spell, a blaster, or a ghost, but heard only their own footfalls, and the drip of water from the ceiling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It was 142 steps from the doorway to where the tunnel straightened out. Eurus tried not to count them, but 142 it certainly was. The dark tunnel continued for several more meters before it turned thirty degrees and opened into an illuminated room. Ventin stopped at the turn, and peered around the corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014————————————————————————————————————-<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nina clutched a wooded stock to her chest. At one end was mounted a sapphire which had been invested with The Weave. Nina nodded to Mira, then to Banje; Nina could not see Karm from her position, but Mira gave the \u2018all ready\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The blonde man stepped into the Sanctum, followed by a much older man, then finally a dark haired boy. The blonde and dark haired ones were clearly soldiers. They had guns in hand, swords at their side, and under their cloaks they had metal scale armor with bracers to match. The elder one, however, carried nothing. He had neither book nor staff. While the soldiers hurried forward and took defensive positions behind columns, the enigmatic old man walked intently toward the locus. He was their wizard. If he would just come a little closer, Nina could fry him like a trout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A crackling bolt of energy erupted from Locus and shot at the wizard. Karm had taken the same shot that Nina wanted, but had been too impatient. The distance gave the wizard an opportunity to react. He shuffled to one direction with an unexpected agility, and a protective ward he had abjured caused the bolt to veer the other way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now the element of surprise was lost. Nina raced around the perimeter of the room to take control of the escape path. The shadows failed to disguise her route, and the dark haired soldier fired upon her with his pistol. Nina\u2019s gait changed from a sprint to a series of slides and leaps. The loose ribbons of her attire followed in her trail and made her position difficult for the soldier to home in on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMelee! Converge on Eurus!\u201d Nina heard the blonde soldier call out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The blaster fire stopped as the dark haired soldier joined his comrades in a tight formation around the wizard, who must be Eurus. Mira engaged promptly with the blonde soldier on the far side with her longstaff, while Banje bore her knives upon the dark hair soldier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The spark of the Locus, which all Clothbinders carried into battle, gave them exceptional balance and speed. Mira deployed swift alternating thrusts to the face and knees of her combatant. He dodged and parried the first couple blows, but when he tried to close the gap that her staff created, he received an oaken strike across the side of the head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Banje baited an overextension from her combatant, then rolled into close range so her knives could find purchase. Her opponent was a well trained fencer, however. He had kept his balance and met her roll with a boot in her chest. His superior size caused his kick to fling her several feet, and she fell to the ground and struck her head on a column.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Karm evoked another bolt from the Locus and fired it at the dark haired soldier before he could advance upon Banje. Eurus intercepted the bolt and met it with the fire that he evoked from his hands. Eurus grimaced and let out a pained yell. Then he threw a pair of fireballs, one from each hand, at Karm. His projectiles veered away from her just as her first bolt had veered away from him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This wizard doesn\u2019t seem that strong.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Nina rushed to engage with the dark haired soldier so that Banje could get back to her feet. Banje laid against the column and bled from her nose. Nina held the wooded stock out in front of her, then focused on the sapphire, and manifested a connection between it and the Locus. Nearly instantly, a razorlike line of brilliant energy was drawn between the Locus and the sapphire. This line passed directly through the dark-haired soldier, causing him to scream out in pain. He lurched closer to the center of the formation to avoid the energy, but Nina swung her stock, cracking the thread of energy like a whip. Again, it struck him, this time across the breastplate. As the power of the Locus poured into the metal plate, it would heat and sear to his chest. This same heat burned from the spark in her chest. She focused as much untamed energy as she could muster into the brass of her overcloak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The blonde soldier had regained his composure from the dizzying strike, and it was all Mira could do to maintain a stalemate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGaeve, Fortify!