Journal Entry — Day…22ish

  Things are not great. Again. Always.

  But first things first. The List.

  New Acquisitions:

  Obsidian Crystal Lizard(IMPORTANT — BANE IS FULMINA)(note, ask ayre about banes. And Fulmina. And obsidian crystal lizards.)

  Dumb, strong. Dumb-strong. Insanely durable due to being made out of rocks. why can living things be made of rocks? Despite this, is able to move with incredible bursts of speed. Fires cascades of crystal projectiles from its back. Uses Sonos and Vitreous as well as Mineralis.

  Abilities gained(make better names. ask lilly?)

  Shardstorm - Grow spines everywhere(Maybe controllable?). Longer it’s used the more grow. When released, fires all of them where directed. They get more powerful if I wait. Some exploded when I tested it the first time.

  Discordant Resonance - Emit a terrible, terrible, awful, noise. I am not immune to it. Ayre threw a rock at me when I used it. Probably never going to be useful, too debilitating to me and allies.

  Essences

  Monstrum, Lux, Mineralis, Vitreus, Sonos

  notes: lives near stone outcroppings, drawn to Reflexio essence. Builds “forts” of deadfall wood.

  Need to write more often. Last two days have too many things to keep up with after the fact. Seems more common as we get closer to society. Make time, Olly. Quick notes aren’t always enough. Almost forgot the crystal flower, probably for good if it weren’t for Ayre’s books. ask ayre and lilly to help with that if need arises.

  Learned something important. Monsters are not just like an elk with essence. They’re something unique. Monstrum essence seems to be the foundation of their life like Mortalos is for mortals. The elk have Bestia — probably serves the same purpose but for animals.

  Monstrous memories hurt. a lot. do NOT absorb monsters unless no better option exists. doing it mid fight will get me killed at best. Nearly lost control after consuming the lizard when its memories tried to assert themselves over my own. Suspect that it’s due to the “weight" of the memories. I have weeks of memories, it had over a decade. If it had been much older, not sure what would have happened.

  Arm seemed to help sort the memories out after I dedicated mental energy to the effort. un-curselike behavior, per Lilly. Curses are malicious, apparently, unless they aren’t, then they aren’t.

  Not helpful, but something to keep in mind…probably.

  Regardless, monster memories don’t work in my brain. It caused physical pain and long duration confusion. Will it work the other way if I can push memories onto something else?

  (scrawled pictures of Olly as a crude figure with a black arm, poking a monster. Next frame monster has fallen over)

  Important new info.

  there was a demon king who, according to Lilly, was actually a woman. Ask why they’re called the demon king.

  Lilly seems to hate them, she got very, very angry when Ayre and I didn’t take it seriously enough — make sure to apologize sooner rather than later

  Stolen story; please report.

  Information came from a debilitating memory. Stronger than most others by an order of magnitude. I lived the man’s life in those moments. I don’t think they’ve quite totally left. I remember the feelings he had kneeling in front of his daughter. The final touch from his wife. The daughter is the most resonant image. No horns, marble white skin, matching hair, one tooth out of position that tugged at her lips, red eyes, name was Nyssa, wife was named Eryss. Surname was Dakris, and his memories implied he and his wife were very important and on a vital mission. He never thought about the details, unfortunately.

  Something about his daughter felt familiar in a way that made my skin crawl. He felt nothing but positive thoughts about her, so I have to assume my reaction is my own. Do I hate children?

  He thought about essence in different terms relating to the demon king, but used the same general processes for casting, I think, though he used hand and body motions.

  His wife’s magic felt familiar, can’t place why because he didn’t focus on it. Not sure if it was his familiarity or my own. spend time revisiting the memory. try to steel myself against his emotions. Ayre said I conjured flame and thought I was Valynn for a few moments after.

  maybe strength of the memory is important? Most memories with deaths are abrupt, violent. Very few fight back in any meaningful way, but this man fought and might have successfully killed the monster even though he died.

  ask about the name Valynn-Eryss Dakris and Nyssa Dakris in the big city.

  Magic usage notes after the fight.

  Ironhide worked faster this time — this is good and bad. Might be because of my apparent need being closer to the memories of the elk. Test more to see if it’s changing with repeated usage.

  Never wrote notes about the lightning ability, ayre and lilly are unfamiliar. Probably gone for good. might need lightning again, look for new options

  abilities need to be fed essentia. If I haven’t consumed anything in a while, the arm takes something that feels…important, I think. Not sure what, but when I call upon abilities with no energy available, it hurts somewhere deep inside. Not in my body, I think. something else. Ask ayre.

  Think I can use two safely, possibly three with risk, abilities this way before I risk…something.

  TRY TO USE ABILITIES YOU’VE GOTTEN RECENTLY, and ideally if they’ve been fueled by a recent acquisition.

  will slow research into applying numbers to these things, but I don’t want to find out what that pain actually is the hard way.

  Each absorption seems to contain enough to activate each gained ability once, twice for minor things. The ones that can be used twice don’t seem to lose the memories unless the second “charge” is used.

  Personal notes

  Worried about Lilly. She’s been very emotional since we’ve left, and it seems to be worsening. Try to find some time to talk to her in private if I can.

  Ayre also has seemed on edge. Probably because of me.

  This town seems nice, if the inn is anything to go by. I had no idea magic could be used for things it is here. Judging by her reaction, Ayre is no different. She found a standing bath in the room that she’s been enjoying for the last hour. Accidentally saw a bit more than she’d intended when she asked me to turn around. Never mention it. Judging by the reaction, assume the same in the reverse situation.

  want to try the bath thing though. Ayre’s been happily humming the entire time and it is very nice to hear her happy again after the last couple of days.

  Tomorrow will be interesting. Well. For Ayre and maybe Lilly. I’m probably going to stay in the room. Maybe Ayre will have some interesting news when she gets back.

  Will probably write another entry tomorrow, as I’ll have nothing better to do.

  Maybe there'll be interesting things to see from the window.