A General Synopsis on Curses ~ Vol 1
(Cover made by @Crimsonpants , Big thanks to him!!)
WARNING: This volume, and series as a whole will have quite gruesome and disturbing descriptions, if you are sensitive or grossed out to anything like this, I would tread with caution
Entry 1 (Y1855 M6 D23)
The Wood Curse
The wood curse allows the holder to manipulate the element of wood.
Obtained by a group of 20 Ravenna Ensigns, 3 centurions, Captain Benedict, and General Argos Y1847 M5 D13
VAULT CONDITIONS:
Vault Diameter: 20m x 20m x 8m
Last Maintenance: Y1855 M3
Danger Level: Relatively high
The Wood Curse’s vault, known as “Spina Castello,” stands as a stone half sphere. At its core lies the Wood Curse, surrounded by a mesmerizing array of tube-like structures reminiscent of a massive tree’s lower half. Each “tube” or “trunk” boasts an collection of razor-sharp thorns. The deeper one ventures into the domain, the denser the concentration of thorns become, and the tighter the space becomes. Its appearance takes after that of oak wood.
The thorns grow in length whenever any is pierced by them, making them difficult to pull out the longer something is pierced by them. This has makes it arduous and simply not worth the effort of trying to retrieve bodies of past subjects, making it’s domain littered with corpses. Maintenance is to happen every 2 months to prevent overgrowth.
Corpses left alone for over a year will begin to convert all matter into grotesque relics of wood and bone…
RECORDED EXPERIMENTS:
Dylan Nett
Y1855 M6 D24
Subject is a prisoner held in the eternal mines by ravenna
37 Year old male.
Unable to use magic.
Overseen By: 5 Order Agents, Officer Kagemori, Officer Raven, Myself.
Subject has been given instructions to touch a thorn-less surface of some of the curse’s trunk and keep their hand their for a prolonged period of time
LOG
Subject has entered the Vault.
Dylan: “PLEASE!! Will I really see my family after this?! I’ve been falsely imprisoned for so long… I was told by Sir Revora himself that I-”
Raven: “Silence. A pardon awaits you from King Calvus IV himself. Follow our directions. Walk through the vault until you encounter a wooden surface without thorns. Do not dare to touch any thorns or disobey any commands or face immediate decapitation.”
Raven’s dull and monotone voice reverberates around the roomt. Kagemori observes in silence.
The 5 agents, Officer Raven, and I enter the room. The roles have already been defined—to observe and issue orders to the subject.
The Subject successfully navigates through the domain and asks if the surface before him is the surface. Raven confirms. He shuffles slowly towards the surface uncomfortably and nervously
Raven: “Place your hand on the surface. You will place your hand on the surface until you are given the order to remove it. Removing your hand before instructed or violating any protocols given will result in immediate termination.”
The subject lowers his head in fear and obediently places his hand on the surface.
Over the course of 4 hours, the subject abides, his hand firmly gripping the wooden surface, under the watchful eyes of Raven and the agents.
I notion to raven that it is time for us to go. The experiment has concluded
Raven: “You may remove your hand from the surface. Leave the domain.”
The subject breathes a sigh of relief and bursts into tears of joy. As we move towards the exit of the vault, one of the agents watching the subject suddenly exclaims:
Agent 1: “Did you not hear Officer Raven? You are to leave domain with US.”
As I turn around, the subject’s once joyful face twists into pure terror.
The subject desperately attempts to pull his hand away, but it clings relentlessly to the wood.
Agent 2: “What the?!” He attempts to pry the subjects hand off of the wood, to no avail.
I approach the subject. Inspecting his hand, I notice tiny spots of wood on his palm.
Raven: “Tch. I’ll take care of this”
Officer Raven walks towards the subject, drawing his katana, preparing to sever his arm.
Dylan: “Are you gonna s-slice of my hand with your sword?!!? PLEase NO SIR DON’T JUST GIVE ME A MINUTE!!”