\u201d he yelled. Then he took a hand off his sword to reach into his pocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mira saw the opportunity and struck at him again. He stepped back to gain the time to return his hand to his sword and maintain their stalemate. He had failed to retrieve whatever accessory he sought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having disabled the dark haired combatant, Nina turned her attention to Eurus. He had lobbed a flurry of fireballs at Karm and was now manifesting a crackling energy from his hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nina cracked her whip at him. He held up his hands to try to deflect it but the thread passed through his fingers, then tore across his chest and straight through his back. He had no metal nor gem for Nina to anchor the flow of energy, but no matter. It burned his flesh as it passed through him. She pulled again, to whip the thread back through him. This time, he ducked the strike, and sprinted a few steps to stand back-to-back with the blonde soldier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nina yanked the wooden stock again and lashed the thread again at Eurus. This time, Eurus evoked that same brilliant energy from his hands and caught the whip in mid-air. Eurus furrowed his brow and forged a smug smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How did he know how to do that?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Nina\u2019s next step was instinct. She had trained with her sisters their whole lives, and now they executed a maneuver they\u2019d done against the staffbearers a hundred times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nina pulled her whip away from Eurus, and swung it instead at the blonde soldier. In perfect unison, Mira disengaged from the soldier and harried Eurus with a series of sweeps from her staff, and Karm fired two brilliant bolts behind Eurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014————————————————————————————————————-<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Eurus retreated from the staff, he leapt directly into the projectile fired from the youngest priestess. Searing heat filled his chest. His heart was set aflutter, and he gasped out looking for breath. The old man fell to the ground in a heap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVentin!\u201d Eurus called in a struggling breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The blonde soldier jumped to straddle Eurus, obscuring the floundering wizard in his cloak. He pulled a potion from his pocket and quickly imbibed it. With a roar, he detonated a concussive blast of air in every direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The white haired leader of the resistance leapt back several yards to dampen the impulse. The other two combatants lost their composure to the blast and were knocked prone. The incapacitated priestess who laid against the column had no space to yield, and the blast pounded her head once again into the stone, leaving her huddled in a heap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ventin capitalized on the chaos, and charged one of the felled guardians with his sword. She promptly rose to her feet to parry the assault, but the soldier’s empowered swing severed her staff and tore into her abdomen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eurus\u2019s field of view narrowed. A piercing pain emanated from his heart and devastated the left half of his body. He tried to regain control of his breath and composure, but shock was setting in. He looked desperately around the room, and his eyes fell to Gaeve. The dark haired boy had fallen into unconsciousness trying to drink his mana potion which he had spilled all over his face. Eurus yearned for that potion. Gaeve\u2019s last act was impotently filling his own well. Eurus\u2019s mind raced. Maybe he could draw Gaeve\u2019s energy to himself through the leyline. He took a deep breath and resolved to steady his mind. The clatter of steel overwhelmed the senses, but meant that Ventin had not yet fallen. Eurus imagined the ethereal wisps of aphotic energy that connected each combatant and focused on Gaeve. His strands were narrow, but they were not yet quashed. Eurus begged them to come to him, he flared the last bits of energy that burned in him, and pulled desperately the strands. His head pounded as blood rushed to it. He flexed his core and pulled as hard as he could. His throat filled with the burning taste of stomach acid, then was replaced with the metallic taste of blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His cognizance returned to him. The river of virons flowed from Gaeve, through Eurus, and into the Singularity. He felt vigor and mortis. As energy flowed from Gaeve\u2019s spasming body into Eurus, his bones ached and his muscles burned. Eurus rose to his feet and took stock of the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The priestesses surrounded Ventin, who barely held them at bay with sweeping desperate swings of his blade. Ventin\u2019s blonde hair and white cloak were stained red with own blood. These wounds would be critical once his enchantments wore off. \u201cBogey up!\u201d snapped one of the priestesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The priestess with the quarterstaff leapt at Eurus and swung her mighty oak. Eurus raised an arm to meet it. His hand snapped at the wrist, but parried the blow. He noticed the pain, but it paled compared to Gaeve\u2019s suffering, which now consumed Eurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With his other arm Eurus evoked a blast of fire, forcing the priestess into retreat. He tried to shoot at her, but the fire had a mind of his own. Mystic flames ignited the leyline that led from himself to the Singularity. It was impressive, but missed the mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ventin fell to one knee as the three guardians moved in position around Eurus. Eurus once again imagined the viron rivers, looking for a path he could ignite which would fend off his foes. Surprisingly, he found that the priestesses each bore totems in their garments. Wrapped in the ribbons of their battle attire were batteries that they filled with spare viron energy, much like the potions his own team had borne<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gaeve\u2019s