Mysteries: Death Chamber

[sweetpinkpixie]

A bit like an amphitheater, the Death Chamber is rectangular, symmetrical and stone. The immediate walking surface is actually the first step of many toward the sunken center of the room. In keeping with the Greco-Roman arrangement of the space, marble is used throughout including the dais at the center of the sunken space upon which sits an old looking arch that looks as if it could crumble at any moment. Hanging loosely from the arch is a veil tattered and so worn that it's black colour appeared shades of bone, green and blue at times. Voices of those passed into the great beyond can sometimes be heard in faint whispers by those to whom they were close in their corruptible states....but impossible to properly converse with.

For a room that boasts such a grim field of study, there are actually not a great deal of things in the sparsely decorated room that could cause severe damage to a person. There is only one but it happens to be one that no one comes back from.

After the Third Wizarding War and inspired by the efforts of Unspeakable Jane Howard, a pristine and sterile laboratory was constructed around the topmost platform of the chamber's amphitheater structure. With a subtle curve to it's shape, the laboratory is an exclusive to the Death Chamber Alchemists and boasts the most elite equipment known to the wizarding world. All other Unspeakables must receive explicit permission from the department head before entering or else risk their hands turning bright red and turned to a flimsy gummy consistency.

[Helios Sunrider]

It was cold, clammy, and the light was dim. The Death Chamber felt more like a mausoleum than ever, despite their previous efforts to liven the place up. Whatever was moving sounded like trying to walk through a swamp. "There it is." Damian spoke in a hushed tone, his eyes adjusting to the light. "The shadow at the far wall." It appeared as an absence of light, a shifting Rorschach test that looked different depending on who was viewing it. Thin pseudopods stretched from a center mass, branching like veins or rivers, creating Lichtenburg figures across the floor.

"Looks like we have a protoplasmic biblio-entity on our hands. A semi-sentient mass of magic ink spreading knowledge with a viral touch. Prolonged exposure will cause you to forget everything else. Won't know your own name, but you'll know every word of the book that thing used to be." It was a secret that desired to be a gospel. Dark magic given life, it would fill the minds of every witch and wizard it could reach. These three would be the first to preach the word of the new book of magic. Forbidden spells and rituals would spread across the wizarding world like a starless night stretching across the sky forever.

Damian kept his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, reluctant to draw his wand just yet. Just looking at the shapeless mass seemed to have some effect on the wizard. It was hard to concentrate with intrusive thoughts seeping in. "Theories anyone?"

[MadAlice]

Jane had turned away as soon as she caught a glimpse of the shapeless thing that seemed to just exude 'wrongness' and thought for a while, trying to remember what state her experiment had been in the last time she'd been working on it.

"That entity, whatever darkness was in that book, has also absorbed the experiment I'd been working on. I was just completing the Black Phase, the final separation of the new life from the dead, impure residue. If I'm not mistaken, that spark of life is what's fueling the entity and if we can remove it, the thing should lose its ability to move and function on its own and return to what it was originally. And now that it's no longer linked to its host, the book, perhaps it will expire on its own.

"I think we might try one thing that might work; we---oh, Damian, DO stop looking at that thing! (for she had noticed a slight vagueness creeping into her colleague's eyes). I think--now where was I--oh, yes. Perhaps a variation of something like the Bubble-Head Charm might be effective for a start. We need to try to contain the thing somehow; then perhaps some sort of warming charm might cause the good to separate from the bad. Try to re-create the Bain Maria I was using in the original experiment. The life-form already has the desire and impetus to rise up and away from the dross, it just needs some help."

[BanaBatGirl]

David kept his wand at the ready as he trailed the others, just in case whatever it was inside was moving quicker than they expected. It must be contained to this room no matter the cost, this he knew with grave certainty.

He was quiet and watchful, trying his best to observe the entity in the corner without becoming absorbed by it. He could feel himself starting to stare, though, his eyes becoming glassy behind his spectacles. It was just so.... incredible.... what Jane had accidentally accomplished... should they really destroy it?

"What if we keep a part of it, like a sample sized biopsy, in a jar, just to see how it atrophies?" It was like they (not him, David typically never engaged in foolhardy experiments) had created artificial life which should be preserved for posterity. And for other reasons.

[MadAlice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl

It was just so.... incredible.... what Jane had accidentally accomplished... should they really destroy it?

"What if we keep a part of it, like a sample sized biopsy, in a jar, just to see how it atrophies?"

If Jane had known Truebridge was thinking her experiment was an accident, she would have been quite nettled. Creating this spark of life wasn't the accident, it was the natural end of a successful Black Phase of the alchemical process. What was an accident was its co-mingling with this evil...whatever it was...that Mr. Pendragon had so unwisely stored in the same chamber as her laboratory. Though it was her fault as well, for she should have objected more strongly when Damian first brought that dratted book in here.

"No," she replied, carefully keeping her eyes turned away from the creature. "If we can't separate out the evil that was stored in that book, there's no point in keeping this...experiment. It would be impure and useless for the next phase of the alchemical process." Jane was not sentimental about these matters, but she was anxious to preserve all those months--years, really--of work. And this process had been interfered with so many times already!

[Helios Sunrider]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadAlice

"I think we might try one thing that might work; we---oh, Damian, DO stop looking at that thing![/b]

Jane's voice had cut through the spreading darkness, pulling Damian's thoughts from the void. "Right." Wiping at his nose, a small red smear was left across the back of his hand before he drew his wand. "We turn up the heat then, yeah?"

"INCENDIO!" His commanding voice filled the chamber as he thrust his wand in the direction of the shapeless mass. What he lacked in finesse he made up for with barely restrained power. A fierce burst of fire erupted from the tip of his wand, warming the air, and lighting up the chamber. It was in this flash of light that they saw the true extent of the danger. The inky tendrils had been stretched across the outer walls of the chamber. Oily fingers reaching towards the door that the trio had entered from, wanting to cut off their only means of escape. Disappointment came in pairs as the flames rolled over the surface of the entity before fading into nothing. If it did anything, it certainly got it's attention.

Without time to be crestfallen, Damian had to think before the walls closed in. "My mission, mister Truebridge; is to eliminate the threat of the amalgam. Jane's is to recover whatever is left of her experiments. And you to observe and report on this little misadventure. If you think we should take a sample, then perhaps we should consider it if there's something left." This was presuming that they could overcome the challenge ahead of them.

"This is the last chance for you two to escape. If you stay, we see this through to the end." Damian had taken a step down towards the center of the room. "I think Jane's idea might work if we can get through the void membrane." Down at the bottom of the bowl, standing vigilant near the vale was Damian's ever-standing walking stick. It had been his constant companion when he first joined the Ministry of Magic, but as he healed from old wounds, he leaned on it less and less often. Today, the wizard needed it more than ever.

"Give me a distraction, and I'll give you an opening."