“Lower your weapon, Officer Raven.”
Officer Raven turns back to face me, expressing clear confusion on his face.
This is the perfect chance to collect information.
“Leave him here. I wish to see the results of these early growths. Lets go”
The subject’s face contorts with fear, concern, and growing panic.
Raven: “As you command Lord Azurebloom.” He sheaths his blade
As we walk out the subject pleads desperately
Dylan: “WAIT PLEASE!! WHAT DO YOU MEAN LEAVE ME HERE?!?! PLEASE I JUST WANT TO SEE MY CHILDREN AND WIFE!! PLEASE YOUR PROMISED THAT I WOULD GET A PARDON I JUST WANT TO GO PLEASE DON’T LEAVE ME HERE I DON’T WANT TO PLEASE PLEA-”
The vault door shuts behind us, the subject’s anguished cries fading as we exit. I await the results in three days.
3 Days Later
Me and three agents have returned to the vault. Navigating the path previously used, some of the patterns on the tubes have changed.
We arrive at the destination
Agent 1: “Hades be!!"
Agent 3: “Im gonna be sick…”
We are met with quite the gruesome sight
The subject has multiple large splinters protruding from his skin, likely piercing vital organs. His eyes have been hollowed out, and his hand has metamorphosed into solid wood.
“I believe this concludes this experiment. Agent 1, I expect you to send orders to High Lord Calvus IV to have ensigns report on the subjects conditions”
Agent 1: “Yes sir…”
We walk out the room
END OF TESTING
Jones
Y1855 M6 D29
Subject is a recent prisoner held in the eternal mines by ravenna
19 Year old male.
Unable to use magic.
Overseen By: 3 Order Agents, Officer Raven, Myself.
Subject has been uncuffed and will be watched by us 7. They have been given a torch enhanced with potent fire magic. They are to burn the remains of Dylan Nett, a previous subject.
LOG
Jones: “I’m in hell…”
The subject is grumbling to himself about how he will escape and his condition.
“Enter the vault” I command
Jones: “And if i don’t?” he attempts to rebuttal in a nervous, broken, and snarky tone
Raven uses his technique and appears to almost teleport behind the subject, instantly taking out his katana and holding it to the subjects throat.
Raven: “I suggest watching your tone. I won’t hesitate to remove your head from your body if you show even a shred of disrespect to one of us once again. This is your final warning”
Jones: “…” *He tries to open his mouth to speak, but he chokes and a single word wont come out
“That is enough of this useless exchange. Let us proceed”
Raven: “As you command, Lord Azurebright”
“I told you to drop the whole “Lord thing”, lighten up a bit officer. It’s not I’m gonna kill you or anything”
Raven remains silent
“We will now enter the vault, let’s go”
The subject and us enter the domain. The patterns of tubes from before has definitely shifted. The path has been blocked by various tubes of wood and thorns. Further testing will be required
Jones: “So you want me to set a statue on fire or something of that matter? Sure. As long as i can get out of this place i really don’t care”
Nobody responds
As we navigate carefully through our old path, cutting down the thinner tubes, we finally reach our destination. The corpse of Dylan Nett has completely turned into wood.
“Well, go ahead, set the statue on fire”
Jones: “m’kay” He holds the torch to the statue
It does not set ablaze immediately, but after waiting a few moments, the fire finally engulfs the wooden corpse in a blazing inferno. It turns to ash, leaving nothing behind but charred remains.
Well, that seems to conclude testing.
“Lets head on back, It seems that nothing will really happen. I want to go home already”
Raven is walks up him in silence, about to punish him before suddenly-
!!!
RRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPP!!
Jones and two of the agents are suddenly impaled by a massive thorn, the deadly spike piercing through their skulls. It happens within what feels like an instant. Raven, the remaining agent, and I stand in silence, witnessing the horrifying spectacle before us.
This is precisely why I must continue my research. One cannot simply dive into the territory of a curse expecting to gain immense power without facing severe consequences.
END OF TESTING