body fell silent as Eurus had drawn every drop of potency from it. He knew he had limited stamina, so he backed slowly away, drawing the priestesses closer for one final crescendo. They had trained together for years, he had seen them strike in unison, and he waited for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The priestess with the whip dove forward with astonishing agility to get behind Eurus, such that he was between her and the Locus. Simultaneously, the quarterstaff was thrust at his face, and a barrage of magical bursts were fired and his torso. Eurus fell to the ground to evade the onslaught, and flared the last of his stolen vigor to ignite viron wells hosted among each of the priestess\u2019s robes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An explosion of blue light filled the room and the screams of immolated soldiers followed in its devastating wake. The blur of narrowed vision once again harried Eurus, but he had bought himself some time. The priestesses writhed, and struggled to discard the burning ribbons that adorned them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eurus rose to his feet, and locked eyes with the shocked Ventin, who still struggled for breath from his knees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe need to go,\u201d Eurus called to his last companion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can\u2019t,\u201d Ventin replied between broken breaths. \u201cYou go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ventin collapsed forward onto his face. Eurus turned to the stairs, then thought better of it. More soldiers or poltergeists would surely be upon them shortly. He scanned the room looking for options. The priestesses had largely discarded their cloaks, but seemed to be in no condition to rise in opposition. Once again, he divined the paths of virons that emanated from the Singularity. They had led him here, perhaps they could lead him away safely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mercifully, a strand led away from the Singularity toward the stone wall at the back of the sanctum. He approached it. There was a small fissure in the stone, and not far beyond lay a majestic sum of energy. He stood in the leyline, and imbibed the force that flowed through him. Then he put hands on the wall on either side of the fissure and willed it to pull apart, his shattered left wrist protesting with agony. The wall quivered and budged. With a terrible noise, the cracks grew, fracturing the floor and ceiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eurus could hear the yells of new combatants descending the stairs. He growled and pulled again at the wall, which separated further. Through the fissure, he could see the hewn stone walls of the catacombs lit by gentle torchlight. He could just barely fit his shoulders through the crack he had created, but he pulled himself desperately through.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mira shuddered as she crossed the threshold into the Sanctum of the Locus. A large circular room, nearly eighty meters across, had been carved out of the caverns beneath the Church of Astire. A concentric ring of columns, each decorated with the facade of high fathers of old, held up the roof about a third […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mountbakergames.com\/manifold\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mountbakergames.com\/manifold\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mountbakergames.com\/manifold\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mountbakergames.com\/manifold\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mountbakergames.com\/manifold\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mountbakergames.com\/manifold\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":506,"href":"https:\/\/www.mountbakergames.com\/manifold\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498\/revisions\/506"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mountbakergames.com\/manifold\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mountbakergames.com\/manifold\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mountbakergames.com\/manifold\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mountbakergames.com\/manifold\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.mountbakergames.com\/manifold\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Revenant-oil-1024x760.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
From her place in the shadow of a column, Nina could see a fair blonde head peek from the ingress to the Sanctum of the Locus. He had snuck in past the lookouts, braved the poltergeists, and found this room. He was very likely a powerful wizard, yet Nina detected a blaster pistol in his hand. She had no fear of such a weapon, as its munitions were easily deflected by the entropic defenses of her clothbinding. Still, such a weapon would have afforded him no defense against the poltergeists, so there must be more to this man than met the eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.mountbakergames.com\/manifold\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Weaveshatter-1024x760.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDrink your spark!\u201d Nina ordered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.mountbakergames.com\/manifold\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/change-the-tide-1-732x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.mountbakergames.com\/manifold\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Crackle-1024x839.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Not a well<\/em>\u2026 a river.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEurus!\u201d Ventin called out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n